MBAS Newsletter, Term 3, Week 3, 1st August 2025

MBAS Calendar

Kia Ora tātou – Greetings to you all

From The Middle Years

Welcome back to Term 3!
We’re already into Week 3, and it’s great to see students settling into their new option classes and academies. We hope everyone is feeling ready and excited for the term ahead.

Devices and Stationery
A reminder to parents and students that a charged device must be brought to school every day. Please also pack chargers to ensure students can recharge their devices if needed throughout the day. We’ve noticed a growing number of students arriving without a device, which can disrupt their learning.

For those who don’t have access to a personal device, loan devices are available from the school. In addition to this, students are expected to bring pens, books, or paper to complete their classwork effectively. Please help us by checking in with your child that they are fully equipped for learning each day.

Co-requisite Numeracy and Literacy Assessments (CAAs)
For students who have not yet achieved their Literacy and Numeracy CAA, there will be another opportunity to sit these assessments in Week 8. To support preparation, we encourage students to access the school Google Classroom, which is full of helpful resources and past exam papers. Use the code 33ud547 to join.

Year 10 Camp
A reminder that final payment for Year 10 Camp is due by Friday 8 August. Payment can be made via Kindo or direct deposit (please use “Year 10 Camp” as the reference). The gear list has been sent out to both students and parents. If your child is not attending, please contact us so we can plan accordingly.

Year 9 Camp
Exciting news for Year 9 students! Information and permission slips have been emailed home. Please read through these details and return permission slips as soon as possible.

Years 3–8 Cross Country
The Years 3–8 Cross Country is happening next week on Thursday 7 August. Students will walk from school down to Buffalo Beach, with the first race starting around 11:15am. We look forward to a fun and active day!

As the term progresses, we’re looking forward to longer days and warmer weather. Thank you for your continued support.

Take care,
Janine and Pete
Middle Years Senior Leadership Team

Attendance Matters!

We have come to the end of Week 3 and the sun is shining! A gentle reminder to please let the school know if your child is absent and a brief reason why.  Unfortunately our numbers are on the increase for absence texts being sent out each morning. Here is a table of how our current attendance is sitting for the year to date.

Rongohia te Hau Survey 2025

It’s time for our annual Rongohia te Hau Survey. Your responses help to inform what professional learning is needed in our kura (school) to improve our cultural capabilities as a staff and as teachers. We care deeply about ensuring that our practice is that which can achieve equitable outcomes for you, the young people we work with, and this remains a
priority for us at Mercury Bay Area School.

Part of this journey for us means opening spaces so we can learn from you and from our community. School leaders are always interested to understand more about whānau views and experiences of student learning in their classroom and school, as well as whānau perceptions of their experiences when interacting with school staff and teachers.

This survey is an opportunity to collect your view. We would appreciate it if you took the time to follow this survey link and complete the questionnaire. It is anonymous and there is an opportunity to add your comments at the end.

Here is the link to the Whānau Survey: Mercury Bay Area School Whānau Survey

If you haven’t already completed the survey we would really appreciate you taking a few minutes to do so.

MBAS Photo Challenge

Royal New Zealand Ballet Dance Workshop

Royal New Zealand Ballet Dance Workshop Opportunity for Year 3–9 Students – Limited Spaces Available!

We’re thrilled to share that a special week of dance workshops is coming to Mercury Bay Area School on Monday, 15th September!

These fun and engaging workshops are open to all students in Years 3 to 9 – no dance experience required! Each session includes a warm-up, an introduction to basic ballet positions and travelling steps, and concludes with learning choreography from actual Royal New Zealand Ballet repertoire. It’s an exciting chance for students to explore movement and creativity through dance performed on professional stages!

• MBAS will cover the costs however it is first in first served with limited spaces available.

To enrol, email Dave Mulholland at mulhollandd@mbas.ac.nz.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience the magic of dance and performance – we’d love to see you there!

Upcoming Primary Art Exhibition

Instrumental Music Lessons – Spaces Available!

We’re excited to announce that there are spaces available in our school’s instrumental music programme for 2025! Lessons are offered in vocals, keyboards, drums, guitar, and bass, with opportunities for students to grow their musical skills and creativity in a fun and supportive environment.

Lesson Availability:

All instruments except drums are for students in Year 4+ 

Students in Year 3+ can take Drums

We’re thrilled to welcome Kiefer Hernandez to our music team this year as our new piano and vocal tutor. Kiefer is a multi-instrumentalist with a wealth of international teaching and performance experience, bringing fresh energy and a passion for developing young musicians.

