After three terms I can sincerely say that I am tremendously excited about the future of Amberley School. 

This might seem like a long and boring article, but every year Principals are required to present a yearly report for the Ministry of Education (and our yearly Charter). Some Principals like to read it out at the end of year prizegiving, but I am not one of those Principals. This isn't for everyone, but if you want to know more about the nuts and bolts of the Amberley School year, then feel free to read on. 

2016 was a year of change for Amberley School. Term One had Trina Shepherd at the helm as Acting Principal until I started at the beginning of Term 2. I want to acknowledge the outstanding job the Trina did under challenging circumstances. The welfare and learning needs of students and staff were always at the forefront during Trina's excellent leadership. I would also like to acknowledge the excellent induction programme overseen by Trina in the handover of leadership.

Amberley School is led by a small but extremely hardworking and dedicated Board of Trustees. They are committed to Amberley School and ensuring a successful long term future for our learning community. 2016 saw some positive initiatives in the future direction of our school.

Staffing

Maungatere Hub - Liz Dean, Heather Pearson and Juliet van den Heuvel were our first point of contact at Amberley School with our New Entrant and Year 1 students. They have continued to strengthen links to our local preschools (and on-site prep-school) with frequent visits, shared concerts and the successful four year old programme. Margaret Sutherland is our part-time Reading Recovery teacher and she has achieved amazing success with her students this year. Adrienne Shipley was also part of this team, overseeing our ORS students effectively. Sadly we farewell Heather at the end of 2016 as her family move to Christchurch and we wish her all the best with her new position at Elmwood Normal School next year.

Te Ngahere Hub - Yvette Drewery, Nicky Lotz, Kathy Menzies, Amber Douglas and Chris Toki were the teachers of our Year 2-3 students. Kathy and Chris took on additional teaching in the second part of the year to ease the workload due to large class sizes. Nicky (who gained her Masters in Education with first class honours this year) was also our Acting Junior Hub leader in 2016, a role which she performed admirably. We farewell Chris and Kathy at the end of the year as their fixed term positions come to an end and they take up other teaching jobs - we have appreciated their contribution to Amberley School. 

Kowai Hub - Anna Evans and Anna McBreen taught our Year 4-6 students and enjoyed a variety of learning experiences with their classes. It was great to see the relationship with the local MENZ shed develop with Room 7 - this was a great success. We wish Anna Evans all the best for impending motherhood as she takes maternity leave in 2017.

Moana Hub - Debbie Bennetto, Trina Shepherd, Suzi Moore and Mike Clemens had responsibility for our senior students.  Beth Keane taught alongside Suzi Moore in Room 10 while Trina Shepherd was Acting Principal. Our senior students enjoyed to a wide range of learning opportunities in 2016. Cantamaths, PCT Challenge, Book Lit Quiz, Kapa Haka, Future Focused Leaders to name a few. Our Year 8 students were excellent role models of our PRIDE values and celebrated appropriately in style at our end of year Year 8 Leavers Dinner.

Maths Support - Sue Graham is not just a maths whizz, she is also a very supportive and proactive mentor to our teachers. Our continued success in maths (including a best ever Cantamaths result) is certainly something Sue can take some credit for. 

Support Staff - these are the unsung heroes of Amberley Schools successful team culture. We have exceptional teacher aides (Mandee Cassie, Tania McIlraith, Jude Lynch, Rachael Gormack, Fran Poultney and Janel Murray) providing learning support to designated students. We are grateful for their dedication and the precision teaching they are doing every day. The office team of Karen Croft and Belinda Hooper ensure the smooth running of our school systems. We have 'volunteer extraordinaire' Trudy Reid helping out in the office (we are so lucky to have Trudy) and Jenny Yates overseeing library operations. Jenny is a dedicated long-time Amberley Staff member and her effort and work output are quite incredible! Megan Hardaker and Wen  Haare are are wonderful cleaning team, performing the thankless daily task of cleaning our school. Finally, Mike Taylor is the 'superman' caretaker that does an incredible job of managing our school grounds. Mike is a 'Jack of all Trades' and is an incredible reliable and hardworking member of our team.

Academic Achievement

I believe a real measure of a school's success is producing students who are excellent 'citizens' demonstrating the Key Competencies of the NZ Curriculum. National Standards are a way of showing academic success and progress and Amberley students continue enjoy success in the key areas of Mathematics, Reading and Writing. Our 2016 data shows:

• 78% of students are at or above the expected level in maths
  
• 74% of students are at or above the expected level in reading
  
• 73% of students are at or above the expected level in writing 
  

Amberley is part of a 'Community of Learning' (or CoL) with a group of other North Canterbury Schools. This year we identified some key academic areas to focus on, and these will form the basis for Amberley's academic targets in 2017.

• Achievement in Reading after one year at school
  
• Year 6-8 Mathematics
  
• Boys achievement in writing
  
• Achievement in writing for our Maori students
  

We look forward to supporting these cohorts at Amberley School over the next few years.

Cultural and Sporting Success

Our senior Kapa Haka performance at Sefton in Term 4 was an emotional and powerful presentation of the considerable time and effort that went into developing cultural awareness at Amberley School. Staff trips to the Tuahiwi Marae, and also a local history day at the Kaiapoi Pa were highlights, as was hearing our students deliver their mihi (across the whole school).

Sporting success was once more evident as our students competed admirably at school events. Some went on to represent Amberley at the Kowai regional level, and a few went as far as the Canterbury events. At all times they represented Amberley School with PRIDE. 

2016 was another year for success in Jump Jam, with two of our teams winning the regional finals this year. Very impressive indeed! 

Property

Major projects were put on hold at the end of 2015. These were back underway this year and the key area will be the development of the main 6-classroom block. This will be re-roofed and modernised internally (and a deck added). Three of these classrooms will be converted into a hall space, and the library will be relocated to the back of this building (accessed from the classrooms). The Arahura block will be converted into teaching spaces, and will be the home of Te Ngahere in 2017. This work is expected to commence in Term 2 of 2017.

The November earthquakes were an unwelcome challenge for the Hurunui District, and fortunately the school buildings only sustained minor damage. In term four, concrete block walls were examined by an engineer and structurally strengthened accordingly. 

Our strategic planning meeting identified the community need for a landscape plan, as well as an environmental plan. These will be followed up in 2017, as well as a commitment to the Enviroschools programme.

Finance

Tight fiscal controls were needed to be put in place in 2016, and Trina Shepherd, Karen Croft and our BOT did an excellent job preparing a budget that was tight without having a negative impact on teaching and learning. During 2016 we have been able to rebuild working capital, and this is thanks to this strong platform established in Term One. I must acknowledge the commitment of Karen Croft, our executive officer, who does an outstanding job overseeing payroll and finances. She works well beyond her paid hours and has efficient systems in place for our school. 

FAST Team

Every school relies on parents to supplement the day to day needs of teachers and students. Our 'Friends of Amberley School Team' are no exception and did a phenomenal job again in 2016. Their contribution to Learning Support (Teacher Aides) as well as resources such as iPads, a new sound system (just to name a couple ) are invaluable. We sincerely appreciate their support. 

Summary

2016 has been a positive year for Amberley School. Our dedicated staff are working hard for our children, and the next few years will see continued positive change in the culture of our school. This is a special place, and our PRIDE values are embedded into the culture of our place. A commitment to the PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) programme has already shown huge benefits as we look to enhance and promote our caring and nurturing 'family community' atmosphere. Thank you to everyone for your amazing support of your new Principal in 2016. 

Simon Green

December 2016