Newsletter - WE 14/05/2021

Achiever of the Month This month the award and congratulations goes to William Hamilton. There are many ways to show achievement and commitment to school and William exhibits many of them. His engagement and enthusiasm in Kapa Haka is second to none and in class he works to the very best of his ability. His picture will take pride and place of the wall as you come onto school grounds and he has gained valuable points for his house at the end of the year. Well done William.

BYODWe are trying to make this process a little easier for parents and have entered into an arrangement with PB Tech to supply BYOD devices that meet our specifications at Government Prices to our students. There is no compulsion to use them and you can at times get some great deals straight off the shelf in stores, however these prices are pretty competitive and worth considering if you are looking at this for next year. The link is below:-https://www.pbtech.co.nz/education/byod/amuri-area-school?qr=pb_byod

Peter Pan Only a few short weeks to go until our production of Peter Pan so save the dates,18th and 19th June! Our last production sold out so do not delay when tickets are released to ensure that you don’t miss out.

NCEA Changes A very productive day this week as we worked through the upcoming changes to NCEA. One of the major changes to come is a change in the Literacy and Numeracy requirements where all students in the country will be required to take a standardised test in order to achieve at any level of NCEA. The plan is for this to be fully implemented in 2023 meaning our current Year 9 will be the first group to face this requirement. The Primary team also had a great day receiving training in the ‘Pause Breath Smile’ programme to support our wellbeing initiatives. Next week after school we will be receiving whole school development in recognising and responding to family violence.

Sports!Good luck to our students heading to the Area Schools trials this weekend. We look forward to seeing how many make it through. Also weather permitting our school Cross Country will set off on Wednesday at 12.20 pm.

Have a great weekend

James GriggsPrincipal

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Roll of HonourJack CaterHannah CleggHailey EsperatMaria LimDL LopezHarper MacDonaldAlex ShawJames Van Arendonk

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Junior School News

Kia ora Parents and Whanau

It has been a great start to Term 2 and we’re just as excited as anyone to see a bit of rain. Hats are no longer compulsory for outdoor play in Term 2, so please keep them at home until Term 4.

It is almost June 1st ‘Gypsy Day’ and this may mean there will be some disruption to classes with children leaving the school as well as those arriving. If you are employing new staff, please ask them to contact the school as soon as possible to let us know they are coming. This helps us to be prepared and plan for bigger numbers that may arrive.

Tekoa students will be working on Lexia this term. This is an online alphabet, phonics and spelling program that we use with all our Year 1-6 students. These students will be able to use their logins at school and at home. There have been some updates to the program which now has more levels to complete so all students will be involved during the year. We encourage parents to allow children some time at home to work on this within the family rules that you have around using devices.

We have had several new students join our syndicate in the last month. We welcome Shay in Room 1 and her big brother Kees in Room 2. Mitchell and Jayden have joined ESW7/8 and Janae has turned 5 and is beginning her school career in Room 1. Welcome to our new Amurians!

In June we have two visiting performances. The first performance is on June 1st and is called ‘Be Bright, Eat Right.’ This is for all Year 1-8 students and the cost for this will be kindly covered by the PTA with our grateful thanks. The second performance is El Gregoe, a well-known magician. He is visiting on June 21st with his show ‘What you can be.’ This is specifically for Year 1-6 students.

The lost property box is overflowing on the primary side. If you’re missing something, please pop in and have a look. Now the start of the term is here, all remaining non uniform items will be packed up and donated to a charity shop. Please remember to name all uniform items as it is very hard to return things that aren’t named.

Nga mihi nui

Kylee Habgood 

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Sustainability unit in Year 10 Social StudiesGirls made some food parcels for anyone who was in need or was short of some food in their lunches.

Boys picked up some litter around the school, rugby fields and town creek to help preserve life forms in the creeks and make the school community look tidy and to recycle any waste they found. 

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Dental Care

As you know the, Community Dental Service comes to the school annually and ensures that each student is checked and their oral health maintained. But did you know that this only goes up until Year 8? From Year 9 they will then be referred by the Community Dental Team to a clinic nearby (Rangiora/Kaiapoi) so that their care can then be managed through their high school years.

But it remains FREE!!! So make sure you all make the most of this while they are free until age 18 and support your children's oral health to prevent poor oral hygiene, decay and infections. Living with poor dental health can be debilitating and can have huge impacts on your child's health and learning.

The only costs from here will be your time in getting to these clinics. Rural living can be a challenge with this, but if you need advice or help, the team will be only too happy to support you. Contact them to check in if you need to or are new to the area on 0800 846 983 or email commdental@cdhb.health.nz

To enrol a teenager in free dental care, contact a free family dentist. If you need more information you can contact the Adolescent Oral Health Coordinator, 0800 825 583 or freedentalcare@cdhb.health.nz.

Yours in Good HealthMischa Clouston, School Nurse