Low blow for children in the Far North after fundraising money stolen in alleged school break-in

The fundraising efforts of a group of Year 8 pupils from Far North have been devastated after money raised for an end-of-year camp was stolen from their school overnight.

Thousands of dollars raised to pay for travel costs to the annual Grade 8 OCP camp in Tongariro were stolen from the Oruaiti school on Monday in an alleged break-in in the early hours of the morning.

According to the school's principal, Diane Bates, thieves allegedly broke into the school through the infirmary window, before ransacking the school premises and making their way into the area reception of the school.

That's where the culprits located the school safe, which contained the 8th grade camp's money.

Bates said the students worked hard to raise money and she was still in shock over the incident.

“Our guard arrived around 6 a.m. and it was only when it was a little lighter that he noticed all the equipment from the infirmary, as well as the property around the school, lying outside in the front yard,” Bates said.

“After that we could see that the latch on the infirmary window had been forced open and when our receptionist arrived, she went into her office and saw that all the money in the safe was gone .

“There was also this strange shed set up out front, so I don’t know if it was because there was a lot of rain last night or not, but it was strange.”

Bates confirmed the school's security alarm was activated at around 4.20am, but on this occasion the usual alert was not sent to his phone.

New Zealand police have confirmed that they had received a report of a burglary at an address in Mangōnui this morning.

A police spokesperson said it was too early to speculate on what had happened, but appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

“The incident, which occurred at a school on State Highway 10, was reported to police around 8:10 a.m.,” the spokesperson said.

“Police are now in the very early stages of determining what happened and who is responsible.

“Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police via 105 quoting P059005725.”

Bates said that while they haven't shared much with students yet, she has reached out to parents, who have expressed their displeasure and disappointment.

She also posted the incident on the school's Facebook page, reiterating police's request for information.

Bates said that although it now has to start from scratch, the school will make sure to find a way to get students to the camp.

“The feedback we've gotten from parents is that they're pretty empty and we don't want to ask the kids to raise more money because they've already done a lot,” Bates said.

“The actual cost of the camp trip was kindly donated by an amazing community member, with additional fundraising to cover travel costs, t-shirts and jackets for students and any other additional costs.

“I think it's really disappointing to get caught out by kids, they've worked so hard to sell raffles, but we'll make sure they get there, we'll make it work so they don't missing nothing.”