Newsletter - WE 23/09/2022

Kia ora

Here we are with the last newsletter of Term 3. The last 10 weeks seem to have flown by very quickly and we have packed in a lot over the last two weeks of the term.

It was great to have a whole school assembly again on Wednesday where we were able to celebrate a number of achievements from throughout the term. We were also able to have a final rehearsal for the Mihi Whakatau to welcome Matt Barlow as our new Principal at the start of Term 4, October 17th.

Congratulations to the five members of the Junior Ethics Olympiad Team – Lexie Godfrey-Grant,

Bella Godfrey-Grant, Mackenna Williamson, Maria Lim and Lucy Whittleston. They competed along with over 100 teams from NZ, Australia and Hong Kong over Zoom, debating ethical problems. Our team won a silver medal in this competition – an outstanding accomplishment. Well done girls! We have a senior team competing later in the year. Thank you to Karen Nicholls and Morag Godfrey-Grant for coaching this group.

I commented to the assembly on Wednesday that Amuri Area School offers a large range of opportunities for students to become involved in activities both curricular based and extra-curricular. It is so important that they take as many of these as possible while here at school – they will never have as many opportunities again in life. Congratulations to the staff who make these opportunities possible.

We had a great Book Week this week with interesting visits from authors and speakers, readings in class, displays of teachers’ favourite books and a wonderful dress up day yesterday. There was a big range of book characters on display and lots of fun.

We are looking forward to Pet Day next Tuesday. The timetable is on the back page of this newsletter.

A reminder that Monday, September 26th is a Public Holiday in memory of the Queen so school is closed for the day.Senior school staff are completing reports for our Year 11 to 13 students and these will be emailed home on the last Friday of the term.

Congratulations to the First 15 Rugby team who played a game against Kaikoura High School on Wednesday afternoon. A wet day saw Amuri come out the winner by 46 to 15.

Field trips have been enjoyed by the Year 11 Geography class who went to Kaikoura along with some OE students this week. The Year 12 Geography class leaves tomorrow for a week long South Island trip. Senior Biology students are off to Orana Park today and Agricultural students were involved with a farm visit this week.

30 Kapa Haka students travelled to Ohoka School today to take part in the annual festival with a number of other schools in North Canterbury. Thank you to Denise Johnson and Phoebe Sopp for working with this group and making this experience possible and to the parents who supported them.

We wish the 10 senior students all the best as they take part in the scaled down version of CasaFest which is being held at Rangiora New Life School on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

The last day of term next Friday is a mufti day with fundraising for our local St Johns Ambulance.

As this is my last newsletter to you, I would like to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my short stay here at Amuri Area School. Thank you to Kylee and Nicole – I have enjoyed working with you and to the office team and the Board of Trustees for your support.

I am very impressed with the school - the friendliness of the staff and students, the quality of the teaching programmes right across the school, the range of opportunities this school offers to students and the dedication, collegiality and commitment of the staff. Thank you for making me welcome and for all your support. I take away many happy memories of working here and wish everyone all the best for the future. I know you will enjoy having Matt as your new Principal and Amuri Area School will continue to thrive.

Nga mihi
Bob Norrish
Acting Principal

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Primary School News

Kia ora Parents and Whanau

There is excitement in the air this week as we have celebrated Book Week. We have had a visit from James Russell the author of the Dragon Defenders series on Tuesday; Sunny and her team from the I am Hope foundation on Wednesday and Clive Lund today. All our visitors spoke about books and themes and lessons that can be taken from the texts. Yesterday was the very popular dress up day and congratulations to all our students (and their whanau) for their efforts! There were some fantastic costumes and the children were very excited to take part in the impromptu character parade yesterday morning!

Next week, Monday is the public holiday to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. Then Tuesday it is Pet Day for Years 1-6. Please have your pets at school early so judging can start at 9am. During this time, students will be collected from classes to meet with the judges and then return to class where they will be working on an entry for an SPCA competition we are entering. Some parents have asked if they can take the pets home after judging and this is fine. Please tell your child’s class teacher what you are intending to do. We know that pet day isn’t much fun for some pets and we understand if you would like to take your pet home as soon as judging as done. There is a grand parade in the afternoon. There is a more detailed program on the last page of this newsletter. Please note the afternoon times after lunch are approximate. There is no dog obstacle course this year as we just weren’t able to fit everything in with the number of students we have.

Here is the primary assembly roster for the remainder of the year.

Term 3
23 Sept – Room 1
30 Sept- Room 6 

Term 4
21 Oct – Room 3
28 Oct – Athletics
4 Nov – Room 1
11 Nov - Show Day
18 Nov – Room 2
25 Nov - Accord Day
2 Dec- Year 6 Leavers Assembly 

Have a fantastic holiday break and we look forward to seeing you back at school on Monday 17th of October.

