Newsletter - WE 09/06/2023

Kia ora Koutou

We have reached the end of another busy week! There has been a lot happening across different parts of the school with students involved in all sorts of opportunities. Of particular note, we had a group of young leaders at the iSport Youth Leadership day a couple of weeks ago where they listened to Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Dame Valerie Adams, Dame Sophie Pascoe and Moses McKay encourage them to lead with character. The same week our Primary whānau leaders were at the National Young Leaders day in Christchurch.

I want to acknowledge all of those who were in the cast and worked behind the scenes to put on High School Musical. This was an outstanding production and it was awesome to see how the whole show came together. My thanks to Roz Kelly, Director, Charlotte Campbell who oversaw the production from the staff, Adrian Black, Tony Stanton and Eve Reihana who worked on the stage and set and Nicole Peterson who made costumes. There are many others who also gave their time to make the show happen, congratulations to everyone involved.

Our school value for this term is EXCELLENCE. Mitchell House led our assembly this week and highlighted a number of excellent achievements. They interviewed members of the cast of High School Musical, along with Bob Thompson who recently competed successfully at the Div2 Swimming Nationals. These achievements are noteworthy and highlight excellence. At the assembly I also shared a story about the rugby team I played in during my 5th form year at high school. We lost our first game 144-0, our second 125-0, third 94-0…and so the season continued until our last game where the mighty 5 C’s won 23-21. If you look purely at results, it would be hard to describe our season as anything close to excellent; however, if we look at the growth, effort, determination and perseverance of the team it can be described as excellent. I encourage all of our students to look for excellence in as many ways as possible, not just in results. Every student has the potential to be excellent in some way!

We have had a number of students away over the last two weeks due to illness. Could we please ask that if your child is unwell, please do not send them to school. Coughs, colds and other illnesses can spread quickly in the school environment.

Please ensure that you check the School App or Facebook for regular updates from the school. In particular, we will be using this to communicate plans around the industrial action that is continuing in the education sector at present.

Lastly, we have been excited to see the fruits of the student proposal for a warmer winter jersey option. Orders have been coming in thick and fast and the tops look great. This is a wonderful example of students using the Student Council to highlight an issue and work with the school community to find a great solution.

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Kia kitea toikaka

Matt Barlow
Principal

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Secondary School News

Term 2 is well underway and as well as learning in curriculum areas, assessments being completed and many events outside the classroom, senior students are starting to explore ideas around future pathways in education and career opportunities. We had a great turnout of students who attended the North Canterbury Careers Expo two weeks ago at Rangiora High School. A big thank you to all of those that were involved in organising the event for Hurunui and Waimakariri youth.

Amuri Area School was invited to attend the i-Sport Foundation Youth Leadership day in Christchurch. A group of 11 students who are involved in sports for school and the community spent a day listening to some of our sporting heroes. Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Sophie Pascoe and Dame Valerie Adams spoke about how to lead with character. There were strong messages imparted about the importance of values in sport. 

 It is wonderful to see our students arriving at school warm now that it is cooling down, in their new windbreakers. They look really smart. Thank you for the ongoing support around uniform adherence. We have noticed a marked improvement in dress and attitude of students. We will continue to impart learning around the importance of our school values.

A – Amuri stands for:
S – Self Discipline
P - Pride
I - Integrity
R - Respect
E – Excellence

There has been a range of sickness working its way through the school which is normal for the beginning of winter months. However, with NCEA it is important to remember the rules for NZQA assessments. Please inform the school of sickness, make contact with the teacher about missed assessments and try and rearrange, if this is not possible then a sick note or evidence of Covid will be required to meet NZQA processes. If you have any questions about this please do not hesitate to contact me.

Mrs Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

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Primary School News

Kia ora Parents and Whanau

Jump for June is underway, thanks to Mrs Voice. Some of our students from Year 7/8 were going over to the primary side at lunchtimes to support our Year 1-6 students with some skipping games. There is a fundraising option which has gone home with each of our students. More information can be found at https://www.jumpingjune.co.nz/

Now that the winter has arrived, please support our team in making sure your children are wearing the correct uniform. If you’re having difficulty finding a suitable option, please come in and speak to your child’s teacher or to me, as we are happy to support where we can. There are a growing number of students who are arriving in Year 1-6 with no second layer. Please ensure they have one as some days are too cold for students to be outside during breaks with only one layer. A black or red polyprop top can be worn under the school polo top, or a jersey can be purchased through the office or at Mainland Uniforms. We have just been told this week that the Merino jersey option supplied at Mainland Uniforms is out of stock, with no set date for the arrival of a new order. Some students find the other wool option too itchy and prefer a plain red polar fleece which would also be suitable in the colder months. The school jacket is also there although you may find that it’s not warm enough for the colder mornings on its own. Currently Year 7/8 students have the polyprop top option as well and the thicker school jacket.

