St Peter's Catholic School's special Countdown surprise

EMMA JAMES
Last updated 11:42, April 22 2015

Students from St Peter's Catholic School in Cambridge were in awe at their gift from Countdown.

A set of animal collectible cards have been turned into a learning tool at St Peter's Catholic School in Cambridge.

Countdown released a national set of Super Animal collectible cards in January to help raise funds for the Royal New Zealand SPCA (RNZSPCA). 

Students at St Peter's Catholic School in Cambridge engaged with the cards to such a degree that they have been rewarded with their own unique cards.

Deputy principal Denise Gordon quickly noticed the popularity of the cards in her classroom.

"All those cards were on the desk and they were all busy swapping," she said.

"It's always a challenge as a teacher to engage children, particularly boys, in their writing."

Seeing their enthusiasm, she started using the cards to teach her students about exotic animals.

She then got her students to make their own  "Super Country" cards with interesting facts about their chosen location.

"The kids researched their chosen country, gathered facts and wrote questions and answers," said Gordon.

"The country cards were directly linked to their cultural heritage."

Excited about their project, the nine and ten year old children then wrote letters to Countdown, sending them copies of their own super cards and telling them what they had learned.

Marketing manager Bridget Lamont read the letters and thought the kids' efforts deserved recognition.

"I read every single one of those letters," she said.

Last week she was in town to give each child in the class a set of cards, printed with their chosen countries, and the facts, questions and answers they had written. They were specifically made for their classroom by Countdown.

The students were in awe as they got to see their handiwork turned into real Super Country cards, and were excited to find out that two New Zealand birds, kiwi and kakapo, were in the next round of the Super Animal collection.

Also visiting the classroom was Jason Blair and "Nova" the Shar Pei puppy, who bought even more smiles to the students' faces.

The Super Animals cards have so far raised over $218,000 for the RNZSPCA, with over 194,000 Super Animal albums being sold.

They proved so popular, that they have just launched a second round, with new Super Animals sound cards covering six categories - herbivore, carnivore, ombivore, insectivore, piscivore and fungivore. 

A swap-meet of cards will be at Countdown stores on May 10.

 - Stuff

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/67890486/cambridge-schools-special-countdown-surprise