Newsletter - WE 12/08/2022

Kia ora koutou katoa

I am delighted to have been appointed to the position of Principal of Amuri Area School and I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all (students, staff and families) and being part of the community in the Amuri Basin.

My wife, Phillippa and I have three children, Isaac (15), Alicia (13) and Joel (10) and we have been based in Christchurch over our 18 ½ years of marriage. I am originally from the small rural service town of Taumarunui in the Central North Island but became a Cantabrian (and Crusaders supporter) when I moved here for university in 1998. My personal interests include family, the outdoors (tramping, adventure racing and rogaining) and landscape photography.

I have been at Middleton Grange School, a state integrated area school of 1290 students, since 2008 and have been serving as Deputy Principal – Head of Middle School for the last eight years. My teaching background is in Physical Education, Outdoor Education, Social Sciences and Te Reo Māori.

My family and I are excited about being part of the Amuri Area School community and serving the school and it’s people in the years ahead. It will be a privilege to lead a school which has a strong foundation and sits within the vibrant community of the district.

Ngā mihi 
Matt Barlow  

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News from Mr Norrish ....

It was great to have Matt Barlow in during the week meeting staff and students and familiarising himself with the school. What a great asset he is going to be to Amuri Area School. I know he is looking forward to meeting you as parents and caregivers and becoming part of this community.

Congratulations to the 6 students who represented Amuri Area School at the Level 1 Geography competition in Christchurch on Tuesday evening. Out of 18 participating schools one team of Flyn Pearson, Arabella Manifold and Laura Cundy came 4th and the team of Isla Blomfield, Olivia Adcock and Regan Kay came 6th. Well done to both teams.

There has been some great work produced this last week marking National Maths Week. Well done to all the entrants!

A reminder that Monday August 22nd is a PD Day granted by the Ministry for Secondary teachers to continue their development of planning for the changes around NCEA being introduced over the next 2 years. Our primary teachers will be having PD focused on writing. As a result, the school will be closed on this day. 

Thank you for your understanding about the closure for snow last Monday. Several factors led to the decision – the closure of some of our bus runs, the difficulty a number of staff would have had getting to school and the likelihood of further snow during the day. Let’s hope that this is the last snow fall to affect us this year.

The Board of Trustees met on Wednesday night and reviewed the mask wearing policy decision made at the start of this term. In the light of the decreasing numbers reported contracting Covid and the advice from the Health Ministry, they decided to end the mandatory requirement for year 4 to 13 students to wear masks indoors from the start of week 5, August 23rd. We still encourage students and staff to wear masks, but it will no longer be a requirement.

The Board, along with the staff, are concerned about the misuse of phones by students over the last 3 weeks. We want to be very clear that the use of phones is prohibited at Amuri Area School during the school day including break times and lunchtimes and any detected use will lead to the devices being confiscated. All students know these rules and we would appreciate your support in encouraging students to leave their phones at home.

Can we also emphasize that there are clear procedures for students feeling ill during the day. They need to contact parents through the school office and sign out with the office staff. We are responsible for knowing where you’re students are at all times and that they are safe.

I, along with Nicole Peterson, Julia Steel and Mel Phillips will be attending the NZ Area Schools Conference on Wednesday – Friday of next week. This will be a chance to hear relevant speakers and attend workshops as well as to network with other Area School staff from throughout NZ.

Have a great weekend and we look forward to a warmer Week 4.

Bob Norrish
Acting Principal

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Senior School News

A fantastic first few weeks of Term 3 are now under our belt. The reality is that we have derived grade exams looming close and this has started to cause students and staff to feel under pressure to get through the work, to learn the content and to plan out their remaining time to get the most out of it. The derived grade exams start on the 5th September and will be for all students in Year 10 and upwards. A timetable will be available early next week.

Please note the importance of these exams, with so much disruption caused this year by illness and covid related absences. NZQA will use the grades received during these exams as emergency results if a student is not able to sit the external exams in November.