Our drum tutor, a former student of our school, is a talented and engaging teacher who students absolutely love learning with. His skill and connection with learners make drum lessons a real highlight of the week!

And on guitar and bass, we’re privileged to have local music legend Stewart Pedley. Stewart’s expertise, industry experience, and rapport with students make him an outstanding mentor for budding guitarists and bassists.

If your child is keen to pick up a new instrument or continue their musical journey, now is the perfect time to enrol.

To register or find out more, please contact the school office.

Let the music play! 

Nāku noa,
Dave Mulholland

MBAS Upcoming School Board Elections

Last Call For Nominations

School Fun Run’s Crazy Colour Day - 20th August

SCHOOL COLOUR RUN WEDNESDAY 20 AUGUST

Are you Fundraising?

Currently we’re still a long way from our goal, so we need everyone to pull together to help.  The easiest way to help your child raise money is through online fundraising, where students raise an average of $120. Go to schoolfunrun.co.nz, create a student profile page and share your online fundraising link via SMS, Email and Social Media.

If you are currently fundraising, THANK YOU! We hope you will continue to share your link and fundraising for the school.

Room 30 - Sculptures

Our beautiful sculptures are all finished. We presented them in the assembly. They look awesome. There will be on display in the class until the end of the year. Very Cool!

Year 7 & 8 Get Creative with Minecraft Chests

Mrs Fotheringham’s Year 7 and 8 class have brought great energy and creativity to their latest art rotation. Students have been busy designing and building their own clay Minecraft chests, showing plenty of imagination in their work.

The pottery is now ready to be fired, and we’re looking forward to seeing how their creations turn out. 

Level 2 Wood Technology

This year in Level 2 Wood Technology, the students have been constructing picnic tables to be used within the school. Students had to plan, budget and construct their own table and design and cut a name tag using the schools new laser cutter. Students should be really proud of their outcomes and it is nice that they can leave something at the school for future students to enjoy and remember them by.

Thank you to Joe and the Team at Whitianga Placemakers for kindly donating the timber for these outdoor tables. We really appreciate it.

Sports Results

Football
MBAS Senior Boys (mixed) beat Te Aroha Senior Boys 6-1
MBAS Junior Boys (mixed) drew with Thames Junior Boys 1-1

Netball
Years 5 & 6 (this was their last game with the end of year festival being this Sunday)
TRS Taniwha (5) vs MBAS Squad Goals (3)
TRS Thunder (14) vs Coro Kutai (4)
WS The Fireballs (1) vs TRS Tui's (10)
Year 7 & 8 played their Semi finals last night. The draw for finals is live on the website for you to view and encourage teachers and supporters to attend the game if you want.
TRS Court Crushers (26) vs Marlins (8)
TRS Shoot'n Stars (24) vs Coro Stingaz (19)
MBAS Tsunami (15) vs WS The Flames (14)
MBAS Coastal Comets (12) vs WS The Networks (4)
C Grade (played 2 x half hour games to fit the rounds into the season)
Marlins Black (2) vs Coro Ferns (4)
MBAS Sharks (5) vs Marlins College (10)
MBAS Blue Magic (7) vs Hot Mess Express (14)
MBAS Blue Magic (2) vs Marlins College (25)
MBAS Sharks (4) vs Coro Ferns (4)
B Grade
MBAS Senior A (21) vs MBAS Mercury Bay Stars (30)
Marlins Womans (29) vs CAS Senior A (20)

Rugby
Thursdays semifinals MB Girls 1st XV 0 v HPC 46
Player of the day Paiggon Kereopa

MB 1st XV 26 v Tikapa 20
Player of the day Riece McKinnon & Tikapa ‘s pick player of the day was Brynn George
Semi finals next week!

MB U16 24 v Waihi 18
Best Back - Lyric Jackman-King
Best Forward - Kaeden Willis
Player of the Day - Liam Clothier
Waihi chose - Liam Clothier
Straight through to finals day! 

Basketball
Games from last Friday 
Coro JG v MB JG 16
MVP Boh Boyd

MB SB Devo 62 v Coro SB 54
MVP Kaino Adams

MB SG 30 v Paeroa JG 26
MVP Miranda Coleman

MB SB 34 v Pareroa 41
MVP Kiani Van der Putten

Sports Fixtures

Plane Build Weekly Log 30.07.2025

Plane Build Log 30th July 2025 - Wing Construction, Mid Fuselage Section. Open the photos below to see the full log.

