Newsletter 08/12/2023

Janine Jack

— Dec 14, 2023

The end is nigh!

The term has flown by and we are busy preparing to end the year. Reports will be coming home via email to all whānau and we are organising our prizegiving ceremony being held next Thursday 14th December. Some details about this and key dates for 2024 can be found on a separate page in this newsletter.

On Wednesday we celebrated an awesome graduation assembly for our Year 6 students. It was lovely to hear each student share a brief reflection about their time on the primary side of the road. My thanks to Mrs Moke, Miss Garthwaite and Miss Paterson for their fantastic organisation of this special event. We also held our transition day on Tuesday where we welcomed our new Year 7 and 9 students for next year.

Our school pool is in full swing and students have been getting lots of use out of it in the last few weeks. Significant upgrades have been made to the pool and we are grateful to the PTA, Swim Club and Board of Trustees for their support. I’d like to make a special mention of the Amuri Irrigation Company for their generous sponsorship towards new PVC strip doors for the pool changing rooms. These will keep the birds and leaves out, helping to keep the changing rooms looking tidy and clean.

As many will already know, we will be farewelling some wonderful members of staff. Mrs Moke and her whānau are returning to Christchurch where Mrs Moke will be teaching at Avonhead School. We thank Mrs Moke for all she has contributed to Amuri Area School. Mr Logan has secured a position at Kaiapoi High School and we congratulate him as well as thank him for the year he has had at Amuri while Miss Lane has been overseas. Miss Lane will be back on board in 2024.

We will welcome Kelsey Woodford to a full time role next year, teaching in Year 3/4. Mrs Woodford is already known to the children providing release cover this year. Mrs Johnson will still be here at Amuri but will be enjoying teaching Te Reo Māori to students in Years 1-10.

We will also be welcoming back Nicola Speakman who will return to teach on the senior side two days per week.

We thank you all again for your wonderful support for the school in 2023. We wish our leavers all the very best as they enter the workforce, tertiary study or move to new schools next year. We thank each of you for your contributions to Amuri Area School.

As this is our last newsletter for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone in our community a safe and enjoyable Christmas and summer holiday break.

Kia kitea toikaka

Matt Barlow
Principal

>>>>

Primary School News

Kia ora parents and whanau

Thank you to all our parents and whanau who attended the Year 6 leavers assembly on Wednesday. It is a large cohort of students in this year group, double the size of most of our other year groups so it will leave a huge hole in our primary side numbers. Thank you to Miss Paterson, Miss Garthwaite and Mrs Moke for organising the ceremony and the leaver’s gifts. Each Year 6 student was gifted a piece of pounamu and in return they gifted the primary school some beautiful koru marked with Te Kooti, Tekoa and Terako, the names of the local mountains our learning hubs are named after. These will be cemented into the rock garden by the main gate entrance over the summer.

It is time to start tidying up for the end of the year and we would love to see more of our reading book collection back at school. Books are easy things to lose track of, so please check under beds, in wardrobes and bookshelves and if you find any reading books, please return them to your child’s class teacher. We have lots of incomplete sets and this does impact on our reading programmes, we don’t always have enough books for a group.

By now all of our Year 1-8 students know their homeroom teacher and classmates for 2024 after our transition day on Tuesday. The creation of class lists is a huge process for staff to go through. We consider many things but first and foremost, we ensure that each child has some friends with them in their group. We then consider the needs of each child and create small groups from this before piecing together a class. We currently are experiencing two ‘hot spot’ year groups where we have many students. Our new entrant numbers are very healthy, around 34 at my last count and Year 7 has 51 students. This means Room 1 will fill up by the end of Term 1 based on our current numbers. If this continues as expected we will be looking for another teacher to join the Te Kooti team of Mrs Jamieson in Room 1 and Mrs Van der Merwe in Room 2 during the year. There are also some Year 1 students in Room 2, making this a Year 1/2 composite class.

Tekoa – Two classes of Year 3/4, one in Room 3 with Miss Allison and one in Room 4 with Mrs Woodford. The classes are even in terms of needs and abilities. Room numbers do not mean anything.

