Newsletter - WE 16/08/2024

Janine Jack

— Aug 20, 2024

Kia ora koutou

What an incredible week we had last week at Amuri Area School! Cultural week was a huge success and it was a joy to celebrate the different cultures that are represented here at Amuri Area School. I wish to acknowledge the vision and work of the senior students who put this initiative together. Hana Samera, Cathy Paragas and all those who supported them did an amazing job!

You may have noticed a number of posters and a large ‘We are Amuri’ banner that have been put up around the school. This initiative was supported by the Hurunui District Council and Welcoming Communities. These posters highlight how welcome our migrant students feel both in the basin and here at Amuri Area School. We can be so grateful for the contributions our migrant families make in our community and in our school. I am planning to use similar banners to highlight other positive aspects of our school community as the year progresses. It was wonderful that the current posters coincided with our celebration of culture.

This week I am attending the New Zealand Area Schools Conference in Wellington. You may have seen recent news outlining the introduction of both structured literacy and mathematics. As staff, we will be navigating these changes over the next 6-18 months. I am looking forward to discussing the change timeframes and initiatives with other area school colleagues. Whenever change occurs in the primary and secondary sectors we are impacted by both. I will endeavour to keep you all informed about the changes as we progress.

I really enjoyed seeing all of the amazing maths projects that were on display in the Community Room last week. Congratulations to all those who were awarded placings. I particularly enjoyed reading about wave energy converters, seeing the chocolate creations and a very realistic model of the Eiffel Tower. Well done to all those who entered something and my thanks to those staff who organised the week. Congratulations to our teams who entered the Cantamaths Competition and to the victorious Amuri Team.

I wish those students participating in the Hurunui 7- Aside Tournament all the best for their competition this week.

Kia kitea toikaka

Matt Barlow

Principal

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Primary School News

Kia ora Parents and Whanau

We welcomed three new students since our last newsletter. Welcome to Ryan who has started in Room 1 with Ms Jamieson and to brothers, Jesaire and Izeiyah who are in Room 6 and Room 3. Welcome to you all and we hope you will enjoy being here at Amuri.

All Year 0-3 staff with some teaching assistants and learning support staff are now well into training at the University of Canterbury for the Better Start Literacy Approach. Testing 100 children and getting them underway has been a huge effort but we are now close to establishing reading and spelling groups based on the data we have collected. You may have heard about the Structured Literacy approach that is being talked about in the media. This approach will become compulsory from the beginning of 2025 in all New Zealand classrooms in Year 0-3. This will mean a huge change in our approach to teaching reading at school. It will also mean a huge change in the strategies you see your children using and the types of reading books they will be bringing home. The new approach to teaching reading is phonics based and will be different to how we all were taught reading at school. Later this term we will host a parent workshop so families and whanau can hear about this new approach and have the opportunity to ask questions about this different way of teaching reading.

Within the next few weeks Year 0-3 class teachers will begin to share storybooks that will help grow the number of new and interesting words that your children can use and understand when talking. We will also be playing games that develop your child’s phonological awareness knowledge – or their awareness of the sounds within words, as well as their knowledge of spelling patterns and the structure of words. These areas are particularly important to help your child learn to read and spell.

As part of the evaluation of the Better Start Literacy Approach, researchers from the University of Canterbury would like to use your child’s anonymised data to measure the impact of this type of literacy teaching at a wider scale. Please let me know if you would prefer that your child’s anonymised data is not included in the research. Send an email to kylee@amuri.school.nz

For more information on the Better Start Literacy Approach, visit the website:

www.betterstartapproach.com

This Thursday, Year 4-8 students will be travelling to Hurunui College to compete in the HPSSA 7Aside Tournament. This is an annual event we all look forward to! Amuri teams will be competing in soccer, netball and touch against other schools in the Hurunui District. There are lots of parents who will be attending and we appreciate the offers of supervision of a team.

Last Tuesday it was my pleasure to attend our school cultural night that was organised by senior students Catherine and Hananiah. It was such a fabulous evening seeing our students and parents performing their national dance and songs. WE live in such a culturally rich community and this shows in our students. On Friday our mufti day had encouraged students to wear their national costume to school and they were doing so with pride. It was a great day here at Amuri.

Ngā mihi nui

Kylee Habgood

Deputy Principal - Primary School

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Secondary School News

Kia ora Whānau

It feels like Term 3 has got away on us as we are almost halfway until the end of term. The next five weeks will be full of important academic dates for students in Years 10-13 and it is imperative to take note of dates that affect them and do their utmost to prepare and be present for all assessments.

On the 6th September at 10:00am our pathway assemblies will be held for those students entering Years 11, 12, and 13 in 2025 where we unpack NCEA navigation and requirements for courses at different levels, opportunities for learning in new subject areas and how to go about selecting the best subjects to support each student’s chosen pathway or how to keep options open if they are unsure.

At this point, course booklets for 2025 will be issued and students will bring these home to have discussions with whānau.

Our derived grade exams start on the 9th September. This will include the second round of the national common assessment tasks in literacy reading, writing, and numeracy for Year 10 and 11 students. Those required to sit these CAAs will be preparing in class and whānau will receive written notification of dates and times.

The school will be hosting an academic pathway expo in the school gym on Wednesday 18th September starting at 2:00pm until 5:00pm. This is an opportunity for students and whānau to come along and find out what is involved in each course, and what the learning outcomes could lead to and gather some tailored advice around choices. We ran this in 2023 and had a good level of engagement. Feedback provided requested an earlier start time and we have tried to accommodate this.

I had the privilege of attending the Level 3 Biology trip to Orana Park last week where our students got up close to living primates while learning about the evolution of hominins. It was a great example of how all subjects can gain valuable hands-on learning in an EOTC (Education Outside The Classroom environment).

Also, last week our two cultural portfolio prefects (Kāiarahi) Catherine Paragas and Hananiah Samera undertook the implementation of their leadership project for 2024. Amuri Area School’s “Cultural Week” where we had many opportunities to learn about the different cultures that make up our community and school. It was a week where our students and community embraced what makes each of us different by coming together to share and celebrate our uniqueness. Wow, what a week... I am certainly looking forward to this week becoming a staple in our school calendar each year. Congratulations Cathy and Hana, you have done an outstanding job, a big thank you to all who contributed to bringing this together.

Over the coming weeks, the pressure is high for our senior students. Please keep an eye on your child and have conversations with them as to how they are doing. If you become concerned, please reach out and have a discussion with staff at school. Further information about supporting your young person can be found at:

https://anxiety.org.nz/resources/the-final-stage-of-the-studying-year

https://theeducationhub.org.nz/supporting-students-to-develop-effective-study-skills/

https://www.pnccs.edu.in/blog/top-7-secret-study-methods/

Nicole Peterson

Deputy Principal - Secondary School

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Hi Amuri Area School. My name is Noelle Roberts (Lifewalk - School Chaplaincy). I have been appointed as school chaplain at Amuri Area School. I have lived in the Amuri basin for 21 years and our three children have all attended Amuri Area School. My husband and I run a local business.

As school chaplain, I provide support to school students. We all face life challenges and I provide a listening and empathetic ear. I am at school four hours per week, two hours per day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’d love to hear from you and can be contacted by email noelle@amuri.school.nz or leave a message with Janine at school reception for appointments.

Watch out for notices at school for news from me.

Kind regards

Chaplain Noelle