Camp shines light into lives of cancer kids
Mareko Ratu from Room 12 was just 10 days old when he started chemotherapy. He was born with cancer and spent a lot of his early life in hospital, by the time he was 6 months old he had undergone 6 operations, 35 blood transfusions and later he underwent 4 rounds of chemotherapy. He bravely faces life long ailments as a result of the chemo. Mareko and his family get support from Camp Quality which is a volunteer, non for profit charitable trust to help kids and their families suffering from cancer. They run a range of fun events and activities, families get the chance to share with others who have been through similar experiences to themselves which is a positive thing. I take my hat off the people who support others and strengthen our communities. Well done to Mareko for bravery and thanks to you and your family for letting me share a little bit of your story.


Indian Social Committee - Hamilton West School
I received this great offer from one of our parents - please support the idea and get in touch with Reeta. We would like to introduce our newly formed Indian Social Committee. The committee has been setup to help celebrate Indian culture, arts and events organised by parents for the benefit of our Hamilton West School community.

Diwali festival
November marks the Diwali festival of lights and the Indian Social Committee are looking for parents who would like to volunteer to help organise some activities and food to celebrate Diwali. To participate please contact Reeta Chandra who is coordinating the Indian Social Committee via email: reeta.chandra@gmail.com.

Speech Finals
Congratulations to those students (Emma Wilson, Jayde Knight, Gabe Hankins and Matt Fitisemanu) who were selected to represent the school at the inter-school speech finals (Year 7 & 8) last week. They all gave their speeches well and Matt Fitisemanu was placed, coming third in his section - a great result.

X West
I came across a group of our past pupils yesterday having band practice in the hall. The group practice regularly under the guidance of Mr O'Donnell. A neat idea guys. 

Last week of the Term This term has flown by. A few more days and we will be into daylight saving and October. School finishes at 2.55pm on Friday 25 September. Term 4 starts on Monday 12th October.
- Mr Penman

Talking about flying Mr Penman flew out last weekend for America. He was excited about having the opportunity to visit some classrooms while he’s over there. Of course the highlight for him will be attending the final of the Rugby World cup in England. I’m sure he will have many tales to tell us when he returns next year. 

Baby Grace - Look at this gorgeous photo - we just had to capture Mr Penman with Mrs McClennan’s daughter Grace. He has the magic touch!


School Desks and Chairs

This week we have fitted out 2 new classrooms of Furnware furniture. Room 13 and 18 are now learning at their new modern desks. What that means is we have a large amount of the Old school Desks and chairs (About 60) to dispose of. If you are looking for a good quality school desk and chair for homework or kids rooms, please contact us, or drop down and see Mr Mike at the caretakers shed. We will hold these for a short period before disposal so be in quick.

Senior School Production
he Senior School production has been a highlight of this term. The students out did themselves, performing like real troopers. It was marvellous seeing students playing music, singing, dancing, speaking and acting with such confidence. Well done senior students and staff. You should all be very proud of yourselves!

Thoughts from our Students 
Below are some thoughts from Room 8 about last week’s Production
I really enjoyed the dance acts, Pac Man and Yzer were great. Brodi Rolton Rm 8
I really enjoyed Room 14's Teen Beach act, they did amazing. Natalie Keesing-Kerrison Rm 8
I really enjoyed Room 13's Minion dance, I liked seeing my sister up on the stage. Va-asa Fruean Rm 8
My favourite part of the production was Room 17 singing songs from Annie. Noah Harrison-Old Rm 8 
I liked the Hunger Games act, it was very cool. Bella Bradley Rm 8
Room 19's Super Hero act was awesome, they all looked great in their Super Hero costumes. There was a really good message in their act. Claudia Emery Rm 8 

Room 14’s thoughts about our Senior School Production 
The production was so fun to prepare and be a part of, that everyone in our class would do it all over again. The 2015 Senior School Production was the best production we have ever seen at Hamilton West. Our Teen Beach Movie item was really fun to perform and to hear everyone’s reactions. We made our parents really proud of us. I did really well at being a co-host and enjoyed the opportunity. Everybody involved in the senior school production worked really hard and that hard work definitely paid off… it was a huge success! Production was awesome and fun. My favourite item to watch was Men In Black. I liked the nervous feeling we had before we went on the stage the first time to perform in front of our parents and other adults. It has been really enjoyable performing in front of the different audiences. The acting in the production was amazing! It was really nerve wracking performing in front of our parents! I think our Teen Beach performance was even better than the actual movie!