Classrooms are especially quiet at a small rural Bay of Plenty school this week, thanks to the Zespri AIMS Games.

More than half of Otakiri School's eligible students are travelling at least 70km morning and night to compete across four different sporting codes.

They are among more than 10,000 Intermediate-aged children who have descended on Tauranga for the week-long event.

Otakiri teacher Matt Brown attended the games for the first time in 2019, with a single team.

He was so impressed by the event, he returned with 26 of the small rural school's 44 Intermediate-aged pupils this time around.

The students, who are competing in mountain biking, indoor bowls, Rip Rugby and gymnastics, have held sausage sizzles to fundraise for the games.

Indoor bowler Rangiamohia Te Rangi, pictured above receiving tips from veteran bowler Bill West, is part of the contingent.

The 87-year-old loves seeing the next generation of bowlers coming through. He has been involved with indoor bowls at AIMS since the code joined the line-up in 2011

"It's absolutely fantastic and the more I see, the better I like it," Bill says.

For Rangiamohia, who only picked up the sport this year, this week is all about "having fun, that's all".

"I thought it would be nice to play bowls and I heard bowls was pretty cool," the 11-year-old says.

Rain didn't stop rugby from being played on Monday.

See more of Monday's action with Jamie Troughton's images below: