Students at St Patrick's Primary School in Bega have been blessed with incredible weather for their annual Beachathon after a cloudy week of rain and wind.
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Students, teachers, and parents loaded onto buses and went to Tathra to walk approximately 3.5km from Mogareeka Inlet to the all-abilities playground behind the Tathra Surf Life Saving Club.
Some students chose to jog in front along the paved pathway with their teachers and others chose to take the walk at a more leisurely pace.
Assistant principal Val Sheahan said although some students found the walk challenging, the school felt the distance was realistic for the students "to have success".
"Even our kindergarten students who are our five and six year olds have completed it."
Following the walking activity, students were brought onto the beach to build sandcastles and play in the sand. Students were invited to bring along their shovels and sandcastle moulds.
Ms Sheahan said the Beachathon was a much loved activity built into the physical education curriculum that usually happened at the start of term four to allow children to relax and reconnect after the holiday break.
She said the event had been on the backburner during COVID and so children from kindergarten to year 2 were experiencing the activity for the first time.
"We're happy to have our community here and engage them because we've missed them for two years and it's lovely to have our parents joining us. They've come along and given up their time for a really fun day," she said.
A barbeque lunch was put on by the school's parent engagement committee and parents assisted with supervision along the route, helping students cross intersections.
Ms Sheahan said the school's "prayers had been answered" by getting what she described as a "Goldilocks day" - with the weather not too cold and not too hot.
"It's just right! And we've got a bit of a breeze so this is perfect for it - we're so blessed."
"It's the first week so we're starting the term off with a nice community feel to allow our students to reconnect with each other, find buddies, and enjoy leisure," she said.