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It was pupils, not staff, calling the shots at Barton Rural Primary School on the last day of term two and the result was a sports day that raised $1706.50 for the Aorangi Stadium redevelopment.
On July 3, pupils dressed as their favourite sports stars and paid to take part in a full programme of events, including egg and spoon races, sack races, sponge relays and a paper-scissors-rock obstacle course, with a sausage sizzle rounding out the day.
What set the day apart was who made it happen.
Senior pupils Rosie Johnson and Maddie McCall came up with the idea, and with the help of Hazel Bruin, took full ownership of the event from the outset, brainstorming the concept, planning the logistics and running the day itself.
In a statement, year 7 and 8 teacher Vaughan Skea said he had encouraged pupils to pitch an idea to him if there was an initiative they wanted to support.
“The students came to me and said they want to get behind the stadium and this has been 100% student driven — the planning, the initiation of the activity, the counting of the money and handing it over to the fundraising committee — it’s all been driven by the students which is fantastic.”
For the pupils themselves, the motivation was just as simple.
“I love sports and I really wanted to get out of the cold, so I’m really excited for the new stadium,” said pupil Rosie Johnson.
Barton Rural is one of the first schools to take up the Aorangi Stadium Schools Challenge, which is calling on every school in the region to get creative and help reach the campaign’s $2.4 million community fundraising target.
Whether it was a dress-up day, a bake sale, a sausage sizzle or an event of their own design, schools were encouraged to fundraise in whatever way suited them best.
Every school that takes part will be recognised on Aorangi Stadium’s community wall.
The school that also raises the most through the Schools Challenge will take out the top prize: a half-day of exclusive use of the new stadium, the chance to be the first school ever to play in the new facility and a $2000 sports gear prize pack.
Campaign co-chair Abbie Ross said Barton Rural’s sports day was exactly the kind of community energy the Schools Challenge was designed to spark.
“What’s brilliant about this one is that it was entirely pupil-led.
“Pupils didn’t just take part, they planned the whole thing from the ground up, and raised over $1,700 in the process.
“That’s exactly the spirit we hoped the Schools Challenge would bring out and it’s a fantastic start for other schools to measure themselves against.”
Individuals, families and clubs can also get behind their school by tagging their own donation to a specific school when giving through the Aorangi Stadium website, with all tagged donations counting towards that school’s challenge tally. — Allied Media