MBAS Newsletter, Term 3, Week 8, September 5th 2025

MBAS Calendar

Kia Ora tātou – Greetings to you all

From Our Senior Student Leaders

Hey everyone, hope you all have been having a great term three so far! We know this time of the year can be quite stressful with all the exams and end of the year quickly approaching, but we’re almost there. This is the we need to give it everything we’ve got and sprint to the finish, we’ve only a few more weeks to go! 

A few quick tips / resources to help you along your study: 

- Do as many practice exams as you can! They highlight the points you might need some more work on and give you a taste of what your exam will really be like.

- Use resources like “Study Time” and “Infinity +1” when you’re studying at home. You can work all you like, but if you get stuck on something, you can easily get trapped down a rabbit hole and waste a lot of time. There’s lots of material and tutorials that can quickly bring you up to speed on almost any question you might have!

Shave for a Cure
Last Friday and this week Monday we had our Shave For A Cure event. Some students raised money for the Cancer Society to shave or cut their hair, while others cut their hair purely in support of cancer patients. Along with the event, we had a bake sale run by students selling bald themed cup cakes with their proceeds going to the cancer society. Thanks to Stilo Hair Salon for sending out two professional hair dresses and to Reuben Vaughan for volunteering to cut hair. Below are some of the students and who were brave enough to cut their hair. Well done everyone!

MBAS 2025 Magazine - Order Now!

MBAS Cultural Identity Day

Uniform Shop

Be prepared for term 4!

Plenty of choice in stock of shorts and skorts in all sizes especially shorts age 8, 10 and 12 plus skorts 6, 8 and 12. 
Some brand new!

Everything $5 ($10 for Canterbury)

Thursdays 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Donations of clean, undamaged uniform items may be taken to the office. Thank you.  

No Parking Outside St Johns Please

Please don't park on the grass outside St Johns or in their carpark for afterschool pick-ups as it can cause issues if the ambulances need to get in or out quickly. Thank you.

BOT Elections - Voting Now Open!

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Voting is now open! - please vote for the people you want to represent you on our School Board.

We will continue to send out invitations to vote by email. If you have already voted please ignore the email.

If you are yet to vote - Please do so!! If you would like a paper ballot you can come and see me at the school office.

Voting closes on September 10th - SO VOTE NOW FOR YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Homestay Families Needed

MBAS Photo Challenge

Ko te Rangatahi o te Tara o te Ika Cultural Festival

Ko te Rangatahi  o te Tara o te Ika Cultural festival was held on Friday 29 August 2025. This prestigious event was hosted by Te Kura o Te Whanganui o Hei-Mercury Bay Area School.

The contributing schools involved were:

Nga kaitaunaki-Childhood Centers
Central kids Mercury Bay kindergarten, Whenuakite Country Kids

Nga Aoraki Kura-The School Groups

Hikuai, Te Rerenga, Coromandle Area School Junior, Coromandle Area School Senior, WAS Junior, WAS Senior, Colville, Opoutere seniors, Opoutere Juniors, Whenuakite, Tairua, MBAS.

Awesome contributions from everyone who performed at the ahurei. We wish to thank the following people and organizations for their support:

Woolworths, Whitianga
Peninsula Scaffloding
Te Korowai
CFM Caravan
Lotta love Coffee Cart
MPAS
Hireworx Whitianga
Kahui Ako Principals-MBAS, Te Rerenga, Whangamata, Tairua
Popata Whanau

MBAS Charity Concert a Huge Success

Another highly successful charity concert was put on by the talented students of MBAS this year, raising an incredible $1,690 across two nights which this year will be donated to the Cancer Society NZ, supporting the vital work they do.

The event was a true celebration of student creativity and community spirit. Audiences were treated to outstanding musical performances, a powerful kapa haka showcase, and an inspiring visual art exhibition. Our student MCs kept the evening flowing with confidence and energy, creating a welcoming and lively atmosphere.

With food, drink, art, music, and kapa haka, the concert was not only a fundraiser but also a wonderful night of entertainment and connection.

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who supported the event—whether by performing, helping behind the scenes, or coming along to enjoy the show. Your generosity and enthusiasm made this year’s charity concert such a memorable and meaningful success.

M4 - Solar Farm Talk

Wow! We had our Year 3 and 4 talk from Lodestone Energy who came to talk with us about their $50 million project to build Pāmu Rā ki Whitianga Solar Farm. We learned so much about how the panels track to follow the sun, the motors involved to do this, how these solar farms can continue to be farmed for animals such as sheep....SO much! Some of our class members won prizes and Cooper got himself a cool hat for being the best solar panel ever. Cooper had to hold a panel and move it in relation to a ball that represented the sun. It is always fantastic when we get people in to talk to us about things happening in our community so big thank you to Lodestone Energy! Lodestone also gifted the school some really neat solar powered vehicles to build.

M9 - Bubble Wands

Can we make a bubble wand out of a pipe cleaner and beads? Then we got to test it out.

We also visited the puahape and Whaea Montana taught us about its special features. We also practiced our waiata.

Optical Illusion Chalk Murals

The year 10 Nurmacy Visual Art class have recently finished their optical illusion murals, and they look fantastic. Students put a lot of effort into planning their designs, carefully using perspective and measurements to achieve the final effect.

The murals show a great balance of maths and creativity, and the results highlight the hard work students have put in over the past term.

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UNISS 2025 – MBAS Netball Team

The Mercury Bay Area School netball team recently competed at UNISS (Upper North Island Secondary Schools Netball Tournament). UNISS brings together the secondary school teams from across the Upper North Island to compete in a week-long tournament.

