We have had a busy week, with a number of events and happenings to highlight. Read on to find out more about the fantastic people who shared and were celebrated this week.

Our Share & Celebrate events are a time to acknowledge and celebrate ākonga (students) who have been noticed doing something great. This can be for anything from an act of kindness, to great efforts in learning or taking care of the environment. If you have fabulous things your have been doing outside of school that you would like to share and celebrate, please email the details to your child's whānau teacher.

Here are the fabulous people who were celebrated this week:

• Alex, Annie O-W, Arthur, Caelyn, Calista, Divan, Eden, Gabriella, Hatem, Isabelle, Josh H, Joshua R, Marcus, Monty, Paige, Pranav, Sueli, Timothy, and Victoria Y: These ākonga all graduated from Children's University this week. They all embarked on an incredible journey, showcasing their dedication to independent learning beyond the classroom. These students have been working tirelessly on their own to accumulate learning hours by taking charge of their education, engaging in self-selected projects designed in collaboration with Massey University. As part of this journey, they completed detailed reflections on various aspects of their lives, including the sports they play outside of school, music, dance, and drama. Through these reflections, they shared the challenges they faced, the strategies they used to overcome them, and the goals they achieved along the way.

  On Monday evening, Urs and Kirat and the whānau of the ākonga had the privilege of attending a special graduation ceremony for these remarkable students. It was truly a proud moment for all of us, witnessing the commitment, resilience, and growth each student displayed throughout this experience. Ka rawe, team – keep reaching for new heights!

• Aayzhia, Dishon, Hatem, Hayley, Isabelle P, Johnson, Marcus, Taksheel, Weylyn, Adam, Adrik, Ana, Angela Y, Anna, Annabel, Arthur, Basti, Bella H, Caelyn, Divan, Eden, Emily, Ethan, Evan, George, Henry, Isaac, Isabella S, Isla, Jack G, Jade, Jayden, Jhaedyn, John, Josh H, Kyle, Laylah, Luca C, Maletā, Mia, Miesha, Millie, Ruby, Ryan, Shiloh, Sima, Vedant. These ākonga all represented Amesbury School so well at our Northern Zone Athletics competition earlier in the week. They all gave it their very best on the day, and we are so proud of how well they represented our kura (school). A special shout out goes to the Year 5 relay team of Maletā, Sima, Miesha, and Emily, who came first in the relay, Luca C who placed 1st in the 100m, Taksheel who placed 1st in vortex, and Ruby who came 1st in the 800m. Ka rawe, awesome results!

• Huge well done to the following ākonga who placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their event/s at Northern Zone Athletics and go through to represent Amesbury School at the Inter Zone Athletics competition, and those who placed 4th and go through as a reserve: Sima, Jade, Taksheel, Millie, Ruby, Laylah, Johnson, Luca C, and Maletā. You all did so amazingly well, and we are very proud of you all.

• Elham, Vedant, and Taksheel: In separate incidents these boys have shown real kindness to others when they have been hurt or upset. They have taken younger students under their wing to help them make them feel better.

• Logan: At Athletics day Logan acted in a very mature way by letting me know about something that I hadn’t noticed. This was done to prevent another student from getting upset. Well done Logan, I was really impressed.

• Lennox: In Lauren’s literacy you have participated and created an amazing poem! You should be very proud of your work - you are a natural poet!

• Hunter S: Hunter has been a kaitiaki of our schools land, in his break time Hunter noticed there was lots of rubbish and took the initiative to tidy it up and make sure it got to the correct place.

• Able: In Lauren’s literacy you have been super excited about the poem you were writing and you made sure to meet the success criteria of the task. Awesome work, Able.

• Rohan K: You were nominated by a parent at our Pōhutukawa athletics day, where you showed patience and beautiful manners when you talked with her about her phone.

• Theia and Aaliyah: In ukulele group class, you both are super willing to help the others when they are struggling. You are both awesome role models to the younger kids.

• Armand: For showing kindness and consideration to others on our school trip. You did an amazing job helping others get on and off the flying fox and bringing it back for others to use.

• Azariah and Basti: Thank you for your help in the Library and for making sure our younger tamariki understood the importance of tidying up before they left. Your guidance taught them responsibility and respect for shared spaces, which is such a valuable lesson. Ka rawe—what an amazing job you did! My favorite moment was when you explained to the other ākonga, “This is our library, and we need it tidy.” Your words made a real impact, showing everyone that taking care of our space is a collective effort.

• Waniya and Shammah: You both have worked so hard this year in literacy. The progress you have made in your reading and writing is outstanding and you should be very proud! Keep up the good work

• Jules: You have practised a lot over the two weeks where we didn’t have lessons, and have perfected your chosen drum beat at home in that time. You have also been an awesome role model to the younger student who has joined the lessons recently by letting him go first on the drums and helping him when he doesn’t understand something. Awesome work, Jules.

• Sophia P and James: You have been working really hard on your handwriting. Keep up the amazing work.

• Waniya: You have been working really hard in your writing. You have been focusing on your goals which is great to see. Also, a huge ka pai (well done) for being nominated twice by two different kaiako this week!

  
  

  Well done to all of our outstanding ākonga. Super work participating, giving it your very best, leading, focusing, helping and encouraging around our kura, and also achieving fabulous things outside of school as well. Ka pai te mahi, well done.