Principal Jennifer Horgan said the trees were offered by the Sustainable Coastlines Charitable Trust, which was running a Love Your Water roadshow around New Zealand.
''Ideally, they were looking for a school with a stream or a river running through it, so East Taieri School was suggested,'' Mrs Horgan said.
A group of trust representatives visited the school last Friday to give a presentation before joining pupils to plant about 250 native trees supplied by Blueskin Nurseries.
Mrs Horgan said the content of the trust's presentation was aimed at establishing a love for water among the pupils, and getting them to visualise how precious water is on our planet.
The goal was also to educate pupils so they could explain the difference between a healthy river and a sick river, what caused rivers to get sick and what could be done to reverse the damage. Planting trees is part of the reversal process.
Mrs Horgan said about 40 pupils helped to plant the trees along the banks of the Owhiro Stream, which runs through the school grounds.
The plantings were designed to help boost the eco-system surrounding the waterway.
''It will be a great benefit to the school,'' Mrs Horgan said.
