Newsletter - WE 05/06/2020

Tēnā Koutou

There is rather a lot of important information in this newsletter so I ask you take time to have a good look through.

Please make sure you book your parent teacher interviews by midday on the 18th June as we will need the day after that to set up the email addresses and schedules for the teachers.

Also, if your child is entering Year 9 or 10 in 2021, please take a moment to look at our BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) information.

We have had some discussions with Amuri Medical Centre to clarify what should happen if a member of a household is directed to take a COVID test. At this time the advice given is that all members of that household should stay away from school until the result is returned. This may change as we move to Level ONE. However, for the time being that is the directive.

On the subject of Level ONE the good money is on Wednesday next week. IF this is the case we will be able to once again allow parents into school grounds and we will update you on contact tracing requirements (if any) once we receive this information from the Ministry of Health. This will also mean we can resume assemblies and run cross country as normal with parents in attendance. It is so great to see the resumption of normality again with football games kicking off this weekend here at school, the rugby club back at training and netball to come in the near future.

One of the consequences of lockdown is that once again we seem to be cleaning up a fair bit of inappropriate social media behaviour. Even when this occurs in the home it has the inevitable spill over to school. Can you please take the time to discuss over the dining table your family expectations around the use of social media and remind your child to always screen shot anything they feel is inappropriate and to NOT REPLY, as once they, do it is often hard to pick through who is the offender and who is the victim. Encourage them to tell you and show you what they are receiving and remind them that blocking someone is always a great option! Do not let your child have a cell phone in their room overnight as this is often where the damage is done.

Have a wonderful weekend. I am looking forward to watching some football!

Kia Kitea Toikaka

James Griggs
Principal

Senior School News

A warm welcome to our new senior school arrivals Noah Ellis in Year 11 and Jesse Ellis in Year 9. We hope that their time at Amuri is enjoyable and they soon feel at home in this wonderful part of the South Island.

This week NZQA have advised schools of the changes they are making to the qualification for 2020 to offset opportunities lost during lockdown – the extract below is directly from NZQA to parents and family.

We know some of our students - and their whānau - are worried that they might not be able to attain NCEA or UE this year because of the disruption caused by COVID19. To help address this and support students, the following changes are being made to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) requirements for this year:

• Students working towards NCEA can gain additional credits, based on the number of credits they achieve during the 2020 school year. These additional credits will be known as Learning Recognition credits. For every 5 credits a student achieves towards their NCEA either through internal or external assessment, they are entitled to an additional 1 credit. Students at NCEA Level 1 are eligible for up to a maximum of 10 additional credits while those at Levels 2 and 3 are eligible for up to a maximum of 8 additional credits.

• Students will be awarded a certificate endorsement if they achieve 46 credits at Merit or Excellence level, rather than the usual 50. Students achieving 12 credits at Merit or Excellence level in a course – rather than 14 – will be awarded a course endorsement.

• Current UE requirements have been reduced from 14 to 12 credits in three UE-approved subjects. Students still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet literacy and numeracy requirements to be awarded University Entrance.

• External NCEA examinations and NZ Scholarship examinations will now take place from 16 November 2020 to 9 December 2020. This will provide extra time for teaching, learning and assessment in Term 4.

• The submission date for subjects which require students to submit a portfolio (for example, Design and Visual Communications) has been extended to 12 November 2020, to give students more time to complete their portfolios.

These changes have been designed to encourage students to continue working towards their NCEA and to ensure that the NCEA attained by our students this school year is just as valid as those earned in previous years.

This is not an easier way to get NCEA as you still must achieve credits to gain the extra recognition for your achievement.

Overall, with these changes and the decision to not have a ‘blanket study leave’ period our students are well positioned to achieve their potential goals and be the best that they can be.

Penny Mossman