Newsletter - WE 01.10.21

Tena koutou katoa

New Deputy Principal
Nicole Peterson will be starting with us in Term 4 and I am sure will get to meet many of you over the coming weeks and years. I would like to make a special mention and a huge personal thank you to Gavin Cate who has been in the Acting Deputy Principal role this year whilst we secured an appointment. Gavin has worked tirelessly to ensure the school has not missed a beat this year and I cannot stress enough the value I place on his contribution. He has deservedly been appointed to lead the improvement of teaching and learning practice across our 13 Community of Learning schools so we will see a little less of him next year as he gets stuck into this new challenge. On behalf of the Board of Trustees... Thanks Gavin!

Over the Term break
The art room will be open for senior students to work on their folios please see the opening times in this newsletter. Our South Island High Country Geography trip will head away in the second week and I must make special mention of Mrs Greenwood who had to completely reschedule this trip due to the Covid lockdown and the resulting change of exam week. This was no small feat and I know the students will have an amazing time away. For those of you with external exams coming up, try to blend a mix of downtime with study so you come back ready to put in a solid last few weeks leading up to your exams.

Thursday 2 at 2
Thanks so much to Ava and Lucy, the Caverhill Whanau Leaders, for being the first presenters in our new Thursday 2 at 2 on Facebook. This is designed to give you key information you need to know from our newsletter for the following week in 2 minutes or less on a Thursday afternoon as we know times are busy. The newsletter will still come out each Friday and this is just another way for us to communicate with you. Each week we will have a different student presenter/s chosen from our student leaders in the school. 

For Parents On the Junior Side
The Ministry of Education have directed a primary aged student to attend Amuri Area School who requires a specific behaviour plan. A small team of our staff have been trained to work with this young man when he is having difficulties and may be required to use a physical intervention to ensure he is able to stay safe. If you see a member of staff working with this young man during these times, we ask you give them space and direct any questions or concerns to the Principal or Deputy Principal.

Next Term Week 1
A reminder that Year 8 Camp and Year 7 leadership week in Week 1 of next term can go ahead in levels ONE or TWO so we do not anticipate any cancellations. Once again I would like to thank the Amuri Lions for their continued support of the Year 7 leadership week and look forward to presentations on the first day from our Head Students, Celine and Hannah, our Local Fire Chief, Craig Ritchie and our Mayor, Marie Black.

Senior Field
This has just been resown and we ask all members of the public and sporting clubs to stay off the field until we give the all clear to allow time for the grass to establish and firm up. 

Have a wonderful term break everyone. It has once again been a bit of a weird term, however, we look forward to a busy Term 4 with heaps of sporting events, camps and activities, a community picnic to celebrate 125 years of Culverden Primary School on the 10th December and a positive finish to the year with prizegiving on the 16th December.

Nga Mihi Nui.
James Griggs
Principal

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Senior School News
With Term 3 ending this week, we can look back and reflect on what has been a very busy and slightly anxious term with a lockdown chucked in the middle. I know both students and staff will be glad for the rest and time to rejuvenate during the holidays. I can’t praise the staff enough for the work they did during lockdown and their ability to adapt their teaching and learning programmes at a moment’s notice to cater for remote learning. It goes without saying that we have a fabulous team here at Amuri Area School. 

This week has seen the school practice exams run as normal in the rugby club. Firstly, this is the chance for students to set a benchmark for external exams and gain feedback from the staff about their performance at this stage of the year. This then informs students of their strengths and areas to work on as they look to improve for the NZQA exams starting on November 22nd. Secondly, it has been wonderful to see the students preparing well for these exams, with the explicit intent on gaining the best possible grade in case these are required for derived grade applications should they not be able to sit the NZQA exams at the end of the year for any reason.

Alongside this, staff are in the process of marking exams and writing Year 11 to 13 reports. Reports will be sent out at the start of Week 3 Term 4. These will provide guidance on where your child needs to improve to be successful in the NZQA end of year exams.

Holidays provide the perfect opportunity for students to get their uniform tidied up and meet the school requirements. Since lockdown, we have had several students wearing all sorts of hoodies and jackets and we would like to see these students back in our smart school uniform. Please refer to the Parent Handbook on our school website if you are unsure of the requirements.

Finally, Term 4 will see Nicole Peterson arriving from Marlborough Boys College and taking up the role of Deputy Principal (Secondary). We welcome her here to Amuri Area School and wish her all the best for her new role. From Term 4, you will be dealing with Nicole in relation to any matters concerning students in Years 9 to 13. I would like to thank all the staff I have worked with over the past three terms, and the support that I have received from the Senior Management Team to carry out my duties over that time.

