ACG Sunderland Newsletter Week 8 4 December

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

ACG SUNDERLAND

WINGS NEWSLETTER

Vol 16, Term Four, Week Eight, 4 December 2020

Dear Parents and Friends of Sunderland Well, we made it!

The 2020 academic year at ACG Sunderland has finally come to an end.

By the time you read this newsletter, most of you will have experienced our two prizegivings held this morning – sharing our celebrations of the unprecedented year we have all just experienced.

I want to personally thank you all – the parents of our wonderful school for your support this year. Your endorsement of how we unpacked our learning strategy not once, but for two lockdowns, has meant that our school and your children could actively continue their learning journey without really any variability at all.

There will be thousands of children throughout New Zealand that will forever have a 2020 blip in their learning, an unrecoverable period of time when everything went quiet. Inspired students across the world never experienced this blip, in fact, many students actually improved their understanding and performance over this period.

Term One begins 25 January 2021.

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

There are certainly some positives that occurred during lockdown: the family time, the working together, but perhaps one of the most important has been the acceleration of the use of technology for educational purpose.

What the lockdowns have taught us is that structured learning can continue almost anywhere we chose.

As I said in my speech at prizegiving, much of our planning and organisation for 2020 was based on our graduating class – making sure these young people could continue with their aspirations and dreams post lockdown.

I can report today that at least three of this year’s graduation will be studying in Europe in the near future, with interviews at Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College all booked. In fact, Leo Li has an interview with Cambridge University on Monday evening – we all wish him the best.

On Thursday of this week we farewelled some staff leaving Sunderland. I wish to highlight two long standing people who are moving on. Both have worked here for thirteen years; both were foundation College staff, and both in quite different ways, have contributed greatly to our school.

Mrs Barlow is retiring and in fact returning to her family in Stoke-on-Trent. I personally wish her and Chris all happiness in this process.

Ms Petre is also moving on to explore other endeavours. I wish her all the very best with this transition.

The summer holidays are almost upon us. I wish you all a very happy and safe festive season and I look forward to catching up with you all next year.

Aspire. Succeed. Respect.

Nathan Villars Campus Principal ACG Sunderland

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Primary Students of the Week 1DS – James Cosgrove 1NG – Chloe Li 1RW- George Du 1NC – Evan Bai 2AV – Jeremy Zheng 2/3SB – Chelsea Ataya 3WB – Isabella Yu 4LC – Evelyn Law 5KB – Annabelle Tyler

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

House Shield

McDonald

Earlier this week our Year Six class spent the day on a bike skills course, learning how to ride confidently and safely. It was great to see some of our students who have never ridden a bike before master it!

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Primary Picnic

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

On Tuesday, the annual Primary picnic was hosted on our school field.

This was a chance for all of our Primary students to stay outside after morning tea and join in the multiple activities the teachers had laid out for their enjoyment.

Amongst the Primary sack races: Orienteering, hula hoops, egg and spoon races, water balloons, bag toss and much more. We also had our Preschool come along to join in!

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The Student Voice!

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

School in 2020

2020 has been tough for everyone with all sorts of happenings throughout the year. Although we couldn’t be at school for a long time due to the pandemic situation, I believe that all students in ACG Sunderland have enjoyed every other thing while in school. Some students in Year Eight have shared their thoughts about school this year which we would love you to read. We all wish you to end 2020 well and see you all next year!

Frankly, this year has been tough for both teachers and students. From lockdown to all the Covid 19 safety protocols, we have missed out on a lot of events throughout this school year which is unfortunate. Even though we’ve had all these setbacks, this year still had some highlights. We are lucky enough to live in New Zealand where the virus hasn’t affected us as much as the other countries, so we could take part in swimming sports, cross country and athletics.

Academically, it’s also been a very difficult year, especially considering the fact that we were unable to do any science experiments and other practical work during lockdown. Yet we all persisted and, on the whole, did well in our exams.

All the students have got through this year and now that all the exams have finished, I bet that we all hope that 2021 will be better. So, even though we did miss lots of practical work and other fun activities like camp, we still continued to work hard and make 2020 a successful year for us.

Lastly, thank you to our teachers. You have helped and supported all of us through this difficult year, so all the students owe you a massive thank you.

Written by Anya Thurner (Year Eight)

Although 2020 was not the most typical year, I’m sure that we could all agree that it was certainly memorable, to say the least.

Music was definitely one of the main things I enjoyed, from rehearsals to performances – it was great. I’m proud of all of us in the chamber orchestra considering how much progress we managed to make this year. Battle of the Bands was also very fun, and despite the interruptions from Covid 19, we pulled through and turned out to be a success! Thanks to all the teachers we had this year; you were all amazing and really helped us in times

of need, even if it had to be done virtually.

Written by Jessie Wu (Year Eight)

This year has honestly been very tough but also quite entertaining. Covid 19 made a huge impact on the school system, so we went into lockdown. I quite liked staying home and doing school online. Although it was hard, I got through it by just handing my homework in on time and getting good grades. I guess that's how I really stay motivated. My anxiety of not getting good grades motivates me.

