麻豆官网

麻豆官网 Enviro Club – Caring for Papat奴膩nuku 

The Enviro Club at 麻豆官网 is a student-led r艒p奴 committed to caring for Papat奴膩nuku. Guided by manaakitanga and respect for te taiao, our kaupapa is to act as kaitiaki by weaving sustainable practices into the everyday life of our kura and community. 

The club is led by our Head Girl, Naadirah Sahib, with the support of Mr Dave Lambert (Caretaker) and Mrs Gloria Hinestroza (Science teacher). Together, they work alongside a dedicated group of 20 students from years 9, 10, and 13. 

One of our recent projects is the creation of Te M膩ra P奴rerehua (The Butterfly Garden) at the front of the school. Featuring native plants such as Hebe ‘Wiri Mist’ and Kawakawa, this garden is a legacy gift from our 2025 Year 13 cohort—an act of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. It provides food and habitat for butterflies, supports pollination and native biodiversity, and offers a space of mauri ora for our kura. The garden will also serve as a learning space for Science, Biology, Art, and Environmental Studies, with hands-on opportunities linked to NCEA. 

Alongside the garden, the Enviro Club is leading a battery recycling initiative to encourage safe disposal and reduce hazardous waste across the school. These projects reflect our kaupapa: student-led action creating meaningful change for both our kura and community. 

Pictured are members of the Enviro Club working hard on the Butterfly Garden during their break—a reminder that small, consistent actions build a lasting legacy for te taiao.

Naadirah Sahib | Head Student 

Movie Night 

In Week 6, the Year 13 cohort enjoyed a memorable movie night featuring the film Grown Ups.  The evening included a variety of engaging activities organised by the Community Committee before the movie screening in the hall. These activities provided an opportunity for students to connect and enjoy each other’s company during a fun social event.  

Teachers were also there to help with food, looking after us and making the night more enjoyable. They stayed and waited for each and every one of us to leave, making sure we all got home safely.  

The night was filled with fun, food, and laughter, fostering a strong sense of community among the Year 13 students.

Tevita Havili | Deputy Head Student

Music Therapy Magic!

Each week our 膩konga look forward to their sessions with Miona, our wonderful music therapist. 

The room fills with the sounds of instruments, singing, and movement, creating such a joyful atmosphere. These sessions give students a chance to express themselves, connect with others, and build confidence in a fun and supportive way. Music has a special way of reaching everyone, and it’s been heartwarming to see the smiles, laughter, and enthusiasm it brings. Music therapy also connects beautifully with our topic - Te Whare Tapa Wh膩. 

It supports Taha Wairua (spiritual wellbeing) by creating moments of joy, belonging, and expression, and strengthens Taha Hinengaro (mental and emotional wellbeing) by encouraging students to share feelings and build confidence in themselves. 

School Events

Physics at Full Speed

Thursday 21 August was race day for 2 Physics. We went to Ace Motorsports and raced go-karts as part of our learning and assessment for the mechanics topic.  

We have been learning about accelerated motion, circular motion, momentum conservation and safety and this was our chance experience the real thing. After the pre-race safety briefing, we took to the track to see who could complete the most laps in the time allowed. Everyone had a great time and came away with a new appreciation of Newton’s Laws.  

A special mention to our podium finishers – Jiyan, Simione and Arnav and a big thanks to the team at Ace Motorsports for hosting us.

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Wh膩nau MasterChef 2025     

On Wednesday afternoon in Week 7, the C-Block kitchen was buzzing with competitive culinary energy. Each Wh膩nau put forward a pair of junior and senior chefs to compete in two challenges: Mystery Box and Pancake Art. 

For the Mystery Box challenge, teams were given five ingredients that they didn’t know about in advance - orange k奴mara, daikon radish, bok choy, fresh ginger and oranges (they also had access to some pantry staples). Their task was to use some or all of the ingredients to create one dish - they were judged on taste, presentation, use of the mystery ingredients, wastage and teamwork.  

Our judges were thoroughly impressed with what the teams created in only 40 minutes! Nicko and Alyza from Ngata secured first place with their delicious noodle stir fry with a ginger and orange sauce, using all but one of the mystery ingredients. Then we had Cooper in second, Sheppard in third and Hillary in fourth.  

Now onto dessert: for the Pancake Art challenge, teams were given a recipe for pancakes which they then needed to make and use with the decorations provided to create an art work. Kalo and Elimi’s creation wowed the judges and secured Cooper first place in that challenge, followed by Sheppard, Hillary, then Ngata.  

Overall, Cooper won the competition, followed by Ngata and Sheppard sharing second place, and Hillary coming in fourth. All students involved can be extremely proud of themselves for their cooking skills and their teamwork - it was a resounding success!!  

Thank you to Ms Addison, Mrs Holland, Matua Jay and Ms Brown for donating their time and tastebuds to be our judges. 

