Former Awakeri School principal Peter Fitzgerald jokes that his only regret in coming up with the Top School concept 40 years ago was not putting a copyright on it.

The concept has been copied by schools in Waikato, Western Bay, and even New Plymouth.

“The idea has spread,” he said.

And why not, when the whole idea is to bring kids together for lots of fun while raising funds for school projects.

“It was a way to get a lot of people into the school, so we could sell them food,” Mr Fitzgerald said of his original idea.

The annual competition being held on Sunday has raised over $600,000 for the school over the past four decades, paying for a variety of climbing frames, a computer suite, astroturf, classroom extensions and most recently, a fantastical pirate ship playground.

“There's all those things that you don't get funding for that makes the school a great place,” said acting principal Louise Howard.

Of course, the inspiration came from classic New Zealand television show Top Town.

Top Town ran from the mid-1970s, pitting teams from various towns against each other in a series of entertaining physical challenges, from slippery obstacle courses to balancing challenges.

The difference is that while Top Town ran out of steam in 1990s, Top School has only gained in popularity since the first event in 1986.

Rather than teams from different towns, Top School brings together about 30 teams from different schools in the region to compete over three divisions.

Events are fairly wacky but are fiercely competitive and require plenty of teamwork and training, with names like dragon boat relay, up and away, castle, bungy and magic carpet, and there is also a competition for the best cheerleading team.

Schools from as far away as Pōtaka travel to the event and there is a waiting list of schools keen to get into the competition.

"The first one we did was quite low-key and I think we made about a $1000 profit on it,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

“It was really just to see if it would work. Then at the post-meeting afterwards, we all thought, ‘this is actually a good concept’. I'm glad it's still running and it is fantastic, actually, that it is.”

From small beginnings, the event has grown to a day that attracts up to 5000 people to the school sports field.

“This school is heaving with people every year,” said current acting principal Louise Howard.

“From 11am to 1pm it’s just absolutely chocka with people eating, playing and cheering on the teams.”

The event has been cancelled only twice in the intervening time, both times due to Covid-19 restrictions, though Mr Fitzgerald recalls one year it had to be cut short due to unseasonable weather.

“In 1998, we called it off halfway through a storm. A cold front came through, and it just tipped down and it was absolutely freezing. We were worried that the kids would get hypothermia because they’re already wet out there and that wind was bitterly cold.”

He said the school picked March for the competition for two reasons.

The weather was usually quite settled and it was during the seasonal changeover in sports from rugby and netball to cricket and softball, so children and parents were more likely to be available.

He said no one had ever been seriously injured in the competition.

“Perhaps the occasional sprains or blisters. We've done some weird and crazy things in the past. The first events we wouldn't get away with now because of health and safety.”

Though volunteers and sponsors to help run the event were harder to come by every year, Ms Howard said the school had a good core of people who “just get stuck in. The Top School Committee works for months to get it off the ground.”