Newsletter - WE 01/07/2022

Tena Koutou Katoa

This will be the last newsletter for Term 2 as we head into a busy final week of school.

Parent teacher interview bookings have now closed and we look forward to seeing you next week. A reminder that things are a bit different this year with MOST of our Secondary staff in the gym and our Primary staff all found in Tekoa (Room 3 and 4) on the Primary side. This is to make it easier for you to have back to back bookings and get through your teachers quicker. Check your booking sheets for your location. For those of you tuning in by Zoom, log in a few minutes early and the teacher will let you in at your appointed time. If all fails on the tech front, as we know it sometimes does, the teacher will call you on the number you provided with your booking. If you get lost on the night, we will be around to point you in the right direction.

Next week we have our Matariki shared kai and Kapa Haka performance starting at 5pm on Thursday night. The last time we ran this event it was a really special evening and we look forward to seeing many of you there.

Glitz and glamour will be the name of the day as our school formal forges ahead tonight. Awesome effort to Nathan and Sarah our Head Students for their efforts in putting this together and to Janine in the office who has helped them enormously.

On Thursday we also have our Mufti day raising funds for leukaemia research and our past receptionist Chrystal will be back getting her super long hair cut to raise money and donate for the making of a wig!

Over the term break our Junior SISS Netball team will be competing in the competition in Christchurch and our Area Schools team will be heading off to Whangarei.

Applications for the Principal position for Amuri closed this past Monday with interviews to follow. The Board will keep you updated as and when they have anything to report.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Kia Kitea Toikaka

James Griggs
Principal 

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Senior School News

Next week is the wrapping up of Term 2 and there are a lot of activities underway. We have the Geography trip to Queenstown, the Senior formal, Children’s University campus visit, 40hr famine 40 laps challenge, Parent Teacher interviews, mufti day on Thursday for Leukaemia awareness and finally Mr Griggs’s last week at Amuri and his farewell.

I have noticed that our polished uniform is looking scruffy on many students, with non-uniform items being worn as the cold sets in. Please remember that students are still required to wear correct school uniform in our classrooms.

We have a lot of winter sports teams out and about competing against other schools. It’s great to see the students representing Amuri Area School, participating and putting their best forward. Our best also includes the way we act on the journey to and from the games, as well as on the side-lines. Representing Amuri should always model our school values of ASPIRE, Self-Discipline, Pride, Integrity, Respect and Excellence.

Reports for students that are rich with information about student achievement academically and against our values, will be sent home in the next few days. If you have any questions or wish to discuss the content of the report with a teacher, I would like to encourage you to take the opportunity to book a time within our parent / teacher conferences next week.

Our formal preparations are in the final stages with a great evening planned by the head students and formal committee at Amuri Estate. We look forward to sharing photos of the night through our school facebook page.

As this is the last newsletter before the end of term, I would like to wish everyone a safe winter holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone on July 25th.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

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Kia ora Parents and Whanau

As a team, the Year 1-8 staff were discussing highlights of Term 2 this week at our syndicate meeting. We all agreed that it was a term of ‘returning to normal’ and how much the staff and the students were enjoying being able to participate in the many outside school events that have been cancelled over the last few years.

Last Tuesday, Miss Sopp accompanied a group of cross-country runners to Nga Puna Wai for the Canterbury Primary Schools Cross Country. Many of our runners came within the top half of their races and considering one race had 182 participants, that is an impressive effort and well done to all our representatives.

Year 7 and 8 students spent the night at school last Wednesday night and were up to view the Matariki stars early Thursday morning. Thank you to our Tapuae-o-Uenuku staff, Mrs Shaw, Ms Campbell and Miss Sopp for organising this event and to our families and whanau who donated the delicious pumpkin soup! We had some very tired students by 3pm Thursday and some very tired staff too.

On Tuesday, Year 2 and 3 went out to Hanmer to see Hanmer Springs School’s production of ‘Madagascar’ and had a fantastic time. Thank you to Hanmer School for their hard work and effort in producing a fabulous performance. Ms Garthwaite, Mrs Van der Merwe, Miss Allison, Mrs Nimmo and Mrs Johnson accompanied our students and drove the students there and back. For many of our students in this group, it was the first time to go out on a school trip so there was great excitement because they got to “go in the van like the big kids.”

