14 June 2024

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa,

It has been another extremely busy and productive few weeks for our students, with many outdoor education, sport, culture, Arts, and academic commitments in full swing.

All winter sports codes are now well into their season. It has been great to get out and see all the action. I am always impressed with players' commitment to their teams and pride in representing Mount Maunganui College. Whether it is our social or competitive teams, I take immense joy in watching these young athletes fully engaged in their sports. Director of Sport Dan Meade has a full rundown of results below. Please also keep an eye out for information regarding our annual Polar Plunge next Wednesday.

Congratulations to our Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival teams that headed to Wellington over King’s Birthday weekend. Their performances were a testament to their unwavering dedication and countless hours of hard work. Wayne Flanagan has summarised the awards the students received over the weekend below. Wayne and other staff and students have been busy preparing for the school production ‘Mauao, Always Beside You’ at Baycourt in just under two weeks. With the distinguished talents of Jason Te Mete directing this performance, it is shaping up to be quite remarkable.

Year 9 camps are in full swing at Aongatete Lodge, and we have been lucky with the weather. It has been a privilege to work alongside staff and students and see everyone in action away from the classroom. Opportunities for leadership, teamwork, and developing self-awareness abound in a school camp setting, and I have enjoyed watching students push their comfort levels.

Many people in our school and community go above and beyond to create these opportunities for our students. I sincerely thank the Mount Maunganui College staff and community members for their commitment to our students.

Finally, I want to direct your attention to a couple of messages below. Mount Maunganui College has a long and proud history of serving generations of Mounties. We are in the process of developing our alumni database and our national and international representatives. While we have identified many current and former students in these representative categories, we are interested in capturing as many people as possible to help fill in any gaps we have. 


Ngā mihi,

Alastair Sinton
Principal

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CONTENTS: 

  • Honours Boards
  • Alumni
  • New Zealand Schools' Debating Council Congratulations
  • Attendance Matters
  • Shakespeare
  • Uniform
  • Sports News
  • International Host Families 2024
  • School Bus Service
  • Student ID Photos
  • Clear the Air Community Notice
  • Tauranga City Community Notice
  • Oranga Tamariki - Become a Caregiver
  • Key Dates / Term Dates

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HONOURS BOARDS

Mount Maunganui College is looking to display our past achievements. 

If you are a former student or know of someone who represented New Zealand or earned a national title while attending Mount Maunganui College and would like your name displayed, please complete the Google form. 

We are also interested in former students who have represented New Zealand or earned a national title as adults.

While all information is appreciated, we are particularly interested in information from the 1960s to 2000.

All submissions must include any verification possible to ensure the information is correct. Achievements can be in Sports, Arts, Culture or Academia.  

HONOURS BOARD LINK

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ALUMNI 

Mount Maunganui College is developing a database of former students who are interested in keeping up to date with the college's past, present and future.

Please click the link below to register your interest and/or share with others.  Access to the link can also be found on the college website.

MOUNT MAUNGANUI COLLEGE  ALUMNI

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Congratulations to Luca Ririnui for his performance at the New Zealand Schools' Debating National Championships. Luca was named Best Speaker at the tournament and was selected to represent New Zealand at the World Schools' Debating Championships in Serbia later in the year.

Luca is the first student from Mount Maunganui College to be selected for the New Zealand team and is a member of the first Bay of Plenty regional team to advance through to the semi-finals this year.

Honourable Sir Stephen Kós KNZM KC, Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, was the Patron this year. Sir Stephen Kós watched Luca debate and was especially complimentary of Luca's speaking manner and debating talents.

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SHAKESPEARE

Mount Maunganui College Shakespeare Acting Troupe achieved National success at the SGCNZ National Shakespeare Festival 2024 in Wellington over the King's Birthday weekend. 

They were awarded the Best Use of Space Award, The Two Actors Who Showed The Strongest and Most Truthful Connection Between Them Award (Ruby Goodyear and Luca Ririnui), and 1st Prize in the Shakespeare Essay Competition (Sarah Adlam). 

They also attended workshops with the best directors, actors and tutors in New Zealand. An outstanding result from an outstanding group of students!

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UNIFORM

Thanks to all our families who ensure our students head off to school in the correct school uniform. We know you have high expectations of how our students present themselves, so we appreciate your support.

Occasionally, students present to school in incorrect uniforms, and it can be disappointing for staff to have to start the day by having a negative conversation with a student about uniforms.

