Hastings students welcome First Baby with handmade cards

A group of Hastings students have welcomed the birth of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and partner Clarke Gayford's daughter with handmade cards.

Several classes from Hastings Central School made cards to congratulate Ardern, who gave birth to a baby girl weighing 3.31kg (7lbs 5oz) in Auckland City Hospital at 4.45pm on Thursday. Principal Peter Ahern said the students started planning the cards on Thursday but didn't make them until Friday morning because the baby hadn't been born before school finished at 3pm.

"Apparently there are colours one must take into consideration.

"They didn't know what sort of colour they should be using, there was a scramble for the paper [this] morning.

"We had to make sure we had enough pink paper."

Decorations at Hastings Central School celebrating the birth of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's baby. Photo/Duncan Brown

The students were using the cards as a way to learn about family dynamics and having a sense of belonging, he said.

"[On Thursday] we set the scene ... the students were gathering ideas with the importance of the message within the cards in mind.

"They were quite enthusiastic about it ... the girls were very keen to get involved.

"It's all about families, the importance of belonging and what different families look like."

The students, aged 7 to 10, hoped their cards would get to Ardern and Gayford and would probably be sending them to Parliament.

"I'm sure if the kids had the chance they would love to wish Jacinda and Clarke congratulations in person.

"We hope to receive a reply, we will be looking forward to that," he said.

Teachers at the school also held a poll before the birth on the baby's sex and name with girl being the more popular choice.

"The ones who got involved were very pleased with the outcome."

Two of the more popular names for the baby in the poll were Clarke and Meg.