Newsletter - WE 21/10/2022

Kia ora koutou 

Nau mai hoki mai, welcome to Term 4. I trust that you all had an enjoyable holiday break. It has been wonderful for me to settle into the community over the holiday break and I am really looking forward to getting to know the area and it’s people. I very much appreciated the Mihi Whakatau on Monday where I was welcomed by the school community. Both James Griggs and Bob Norrish have told me multiple times that Amuri Area School is an excellent school with passionate, dedicated staff and students who are friendly, vibrant and welcoming. It will be a highlight to experience this for myself as I begin my tenure as Principal.

New beginnings can often bring a mixture of emotions. On one hand there is a sense of excitement and anticipation and on the other hand there is a sense of the unknown. I am sure that this is a common experience for many of us, including our tamariki who attend school. A group that comes to mind are our senior school leavers. As they move from Amuri Area School into employment, further study or other endeavours, I am sure that there will be mixed emotions. It is my hope that they have been equipped with resilience in their time here so that they can navigate the ups and downs that will inevitably come. Hopefully this resilience is grounded in their sense of belonging here and through the relationships and connections that they have formed while at this school. To the senior school leavers, we hope that as you step into your future that you will thrive in all aspects of life and I wish you every success! I do also wish our senior students all the very best as they prepare for their external examinations in a few weeks time.

While this is a short term, there will be a lot happening here at school as we head towards to last day of term on the 13th December. There is a wide variety of events and activities happening in the coming weeks.

We send our Year 6 and 8 students off on camp at Living Springs and Kaiteriteri respectively and our Year 7 students will participate in a variety of leadership activities. We also held a wonderful Senior Athletics Sports Day yesterday and look forward to both the Junior and Hurunui Athletics champs in the coming weeks. I look forward to getting to know you all. Please don’t hesitate to stop by and say hello at the school gate in the mornings.

All the best for the term ahead.

Ka kitea toikaka
Noho ora mai, nā

Mr Matt Barlow
Tumuaki – Principal

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Primary School News

We finished the term with a long awaited pet day in the final week of Term 3. The students were thrilled to have this day back on our calendar after a Covid enforced break. Thank you to all parents for the amazing support we had on the day. It was a real feeling of returning to normality to have parents on the school grounds and such a lovely atmosphere.

We have hit the ground running for the first week of Term 4. Year 6 headed off to camp on Monday to Living Springs and had a fabulous three days of activities. Thank you to Miss Garthwaite and her team of parent helpers who supported her. Whilst they were away, Year 5 with Mrs Moke, Miss Paterson and Mrs Baldwin, experienced three big days out. On Monday they visited Willowbank, Tuesday they headed to the Antarctic Centre and then on Wednesday, a day of excitement in Hanmer Springs. Thank you to all parents who supported our Terako staff during their activities.

Next week Year 8 are off to Kaiteriteri with Ms Campbell and Miss Sopp and we wish them well for their four day camp and we know they will have an amazing time. While they are away, Year 7 and Mrs Shaw will embark on a three-day leadership programme which will prepare them for Year 8.

Primary athletics is coming up on Monday the 31st of October. There was a date change last week due to a lack of staff available to help cover all the events, so we elected to move the day and to make a new postponement date of Tuesday 1st of November. Fingers crossed the weather plays its part and we won’t need to use that date. Our Year 7/8 students participated in our senior athletic sports yesterday as well. This qualifies them for Country High Schools events and uses different age groups than the Hurunui Primary Schools events. There were some outstanding results yesterday and congratulations to Van Samera for breaking the U12 boys 100m record, a record which was older than him! Well done Van!

Here is the primary assembly roster for the remainder of the year.

Term 4 sees us heading for the finish line of December 13 and prizegiving. Data is currently being collected to provide information to parents and whanau for end of year reports. These will be emailed out during the final week of term.

Welcome to Isabella and Gehansa in Room 1 and Yenzil in Room 2 who have recently started their schooling in Te Kooti. We hope you will enjoy your time at Amuri!

Term 4
21 Oct – Room 3
28 Oct – Singing Assembly
4 Nov – Room 1
11 Nov - Show Day - School Closed
18 Nov – Room 2
25 Nov - Accord Day - School Closed
2 Dec- Year 6 Leavers Assembly 

Hei konā

Kylee Habgood
Deputy Principal - Primary

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Senior School News

Kia Ora Whanau

Welcome to Term 4, the term where all the hard work and learning completed throughout the year comes to fruition for students in Years 11, 12 and 13 as they sit their final exams. A warm welcome to Matt Barlow our principal from all of the students and staff within the senior school.

NZQA exams start on the 7th November and will run at our exam centre following the attached schedule. Official study leave will commence on Thursday 3rd November.

Students by now would have had discussions with their subject teachers about whether they need to attend workshops or tutorials to continue to prepare for the exams and/or complete internal assessments. We will be in communication with Parents and Caregivers to keep you informed of the expectations around attendance for your child.

School hours will continue as normal for students in Years 9 and 10 until the 13th of December. There will be many trips and activities still occurring, more information will be shared in the coming weeks around these.

I would like to say a big thank you to our Year 13 students and especially those that have held leadership roles within the school. Head students, Sarah Forbes and Nathan Kay and our Board of Trustees representative Jamie Dalmer, Senior Whanau leaders and those that have run and organised significant sporting and cultural events both inside school and in our wider community. Thank you for your service to Amuri Area School and we wish you well for the next step in your journey. You leave solid footsteps on our path to be followed by those younger than you.