Further to this the Ministry of Education announced this week that a learning recognition package is being put in place to minimise the impact of Covid. Further information will be shared with you once it has been finalised for all learning areas. This will only be in effect for those students sitting an NCEA course in 2022.

Preparation is underway for Course selection for 2023. We have organised a range of events to inform students and whanau. 

Please see Below:

• 2023 Course booklet will be emailed to Caregivers by Wednesday 17th August
• Year 9 and 10 Assembly (introducing NCEA) on Tuesday 23rd August in the school Gym @12.15pm. Parents/Caregivers welcome.
• Year 11 and 12 Assembly (Pathways and subject selection) on Tuesday 23rd August in the Community Room @12.15pm. Parents and Caregivers welcome.
• Subject selection online tool is open from 9 am on the 26th August until 4 pm on the 30th August.

On Tuesday the 9th August two teams of three students represented Amuri area school at the Maatangi Whenua Competition at the University of Canterbury. Out of the 18 teams from schools across Canterbury, our teams placed 4th and 6th. A big congratulations to Laura, Flynn and Arabella in team 1 and Isla, Olivia and Regan in team 2.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

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Primary School News

Kia ora 

Parents and Whanau Congratulations to our Year 6, 7 and 8 Cantamaths teams who were in Christchurch yesterday to compete in the Christchurch CantaMaths competition. This competition is huge and intense, and I’m often overwhelmed by the intensity of it. Our students always enjoy the experience even if it can be quite daunting. Well done to you all for representing Amuri with great pride.

During the last few weeks we have had several incidents of students misusing the internet and their devices to cause other students harm. We are working with our students to educate them around being digitally responsible and using technology safely as well as keeping themselves safe. On Monday, Senior Constable Ken Terry, our School Community Officer will be running a session with all our Year 5-8 classes to refresh the rules about using the internet safely and their devices responsibly.

Students are not allowed to use their phones during school hours but often messages that are sent outside school hours have a spill over effect into school as students come together face to face. Constable Ken will outline steps for students in his session but has also sent on the following advice for you as parents and carers to help support your children.

1. Ban bedrooms: Prevent your children from going to their rooms with a device. Make them use the internet in public/shared spaces of your home. Their bedroom should be their safe haven!

2. Set time limits: For smaller kids, this may be for up to 30 minutes a day or only on the weekends. Use device time as a reward NOT a ‘go to’.

3. Create passwords: Make sure you know the passwords for all of their devices and various social media accounts so you can access them if ever required.

4. Regular checks: Let them know that you’ll occasionally check their texts, emails, posts, photos and settings. It’s not spying – it is your responsibility. Check their browser histories frequently. Explain that it’s not spying, you’re just teaching them to be responsible.

5. Age limits: Stick to the rules! – 13yrs + for all social media Apps. Game age ratings = are there for a reason e.g. Fortnite is 12yrs + and GTA is 18yrs + ( due to sexual content, extreme violence and obscene language). Children can easily become de sensitised to this material and the copied behaviours can become ‘normalised’.

6. Limit apps: If you have an iTunes or Google Play account, keep the password private so you limit what they buy. Get them to ask permission for each app download. Block in- app purchases to stop any nasty surprises appearing on your credit card.

7. Teach yourself: The best way to know what your kids are capable of is to know how to use these devices and websites yourself. Sit down and play their games and other online activities to ensure you are OK with the content.

8. Teach consequences: Talk to your children regularly about the dangers of constantly accessing the internet and posting on their social pages. Tell them never to post anything they wouldn’t want their Granny to see.

9. Cyberbullying: Keep a very close eye on any evidence of cyberbullying. If you suspect something, talk to your child first. Also, take screenshots as evidence for police and school.

10. Have manners: Make sure they understand the consequences if they are unpleasant to anyone online. Role model ‘good cybercitizenship’!