Here are some reminders to help ensure your child has a positive start to the day:

  • Uniform guidelines.
  • We would like to remind families that only Mount Maunganui College trousers are to be worn. These can only be purchased from NZ Uniforms.
  • Students can wear a non-regulation waterproof jacket to and from school on wet days.
  • Please ensure your child also adheres to our jewellery standards. No septums or rings are permitted on the face.
  • Discipline and defiance procedures will be used to deal with ongoing uniform issues if not resolved promptly.

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SPORTS NEWSLETTER                                                                                                     Dan Meade
Director of Sport

Off-field Sports Uniforms
Off-field sports uniforms are available online here or in store at 94 Elizabeth Street. It is important to have all our sports players looking the part and we encourage students to buy a long sleeve or short sleeve tee and / or hoodie if they don’t already have an off-field uniform.

Sponsorship
Please reach out on danm@mmc.school.nz if you’re interested in joining our amazing group of sponsors who make a genuine difference to sport at Mount Maunganui College. We have a range of packages and sponsor benefits available and would love to hear from you. 

High Achievers
A massive congratulations to our Mount Maunganui College twin sisters, Shamar and Charis Broughton on their selection into the New Zealand U15 Women’s Squad of 2024.

Shamar and Charis are two players to keep a close eye on, with both girls looking to have a bright future ahead of them! Shamar and Charis will attend the U15 Women’s National Team selection camp during the July school holidays in Auckland. All the best girls!


What’s been happening

Winter Sports
Winter sports are now well and truly underway and we’d like to thank our volunteers who coach, manage, fundraise and provide transport.

North Island Artistic Swimming Champs
We had four Mount Maunganui College students representing Tauranga Synchro Swim Club at the North Island Artistic Swimming Champs in Auckland over the weekend. Congratulations to Rylee Kara, Mia Burch, Ava Crowe and Zara Burch on achieving some fantastic results! 

RESULTS
Rylee Kara, 2nd (open free team)
Mia Burch, 2nd (aqua duet)
Ava Crowe and Zara Burch, 1st (youth team)
Ava Crowe and Zara Burch, 3rd (youth team combo)

WBOPSS Cross Country Championships
The Waikato Bay of Plenty Cross Country Championships were held at Kihikihi on Wednesday 5th June, which had 331 entrants this year from 34 schools. Congratulations to the following Mount Maunganui College runners who came away with great results.

RESULTS
Year 9 Boys, 3000m
Toby Borman, 22nd
Mitchell Hill, 35th

Junior Boys, 4000m
Ryder Matthews, 7th
Juan Trambauer, 32nd

Senior Boys, 6000m
Sean Collins, 4th

Opening of Destination Skate park in Mount Maunganui
On Wednesday 29th May at 7am, a few of us headed down for the blessing and opening of the new skate park on the corner of Hull Road and Mount Maunganui Road.  

Following on from the speeches (with a special mention for Mr Sinton as a "local Principal who is also a skater") the locals were free to skate the park for the first time. 

This is an amazing resource for our community which is already getting heaps of use. We're looking forward to getting the Mount College Skateboarding Team down there for practises before the National Schools Skateboarding Competition later this year. (By Katy Taylor-Mills)

What’s coming up?

Sports Uniform Return Amnesty Week
If you have any old sports uniforms at home that you haven’t returned, please bring them to the Main Office in Week 7 and 8. You will find an Amnesty Box at reception to drop them off. Thank you for your help to track down missing sports uniforms! 

Polar Plunge
We are holding our annual Polar Plunge at 7 am on Wednesday 19 June. The event is a fundraiser set up in the memory of students Harrison Mundy and Jed Roberts. Students and families are to arrive at the Omanu Surf Club at 7am for short speeches before a mid-winter dip in the ocean. Bring a gold coin to donate to the cause and earn house points.

BOPSS Rockclimbing Championships
It’s always an awesome day out watching our talented National Title winning rock climbing team. This event will be held at Rocktopia on Friday 21st June. Registrations are open at the Sports Office.

Manihera Memorial Golf Tournament
The Manihera Memorial Golf Tournament has been postponed due to the rain. We will be taking the largest golf team yet. We are still waiting on the new date to be announced.

Lawn bowls
All students interested in trying lawn bowls please register your name with Mr Meade in the sports office or via email. Experienced players are welcome too.

WBOP Senior Badminton Qualifier
The badminton qualifier will be held on 26th June at QEYC, Tauranga. See the sports office to register.

NZSS Cyclocross
Have you ever thought of giving Cyclocross a go? This year the North Island CX Championships are taking place on 21st July in Papamoa. Register in the sports office.

Lynfield Exchange
The annual sports exchange against Lynfield College is being held at Lynfield College on Thursday 4th July. This is always a highly anticipated event and we wish all our teams the best of luck! All students participating will receive information closer to the day.

