A programme to build awareness of the 2023 Census with school children resulted in 1260 schools and 1530 classrooms registering to take part, says Stats NZ.

The 2023 Census Teacher's Toolkit included a lesson plan, an activity pack, and the opportunity for students to develop their own mini census and win a $100 stationery voucher for their classroom.

'We had a fantastic response to this initiative to bring the census to school-aged children,” says Simon Mason, Deputy Government Statistician and Deputy Chief Executive Census and Collection Operations.

'Thank you to all the schools who registered to take part. I am pleased to announce we have provided $100 stationery vouchers to 46 classrooms from 27 schools across Aotearoa New Zealand.

'There were some fantastic entries to win a voucher, and it looked like students had a great time learning about the census. Some schools went to a lot of effort to produce their census results and there were some very creative entries.”

Adding a slice of fun and entertainment, the 2023 Census Teacher's Toolkit included a video introducing the census from Elvis Lopeti. Elvis is a former Celebrity Treasure Island finalist, and Parris Goebel's The Royal Family dancer and choreographer, recently part of Rihanna's half-time Super Bowl show. The video was filmed at Waiau Pa School in Pukekohe.

'By supporting teachers to talk about the census, in a fun way, we hope students will understand why we do a census and how it will help their community in the future. We have received some great feedback from teachers – including stories about students being able to support their family to take part in the 2023 Census.”

Stats NZ has also donated stationery vouchers to 200 schools in Northland, Auckland, the Coromandel, Gisborne, and the Hawke's Bay that signed up for the schools' education programme but were unable to participate to win a voucher due to Cyclone Gabrielle and recent flooding events.

'While using the 2023 Census Teacher's Toolkit resources can be factored into classroom activity at any time, we want to acknowledge the schools who couldn't take part due to Cyclone Gabrielle. We hope this small token helps support their return to normal school activities.”

Schools with entries earning a voucher:

Auckland:

• English Language Partners, Auckland South
• Howick Intermediate School
• Laingholm Primary School
• Mission Heights Junior College
• Newton Central School
• Papatoetoe High School
• Silverdale Normal School
• Verran Primary School
• Wentworth College

Rest of the North Island:

• Central School, New Plymouth
• Matapu School, Taranaki
• Martinborough School, Wairarapa
• Silverdale Normal School, Hamilton
• Wellesley College, Lower Hutt
• Maraeroa School, Porirua
• Masterton Intermediate School

South Island:

• Cotswold School, Christchurch
• Fenwick School, Christchurch
• Geraldine High School, Canterbury
• John Paul II High School, Greymouth
• Nelson College for Girls, Nelson
• Riccarton High School, Christchurch
• Sacred Heart School, Reefton
• Shotover Primary, Queenstown
• Stoke School, Nelson
• St Patricks School, Greymouth
• Waimea Intermediate School, Tasman