Te Puke Primary School ready for Kiwifruit Festival

Pupils at Te Puke Primary School are getting ready for this weekend's Great Kiwifruit Festival.

It isn't the red carpet Te Puke Primary School is rolling out — it's kiwifruit.

This Saturday the school is hosting the first Ray White Great Kiwifruit Festival — cashing in on Te Puke's title as Kiwifruit Capital of the World with a kiwifruit derby on the hill between the school's upper and lower fields.

The derby will include the excitement of horse racing, but with kiwifruit rolling down the hill rather than galloping to the finish line.

There will be three heats with between six and 10 starters and each kiwifruit will be ''owned'' by a sponsoring business or organisation.

Bets will be taken for the heats and grand final and the ''owner'' of the winning kiwifruit will receive the Te Puke Primary School Great Kiwifruit Derby trophy to keep for a year.

''We have lots of stalls, food vendors and activities,'' says Elle Reid, who has been heavily involved in organising the event.

''All our classes will be involved in the event and there are $1000 worth of spot prizes to be won.

''Te Puke Primary School's Great Kiwifruit Festival is a family-focused gala with the purpose of raising funds for a new school van.''

The day will also include stage performances and prize giving and will cater for families at the school and the wider Te Puke community.

A second van is considered crucial for the school.

''Experiential learning experiences are central to our curriculum design at Te Puke Primary School which enables our students to be hands-on with their learning and learning in real life, authentic environments.''

Transport is required to get pupils to these environments and also to pick up pupils so they can get to school.

In 2018 Te Puke Primary School spent $25,450 on transport for its forest school, sports exchanges, noho marae and local curriculum experiences, camps, leadership experiences, explorer and social events as well as many other activities away from the school.

''Having access to another school van will give our students and teachers a more cost effective resource to respond to learning and life opportunities that are so important for their development.''

The festival runs from 10am to 2pm and is also sponsored by Gull Paengaroa Autoworld, Woodland Management and Trevelyans.

''The event will showcase the school and also Te Puke. As the world capital of the kiwifruit we want to put Te Puke on the map and celebrate our town in a unique and community focused way. The festival will provide entertainment for all the family and will have a good balance of free and low cost activities running throughout the day,'' says Elle.