Northcross Intermediate
Lighting the Path to Success

The materials extension group working with Mr Hart-Crombie, designed and created a functioning pizza oven.

With help from Eddie, the NX caretaker, who supplied many of the essential materials, they built a moveable base using the shell of a tot tray holder, converted two steel meshed recycling bins into the trays and used bricks and clay for the body of the oven.

After a few mishaps involving clay falling off the outside of the oven, they created the look they wanted, complete with chimney and then it was time for a test run…

It has been a great year for FPS this year at Northcross. There have been 20 teams competing and for the first time we had an individual competing. The topics were very interesting: Social Isolation, Desertification, Surveillance Society and the topic for National’s was Land Transport. Out of our 20 teams 9 got into the second round marking as they placed first in first round marking. From the second round marking, 2 of our teams and our individual competitor were invited to the Nationals held in late October at Carey Park. The competition was very strong with teams and individuals from all over New Zealand working hard to gain a spot to represent New Zealand. Northcross did very well by gaining 1^st place for the Junior Individual, 3^rd place for the Year 7’s in the Junior B division and 5^th place for the year 8’s in the junior division.

The two teams that were successful at the Nationals were: Year 8 - Sophie Hindley, Tessa Herkt, Jade Sosich, Caitlyn Scott and Year 7 - Dana Seong, Elim Hu, Kaylee Herbst, Angela Knoester. Jessica Milford our individual did exceptional well to take out 1^st place in the junior individual division.

Glenis Martin – Teacher in charge

 The day dawned pretty sunny as the NX Warriorz (Boys) and NX Fernz (Girls) departed on their mission at hand to  Bruce Pulman Park. The Fernz kicked off their campaign with Pool games against Kedgley Int., Sandspit School, St. Johns, and Wesley; winning all games without a try being scored against them!  The Warriorz were up against Ferguson Int., Helensville and Remuera Int. Our boys grew stronger as the day progressed and also went through pool play unbeaten. Onto the Semis and the boys had a comfortable win to make it through to their 3^rd Auckland Champs Final in a row against Remuera. Our lads stayed tight and came out victorious with a nail biting 5-4 win! After finishing Runner up last year, jubilation was evident and there were some very happy boys and Coach Mike Lindsay was ecstatic!

The Girls came up against a fired up Baradene who gave us a right old battle which we won 4-2 The Final was against The Gardens, who had great pool results butu our girls had saved their best until last and absolutely smashed them! In the end we ran away with a 7-1 victory to create history and complete a 3-peat of Auckland Champs titles!

Massive thanks to coaches Joel Foster and Mike Lindsay for all their hard work and efforts. Also, huge thanks to our parent support who are always a massive part of our success.

 At our Athletics Heats day this year, we had a record 550 student’s trial for a spot at our NX Finals day. Everyone who trialled gave an outstanding effort and produced excellent results! 120 athletes qualified to travel to Millennium Stadium to compete against their peers in the NX Athletics Finals day. Our athletes took to each event with determination and commitment, creating an exciting atmosphere. Each athlete tried their hardest to gain personal bests and earn a spot in the Northcross team which would compete at the North Harbour Athletics Zone day. The incredible effort shown by all students in their specific events was second to none; with this determination and talent, we were bound to earn top results at the Harbour Zone day!

 Friday 7 November saw the inaugural NX Fun Run take place, with over 1000 energetic, enthusiastic students taking to the challenging 3km course to raise money for the new NX Enviro Gardens. In true NX fashion, everyone, students and teachers alike, got into the spirit of the occasion with some very interesting costumes and a ‘give it a go’ attitude that saw many take to the gigantic slime slide at the finish. All House Teams completed the 3km course in under 30mins, which was an outstanding achievement! Josh Campbell and Connor Wilkinson crossed the finish line in the quickest time of 10mins and 19 seconds and Cayleen Bester finished as fastest girl with a time of 10mins 48seconds. A special thank you to Noel Leeming for sponsoring the major prize and also to Carl from Beachside Gym for getting the runners warmed up before the event. Also thank you to all the Staff who helped make this day run smoothly and so much fun!