Terako – Two classes of Year 5/6, one in Room 5 with Miss Garthwaite and one in Room 6 with Miss Paterson. The classes are even in terms of needs and abilities. Room numbers do not mean anything.

Tapuae-o-Uenuku – Three classes of Year 7/8 students. Year 7 is our other hotspot with a group of 51 students. The three teachers in this hub are Mrs Shaw in Room 9, Miss Symes in Room 10 and Ms Campbell in Room 11.

We were delighted to hear that Mrs Voice and Russ welcomed Finn Ollie Voice at the end of November and look forward to watching him grow. Congratulations to the proud parents and we look forward to a cuddle with Finn when they can manage a visit to school. Along with a welcome, there is also a farewell. Mrs Moke will be leaving her position at Amuri at the end of the term and I’d like to take the time to publicly thank Alannah for her work in Terako hub over the last four years. It was a real win for us when Alannah moved into our area and we have had much value added to our programmes and our team, with her can do attitude and positive outlook. We wish her, Darren, Ruby and Lily all the best for their move back to Christchurch, closer to family, and we will miss Alannah’s infectious laugh, quick humour and cheery smile at school.

I would like to wish you a safe and happy holiday. See you in 2024!

Ngā mihi nui and Meri Kirihimete.

Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary

>>>>
Senior School News

It has been a very quiet few weeks with just Year 7’s through to Year 10’s on the senior side of the school. However, that does not mean we have not had an eventful few weeks. I have enjoyed the amazing transition day programme that our four Year 10 leaders developed. They then ran this on the day for our existing Year 8 students transitioning to Year 9 in 2024, alongside a few new recruits from Hanmer School and wider afield.

A big thank you to the leaders of the day: Jennifer Bratschi, Sophie Nelson, Lee Palmer and Bailey Taylor.

Technology modules are coming to an end with great examples of student work in Animation, Food Technology, Digital Technology and Woodwork.

We had the opportunity to come together and put our technology knowledge and skills in problem solving into practice during a session with Mr Ross Williams. Students competed in teams of four to make the tallest freestanding structure they could in a 20 minute timeframe. The winning team consisting of Paul, Ashlynn, Zac and Issy created a robust structure with stabilizing supports and bracing and it measured a whopping 2.39 meters.

The next few days are important as we head towards prizegiving next Thursday. There is still learning happening in class and students are expected to be at school on their best behaviour right up until being dismissed for the summer break.

I look forward to hearing about all of the exciting adventures that the students experienced when we return in Term 1, 2024.

I would like to acknowledge Issac Kelly as he heads off to compete in a cricket competition where he will be representing Canterbury in his age group.

Last but not least, I would like to wish Mr Logan the best as he leaves to take up his position at Kaiapoi High School. Thank you Mr Logan for filling in for Ms Lane who will be joining us fresh from her exciting travels in January.

To all of our senior students who will be leaving us, it has been a pleasure to have you attending AAS. Make the most of the opportunities offered to you.

Wishing everybody else a refreshing and safe holiday break.

Nga Mihi Nui

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

>>>>

5th Merit
Alexandrina Godfrey-Grant
Alex Shaw

>>>>

Te Kura English Trip to Dunedin
As a follow up to the reading of “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, we visited the Dunedin District Courts. The highlight was perusing the room of Ethel Benjamin, New Zealand’s first woman lawyer after graduating in 1897. The Dunedin Gaol was also a fascinating, but chilling experience. Our guide posed many thought-provoking questions, asking that we consider, in comparison, the issues for crime and punishment today. All in all it was a cool school trip.

>>>>

Amuri Kapa Haka Festival

On Friday 1st December, the Amuri Kapa Haka rōpū attended the Amuri Kapa Haka festival in Hanmer Springs. We had a mihi whakatau when we arrived, during which time Hanmer Springs School welcomed us into the Memorial Hall. There were speeches and waiata during this welcoming ceremony. Matua Matt, Whaea Denise, Alysha and Alex sat on the stage. Matua Matt spoke very well in Te Reo Māori as the representative from the manuhiri.

