BBC films at Stanmore Bay

Principal Carol Abley says she got three weeks’ notice that the British film crew would be coming to the school to film a segment for the Wanted Down Under series, which they did on May 14.

The programme airs on BBC One and aims to help families and couples from across the UK who are considering emigrating to NZ or Australia, by giving them a week-long taste of life ‘down under’ before they decide whether to make the move.

Now in its tenth series, it regularly attracts two million viewers.

Carol showed Nik Huddart and his two children around the school and says the biggest wow factor was the size of the field.

“He asked whether it could be sold off for housing, as happens in the UK,” she said.

Nik and the children were also interested in the Enviroschools programme.

Filming took 1.5 hours and Carol says it will be interesting to see what makes the cut, when it is reduced to around eight minutes of footage.

Each family votes at the end as to whether they want to make the move, and Carol says she thinks the Huddarts will be in favour.

“Most people move here for the quality of life, and take on board that the cost of living, in some areas, is higher,” she says. “They get to find out all the facts and figures on their visit to NZ, including things like house prices and how far it is to commute to work, but things like walking on the beaches, the climate and way of life count for a lot.”

Footage was also recorded at Orewa Primary in April for the same programme but with the Gormusoglu family.

The Huddart’s segment will not transmit on British television until next January.