Angus (5) was diagnosed with soft-tissue cancer that had spread to his lungs and various bone sites. His initial prognosis meant an uncertain future, his mother, Fritha Beaton, said.
This week, Angus finished the last of six intensive chemotherapy cycles for some time and regained enough energy to throw on a school uniform and march into his new classroom at Waimairi Primary School.
Angus was initially enrolled at Arrowtown School, where he was to join older sister Kate (6), but the family's plans changed and they have now moved out of Ronald McDonald House and into their temporary home in Papanui.
Both children will attend the school until Angus' radiation treatment next month is complete and he is fully recovered.
"They both still very much think of themselves as Arrowtown kids," Mrs Beaton said.
"We are definitely coming back, but it makes more sense right now to be here." She said living and schooling in Christchurch had been beneficial for Angus because it gave him a fresh start to be a "normal kid".
"Nobody knows who he is here.
"He came back from our Arrowtown trip saying he didn't want to be special; 'I want to be regular'.""He saw a Daffodil Day ad on tele the other week and said to me, 'On that day I'm going to pretend I don't have cancer'."
His mother has since convinced Angus having cancer does not define who he is and he is an ordinary child.
Going to school on Wednesday reassured Angus of this and helped get some regularity into his life, his mother said.
He will start with small steps and half days before getting fully into the swing of things.
Living in Christchurch has also helped the family get back into routine and kept Mrs Beaton's nerves calmer.
"We don't have that feeling of, we're waiting to get home, or we're waiting for blood tests to see if he is up for travel. This is our home for now."
Mrs Beaton said that when the family was in Arrowtown, she and husband Gordon were always a little nervous about something going wrong because Queenstown lacked some of the facilities they would need.
Visiting Arrowtown also gave the family an empty feeling on leaving so, for now, Christchurch was the best option, she said.
Mr Beaton stays in Arrowtown during the week, working for his local building business.
"We kind of like the idea we're in a big city and it's all a bit more low key for us right now."
She said the support the family was still receiving from friends in Arrowtown had been "phenomenal" and she hoped visitors were not too far away.