Written by Ruth Lahari (Year Eight) 5

The Student Voice!

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

School in 2020

Wow, this year has certainly been a roller-coaster!

Amongst the stress of lockdowns and exams, there have always been people there for me. My classmates and teachers have played a huge role in ensuring I kept my sanity (or as much of it as I had in the first place) through this senseless year.

I want to say thank you to every teacher and person in my class. You’ve been standing beside me through it all, and I couldn’t have made it through this year without you. I know, it sounds cliché, but maybe people say things like this because they’re so true.

Our class – 8B – has grown so close in these hard times. It may sound good, but in reality, it must be tiring for the teachers having to handle us bunch of chatterboxes. At this point we talk to anyone placed next to us in class. So, thank you for tolerating us, for coming to class every day with a smile and patience. It’ll always be a mystery to me how your patience magically refills after every day.

Thank you to Mrs Carter for never giving up on trying to make me quiet, to Mrs Menon for always seeing when I’m upset and checking on me, to Mr Gerrard for letting me debate about any matter, to Mr Meadows for having the patience of a saint, to Mrs Lambarth for your dark sense of humour, to Mr Konlechner for calling me ‘charismatic’ instead of loud, to Mr O’Connor for supporting my love of Taylor Swift, to Mr Dawson for always joking in class, to Mrs Townshend for always making us laugh, and finally to Dr K Olsen and Mrs King, my English teachers. English has always been a way of escapism for me, and you’ve kept my love for it strong.

And thank you to everyone in my class. Even though we’ve missed out on teambuilding events such as camp, we’re still a strong team – the strongest. I’d trust all of you with my life, and you’ve all helped me in so many different ways.

Now I can say for sure, Intermediate has been a blast. They say time flies when you’re having fun. I must have been having fun for the last two years, because wow, it went fast. I hope it’ll be the same group of people and the same teachers, because I don’t want to say goodbye – to any of you.

Written by Amelia Lee (Year Eight)

I started this school at the beginning of the Term Three. I can’t believe how time went so fast! We’ve already made it through the whole semester and we are finally in the last week of Term Four now. Even though 2020 was very tough and hard for everyone, I’m glad we all got through this situation safely!

I made lots of good memories and friends this year which I am very thankful for. I am looking forward to next year with better grades and more!

Have a merry Christmas this month and see you all next year!

Written by Aileen Yim (Year Eight) 6

Staff Notices

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

 People wishing to sell their uniforms through the second-hand uniform shop are welcome to drop their clean, ironed and blazers dry cleaned to the office

by Friday 18 December 2020 or after Monday 18 January 2021.

 Ubiq will be at ACG Sunderland on Wednesday 9 December from 10.00am to 12.00pm to buyback second hand textbooks, in the Atrium. Forms at reception.  School Office hours during the school holidays will be 9.00am to 3.00pm from 7 December to 18 December. The school will re-open 15 January.

Lost Property All lost property will be put on display for students to check on the last week of this term. Any school uniform items that are left will be placed in the second hand uniform shop.

Any other items will be donated to a charity.

We encourage you to name all your child’s items so that we can return them to them.

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Ground Crew Lenco School Wear Shop 40 Patiki Road Avondale Auckland Tel 09 838 6164

ACG Sunderland 09 838 7070 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson, Auckland

Sunderland Second-Hand Uniform Shop The shop is open. Please ask at reception for access.

We are taking good quality uniform items for the second-hand shop. Blazers must be dry cleaned.

We will continue to use the entrance at number 44 Patiki Road to access our shop site at number 40 Patiki road until further notice as the site works are taking longer than anticipated– note access is very clearly sign posted to avoid any confusion.

Lost Property

December 2020 Hours Monday 8.30am – 4.30pm Wednesday 8.30am – 4.30pm Friday 8.30am – 4.30pm Saturday 9.00am – 1.00pm

For your best interest, please name all clothing, lunch boxes and drink bottles as we will return all named items to the students homeroom teacher.

January 2021 Reopen – Thursday 7th Jan Monday to Friday 8.30am – 4.30pm Saturday 9.00am – 3.00pm As a reminder all school uniform continues to be available for purchase online on our Lenco website https://lenco.space/schoolwear/.

Kids at School Care Kids at School Care operates in G02, Monday to Friday from 7.00am to 8.20am and 3.10pm to 5.45pm. They also run a Holiday Programme.

Contact Haydee Cos on 021 161 6256 for enrolment and fees information or email haydeecos@yahoo.com

All lost property can be found by the Second-Hand Uniform Shop.

Contact Details School Office: Phone: 838 7070 Address: 6 Waipareira Ave, Henderson Waitakere 0610 Email:

sunderland@acgedu.com

Attendance:

sunderlandattendance@acgedu.com

Web:

www.acgedu.com

2021 Term Dates Term 1: Term 2: Term 3: Term 4:

25 January to 16 April 3 May to 2 July 26 July to 24 September 11 October to 7 December

Staff Emails

School Office Hours

Email format for staff is: Firstname.Surname@acgedu.com

During the term break ACG Sunderland office hours will be 9.00am – 3.30pm

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