Our Kapa Haka group did an amazing job representing our school at the Kaipara Festival in the weekend. The 40 or so students who took part were exceptional representatives both on and off stage. The organisers acknowledged the effort, time and passion that Mr Jensen and his group have invested into Kapa Haka at Northcross.

Well done!

Over the past term we have been doing some major work to improve the outside area around the new Specialist block. Hayley Barrowcliffe and myself along with the Enviro Group and numerous NX students have planted a large variety of fruit trees, bay trees and olives, to name a few. With the help of the Greenscene Company, we landscaped the new area with planter boxes and Concrete Concepts managed to put down a new concrete path and pads for the new Green House and Shade house. Last week we finished building the greenhouse which the students really enjoyed helping with, and learnt a lot during the construction process. Over the holidays the Shade House will be built and we are also aiming for the new worm farm and composting area to be completed. We will then design and build a new hydroponics unit that will operate inside the shade house. Everyone involved has been working very hard to make sure we have the best environment possible. Feel free to come and see the progress in term 4. 

Graham Rickards

We have had a fantastic 2 nights of games at the Waterpolo finals, where all our kids were great representatives of NX. 

The Year 7A team finished 3rd in the A grade and the Year 7B team were 2nd in the B grade.

The Year 8 games were intense! The B team won by default and finished 3rd in the B grade. As their opposition hadn't turned up they had a "friendly" against a mixture of A and B grade players. They held their own but lost by 3. 

The A team had an incredibly tough but exciting game against Kristin.  It went down to the last minute but unfortunately we lost by 1. This means that we finished 2nd in the A grade. An awesome result from an awesome bunch of kids! 

Thank you so much to all the staff and parents who came down over the two nights to support the players. I know the kids really appreciated it. 

Juliet Hamblyn

TIC

On Wednesday Room 41 embarked on a 17km mission from Northcross to Narrowneck along the beaches of the East Coast Bays. The walk presented challenges around every cliff, from water-wading to rock-hopping (with some sand-trekking in between). The students have been getting sponsors for their chosen charity – Gutter Kitties and are aiming to raise over $500 for this fantastic cause. A big thank you to the Party Bus Company for sponsoring our bus trip back to Northcross – our legs were definitely in need of a rest after that hike. To find out more about Gutter Kitties, go to gutterkitties.co.nz

On the 13^th of September, fourteen ILC students went for the judging day for the NH Science Fair at Birkdale Intermediate. The judges called them in for an interview about their project to see if it would be in the running for a prize. Out of the fourteen Northcross Kids entered, seven won prizes. We were very successful again this year, with two Top of Category winners; Jade Sosich won the Consumer Category with Which Fire Detector will save your Life? and Hayden Schmidt won the Technology Category with The Robo Helper 2014. Our 2 Bronze Medallists were Alex Monckton with The O-Mate and Liam Starrs with Sound out Heart Beat. Two Northcross students received Special awards on the night: William Brunton received the Chief Judge’s award with his project Down the Drain and Rowan- Rose Townend won the NIWA award with Ika Waimaori (Freshwater Fish). We were astounded by the result of Chris Carson. Chris came away with the Supreme award; the overall winner of the Fair with his Trash to Treasure project which showed building products made from plastic rubbish. Overall Northcross had a very successful night winning a handful of medals and Trophies.  Jade Sosich.

CONGRATULATIONS OLD GREG’S LOVE SHACK

Soon after winning the regional title, Northcross Rock Band, 'Old Greg's Love Shack', found out they had been chosen from 13 other bands from around New Zealand as the National Bandquest Winners for 2014! The prize includes a total of $3400 worth of musical gear for NX, and the band have been invited to record at Neil Finn's recording studio in Parnell.(How cool is that!)

Well done to James Thorington who was judged not only best DRUMMER in the National Final, but also best overall MUSICIAN! Congratulations to Adam who was judged to have the best ROCKSTAR STYLE!

