Organiser Nicky Smith with her kids Joshua and Harper. Photo: Bella Craig / RNZ
Pens, glue sticks and exercise books may seem like absolute basics for a child in a classroom, but many are relying on donated stationery to start the school year.
A community-run group in Lower Hutt has pulled together school stationery packages to donate to whānau - and said demand was higher than ever.
The group's organiser said it received 170 requests for donated packs since the start of the year - and one school said it can be the difference between a child going to school or staying home.
Nicky Smith knows from her own experience - having to fork out hundreds of dollars for stationery during the back-to-school season each year for her kids.
After becoming a teacher aide at her local school, she saw firsthand how the need for school stationery is often forgotten.
Nicky Smith's garage set up with a surplus of stationery. Photo: Bella Craig / RNZ
"When you have big families or families where you have kids in primary school and also in intermediate or high school, you know that the costs start to really ratchet up once we start introducing uniforms and technology and special subject fees.
"Stationery, the lesser of the expenses was being missed because parents had to prioritise uniform over stationery."
In 2023, she started Te Awakairangi School Stationery Drive, and in the past two years was able to fund over $12,000 worth of stationery to local schools.
They use recycled and new stationery donated to them to create packs for students of all ages as well as donations from their Give a Little page.
A note put in each stationery pack. Photo: Bella Craig / RNZ
Each pack was personalised to items each student required such as exercise books, pens, glue sticks, colouring in pencils and backpacks.
Every student should have a full set of stationery to start their year, Smith said.
"I have heard of instances where particularly in larger families, kids go back to school in a staggered way because families can only afford to equip one child at a time.
"The first child with everything goes to school and then they save a bit and then the next child goes and that really makes the difference in terms of their attendance and their achievement."
The costs for school stationery had gone up significantly this year, Smith said.
What goes in a pack. Photo: Bella Craig / RNZ
"I randomly picked a primary school junior, a primary school senior, intermediate and a high school list, and I priced them using the prices I had in spreadsheets from last year.
"Then I priced them based on the prices I will pay at Warehouse Stationery, and we think that the prices have gone up by 15 percent."
There were donation points across the city's libraries, where people could recycle old items from their homes and offices.
Rachael Sole, the principal of Boulcott School said there were barriers when families could not afford all stationery items.
This year, the drive was supporting 18 students across all year groups from the school.
"This really helps them to make sure their children have got the right bits that match everybody else's, and it's the same so that they feel they're just like everybody else."
Having a full set of stationery could affect a student's attendance, she agreed.
"We've been asked to concentrate on attendance for this year and for a kid having the same as everybody else really makes them want to come to school, excited about coming to school.
"Whereas if they know that they haven't got an item that everybody else has got and they potentially think they'll be in trouble, they wouldn't, but they think they might be in trouble, that can be a reason for a child not wanting to come to school."
Some schools in Aotearoa fund stationery items for students from funds in their school budget.
But Sole said if schools fund stationery, it often means they have to sacrifice something else.
"Any money that you put in to supply stationery is taken off something else. There's only one pot that it's all coming from, and so we don't really want to have to dip into that."
The issue of back-to-school costs crippling families is one felt across the motu.
Variety's chief executive told Checkpoint, they were inundated with calls from desperate parents trying to get help with uniforms and other kit so they could send their children back to school.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