Visual Arts    

The Arts House Trust presented the Secondary School Art Awards, open to Year 11, 12 and 13 art students nationwide in September 2025. 600 entries were submitted from 163 schools, reflecting the breadth of emerging talent across the country.  

Entrants submitted a digital copy of their art and from this remarkable pool a shortlist of 70 finalists has been chosen to showcase their work publicly at The Arts House Trust, Pah 麻豆官网stead, offering audiences a window into the next generation of New Zealand’s creative voices. At the heart of the awards is a commitment to recognising, celebrating, and nurturing emerging artistic talent, providing students with both encouragement and inspiration to continue developing their creative journeys. 

Preston Short, Year 13, submitted his Cook Island inspired costume that he has been working on in his Printmaking class. He was short listed as one of the 70 students and his work will be on display at Pah 麻豆官网stead from the 11 September-17 October. We are extremely proud of Preston for the courage it takes to submit work to a competition like this and for his outstanding artwork which reflects his love and passion for his Cook Island heritage. 

Focus on Photography      

In July, our Level 2 Photography students visited Te Uru Gallery in Titirangi, exploring art shows and photographing the space. Students participated in SONY’s Kids in Focus Program, using new SONY cameras and hearing an inspiring talk from Stacy Tapsell, creative director of the One Warriors Rugby League team. SONY also kindly donated a new mirrorless camera to the school. Stacy organized a photography competition, won by Kahuriki, Breyne, and Nikhil, who earned a trip to a Warriors game for their approach to photographing the gallery space.

Up the Wahs!   

On Friday 29 August Kahuriki, Breyne, Nikhil were invited to go to the Warriors last home game of the season against the Eels. We had such a blast there even though we came up short in the end of the game (22 Warriors - 26 Eels). 

We were seated at the front of the action. We watched as the Warriors were catching up slowly and had seen some very questionable calls from the referee as always. The half time show was so cool with a live DJ playing New Zealand classic hits and some EDM classics during the half time show. 

At the end of the game before we had to leave, Nikhil and I got to meet one of the players (Leka Halasima), there was a big crowd around him. Overall we had such a blast and are thankful for the experience. 

Kahuriki Vasquez 

Woolworths Work Experience 

This year we expanded our retail experience with Woolworths NZ. Students learnt all about customer service and the logistics of retail, before having a go at the major roles at Woolworth. Everyone sucessfully completed the course, gaining 22 level 2 credits and valuable experience. We'd like to thank Woolworths NZ for working with us. 

Year 9 Community Action Inclusion Event  

On Friday 5th September, the Year 9 Community Action class hosted a series of inclusion activities in the gym for all Year 9 students to participate in. Some of the activities included; basketball, yoga, murder mystery and carnival games. The purpose of these activities was to build teamwork, whanaungatanga and leadership. For a lot of the students, this was their first time being the 'teacher' of an activity and took away lots of learning.  

Overall, Year 9 Edge did an amazing job, showed real manaaki and worked very hard to make sure everyone felt included. Thank you to all the Year 9 mentor classes who came to support!

This week we are celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo M膩ori! 

At the library we have a collection of new books that cover M膩ori myths and history, learning te reo and highlight some important M膩ori famous figures. 

Included in this collection is my Book of the Week- 'Toi Te Mana: An indigenous history of M膩ori art'. This book is probably my favourite that I have purchased for the library this year. It is absolutely gorgeous, and with over 500 illustrated pages, it is substantial to say the least. 

Toi Te Mana takes us through hundreds of years of M膩ori art, starting from the earliest evidence to contemporary artists. It includes multiple forms of art such as textiles, carving, jewellery, weaving and digital media. Everything is beautifully photographed and comes together in an eye-catching manner.  

Come and see it on display for Te Wiki o te Reo M膩ori! 

Tara Holland | School Librarian 

Sport

That’s a Wrap on Winter Sports!  

Over the past few weeks we have been busy with musters and trials for our summer sports program. Term 4 is mostly for Junior Sport but there are a few senior teams in the mix as well, it’s been great to see so many students out there giving things a go. 

So far, we’ve held trials for Junior Boys and Girls Volleyball, as well as Senior Boys 7’s, Girls 7’s and Junior Boys 7’s. We’re also looking forward to getting our Junior Boys and Girls Tag teams underway once Term 4 begins. On top of that, we’re working to bring back softball in Term 4, which we’re really excited about. 

A huge thank you goes out to the staff who have been giving up their time to run trials and support our students. For Volleyball, thank you to Ms Cook, Mr Togafau and Ms Bloomfield. For 7’s, a big thanks to Mr Ioane and Mr Parker. And for Softball, thank you to Ms Coetzee for helping get the program up and running. 

We are excited to see our summer sports season come together. 

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