Nicole Peterson
Deputy Principal - Secondary

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Roll of Honour
Brody Batchelor, Scott Gardiner, Catherine Paragas
1st Merit
Zac Barbara, Maddie Bell, Nicholas Bratschi, Zac Broom, Josh Cannell, Lizzy Cate, Will Clark, Valerie Croft, Scott Foster, DJ Gannaban, Rylee Gavin, James Hamilton, Willow Harwood, Max Jackson, Max Kinney, Mac Langford,
Rhys Lewis, Maria Lim, Arthur Milne, Georgie O’Neill, Namash Rana, Antonio Rutherford-Mailangi, Bob Thompson, James Wallace, Siena Wayne
2nd Merit
Grace Cundy, Ewan Dalmer, Bella Godfrey-Grant, Mitch McKenzie, Charlotte Schenkel

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A big SHOUT OUT to our amazing PTA for organising and preparing the kai for the Mihi Whakatau to welcome our new Principal, Matt Barlow on Monday.Thank you. You are all incredible!

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Culverden Tennis
Any student in Years 5-8 that are interested in playing Hurunui Inter club tennis after school on Wednesdays in Term 4, please contact Jo McKenzie 027-270-2190

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Thank you to the Amuri Lions for generously supporting the leadership activities for Year 7 in Week 2.

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Dates for Your Diary

October
24th Labour Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
25th Caverhill Assembly @ 11:15am
 25th-28th Year 8 Camp to Kaiteriteri
31st Primary Athletics
November
 1st Primary Athletics postponement
 3rd Years 11-13 study leave starts
 4th Firewise Visit for Year 1-2 students
 4th Choir Festival at Christchurch Town Hall
 3rd-5th CSS Athletics at Nga Puna Wai
 7th HPSSA Athletics @ Amuri
 8th Hamilton Assembly @ 12:15pm
 8th Student Executive Meeting @ 1:15pm
 8th Sciene Leadership Day at ARA
 8th Te Koa trip to Christchurch
 9th HPSSA Athletics Postponement
 9th Farm Skills Competition at Amuri A&P Show
11th Canterbury Anniversary - SCHOOL CLOSED
16th Year 7-8 Cup Shield Cricket @ Mandeville
17th Mufti Day for the Blind Foundation
19th Amuri Trail Ride
21st Children’s University Graduation
21st-23rd Year 10 camp to Windy Point
23rd Mitchell Assembly
25th MOE Accord Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
28th MOE Accord Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
30th CPS Athletics at Nga Puna Wai
December
 5th Year 1-9 Transition Day
 7th School reports sent out
 9th Stig at the Library - Years 1-6
13th Prizegiving and end of School - See you 2023!

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Piano Lessons with Andrea

Andrea currently has two lesson times available on a Wednesday.If you would like your child to learn the piano, please get in touch with Andrea either by phone 020 4035 8805 or email hooperandrea4@gmail.com

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Waiau Fireworks Night - Saturday 5 November

The Waiau Fireworks event is back, bigger and better than ever!
Held in the Waiau Rugby Club Grounds, there will be loads of family-friendly entertainment – bouncy castle, rides, zorbs, and more. A variety of tasty food options will be on offer. Live music provided by Mezzanine and then the evening is topped off with the fireworks display!
Entry $10 per person (cash only). Pre-schoolers free. Gates open at 5pm. Postponement date is Sunday 6 November
Stay tuned to the Facebook page for updates www.facebook.com/waiaufireworks

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Fair Go is looking for Consumer Heroes

They are looking for tamariki who have a vision to change something in Aotearoa – it could be a big idea for the whole planet or the whole country, or a little change making a difference to their local community.
All you need to do is come up with the idea, write a couple of sentences about what the vision/change is and what they need help with, and send it off to us.
If you are chosen, the Fair Go team will leap into action, visiting with our camera and reporter teams, and helping them make a video pitching their amazing idea which will of course, then feature on Fair Go.
The lucky creatives will score amazing prizes provided by Canon, to help them continue with their creative journeys.
Entries close 26th October ‘22
What we’re looking for is great ideas, a willingness to be on camera, and – of course – parental permission.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/fair-go/consumer-heroes

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Kapa Haka trip to Ōhoka

On Friday 23rd September, the Kapa Haka rōpū travelled to Ōhoka to perform in the North Canterbury Kapa Haka festival. We watched Kaiapoi North Juniors, Leithfield, Bishopdale, Rangiora Borough Juniors, Te Matauru, Swannanoa and Pegasus Bay Juniors. All of the schools were mīharo but our parents thought that we were the best!
After the performances ended, we visited the park just down the road to eat lunch and have a play on the playground. The playground was ka mau te wehi!
We enjoyed performing on stage, seeing the other schools’ songs, annoying the teachers in the vans, hanging out with our friends in the vans and doing fun stuff at the park like going down the slide and pushing the swing.
We think it’s important for you to know that:
• Our Kapa Haka teachers are the best drivers!
• It feels cold and ticklish to get the moko but we like it.
• The lipstick smells like crayons.
Thank you to the parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles who came to tautoko us and take photos and videos, we truly appreciate it!
We can’t wait to go to the North Canterbury Kapa Haka festival again in 2023.
Kia Kitea Toikaka!
From the Kapa Haka whānau