We would like to invite you and your child to an information meeting about our learning organisation, teaching structure and programmes in the Middle Years for 2017. All year 7-10 families are welcome to attend. This evening will be of particular interest to students going into years 7 and 9 in 2017. 

When:             Thursday 10th November at 5.30pm

Where:            School Library 

Mercury Bay Secondary School Rugby Club are looking for expressions of interest for Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Mangers and helpers for the Secondary School rugby season 2017.
Please send your letters or email to
The Chairperson
Mercury Bay Area School Rugby Club
Stacey Bale
16 Hawk Hill Crescent, Cooks Beach, RD1
Whitianga
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Kalani Nicol, Baylee Wooldridge, Renee Hazelton and Amelia Lockhart attended this event in Cambridge.

The girls all rode beautifully and represented the School and themselves and we hope they  are all very proud.  

The team ended up in the top 20 (out of approx. 40 teams). Amelia Lockhart and her pony Miss Bubbles were placed 7th in their first class.

Netball MBAS Senior A Preparing for UNISS -  The upper North Island Secondary Schools tournament

Senior A played at the WBoP secondary school netball tournie in Rororua August 6. A VERY cold tournie  in Rotorua for WBoP UNISS teams. MBAS won 1 of 6 games. The team we won against is in the same grade as us at UNISS. A very positive tournie  for us, as we could  see where we stand against teams in higher grades. Bring on UNISS!!! Grace Ngataua identified at the WBoP Secondary School Tournmament

Thank you to our local sponsors....Cooper Tyres Whitianga, Coastal Refrigeration, Hot Water Beach Top 10,New World Whitianga and NZCT. You have helped us get to UNISS.

The Ball has come and gone for another year. It was certainly one to remember a really lovely evening filled with plenty of laughter, dancing and of course good music.

While everyone shone and truly looked fantastic this year’s King was Liam Parry, Queen Eliza Shelvey, Prince Fletcher Bale, Princess Tayla Martin-free,
Cutest couple Treena Bellamy and Jordan Martin-free,  best dancer Hikapuhi Clayton and finally best dressed Chelsea Macfarlane.
We would like to formally thank the Flight Club ballroom for once again being such accommodating hosts and the amazing ball committee  team whom without  their effort our
Red Carpet premiere Ball would not have been possible.

Spirit Week is taking a slightly different form this week and will now be in week 2 of term 4. The senior student leaders are busy hatching plans for our ‘School Spirit Day’ which will be on October 21st. More information will be fed out over the coming weeks of term 3. It’s all about us as a school being proud and showing just how much ‘spirit’ have! :)

Daffodil day is another event fast approaching on this day 26th August it is a school wide mufti day and it is, as usual, a gold coin donation in support of finding a cure for cancer. However on this day please wear some items of yellow and green clothing to really fully support ‘Daffodil day’.

A little team of dedicated students is hoping to run another Shave for a cure this year, following Chelsea MacFarlane and other students amazing efforts last year. We have Joshua Spurdle shaving for cancer and Jonika Edgecombe alongside Ruby Meek and Billie McDonnell doing the 30 cm chop. There are still chances for any other students who wish to participate, and either shave or chop. If you wish to do so please come and have a chat with either Eliza Shelvey, Jonika Edgecombe or Amelia Tomkins. No dates as of yet have been finalised.

Mock exams are in a couple of weeks, so it is time to start putting aside 30 minutes to an hour each night for some quick revision, even the tiniest bit can help in the long run. Remember should anything happen to you or your family near the time of the real exams run in November and December your mock exam grades shall stand as your final grades! So although they are mocks they are important!

Best of luck and stay warm during this blast of winter :)

Your Senior Student Leadership team

Primary School working for Foster Hope

Our collection has started. Our Primary children have made donations to Foster Hope- our charity chosen to mark World Humanitarian Day on August 19th. Donations of new toothbrushes, toothpaste and facecloths along with new or good condition second hand books can be dropped off with your classroom teacher or at the front office.

NZQA Fees Payment

Please be reminded that these fees are due to the school by September 2nd. They are then forwarded onto NZQA.
Domestic students - NCEA entry  of $76.70
International Fee paying students- $383.30

If you are eligible for financial assistance then you must collect a form from the school or download from: http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/qualifications-and-standards/qualifications/ncea/Application-For-Financial-Assistance.pdf These forms must be filled in and returned to school with the $20 entry fee.

A message from the local police - Road Safety

Please remember that yellow lines mean no stopping  -  as per the road code - there is a $150 fine for stopping or parking on yellow lines. Please use the bus bay for dropping off in the mornings - please also be aware of buses arriving.

To receive notifications of our up to date Sport News subscribe to our Sports Blog.

Games tonight in the gym. MBAS vs HPC...Junior girls start the ball rolling at 3.15. Some wins needed to ensure a place in the semis.......Come along and support our teams.

