Airpoints™ for Schools journeys
See how more than 400 Kiwi kids have benefited from the programme.
Airpoints™ for Schools and Airpoints members have helped more than 400 Kiwi students from across the country broaden their horizons through travel. Selected for their outstanding environmental, cultural, social or educational goals, these schools were given the opportunity to embark on an educational travel experience to a wide range of destinations within New Zealand and overseas. Read the school stories below to see how the programme has enabled aspiring young leaders to gain new experiences, knowledge, and inspiration to reach their potential.
- Flying, skiing, and gold panning for the first time, students took every opportunity on their trip to learn something new.Read more about their journey to Queenstown
- Four students represented New Zealand at the 2018 International Problem Solving Competition in Wisconsin.Read more about their journey to Wisconsin
- A group of students attended the World Dance Congress in Adelaide to showcase Māori and Pacific Island dance and to participate in intercultural dance exchanges.Read more about their journey to Adelaide
- Students embraced New Zealand’s history, experienced Māori culture and learnt about the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in Waitangi and the surrounding areas of Russell.Read more about their journey to Waitangi
- The school's Mandarin language class flew to China to connect with their sister school as part of a cultural exchange.Read more about their journey to China
- The entire school boarded an airplane for the first time to study New Zealand's native animals in Dunedin.Read more about their journey to Dunedin
- The school's Concert Band students travelled to Wellington to perform on a national level at the Wellington Bands and Orchestras Festival.Read more about their journey to Wellington
- Three students will be competing in the Technovation Challenge in San Francisco with their award-winning environmental app.
- The school's senior rugby team will be flying to Brisbane as part of a leadership initiative.
- The entire school will be travelling to Hawaii to learn more about the history and ancestral home of Maori.
- Four students travelled to London and Scotland for the first time to learn more about maritime history and connect with their exchange school.Read more about their journey to London and Scotland
- A group of students will travel to Wellington to learn more about the city's history, and to visit Te Papa and the New Zealand Parliament Buildings.
- Students will be getting onboard an airplane for the first time for their journey to Wellington, where they will visit Te Papa, Weta Workshop and the New Zealand Parliament Buildings.
- Senior students will be travelling to Rotorua to learn about Maori culture and its significance to New Zealand's history.
- The school's Japanese language class will be travelling to Japan to connect with their sister school and immerse themselves in the local culture.
- A group of students will be travelling to Wellington to expand their knowledge of New Zealand history and to visit the He Tohu Exhibition and Te Papa.
- Students travelled to Wellington to explore the capital city and learn more about New Zealand.Read more about their journey to Wellington
- The school will be travelling to Christchurch to learn more about the city, and to experience its innovative rebuild first hand.
- Students travelled outside of New Zealand for the first time to experience the Gold Coast and its multitude of cultural and educational activities.Read more about their journey to the Gold Coast
- A group of students travelled to Wellington to visit Te Papa, the New Zealand Parliament Buildings and to immerse themselves in the city's history.Read more about their journey to Wellington
- A group of Aorere College students were given the chance to reconnect with their Samoan heritage. The students experienced local schooling and culture, and undertook community service along Apia’s shoreline.Read more about their journey to Samoa
- Ten students from Maraekakaho School in Hastings had the opportunity to shine at the 2016 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) national robotics competition in Auckland.Read more about their journey to Auckland
- A group of students travelled to Singapore to visit their sister school as part of a cultural exchange, a trip that students have been fundraising towards for the last two years.Read more about their journey to Singapore
- A group of students travelled to Wellington to attend the World of WearableArt Awards for the first time. The students have entered their local wearable arts competition each year, and have come away with many prizes to date.Read more about their journey to Wellington
- Students travelled to Hokitika to monitor and compare new spawning habitats of whitebait as part of a new initiative, Whaka Inaka: Causing Whitebait, which has been created through EOS Ecology, DOC and the University of Canterbury.Read more about their journey to Hokitika
- Students from Te Kura o Otangarei School were given the opportunity to travel to the Cook Islands to connect with their tupuna waka. The students immersed themselves in local schooling and culture and participated in traditional activities.Read more about their journey to the Cook Islands
- The school took their student senior leadership council to Christchurch for a leadership retreat, visiting the Beehive, a local Member of Parliament's office, and attending National Young Leaders Day.Read more about their journey to Christchurch
- The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) Primary School represents a group of eight virtual rural remote schools. Students had an opportunity to enjoy the company of a large number of peers, many of them for the first time, for a project camp in Wellington.Read more about their journey to Wellington
- A group of teachers will be travelling to Europe to further develop their knowledge of the school's newly implemented KIVA anti-bullying programme that was established at Turku University, Finland.
- A group of students travelled to the Pacific Island of Fiji. Students assisted with the building and painting of classrooms, installation of IT resources and water tanks, and sharing of culture and language with the community where the school is located.Read more about their journey to Fiji
- Two Tauranga Girls' College students watched their film come to life at the Hollywood Theatre in Oregon as it competed at the International Youth Silent Film Festival.Read more about their journey to Portland
- A group of students visited Christchurch to inspect and learn from a like-minded school's environmental project so they could replicate it back home.Read more about their journey to Christchurch
- The entire Maheno School will visit Wellington's Te Papa museum, to view the Maheno display at the Gallipoli exhibition, and learn more about the origin and significance of this relic.
- A group of Auckland students will be flying to Gisborne to compete for the first prize in the National Primary Schools Kapa Haka competition.
- A group of Otamarakau students will be travelling to Queenstown for a leadership camp, with a focus on tourism and careers.
- The senior class of a small, rural school will be visiting Weta Workshops and Capital E in Wellington, to see how their digital training can open future career pathways.
- A group of rural Southland students will be broadening their horizons in the big city of Melbourne, through an exchange with its sister school.
- A group of Rosehill students will attend the Special Olympics National Summer Games in Wellington, to compete in athletics and basketball.
- Waiharara School will experience their first plane trip and travel to the South Island to see snow, hunt greenstone and experience the various mountains and lakes.
- Gisborne students will travel to Christchurch to understand the impact of earthquakes and learn about protecting natural resources and sea life.