Read Brianna and Ava's account of the Tall Poppy experience of the school Cross Country...

Last Tuesday on the 21st of May, we went to Waipuna Park for Cross Country. All the students of Tauriko School were so excited to start running. We had left school pretty early on the buses. When we arrived at Waipuna Park we could see all the coloured flags of the House groups.

The Tall Poppies’ race was the first out of the lot. Starting the race made a lot of us busting to go to the toilet or feeling sick! Half way through the race some of us felt like vomiting but we keeped on going. Some of the time we felt like walking and we felt like giving up but we wanted to keep on moving. Thankfully we all finished the race - some faster than others!

Half of the Tall Poppies weŕe helping out with other races throughout the school by being ‘rabbits’ or ‘tail-end Charlie’, with the other half cheering and encouraging from the sidelines. (Being a rabbit is running ahead of the kids so they know where to go. A Tail-End Charlie is racing behind the kids so they don't lose where they’re going and they don't get left behind.)

Top 5 Tall Poppy Boys:

1st - Dylan Rawson

2nd - Ben Rikiriki

3rd - Noah Lord

4th - Taylor Groves

5th - William Simmonds

Top 5 Tall Poppy Girls:

1st - Georgia Barnett

2nd - Laura James

3rd - Casey Beach

4th - Emily Verstappen

5th - Lacey Graham

Some Tall Poppies will go off to the Tall Poppies Cross Country and race against other schools! We are still waiting to see which House group has won!