Strength and Conditioning 
The Mount Maunganui College Strength and Conditioning Programme, is up and running again in Term 2. It provides a great space and top level strength and conditioning coaching to help your child reach their physical potential for their sport. See Mr Meade in the sports office if you’d like to know more.

Mount Maunganui College Sailing Raffle
Win a Trip to Barcelona for the 37th America’s Cup! Imagine soaking up the sun in Barcelona while watching Emirates Team New Zealand defend the 37th America’s Cup. You can make this dream a reality and support a great cause at the same time.

1. Kiwi Cup Raffle
Purchase a ticket in the Kiwi Cup Raffle for your chance to win a trip of a lifetime to Barcelona for the 37th America’s Cup valued at over $35,000! The Kiwi Cup Raffle is a nationwide initiative supported by Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Emirates Team New Zealand, Live Sail Die, and Yachting New Zealand. Its mission? To help sailing organisations raise essential funds for the sport of sailing.

2. How It Works
Each ticket costs $20.
Select “Mount Maunganui College”: When you purchase your ticket, choose Mount Maunganui College as your sailing club/team/association to support.
Fundraising Impact: $10 from each ticket purchased will directly benefit Mount Maunganui College Sailing and contribute to getting our sailing team to nationals.

3. Secondary Prizes
But wait, there’s more! Alongside the grand prize, there are fantastic secondary prizes waiting to be won.

4. Important Dates
Raffle Tickets go on sale from 1st May.
Ticket sales close on 24th July.
Prizes will be drawn on 29th July 2024.

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity! Visit kiwicup.co.nz to explore the full list of prizes and read the raffle terms and conditions.

Social Media
The Sports Department has updated their Social Media pages. Please follow us on.

Facebook: Mount Maunganui College Sport
Instagram: Mount Maunganui College Sport

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SCHOOL BUS SERVICE

This is a reminder to families that the school has a very efficient bus service. This service will ensure your child arrives at school on time and is ready for period 1 classes.

While students can use the commercial bus service free during school hours provided they have a BEE card they cannot guarantee that they will arrive ready for an 8.45 am start. Many of these services mean that students are missing up to 30 minutes of learning time each day.

Please encourage your child to use the school buses each day. This may mean they need to leave the house earlier, but it guarantees they are ready for the start of school.

Up-to-date information on the school buses is on the school website https://www.mmc.school.nz/key-info/bus-information

The afternoon buses leave the school grounds promptly at 3pm each day. The 712a buses are now arriving at 3 pm and the later one arrives at approximately 3.10pm.

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STUDENT ID PHOTOS

As ID cards are not required for school, students will not receive one this year unless they order it through the Photolife website.

Information on how to order will be sent out from Photolife, and cards will be sent directly to them.

 Parent Queries – Please contact Photolife at:     enquiries@photolife.co.nz

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Clear the Air is a community charitable trust established several years ago. Its goal is to understand the pollution issues in the community, educate the public, unite resident voices, and ensure that residents have a say in policy and council decisions regarding industrial discharges that affect the area, including those close to schools. 

A community meeting will be held at Mount Maunganui Intermediate on Wednesday, 19 June to provide an update on air quality in the area, discuss council plans for the future, empower residents to make a difference, and raise concerns to the Tauranga City Council and mayoral candidates, seeking their support if elected.

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New signalised crossing on Girven Road

Work will start next week on the construction of a signalised crossing at Girven Road. This crossing was planned as part of the ‘More ways to Move on Grenada Street’ project and has since been incorporated into the safety improvement work on Girven Road.

With a planned upgrade to the Arataki bus hub on Farm Street, a safe connection to Arataki Park is fundamental to students travelling between both sides of Girven Road on foot or by bike. The map below shows the location of the new crossing.

Construction starts early in the week of Monday, 17 June 2024 and is anticipated to take three weeks. During construction, traffic will remain open in both directions. Lane switches will occur and speed will be reduced to 30km/h in the work section.

To minimise traffic impacts, any work that requires lane closures will be managed with night time stop/go, scheduled between 7pm and 6am.

Find out more at letstalk.tauranga.govt.nz/papamoamountlink

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KEY DATES

2024 Term Dates (click to view)

June 2024
19         Polar Bear Plunge
25-27    School Production
28         Matariki 

July 2024
04         Lynfield Exchange
05         Engagement Report Issued
05         Last Day Term 2
22         First Day Term 3

August 2024
01         Careers Pathway Evening
07         Open Evening
14         Talent Quest
15         School Interviews (4pm-7pm)
16         School Interviews (School Closed)
20-21    Team Photos
22         Daffodil Day
22         Engagement Report Issued