Newsletter # 4 - WE 22/03/2024

Kia ora koutou

What a vibrant couple of weeks it has been since our last newsletter. Our students have been involved in a wide range of activities and events, making the most of the fantastic opportunities that come their way. There have been camps and sports events, inter-whānau challenges and senior students running activities for our Primary and Intermediate students. There has been a real buzz about the school and it has been amazing to see students engaged and participating.

We have three weeks remaining until the end of the term with the Easter break in the middle of this. A reminder that school is closed from Good Friday through to Tuesday 2nd April and will re-open on Wednesday 3rd April. The last day of Term 1 is Friday 12th April.

The annual CASAfest tournament is scheduled for Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th April. This is an amazing event where we host other area schools from around Canterbury. We really need your support as the parent community. In particular, we desperately need host families for billets for two nights. Even if your children are not in the senior school, we would really appreciate you taking two or more students. In addition, we are hoping we can send some billets home on the school buses on Wednesday afternoon and back to school on Thursday morning – another way to assist us would be to drop your child to school at these times to free up some capacity on the buses.

There has been a lot of publicity recently about school redevelopments. Our project remains on track; however, we have had correspondence from the Ministry to let us know that all current and future school redevelopment projects are being reviewed to see where project-related costs can be saved. The Board and Senior Leadership Team are working closely with the Ministry through this review process.

One of our strategic priorities is ‘Aupiki – Success.’ It is our aim to encourage each student to strive to give their best and achieve success through perseverance and determination. Success is not always coming first or gaining the top result; while these are examples of success, it might also be things like mastering a concept that had been proving difficult; achieving a personal best etc. It is our hope that we are able to provide the environment for success to be achieved by each student in a wide variety of ways.

On Wednesday 3rd of April we are holding a special whole-school assembly to acknowledge senior students who gained an Excellence or Merit endorsement in last year’s NCEA qualifications. Parents of those students are welcome to attend. The assembly will start at approximately 2:10pm in the Gym. 

Kia kitea toikaka
Matt Barlow
Principal

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Primary School News

Kia ora parents and whanau

We have welcomed some new Amurians to Year 1 to 8 since our last newsletter. Thyrone has joined Room 6 with Miss Paterson, while Dylan and Aeyisha have joined Miss Garthwaite in Room 5. Raj has joined Room 2 with Mrs V and Andrie is in Room 1 with Ms Jamieson. Then we have Arabella in Room 3 with Miss Allison. It’s been a busy week for enrolments, these students all enrolled before lunchtime last Tuesday! All our new students have joined us from the Philippines and we are pleased to have them in our school.

Bible in Schools began for the year today. Students who have been opted in from 2023 and been rolled over for 2024. If you wish for you child to change their current situation, please email me at kylee@amuri.school.nz and once I have your instructions in writing, I can make the change to opt in or out as you wish.

On Tuesday we had a number of students who competed in the HPSSA duathlon in Hanmer Springs. Congratulations to all our participants and thanks to Mrs Shaw for accompanying the students on the day. There are results in this newsletter and a special congratulations goes to Caleb Green who won the Year 7 boys’ race. Next week we have our primary duathlon on Thursday 28th of March. Teachers have been organising students and teams at school and they will communicate via their Seesaw portal. There is only one date in our crammed school calendar for this, so if it doesn’t go ahead on this day, we won’t be rescheduling it. Cancellations will be sent out at 7:00am on the school app and the school Facebook page. 

 Eve posted our outstanding results from our Tapauae-o-Uenuku students who competed in the CHHS athletics last week. Congratulations to all our competitors, there were a number of first placings which was exciting to see!

Swimming has finally drawn to a close, the pool closes later tonight. Thank you for supporting us in our endeavour to teach your children to be safe around the numerous waterways we have in our community.

Ngā mihi nui

Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary School

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Secondary School News

The colder weather is creeping in and making those early starts to the day difficult to motivate. The weather however, is fickle and often by mid-day the sun is shinning and the temperature has warmed up dramatically. We are finding that the senior students often lose a couple of layers by mid-day and have had a number of jerseys, jackets and cardigans left lying around. A plea to Whanau to please label items of clothing so we can ensure items get back to the owner when found.

I am still seeing a few puffer jackets worn to school. This is not an option that is supported as school uniform. The school office is happy to order the black jerseys as needed, however payment is required at time of ordering.

Homework in the senior school is a necessity for students to stay up to date with their workload and manage their time around assessments, tasks and revision for exams is essential for success in NCEA. In Years 9 and 10 we set the expectation that students do at least 30 minutes a day in each subject they have had during that day. This is to build strong study skills prior to entering NCEA. All Year 10 students will be starting their NCEA journey this year with their first entry into the Common Assessment Activity (CAA) for Literacy and Numeracy in May. Therefore, they should be studying hard to ensure they are ready for this exam.

