Newsletter - WE 26/08/2022

Janine Jack

— Aug 26, 2022

Kia ora

It is hard to believe that today we are halfway through this term.

The staff had very worthwhile days on Monday. Our Secondary teachers linked up with other subject colleagues around Canterbury and continued to come to grips with the changes happening with NCEA.

The Primary staff had an interesting and very helpful workshop with Heather McQuillan from the Young Writers organization. She presented us with a huge range of ideas to make writing more engaging for our students. I know that some of these have already been tried in classrooms this week. Heather was inspirational.

As you are aware mask wearing has become optional for all students and staff this week. We do, however, encourage the wearing of masks indoors and recognize that some of our students and staff are compromised and need to have our understanding in this area.

It was good to see a number of parents take the opportunity to attend the special assemblies held on Wednesday of this week to outline the subject choice decisions being made for 2023 over this next week by our Year 10 to 12 students. The information shared at these assemblies is being forwarded to all parents/caregivers this week. Do take time to discuss and help your children make the best decisions for them.

A number of our 15 year old students have been selected to undertake a nationwide test this Friday called the PISA test. This is designed to give a picture of where NZ students are at with their learning in literacy, numeracy and science.

A reminder that today’s Mufti day is to raise money for the Cancer Society – today being Dafffodil day. This is also a welcome reminder that spring is on its way.

Congratulations to Sean Moriarty who was part of the South Island Junior Shooting Team competing in Palmerston North last weekend. Sean was selected for the NZ Junior Team at this shoot. We look forward to hearing how the team performs as time goes on. Well done, Sean!

Congratulations to our Girls' Basketball team who had a great win last weekend and received high praise from the Referee about their performance on and off the court – well done!

Our netball teams have completed their season with the A team coming third, the B Team second and the Junior team fifth – all commendable results.

Congratulations to those students who represented AAS at the Lions Speech Competitions on Wednesday and at the Cantamaths Competitions also on Wednesday this week. See the results elsewhere in this newsletter.

We wish Lee Cleverley all the best as she retires from serving us as a bus driver on our runs for 40 years. Thank you for your long association with our school.

The staff have spent time this week learning more about the introduction of the new NZ Histories Curriculum being introduced to schools over the next two years. One aspect of this change is a focus on our local areas and the historical events that have shaped us as a community. It is making us all more aware of our history and we are keen to tap into the knowledge that we know is here with our parents, grandparents and people living around us.

We are waiting expectantly for the snow to top up Mt Lyford to enable our ski trip to take place on Monday.

CASAFest will take place this year again at Rangiora New Life School in the last week of this term. It will however be a scaled down version with only 10 students per school taking part over two days. We will keep you informed of plans as they come to hand.

We wish the senior Netball Team all the best as they travel down to Timaru on Sunday to compete at the South Island Secondary Schools Tournament.

The school is practising our Waiata in preparation for a Mihi Whakatau to welcome Matt Barlow as our new Principal on the first day of Term 4.

As you can see from this newsletter, there is a lot happening at Amuri Area School at the moment. It is great to see so many students taking up the opportunities that this school offers and the support provided by a dedicated and committed staff.

Nga mihi

Bob Norrish
Acting Principal

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Primary School News

Kia ora Parents and Whanau

At the beginning of this term, many of our older Primary students began researching and writing speeches as part of the English curriculum. The speech writing culminated in the students presenting their prepared speeches to their classmates. From there, some students were selected for the Hawarden and Amuri Lion’s Speech Competition. Congratulations to all our entrants who competed and a special mention to Lexie Godfrey-Grant (2nd) and Lillie Schuurman (3rd) in the Year 7 and 8 competition. Well done to all our students. The fear of public speaking can be a difficult thing to overcome.

On Monday, the Primary team worked with author Heather McQuillan from the Young Writer’s School on professional development around writing. As a team, we are working on raising achievement in writing though motivation and engagement and we spent the day working on activities that ‘hook’ our young writers into activities.

We have some big events coming up in our Year 1-6 calendar. Week 9 is Book Week and we have an author visiting us to talk to our students about the writing and publishing process. Russell Bishop who writes the Dragon Defender series will be in school on Tuesday 20th of September and we are really looking forward to his visit. We have some other activities planned for Book Week, including a dress up as a book character day, so stay tuned.

