Havelock North Intermediate wins national literature comp

The Havelock North Intermediate team were victorious at the Kids' Lit Quiz 2020 New Zealand championship finals. Photo / Supplied

Havelock North Intermediate has been crowned the Kids' Lit Quiz 2020 New Zealand champion.

The competition aims to tests students' knowledge of books, authors, poetry and general knowledge against teams from schools across the country.

The Havelock school team, made up of Poppy Buller, Ben Stanley, Ben Sutherland and Niamh Horsfall, won a sudden-death play-off in after a tie for first place.

Tauranga Intermediate School placed second, with Southwell School in Hamilton placed third.

About 1700 competitors took part in the annual event across 15 teams aged between 10 to 13 years old.

Quizmaster Wayne Mills said an "electric" atmosphere was hushed during an intense sudden-death play-off.

"Reading helps kids develop empathy and emotional intelligence, which is well documented as an indicator of successful relationships and success in the workplace," he said.

"Kids identify with characters as role models of behaviour, and the well-developed characters in books discourage stereotyping. So just by opening up a book there are worlds to explore. It's absolutely no fluke that books are shaped like doors for that very reason."

New Zealand teams also have an impressive record on the world stage, winning five of the 16 international Kids' Lit Quiz finals.