Mangonui School pupils stoked with letter back from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Mangonui School year 5 and 6 pupils are thrilled with the letter from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Jenny Ling

Writing a book full of letters thanking Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for leading the country through the Covid-19 lockdown paid off for Mangonui School pupils.

The Year 5 and 6 pupils were absolutely stoked when they received a letter back from the Prime Minister, saying she appreciated their kind words and would "keep the book close to my desk so I can have a peek into it every now and then".

The 100-page work contained letters from each student, with an accompanying digital portrait of the PM created on Google Drawings.

Even 'The Curve Crusher' Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield got a special mention at the front of the book.

The pupils were impressed they were recognised by the Prime Minister.

"It was pretty cool getting a letter back from Jacinda Ardern and that we actually got to give her a letter," Year 6 pupil Brendon Dowman said.

Lucas and Brendon with a copy of the book thanking the Prime Minister for helping New Zealand get through the worst of Covid-19. Photo / Jenny Ling

Each letter outlines the students' thanks, praises Ardern's communication skills and hard work, and explains what they did during lockdown.

"We were one of the only countries that made it through coronavirus," Year 6 student Lucas Baker said.

"Every single day she took her time telling New Zealand what was happening and keeping us up to date," Year 5 pupil Amber Clark said.

Teachers Anna van der Voort and Janet Lloyd came up with the idea as pupils had many questions about the pandemic when they returned to school after lockdown.

Lloyd said they decided to delve deeper into what the pandemic was, the statistics around it and how it affected New Zealand compared with the rest of the world.

Te Ahere Henderson's digital drawing of the PM.

They skimmed and scanned news websites for information, and analysed graphs and tables, and read texts.

"New Zealand did an amazing job so we tied that into our literacy and letter writing to show our gratitude and thank her for working so hard," Lloyd said.

"Our wonderful tamariki just really appreciated what she has done for our country and wanted to let her know how thankful we were."

After creating the book, they sent it off to the Parliament buildings in Wellington.

"A few weeks later, we received a superb reply," Lloyd said.

"This has been a great learning experience, has been very relevant and kept our tamariki on track as to what has been happening."

'The Curve Crusher' Dr Ashley Bloomfield got a special mention in the book by student Mia Millichamp.

A digital Google Drawing of the PM by Peyton Shaw.

Tane MacDonald created this colourful likeness of the PM.