Hei konā
Kylee Habgood - Deputy Principal - Primary

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Senior School News

Kia Ora Whanau

Wow, what a great term we have had. It has been great to see the learning happening as I move around the school. Students are consistently meeting the school values in terms of ASPIRE in all aspects of school life; including a huge improvement in uniform. A big thank you to parents who have supported our message at home around expectations.

After our derived grade senior exams last week, teachers have been busy writing reports that are informative and give guidance around next steps for students as they prepare for the NZQA externals that start on the 7th November. Please see the timetable attached for external exams.

After consultation with students, teachers and our new principal for Term 4, Mr Barlow, we are in agreement that students in Years 11 to 13 can take study leave from the 3rd November, if their teachers believe they are on track and there are no outstanding internals to complete. Teachers will run workshops for students that need time and/or further support and there is an expectation that students notified will attend. More information on the sign-out process will be available early next term.

Keep an eye out for communication around workshops available during the term break. Students should take advantage of these extra lessons to prepare for the externals that are fast approaching.

Finally, on behalf of the Senior school at Amuri Area School, I would like to extend a huge thank you to Mr Norrish for the service that he has given to Amuri over Term 3. He has become beloved by many in the short time he has been here, this is without doubt due to his kindly nature and extensive knowledge and experience in education.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

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Roll of Honour
Tom Black
Katy Burgess
Milah Campion
Blake Clisby
Kirk de Ridder
Molly Jones
Molly McKenzie
Rommie Murie
Martha Penamante
Marc Shein Quevedo
Namash Rana
Campbell Smith
Fil John Suela
Emma Whittleston
1st Merit
Harper Absalom
Rachael Bell
Lily Black
Isla Blomfield
Reuben Chinnery
Ashleigh Clegg
Hannah Clegg
Ella Dawson
Kate Easton
Kenn Egmao
Michael Fenemor-Halsey
Hayley Fisher
Lea Harrison
Sophie Jones
Pia Mercado
Ruby Moke
Emerson Morgado
Jackson Schenkel
Tamika Van de Wiel
Elliette Williamson
2nd Merit
Julia Black
Jakob Bush
Lily Moke
Harriett Rutherford

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Dates for Your diary

September
27th Pet Day - Years 1-6
27th-29th Year 13 Outdoor Ed Cycle Tour
26th Queens Memorial Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
27th Pet Day - Years 1-6 postponement
29th Disco for Years 1-8 in Community Room
30th Mufti Day - for Culverden St. John
30th END OF TERM 3

October
17th Start of Term 4
17th-19th Year 6 Camp to Living Springs
19th Huxter Bike Race @ McLeans Island
20th Senior Athletics
24th Labour Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
25th Caverhill Assembly @ 11:15am
25th-28th Year 8 Camp to Kaiteriteri
28th Primary Athletics
31st Primary Athletics postponement
November
4th Firewise Visit for Year 1-2 students
7th HPSSA Athletics @ Amuri
8th Year 7-8 Cup Shield Cricket @ Mandeville
8th Hamilton Assembly @ 12:15pm
8th Student Executive Meeting @ 1:15pm
9th HPSSA Athletics Postponement
11th Canterbury Anniversary - SCHOOL CLOSED
17th Mufti Day for the Blind Foundation
19th Amuri Trail Ride

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We have identified recent incidences of wrist-based devices being used to send messages between students / parents/caregivers during school time.

Our school policy classes a smartwatch as a personal digital device that, if brought to school, should be away in a bag during school time.

These devices can be hugely distracting for students in class if they are more focused on the information that might be coming through on them, thereby making it a lot harder for the classroom teacher to get students to engage with the planned learning.
Should you need to contact your child/children, please contact the office where a message will get delivered.Your support with this is much appreciated.

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The Junior Ethics Olympiad promotes respectful, creative and rigorous discussion of ethical problems between teams in a format similar to a quick-fire debate. Over 100 teams from New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong competed last Friday over zoom. The Amuri team has been learning about different ethical theories such as utilitarian, virtue, care, Kantian and rules-based ethics in order to determine what people should do in a given situation, not what they might or would do.

Kowloon Bay Prep School - Hong Kong (Aqua Blue) was awarded the Gold Medal, Amuri Area School - New Zealand (White) was awarded the Silver Medal and Immanuel Primary School - South Australia (Blue) the Bronze medal.

What a spectacular result! Well done girls, you were AMAZING!

Your coaches Morag Godfrey-Grant and Karen Nicholls.