"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 3:17 NIV

Congratulations to the vast majority of students who achieved their personal goals. Be thankful for the gifts and talents that make you one of a kind. At the same time each of us made in His image.

To the Year 13s who will be taking that next step, always remember God’s love for you. It shall give life an eternal, rather than fleeting, perspective. To the remainder, enjoy the holidays, be as safe as you can and make sure to tell the ones you love that you do love them.

We look forward to 2021.

Brendan van Oostveen, Principal

Board of Trustees Strategic Plan

The Board of Trustees has listened to the parent voice, student voice and staff voice around where it is we want to be headed. The attached document is the Strategic Plan up until 2023. Thank you again for so many of you took the time to share your thoughts.

The school conducted it’s 108th graduation ceremony and what a weekend it was! We are extremely proud of all the Year 13 students and their achievements. There were some beautiful moments over the weekend celebrations - from heartfelt testimonies to forward somersaults of pure joy. We were especially mindful that our International families were unable to be with us however provision was made to include them via livestream. Thank you to all our Year 13s and staff for a very special weekend. The Year 11 & 12 Prizegiving was also a moment of celebration, to commend our senior students for the academic persistence that they have demonstrated in 2020. It has not been an easy journey for the senior students and for that, we salute them for perseverance and their achievement.

Tamar Aiono, Assistant Principal

Click the image below to view/download the full awards list.

It has been a peculiar year in 2020. Losing more than one whole school term was a big chunk for LAC Sports. Leaving that behind and moving on forward - since the restart of Sports in LAC, our teams have come back stronger. Our sports have continued to grow and flourish. The first-ever LAC Rugby First IX team with their new sports uniform played four times over Term 3 and 4. Thank you to Mr Kofi Amoah, the passionate and dedicated coach, for persevering with this team. It has also been a good year for Badminton in LAC. Over the restriction periods, Badminton games and training within the bubble in LAC House continued, and then with lesser restrictions, we've invited students from PNBHS and community friends for training and games with our students until sports in the community were fully operational.

During the Term 3 holiday break, our players continued to regularly train in our school gym. LAC’s Badminton Squad now has three teams of fours that play at the Thursday Night League in the CET Arena. Our new High School Netball team has managed to play the league in the Palmerston Indoor Sports Arena for two seasons. In term 4, Cricket Manawatu partnered with our Intermediate Students and had run skills development and coaching for four weeks. The program ended with inter-house Cricket games joined by the Juniors. Congratulations Tyndale for winning the tiebreaker against Wesley. We are looking forward to a continued partnership with Cricket Manawatu and be able to have a junior team in 2021.

Lastly, we had the opportunity to attend the Play, Active Recreation, and Sport Conference last October. This conference was attended by sports coordinators, and sports providers all over the Manawatu region. With its main theme, “Balance is Better”, LAC will endeavour to adapt into this renewed initiative and expect to see more than just sports in 2021.

It has been a special year and despite everything that has happened, our students continued their love in sports. In both 2019 and 2020, our students' participation was maintained to 57%. This is higher than Manawatu’s 56% and National’s 51 % average in 2019. We give back praises and glory to God for all these blessings we have this year.

We hope that every family will continue to have an active healthy lifestyle over the summer holidays. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2021 with their suntanned skin

Wynn Llena, Sports Coordinator

Week 7:

• Wednesday, 25 November: Orientation Day for 2021 New Students
• Friday, 27 November: Teacher Only Day (no school for students) This day is set aside for teachers to learn about the upcoming changes to NCEA qualifications.

Week 9: 

• Wednesday, 9 December: NCEA External Exams End
• Wednesday, 9 December: Year 9 Beach Safety Day
• Thursday, 10 December: Junior Prizegiving 12.00 pm (please note the time change).
  
• Thursday, 10 December: Last Day of School

School uniform can be purchased from Academy Apparel, 82 Broadway Avenue, Palmerston North (Updated prices on LAC's website).

• Hours:
  • Mon to Fri 8.30am – 5 pm
  • Closed Public Holidays
  • January 2021: Thursdays open till 6 pm
• Phone: 06 354 0979
• Email: sales@academyapparel.co.nz
• Online Shop: www.academyapparel.co.nz
• WINZ Quotes and Instore Layby Available

Please note that blazers can be purchased from Academy Apparel. There is an expectation that every senior student has one.

They also stock a good quality black leather lace-up school shoe with heel and the black leather Roman sandal.

Woodwork projects from the Year 9 &10 woodwork classes.

Operation Christmas Child

The Team Collected $441.10 through bake, chip and pizza sales over the course of the term.  The money raised was enough to be able to purchase the contents of 24 boxes as well as pay for the postage which was $10 per box.  Students spent an hour during lunch time packing boxes.  Even non team members joined in enthusiastically with the packing.  Many thanks to all who supported this venture and kudos to all the team members for the dedication and hard work.

Senior Soiree

Soirees are always an event which starts out being very stressful as preparation mounts. The end result is usually one of satisfaction and accomplishment among the students. This year the number of vocal students increased. One would think that singing would be something easy to do, however, the fact that the performer's instrument is inside the body, makes it far more challenging. Nevertheless, the students rose to the occasion in order to literally 'face the music'. This in turn resulted in much confidence building and growth in self esteem, making the whole venture worthwhile. 

Outing to the Movies

This term a group of Year 11 - 13 music students went to Events Cinema in the Downtown Plaza to further their knowledge about modern music singers and songwriters. The students went to see the movie "I am Woman" which is a true story based on the life of 1970's musician and activist Helen Reddy. It is important for the students to look back at history, at the women that came before us, and celebrate all that they did and learn from it. It is because of people like Helen Reddy who fought for what was right, that makes our lives possible, the way they are today. What an inspiration!

Sandy van Wyk, Music Teacher