About 40 Oamaru organisations, businesses and individuals have "chipped in" to help Oamaru Intermediate School host about 100 visitors from Christchurch intermediate schools during the next three weeks.
Pupils from Manning Intermediate were the first to arrive on Tuesday, and spent yesterday visiting Totara Estate, the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony and playing games on the expansive Oamaru Intermediate field.
Oamaru Intermediate School deputy principal Deidre Senior said the idea for the initiative, which will see about 100 Christchurch children from four schools hosted during the coming month, sprung from the "Big Chip-in for Christchurch" campaign run earlier this year.
"Some of these kids aren't living in their own homes," she said. "We just want them to come and be kids for a week."
Yesterday afternoon, Manning Intermediate pupil Cathy Chen (12) said so far, the trip had been "really good".