The Kaiarahi (Year 13 school leaders) have a vision for 2024 that they will develop meaningful connections with all students across the school. They have started a programme of integrated events in both the middle school and junior school. This took place as a water relay with the junior students on Wednesday afternoon. We are really looking forward to the many events they have planned for the remainder of the year.

On Thursday 21st March a group of our Year 13 leaders were invited to take part in the Empowering Women in Leadership Conference hosted at Avonside Girls High School. The event was motivational, empowering and supported by many wise words from guest speakers.

Plans are fully underway for our upcoming CASAfest. If you can support billeting a student from another school over these few days, please email Janine@amuri.school.nz stating how many students you will be able to accommodate.

Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable Easter next weekend.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary School

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For Years 5-8

Our choir is excited to be part of the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival this year. The Festival is still looking for more applications to audition for one of the Representative groups. They are looking for the best singers for the Junior Choir (Year 5 & 6) and Senior Choir (Year 7 & 8), and for talented musicians (Grade 3 equivalent and above) to audition for the Orchestra and Concert Band. 

The Representative groups are on stage in the Christchurch Town Hall for every performance of the Festival (four nights). With more than a thousand people in the audience and 900 children in the choir stalls watching every night. It is an amazing experience they will never forget.

To find out more information or to register your child click here:

https://musicfestival.school.nz/representative-group-information/joining-a-representative-group/

Be quick, registrations close Easter Monday, 1st April.

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Dates for Your Diary

March

24th-29th Year 12 Geography SIHC Trip
26th CSS Athletics Prelims
27th Mitchell Assembly @ 2:00pm
27th CPS Champs - Selwyn Aquatic Centre
27th CSS MTB Cross Country - TBC
27th BOT Meeting @ 5:30pm
28th CSS Athletics Finals
28th Primary Duathlon
29th Good Friday - SCHOOL CLOSED

April

1st-2nd Easter - SCHOOL CLOSED
4th CSS Swim Champs at Jellie Park
5th-7th SISS Athletics - Timaru
7th-11th Year 12 OE trip - Marlborough Sounds
8th Years 3-6 Teeball/Volleyball - Scargill/Cheviot
9th-11th CASAfest @ AAS
10th Years 3-6 Teeball/Volleyball Postponement
12th End of Term 1
29th Term 2 begins
30th-1st Year 7 Camp to Hanmer Springs

May

1st CASA Area Pre Trial at RNL
3rd CSS Winter entries close
7th School Photos
8th Hamilton Assemby @ 2:00pm
9th Career Showcase - Canterbury
12th-13th TOSI Trials in Murchison
14th Be Bright Eat Right - Year 1-6 1
5th BOT Meeting @ 5.30pm

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Strive Rewards

Roll of Honour

Quin Anderson
Joel Barlow
Eli Belton
Jakob Bush
Jorja Bush
Bonnie Collins
Ashley Espiritu
Kees Flapper
Zoe Green
Connor Harrison
Biddie Johnson
Cassarla Kreisler
Arthur Milne
Yenzil Rana
Lottie Smith
Charlotte Snowling
Jessica Youngman

First Merit

Owen Lewis

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Kia Ora, my name is Kate Manion, the schools newly appointed Nurse! 

My nursing background includes general medical, orthopaedics, accident and medical, district and practice nursing.

Currently, I have the privilege of working part time at both the Hanmer and Amuri health centres. I believe the school nurse role will be a lovely extension of the work I am already doing. 

I have two children, both boys that attend Hanmer Springs Primary School. We love the outdoors and spending time with friends and whanau.

I'm really excited to be a part of the school community, working alongside students, whanau and staff. 

Come and say hi at the next drop-in clinic! 

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There was a fantastic turnout for the Hurunui Zone Primary Duathlon in sunny Hanmer Springs yesterday and some excellent racing provided great entertainment. 

Congratulations to all these competitors that went and gave it their all and thank you to our Year 9 Tail-end Charlies - Alex Shaw and Amelia Saric. 

Special mention goes to the following top 3 placegetters:
Caleb Green - 1st Year 7 Boys
Jimmy Jones - 3rd Year 7 Boys
Tom Jackson - 3rd Year 6 Boys 

Year 8 : Quinn Anderson, Paul Ryan and James Hamilton
Year 7 : Marc Shein Quevedo, Caleb Green, Sam O'Neill, Campbell Smith, Jimmy Jones, Paige Bailey
Year 6 : Tom Jackson
Year 5 : Ben Langford and Kees Flapper

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CULVERDEN NETBALL 2024

Registration is open for the 2024 Netball season. Please register your intention to play for Culverden before Easter (29th March). 

Trials for U14 and Senior teams will be Thursday 4th and Thursday 11th April at the Culverden Netball Courts. Future Ferns players will have a fun get-together on Thursday 11th April. 

Please message the Culverden Netball Facebook page or email culverdennc@gmail.com for any queries. 

Culverden Netball Club Bank account: 11-7800-0038690-011

Click this link to register. SPORTY.CO.NZ Netball Registration 2024

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