Kia ora koutou 👋

Welcome to our last newsletter for Term 3. As the holidays arrive, we hope that you are all able to have a relaxing and enjoyable two-week break. 

It has been an exciting term with many opportunities for students to strive for success in both curricular and extracurricular activities. It has been awesome to see the students in action in so many different contexts. One highlight for me was seeing students stand up to share their mihi at Takahanga Marae. Some of our youngest and newest students did this with confidence and clarity which was just amazing to see. Hopefully your child has had an opportunity to succeed this term through all that has been on offer.  

At our assembly this week I shared the story of David Brailsford. David is a coach in the sport of cycling. He achieved significant success with his athletes in a very short space of time including winning 70% of the gold medals in cycling at the London Olympics, after the British team had not won a cycling medal since 1908 (over 100 years). David’s approach was centred around the philosophy of 1% gains across multiple areas. This included small things like the type of pillow the athletes had or changes in the type of seat the riders had on their bikes. The message for the students was that we should do the small things well. It might not seem to be a big thing to use the odd swear word, but if a little thing is left unaddressed it can become a big thing quickly. Similarly, it only takes one or two people to demonstrate little acts of kindness, but these can lead to others catching on and then the small gains lead to bigger and greater things. I reminded our students that high expectations, including in some seemingly small areas, these lead to a positive and respectful atmosphere for all.  

Lastly, some of you may have seen our advertisements for teaching positions in 2025. If you have any questions about these, please do not hesitate to pop in and see me rather than approaching teachers. Of significant note is the fact that Liz Teulon is retiring and will finish in Term 1 of next year. Liz has been a fabulous servant to Amuri Area School over many years and in a variety of roles. We are very sorry to see Liz retire but also support her decision and we wish her all the very best as she prepares for the next chapter. 

Have a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing all students back in two week’s time. 

Kia kitea toikaka

Matt Barlow

Principal