We are also returning to having a Pet Day after a few years of not being able to hold one. We are working on a timetable and information about this (including safety rules and regulations for stock) and we will get this out to you as soon as we can. In the meantime, you can start thinking and talking to your children about the pet they might like to bring.

Next week we have the HPSSA 7 aside competition for Year 4-8, and it’s great to be able to welcome this back into our calendar. All the students involved have been practising the three disciplines and are looking forward to some different competition. Parents are welcome to come down to Hurunui College and support our students.

We would like to welcome Stacey and Naman who started their school journey with Ms Jamieson in Room 1 this week. Welcome to Amuri!

Hei konā

Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary

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Senior School News

Kia Ora Everyone

A busy few weeks behind us and more to come in the final weeks of this term.

Derived Grade Exams are scheduled for the week of the 5th September. Exams will be mainly held at the Rugby Club Rooms and will be held under external NZQA exam conditions. That means that students are only allowed to take into the exam room their pens, pencil, ruler, highlighters etc in a clear plastic bag. They are allowed a clear water bottle and nothing else. Bags must be left outside. Electronic devices should not be brought to school as they will not be needed.

NCEA and Pathway Planning Presentations were held on Wednesday the 24th with Year 9 and 10 students learning about what NCEA is as a qualification, what courses are available for Year 11 students and how they should carefully pick subjects to support their interests and successes. You can access a copy of the presentation here:

https://hail.to/amuri-area-school/publication/FuMl8eN/article/3yb08aY

Current Year 11 and 12 students had a similar presentation but the focus was on courses available at Level 2 and 3, as well as advice around pathway choices, credit requirements for University Entrance and selected courses. This presentation is available here:

https://hail.to/amuri-area-school/publication/FuMl8eN/article/aDzjRPH

Course selection for 2023 is now open. The course booklet is available here:

https://hail.to/amuri-area-school/publication/FuMl8eN/article/bnxRt4k

Feel free to contact any teachers in charge of learning areas/courses to find out more information or contact me at nicole@amuri.school.nz.

The process for selecting options is as follows. The timeframe is from now until 30th August at 4pm.

Process:

Instructions to access Y12 & Y13 options on Edge
You can choose up to 6 subjects.

1. Google MUSAC Edge student login.
2. Enter your school email address and click forgot password. (IF YOU KNOW YOUR PASSWORD SKIP TO NO. 6).
3. Go to your school Microsoft 365 email account.
4. Click the link sent in your email to set your MUSAC Edge password.
5. Refresh the page and login into MUSAC Edge, with your school email address and the password you’ve just set.
6. Click the ‘MY SUMMARY’ option at the top of the screen.
7. Click ‘Options’ tab.
8. On the top right hand side of the screen, pick ‘next year’ option.
9. You will then be able to choose the options you require.
10. Pressing the ‘info’ highlighted option next to the subject will give you information regarding the course.
11. Press ‘SAVE’ at bottom right of screen.
12. Log out.

Instructions to access Y11 options on Edge
Maths & English are compulsory – YOU MUST CHOOSE EITHER 11SCIE or 11AGHO.
You can only choose 4 subjects.

1. Google MUSAC Edge student login.
2. Enter your school email address and click forgot password (IF YOU KNOW YOUR PASSWORD SKIP TO NO. 6).
3. Go to your school Microsoft 365 email account.
4. Click the link sent in your email to set your MUSAC Edge password.
5. Refresh the page and login into MUSAC Edge, with your school email address and the password you’ve just set.
6. Click the ‘MY SUMMARY’ option at the top of the screen.
7. Click ‘Options’ tab.
8. On the top right hand side of the screen, pick ‘next year’ option.
9. You will then be able to choose the options you require.
10. Pressing the ‘info’ highlighted option next to the subject will give you information regarding the course.
11. Press ‘SAVE’ at bottom right of screen.
12. Log out.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

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40 Hour Famine

Well done to all those who participated in the 40 Hour Famine this year.
Amuri Area School raised a total of $948.00 which will go towards providing clean water for those in need.
A great effort by all involved!

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Bus News

Farewell to Lee Cleverley

Its amazing! Our bus drivers have a commitment to driving our students safely to school and then home in the afternoon. This week Go Bus and indeed our school, farewells one of our longest serving bus drivers - Lee Cleverley. Lee has been driving for almost 40 years. Jeanette Mortimer Rhodes and Lee combined have driven 80 years of students to Amuri School. Lee started out on Lowry Peaks run in 1975.