If you want further support, I can recommend Netsafe which provides online safety advice and also provides an avenue for reporting harmful online incidents.

  https://www.netsafe.org.nz/

From Room 4…
 Amelia Barroz came to Room 4 and spoke to Room 4 about Filipino celebrations because they are learning about different cultures this term. We were most interested in the typical Filipino table of food during a celebration with the whole cooked pig (lechon) and the pictures of the Christmas lights on the church and the fountain. Amelia made us some Arroz Caldo (warm rice porridge with chicken and egg). It was masarap! Thank you very much Amelia for taking time out of your busy day to teach us about Filipino celebrations and Filipino food. If anyone else would like to come and teach Room 4 about their culture, please contact Denise Johnson. We love visitors, especially when they feed us!

Because mask wearing has come back into our school for all students in Years 4-13 and for all staff, our assembly roster is on hold. Large group gatherings are off for now. We are hoping to resume these in Week 5 so please watch our school facebook page for updates. 

 We would like to welcome Noah into Year 7 this week. Welcome to Amuri!

Hei konā
Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary

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Dates for Your diary

August
15th ACVE Volunteers arrive
16th Years 1-4 Cricket Coaching Sessions
16th Student Executive Meeting @ 1:15pm
17th-18th Year 12 Outdoor Ed Trip
17th School Nurse on site for consultations
18th ICAS English Exam
19th Jump Jam for Star Jam
22nd MOE Accord Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
22nd-26th Book Week
23rd NCEA Assembly @ 12:15pm
23rd ICAS Spelling Exam
24th School Nurse on site for consultations
24th Lions Speech Competition
24th Year 7-10 Cantamath Competition
25th ICAS Science Exam
26th Mufti Day - for Daffodil Day
28th-2nd SISS Netball @ Timaru
29th Year 7-10 Ski Day @ Mt Lyford
31st HPSSA 7-Aside @ Hurunui College
31st School Nurse on site for consultations 

September
2nd ICAS Maths Exam
2nd HPSSA 7-Aside Postponement
5th Year 7-10 Ski Day Postponement
7th Mitchell Assembly @ 11:15am
7th Board of Trustees Meeting
8th-9th Year 5-13 Young Writers Workshop
13th-14th Year 12 Outdoor Ed Trip
13th Student Excutive Meeting @ 1:15pm
14th School Nurse on site for consultations
19th-20th Year 11 Geography to Kaikoura
23rd North Canterbury Kapa Haka Festival @ Ohoka
24th-30th Year 12 Geography SIHC
30th Mufti Day - for Culverden St. John
30th END OF TERM 3

October
17th Start of Term 4

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CANTAMATHS
The following students represented Amuri at the North Canterbury Cantamath yesterday:
James van Arendonk
James Hamilton
Michael Anngow
Archie McCone
Eva Roberts
Maria Lim
Emily Harris
Alyssa Schenkel
Issy Williamson
Zac Barbara
Van Samera
Owen Lewis 

No placings, but they worked brilliantly within their teams and can be proud of their efforts.

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Myla Roberts entered a Design Competition on 10 August 2022, through the Women in Engineering programme at the University of Auckland. She did this online, after school.

She used CAD software and created a puzzle piece representing diversity. She documented her design process and implemented it in CAD using Fusion360.

Myla said “I learnt more on the tools in the 3D design app Fusion 360. We were given a puzzle piece base to work our designs on and a website with more tutorials (on @wenforschools Instagram and @wen_uoa TikTok). It was fun to do some 3D design again since I really enjoyed it in Year 10 Tech”

Submissions will be judged on: Design Process - documenting the design brief - Creativity

Design Quality: completeness, originality, usability and manufacturability - CAD skills shown

The University says “These design skills will give you a head start if you are considering pursuing an engineering degree at University.”

Myla completed and submitted her entry that night. Wish her luck.

Dr Owens y de Novoa

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Roll of Honour

Baylea Black
Toby Edwards
Holly Jones
Lily Neppelenbroek
Georgia Roberts
Bryce Scarlet
Campbell Smith
Olivia Whittleston 

1st Merit

Ruby Batchelor
Sam Currie
Toby Edwards
William Hamilton
Honor McKenzie
Lily Neppelenbroek
Kaitlyn Palmer
Quaye Paora
Kace Perry
King Tallar
Noa Wilson