After the mihi whakatau, Hanmer Springs School, Rotherham School and Waiau School performed for the audience, which included members of our whānau. Our performance was last. All our teachers thought our performance was amazing. Some staff and whānau from the other schools commented to our teachers about how much they enjoyed our performance.

When we had finished performing, we had shared kai. There was a lot of food for everyone to enjoy. Some of us ate far too many sweets and not enough nourishing food!

After lunch, we headed to the hot pools. We joined with the other three schools to perform Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi to the staff at the thermal pools. Then we had a haka challenge against Rotherham School.Next, we changed into our togs and had a swim in the pools as well as a ride on the slides. For some of us, it was our first time on the new slides and we loved them! We didn’t get a lot of time in the pools because we needed to get changed and return to school in time for the buses.

Unfortunately, on the way home, we came across an accident, meaning that two of our vans were held up and didn’t return to school in time for the buses. We sat and watched the rescue helicopter land before we were allowed to carry on.

We had a fantastic day in Hanmer and we look forward to next year’s Kapa Haka Festival in Kaikōura, which will also include the Kaikōura schools.

Many thanks to Whaea Renet for playing guitar, Whaea Eve for doing our moko, Matua Matt for speaking for us and the parent helpers for driving us there and looking out for us in the pools. We appreciate you giving up your valuable time to spend with us and for supporting this important kaupapa.

He manawa tahi, he manawa ora, he manawa toa, te manawa Kāi Tahu.
A united heart, a vibrant heart, a determined heart, this is the heart of Kāi Tahu.

Ngā mihi nui,
Renet, Eve, Denise and the Amuri Kapa Haka rōpū

>>>>

Kia ora Parents and Caregivers

You are all warmly invited to attend our final prizegiving on Thursday 14th December. This will begin promptly at 11:00am so we ask parents / whānau to please be seated in the Gymnasium by 10:45am at the latest. Students will come to school at the normal time and be in form / homeroom until the ceremony begins.

All Students are expected to be at Prizegiving in clean and correct uniform. Wednesday 13th will be a free mufti day for all students so that uniforms can be washed and prepared for prizegiving.

Once the ceremony is complete (approximately 1:00pm) students will return chairs and be released to form classes to collect their copy of The Amurian. They will then be dismissed at approximately 1:15pm. Non bus students may leave with their parents once dismissed, all buses will all leave shortly after this for bus students. School will be closed for the year once students have finished.

Our first days for 2024 will be as follows:
• Monday 22nd January – Office will open for the week (uniform, admin etc)
• Wednesday 31st January (Year 1-8 only)
• Thursday 1st February (all year groups)

Term Dates:
Term 1 – Wednesday 31st January to Friday 12th April
Term 2 – Monday 29th April to Friday 5th July
Term 3 – Monday 22nd July to Friday 27th September
Term 4 – Monday 14th October to Friday 13th December

Other Key Dates for 2024 are:

Teacher Only Days:
• Monday 29th January – Beginning of Year Administration
• Tuesday 30th January – Beginning of Year Administration
• Friday 15th March – Tipu Māia Kahui Ako Day
• Tuesday 4th June – MOE Allocated • Thursday 14th November – MOE Allocated

Public Holidays:
• Tuesday 6th February – Waitangi Day
• Friday 29th March – Good Friday
• Monday 1st April – Easter Monday
• Tuesday 2nd April – Easter Tuesday (note Easter is during term time in 2024)
• Thursday 25th April – Anzac Day
• Monday 3rd June – Kings Birthday
• Friday 28th June – Matariki Holiday
• Monday 28th October – Labour Day
• Friday 15th November – Canterbury Anniversary (Show Day)

On behalf of the staff, we thank you for your support in 2023 and we wish you all a safe and happy holiday.

Matt Barlow
Principal

>>>>

Lexie read one of her poems at a book launch in Turanga

Library, Christchurch yesterday. Her poem Hades' Fee was selected for

inclusion in the New Zealand Poetry Society's 2023 Anthology, White-Hot Heart (international Junior Writer up to 18 years). More than 2000 poems were entered from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, France, India, Romania, South Africa, the UK and the US to compete for a prized place in this year's anthology. Well done, Lexie!