The primary assemblies for the remainder of the term are listed below.

Term 2
9 Jun – Room 2
16 Jun – Room 1
23 Jun – Full School Assembly (Caverhill)2pm
30 Jun – Room 5 

A huge and warm welcome to the following students…

Cliodhna – Year 8
Niraj – Year 7
Abby, Caleb and Dayton - Year 6
Anki and Chester in Year 5
Allan and Zoe – Year 3
Matt and Sophie – Year 1
Welcome to Amuri everyone!

Warmest congratulations to Lexie Godfrey-Grant in Year 8 who received a highly commended award in the recent Write On magazine writing competition. The theme of the entry was ‘Memories and Milestones’ and Lexie submitted her piece called ‘The Catacombs of Paris’.

The Catacombs of Paris

Alexandrina Godfrey-Grant
The river Styx drip, drip, drips past me as I descend.
Stagnant air swirls around my head.
Broken memories dive into my consciousness,
Lost souls swoop around my mind.
Songs of woe echo, echo, echo… 

Intrepid skulls glance at me,
Recollections scatter when my sober brain reaches for them.
Dystopian pasts of tragic anguish haunt me.
Untold stories flutter by, out of my reach.
Steps of mist swirl around me.
Wisps of souls straining up, up, up. 

My fingers are so close.
A broken roller-coaster of emotions envelops me, so close.
Hades skulks in.
Walls erupt in chaos,
Immersing me in misery.

Ngā mihi nui

Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary

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Dates for Your Diary

June
12th Yr 11Ag trip to Eudunda, Mousepoint Rd
13th Yr 12Physics field trip to UC
16th Yr 12/13 Ag trip to Hossack Downs
18th-19th Yr 12 OE overnight tramp
19th Community Volleyball Event
20th-21st Yr 12/13 Overnight tramp
21st CPS Cross Country
21st NZ Playhouse Visit - Year 1-6 @ 11:00am
23rd Caverhill Assembly @ 2:00pm
26th Tekoa trip to Kaikoura
27th-29th Parent Teacher Interviews
30th End of Term 2

July
2nd-7th NZ Area Schools Tournament - Rangiora
17th Term 3 Begins
21st Kapa Haka Matariki Performance and Dinner
25th Yr 1-4 Cricket sessions with Liam

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We were lucky to have had a visit from past student, Mason Simpson today. He is travelling the country in a TUK-TUK raising money for I AM HOPE. What a legend !!

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Roll of Honour
Nilo Ackermann Ffrench
Isla Blomfield
Maddison Carr
Bonnie Collins
Lucas Collins
William Dawson
Rylee Gavin
Holly Jones
Jonty O’Neill
Alena Paora
Ziggy Paora
Georgia Roberts
Chance Rogers Lillie Schuurman
Blake Scott
Noa Wilson

1st Merit
Jorja Bush
Jamie Cannell
Hannah Clegg
Eden Colebrook
Valerie Croft
Annabelle Cundy
Laura Cundy
Ella Dawson
Aizelle Dela Rosa
Chloe Dela Vega
Jamie Gardiner
Madi Gavin
Jazmin Goodman-Lloyd
Ashton Goodman-Wallace
Biddie Johnson
Tori Kelly
Peyton Langford
Ryley Lauder
Kaleo Matete
Charlene Paragas
Yenzil Rana
Eva Roberts
Aggie Rutherford
Charlotte Snowling
Tayla Spiers-Coburn
Kaden Tily
Lucy Whittleston
Elliette Williamson

2nd Merit
Alex Shaw

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ICAS

Amuri Area School will be participating in ICAS again this year, equipping teachers and parents with powerful insights to improve learning and reward academic excellence. ICAS assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment. 

The assessments are now fully online and sittings will be in August and September. The following subjects are available this year:

ICAS Science – Years 5-11
ICAS Digital Technologies – Years 5-8
ICAS English – Years 5-11
ICAS Mathematics – Years 5-11
ICAS Spelling Bee – Years 5-8
ICAS Writing – Years 5-11

The cost for each assessment is $18.40. Supervised practice sessions and the assessments themselves will take place during the school day. 

Should you wish to enrol your child in one or more assessments, please visit   https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps and enter our unique school code XHF403 to make a direct payment to ICAS Assessments. Entries must be received and paid for by Friday 7 July 2023. 

For more information please email Karen Nicholls at karen@amuri.school.nz or see unsw.global/icas.