Daffodil Day 2023 at Tikipunga Primary School in Whangārei

Parade leader Dayton Matthews, 9, proudly sports his yellow attire. Photo / Michael Cunningham

It was a sea of yellow at Tikipunga Primary School as students and teachers dressed in all shades for Daffodil Day 2023 to spread awareness for cancer.

Tamariki were encouraged to attend the day armed with a coin donation. Teacher Kylie Kahotea said whether it was $2 or 10 cents, every little bit counted.

“Everybody is affected by cancer one way or another, so we’ve just jumped on with that.”

Kahotea said students at Tikipunga Primary School were part of the KiVa anti-bullying programme and learning to be “upstanders”.

“Part of being in the bullying programme is that we have upstanders who stand up to the bullies, so in this case cancer is the bully.

“So we’re being upstanders by standing up and supporting the cause.”

Students eagerly came into school “so excited” to join in and see what their classmates were wearing. From a simple hair tie to full yellow, everyone participated, Kahotea said.

Image 1 of 3: Tamariki gathering before the parade wave at photographer Michael Cunningham.

“It’s a really low-decile school, but they always turn out, they always come in and put a lot of effort in, and even with the donation, it’s any coin, it doesn’t have to be a gold coin. They can all bring 10c and still feel like they’re contributed.”

As of 2pm on Friday, the school had raised $273.30.

Daffodil Day is a nationwide initiative by the Cancer Society which uses the spring-blooming daffodil as a symbol of hope.

According to the Cancer Society, approximately one million kilometres are driven each year to cancer treatments, 50,000 nights are spent in accommodation for cancer patients, and $5.2m is redirected to cancer research.

Across Te Tai Tokerau, many initiatives took place in the lead-up to Daffodil Day, with Ahipara Sandhoppers ECE raising over $1000, Hurupaki Kindergarten raising over $600, and Northland Vintage Car Club raising over $700.

Street collectors were also out across Northland with their buckets. You can donate by visiting https://daffodilday.org.nz/.

Brodie Stone is the education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie recently graduated from Massey University and has a special interest in the environment and investigative reporting.