Last week the Whole School Cross Country was held in "changeable" weather conditions. Well done to everyone who took part and to the winning runners. Congratulations to St Francis who were the winning house.

The Junior School (Years 0-3) visited Motat recently as part of their Science Topic "A Place to Call Home". The children enjoyed a fun-filled day of activities, including the opportunity to experience what school-life was like in the 1900s and a tram ride.

In term two we celebrated the end of Book Week with a very colourful and imaginative Book Character Dress Up Day.  There were some very diverse choices .. from Sir Edmund Hillary to Yoda and everything in between!  Take a look at the photos and see for yourself....

Tieing in with our current topic 'God's Incredible Design' with last term's focus Looking to the Stars and this term's  Matariki: Kite Making, the whole school have visited (or will be visiting) the Stardome Observatory.  The children looked at the Sun, Moon, Stars and Constellations as well as where Matariki is in the sky.  Students also enjoyed a quiz and a special video presentation in the Stardome comfy chairs.

Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day aims to create schools, workplaces and communities where all people feel safe, valued and respected.  Our hard-working PTA organised a fun day with a serious message for our children last Friday.  We even had a visit from the pink-shirted police!

Our children showed both a strong spirit of competitiveness and very good sportsmanship at our annual Senior School Athletics Afternoon (an excellent combination).  The sun shone as all students from Year 4 to Year 6 took part in running races and a range of team activities.  It was so good to see full participation in every event and lots of smiles on faces.  The winner of the Senior Athletics was - St Brigid!

Our Junior Athletics Afternoon was enjoyed by all - races, relays, duck races, toddler race, teacher and parent races.  here are a selection of photos from the day.

TBall:

With the disappointing news that the TBall Interschools Tournament was cancelled due to venue issue, Miss Hennessey got to work and was able to quickly pull together a fun afternoon for the teams to put their skills to the test. Each team played three games; Mt Carmel 1 won 1, lost 2 and Mt Carmel 2 won 2, lost 1. The sportsmanship and good-natured competition between all the schools made for an enjoyable event. Thank you Miss Hennessey for organising this event for our teams. Another big THANK YOU to our coaches, Katrina Martin and Shari Tighe-Umbers, who gave up their time to share their skills and knowledge with us. We really appreciate your commitment to the team. Mrs Louise Spora

Cricket:

The Mt Carmel Cricket Team represented our school superbly. Our players demonstrated a "positive, can do" attitude and everyone played to the best of their ability. The team played 2 games against St Michaels. We won one 153-91 and lost one, marginally by 11 runs, scoring 117-106. Many thanks to Sally Lowe and Lucy Florence for coaching the team and Ryan Jolly for umpiring on the day. Mrs June Ivamy

Tennis:

Jona and David entered the tennis tournament for Summer Field days.  This tournament requires the children to understand and know how to play tennis.  It is a fun tournament where participation and enjoyment are key.  The children played 6 games throughout the day.  Well done to the boys who represented our school, and who demonstrated our school values of Strength and Kindness. Mrs Liz Hennessy

Touch:

Three teams of excited children represented Mt Carmel at the Interschool Touch competition.

The Year 6 boys with some help from 3 up and coming year 5 boys faced off against Kings first. There were some jitters and missed opportunities but the lose helped focused them and got them ready for the rest of the games. One of the high points was keeping Saint Kentigern’s Boys School to a 2 all draw. At the end of the day their record was 1 Win, 1 Lose and 3 draws. This placed them 7^th out of 10 strong teams.

The Year 6 girls team with one speedy year 5 girl, had a great day despite having zero substitutes. The girls worked really hard together to win 5 games and have 1 draw. This impressive record was good enough to place them 1^st in the Girls competition. Their plus 13 point differential was the real testament to their hard work. Several of the girls, towards the end had all manner of bumps and bruises but they persevered and won for the second year in a row. Mr JP Cawley

The mix team was made up of all year 5 students and in my opinion they seemed to be having the most fun. Their good attitude and sportsmanship was noted by several teams and parents. They had a couple of really close games and ended with 3 wins and 3 loses. This result was good enough put them 4^th out of seven teams and left them hungry to play more and do better next year.

All this would not have been possible without the help of our Mt Carmel parents. Thanks to all the parents who help transport on the day.  Special thanks go to Mrs Marsden, Mrs Gimblett, Ms Hyde and Ms Gibson and a very special thank you to Mr Barsdell, who helped referee the whole day.

Fifty of our children took part in this year's Top Schools event which is organised by the Rotary Club of East Auckland, partaking in fun sporting events such as Wobbly Wheels, Gumboot Throw, Ski Run and the Slippery Slope to name a few.  The children had a fantastic time taking part in these activities and showed great sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the day.  All the children should be commended on their enthusiasm and participation at this event.  It was particularly enjoyable to see the children working really well alongside their teammates, many of whom were from a different classroom and year level.

Our teams achieved excellent results with Year 3/4 Team 1 coming third, Year 5/6 Team 4 coming third, and Year 5/6 Team 5 coming second.

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.