The primary assembly roster for the rest of the term and the first two weeks of Term 3 is…
1 July – Room 4
8 July – Room 2
Term 3
29 July – Room 6
5 Aug – Room 1

Parents and whanau are welcome to join us. Please sign in at the school office and wear a mask whilst indoors. We also ask that you turn your mobile phones to silent when attending an assembly to avoid disruption.

Coming up…
Today we have a visit to Canterbury University for all the students who are participating in the Children’s University program with Mr Black. We know from previous years that the students will be kept very busy with the engaging activities and given a real experience of being on campus.

Miss Sopp has a group of students running the 40 laps of the running track for the 40 hour famine today… and then next week… Mrs Nicholls and Mrs Godfrey-Grant have been preparing a group of 12 students for the EP (Education Perfect) Spelling Bee on Tuesday. This is an all-day online event and is live with the winners being announced between 2 and 3pm. We wish all our competitors the best of luck in all that they take part in!

Hei konā

Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary
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Roll of Honour

Baylea Black
Olivia Brogden
Ava Brogden
Zac Broom
Thomas Croft
Clare Frame
DJ Gannaban
Bea Garces
Ruby Glassey
Lea Harrison
Biddie Johnson
Grace Johnston
Regan Kay
Jourdyn Keepa
Michaela-Rae Lamont
Mac Langford
Gwen Manifold
Bradyn Marcinowski
Bob Morgan
Jonty O’Neill
Bethany Rickerby
Emma Roskruge-Darbyshire
Antonio Rutherford-Mailangi
Neil Samera
Charlie Smith
Ellie Thompson
Olivia Whittleston
Sachi Wilkes

1st Merit

Michael Anngow
Lizzy Cate
Max Cater
Mikaela Easton
Kimberley Egmao
Nathalia Ferrer
Ruby Glassey
Zara Hamilton
Billy Jones
Gwen Manifold
Sofia Manifold
Archie McDonald
Bob Morgan
Sophie Ockwell
Atama Roberts
Stephanie Robinson-Gutierrez
Van Samera
Charlotte Schenkel
Molly Schuurman
Charlotte Snowling
Riley Van der Heyden
Lucy Whittleston
Jak Wilson
Sarina Woodhouse
Layla Yukich
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Swimming report – South Island Secondary Schools Swimming Championship

On the 18th and 19th of June I travelled to Dunedin to represent Amuri Area School in the South Island Secondary School Championships.

My results were:
6th in the 50m Backstroke a personal best
4th in the 100m Breaststroke a personal best
17th in the 100m Freestyle
5th in the 50m Breaststroke
8th in the 50m Fly a personal best
4th in the 100m Backstroke
This was a fun swim meet with some really fast racing and I enjoyed the opportunity to represent the school and to be in the top ten finishers in some of my events.

Whilst I have qualified for the New Zealand Secondary Schools National Championships which will be held in Hamilton at the end of July, I have decided not to attend the meet this year and work towards representing the school there next year with another year of training under my belt. Plus I am playing football through until September and as part of the team, committed to being at as many games as possible.
Bob Thompson

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Dates for Your diary

July
3rd Amuri Rogaine
4th-6th Parent Teacher Interviews
7th Mufti Day - Cutting for a Cause - Proceeds to Leukaemia & Blood Cancer NZ
7th Matariki Dinner & Kapa Haka Performance
8th End of Term 2 and Mr Griggs last day
11th-13th SISS Junior Netball Christchurch
11th-16th Area Schools Tournament - Whangarei
25th Start of Term 3
August
2nd Caverhill Assembly
8th-12th National Maths Week
9th-10th Year 12 Outdoor Ed Trip
16th Years 1-4 Cricket Coaching Sessions
19th Jump Jam for Star Jam
22nd MOE Accord Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
23rd Hamilton Assembly
26th Mufti Day - For Daffodil Day