Week 10 - Term 3
Welcome to the End of Term 3!
Welcome to the end of Term 3. It has been a busy term with lots of success for many of our students in various ways, whether in class, on stage, in the sporting areas or their decision-making and friendships.
I want to extend a special thanks to our staff who manage and coordinate the extensive range of weekly activities our students participate in. We understand that these extracurricular activities motivate students to attend school, provide an opportunity to make friends and provide balance in their lives. Students who make the most of these opportunities tell us that school is a more enjoyable place for them.
Another place that our students enjoy is our school library. Did you know each of our students has access to almost 2000 eBooks through our school library? The school holiday period is a perfect time to use this. Ebooks can be borrowed and read on devices such as iPads, phones, tablets, and computers. Students visit https://maeroa.
In the past few weeks, we have helped and supported some students resolve friendship drama and have found a lot of this drama starts online. I realise that over the break, some students will have more time online, which can be a fun way to connect with others. Today at assembly, I urged students to think about how they use their time online and ensure things are kept friendly. I also asked them to think about spreading rumours and passing on gossip, which often makes the problem bigger rather than smaller. Some of this behaviour is typical for this age group as they move into the early teen years. However, the impact of social media and too much online time can magnify trouble for them.
We recently held our enrolment ballot for out-of-zone places, and all applicants have been advised. We have also issued emails this week to all in-zone students whose applications have been accepted. We have a long waiting list for 2025 places, so we ask that anyone not requiring a position next year please let our school office know within 14 days as notified.
School starts back in 2 weeks on Monday, 14 October, and we look forward to seeing everyone back rested and looking forward to Term 4.
Take care
Amanda Taylor
Deputy Ptincipal
Cultural Day
This week, we had Cultural Day, and it was awesome to see so many students proudly wear clothing representing their cultural heritage.
Cultural Day is a special time to celebrate our school's mix of cultures. It’s a chance to learn about different traditions, foods, and customs from around the world, helping us understand and appreciate each other's backgrounds. By learning about different cultures, we become more open-minded and respectful, which is important in a world where we are all connected in so many ways.
It's also a day to feel proud of our own heritage! Whether we wear traditional clothes, share food, or tell stories, Cultural Day lets us show who we are while learning from others. It brings us closer as a school community and reminds us that our differences make us unique.
AIMS Games 2024
About 50 of our students recently participated in the 2024 AIMS Games in Tauranga. Our competitors excelled, with excellent results, personal bests and lasting memories and friendships. However, what made me most proud was the incredible display of our school's values, sportsmanship, and resilience. Each student represented Maeroa with exceptional pride.
I would also like to thank the staff who went above and beyond to prepare our students for this event. Organizing and training such a large group requires immense dedication and planning. A special thanks go out to the parents who coached, managed, and supported our athletes throughout the week—your time and commitment are greatly appreciated. Below are reports from the various codes.
Boys Basketball
On Sunday, 8th September, the following students travelled to Tauranga to represent Maeroa at the AIMS games 2024 to play in the boys 5 aside basketball competition. Eraia O’Donnell-Courtney, Isaac Hapi, Junior Tawake, Iosefa Mataoa, Tavita Mataoa, Harris Satini, Hayzin Green, Kyrie Compain and Bryden Marjes. We had four pool games that we had to win to get to the top 16. By Thursday, we had completed our first goal of winning our pool and knocking out another team, putting us in the top 8 out of 84 teams from around NZ.
After lots of team practice, breathing and meditation, ice baths, watching how we played on the court ( Coach Phil filmed the games for us), gameplay from Coach Bayley and heaps of food… we played our best. We won another game and finally placed 6th out of the competition! It was an amazing week away doing what we love and learning about ourselves and teamwork. We thank all of our families, coaches, teachers and the supporters we had. We are ready to set new goals for AIMS 2025!
By Junior and Kyrie
Rock Climbing
My experience at AIMS Games 2024 was great!! The climbing was really fun on the first day, but it got harder and harder going into the quarterfinals and then the semis. Our bouldering gym in Hamilton is fairly new, so my performance was not as amazing as my top rope. But in the quarterfinals, I did best in bouldering, which I was quite proud of! I think over this next year, I will work harder in speed climbing, as that really let me down.
By Bella.
Girls Futsal
Our experience at the 2024 AIMS Games was so exhilarating. On Friday, the 6th of September, we all finally arrived at our destination, Mt Maunganui. We all woke up the following day pumped for our first game against Otumoetai Intermediate. We were all so stoked in that game we won 6-0! We had another game later in the day against Rotorua Intermediate and won again! (5-1). Later that night, we went and cheered on our boy's team and nearly lost all our voices with our booming cheers. On Sunday, we went to one of our coach's aunties' houses to swim in a heated pool and relax our bodies from the two tiring days we've had. Later that night we had pizzas and sang loads of karaoke. Our future games consisted of a draw, three losses, two more wins and then it all came down to our final match against one of our biggest rivals, Rototuna Intermediate. We were the first to score, but then they did! Eventually, the full-time buzzer went off, and the score was 1-1; we had to go into penalty shootouts, and this put immense pressure on our goalkeeper. In the end, we lost 3-5 to them in the penalties, which was very devastating, but we moved on pretty quickly. We went home with slight smiles on our faces and enjoyed the rest of the time we had there with McDonald’s and ice cream.
