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Amesbury School

Amesbury Digest - 13th December 2021

Kia ora koutou,

The editorial from me is a very short one this week, as John Bunting, Presiding Member of our Board of Trustees has written an end of year message for the community. This message is included below.

I will just this opportunity to inform you that sadly we received a resignation from Zelda Van Zyl on Friday. This was not entirely unexpected, as Zelda’s husband, Marius, recently moved to the Hawke’s Bay area for work, and Zelda and her two daughters have been waiting to join him. She has gained a position at St Mary's School in Hastings, and will finish at Amesbury School at the end of this term. Zelda has been a very valuable member of our team for two years, and we wish her and her family all the very best. We will go through the recruitment process over the summer break, and inform you all of the new appointment early next year.

We now only have two days left of the 2021 school year. They are quite busy days, so here is the breakdown of what will happen on both of those days:

Monday 13th:

* Uniform does not need to be worn on this day, due to our water play section. Tamariki are welcome to wear their own clothes.

*Celebration assembly 9:30 - 10:30am. This will have our full school Kapa Haka performance, several dance items, school band performances, school choir performance, celebrations of our school netball and miniball teams, and a celebration of all students who participated in ICAS exams. This event will be live streamed. The link will be sent out on Hero just before 9:30am.

*Kapa Haka performance group shared kai and thank yous - 10:30 - 11am

*Whole school water play fun 11:30am - 12:30pm (weather permitting). Children can bring togs and clothes for water play fun, towels and water guns. There are also non-water based activities for any children who do not want to get wet

*Year 6 graduation dinner 4:30 - 8:30pm. (Year 6 parents have been advised directly with details)

Tuesday 14th

*This day is a uniform day - we ask that ākonga wear their uniform as usual.

*Farewell assembly 9:15 - 9:45am. This will be when we present our 6 Amesbury Awesomeness awards, our Northern Suburbs Leadership award, and our Pōhutukawa awards. We will also farewell all Year 6 leavers, all other students who are not returning to Amesbury next year, as well as Elena, Zelda, Zoe & Yeping, our teachers, who will be leaving at the end of this year. This event will be live streamed. The link will be sent out on Hero just before 9:15am.

*Whole school picnic at school - sausages and ice blocks provided by school.

*School closes at 1pm for the year

Kia pai tō wiki - enjoy your week.

Ngā mihi, 

Urs Cunningham


Message from John Bunting (Presiding Member, Amesbury School Board of Trustees)

Kia ora koutou,

Well, 2020 was unique and held lots of changes and challenges never seen before in our life-time. We all looked forward to 2021 as a return to what we saw as normal, but as the end of the year fast approaches that has turned out to be anything but the case. These days certainly support the statement that “The only true constant is change”.

So let’s start with some ‘Shout-outs’:

- To Urs and the entire team at Amesbury school, a huge thank you. You have all continued to serve our school community with absolute professionalism and care for our children and the wider school family. I feel I probably don’t say this enough but the hours you put in are always over and above what is expected as you strive to ensure the very best for those in your care.

- To the rest of the school Board (Staff Rep - Kalesha and Parent Reps - Sarah, David, Sophie and Crystal) also my thanks for your support for the school and care for the staff and children. Thank you for the hours you volunteer to help the school run effectively and the amazing skills you bring to all our discussions and decisions.

- To our students – these times are hard, unusual and constantly changing, but you all continue to grow and apply yourself to the Amesbury values. You look to live these out in your school lives and it is our profound hope these will lay the foundations for you as life-long learners who will go on to impact this country and world.

- To our new build crew – it’s finally underway (woohoo). I can't express how relieved and happy I was to see us get started. I look forward to watching the build progress and us then taking over and occupying our new spaces late next year.

We say a sad good-bye to our year 6’s. You will be missed, but we wish you all the very best as you head off to new school families next year.

We have a number of staff departures and arrivals also happening over the end of the year. Thank you to those moving on for all you have added to our school and children’s lives and all the best for your new endeavours. Welcome to those that have already or are arriving over this time, we look forward to getting to know you as you become part of our family.

As I write this short note the rain is teaming down and the temperature is more like that of winter than summer. However, regardless of the weather or the holiday locations you may be at over this coming holiday season, on behalf of the Amesbury Board I wish you all the very best. May your breaks be fun filled, full of new treasured memories and provide the time needed to recharge after such an eventful year.

Ngā mihi nui,

John Bunting

Contents

Amesbury Notices - 13 December 2021

by John Murrihy

Last 2 days of school for 2021 ....

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Pohutukawa Activity Week

by John Murrihy

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End of year report comments now viewable on Hero

by Urs Cunningham

As we are now in our last full week of the 2021 school year, our end of year report comments are now live on Hero.

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Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Feedback around connection, communication and getting involved

by Urs Cunningham

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Use of Smart Watches at School

by Urs Cunningham

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Calling all Library Books and Readers

by Regina Singh

It's great having so many enthusiastic readers checking books out - we now need your help getting them checked back in as end of Term 4 is approaching.

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