Huge congratulations to Daniel Stoddart who won a Gold medal in Gym Sport in the Open Junior Mens Artistic division.

Also to Brett Palmer who attained a bronze medal in the Junior Mens Trampoline event.

Boys Football finished 2nd overall after a tough final against Auckland Normal Intermediate on the Friday, the score was 0-1. A very impressive result considering there were 58 teams vying for a spot in the final.

Girls Football finished 6th overall

Basketball Boys faced a nail biting game against Rosmini College in their final on Friday afternoon, eventually losing 29 - 36

Our Basketball girls and our Boys hockey teams both finished 11th

Girls hockey came 13th overall

Our Rugby 7's team came in 6th and our Waterpolo team finished 5th.

Congratulations to all students, staff and parents who were involved in this fantastic sporting event.

Check out the Gallery for shots of our school teams and individuals in action.

Last Friday Room 41 put together a special Daffodil Day in support of one of their classmates who has had support from the Cancer Society.

Their learning for the week was based around innovation and enterprise – the end goal of raising funds and awareness.

 Altogether Northcross raised almost $2800 for the Cancer Society through a mufti day, bake sales, sausage sizzle, carnival games, raffle and a special Ice Bucket Challenge enjoyed by the whole school!

On Tuesday 26 August, our  Year 7 Boys and Year 8 Boys Netball teams headed out to compete at the Auckland Champs Zone Day, in Mt Wellington. The weather could not have been more perfect and set the day up for stunning netball.

 The Year 8 Boys faced Viscount in their quarter final, we were 1 goal up with 30 seconds to go….. Viscount evened the score to 4-4. We went into overtime and sadly lost that game. Northcote (who we lost to by one goal at the North Harbour competition), went on, eventually coming 1^st. The boys played stunning netball, the Silver Ferns would be proud! At the end of the day the boys placed 6^th Overall. 

 The Year 7 Boys team played awesomely! Winning all their pool games and quarter final. They played their final against Kedgley Intermediate. They drew at full time, but sadly lost in overtime. The boys were consistent throughout the competition, showing dominance and skill in the mid court and in the circle. They finished the competition just outside the Top 3, coming a commendable 4^th Place, overall. J

A fantastic day was had by all.

The competition for all teams was tough and at the end of the day, each player should be proud of their effort.

Mrs Haruru Douglas

TIC of Netball

NX dominates North Shore Bandquest 2014

Last Thursday our three rock bands were the talk of the North Shore regional final of the Bandquest competition held at Auckland Girls' Grammar School.

 First up were 45 Degrees who wowed the crowd with a sensational rendition of "Feeling Good" and won Ada Wong the prize for Best Female Vocalist. The performance can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbGWNbRPjy0

Our newest band, Ricochet, had the audience spellbound performing "Coldplay's "FixYou".

Our 5-piece rockers Old Greg's Love Shack gave everything with their covers of "I got mine" and "Rope". The performance not only thrilled the audience but won over the judges who judged them as this year's North Shore regional winners. To add to the NX awards Miles Timmis took out the award for Best Male Vocalist, and James Thorrington was awarded not only Best Drummer but was judged Top Overall Musician on the night. 

Connor McDermott took home the individual prize for Best Keyboardist. A video of their song can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N23coHNkiwk

They are now in the online National Final to be judged agains the winners from 12 regions around New Zealand - GOOD LUCK GUYS! Their set can be seen at https://www.you

tube.com/watch?v=RUhkP0GXPD4

 

On Wedneday 13 August, 32 Northcross students travelled by bus to the North Shore Events Centre to compete in the 2014 North Shore Mathex. The annual competition is open to Year 7 and 8 teams from intermediate and full primary schools on the North Shore. It is an exciting event for those who love a Maths challenge! This year Northcross came away with their best result ever, winning both year 7 and 8. The 7’s competed in a tiebreaker challenge against Kristin, and managed to clinch a win, taking the title. The 8’s had a clear win; being the only team to correctly complete all 20 questions within the 30 minute time limit.  Well done Northcross for an amazing day.