By Mila & Isabel
Swimming
My experience at AIMS Games 2024 was awesome!! When I arrived at the pool we were racing in, I was nervous seeing all the swimmers. My first race was my 200 m individual medley, which I didn’t do that well in. After that, I pushed myself to swim faster. My best race was my 100 m butterfly, in which I came in 9th place and got a finalist ribbon. Watching everyone else swim was entertaining.
By Carlos
Netball
The AIMS netball team had a very successful tournament where they gained 11th place overall in the A Grade, finishing top Hamilton team. Their first goal was to make the top 32, which they did by playing St Thomas, winning 47 - 5, Edgecumbe Primary School 57 - 5 and Orewa College 43 - 12. The next goal was top 16, they played St Oran’s winning 39 - 18, Tuakau College winning 38 -12. The final game was against Point England from Auckland, and a win or draw was needed to make the top 16 in the A Grade - which the team did. Next, we faced a very strong St Kentigen’s, who won 20 - 13. Our next game was against Otumoetai Intermediate, which saw the team play their best game, where we won 19 -18 on the buzzer. The last two games saw us lose to Tauranga Intermediate 20 - 27 and then lift for a final win against Baradene 24 -11, seeing the team with eight wins and 2 losses.
The team demonstrated all the values Maeroa taught us - respect, commitment, kindness and sportsmanship, and the whole team contributed to this wonderful achievement. Lukah George and TIana Murray shot fantastically; Skylah Tawhara, Amberli Sio Lealiifano, Khodie Mataoa, Kyra Ivory-Taranaki, Nevaeh Murray, and Rickaya Coleman combined well in the mid-court. Mia Tuakaraina stepped up and showed her experience in the defensive circle. Special mention must be made to our wonderful captain, Kymaani Rangitakatu, who shone all tournament, Kauri Holtz, who made so many incredible intercepts, and Waihanea Karena for her consistency and leadership in the mid-court. To Ruth Kaiwhata for being a fantastic manager, and to all our wonderful whanau who supported Kai and sideline positivity, we could not have done it without you. Thank you. Last but not least, to Mrs Carter for coaching and supporting us this season; it was such a fantastic tournament. Thank you.
Gymnastics
Competing in gymnastics at the AIMS Games was exciting and nerve-wracking! I'm Alba Matenga, I'm 12 years old, and I have been doing gymnastics since I was four. I participated in the bar, beam, floor, and vault at the AIMS Games. When I stepped onto the beam and bar, I felt my heart racing, but I reminded myself that I love this sport and need to calm down. The gym was full of other athletes and their whānau from all over the North Island. My number one supporter and coach is my Mum, Ayla Matenga. She is always supporting and pushing me to achieve my goals. I know I've worked hard, and even though I was nervous, I was proud to represent Maeroa at AIMS. (Photo credit: Ayla Matenga)
By Alba
Cross Country
I really enjoyed my Aims Games experience competing in the cross country. Lining up and standing next to all these year seven boys, I was a little nervous seeing who I was up against but pumped to get going.
The 3km course had a challenging mix of flat spaces, steep hills to run up, and hurdles to jump over. Once the starting clapper went, I knew I had to move quickly to get through the pack. Once I set a good pace, I was weaving my way through, passing runners left and right. The sprint to the finish line and seeing it in my sight gave me that extra push, and I was stoked to finish 65th out of 140 boys, knowing I gave it my all.
By Levi.
Boys Futsal
At AIMS Games 2024, we had such an enjoyable time. We arrived there, and it was really cool. The boys' team slept downstairs in the garage while the girls slept upstairs behind the couch in the lounge. With all the fun activities we had, such as the driving range, the pool and more, something that was even more pleasing was beating Fairfield when we faced them (we won 4-3). All the games were exciting, but always nervous. Our first AIMS game was exciting, winning 2-0, but it was quite a close game. Our 2nd game was against Rotorua Intermediate, in which we won 3-1. Then we lost two games, which was a disappointment, but we moved on really quickly. Overall, day one was the best but we didn't get much sleep for the next day. We were all tired but learnt from our mistakes.
The next day, we went down 5-2 against Chisnallwood, then won 4-2 against Otumoetai. After that game, we went to Aunty Robyn’s and she had an outdoor TV and a heated pool, so we did karaoke and got our own pizza. On the 3rd day, we went into a new, smaller part of the stadium because all the basketball teams went into the bigger part where we were because there were more basketball teams. This was the day we beat Fairfield, our rivals, in the last 22 seconds. On day 4, we had a game against Randrick, and we went in expecting to win because Fairfield smashed them, but we lost 3-1. We learnt our lesson not to get overconfident. On day 5, we had finals day, and we were playing off for 21st to 25th. In our semi-final, we won 7-0; in our final, we beat Ilminster 5-2, so we came 21st out of 48 teams. We beat 20th, 18th and 10th-placed teams, but that's just the luck of the draw. That night, we went to McDonalds and could have whatever we wanted, and to Copenhagen cones, we got triple scoop ice cream with two toppings. We returned to the arena with a full belly to watch our boys play basketball and the finals. Matamata won the girl's final, and St Kentigerns won for the boys against local team Cambridge in a close 3-2 game. On day 6, we packed up the house, went to the driving range, and then to McDonald's again. It was a sad drive home.
