From our Tumuaki / Principal

Kia ora e te whānau,

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini; Success is not the work of one, but the work of many.

This editorial is a celebration of some of the fabulous things I have seen around our kura this week. I have had a number of people bringing things to share and celebrate with me, and I have also noticed a range of others doing amazing things. I’d like to share a few of these here.

Ākonga shout outs:

Jossie - thanks for showing me Freda the amazing frog you crocheted. I love her, especially her fab little handbag!

Queenie - you have leaped up TEN reading levels in a term - ka rawe, amazing progress!

Matthew - you showed me the most amazing piece of writing from your learning this week. My favourite part is the hook, that guarantees I will keep reading to find out what happened. You have also used some incredible language. Tino pai!

Ethan in Harakeke - you have made fabulous progress in your reading this term. Ka mau te wehi, awesome work.

Ignacio, Basti, Heidi, Luca B, Ruby K, and Josh H - on Tuesday you represented our kura at interzone cross country, competing against tamariki from across the Wellington region. You did amazingly well competing at this high level and we are incredibly proud of you. Ruby and Basti will be going on to compete at the regional cross country level, which is fantastic.

Kaimahi shout outs

On Tuesday next week it is Amesbury Support Staff Day, celebrating the fantastic team of support staff who keep our school running so well.

Brian keeps our school ship shape and shiny. He is incredibly accommodating, and will see to any thing that crops up as an issue. Thanks for keeping our spaces safe and healthy, Brian.

Kirsty works in the early evening to vacuum throughout the school each day. She has great attention to detail and will keep Brian in check! We love how you happily accept the changing access to spaces after school, Kirsty.

John is our amazing enrolment and communications manager, and he also organises all the co-curricular lessons. Each co-curricular timetable is a work of logistical genius in terms of orgnaising groups to ensure children don’t miss out on important things in their hub. Thanks for thinking so carefully about all the minute details around this, John.

Gail is our finance and payroll manager, and also oversees our in-house property issues. She is a wizard with organising events and booking venues and buses. If you ever need to cater for 150 people and know exactly how many pats of butter you need, Gail is your person!

Navy, or Wonder Woman as she is more commonly known around school. Navy works in the hubs supporting students with their learning, especially literacy. She also works in our reception area and keeps everything tickety-boo in our shared spaces. Navy can manage ten tasks on the go at a time, and keeps us all in line.

Nic has joined us this year supporting a student in Koru Hub. Nic, we love your unflappable nature, unfailing sense of humour and positive attitude. We love having you as part of our team.

Yamama has worked with us for two years supporting our Arabic whānau, and we are delighted that she will continue to be part of our team. Yamama has been invaluable in helping us support whānau who are new to Aotearoa, explaining cultural differences and tikanga to our whānau and also our kaimahi, helping us to better connect with each other.

Rachel’s name has become synonymous with going to the treatment room to be very well cared for. We have come to realise that some of our younger students believe that anyone who is kind and caring in that space must be called Rachel - it is more a role than a person's name! Rachel keeps everything running smoothly in the front office, and we all know if we want to know something about the school, we ask Rachel.

This wonderful team of people keep us all healthy, happy and safe. They keep all the systems running smoothly, and help us to ensure our tamariki’s needs are well met. Next Tuesday we will ensure we take time to show how truly appreciated and valued they are, and my note to myself is to ensure I take the time to let them know this more often.

I hope you have a lovely weekend with your own amazing support team.

Hei tērā wiki, see you next week. 

Urs Cunningham