Newsletter - WE 15/09/2023

Janine Jack

— Sep 15, 2023

Kia ora Koutou

Ngā mihi mahana ki ngā whānau o te kura o Amuri. Nau mai ki te wiki o te reo Māori. Tēnei te wero ki mua i a tātou katoa, kia tautoko tātou tō tātou nei reo Rangatira!

Warm greetings to all families of Amuri Area School. Welcome to Māori language week! The challenge in front of us all is this…lets support this chiefly language of ours!

It was great to meet parents at our recent engagement evenings where I presented some of the changes that are occurring in the education space, along with our draft strategic aspirations. In addition to this, I have emailed a survey home to all families. Please take some time to look over the draft aspirations and answer the questions that are in the survey. If you missed the email, you can scan the QR code in this paragraph to access it. Already, feedback has highlighted that families would like to know some more information about some of the changes that are occurring. As a result of this, it is my intention to include some regular information in the school newsletter about these changes.

In this newsletter the change that I will cover is Te Mātaiaho – The refresh of the New Zealand Curriculum. This is a change that will have a direct impact on your children as they attend school over the coming years. By 2027, each of the eight learning areas will have been refreshed and should be implemented by schools. Next year, the learning areas being refreshed are English and Mathematics and these are expected to be implemented at the beginning of 2025. The refreshed curriculum will incorporate ‘universal design for learning’ and the ‘understand, know, do’ approaches to teaching and learning. There will be a focus on schools connecting learning to a localised curriculum and giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. At Amuri Area School, we are already familiar with these concepts as we are implementing the new Aotearoa Histories curriculum. I encourage parents to have a look over Te Mātaiaho. The QR code next to this paragraph will take you to a PDF that the MOE has released. Te Mātaiaho will form a key part of the strategic work that the school is doing over the next three years and features in the ‘guiding actions’ within our strategic aspirations.

I am looking forward to our senior course selection evening next Thursday as we help our students to form their subject pathways for 2024. Year 11-13 end of year reports will also be sent home next week.

As this is the last newsletter for the term, I wish you all a safe and enjoyable holiday break.

Kia kitea toikaka

Matt Barlow
Principal

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Primary School News

Kia ora parents and whanauHaere mai ki te wiki o te reo Māori!

Camp preparations are well underway for both Year 8 and Year 6 camps which are going away early next term. Camp is such a vital part of our classroom programme, covering many aspects of the curriculum including the Essential Skills. One of the things I most love about the camp experience is not knowing who will shine. Sometimes students who are offered the new experiences camp offers, shine through when they may not otherwise and that is one of the greatest teacher moments ever! Whilst Year 8 and Year 6 are away, Year 5 will be participating in Big Days Out and Year 7 will be completing a leadership programme, preparing them for Year 8. We encourage all students to attend camps and we recognise that financially this can be a stretch. Please contact either Mr Barlow or myself if you would like confidential financial assistance.

Early next term we have Primary Athletics which are the Hurunui Schools pathways for qualifying for HPSSA zones. Students compete in their year groups and Years 3 to 8 place-getters may qualify for the zone athletics which are held later in November here at school. At the beginning of next year, we will have the senior school athletics which Year 7 and 8 are also involved in. The reason for this is there is a pathway for qualifying for Country High Schools for our intermediate students. They are incredibly lucky to have this opportunity, getting two bites of the cherry. This is a perk of being in an area school!

Earlier this week I went to visit and meet our incoming Year 7 students for 2024. It is always a pleasure to visit Waiau and Rotherham Schools. I met a lovely group of students who are very excited about starting Amuri in Tapuae-o-Uenuku hub for 2024. There will be around 80 students in the hub next year, so plenty of new experiences await all our learners in this hub!

Mrs Van der Merwe and Miss Paterson accompanied our choir to a rehearsal of the Christchurch Schools Music Festival on Thursday. If your child is involved in the choir, please keep an eye out for how to purchase tickets to the mass choir, made up of many Canterbury schools in action.

The Primary assemblies for the remainder of the year are listed below. There have been a few changes to accommodate staff sickness, so please check these dates if you have already written them in your calendars.

Term 3
15 Sept – Room 7 (Māori Language Week)
22 Sept – Room 1

Term 4
13 Oct - Singing
20 Oct – Room 4
27 Oct – Primary Athletics
3 Nov - Room 7
10 Nov - Room 6
17 Nov - Show Weekend
24 Nov – Room 2
1 Dec – Terako (Leavers Assembly)

A huge welcome to our new Amurians who have arrived in the last fortnight. We have welcomed Xavier into Room 5 and his sister Rosemary into Room 3 who have recently arrived from Napier. We also welcome Chlea, who has joined Room 4 and her sister Alexa is working in Room 1. They are new to Culverden from the Philippines. Welcome to the whanau here at Amuri!

Finally, it is an end of an era as our Year 13s are rapidly moving towards their final weeks of schooling. Staff arrived to a slightly ‘transformed’ kura today as some of our Year 13’s have been busy overnight to end their ‘Spirit Week’. While these students are no longer in my syndicate, this is a nostalgic moment for me, my own Year 13 is involved, but also because some of my first class at Amuri are now leaving school! It has been a pleasure to be a part of their education for so long. Haere ra Year 13!

Ngā mihi nui

Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary

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Secondary School News

Kia Ora Whanau

Term 3 is nearing its end with one week left of classes. The last couple of weeks of Term 3 are always packed full of important milestones for the senior learners and this year has been no different.

