Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Stratford Central Kindergarten's beloved pet axolotl receives new home

Alyssa Smith
By Alyssa Smith
Multimedia journalist - Lower North Island·Stratford Press·
2 Nov, 2021 02:46 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Stratford Central Kindergarten pupils, staff, and parent helpers with the stand.

Stratford Central Kindergarten pupils, staff, and parent helpers with the stand.

Stratford Central Kindergarten's beloved pet Axel the axolotl has a new home, and a one-of-a-kind custom stand to go with it.

Head teacher Judy Brady says Axel will enjoy his new home.

"We have just purchased a new tank for him. The idea was to have a purpose-built stand to go with it. I think he's going to like it a lot."

The stand, created by a parent of a Stratford Central Kindergarten pupil, was painted by a volunteer group of Stratford High School Year 9 pupils.

The fish tank on the stand. Photo/ Supplied
The fish tank on the stand. Photo/ Supplied
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They've done such a good job and we appreciate the work they've put into painting the stand."

The rectangle stand features a pink top, and the four sides have their own unique design.

Ella Malster, 14, who was part of the group, says they used bright colours.

"Our idea was to make it vibrant for the children and to give Axel a cute stand. We painted a forest on the front, bubbles on the back, and a Spongebob-inspired scene on one side, and mushrooms on the other. It's all about imagination."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Stratford High School Year 9 students from back left: Ella Malster, Bella Keenan, Summer Hill and Aaliyah Tilby, all 14, volunteered their time to paint the stand.
Stratford High School Year 9 students from back left: Ella Malster, Bella Keenan, Summer Hill and Aaliyah Tilby, all 14, volunteered their time to paint the stand.

Stratford High School art teacher Donovan Gilgenberg says the school is pleased to be able to help the kindergarten.

"We're happy to be part of the process of giving their pet axolotl a new home. It's a lovely community project for us and builds a connection between the kindergarten and the high school."

Stratford Central Kindergarten pupil Zoey Vanzyl, 4, says Axel will like the new stand.

"It's a very nice stand and I'm sure Axel will agree. We love Axel. It's so cool that we have our own pet at kindergarten."

Ellie Fesili, 4, says the pupils dig up worms from the garden for Axel.

"He really likes worms and I really like feeding him. It's fun to go find worms in the garden for him."

Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP