Southern Lens: The school with nine pupils

Tucked in the mountains between Hawea and Haast, Makarora is a community so small you could almost miss it.

But off the main highway is the second smallest school in the country - where a husband and wife are principal and teacher, a mother drives the bus but also acts as librarian, teacher aide and school trustee, and her daughter is the eldest in the class of nine.

Some might wonder whether a village of just 81 justifies a school, but those who keep it running fiercely defend Makarora School, saying children deserve to go to school where they're brought up. 

Upon stepping into the little classroom - warmed by a log burner on a winter morning - it's quickly clear why the kids are eager to climb on the bus each morning, this is a family.

 Thank you to everybody at the school for being involved, and sorry we couldn't include teacher Melanie Barlow, who was away on the day of filming.