Netball girls are selling cupcakes and sausages to fund their trip to UNISS in Auckland and the end of August. (The upper North Island Secondary Schools netball tournament)

Kia ora, greetings to you all!

Welcome to Term 3

The wind and rain have persisted over the break and it has been a bit of a challenge to find a “nice” space. Nonetheless it is the winter break and I hope you all had a chance to recharge your batteries, and now we are ready to focus on term 3.  This is a particularly important term (and I know each and every term is important), however the learning miles that are covered in this term are particularly significant. For our senior students this term represents a really important time where they will be moving away from internally assessed qualifications toward high level learning toward and preparation for external examinations in NCEA. Term 4 for them is very short! Meanwhile learning increments for all students in Y1-10 are built upon the earlier term’s learning – it is a time of development and consolidation – it is where the “rubber meets the road” for many of our young people.  Onwards!

New Zealand Area School’s National Tournament

During the first week of the break a large number of our students who had been selected as part of the Central North Island Area School’s Team, travelled to Dunedin (and experienced rather cool temperatures!), to compete against the three other regional representative teams, in the National Competition. Out of this tournament, National Representative teams are selected and it is my pleasure to record the following students gained national selection:

Rugby: Ethyn Brear, Jayden Tegg

Netball: Grace Ngataua, Ella Tomkins, Georgia Teklenberg  (Coromandel Area School) 

Boys Basketball: Danro Kelsall

Girls Basketball: Grace Ngataua.

Boys Football: Mitchel Power, Jarren Fuller-Kaye

Girls Football: Brynn Kays.

Boys Volleyball: Danro Kelsall. 

Mr Mike Smith was honoured for his 23 years of service to Area Schools Rugby during the tournament and following a rousing haka by all the members of the Central North Island Contingent, he was presented with a taiaha. Mike's contribution has been huge and he richly deserves this recognition. Congratulations Mike and thank you on behalf of all of our young people over the year.

Primary Playground Development - fantastic

Over the break a significant development has occurred in the play area in the Primary playground. This is the result of the funding that was raised at last year’s Seaside Carnival (in that atrocious weather you may recall!) and the result is superb. Well done to Mrs MacDougall who had the vision to craft something “different” and to engage Garth Scott (of Garth's Gardens and Landscaping) to help with the design and to do all the work associated with the project. It looks fantastic – and the musical instruments add hugely to this play area. The swimming pool has been relocated onto the new concrete plinth (South side of the activities room) and will be up and running again for term 4. 

We are really grateful for the support of the Seaside Carnival team and our community as a whole, in supporting this project. Other support was received from Pub Charity and the Trinity foundation. Again we are really grateful for this support.

Dropping off and Collection of Young People

I am extremely concerned about the safety around our school at the start and close of each day – which is really heightened when we have wet conditions. Please park away from the school and walk to collect your children. It is not safe to double park anywhere outside our school – and the practice of calling students across a busy road is incredibly dangerous. Please use the pedestrian crossing and the W crossing (opposite the W car park) to cross South Highway.  We need everyone to cooperate with this request please.

Day 1 – term 3 – Professional Learning Day for all staff

All of our staff attended a Professional Learning Day on Monday – focussed around “Restorative Practices” procedures in our school. In a nutshell Restorative Practices is all about building, maintaining, and sustaining quality relationships between all of us – not just students and staff, but also students: students, staff: staff, parents: staff, and members of our wider community. It is founded on a high level of relational trust and is what we deeply believe in, in our school.

The Restorative Practices work is all about resolving any relationship “issues” positively, effectively and completely – as much as we can. It does take time and is definitely not founded on “punishment” – rather on dialogue, understanding, self-correction and maintenance of self-esteem and self-belief.

Thank you for your support in our ongoing professional learning programmes and development, and as always, there is more to do.

I mentioned in the final newsletter of last term the platform for the day’s work and repeat this below to further our communication around this important work. 

The focus of the day will be Restorative Practices work which dovetails perfectly with our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) – KAURI expectations, and sits powerfully alongside our Kia Eke Panuku work which looks at us being more culturally responsive in our teaching in particular.

All of this work has as its foundation – Quality Relationships and I have brought all this together in a couple of images to help to show the interconnections between them all.

Kind regards | Ka kite ano

John Wright

Principal

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EXHIBBIT ONLINE GALLERY

Be sure to check out the latest works from our Senior Art studnets on our latest online gallery - 

http://publish.exhibbit.com/gallery/19755001/atrium-gallery-8988/

Do you want your child/ren to read faster while increasing their comprehension and retention?

Reading is a core skill for success in the senior years across a range of subjects. Being able to read and process information quickly is a tool that supports successful learning.

