It was a simple numbers game. One hundred Year 6 Tahatai School pupils in Papamoa walking for two months – and every step taken is counted. Every step.

It came to precisely 10,395,264. Not one step fewer or half a pace more. Exactly 10,395,264 because each step was recorded on a pedometer which the 10-year-olds carried in their pocket every minute of the day.

Tahatai School Year 6 pupils know how to count their steps.

'I thought it all sounded a bit strange,” says 10-year-old Daisy Wright. 'I thought I can't do this because it all sounds too challenging.” But she did do it – 9000 steps a day for two months.

'They walked their socks off,” says Tahatai School Year 6 team leader Craig McDonald.

It wasn't just about numbers – it was also about international relations and understanding, about connecting children and classrooms around the world.

'Before this I didn't know where Illinois and Chicago were,” says Daisy. Now the children of Tahatai and Greenbriar Elementary School in Northbrooke, Illiniois know exactly where each other live. They are new buddies.

A new Trans-Pacific understanding happened like this. The Year 6s joined up for the Walk Our World project from March 1 to May 8, in which everyone records their steps each day and each week.

The totals are submitted to international Walk Our World project headquarters in Los Angeles to contribute to a step by small step circumnavigation of the world – in the process connecting youngsters and classrooms all over the globe.

After stepping out with their Papamoa Plaza-sponsored pedometers, Tahatai Coast School connects with Greenbriar Elementary via Skype.

And 10-year-olds who are 12,935,000 big steps apart on opposite sides of the world are making friends and learning about each other. But learning what?

Well for starters 'they have a very strong accent” observed Daisy. 'They sounded weird but then they probably thought I sounded weird.” And confusing perhaps because Daisy is English-born and has her own 'strong accent”.

And there are also things called time zones. 'We were talking to Northbrooke on a Tuesday morning in Papamoa and it was Monday afternoon there” says Craig. How does that work? Ask a Year 6 at Tahatai Coast School because they now know and can explain.

'Our children got an incredible thrill out of meeting children just like them, but in another part of the world.”

Walk Our World – a project involving thousands of children worldwide – aims to join everyone up through video chats and collaboration on projects such as making educational games, music videos and movies.

'Effectively our pupils have gone beyond the walls of the classroom,” says Craig. 'And they're using digital technology to bring the wider world into their learning.”

And while we're dealing with small steps and large numbers, the global total of steps taken was 185,583,244 after the project finished up this month.

That's a lot of sore feet and worn out shoes and would have gone a long way towards a circumnavigation.

'It was an interesting experience for everyone,” says Daisy. 'In all six years I've been at Tahatai, I've never done anything like this.”

Seems global understanding and friendships are very important to a 10-year-old.