Kiwitea kids know their stuff

LEILANI HATCH/Manawatu Standard

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS: Kiwitea School pupils (L to R) Amber Feilder-Beaumont, 10, Ben Bromley, 11, Bridget Greenway, 11, Max Corpe, 12 and William Greenway, 9.

They may be from a small school, but the kids from Kiwitea School are big achievers.

Year six, seven and eight students from the 37-pupil country school outside Feilding took part in an Australasian research project and showed that they're not just top of their class, but top of the country.

The school's average score was 83 per cent, well above the national average of 63 per cent.

The Primary Research Project, a voluntary assignment aimed at teaching kids to research and find information for themselves, is only meant to be completed by year seven and eights.

But at Kiwitea School, students as young as year five and six also completed the project and showed that they are future leaders in the making.

The project takes about three weeks to complete and involves finding the answers to a range of questions on a range of topics from molecular biology, geography, population graphs and wonders of the ancient world.

Of the children who entered, four got credits by scoring between 83 per cent and 85 per cent, two got merit by scoring between 73 and 75 per cent.

Bridget Greenway, 11, impressed her teachers by achieving a high distinction with a score of 95 per cent, while Max Corpe, 12, also impressed with score of 88 per cent, earning himself a distinction.

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