E mihi nui ki a koutou,

Tukua kia tū takitahi ngā whetū o te rangi. Let each star in the sky shine its own light

I used the whakatauki above in our mihi whakatau last week, welcoming new ākonga and their whānau to our school. I came across this whakatauki recently and I think it fits perfectly with the way we seek to work with tamariki at Amesbury School. Our kaimahi (staff) look to see and value each child as a unique individual, with their own strengths, passions and ways of learning. We work with our tamariki around who they are, what they stand for, and what they think are their red threads (passions) and unique contributions to the world. In doing so, we are seeking to ensure they know and appreciate their own light, and let it shine brightly. 

Speaking of shining lights, it is thrilling to see the FIFA Women’s World Cup playing out across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. I am loving watching the games and seeing us celebrate and support our wahine toa from across the world. My first game at the stadium was the Spain vs Costa Rica event, and despite the freezing weather and driving rain at times, it was an amazing experience. I loved being part of the passion for the game, and despite being a raging introvert I got fully caught up in the mood of the occasion and found myself cheering loudly for the Spanish team, much to the disgust of the wee Costa Rican fan sitting next to me.

Hopefully many of you will be heading off to some of the FIFA games - I highly recommend it as an fantastic experience, and a great chance to support both our national team and also our amazing wahine from around the world.

One of our own amazing wahine toa, Eilis, is currently in Derry, Ireland, competing in the Gaelic Athletic Associate World Games. She is part of the Australasian Gaelic Football team, and her team has made it to the finals, HURRAH! The final between the Australasian team and Parnells will be played on Friday 28th July  and we are eagerly awaiting the results. Ádh mór, good luck EIlis.

Just a quick plug for a couple of events coming up soon:

- Year 3 parent focus meeting: Thursday 3rd August 5-6pm in Māwhero.

These focus meetings are a chance for parents and caregivers of tamariki in the same year level to get together with me and chat about things important to them around their children at school. The year 2 parent focus meeting will be on Thursday 24th August, and invitations to parents/caregivers of year 2 tamariki will be going out soon.

If you are planning to attend the year 3 meeting, please email me to let me know

- Netsafe parent session: Tuesday 15th August from 5-6pm in the new Pōhutukawa building. Here is the article about this session. We strongly encourage parents and caregivers to attend this free session designed to support adults in keeping our tamariki safe online. If you have questions about screen time for children, online bullying, sexting, unwanted online contact, social media or inappropriate online content, come along to the session and learn from the experts. To help us with planning, please complete this quick rsvp form if you are planning to attend (if you have already completed this form, you do not need to fill it out again).

Kia pai te rā whakatā. Stay warm and dry, and enjoy time with whānau and friends. Hei tērā wiki, see you next week.

Ngā mihi, 

Urs Cunningham