A group of students from Puahue School have danced their way to the top of the North Island and National Jump Jam competition with their routine to the song Freaks by Timmy Trumpet and Savage.
The group of 13 Year 4-6 students competed on Saturday, November 9 in Tauranga at the Holy Trinity Church in the novice division.
Not only did they win the North Island competition for their division, but they also took home the national title alongside awards for distinction in creativity, distinction in costumes, excellence in technical executions and excellence in presentation.
Teacher in charge, Julie Choppin, has been taking groups to the competition for seven years and says she's still in shock with their win. It's the first time the school has received the national award.
"In my mind I didn't even pick us to be the top three. I kept saying that school did well and that school did well. I don't think it's really kicked in yet but the kids did go crazy on stage," Julie said.
"We were all so happy. We were in shock and we were just screaming," added 10-year-old Puahue School student Mckenzie Johanson.
The group even got a perfect score for costumes. Fitting the song, the theme of their costumes were 'freak' characters including the Addams Family, Edward Scissorhands, Slappy from Goosebumps and Beetlejuice.
To prepare the group had been practicing every Tuesday night since April as well as on Sundays as the competition approached.
The school also had a junior group in the Year 1-4 advanced division which made fifth place in the North Island competition, excellence in technical execution, excellence in costumes, merit in creativity and merit in presentation.
To celebrate both groups will be having a pizza party and Julie has promised the national winning team that she will take them to the new animated version of the Addam's Family movie to be released in December.