Four ACG schools are coming together today to compete in three events to showcase students’ sporting, academic and artistic skills.

Mother and son Mandy Allen and Tyler Glenn signed up to ACG Sunderland at one of its first open days, in 2007. Mandy remembers the kids were well spoken, warm and friendly. “It all clicked. We didn’t look anywhere else, we didn’t want to go anywhere else,” she said.

It can’t be easy travelling to the other side of the world, immersing yourself in a culture and studying in a language that isn’t your own. But that’s exactly what Doyul Ki did when he started at our school this year in Year 12.

Service to the school and community has been an integral part of life at ACG Sunderland since it was founded ten years ago. Every year student leaders select charities to support through fundraising and volunteering.

Most ACG Sunderland families would recognise the friendly face of Sonya Eldridge around campus. She’s been with the school in one role or another since day one.

New entrant and Year 1 teacher Laura Parker is a local through and through. She grew up in West Harbour, has three children, and her daughter now attends her old primary school, Marina View.  

In 2013, Hannah Sampson was chosen to be Head Girl at ACG Sunderland after having been at the school for just a year.

Family is an important part of life at ACG Sunderland. It’s something we celebrated recently at our Grandparents and Special Friends day, where we spoke to ACG Sunderland grandmother and Katikati local Gaye Magnus.

For the last ten years, students and staff from ACG Sunderland have been involved in Project Twin Streams – a large-scale environmental restoration project to improve water quality in Waitakere streams delivered by Community Waitakere.  

A West Auckland local and foundation staffer, our librarian Debbie Davies started with us in 2007. Over that time she’s watched the library grow from having just 50 books to more than 8,000 and seen ACG Sunderland grow from humble beginnings to become a bustling school with a family focus.

Lisa Wujec is our Year 6 teacher and Sports Coordinator. Originally from Arbroath, on the East coast of Scotland, she’ll soon be a fully fledged Kiwi with five years at ACG Sunderland under her belt. She’s an avid traveller, likes to climb hills, and believes a wetsuit’s cheating when it comes to open water swimming.

ACG Sunderland’s student leadership team have kicked off this year’s ‘Sunderland on Service’ project with a fundraiser to refresh the primary school gardens.

English Literature teacher (and prolific knitter) Dr Kerryn Olsen started at ACG Sunderland in 2015. An expert in Old and Middle English with a thesis under her belt on ‘Anglo-Saxon Female Saints in Post-Conquest England’, she lives in Laingholm and likes to bodyboard in the weekends. Her husband, Dr Greg Olsen, is also a teacher…

Our school has received a raft of top results following last year’s Cambridge exams. Among the strong statistics, which include a Top in the World and a Top in New Zealand, the school should be particularly proud of its university entrance (UE) rate, says Principal Nathan Villars.

Two of our students have gained silver medals at the recent Programming Challenge 4 Girls (PC4G) in Auckland.

Computer Science teacher Margot Phillipps, who is involved with the world’s foremost secondary school programming contest will lead a new Year 11 Computer Science option from 2017.

Our Primary school students at ACG Sunderland celebrated Maori Language Week early last week. The week of activities including flax weaving, ti rakau sticks, learning Maori legends and kite making.

A special ANZAC project has captured the imagination – and voices – of pre-schoolers at ACG Sunderland.