Ranfurly, Wanaka teams go to top of the quiz class

A TINY school took top honours in last night’s year 78 Otago Daily Times Extra! current events quiz in Cromwell.

Freddie Hore, Maia Macdonald and Jock Duncan, of St John’s School, in Ranfurly, won first prize with 81 points, out of 47 teams.

Teams from Remarkables Primary School won second and third places with 77 and 76 points respectively.

The year 7 St John’s School pupils said their strength ‘‘was having different strengths’’.

‘‘Freddie’s good at flags and mapping, I’m good at politics, and Jock is good at sports and just anything,’’ Maia said.

Freddie was part of the St John’s team that won the year 56 Extra! current events quiz last year, and Maia and Jock had competed but not won places.

They said they would like to come back next year ‘‘to defend our title’’.

It was a close race in the year 56 category, but team seven from Holy Family Catholic School, in Wanaka, won first place out of 40 teams.

Olivia Huddleston, AniaKanu Saklani and Oscar Crowe, all in year 6, scored 86 points out of 100, followed by fellow pupils, Holy Family Catholic School team five, with 84 points, and Remarkables Primary School, with 83 points.

It was the first time Olivia and Oscar had taken part in the event, but AniaKanu was part of a team that competed last year.

They said they found the questions a mix of ‘‘hard and easy’’, finding a section identifying faces easy, but finding places in New Zealand and naming flags more challenging.

‘‘But we did that [flags] at school today, so it was kind of in my mind,’’ AniaKanu said.

They said they had ‘‘one or two guesses’’ for their questions, but ‘‘the rest we knew’’, and ‘‘we worked well together’’.

PHOTOS: PAM JONES Team effort . . . The winners of the year 56 Otago Daily Times Extra! current events quiz in Cromwell last night (from left), year 6 pupils Olivia Huddleston (11), AniaKanu Saklani (10) and Oscar Crowe (10), of Holy Family Catholic School, in Wanaka, celebrate their success.

All smiles . . . Winners of the year 78 Extra! current events quiz (from left) Freddie Hore (12), Maia Macdonald (12) and Jock Duncan (11), all in year 7, at St John’s School, in Ranfurly, show off their certificates and medals.

Tough questions . . . Millers Flat year 6 pupils (from left) Honor Garden (10), Molly Hansen (11) and Cortney Thompson (11) discuss their answer in the year 56 Extra! current events quiz.

Team huddle . . . Maniototo Area School year 5 pupils (from left) Charlie Hore (9), Lachlan Mackenzie (9) and Vanessa Paterson (10) concentrate during the year 56 section.

Concentration . . . Clyde Primary School pupils (from left) Oscar Bartle (13, year 8), Jasmine Anderson (12, year 8) and Taine Morgan (11, year 7) confer during the year 78 quiz.