Staff changes for 2018

Kia ora koutou

Staff changes for 2018

This article is to let you know of staff comings and goings for 2018. Sadly, we have two teachers who will both be travelling with partners to the UK next year. Stephanie will be joining her partner who has begun a PhD in mathematics at Cambridge University and left for Cambridge earlier this year. She is looking forward to joining him. Erin will be relocating to Bristol with her partner who has won a position there. I am sure that both of them will have no difficulty finding teaching work in the UK. We are, of course, disappointed to be losing them, but we are also grateful to have had them for this time. They both began their teaching careers with us. They have been highly professional at all times, growing their craft as teachers and doing their best for students, and they both have the potential to go onto great things in education.

Jee’s position with us was fixed term for 2017 and will come to an end at the end of this year. She has been a bright and bubbly member of staff. Her laughter is often heard ringing through the corridors of the school. Jee recently made full teacher registration – which is a big milestone for a teacher. Our congratulations to Jee for this achievement. We wish her all the very best for her future.

Michael, one of our wonderful foundation teachers, is going to spend more time at home with his daughter next year. However, he will continue to work two days a week for 2018, largely in Koru Hub, where he has been the team leader this half year. It is great that we are able to maintain this continuity. His wife, Chrissy, will work three days a week for 2018– doing Hip Hop rotations, running our Amesbury TV station with senior students and doing some teacher release.

We are very pleased to welcome three experienced teachers from overseas. Kieron Sexton, from Ireland, will be teaching in Harakake Hub. He has a strong interest in sport but also comes highly rated in terms of delivering core curriculum. He has been doing some release teaching this term, so the children are getting to know him and he is getting to know how things work around here. By the way, his name is pronounced Ke-Ron, not Ke-rin as we would normally say in NZ. Katie Horan is from Australia and Alexis Pace is from America but has recently been working in international schools. Like Kieron, they come highly recommended with great curriculum and teaching and learning knowledge. Katie will work in Koru Hub and Alexis will carry out a range of roles including working in Koru Hub in the afternoons. You may see her around school this year as she begins volunteering in Te Rito and possibly Koru Hub on Monday.

We are also very pleased to welcome back Sonali Singh. She began with us as a teaching and learning assistant in Harakeke Hub in 2016. She has spent this year doing a Masters of Teaching and Learning and will be back with us in 2018 as a beginning teacher. We loved her as a teaching and learning assistant, so are very excited to have her back now as a teacher. She will teach in Koru Hub.

We are very pleased to welcome back Amaria and Andrea from maternity leave – though they will not be quite full time. Andrea will be in Koru Hub teaching mathematics and literacy five days per week and Amaria will begin in Koru Hub in term 2 also teaching mathematics and literacy five days per week. In term one, Amaria will carry out a variety of roles as needed.

Some of you may be aware that we have had Sandra Edge (ex Silver Ferns’ captain) working part-time for us. She will be finishing at the end of this year to, once again, take up the role of assistant coach for the Pulse netball team. However, she may be back, when the netball season is over, for the second half of next year.

Thus our main hub teachers, as it is looking now, will be:

Te Rito: Gemma, Anna-Maria and Angela (as needed). Gemma as team leader.

Koru Hub: Derek, Katie, Andrea, Amaria and Sonali. Urs will begin the year as hub leader but we will look to appoint within the team at some stage.

Harakeke Hub: Hazel, Demelza, Lisa, Kalesha, Georgia and Kieron. Demelza will continue as hub leader.

We are very pleased to have continuity of teachers in Harakeke and Te Rito Hubs. There is some change in Koru Hub, which is why we have asked Urs to be the (acting) leader – to maintain some continuity, as she has been teaching in Koru for the past two terms and is very familiar with the students and how the hub works. Andrea is very familiar with Koru Hub – she was team leader prior to going on maternity leave. Amaria, as a foundation teacher, is very familiar with the whole school and, Derek, (our wonderful Derek!) is a constant. And, of course, Mike will still be in Koru part-time.

We think we have made the best decisions to ensure as much consistency and continuity as possible for students. We are very pleased with our team for next year.

We are still confirming a few other (mostly part-time positions).

To finish, I want to acknowledge the school’s foundation staff who have remained with us through thick and thin! They are: Lesley, Urs, Angela, Demelza, Michael, Amaria, Lisa, Navy, Gail. Andrea is almost a foundation staff member. At least we think of her as such. And Rachel Watson began as a foundation parent and is still here as staff – another “almost” foundation staff member.

We also love our newer staff members. To everyone, we look forward to another great year at Amesbury School in 2018.

Nga mihi nui.

Lesley