Best for
Pre-action planning, restoration days, drain-marking projects, whānau clean-ups, and any student action that needs clear roles and documentation.
Kaitiaki o te Awa • Action day planning • Years 6-10 • Ready to use
Awa Action Checklist
Use this when the inquiry turns into action. It helps ākonga sort roles, safety, materials, evidence capture, and follow-up so the mahi is purposeful rather than rushed.
Free action tool, premium localisation path
If you want a kura-branded action pack, a younger learner checklist, or a version aligned to local council permissions and contacts, Te Wānanga and Creation Studio can localise it cleanly.
- Add actual adult contacts, gear lists, and local partnership steps.
- Create a bilingual or low-literacy version with icons and shorter prompts.
- Save your school-specific action workflow in My Kete.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 15-20 minutes, ideally two or three days before the action.
- Grouping: Whole class for shared safety, then small groups for roles.
- Prep: Confirm adult support, site boundaries, hygiene, and evidence expectations.
- Differentiation: Support learners can work from a pre-filled action option; stretch learners can justify why their action is realistic and sustainable.
- Neurodiversity support: Keep the checklist chunked, assign clear roles, and use visible timers or mini-deadlines so the plan feels manageable.
Resources already provided
- Role, safety, and permissions checklist
- Evidence-capture and communication prompts
- Post-action follow-through space
- Support, core, and stretch pathway
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
All referenced resources are provided. Pair this with the risk brief and class timetable if needed.
Ngā Whāinga Ako / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to plan a realistic kaitiakitanga action.
- We are learning to keep people safe and roles clear.
- We are learning to gather evidence of our action and its impact.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can explain our action, roles, and timeline.
- I can identify the key safety or permission steps.
- I can say what evidence we will capture and how we will share it.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
Use the companion page to keep this resource anchored in participation, agency, and responsible action rather than reducing it to a generic event checklist.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
Kaitiakitanga is not abstract. Through a mātauranga Māori lens, action must be relational, respectful, and grounded in local tikanga. Planning well shows manaakitanga for people, place, and the task itself.
Roles and logistics
Who is doing what?
When and where?
What gear do we need?
Who needs to know?
Safety and evidence checklist
Support learners can tick, circle, or highlight. Core and stretch learners should add brief notes explaining any unchecked item.
After the action
What did we do?
What proof did we gather?
What changed, even a little?
Who do we share this with?
Support, core, and stretch pathway
Support
Choose one clear action, use a teacher-approved role list, and record the key safety steps.
Core
Plan the action, evidence collection, and communication pathway in full.
Stretch
Judge whether the action is sustainable, what follow-up will be needed, and which wider stakeholders might need to be involved.
Alternative response
Students can map the workflow visually, use icons, or explain the plan orally before writing it up. That is a valid alternative response, not a lesser one.
Our final go-ahead check
What is the one thing we still need to sort before action day?
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Plan a realistic kaitiakitanga action with clear roles and safety considerations
- Document evidence of action so the mahi can be shared with whānau and community
- Reflect on the difference between planning and doing, and what it means to follow through
- Connect individual action steps to the broader kaitiakitanga responsibility for te awa
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Science — Living World / Planet Earth
Level 3–4: investigate how human activity affects freshwater ecosystems; collect and interpret environmental data; understand that freshwater is a shared resource requiring collective stewardship.
Social Sciences — Participating and Contributing
Level 3–4: take informed action on local environmental issues; understand the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders in environmental governance; develop advocacy skills grounded in evidence and values.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
Kaitiakitanga is not a feeling — it is action. Māori environmental advocacy has always operated through formal processes: RMA submissions, wāhi tapu protections, rāhui declarations, submissions to regional councils. This checklist asks students to do what kaitiaki have always done: plan carefully, act responsibly, and document the mahi so it can continue. The checklist itself is an act of manaakitanga — respect for people, place, and process.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
Resources already provided:
- Awa Inquiry Guide (awa-inquiry-guide.html) — use before this checklist to shape the inquiry focus
- Awa Cause and Effect (awa-cause-effect.html) — identifies which issue the action addresses
- Awa Observation Sheet (awa-observation-sheet.html) — fieldwork evidence for action decisions
- Awa Reflection Prompts (awa-reflection-prompts.html) — use after action day to process learning
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will explore awa (river/water) as taonga, developing understanding of kaitiakitanga through water guardianship — connecting indigenous environmental knowledge with scientific and civic action.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain the significance of awa in te ao Māori and their local community.
- ✅ Students can identify actions that reflect kaitiaki responsibilities for local waterways.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters and graphic organisers for inquiry tasks. Offer entry-level observation activities and extension challenges involving community advocacy or environmental data analysis.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key te reo Māori terms (awa, kaitiaki, wāhi tapu, tūrangawaewae). Allow visual and diagrammatic responses. Bilingual glossaries strongly recommended.
Inclusion: Connect to students' own waterways and places of belonging. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured field investigation templates and clear step-by-step inquiry protocols.