Brite Spark Learning and Development are offering a 12 hour Advanced Reading Course for year 11- 13 students at Mercury Bay Area School on the following dates;

Wed 17 Aug (1pm - 4pm)

Thur 18 Aug (3.15 - 6.15pm)

Wed 24 Aug (1-4pm)

Thur 25 Aug (3.15 - 6.15pm)

The minimum expectation of the course is that participants will double their reading speed and significantly improve comprehension and retention. This means that the amount of time required for any future reading task is effectively halved.

Enrolment is limited to 18 students, so placement in the course will be on a first come, first served basis. The heavily subsidised fee for high school students is currently $195 (inc. GST) For more information check out our website www.britespark.co.nz

Please note, this is NOT A REMEDIAL reading course but a course designed to enhance the reading skills of senior students working towards NCEA qualifications.

If you are interested in enrolling your child to participate in this opportunity, please email interest  directly to Brite Spark Learning Development: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 8 August.

Careers Roadshow!

Notices

Lost Property - Please check at the office for any valuable Lost Property ie. jewellery. A sum of money was found at the end of Term 2. Please see Accounts if it could be yours, tell us how much you lost.

Nits - Let’s use the holidays to get rid of these pests. Doctor surgery is free for registered patients 13 and under and that some treatments are fully funded. 

Year 10 Ski Trip - Important notice for Year 10 parents. For all information on the Year 10 Ski Trip please go to the school website: http://mbasyear10skitrip.weebly.com/

As part of our commitment to maintaining a healthy environment for our students and communicating with parents, we would like to extend an invitation to parents of primary aged students to attend a workshop on relationships and resilience.

We will be discussing friendship and its challenges, ways to build resilience among our children and outline the steps our school is taking to create and maintain a healthy learning environment for all students.

​The parental forum will be held - Thursday 9th June 6.30pm​ - in the school library

Please find below the results of the Board of Trustees Election.

Help support us by putting on your glad rags and spending the evening with Irene van Dyk. Read more for all the details.

Our school office will be open from Wednesday 27th April 2016

From 8:30 am to 4:00 pm

Uniform can be purchased from The Warehouse

Located at Joan Gaskell Drive

New Enrolments

The Deputy Principals will be available from the 28th April.

For appointments please contact the school office on

(07) 866 5916 

School opens for Term Two on

Monday, 2 May 2016 at 8.45am

April 15th

Kia ora whanau!

First of all our primary school would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all of you who have supported us in one way or another this term. There has been a huge number of parents volunteering for swimming, mean green houses, taking transport for sport - and a whole lot more. We really appreciate the time and the support you have given to us and your children.

Kia Ora – Welcome to the Middle Years

Thanks to all the parents and caregivers who have taken time out to meet the teachers. As always it is great to put faces to names. Those who couldn't make it are still welcome to contact the school and make a time to meet your child's I-Time teacher. The I-Time teacher is your first port of call should you have any concerns or celebrations to pass on to us. Our aim is to be a family friendly school.

Year 9 Orientation Day

Yr 9 students had a brilliant start to the year meeting new friends and participating in lots of fun team building activities. The weather was just right too.

Middle / Senior Swimming Sports

Underway – full swing!

Yes we are in full swing. Classes are well settled, learning is underway, and it seems that we have had a very settled start all round. It is fantastic that our young people are well prepared for their learning, and I appreciate parents and caregivers input into this to ensure all is well organised.

With the three learning blocks on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, students in Y7-13 can be very selective (and organised ahead of time) to bring only the learning resources (and their digital device) they need for each day. Simply put, they don’t need to lug all their books for all their learning programmes around each day – they ought to have only those resources that are needed for the day. Every student has a Learning Programme print out or can access it off KAMAR, so they can be well prepared for the next day’s learning.

Welcome to 2016 – and away we go! A fantastic start to our school year

We have had a great start. I have been around and through all our classes lots over the last four days and I am incredibly impressed with the purposefulness of learning in all our classes (and it has been really hot and muggy which is difficult for us all to continue to concentrate). Our roll stands at about 925 with 27 international students with us, largely in our senior school, which is fantastic. So we are all go. If you have any queries at all please do not hesitate to contact me or any of our DPs/APs or Deans. We are here to ensure your child/children get the very best learning and nurture possible.

We know that it takes a while for us all to settle into our new learning environments – new teachers, class mates, programmes and so on, and this is quite natural. I am amazed at just how settled our classes are and look forward very much to this year ahead of us.

There is a lot of information in this newsletter about the start-up and upcoming events.

Welcome to 2016 – a brand new educational year!

I wish to extend a really warm welcome to you all to our school this year – those who have been a part of our school for some time, and all the folks who are new to our school and community this year. I believe we have a great school with superb students, quality staff, supportive parents and members of our wider community.

I would also like to extend a special welcome to the 50 families who are new to our school this year. I extend a warm invitation to you all - mums/ dads/caregivers/friends and children – to join us at the school swimming pool on Friday 26th February as an opportunity to meet with our Senior Leaders and staff and all the families who are new to our school. I will be sending you an invitation directly.