By Gus & Stan
Rip Rugby
This term saw Maeroa Intermediate enter its first-ever Rippa Rugby team at Zespri Aims Games. With limited knowledge of this slightly modified rugby/league/touch game we didn't quite know what to expect—our team's first two days of competition ended with six wins, promoting the team into the top 16. Unfortunately, on day 3, the team suffered three losses, when wins were needed to progress to the top 9. On day four, the team continued to grow and develop a greater understanding of the game, and they quickly adapted to the different referees when required. Two wins in the morning meant that the team were through to play off for 9th and 10th place under the lights at Bay Oval.
This was an exciting game to witness. Maeroa played Whangaparaoa. Whangaparaoa opened well, scoring within the first couple of minutes of the game. Maeroa stayed composed and was able to come back and win the game 3-2, placing them 9th out of a total of 58 teams. A huge thank you to Cody Price for taking on the challenge of learning this game and coaching our Maeroa team. Seeing the team grow and bond as a unit over the week was extremely rewarding. Special mention also to Martine Radidi for supporting and sharing the team management load. I look forward to seeing this sport continue at Maeroa Intermediate.
Ki -O-Rahi
On Tuesday, the 24th of September, a team of students from Maeroa Intermediate set off to a competitive Ki-O-Rahi tournament. This tournament took place at Matamata Intermediate. When we first arrived at the tournament, all the schools had a debriefing session about the rules. Next, we had our first game against St Andrews Middle School, which we beat by 17 points.
The other three pool games finished up similarly to the first, except for TeAwamutu Intermediate, with only a narrow win, only winning by 2 points. Because we won all of our pool games, we automatically made it to the semi-finals, playing the home team, Matamata Intermediate. This game was very intense. Each team was going point for point, but eventually, we came out on top, winning by 10 points to advance us to the finals against TeAwamutu. We won the finals, losing in the third quarter, but came back in the last 5 minutes to win the game by 9 points. Thanks to our coaches for supporting us on the day.
By Junior Tawake and Tavita Lile.
Theatre Sports
This week, we had the heats of our school theatre sports, which were played out in the finals at our last assembly. The Mataii Team, Rimu Team, and a Teachers Team played for honours. The trophy was taken out by the Rimu Team in a close battle by 1 point in front of Mataii. The teacher team, led by Whaea Zelda, scored a respectable 17 points, but it was not enough to get ahead of the students.
Special Report from the Mataii Team
The Mataii team had so much fun while practising theatre sports but was also very nervous for the day we performed. A special thanks to Mrs. Sasso for putting time and effort into teaching us the games and how to play them. Thanks for getting us ready and helping us win.
Jordan—One word at a time, we made some good points and made it funny. Ella and I had fun and understood each other's words. Maihi was quick and fast with his words and did a fantastic job.
Ella - In the Space jump, we had a good run. Lincoln started us as a boy playing a sport and went on from there. The judges liked it so much that we got two five's and one four. Those were the points that helped us win. Thanks, Lincoln.
Lincoln—We were playing the game hats, and it was Ella's turn to pick the child hat. She was on her knees and said, ‘Do you know where my mummy is?’ You did such a good job, Ella.
Maihi, I was doing well in speaking in one voice with Lincoln, and it was very fun and exciting. I think Jordan was very good at speaking in one voice because she kept the storyline going. Excellent job, Jordan.
Halberg Trust Sports
This term, we have been lucky enough to have had members of the Halberg Foundation at school for two sports sessions. Lawrence and his team demonstrated an adapted PE lesson with some of our students so that they have alternative options and can participate in activities during the sports break. We all had a lot of fun and played some great games. It was a good chance to meet new people and make new friends.
Japan Cultural Exchange
Our students currently in Japan had a series of unforgettable experiences over the past few days. They began their journey with a visit to Makuhari International School, where they participated in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and spent the rest of the day learning and playing alongside their peers from Makuhari.
The adventure continued with a fun-filled day at Disney Sea Tokyo, where the students enjoyed the magic of the park despite the sweltering heat, which reached 34°C. Ms. Wood, the nine Maeroa students, and 51 other students from Waikato Intermediate and Middle Schools have shown incredible enthusiasm throughout their trip.
Another highlight was a day spent exploring traditional street markets, visiting a temple, and taking in the sights from Tokyo Tower. By the end of the day, both students and teachers were understandably exhausted but thrilled by their experiences.
The group also had the opportunity to spend time at Makuhari Junior High School and Makuhari Elementary School, where they engaged in cultural exchanges with local students. They taught each other games, fostering new friendships and learning about each other's cultures. This exchange program, which has been going strong for over 20 years, continues to provide our students with invaluable experiences and lifelong memories.
