Newsletter - WE 29/10/2021

Janine Jack

— Oct 28, 2021

Tena Koutou Katoa

A busy week as our senior staff breathe a sigh of relief as they finish reports for students in Year 11-13. These reports will be sent you your email boxes early next week so please check your spam and junk folder as they often go astray. Taking time to sit with your young person at home and work through these reports is time well spent. They contain advice and guidance that students can use in the next critical few weeks to make the most out of the year and will give you a good idea on where they are sitting in terms of achievement right now.

On Tuesday this week Year 7 were all treated to an ice cream thanks to the kind donation of a passer by as we were staining the domain furniture last week. The man approached Mrs Baldwin, asked what the students were doing, then gave her $40 with the instruction to “buy the kids an icecream”! This we did! It was great to see our students contributing to the local Culverden community and being recognised for doing so.

Parents are allowed on site if it is necessary to do so in level two however we ask you follow the public health order and scan or sign in and wear a mask. If you do not need to come on site the preference remains to leave your child at the gate. The mandate for students aged 12 and above to wear masks on buses was passed into law on Friday night and it is good to see the students supporting this each day and making life easier for our drivers.

Next week we have the Canterbury Rams players coming to run some coaching with our junior basketball teams. Thanks to Amuri irrigation for supporting this and to Ms Sopp for organising. We also have a small group from the NZ Army Band coming to perform a short concert for students on the Primary side on Wednesday so lots to look forward to.

We were sad to hear of the cancellation of the HPSSA Primary Athletics zones and the Huxter Mountain Biking Event. We are really hoping that 2022 will be a year where the word cancelled is a distant memory.

We finish up the year on the 16th December all buses heading away after 1pm. We will hold Prizegiving at 11am for students and will know closer to the time if this can be a public event or not. If we are not permitted to run as normal we will livestream the presentations. This last day is a late finish for us, however we did have a very late start with us not coming back until early February this year. The 2022 school year starts for students on Wednesday 2nd February for year 1-8 and student leaders so mark your diaries now.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Nga mihi Nui.

James Griggs
Principal

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Dates for Your diary

November
1st Year 11-13 School Reports emailed
1st Canterbury Rams visit with Year 5-8s
3rd NZ Army Band visit
10th Board of Trustees Meeting at 6:00pm
12th Canterbury Anniversary - SCHOOL CLOSED
15th-17th Year 6 Camp to Kaikoura
21st Craig Pickering Memorial Trail Ride
22nd-24th Year 10 Camp to Windy Point
25th MOE Accord Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
26th Primary Market Day

December
1st CPS Athletics at Nga Puna Wai
1st Board of Trustees Meeting at 6:00pm
2nd-3rd Kapa Haka Festival at Tuahiwi
6th Year 7-9 Transition Day
10th 125th Celebration Day
16th Prizegiving - End of the School Year

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Senior School News

Tēnā koutou, Amuri whānau
Week 2 at AAS has been immersed in learning, for both myself and the students. As I walk around the school I am seeing quality learning happening to prepare students for the end of the year, either for NCEA externals or for year level completion.

Reports for Year 11 to 13 have been completed and are on their way to whanau via email on Monday. As I reviewed the reports, I noticed some re-occurring theme’s:

• Those students who engaged consistently in online learning during lockdown, showed greater success in the mock exams.

• Students who are taking advantage of revision support, practice exams and tutorials are in a better position to succeed in the externals for NCEA.

• A positive attitude to learning often leads to consistent success.

A recommendation to all senior syndicate students, if you follow, live and model the school values of ASPIRE you will set yourself up for success in your time here at AAS.

Year 11 – 13 Sign out process for end of year
External exams start on the 22nd November. Opposite is the external exam timetable.

Students who need either further support or new learning will be expected to stay at school in classes until their exams take place. Teachers will indicate to students whether they have met their requirements for success in their particular subject. Once they have been given a green light in a subject, they are expected to use that time to study towards exams. A study centre will be set up and managed for students that have study time during the day.

Once a student has received green lights from all of their subject teachers, they will be signed out and can study from home and just attend external exams as needed.

It is possible that students could be expected at school up until the last date of exams which is the 14th of December.

Of course this process is individualised to each student depending on their progress.

There will be further information coming on this process. If you have any queries please email me to discuss.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal Senior Syndicate
nicole@amuri.school.nz

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Congratulations to Flynn Pearson who competed in the Canterbury Mountain Bike series over the course of the year. Flynn won the 12-17 age group of the Canterbury Mountain Bike series 1 lap race. In the 3 race series he recorded two firsts and a second.