Bill Murray’s classic movie Groundhog Day tells the story of a man trapped in an endless time loop, doomed to repeat the same day over and over until he gets it right. At one stage during
the movie Phil (Murray’s character) says, “Don’t mess with me pork chop. What day is this?” I think most of us can sympathise with this sentiment as these lockdown days blur into each other.
Well done to everyone for juggling the demands of home-schooling, home, whānau and work commitments. Our community is showing epic levels of resilience and kindness - thank you for your huge support of the school, our staff, and for keeping the wheels turning as much as possible.
created with simple household items and a bit of ingenuity. Congratulations to all who have had a go. We have also seen some great fitness challenges, and of course getting some exercise and fresh air is such an important part of our wellbeing, especially as organised sport has been put on hold.
We are in the process of taking applications for this years Cultural and Sports Blues Awards. Sports applications closed last week, however dates for our Cultural Blues have been extended until the end of Term 3. Our Sports Awards will be held on 28 October and our Cultural Blues on 15 November - all going to plan.
We often hear in the media that we are living in unprecedented times - although I suspect most of us would prefer to go back to some ‘precedented’ times. It has been fascinating watching some of the 9/11 footage from twenty years ago, and it will be equally interesting to see how this global pandemic is remembered twenty years into the future.
Last week we celebrated Te Wiki o te Reo Māori - it was cool to see our students and teachers engaging authentically with te reo. Tau kē e hoa ma!
The creativity of our kids during lockdown has been something to behold. We’ve seen giant catapults, gorgeous cupcakes and other edible art, cool trickshot videos, and detergent bottle guitars, to name a few. It is amazing what can be
Issue 06 2021
Interestingly we received an email this week from a grandparent in the United States who was enjoying using the lockdown resources posted on our website - it’s nice to see our global reach. Her grandsons recommended another link for us: Virtual Road Trips from Home, so we have included this as well. Check it out on the Learning Online page under Students and Parents @ www.mahurangi.school.nz.
The deadline for Prefect applications for our Year 12 students also closed last week. Lets hope they have a better year! We are so proud of our Heads and Deputy Heads, who have been role modeling walking the talk over lockdown (pictured below pre-lockdown). Motivated by wanting our school whānau to stay connected, they were the masterminds behind The Great Mahu Bake Off! and the infamous Trick Shot! challenge. Our sports winter season was very close to concluding, or for some teams, had concluded, before we were sent
MAHUHUKITERANGI CHALLENGING. EXCELLING. BELONGING. OUR PLACE
into lockdown and the remaining winter season subsequently cancelled. Season standings were recorded based on where teams were placed on the table at that time. Some top results included our Underwater Hockey Senor Open A team placing 1st in the Senior Grade, our Hockey 1XI Boys placing 1st in their 1A Grade, our Hockey Intermediate Girls placing 1st in their Year 7/8 A Grade and our Rugby 1XV Boys placing 1st in their 1B Grade. Plans for Term 4 sports are under way, including Year 9 and 10 Touch and Tag competitions, after school social Volleyball and a variety of “Pick Up and Play” lunchtime sports. At the end of Groundhog Day Phil says “Today is tomorrow! It happened!” Here’s hoping we too get back to as much normality as possible - as soon as possible! A massive thank you for all your efforts to help us get there.
Tony Giles - PRINCIPAL
WWW.MAHURANGI.SCHOOL.NZ
OUR WHĀNAU LEARNING AND LIVING IN LOCKDOWN Year 9 Science students have been studying biodiversity. A number of students made Mesocosms in order to observe the cycling of nutrients and the flow of energy. Many of these self-sustaining ecosystems have since collapsed, showing students just how fragile our ecosystems can be - even simple ones. They have also been encouraged to get behind the last annual citizen science Kereru count that runs until 26 September 2021. In Sustainability, students chose their own
ways to engage with Nature and te reo Māori. Some options included learning the names of ten shapes in te reo and then finding those shapes in nature, and going on a native plant scavenger hunt, identifying plants in te reo. They welcomed spring by using plant hacks to grow new things from stuff they could find at home. Students also took on the project of upcycling or repurposing things from around their houses. They are currently working on an analysis of their whānau’s recycling, carrying out
audits and analyzing what they could do to reduce waste. Congratulations to the winners of The Great Mahu Bake Off! Of special note: the winner of the cake category, pictured below, is a Year 7 student! Some of our STEAM classes had the challenge to create a catapult that shoots a plastic toy 2m. Check out video of Finn and Silas’ incredible design on Facebook. We hope our Dads also enjoyed the challenge! Crazy hat creations, dance, sports and photography challenges; awesome work team!
Patrick Mackinnon ACHIEVER OF THE MONTH Senior Mixed Nations Touch Prep Team Touch Senior Boys A Team Senior Rugby Squad Academic Blue for Excellence Level 1 NCEA Academic Blue for Excellence Level 2 NCEA
Pictured with with Marius Muller Operations Manager
Proudly Supporting Mahurangi College
Cnr Woodcocks Rd & Mansel Drive WARKWORTH Phone 425 8119
MAHUHUKITERANGI CHALLENGING. EXCELLING. BELONGING. OUR PLACE
WWW.MAHURANGI.SCHOOL.NZ