MBAS Newsletter, Term 1, Week 9, 4th April 2025

MBAS Calendar

Kia Ora tātou – Greetings to you all

From the Primary

"Poipoia te kākano kia puawai"
 Nurture the seed so that it may blossom.

Kia ora rā e te whānau,

Kāore e roa…Not long to go…
Week 9 and we still have lots of learning to do:)

Growing Good People

Hui ā kurā tuatahi - Primary assemblies

Last Friday we had our second primary assembly with loads of whānau present to celebrate student learning and receiving KAURI certificates.  The pride in our students, whether they are presenting their learning to whānau or receive acknowledgement for all of their efforts, is priceless.  Next week at our whole school assembly we will be acknowledging our primary KAURI Superkids - students who have demonstrated our KAURI expectations in an extraordinary way or by consistently showing up.  These students will have morning tea with Mr Dunn in his office next Thursday:)

Tuakana - Teina - Buddy Classes

Each of our primary classes has a buddy class.  Buddy classes provide students with opportunities to build connections with students they either may not know or interact with.  Buddy classes also provide tuakana - teina and ako interactions.  There are some complex elements to the meaning of tuakana and teina but generally, tuakana refers to an older sibling and teina, to younger siblings.  Ako in this context refers to a reciprocal learning exchange where the younger student may in fact teach the older student something new.

Growing Good Learners

I konei a Harold…Harold came to visit - Life Education

As part of the health programme for the year 5-6 students this term, they had 2 sessions with Leiset & Harold from Life Education.  The kaupapa - theme for these sessions:

• Look at our personalities and how we think, feel, act and do things differently.
• How do we want our reputation seen?
• Discuss what a good, not so good reputation looks like.
• Understand what a team is and looks like and identify personalities that are needed to make a team.
• Identify ways we need to adapt to certain situations.

Puahape

Whaea Montana has been sharing knowledge about Puahape and the significance of the different elements that adorn our whare. The connection to our local curriculum, matauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and the history of this area are embedded in the carvings and artwork and are important for our students to learn.  These photos are from a session with our year 1 and 2 students.

Kauhoe - Swimming

Swimming continues despite the completion of our primary swimming events.  Students have been learning about water safety - using floatation devices, life jackets, forming huddles in the water and what it feels like to be fully dressed and wet.

Growing Good Leaders

Ngā Kaiarataki Tauono - Year 6 Leaders

So far our year 6 leaders received their leader’s badges, organised and led 2 primary assemblies, delivered daily online notices and met with the other leaders from across our kura to share their ideas for whole kura activities.  As we know, everyone is unique and can make valuable contributions in different ways.  It is awesome to watch their leadership skills and confidence grow. 

Ngā rangatira o āpōpō - Leaders of tomorrow

It is important that our students learn that there are many different ways to show leadership, whether through the responsibilities of leadership roles or through our actions and responses to new learning.  At our primary assembly last Friday, our year 4-6 Rōpū students shared their learning about some of the history about Te Tiriti - The Treaty of Waitangi and the Tino Rangatiratanga flag.

He aha atu? - What else?

• Whole School Teacher Only Day - Friday May 16th 

• Attendance:  Please let our attendance officer know if your child is going to be absent and a brief explanation for the absence i.e. Hira is going to be away as she is sick (has a medical appointment, is going to a tangi/funeral, we have family visiting).  The importance of the explanation is so we can apply the correct Ministry code.  Attendance is a high priority for the Ministry across Aotearoa. 
• Text: 021 0255 6802
• Email: attendance@mbas.ac.nz
• Phone: (07) 866 5916

Ngā mihi,

Hira, Pip & The Primary Team

Attendance Matters!

Regular attendance at school is important to your child's success and there is a clear connection between going to school regularly and doing well in the classroom. Making sure students attend and engage in learning is a shared responsibility. As a parent/caregiver you are responsible for making sure your child attends school every day.

If you are having difficulty getting your child to school you can ask for support by:

*speaking with your child's teacher

*sending us a message on attendance@mbas.ac.nz

*calling us on 021 0255 6802

Attendance percentages end of Week 9, Term 1

Year 7 and 8 Immunisations

The Public Health Nurses will be visiting Mercury Bay Area School on Tuesday 8th April to administer the immunisation programme for those students who have been given consent from their parents/caregiver.

Homestay Families Required

Room 22 - Number Books

We have made number books. We talked about more than and less than. Number before and number after. Great success tamariki.

Room 33 - Life Education Bus Visit

This week RM 33 has engaged with the Life Education bus. We've learned the importance of living above 'The Line of Life' and team work. The class showed that they are quite capable of leaving their comfort zones and working with others they wouldn't usually work with. This included making a plan to create a human elephant.

