Ngā mihi o te rā, greetings to you all.

Welcome back to Term 2! We have started the term with a hiss and a roar this week. Lots of excitement and buzz as everyone was reunited after the holiday break. We had eleven new ākonga starting with us this week, and one student returning to Amesbury. A very warm welcome to our new whānau joining us this term, and a big welcome back to all of our returning families.

We have lots of exciting learning happening already this week. Our Garden to Table programme started on Tuesday, with some of our Year 4s doing some planting in the three garden beds at the back of Harakeke Hub, and another group of Year 4s making a delicious confetti spaghetti dish in the kitchen. Jenny, Rachel and I were presented with a dish of spaghetti after lunch and it was absolutely delicious, I highly recommend it!

Elsewhere around the school, novel reading is happening in earnest in Pōhutukawa Hub, with one student bumping into me yesterday because they were so busy reading their 'Chronicles of Narnia' book, as they walked, that they weren't looking where they were going - definitely a book that’s hard to put down! Earnest discussions have been happening in Koru Hub about living and non-living things, along with what lies underneath our feet, right down to the core at the centre of the earth. Between this and all the cross country training going on, it’s all go.

We have had a lot of property work happening over the holiday break, with the lights in Koru and Harakeke blocks, along the with office and reception area being replaced with LED energy efficient lights, and the cladding work outside on these blocks continuing. You may have noticed that work on the outside cladding of the hall has come to a temporary halt, while the team works through a slight change of plan as the work got underway. This work will resume again very soon.

With the work on the hall blocking a number of car parking spaces, things are a little busier in the car park at key drop off and pick up times. Parents and whānau can help with this by:

• Continuing to walk, bike or scoot to school where possible - to reduce the number of vehicles coming into school
• Picking up students in Pōhutukawa Hub (Years 4-6) a little after 3pm - to give them time to get out to the pick up area and to spread out the timing of vehicles entering school.
• Showing patience when dropping or picking up by vehicle, and being prepared to wait for a couple of minutes, where necessary

Please be aware that Pōhutukawa ākonga finish at 3pm. If you are using the drop off zone to pick up your chil/dren, please give them a few minutes to make it out to the car park. Picking them up at 3:05 or 3:10 will help to spread out the flow of traffic and reduce the need to do multiple loops around the car park while you wait for your child/ren to arrive. Here is the car park procedure for Amesbury School, just as a reminder about how the system works. 

And our final piece of exciting news this week is the arrival of a new uniform item - our snazzy new hoodie! Last year when collecting student voice about a range of things, one thing that came up from a group of students was their desire for a uniform item that had a hood. Our wonderful Rachel has tirelessly explored a wide range of options for this, and worked closely with the school board to come up with a school hoodie made from a similar fabric to our school sports top. This would make a good light outer layer in spring or autumn, as the weather gets a little colder, and a snuggly layer under the school fleece for winter when it gets really cold. Please see the separate article in the digest this week for a sneak peak at the hoodie, and it will be available for sizing and pre-order in the next couple of weeks. It is exciting to have another option available to ākonga, especially one that has come from feedback from our tamariki. 

Kia pai te rā whakatā, have a wonderful weekend.

Ngā mihi nui, 

Urs Cunningham