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Amesbury School

Amesbury Digest - 10th August 2020

Kia ora koutou,

It has been fantastic to see all the different learning experiences and opportunities happening across the school so far this term. The leadership team has been spending time in all teams across the school each week, and it is wonderful to see students engaged in many different ways.

- In Koru Hub it has been exciting watching students move between exploring new ideas and concepts in inquiry, discover their own interests and passions, and then communicate their ideas through speech and writing. Hearing children eagerly discussing amongst themselves ways to keep ice cold for longer, or melt it quicker, has been great. 

- In Harakeke Hub students have also been exploring, creating and collaborating. We really enjoyed seeing students creating highly inventive costumes for alter egos, figuring out inventive ways to incorporate large pine cones into play (who knew they could spin so well and make excellent bey blades?), and working together in a variety of collaborative activities. Some very engaging inquiry sessions linked to insulation and heat led to a profusion of feathers in several of the spaces that proved hard to entirely eradicate. I found several feathers on me at various points through the week and I was not involved in the sessions! 

- In Pōhutukawa students have opted into novel study groups and it is fabulous to see children so engrossed reading a wide range of books in a variety of situations. I needed to ask one child to put their book down as they walked out of school to ensure they were walking safely! I am loving hearing children walk past me deep in discussion about their novel, or the movie of their novel.

All of this is creating highly engaging learning happening across the school and a very positive buzz throughout learning spaces as we walk around.

News from the team

On Friday we said farewell (for now) to the wonderful Kristen, who now begins her maternity leave. We are all very excited about meeting baby Liddell, and we wish Kristen and Chris all the very best on this new exciting chapter in their lives. Kristen has been our fabulous leader in Harakeke Hub this year, and we are extremely grateful for her tireless hard work, care and support in her team. Kristen will return from her maternity leave in Term 3 next year. Lisa Bengtsson will now be taking over from Kristen for the rest of the year as a teacher and leader in Harakeke Hub.

Update on systems in our car park

Use of the car park during drop off and pick up times is becoming smoother and safer, which is great to see. Thank you to people who are following the expectations of our car park - this is leading to a much safer environment for our children. It has taken a couple of weeks to settle back into routines around using the car park, particularly around use of the drop off zone as a non waiting / parking place, but systems now seem to be working well.

I have had a number of parents asking about the crosses marked on some car park spaces. These are simply to mark spots where we ask staff to park before using other parking bays. The two car park bays on either side of the walkway going across the car park are marked like this to avoid cars moving into and out of spaces directly by the walkway during high use times (these are times when staff are generally not moving their own cars). We are finding this is making the walkway much safer, because cars are not reversing on to it to move out of a space, or waiting in front of or on the walkway to move into a space.

We have one leader out on car park duty each afternoon, to ensure safety across the walkway and sensible behaviour in the drop off area. A Koru teacher is on duty each morning on the walkway in the car park to greet students and help younger students come in confidently and safely if they are by themselves.

So, a very settled, engaged start to the term. With our new fitness trail almost complete, and our ASB coaching sessions underway across the school, it is also a very active start to the term. Koru Hub has begun their swimming module at Johnsonville School Pool, and Harakeke and Pōhutukawa will begin their swimming at Keith Spry Pool in Week 6. Lots of action happening!

Have a good week.

Ngā mihi nui,

Urs Cunningham (Acting Principal) and John Bunting (BoT Chairperson) 

Contents

School Notices - 10 August 2020

by John Murrihy

Welcome to Week 4 of Term 3 ....

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Congratulations to all our students who participated in the Northern Zone Cross Country on 31 July.

by Michelle Prinsloo

We are so proud of all our students who participated in the Northern Zone Cross Country event.

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Mihi Whakatau for new students

by John Murrihy

A very warm welcome to all of our new students.

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Made to order products with your child's artwork

by Amesbury Office

Purchase unique calendars, cards, diaries, mouse mats and sketch pads/notebooks with your child's cover art on them!

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Harakeke and Pohutukawa Swimming - Term 3

by Lisa Bengtsson

This information is about the swimming lessons for students in Harakeke and Pohutukawa hubs.

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Scholastic Books Club Issue 5

by Regina Singh

Term 3, 2020 of Scholastic's Book Club is now available for online ordering.

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ASB SPORT COACHING SESSIONS

by Michelle Prinsloo

Amesbury students will be attending the ASB School Sport Program during term 3.

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Koru Hub Swimming Lessons Term 3

by Lisa Bengtsson

Here is the information you need know about Koru Hub swimming next term. Information for Harakeke and Pohutukawa will come later in the term.

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