Super heroes don't just wear capes

Visitors to Stratford Primary School on Friday would be forgiven for thinking they had taken a wrong turn and ended up in Gotham City, with numerous youngsters dressed as Batman and his super hero peers running around the playground.

The dress-up day was the brainchild of the school's council, who were fundraising for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Trust.

The hero theme of the dress-up day was an obvious link to the work of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Trust team, says school principal David Cripps.

David himself was dressed as one of his heroes - Ernest Rutherford, the New Zealand-born physicist known as being the father of nuclear physics. "Sporting heroes are important, as are super heroes, but it is important we look elsewhere for our heroes as well, in science, education, all aspects of life."

David's colleagues were also all dressed up, "it's all part of the fun engagement in learning we have at Stratford Primary School, staff getting involved with these events as much as the students," says David, who adds he was impressed by the range of ideas of heroes on display. "It is interesting seeing what each students picks as being their super hero, and there have been some very creative costume ideas too."

Some of those creative ideas were on display in room 4, where friends Shanice Rogers (11) and Abbie Grigg (12) were inspired by two very different heroes.

"As soon as we were told the theme, I knew who I wanted to dress up as," says Shanice, who transformed a sheet and a belt into a biblically themed costume. "Jesus is the ultimate hero to me, and Mum helped me create the costume from my idea."

"I wanted to chose a girl, and thought a Wonder Woman costume would look cool," says Abbie. "I thought of her straight away when we talked about heroes."

There were plenty of cartoon super heroes present in the junior classes as well, although some students were inspired by heroes who live a little closer to home.

"My hero is my dad, he's an engineer and he is really strong." Six-year-old Harri Prestney even borrowed his dad's hat for complete costume authenticity for the day. Also inspired by her father was Meah Russ (6), who was a police recruit for the day. "My dad's a police officer and he is really good at catching the baddies."

Adding a little bit of sparkle to the day was Taryn Ranclaud (5) who was inspired by the popular movie Frozen. "Princess Elsa is my favourite because I like her songs and her dress."

No matter who the students chose to dress up as, David says the key part of the day was them being able to share their idea of what makes a hero with their classmates and teachers. "Everyone has different heroes, what is important is that we have role models in our lives."