Our Year 6 children went on their annual trip to MERC, the Sir Peter Blake Marine Education & Recreation Centre, based at Long Bay, Auckland. They offer marine based environmental education and outdoor recreational experiences.  The children get to participate in outdoor education opportunities and the day allows them to try new experiences and for some to overcome some challenging situations.  This day is very much looked forward to by our Year 6 children and they thoroughly enjoyed taking part in all of the activities.

On the first day of school this year we welcomed 22 new children to Mt Carmel.  We got a photo of some of them as they turned up with their families to wish them well on their first day here.

Korimako and Weka Classes have enjoyed making Slime as part of their Science Focus Topic this term. This experiment showed the children how Scientific concepts such as "reaction" and "state of matter" result when different substances are mixed together.

The school Cross Country Competition was a very successful event with all the children taking part and doing their very best. We saw some great running performances, and congratulate the individual winners. This year's winning house was St Mary MacKillop.

Book Week culminated in a fantastic costume parade. The children enjoyed dressing up as their favourite book character, and had the opportunity to showcase this to the rest of the school. The week's activities, including the character parade and visiting show, were a great way to celebrate books and encourage a joy of reading amongst our students.

At the conclusion of Bullying Free NZ Week, we celebrated with Pink Shirt Day. The PTA organised a number of events to mark the day which were enjoyed by all the students.  The Disco at lunchtime was a highlight of the Day.

Last week the whole school enjoyed a Football For Schools taster session, taking part in skills training and giving it a go in the inflatable pitch. Football for Schools also offer after school sessions -  see their website for details

Our annual Senior Athletics Afternoon was very enjoyable. The children had a wonderful time taking part in a range of activities and demonstrated great sportsmanship as they competed. The sack race was a highlight of the event. The winning house was St Francis.

In the last week of term 1 we were fortunate to hit a break in the rainy, stormy weather as we held our annual Junior Athletics Afternoon.

Video Credit: Frogley Family

Earlier this term our Year 4 and 5 students each spent a day at Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club learning about Surf Safety. Mrs Louise Spora writes: "This was an invaluable day facilitated by experienced surf lifesavers. The students started the day in the classroom learning Beach Safety Rules, how to be sunsmart and what to do in a rip. The lifeguards then took the students onto the beach and they played some games which allowed them to practice using the lifesaving equipment. These skills were then transferred to the water where the students 'saved' each other using rescue tubes and finally ended the day with boogie board races. The students left exhausted but excited about taking their new skills with them on their next visit to a beach."