At Amesbury School we are keen for our community to be involved with the school in ways that work for people, and may link with particular interests, strengths or expertise.

Rather than have one central group of whānau support, similar to a PTA organisation, we think it is easier for parents to be involved in particular events or activities that interest you and can fit with your other commitments. We currently have a number of activities or events coming up that parents can choose to be involved with, depending on the time you have available, and the areas you would like to be involved with. Other activities or events will pop up through the year, and we will send out notifications as this happens.

School projects or activities coming up:

1) Working bee to re-cover our 5 stage blocks

*Contact person: John Bunting (Board Chairperson). Email: jbunting@xtra.co.nz

*Activity: We have five wooden stage blocks, one in each suite around the school. Students tend to use them to sit and work around. The grey covering on top of the blocks is now ripped and shabby, and we have purchased new material to recover them

*Commitment: The working bee will most likely run on one Sunday at some point in February at school, and will last for several hours. John will oversee the work and school will provide all materials. Please email John if you are happy to be part of the working bee in February. 

2) Fundraising activities for our Year 5 and 6 South Island camp in Term 4

*Contact person: Kalesha Segatta (Pōhutukawa team leader). Email: kalesha@amesbury.school.nz

*Activity: We will have several fundraising events through the year to help raise money for the camp and keep the costs low for parents. At this point we are aiming to organise two school discos. One in term 2 with a Matariki theme and the other in term 3 with a winter theme to mark the end of the winter season. Alongside these, we will run several sausage sizzles and hold smaller fundraisers such as bake sales and raffles at various events throughout the year. We are looking to get students involved in these, as well as some other school fundraising events.

*Commitment: Our aim to have a number of different camp fundraising activities, with different parents involved in each one, so that the workload and commitment is spread across a larger number of people. If you are able to commit to one fundraising activity, that would be fabulous. Let Kalesha know if you are available to help with a fundraising event. We will only contact parents for one event, unless you signal that you are happy to help with more than one. If there are particular days / times / types of events you can or cannot manage, just let Kalesha know. 

3) Miniball and netball coaching for year 3-6 students

*Contact person: Michelle Prinsloo (Sports and Health lead teacher). Email: michelle@amesbury.school.nz

*Activities: During the course of the year various sport codes are offered where students can opt in to represent the school and participate in teams. For each team entered we will need to have coaches and team managers. Without parent help we are unable to enter teams. So far the following sport codes are available - we will update this during the course of the year.

Term 1 & Term 2: Touch Rugby - information regarding Touch will go out shortly

Terms 2/3/4: Mini-Basketball

Terms 2 & 3: Netball

*Commitment:

Coaches:

- To ensure the students experience enjoyment while training and playing the game

- To organise a training day if appropriate for your team

- Organise warm ups, drills, activities and games for trainings and games

- Be there for all the games/ trainings or organise for the manager to fill in

- Look after the team balls, bibs and other gear

- To give all students a fair turn on the court

- To ensure students are trying out and experiencing all the positions

- Feedback to students about their game is positive and constructive

- Check the games timetable and let the students and parents in your team know the appropriate information for the game

- Check cancellations

Managers:

- To support the coach

- Turn up to all the games

- Check the games timetable and let the students and parents in your team know the appropriate information for the game

- Check cancellations

4) Running an elective for students

*Contact person: Urs Cunningham. Email: urs.cunningham@amesbury.school.nz

*Activity: Within electives, we offer all students a wide range of different activities, from gardening and baking to sports, writing poetry and biking. Students then opt into electives they are interested in, and they stay in the same elective for all five sessions.

The size of an elective group can vary quite a lot, but with parent volunteers, we tend to keep the groups small - usually between 5-10 students. Elective groups are usually of mixed ages, from 5 -11 yrs. However, again, if the need arises, we can make this age more specific to meet the needs of the elective group.

*Commitment: We run a module of 5 electives every term for students. They run on a Monday, usually from 11:30am - 12:50pm. They tend to be held earlier in the term, usually from Weeks 2-6 of each term, but this can vary depending on other events happening through the term. For someone to take an elective, we would need them to be available for all five elective sessions. Prior to signing up for a term, we can give any interested parents the elective dates, so you can check availability. The dates for Term 1 electives are in the School Events calendar. You can choose to run an elective in any of the four terms this year. 

If you have a skill or passion that you would like to share with students through a set of electives, please contact Urs to talk more about this.

5) Helping with hub activities

All teams are very happy to have parents or whānau come in and be involved in hub activities throughout the year, including helping out with learning (such as supporting with reading, inquiry etc) or being involved with school trips. If you are keen to be involved in any way, please contact the leader of your child's hub, or their whānau teacher. 

For Pōhutukawa and Harakeke hubs, there will be various sporting events, such as zone events or inter-school competitions, through the year, with many of these events being held in terms 1 and 2. The team always needs help with transport and/or supervision at these events, so please feel free to get involved by coming along to any events your child signs up for. 

If any of these activities or events strike a chord with you, please contact the person in charge, or your child's whānau teacher,  and let them know you are happy to be involved. Thank you for your ongoing help and support with ensuring that Amesbury can offer a wide range of opportunities for students. 

We are also happy for parents to get in touch with us if there are events or activities you would like to suggest for helping the school or being involved in some way. We know there that our community is full of people with a huge range of fabulous skills and passions, and if you’d like to share this with the school in some way, please get in touch with us. 

Warm regards, 

The Amesbury Team