Gavin Cate
Acting Deputy Principal

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Roll of Honour

Alysha Hepi-Te Huia
Kadie Herbert
Rose Lilley
Sam O’Neill
Kaitlyn Palmer
1st Merit
Kyla Domingo
Caitlin Huggins
Sophie Jones
Harper MacDonald
Gwen Manifold
Adrian Marsh
Honor McKenzie
Angie Mones-Cazon
James van Arendonk
Mackenna Williamson

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Dates for Your diary
October
10th - 16th Year 12 Geography South Island Trip
18th Start of Term 4
18th Mrs Nicole Peterson - Deputy Principal starts at AAS
18th - 21st Year 8 Camp to Kaiteriteri
19th Year 7 Leadership Activity Hanmer
20th Year 7 Leadership Community Service
21st Year 7 Leadership Adrenalin Forest
22nd ICAS Writing Exams in Room 8
25th Labour Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
28th Primary Athletics
November
1st Year 11-13 School Reports emailed
1st Primary Athletics Postponement
5th Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival
8th HPSSA Athletics
10th HPSSA Athletics Postponement
10th Board of Trustees Meeting at 6:00pm
21st Craig Pickering Memorial Trail Ride
22nd - 24th Year 10 Camp to Windy Point
25th MOE Accord Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
December
1st CPS Athletics
1st Board of Trustees Meeting at 6:00pm 
2nd - 3rd Kapa Haka Festival at Tuahiwi
6th Year 7-9 Transition Day
10th 125th Celebration Day 
16th Prizegiving - End of the School Year

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Congratulations Jak on receiving your Principal Award

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Year 3 and 4 Wearable Arts

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NZ Barbarians Area School Rugby Camp

This September Nathan, Jonny and Arie had the opportunity to travel to Palmerston North for the NZ Barbarians Area Schools rugby camp. The three of us got selected to be in the National Area School's rugby team following the NZAS tournament in Dunedin in July. We flew up to Palmy on the 21st and got straight into a bronco (fitness test) once the team had all arrived. It was awesome staying at the Massey Sports and Rugby Institute, which easily had the best pitches we had ever played on. On the Wednesday we had our first game against Palmerston North Boys High Under 16 Team (with a few extra first XV players) which was a tough first game for a team who had only trained together for less than 24 hours. It was an awesome experience to play under the lights at Massey, and to come away with the win (26 – 22) was a bonus. For the next few days, we had a routine of eating, training and recovering to get us in the best shape possible for our second game on Saturday against Hato Paora 1st XV. This game came around quickly and before we knew it, we were on the park in full Barbarian's kit. The game was awesome to play with some fast-paced running rugby, ultimately the final score was a draw (26 – 26), but this just shows how well matched the two teams were.

We wish to thank all of the following who made this camp possible, especially Marie Relph, Justin and the rest of the coaching and recovery staff. Also to the Massey Sport and Rugby Institute for hosting us, and all of the supporters from home and those who travelled to watch the boys play. This couldn't have happened without all of them, and we know how hard they all worked to make the camp go ahead under current covid restrictions.
This camp was an awesome experience for us and we’d love to see it continue in the future.
Jonny, Nathan and Arie 

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Beach Rides
the most magical place
stands in the middle of a sandy beach
with a horse ready
to go for a gallop
the wind blows
making my hair fly around wildly
I taste the salt from the nearby sea
horses hooves thud on the wet sand
leaving a trail of horse prints
that close over behind us
the horse heavily breathing
through its open nostrils
I sit back in the saddle
we come to a stop
and we stand in the middle
of the sand

Hollie Scarlet YR 8
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The Sad Truth
The earth is a beautiful place
It has diverse flora and fauna.
But as humans populated the earth
It has become dangerous
The smell of smog in cities
with carbon emissions, pollution,
watch beautiful animals die out
extinction, deforestation!
Hear cries of the kiwi, the kakapo,
the takahe
This is a cruel world
that I would not want to live in.
Emerson Morgado - Year 7

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The Bedroom
The Bedroom
where imagination sparks
with rainbows and tigers
But...
As you get older
the imagination dies down
like a fire that will soon be gone.
The Bedroom, Blank.
Emerson Morgado - Year 7

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A Very Sneezy Walk
The pollen fell on my nose, making me sneeze
It kept falling, it wouldn’t stop
I started to run, the pollen kept consuming my body
I knew I was allergic, but I didn’t know I was a pollen magnet
My friend screamed, I looked at my hands and legs
I turned to pollen!
Gwendoline Manifold - Y6

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 A perfect ride
The horses in nearby paddocks started to panic,
bucking and rearing, staring me right in the eyes
The wind whistled, blowing the sand of the arena in my face
Trotting over the poles made me shiver
I lost grip of the reins, now only holding the mane
I recentered my mind, clearing my thoughts
The sun streamed through the clouds, a perfect ending to a ride
Gwendoline Manifold - Y6

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The Wind
I sat in my room thinking of summer
The wind blew the floral printed curtains then sucked them back where they belong
The dull clouds scattered across the sky forming a sheet for the stars
Wind chimes hung from the trees outside making the most wonderess sounds
Gwendoline Manifold - Y6

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A question or two about the sun
Why does the sun act like a boomerang?
Did the spirits send it here so we could grow crops?
Or is earth just spinning extremely fast?
Are we hallucinating and there isn’t a sun at all?
Or is it just so bright that it hurts when we look at it?
Is the sun running from the moon?
Or are we just orbiting it?
Maybe humans just over think stuff and we should just leave it be
Gwendoline Manifold - Y6

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