Joyriders have torn up a school field in the Western Bay of Plenty just days before a major fundraising event is due to be held.

Whakamarama School's top paddock has been left churned up after a vehicle deliberately skidded around the field in the same week as the school's biennial possum hunt.

Whakamarama School Principal Natasha Greatorex in the ruined field. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

It's the third time the paddock has been chewed up by someone doing ‘donuts' – a circular skidding technique – and according to Principal Natasha Greatorex, this is the worst damage so far.

'The damage is a lot more serious than the previous two times,” explains Natasha. 'We closed up and chained up the bottom gate, but they came through by lifting the hinges off.

'We have plan B to keep the hinges on, but it looks like they are quite determined to use the school field for their ‘donuts'.”

Judging by the tracks leaving the field, only one vehicle was involved, adds Natasha.

'It seems they are coming here in the mornings,” she says.

'The field should have been covered in dew, but there was no dew collected since the tyres had gone over it. So it must have been around first sunlight.

'It would be sort of a jeep. It's got good tyres on it and the way it's churned the place up, it's more than just a car.”

The last time the field was vandalised was the week before Whakamarama School hosted the Small Schools Cross Country, and Natasha thinks the previous damage was done on a Sunday.

On Tuesday this week, the children were left treading down the davits, trying to tidy the place up a bit before the big day this weekend.

The top field will host a variety of games and prize-giving ceremonies as the possums are brought in from the hunt over the weekend.

Some of the children are quite upset about the damage, says Natasha.

One student says: 'I'm ashamed of the community member with their lack of respect for our public field.”

One of the last remaining 'traditionally rural schools”, where classrooms still have fire burners and the kids help to get firewood, Whakamarara's fundraiser is the pinnacle event of the year.

It sees teams head out on a four-day hunt to capture as many possums as possible, via trapping or shooting, before bringing them back for the fun day and prize giving on Sunday (August 23).

Awards are handed out, with titles such as Most Possums, Heaviest Possum and the Dirtiest Vehicle up for grabs.

'We've got 33 students, it's a three-teacher school and we receive little government funding,” says event co-organiser and parent Karla Pennell.

'The event is great because all of the kids and their parents get behind it. It has a real community feel.”

The possums are plucked, with fur sold at about $100/kg. All funds going back into the school.

'It's an environmentally friendly fundraiser,” adds Karla. 'They are a pest and have to be controlled as they cause so much damage. Possums are a major threat to the health and well-being of our forests.”

The family fun day begins at 10am on August 23 at Whakamarama School, with a bouncy castle, auction and entertainment for all to enjoy.

People who may have information about the damage to the school's field are asked to contact police.