3 August 2026

A great week for the Arts again this week – lead by the news of our Tangata Beats band Teuila qualifying for the National Finals of the Tangata Beats Competition. The band will travel to Wellington in early September to compete. This is a huge achievement and is a reflection of the talent and stage presence of the group that they have qualified. Fundraising for the trip begins now.

I had the pleasure again of watching our Massey High School Jazz Combo compete on Sunday in the Auckland Secondary Schools Jazz Competition – they performed three numbers, the second of which was interrupted by wireless microphone crossover from the sports fields that are adjacent to the Birkenhead RSA – despite the interruption mid set, they played through like consummate professionals. Always great to see them in action (they will be performing on Tuesday night in our Performing Arts Centre at a combined Massey High School/Liston College concert). Our Big Band made a return to competition as well on Sunday evening.

Also, in the BRPAC this Thursday is our annual Korean Night, an event that has gone from strength to strength over the years. This year sees large participation from our junior students, so get along and support the evening.

On the sports front, it seems fitting that I was out and about at netball through the week and weekend given the Silver Ferns long awaited gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The on-court action is always great to see, but so too is the level of involvement of our senior students with coaching and managing our younger players.

Huge congratulations to Vaughn van der Kraaij (10KVS) who just returned from four days at the NZ Secondary Schools Swimming Championships. He competed in six events, picking up medals in the 400m Freestyle and 200m Butterfly as well as smashing personal bests in his other four events. Vaughn swam so well that, as the only member of our swimming team, he placed above many other teams containing multiple swimmers, quite the achievement in itself! We look forward to seeing where Vaughn progresses with his swimming.

A further congratulations goes out to Akira Taingahue (11TRV) on an incredible achievement at the CrossFit Games in San Jose, California. Competing in the 14–15-Year-Old Male Division, Akira finished 4th overall out of 20 competitors, making him the 4th fittest 14–15-year-old in the world. This is an outstanding accomplishment, and a reflection of the dedication, commitment and hard work Akira has put into his training. We are incredibly proud of this achievement and look forward to seeing what comes next for him.

Parent/Teacher Meetings and Option Selection

Thank you to the large numbers of parents/caregivers that came into the school across Thursday and Friday last week to discuss their child’s progress and develop plans for the remainder of the school year. As mentioned in a previous pānui, the value of the partnership between student, parent, and school can’t be overstated.

Leading on from this is Futures Week – the time of year where our students in Years 9 through 12 make their subject selections for the following year. Tomorrow is a big day in terms of students receiving information and guidance. As a reminder to our parents/caregivers – students make selections along the following lines (the Year Level refers to the Year level that they will be in 2027 – i.e. current Year 9s look at the Year 10 information.)

• Year 10's will study English or Te Reo Māori, Mathematics or Pāngarau, Science, Social Studies or Tikanga a-iwi, PE/Health, Sports Performance & Development, as well as 2 or 3 other courses.
  • If they choose PE/Health then they choose 3 other courses
  • If they choose SPD then they choose 2 other courses
• Year 11's will study 6 different courses which include English or Te Reo Māori, Mathematics and Science (choice of Sci-Sports or Sci-Home)
• Year 12's will study 6 different courses which includes English or Te Reo Māori
• Year 13's will study 6 different courses.

All students should select 2-3 backup subjects depending on the year level.

Option selection remains open until Sunday 9th August. 

School Tuckshop

Some may have seen in the news the fact that Good Vibes Ltd has been placed in liquidation. Good Vibes were the supplier/operator of our school tuck shop. The tuck shop has continued to run since receiving the news (which came in on the last Friday of the school holidays) with support from the school and thanks to the amazing staff in there. This has meant that our students would not have noticed a huge difference in the level of service. We are currently in talks with a new provider who look set to provide some exciting menu options for our students – we will provide further information when the new supplier is confirmed.

International Students

The school is buzzing with the influx of International Students – Term 3 is traditionally busy on this front, but this year we have close to 100 International Students in the school. The value they bring to our students and school, as well as what they learn themselves, is immense. The current visits are also very important in strengthening key relationships with schools in Japan and China which then paves the way for longer term stays by their students. A huge thank you to our International Department and of course to all of our student buddies and accommodating teachers without whom the visits would not be possible.

Upcoming

A reminder to all that Massey High School will be closed for Massey High School Day on Monday 24th August.

The remainder of this term is a busy one for staff and students. This week is also Academic Week, next week is Library Week, with Arts Week and Tournament Week following prior to our school Senior Exams and the next round of Literacy and Numeracy Assessments.