Papakōwhai School Readathon 2026

This year we have two big goals: to get our tamariki reading and to raise $40,000 to support our teaching assistants and library provision.

Providing the fantastic level of additional support we have at Papakōwhai costs over $400,000 each year. Around half is directly funded by the Ministry of Education, with the remainder supported through school funds, donations and fundraising. Our Readathon goal is to raise approximately 10% of this annual cost.

Our teaching assistants make a difference right across our school. They support children individually and in groups, provide additional learning and extension opportunities, assist with English language learning, and help our children experience success at school.

How the Readathon works

We've changed things up this year!

Instead of recording reading hours, every student will receive an age-appropriate Reading Bingo card containing 25 reading challenges.

The challenges are designed to make reading fun and varied — reading somewhere unusual, trying a different type of book, reading with whānau, building a reading streak, tackling a bigger book and lots more. All of the tasks can be adapted to suit different reading abilities and needs.

Challenges

Every time a student completes five challenges, they get a ticket in our major prize draw.

Sponsorship

This year we'd love donations to come in throughout the Readathon, as children reach their reading milestones, rather than everyone waiting until the end.

Children can ask grandparents, wider whānau and family friends:

“Will you sponsor me every time I complete five reading challenges?”