Lee’s favourite memory was hard to put a finger on. She loved all her students and enjoyed the interactions with the kids. Her favourite memory was when she did her Glens of Te Koa run and threw several students into the irrigation ditch. She was most cross when a parent rang up to say there was extra washing for her to do. Her worst moment was when she was doing the Leader Road and there was a lot of snow around. The problem was she had turn the bus around and get the bus back to school with students safely.

Lee has thoroughly enjoyed all her time with Amuri School students and she wishes each and every one the best. She says “I miss you all”.

Whilst this piece farewells Lee it would be remiss of me not to thank all our bus drivers who safely carry our students on a daily basis to and from school.

Elizabeth Teulon
(Bus Controller)

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WELCOME!

After three years we can again welcome ACVE (Gap) students. This year we are so pleased to welcome Sofia and Amelie, all the way from Germany. We have enjoyed a great start. They are learning waiata to welcome the new principal in Term 4. At present they are enjoying a mixture of classes within the school.

Note: At present they are carless. If you have a cheapish car for sale, please phone Liz at school.

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Roll of Honour

Harper Absalom
Rhyder Absalom
Dylan Brogden
Brooklyn Colebrook
Isaac Colebrook
Fergus Davison
Kadmiel Delos Santos
Tessa de Ridder
Kees Flapper
Shay Flapper
Scott Foster
Beau Glassey
Wally Johns
Holly Jones
Indy Millen
Arthur Milne
Chloe Parmar
Mark Privaldos
Greta Reed
Georgia Roberts
Oskar Schuurman
Charlotte Williamson
Jessica Youngman

1st Merit

Zoe Bailey
Heider Carreon
Thomas Croft
Sam Currie
George Flintoft
Lilly Frame
Emily Harris
Tom Jackson
Bee Jamieson
Grace Johnston
Isaac Kelly
Kaitlyn Palmer
Alena Paora
Mark Privaldos
Eva Roberts
Eleanor Thompson
Gypsy Thornton
James van Arendonk
Charlotte Williamson
Kyani Wilson

2nd merit

Lucy Cater

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Local Histories Curriculum

You may have heard all the discussion on media over the last year about the implementation of the new histories curriculum into our school curriculum. Part of this implementation process is to consult with our local community networks to help us explore the historical significance of local places and people to see what you think is important to include in our new curriculum. This is your chance to have a say on what we should be teaching our kids about local history. To help us start our journey, below you will find a link to a survey with 4 questions. Not only am I personally interested in learning more about local history, but I also relish the opportunity to pass this knowledge on to our students. We really appreciate your time. If you have any further feedback please email Melissa Greenwood at melisssa@amuri.school.nz or call me on 027 517 7783. https://arcg.is/1vSDn9

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Our students had a fantastic day at the Canterbury Primary and Intermediate School Ski Race Championships at Cheeseman ski area.

The following children competed, representing Amuri Area School
Year 7/8: Max McCone, Isaac Kelly and Jono Simpson
Year 5/6 Archie McCone and Sam O’Neill.

They all raced with great determination and came out with an awesome result.

Results:
Year 7/8 Boys
Jono 5th
Max 10th
Isaac 16th
Year 5/6 Boys
Archie 12th
Sam 20th

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Netball

Senior A Team

This year Amuri Area School managed to put forward an A team to play in the Hagley competition on a Wednesday afternoon. Our A team consisted of Sarah Forbes, Kate Maxwell, Shelby Rutherford-Menzies, Clare Frame, Meg Habgood, Isla Blomfield, Olivia Adcock, Regan Kay, Olivia Ferguson, Taryn Werahiko, Becky Minson and for the last two games, Lucy Hyde from Cheviot joined us. We have had a blast this year playing netball together and becoming a team with strong bonds and relationships throughout the court- both attack and defence. For our finals game we played Rangi and won the game, resulting in our placing of 3rd place in the B grade, Section 1. Our next challenge is the SISS tournament in Timaru from the 28th of August until the 1st of September. Wish us the best of luck!

A huge thank you to Cath Ferguson and Debby Galletly for coaching and managing us. We couldn’t have done it without you!

To help us get to Timaru, we have made a raffle and would love your contribution. Please contact one of the girls in the A team for more information if you would like to support our team!

Report by Isla

Senior B Team

Lost final 14-29 to Oxford "A" team therefore got 2nd.

