MBAS Newsletter, Term 1, Week 11, 12th April 2024

Happy Holidays!

MBAS Calendar

Kia Ora tātou – Greetings to you all

As we reach the end of Term 1 we can look back over what has been a busy and very successful start to the year. 

It has been great to see so many Parents and whanau attending our assemblies at all year levels. This is a rich opportunity for you to help celebrate the achievements of our tamariki. If you are yet to come along, I would like to extend to you an invitation to do so. We have a full school assembly on Friday week one of next term at 9:00.

We have had a plethora of events and thankfully for the most part, they have run as scheduled and unaffected by weather postponements. 

Our Student leaders across the school have all stepped up into their roles and are leading a range of events and initiatives which are improving the school. It was special to acknowledge them all at our recognition assembly earlier in the term. 

Our Year 11 - 13 students are very near a third of the way through the year. Results from internal assessments will be starting to be awarded in some subject areas. If you are parents in this age group, discuss the academic outcomes (both successful and unsuccessful) with your children and communicate with subject teachers as to how results can further improve.

As we move into colder times on the Peninsula we start to see more items of clothing coming in that are not part of our uniform. I ask that you support us to avoid having these difficult conversations by ensuring that our students are in the right uniform when they leave home. We have a great uniform shop and offer other support if needed to ensure your child is warm and comfortable. 

I encourage students to maintain reading mileage over the holiday period. Research suggests that young children and teens who don’t keep up with their reading can lose the significant gains they have made in their confidence and levels. This is particularly true for struggling readers. Whether it's a book, newspaper or magazine article, or recipe instructions, just 10 minutes a day will make a big difference. 


Ngā mihi,

Ross DunnPrincipal
Mercury Bay Area School 

MBAS Enrolment Scheme

The Board of Mercury Bay Area School wishes to advise that it is abandoning its enrolment scheme. The enrolment scheme was implemented on 28 January 2019 to manage overcrowding at the school, which is no longer an issue.

The enrolment scheme will end on 12th April 2024. Following this date, any student who wishes to do so will be entitled to enrol at Mercury Bay Area School. Any questions can be directed to Karin Farrelly, PA to the Principal  farrellyk@mbas.ac.nz.

Policies Open for Review

Dear Parents

The following policies are open for review this term:

· Te Tiriti o Waitangi
· Board Responsibility
· Parental Involvement
· Communicating with Parents
· Community Conduct Expectations
· Documentation and Self-Review Policy
· School Planning and reporting
· Reporting to Parents on Student Progress and Achievement

If you would like to review and comment on any of these policies go to:

https://mbas.schooldocs.co.nz/ and click on the top right green button ‘Search for your school’
Username: MBAS and Password: kauri

On the front page you will see Reviews click on the blue button and follow the instructions.

Uniform Shop

Soft shell winter jackets in stock and lighter weight wind breakers as per photo $5 each. 

Donations of Canterbury pants appreciated and we are also low on skirts. 

Please bring your spare hangers to the office - regular ones as well as clippy ones. 

Come and see us next term for your uniform requirements.

Room 24 - Learning

In akomanga 24, we are learning to blend/decode VC (vowel-consonant) and CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words.

Today, Miss Mac gave the tamariki a grid and a stack of CVC words (they were upside down so the tamariki couldn't see). We took turns at flipping one over at a time and sounding out each sound in the word. When we had read the word, we then drew the corresponding picture and wrote the word ourselves.

The tamariki used their spelling fingers to help read the word. We have been learning about spelling fingers and why these are important to use when spelling and reading. 

I am so proud of all these tamariki and the mahi they have put into their literacy learning this term. Ka pai, tamariki!

Room 32 - ANZAC Studies

On Tuesday this week Whaea Julie introduced Room 32 to Simpson and his donkey. Simpson was a stretcher bearer on the Gallipoli Peninsula taking injured soldiers down to ANZAC Cove to the hospital ships. We have had many questions that have stemmed from this inital learning; what was it like in the trenches?, what did they eat?, what other animals helped in the war? How many people went to war? We are slowly making our way through these questions, and this will continue into Term 2.

M1 - Gardening

Wednesday was such a pleasant day and the tamariki were able to spend some time exploring the vegetable garden, pulling a few weeds and planting some vegetable plants. What did we plant? Some cauliflower and red lettuce!

M5 - Rubbish Collection

M5 had noticed a lot of rubbish around our Kura. We discussed how this is impacting our School and environment. As a class we divided ourselves into groups and scanned the ground for rubbish.

We didn’t get very far to full up our rubbish bags. Looking after our environment and respecting our Kura.

Ngā mihi M5.

Business After 5

On Tuesday three of our senior business students Alessandro, Tyler and Jack joined their teacher Debbie Reader at the Business After 5 gathering at Espy, hosted by Cathedral Cove Cruises and Mercury Bay Hi-Ab Services Limited. The students shared some of their business ideas which was well received from the members. We are looking at building connections with the business community through mentors and guest speakers. If you would like to be involved in any way please get in touch with the school. 

13 Outdoor Ed - Surf Trip 2

This years Y13 outdoor ed classes have recently been away on 3 day surf camps to Opoutere campground. Students surfed a few times a day and were focusing on Safety Management throughout the trip. The groups had a great time and showed some great improvement in their surfing. A special thanks to Ana Keelty and Holly and Jamie Hutt for their assistance on these trips. Also to the crew at Opoutere Coastal Camping for their amazing hospitality.

