Congratulations to Year 13 prefect Malisha Munidasa who has been selected as a World Vision Ambassador for 2021! This is a highly sought-after role for young people who are passionate about making positive and practical change in the world. "I applied for the 2021 Advocacy Ambassador team for World Vision and did an interview and got a phone call saying I got accepted! This will involve being part of the Auckland team, volunteering four hours a week to advocate the passing of a Modern Slavery Act that requires New Zealand businesses operating overseas to report any slavery or child labour in their supply chains," says Malisha. We wish her all the best for the role next year!

New Zealand Mathematics Olympiad Congratulations to Jerry Nguyen (pictured) in Year 11 who has made it through to the second round of the New Zealand Mathematics Olympiad competition! Jerry was one of five Avondale College students who entered the first round, and the only one to make it through to the invitation-only second round. We await the results of this latest test with great anticipation! Australian Maths Competition Avondale College students have once again gained some pleasing results in the Australian Maths Competition. Of particular note are Year 9 students Seivin Kim and Hohua Lam who have received High Distinction awards. Seivin scored in the 98th percentile and Hohua in the 97th percentile of all students who took part in the competition for that year level. Also of note is Year 10 student Oscar Shaw who scored in the 97th percentile, receiving a Distinction award. Also gaining Distinction awards were: Leon McRostie, Ayush Sriram, Athana Umapran and Bryan Binuraj in Year 9 and Umi van Dalan and Chanyu Park in Year 10.

Our talented musicians, singers, dancers and actors took to the stage on Wednesday 23 September in their end-of-term performances to each other. The session showcased what each Academy strand has been working on over the term, and despite the unavoidable disruptions due to Covid, there was a lot to celebrate! We are looking forward to the Performing Arts Academy showcase to our wider school community later in Term 4.

On Friday 18 September, the Year 13 Travel and Tourism students put their creative skills to the test collating bright, informative, and eye-catching information boards for their Travel Expo. The theatre was buzzing with enthusiastic students who all worked so well with their team members to meet the deadline. Prizes were awarded to the displays for Jamaica (Robert Pascua, Tia Sakalia, Tiana Nau and Ahkadia Fauonuku-Hunt) for the most creative display board; Paris (Joanne Malafu, Khanitha Kahala, Ephraim Matafai, Jellian Aldave) for the most informative display board and Morocco (Cartier Jessup, L.A Sta Ana, Karla Carlos, Raquel Vasquez and Golnaz Sayadi Honarvar) for the most persuasive. Congratulations to all students for a superb effort and most enjoyable day. TIC: Ms M Visser

Although the production of Legally Blonde was unable to go ahead as planned this year, our talented cast were able to perform three songs from the musical to year level assemblies on Wednesday morning. This was a spectacular showcase of the performing arts and a tribute to all the hard work and many, many hours of rehearsals that have taken place over recent months. While the ultimate outcome was not as we had hoped, these performances were a celebratory snapshot of what might have been, and were greatly enjoyed by performers and audience alike. Congratulations to each one of the nearly 100 students involved in the cast, band and behind the scenes, and to all the dedicated staff, notably Director Mrs Erica Norton, Choreographer Ms Santana Schmidt, Musical Director Dr Julie Garner, Vocal Coach Toni Randle and Set Designer Mrs Susan Elijas. View more photos here

In light of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in Auckland we regret that this year’s ball has been cancelled. We have made this decision with great reluctance and after a number of other contingency plans were thoroughly explored. We understand this will be a disappointment, especially to the year 13 students who have contributed significant time to plan this event, and we hope that by focussing on what is ahead, students can find other ways to celebrate their successes, relationships and growth during their time at the College. Any payments already made for the ball to the College will be refunded. Parents have been sent an e-form to fill out indicating how they want the refund to be made, or students can get a paper copy of the form from their deans. We regret this cancellation and value our community's understanding and support.

The Senior Report Evening scheduled for Tuesday 22 September has been cancelled due to the restrictions of Alert Level 2.5. Term 3 progress reports for senior students will be emailed to parents this week. The report will also be published in Family Connection under the documents tab. If you would like further information regarding your child’s progress in a subject please contact their teacher via email. A full list of teacher email addresses is published on the College website, or follow this link

The Māori language is a national treasure to be shared and valued by all. It is part of the cultural cloak of identity for all New Zealanders. It has been fantastic to see staff and students making a particular effort to use te reo this week, and involved in learning activities, quizzes and activities that use the language. Arohatia te reo! Many Avondale College students and staff joined more than one million others throughout Aotearoa for the Māori Language Moment at 12pm on Monday. Kia Kaha te Reo Māori!

Tongan Language Week Greetings and Mālō e Lelei from the Kingdom of Tonga! Last week 6 -12 September was Uike Lea faka-Tonga (Tongan Language Week 2020). Our theme for this year is: “Fakakoloa ‘o Aotearoa ‘aki ‘a e lotu mo’oni” (“Enriching Aotearoa New Zealand through prayer and faith”). I believe this year’s Tongan Language week theme has been influenced by the pandemic Covid-19 and its impact. Prayer and faith is part of our DNA, woven into us as tangata and fefine Tonga reflected by our Tongan motto “Koe ‘Otua mo Tonga ko hoku Tofi’a (God and Tonga are my inheritance). We pray that our students and teachers of Avondale College will be safe and despite the challenges of living through the pandemic, we hope for a brighter, peaceful and successful end of year for all. Malo ‘aupito, tu’a’ofa atu. - Mrs V Sinisia

Congratulations to the team of Junior Debaters who won all four of their debates in the open rounds of their competition, which put them through to the Octofinals. This is only the second time in 16 years that one of our junior teams has got this far! The adjudicator was impressed by their speaking skills and ability to marshal arguments to challenge the opposition's case. The debaters learned a lot from the experience and enjoyed competing with students from other schools. Their success was particularly impressive as several of their debates this year have been run on an online platform. The speakers were Jamie Pett, Mannat Kaur, Lubaina Bohra, Bryan Binuraj and Annie-Mae Cochrane. "Debating was an interesting experience. At first I just went in because a lot of my friends were joining, which could make it pretty fun. Instantly the whole club was captivating. There were a lot of stressful times but working cooperatively and gaining speaking confidence really gave me a whole new skill set." - Jamie Pett "One thing I enjoyed during the debating experience was the amount of cooperation between me and my teammates. We all did our very best to try and win the whole thing, but getting into the octofinals was still a huge milestone for us! I can't wait to get back out there next year and try to surpass our place from this year." - Bryan Binuraj "Debating was an amazing experience. At first I was very nervous and struggled to enjoy it but as the season went on I came out of my shell! It was not only the actual debates that were fun, but also the meetings where we discussed a range of topics, expressed our opinions and learned new skills that we will use forever." - Lubaina Bohra

The official ballot for out-of-zone applications for 2021 took place on Wednesday 9 September, supervised by Police Officer Meika Campbell. Letters are now being sent out from our office informing applicants if they have been successful or if they have been wait-listed. Parents are welcome to contact our office next week if they haven't received their letter by mid-week.

On Wednesday morning our Scholars Academy met again to hear from our Head of Psychology, Mr Peters, on the unpredictability of human behaviour.  This was one of a number of sessions we have managed to offer this year which have sought to provide cross-curricular skills that scholarship candidates in any subject can use to enhance their responses in the final exam.  The presentations are designed to supplement the many subject-specific tutorials that are run at department level.  The members of this year's Scholars Academy have been an enthusiastic, well-informed and committed group of young people and we wish them well in the final scholarship examinations in Term 4.