Royal Oak Intermediate - Kiah Saunders-Dempster

Name: Kiah Saunders-Dempster

School: Royal Oak Intermediate  

Programme: ‘Measuring exposure of children to air pollution in Tāmaki Makaurau’

Region: Tāmaki Makaurau

Hosts: NIWA, Air Quality Team and NZDF, Defence Science and Technology Department

Blog: Science Stories with The Kiwi Teacher

Royal Oak Intermediate aims to empower students and have them feeling confident in their knowledge of content heading into high school, as well as valuing science as a potential career path. Science at Royal Oak Intermediate is hands on and practical, and weaves in aspects of other curriculum areas, bringing in mātauranga Māori context throughout much of the course. Royal Oak Intermediate is an EnviroSchool, giving ākonga the opportunity to see science in action within the school, through a range of different activities. This programme will also enable Kiah to implement Professional Development around the Capabilities and Nature of Science, expanding her learnings around the school. 

Kiah has been teaching for seven years and has experience teaching a range of different backgrounds, ages, abilities and has a passion for teaching science. Constantly looking for ways to extend her knowledge in teaching Pūtaiao, she recently started a Postgraduate Diploma through The University of Waikato, fitting in well with the school value of creating lifelong learners. Her aim is to make Science inclusive and see her ākonga succeed!

Kiah will be working with NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) in the Air Quality Team, testing CO2 levels in classrooms. For this, she will undertake genuine research in an educational project measuring the exposure of children to air pollution on the way to and from school, and monitoring classroom air quality to improve it. This will involve going into schools to set up SHAQS (Smart Home Air Quality Systems) and informing teachers & students about CO2, what it is & how it affects them. Kiah will also work with the team, and teachers on the ground, to develop follow up activities for the intermediate level tamariki who complete this programme in the future.

She will also have a brief placement with the New Zealand Defence Force, working with the climate and weather team. This will involve setting up buoys that are dropped in the ocean and follow weather patterns so that new weather patterns can be predicted. This is also in conjunction with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the USA. She will also work with weather drones and in applied science to deepen her understanding of science in action.

At the conclusion of Phase One, Kiah hopes to gain more of an understanding around the Science Capabilities as well as critical skills that will assist in teaching and coordinating science initiatives with Royal Oak Intermediate and their Kāhui Ako.