We played in the local Christchurch competition and throughout the season our team only lost three games and made it into the final where we unfortunately lost to the Oxford “A” team. Belinda Dryden was our coach for the Term 2 games then unfortunately for us she got a job in Christchurch and had to leave. She drove and umpired our games which was awesome especially when we were short of players. In Term 3 we were lucky enough to have Mrs Wilson come and help us and in the short amount of time she coached us we learnt plenty. Both of our coaches did an amazing job and helped and contributed to a great season and we can’t wait for next year!

Report by Tuhi

Boys Basketball Report by Kevin

The Amuri Boys Basketball team had a good season competing in the Christchurch competition. They were very competitive and gained a 5th placing in their grade. The team was well organised and run by Kevin Egmao. Kevin and Phoenix did very well running trainings each week for the team. We are looking for a keen person to coach this team next season so if anyone has any contacts who maybe interested please let Miss Helmore know. Thanks to Kara Lynn and Nathan Jimmink who drove the team each week to their games, we couldn't have done it without them.

Girls' Basketball Report

This season started with none of us having any idea on how to play basketball. We had so much fun learning how to play and had a lot of help from our amazing coach Mrs Wilson who has done so much for us. Mrs Greenwood, Mrs Campbell and Jenny drove us to all our games when Mrs Wilson was away. They cheered the team on and helped us so much. We were so thankful for this opportunity to play in the Christchurch competition and can’t wait for next year!

by Tuhi

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Rotary Club of Rangiora Charitable Trust

ALEX MURRAY EDUCATION AWARD 2022

The Rotary Club of Rangiora awards a grant each year in memory of a former member, Alex Murray, to assist a young person about to leave school to undertake further training at an education centre, polytechnic or university.

The grant, to a value of $5000, will be awarded to a young person living in either the Waimakariri or Hurunui Districts. The grant is to assist with course costs and/or study materials (excluding accommodation costs) over the first two years of tertiary study.

We are calling for applications for this grant for study to be commenced in 2023.

The application form may be obtained by emailing awmissen@xtra.co.nz.

Applications will close on Friday 23rd September 2022.

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CANTAMaths 2022

On Wednesday 24 of August, we went to Cantamaths 2022. When we first arrived at Christchurch Arena we went and looked at all the exhibits and we found that 3 of our projects from Amuri Area School were Highly Commended. Once we finished looking at the projects, we went to see the Year 7 and 8s finish off their prizegiving. Then the runner for the Year 9 team Jakob Bush had to go down and select an area for the rest of the team to be seated. Once they were all seated it started. We were all nervous at first but slowly got comfortable with it. Our team was Maddie Bell, James Clark, Jakob Bush, and Charlotte Schenkel. We finished off with 35 points out of 100 but only answered about 16 of the questions. It was a great experience, and we highly recommend people to give it a go. Thank you to Mrs. Ibbetson and Miss Lane for driving and to our parents for picking us up afterwards.

Report by Jakob and Charlotte

Well done also to the Year 10 team: Grace Cundy, Maddie Wayne, Cris Tabunar and Ewan Dalmer. You showed great persistence and determination. You were a pleasure to watch!

We did not arrive back until 10:55 pm, so thankyou again to parents for waiting for us.

Well done to those who came into school the next day- hardcore Mathematicians!

Mrs. Ibbetson

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Dates for Your diary

August

28th-2nd SISS Netball @ Timaru
29th Year 7-10 Ski Day @ Mt Lyford
31st HPSSA 7-Aside @ Hurunui College
31st School Nurse on site for consultations

September

2nd ICAS Maths Exam
2nd HPSSA 7-Aside Postponement
5th Year 7-10 Ski Day Postponement
5th-9th Year 9-13 Derived Exams
7th Mitchell Assembly @ 11:15am
7th Board of Trustees Meeting @ 6:00pm
8th-9th Year 5-13 Young Writers Workshop
13th-14th Year 12 Outdoor Ed Trip
13th Student Excutive Meeting @ 1:15pm
14th School Nurse on site for consultations
19th-20th Year 11 Geography to Kaikoura
19th-23rd Book Week - Years 1-8
20th Author visit James Russell - Years 1-8
23rd North Canterbury Kapa Haka Festival @ Ohoka
24th-30th Year 12 Geography SIHC
27th Pet Day - Years 1-6
27th-29th Year 13 Outdoor Ed Cycle Tour
29th Pet Day - Years 1-6 postponement
30th Mufti Day - for Culverden St. John
30th END OF TERM 3