M4 - Spiders

This week Mrs Lidgard brought in a wolf spider she found in her garden and we all had a good look at it. We think it was a male, judging by its size and we marvelled at its furry body and velvety legs. Tamariki noticed its colours and striped body. We couldn’t see how many eyes it had, so we looked up Wolf Spiders and found out they had 8 eyes set in three rows. We talked about the differences between spiders (arachnids, reminded one child) and bugs (insects). We wrote about the spider and today some tamariki used their writing about it to publish a piece of work using Google docs.

Catapult Construction

Year 7&8 students have been building catapults to compete in a distance throwing competition. For a winning design students have researched existing designs then are testing and modifying their design. Considerations include; structural integrity, providing power to the launching arm, the trajectory and keeping the foam ball in contact with the launch arm until release time.

13 OED Surf Trip 2

Last week Mr Butler's class were away on their Surf camp in Opoutere. The students were focusing on safety management issues and how we manage risk in the outdoors. Our group had an amazing time surfing two or three times a day, setting the longline and enjoying time on the beach and in the water. A huge ngā mihi to Mr Hutt and Ms Mclean for assisting on the camp. Next term our class will be Mountain Biking in the Pureora forest.

WFPSA Swimming Champs

Last week we had 5 students travel to St Peters Cambridge to compete at WFPSA Swimming Champs.  This was a great experience for the swimmers to compete at the next level against some of Waikato's larger schools. Students were Reef Havard, Coco Shepherd, Riley Shepherd, Armani Tupaea and Dylan Castle. Thanks to the Parents for taking the children over for this experience.

NZSS Open Water Swimming Champs

Maddie Morgan represented MBAS on Saturday, 29 March at the NZSS Open Water Swimming Champs at Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) in Rotorua.

She came 4^th in her gender age group for the 1km swim.  It was a tough field and SS swimmers from across NZ attended. 

A great first experience for Maddie to represent MBAS at this level.

North Island Secondary School Athletics

Congratulations to Alison Brunton who has qualifed to represent WaiBop at the North Island Secondary School Athletics championships next week in Hamilton.Alison qualified for the 400m after finishing 2nd at the WaiBop Athletics champs.We wish you all the very best for NISSA.

Current Plane Build Log

2nd April 2025. Landing Gear, Horizontal Stabiliser, Mid Fuselage Section, Wing Lights.  Open photos to see full weekly log below.

Tertiary Tidbits

University In-Person Visits

Week 10 sees the liaison from Waikato University here to talk with any Year 12 and Year 13 students thinking about Waikato. They will be here Tuesday 8th April 10am-11am, venue is Puahape.

Careers Corner

https://tahatu.govt.nz/

The new careers website is coming! 

It is currently being launched and will replace www.careers.govt.nz - 

With over 800+ careers ideas and 4000+ qualifications, this is your go to for help with your ideas/interests and where they can lead you, it covers everything you need to know about finding and applying for work, about school subjects and NCEA, where and how to study and train as well as all the things in between.

Check it out now and see where it can take you.

Coastguard Cadetship

Community Notices

SPCA Adoption Day and Fundraiser

For all events see https://kids.spcaeducation.org.nz/

MB Performing Arts - Aladdin Production

Mercury Bay Resource Recovery Centre Trust

Every Bite - Food Appreciation Movement

After School Art Classes

Whitianga Lions Family Picnic Day

Thames School of Mines - Holiday Programme

Young Explorers Holiday Camp

MBAS Netball 2025 Courses and Events

• Saturday 12th April - Umpire training -Theory and Practical.
• Sunday 13th April -  Umpire training - Theory and Practical.
• Tuesday 22nd April - Year 7 & 8 PDP
• Wednesday 23rd April -  Year 7 & 8 PDP
• Saturday 26th April - U14 & U16 Reps Trials
• Sunday 27th April - Intro to Coaching Course. Ideal for younger coaches up to year 10.
• Wednesday 30th April - FIRST GAME OF NETBALL FOR THE SEASON
• Sunday 25th May - Intro to Coaching Course. Ideal for adults & coaches over year 10.
• Monday 12th May - Interschool Netball Tournament Years 3-6 (not MBNC run).
• Wednesday 30th July - Last game for Years 1-6
• Sunday 3rd August - Years 3-4 End of Season Festival

Whitianga Run Fest - MBAS Students Run Free

Football Registrations 2025

April Holiday Programme - Hockey

Skool Loop - One Stop School Information App