From our Tumuaki / Principal

The whakatauki (Māori proverb) above is incredibly fitting this week, as so many of our ākonga (students) have been doing just that, taking up a challenge, showing resilience, and working really hard to reach a goal or an outcome.

• Huge well done to all of our Koru Hub runners who placed in the top five in our school cross country and represented Amesbury School at our Junior Invitational Cross Country this week. They all ran so well and with such enthusiasm and motivation.

• Ka pai (well done) to all of the ākonga who took up the challenge at Tough Guy and Gal in Wainui this week. You were fabulous examples of accepting a challenge and giving it everything. You all showed great support for each other and had lots of fun to go with it.

• A group of ākonga represented Amesbury at the chess regional tournaments this week and did amazingly well, winning first place in the Wellington Regionals, and second place in the Hutt Valley regionals. The teams have moved through to the national finals, and two of our players qualified for the Chess Power Champions Trophy competition. Ka rawe, awesome work!

Update on construction of our Amesbury waharoa

Speaking of striving for something of great value, we have our own very valuable project that we have been working hard on - creating our own school waharoa. A waharoa is an entrance gateway, often found at the entrance to Māori pā (fortifed village) or marae (meeting ground). Here is the waharoa at the entrance of Belmont School. Amesbury School has been working towards installing a waharoa in the entrance way to school for a while, and we are now making exciting progress with this.

We now have a carver from Ngāti Toa iwi, Herman Salzmann, who is working with us to create the design. The carved wooden waharoa will be installed inside the lobby as you enter the reception area. It will frame the wide doorway through into reception, and tell the story of our place and our people. The design so far has two Ngāti Toa rangatira (leaders), one on either amo (upright columns), along with Tāne-Te-Wānanga - the bringer of knowledge, and Tāne Nui-a-Rangi - the bringer of higher consciousness. The cross brace of the waharoa will represent the people who make up our community, with seven waka ihu (nose or front of the waka - canoe) representing tangata whenua (Māori), and four winds, representing people who have travelled here from all over the world. A large royal albatross represents those who arrived by air, and a whale represents those who travelled by sea.

Herman is now working on a more detailed design of the waharoa, and we will share this with you when it is completed. We are aiming to have our waharoa in place by the start of Term 4 this year, which is exciting! It will be a fabulous way to share and celebrate our story - where we are and who we are. Huge thanks to Kris Love and Ruia Jamieson, who have worked so hard to bring this project together.

With lots to celebrate, head into the weekend positively and looking forward to spending time with whānau and friends. Hei tērā wiki, see you next week.

Ngā mihi nui, 

Urs Cunningham