Amesbury School


Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to the 2022 school year. A warm Amesbury welcome to all of our new families, and a hearty welcome back to all other families. I hope you have all had a chance to enjoy the warm, sunny summer break we have had in this beautiful country of ours. I travelled up north, which is an area of the country I have done very little travelling in so far. I visited Waitangi for the first time, and my day spent at Waitangi Treaty Grounds was such a powerful and moving time, I felt really privileged to be there.

And so we start a new school year. Covid, it seems, is not yet done with us! While starting the school year in Red setting and with a potential large outbreak looming is not optimal, I am really grateful that we had such a wonderful and comparatively free summer. I know that many families will be feeling anxious about what Red level means for us in terms of school and work, and how we will balance it all. We have done a lot of thinking and planning around this as a staff, although the fast moving and ever changing nature of this virus and its impacts means that we cannot plan this in fine detail and have everything clearly laid out for you now. This will be an evolving situation, and we will change, adapt and improve as we go.

There are two articles attached to this digest about this. One outlines how school will start for the year in Red level, and the other article explains a little more about what hybrid learning (learning being able to happen both at school and from home) will look like.

One of our key focuses for this year is how we remain connected and in touch with each other when our community cannot come onsite at school as readily as we would like, or when students, at times, need to learn from home. We will stay focused on different ways to do this as we move through the term, with our main aim being to ensure that we all stay connected in ways that work for people, and that as a community we help each other through.

Have a lovely start to the school year. As a team we are all raring to go, and looking forward to seeing your tamariki again. We may not see many of you onsite around school for the next wee while, but we will ensure that there are opportunities to connect with teachers online in various ways, and please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have questions or concerns about your tamariki or their learning.

Ngā mihi nui,

Urs Cunningham


  1. Amesbury Notices - 31 January 2022

    Kia ora and a warm welcome or welcome back to Amesbury for the start of the 2022 year. Read more…
  2. Co-curricular Lessons

    We are now looking for additional participants for Term 3 for our increasingly sought-after Amesbury co-curricular lessons. Read more…
  3. Hybrid Learning at Amesbury School

    As schools open for the start of the 2022 school year, there is much talk across the education sector about moving into a system of ... Read more…
  4. Amesbury School at Red Level of the Traffic Light System

    All of New Zealand is now at Red Level in the Covid Protection Framework. This article looks to give some detail around how Amesbury ... Read more…