Turns out, not everyone’s a fan of AC/DC blasting in the morning.
Te Kura o Puhinui in Warkworth has swapped the classic high-pitched ring for a playlist of bangers to mark the start and end of class.
The school’s musical bell system features hits like ‘Thunderstruck’ and the brilliant ‘Mah Na Mah Na’ by the Muppets. The tunes have been in rotation for a few years now, but it’s only now starting to strike a nerve with neighbours.
It’s become a bit of a battle of the bell, with two petitions created - one to keep the music pumping and another to shut it down.
Principal Karney Dawson told RNZ’s Checkpoint that while the school has tried to meet the grumbles halfway, they’re standing by their playlist.
"About 95% [of students] said 'we want it to stay', they just love it," he said. "They love the music over the bells."
Still, the school has done the neighbourly thing, trimming song lengths and adjusting the volume.
Apparently, even noise testing didn’t support the complaints. The music came back quieter than the playground chaos at lunchtime.
Dawson added: "We're a school that's got a strong sense of community, and we want to connect with our community and we also want to be good to our neighbours - I mean it's the values that are in school. "So we certainly approached the concern and we lowered the volume, we shortened the music length, we're going to adjust one of the towers - one of the speakers.
The community’s also pitched in with a Spotify playlist of suggested tracks, and the school’s teasing some festive jingles to round out the year. "I think with the noise that's been generated about this over the last week, it's actually made the children even more appreciative that we're a unique school, we try different things and we do what we can for our tamariki." Love it or hate it, the music’s here to stay.