Women in Engineering Network University of Auckland

Kia ora! 

The Women in Engineering Network (WEN) Outreach team at the University of Auckland is teaming up with the UoA Rocketry Club  to bring Year 9 and 10 students an out-of-this-world STEM event!

 Date: Saturday 9th August
 Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm
 Location: Rosmini College, 36 Dominion Street, Takapuna

 Students will design and launch their own model rockets!
 Free pizza and snacks provided - because every good mission needs fuel!

This is the perfect chance for younger high school students to dive into science and engineering in a fun, hands-on environment. They will learn the basics of rocket design and aerodynamics, take on engaging STEM challenges, and meet awesome UoA engineering students who are passionate about what they do.

 What’s included:

• Build and launch your own model rocket
• Interactive STEM challenges
• Inspiring talks and demos from UoA Engineering students
• Free pizza + tasty snacks
• A fun and inspiring day you won't forget!

(Spaces are limited – register early to secure your spot!

SIGN UP HERE!

Also feel free to share this event to your friends and anyone else you think may be interested!
Don’t miss this chance to aim high and shoot for the stars, and see you there!
For any questions please contact Ella at ewil853@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Events are held at The University of Auckland's Faculty of Engineering 20 Symonds Street unless specified otherwise

Tertiary Tidbits

If you are intending on studying a degree that is relevant to a PwC business area, this scholarship may be for YOU - Applications are now open.

You can find more information regarding PwC Scholarships here. 

To apply use these links: 

PwC  Scholarship; 

Mā  te huruhuru ka rere te manu Scholarship 

You can register for our virtual FAQ session here which is taking place on Friday, 1st of August 4pm-4:30pm. This is an opportunity  to ask questions and find out more about our application process. 

Register using this link:

https://www.aut.ac.nz/live

Missed Open Day? Take a tour!

Campus tours are a great way to find out what Lincoln has to offer.
Join a guided Campus Tour with our Domestic Liaison Team to explore facilities, student life, and support services.
Not nearby? Try our Virtual Tour and discover Lincoln from anywhere. https://lincoln.youtour.nz/

Scholarships - Apply Now

Applications for our flagship scholarships close 15 August

We offer a wide range of scholarships, from financial support to full training and development programmes

Flagship Scholarships include:

• Future Leader Scholarship
• Sports Scholarships: Basketball, Netball, Rowing, Rugby, Hockey, Cricket, Elite
• Tihi Kahuraki Scholarship
• Motu Scholarship
• Lincoln University Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarships for Excellence
• All Māori and Pasifika Scholarships

Any questions about scholarships can be directed to your school liaison officer, or to our Scholarships Office on scholarships@lincoln.ac.nz

SheENG at Waikato

A three-day, two-night residential programme for young women exploring engineering, who are in YR11 or YR12 this year, is FREE and open to rural secondary school students only. 

This programme, hosted by the University of Waikato, features hands-on workshops in cutting-edge labs, mentorship from current students, talks from industry leaders, and fun social events, offering a true taste of university life and studying Engineering at tertiary level.

Please use the link below for all information and how to apply.

https://www.waikato.ac.nz/study/upskilling/sheeng/

Careers Corner

Choosing NCEA subjects

Te kōwhiri marau NCEA

It can be tricky choosing which NCEA subjects to study. Follow the link below to guide you to some steps to help you decide. 

https://tahatu.govt.nz/school-and-ncea/doing-ncea/choosing-ncea-subjects

Nurses Notes

Waikids Children’s Free Ear Service- WHITIANGA

• Our location has changed for the next Whitianga Children’s Ear Clinic from 4^th-6^th Aug. The Ear bus will now be parked up at the Woolworth Carpark 24 Joan Gaskell Drive going forward
  
• For enquiries regarding this service or to book an appointment for the 5^th or 6^th Aug, contact the Children’s Ear Clinic on 07 838 3565
• All children must be accompanied by parent or legal guardian, otherwise a consent form must be completed.
• The Ear Nurse can provide advice on: glue ear assessment and management, wax/foreign body removal, grommet checks, treatment of discharging ears
• Please note clinics may be cancelled without notice due to unforeseen circumstances. Clinic will be closed for staff breaks. These will be noted on clinic door.

 The Term 3 Ear Service schedule can be found at the link below:

Children's ear clinic — Waikato

Community Notices

Let's Get Becs To Belgium!

 Mercury Bay Museum Fundraiser

Mercury Bay Library

Oscar Explorers - After School Care

Skool Loop - One Stop School Information App