We are proud to announce that in our pool Mercury Bay Area School placed 13th out of 32 teams, an incredible achievement given the level of competition. The players demonstrated excellent teamwork, strong skills, and unwavering support for each other, both on and off the court. Even during the toughest matches, they kept their spirits high and continued to push themselves to perform at their best.

A huge thank you goes out to our coaches, managers, supporters, and families who made this experience possible. The team represented our school with pride and mana, and we couldn’t be prouder of their effort and sportsmanship.

Isaiah Johnston NZ SS Street Championships

Congratulations to Isaiah Johnston who finished 5th overall in the Senior Boys section at the 2025 NZ Secondary Schools Street Championships at SonSk8 Indoor Skatepark in Auckland last week. Well done Isaiah 

TV Secondary School Rippa Rugby Tournament

The students have been asking for this event to happen after enjoying Rippa Rugby Tournaments throughout the Primary Years so the Secondary School Association decided to put this back on to the calender for the older students. Unfortunately CAA exams meant the years 11-13 could not be part of this tournament so the junior of years 9-10 entered. 30 teams from around the Thames Valley came to the sports park in Whitianga for the first tournament.  Mercury Bay entered four teams and our girls Gummy Bears were undefeated all day. Our other teams still managed a few wins, draws and losses and a great day was had by all schools.

 Teams below: 1 Gummy Bearsimage - 2 Big Belly Hittaz - 3 Time Wastersimage - 4 The Sharks

Sports Results

Football

MBAS Senior Boys (mixed) beat Cambridge High School Invincibles 6-3
MBAS Junior Boys (mixed) lost to Hamilton Boys' High School Bronze 2-1

Sports Fixtures

Rugby Prizegiving - New Date

RUGBY PRIZEGIVING NEW DATE!!!!!
To be held after school holidays when the rep program is done
Friday 10th October
5.30pm food followed by 6pm prizegiving
Mercury Bay Rugby & Sports Club

Dress in your number ones
All rugby jackets to be returned on this date too

Plane Build Weekly Log 03.09.2025

Plane Build Log 3rd August 2025 - Landing Gear, Mid Fuselage Section, Roll Over Bar. Open the photos below to see the full log.

Tertiary Tidbits

Careers Corner

https://www.seek.co.nz/career-advice/article/interview-mistakes-that-could-cost-you-the-job

Here is a  quick link to each learning area, as well as guides for choosing NCEA subjects, what is NCEA and planning for life after school.

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

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Expression of Interest Forms can now be collected from the office or from Mrs Reader and will are due back by the end of term 3.

We are super excited to announce that we will be offering students in Year 10 - 13 the opportunity to be a part of the internationally recognised Duke of Edinburgh Award starting next year here at MBAS.

There are three levels to the Award - Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level has four specific sections that participants need to complete activities in (plus a fifth one at Gold level). These activities take place outside of school time and get verified by coaches/members of the community then checked off at school by the Award Leader. We will support students and help them to navigate the sections and assist with the Adventurous Journey.

• The total cost of completing an Award will differ depending on the activities and Adventurous Journey you select.
• Registration Fee - Bronze $95, Silver $95, Gold $125. You can not complete Gold until Silver is completed.
  
• If cost is a barrier to you, speak to your Award Leader (Mrs Reader) about our participant assistance fund which can help with registration fee and Adventurous Journey.

Registrations for this opportunity will be announced and available before the end of Term 3 and payment due in Term 4. We will begin the Award in March 2026.
More information can be accessed on the website https://dofehillary.org.nz or by emailing readerd@mbas.ac.nz. 

Wellbeing Whispers

Screen Time and Little Brains: What's the Latest Buzz? 

Hey everyone! Ever wonder what all that screen time might be doing to our kids' developing brains? It's a hot topic in neuroscience right now, and for good reason! While screens are super woven into our lives these days, researchers are really digging into how they impact our tamariki.

Here's the friendly lowdown:

Recent studies are showing that excessive screen time, especially for our youngest learners (think toddlers and preschoolers), can actually affect how their brains grow and connect. We're talking about areas linked to language development, attention, and even emotional regulation. It's not about screens being "bad" entirely, but more about the balance and what kind of content our kids are consuming. Think of it this way: a brain is like a muscle, and it needs a variety of exercises to get strong! If it's only doing one kind of exercise (like passive screen watching), other important "muscles" might not develop as robustly.

Now, for our older tamariki, the picture shifts a little, but the importance of balance remains key. For primary schoolers and even into the early teen years, neuroscience research suggests that unrestricted screen time can sometimes interfere with sleep patterns, social skills development, and even their ability to focus on longer tasks (hello, homework!). It’s not just about the content anymore, but also about the sheer amount of time spent on devices versus other activities that are vital for a well-rounded and healthy brain. This is where those boundaries come into play – setting clear expectations for when and how long screens are used helps create a healthier rhythm for their growing minds.

So, what can we, as parents and educators do? It's all about mindful screen use! Encouraging interactive play, reading together, getting outdoors, and having real-life conversations are still super important for building those crucial brain pathways. Let's keep those little brains buzzing with all sorts of wonderful experiences - and our own!

Community Notices

Waikids Children's Free Ear Service - Spetember Dates

The Great Pumpkin Grow-Off

Whitianga Art Centre - After School Art Classes

MB Resource Recovery Centre Open Day

Mercury Bay Clean Up

Game Vault - Holiday Programme

Bring A Kid To Bowls

Thames School of Mines - Holiday Programme

Kauaeranga Valley Christian Camp

Oscar Explorers - After School Care

Skool Loop - One Stop School Information App