Central North Island Coaching Clinic

Congratulations to all of our 21 students who attended CNI Coaching Clinic in Te Awamutu this week & gave it your all.

The students learnt valuable skills in their respective codes and all had the opportunity to trial for selection for Central North Island.

Well done to the following students who were selected in the following codes to represent Central North Island at the NZ Area School Nationals in July.

Special thanks to Camp Mums - Leisa McCleery & Olivia McGregor for taking care of the athletes.

Basketball
Payton Naylor
Charlie Kelly
Marlon Ross
Football
Tom Lamason
Volleyball
Le Suer Van der Byl
Tytan Adams
Netball
Prezley Southon
Francie Lidgard
Rugby
Brynn George
Leon Melde
Oscar McGregor
Quinn McCleery

Pictured L-R  The MBAS CNI Squad
Brynn George, India Percival, Angel Scobie, Payton Naylor, Tayla Ferrier-Kerr, Tom Lamason, Meg Harper, Oscar McGregor, Millie Gold, Marlon Ross, Anaru Scobie, Tyron Cummings, Charlie Kelly, Quinn McCleery, Seth Gibson, John Hunter, Tytan Adams, Le Suer Van der Byl, Francie Lidgard, Prezley Southon.

Athletes selected to represent Central North Island at NZ Area School Nationals
Tom Lamason, Oscar McGregor, Le Suer Van der Byl, Leon Melde, Tytan Adams, Brynn George, Marlon Ross, Prezley Southon, Charlie Kelly, Francie Lidgard, Quinn McCleery, Payton Naylor.

Waikato Full Primary School Swimming Champs

A talented little group of swimmers qualified from Thames Valley Swimming champs to attend the Waikato Full Primary School Champs at St Peters in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago.  The swimmers enjoyed competing at this next level event and we had good results with Madi Morgan finishing with the following:

2nd 50m Breast
3rd 100m Back
1st 100m Breast
3rd 100m IM

Pictured -  MBAS Swimmers
Riley Shepherd, Coco Shepherd, Madi Morgan, Paige Morgan, Sharna Proctor.
Thanks to Parents Selena Booker and Kylie Shepherd for team management and transport.

Plane Build 27th March 2024

Acid Etching, Parts Preparation, Unpacking, Mid Fuselage, Section, Rudder Construction.

Open the photos below to read the full log.

Tertiary Tidbits

Term 2 School Presentations for any Yr12 or Yr13 interested in attending

Victoria University
Wednesday 1st May 9am-10am (block 1) Room P6

Massey University
Thursday 2nd May 12.20pm-1.20pm (block 4) Room E9

Waikato University
Thursday 7th May 9am-10am (block 1) Room E9
We can use block 2 if needed as well.

Please come straight to the room above and your attendance will be taken there.

Upcoming University Open Days - Term 2 & Term 3

Open Days - Term 2
Waikato - Hamilton Campus      - Friday 24th May
Waikato - Tauranga Campus      - Friday 21st June
Otago Friday                              - 26th and Saturday 27th May

Open Days - Term 3
Lincoln Friday 19th July
Massey - Palmerston North        - Wednesday 7th August
Massey - Auckland                     - Friday 16th August
Massey - Wellington                  - Friday 23rd August
Massey - Distance online           - Thursday 5th September
Wintec                                        - September - date TBA
Auckland                                    - Saturday 24th August
AUT                                            - Saturday 24th August
Canterbury                                 - Friday 30th August
Victoria                                       - Friday 23rd August

Te Wananga o Aotearoa Contact them directly for an appointment
Toi Ohomai Contact them directly for an appointment

8 May 2024 (REGISTER HERE): Pathways into Medicine and Dentistry Live Webinar (FREE event)

Coast Guard Cadetship

Y7-13 School Holidays Photo Competition

The Arts Department invites all aspiring photographers at Mercury Bay Area School to embrace the beauty of autumn in our exciting photo competition! Students from Years 7 to 13 are encouraged to capture a memorable moment from their school holidays with the theme of Autumn. This is your chance to shine and win a soon-to-be-announced amazing prize! So grab your camera, leave those cellphones behind (but keep them handy for snapping photos!), and submit your best shot to magril@mbas.ac.nz by May 7th.

Community Notices

Hauraki Volleyball Holiday Camp

Ages 7-10 dance classes in the holidays

MB Squash Club Opportunity

MB Squash Club are hosting 5 beginner sessions for children aged 11 to 17 years.

Starts Tuesday 30^th April at 4.30pm (one hour) for 5 weeks (every Tuesday).

$50 cost (deductible from a junior membership of $80 if they're keen to join).

Only 5 spaces left.  Message Dawn on 0210 488514 to register your interest.

MB Library Upcoming Event and Holiday Programme

Whitianga Lions Children's Day Picnic

Whitianga Run Fest

A short 3km beach run has been added to this event.

Check it out!

The organisers of the Whitianga Running Festival are generously allowing students of MBAS to enter the run for free. This year there is now also a 3km option. Use the code MBAREASCHOOL when registering.

Cape Egmont Virtual Half Marathon