A big congratulations to all of the students who sat derived grade exams last week. Teachers are busy marking papers and will get results shared with students as quickly as possible. Feedback on exam answers is a fantastic learning opportunity to help prepare students for the end of year NZQA exams. Students should be looking at where they have gaps in knowledge and working towards a study plan for the remaining weeks to gain the knowledge they need.

2024 course selection is now open. Students in Years 10, 11, and 12 will have received a course information booklet, jam packed with information about all of the courses on offer for next year. The deadline for students to hand in their signed option forms is Friday 22nd September.

Reports are coming out next week for Years 11 to 13. These reports have been specifically targeted at providing advice on next steps for the students for this year, while also providing suggestions about course choices for 2024.

Further information around course choices and how NCEA will look for students at Amuri in 2024 will be available to parents, caregivers and students through our NCEA Pathways Expo which is being held in the School Gym on Thursday 21st September. We will have two sessions running. Session 1: 1:30pm–5:00pm and session 2: 5.30pm–7:00pm. Each session will start with a presentation which will be an overview of how NCEA works and then visitors will be invited to visit the subject stalls to discuss with teachers the finer details of the courses on offer.

As we are heading into the final weeks of the year with our Year 13’s (many of them have events happening in Term 4) they have undertaken their annual spirit week adventures. This has included themed days of dress up and a final day of pranks on Friday.

The final week of the term is national Mental Health awareness week. As a school we will be running activities throughout the week to take moments of mindfulness.

I would like to wish all the students heading away on school trips in the next few weeks the best. I look forward to hearing of your experiences on your return.

To all the students, I wish you an enjoyable term break, filled with lots of study in preparation for a busy Term 4.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

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Strive Awards

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Amuri Area School
School Board Elections
Parent Election

Notice Nominations are open for the election of two parent representatives to the school board.

All eligible voters will receive a nomination form. Use this form to nominate yourself or someone in your community. You will also receive a nomination cover letter calling for nominations. Information on who is not eligible to be a board member is provided with the nomination form.

If you need more nomination forms, contact the school office.

Nominations close at noon on 11th October 2023. You may provide a signed candidate statement and photograph with your nomination.

The electoral roll is held at the school and can be viewed during normal school hours. Please ensure that you view this to ensure you are on the list.

As nominations are received, there will be a list of candidates’ names kept in the school office up until election day, which you can view. Voting closes at 4:00pm on 15th November 2023.

Signed Janet Moriarty
Returning Officer

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SCHOOL PHOTOS

All key codes for students have been sent out via email to parents from Photolife. If you haven’t received this, check your trash/spam folders. Otherwise, contact the office for the code.

** FREE DELIVERY EXPIRES Midnight SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER*** Your photo order will be dispatched TO THE SCHOOL AFTER THIS DATE and your child will bring the order home. Orders placed after the above date will automatically incur an $8.00 Postage & Packing Charge and the order will be dispatched to the delivery address you typed in.

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Learning Support Co-ordinator News

For Te Kura English, Lexie and Bella Godfrey-Grant have been working at Creative Writing and Poetry. Lexie's poem ‘Hades' Fee’ has been selected for publication in the 2023 New Zealand Poetry Society Anthology.

MEDUSA
Isabella Godfrey-Grant

Tears seep across her skin, streams of silence,
Tears that have never seen their true form
Tears that are cold as stone.
Eyes pierce the darkness.
Eyes of hate
Eyes of fear, for themselves.
Stone cold terror reverberates off statues,
So many statues,
Children, soldiers, fathers, mothers…
Rows and rows of icy grazed stone
If only there was someone to wipe away her tears,
To end her decades of hate and fear,
To feel her pain.
But all the figures do is,
Echo echo echo…

HADES’ FEE
Alexandrina Godfrey-Grant

Wisps of souls stray away from the never-ending line of customers.
The obol-laden skiff glides silently.
Those who ride have paid the toll of their souls.
Charon bellows frustratedly, a cashier performing his duties.
Before the till they wait.
Receipts handed out day after day.
For some, the cost of life too much to endure.
They eye the ‘For Sale’ signs, how much am I worth?
Tears silently slumber on breathless cheeks.
The hope of redemption lost to eternity.
No refunds.

Junior Ethics Olympiad

The Amuri Junior Ethics team (Emily Harris, Mackenna Williamson, Lexie Godfrey-Grant, Bella Godfrey-Grant and James van Arendonk) had quite the day on Tuesday, thrown in to the Ethics Olympiad at the last minute as the reserve team. They did an epic job and represented our school with a strong performance. All the girls spoke well and were well prepared, thinking and speaking on the fly, no mean feat! Unfortunately, we were without James who was sick on the day.

Amuri received an honourable mention from the judges, making a notable impression with excellence. In the medal count it was all New South Wales, though the Amuri Juniors placed second in the New Zealand contingent, just behind Medbury.

Model EU (European Union)

Bella and Lexie Godfrey-Grant recently participated in the Model EU, a two day event hosted by the University of Canterbury. 150 students were assigned an EU Member State to represent at a mock Council of the European Union session. This year the theme was ‘Winds of Change: The EU, Climate Change and the Green Transition’.

Bella represented Hungary and Lexie represented Slovakia, vigorously debating and amending a draft directive of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council with all 27 Member States, before discussing the directive in Regional Group sessions. They then attended the full plenary session for all countries to vote on a final agreement, to spectacularly conclude the two day event. The keynote speech was given by the EU's ambassador to New Zealand, Nina Obermaier.