NEWSLETTER NO. 35Week Ending 24th November 2017

Phone: 03 315 8233Email: office@amuri.school.nzWeb: www.amuri.school.nz

Kia Kitea ToikakaNothing But The Best

Raising Achievement; Realising Potential; Encouraging Excellence

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Tēnā koutou katoa

On Tuesday we had our final reading together session wrapping up 4 weeks of learning how to make the very most of home reading. I would like to thank the many staff involved in supporting this training for our parents. We anticipate running another course late in 2018.

In March 2018 as part of our continuing parental support we have booked internationally renowned speaker on bullying Robert Pereira (see https://www.bullying-prevention.com/) to run a series of workshops with students and provide a parent seminar in the evening. In term 2 we are putting together a cyber-safety workshop for parents to attend to help us all cope with our children in a digital age.

2018 is also a major production year and I am pleased to announce the appointment of Katy Pakinga as Musical and Creative director. Katy is currently working with students to lock down the performance and the dates etc for later in term 2.

Our trail ride on the 12 November was a huge success with 219 riders registered on the day which is a significant increase on recent years. Thanks again to the PTA, the parent and staff helpers and the land owners for allowing access to this piece of paradise for the day.

Year 6 head out to Pudding Hill on camp and our Year 10 are, as I write this, enjoying the fine weather at Windy Point. Year 6 return from camp next week only to head away again on Thursday for a trip to Rutherford’s Den as part of their science curriculum so a busy week in store for Year 6.

On Monday and Tuesday this week our Year 7 students took part in a two-day leadership programme presented by the Joshua Foundation to develop their skills for 2018 and being the leaders in the 7/8 syndicate. The facilitator Chris Allen spoke highly of the calibre of our young people and identified many great leaders from within the group who stepped up to the challenge. Thanks again to the Rutherford family for supporting this initiative.

There has been lots of media attention this week on one of the Level 1 Maths NCEA exams. This was one of many papers in the Level 1 maths assessment and thankfully, not one that our students were taking on this occasion however it enforces more than ever a need to build resilience in our children that sometimes things do not go quite to plan and that one exam result will not define them!Have a wonderful weekend.

Nga mihiJames Griggs

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The NCEA exams are well underway and feedback from the students has been by and large positive. None of our Level 1 Maths students were sitting the geometric reasoning paper that is causing a considerable amount public debate and concern.

Good weather has come to the party for the Year 10 camp and it was a keen and enthusiastic group of students who headed off on Tuesday morning for four days of outdoor activities which will give opportunities for individual and team challenges in a highly supported environment. Mr Gannaway has put together a great programme and many of the Year 10 teachers are joining the camp for a day or more, an outing they are really looking forward to.

Reports for students in Years 9 and 10 are being completed this week and we trust that all parents will spend time reflecting and acting on the advice given. It is easy with the Christmas break coming up to just ‘park’ this information so please ensure it comes out of park mode before the start of the 2018 school year.

You will have received an alert via the app this week about students having their own devices – it is essential that any student who has been enrolled in an on-line course must have and bring their own device. There are many opportunities in the on-line learning environment as our students progress through the school plus many of our in school classes have an online classroom component already. The sooner students can become competent and confident using and owning their devices the better. Please read notes on brands and minimum specifications carefully.

2018 Year 10 option selection will happen soon – we need to finalise some aspects of the timetable before this can happen. Students will bring the option information home for discussion and parental approval before final choices are made.

Next week students who are intending to study at ARA in 2018 will have entry interviews done here at school on Tuesday 28th. ARA will notify all students prior to this and we are appreciative of the staff coming here this year and parents not having to take students into CHCH as happened in the past. On Wednesday 29th I will be taking a group of students to compete in the Culverden Farm Skills Day held at Beechbank Dairy, an event that provides plenty of action and challenges for our keen rural students.

As the school year quickly slips by it is important to stay focused and not let complacency creep into

learning and as the weather warms up being sun smart is essential especially now the pool is operational.

Penny Mossman

secondary School News

Millie-Jane McIlraith

1st MERIT CERTIFICATEHeath Habgood

Damian GravetteJames Clark

Hunter ArchboldAshal KumarSam Ussher

Deegan DeVreeCaliph Hammond

Mason MarrisKate Maxwell

Grace Moriarty

2rd MERIT CERTIFICATEKatie GardnerSofia Manifold

Catalina SerranoZara WesterbaanJames Anderson

Jazmin Cuff

3rd MERIT CERTIFICATENu Roberts

Annie FrancisSofia Manifold

Cristopher Tabunar

Roll of Honour

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Regarding BYOD (Bring your own device for 2018)

Amuri Area School will continue to support a voluntary BYOD scheme in 2018 from Years 7 to 10 however, with the requirements of the digital age we strongly recommend a personal device for Years 9 and 10. Students in Years 11-13 will require a working laptop from 2018 particularly if they are accessing online learning.

We often get questions from parents on what to look for so we have put this together to assist you with any purchase you may make.

The first thing to know is you do not need to spend thousands of dollars. Our school system is largely cloud based and online so if your machine meets the recommended specs below it will be fine. You can often go into a store and see a laptop on special and save rather a lot especially just after Christmas. Windows machines are far cheaper than Apple and will work on our school system perfectly.

You do not need to buy software other than a decent antivirus for home use. We provide each student with access to Microsoft 365 which gives them complete access to the online version of Office and whilst here at school our own filters and systems will protect from viruses. You will however need antivirus loaded for home.

Our students do not spend all day looking at screens. There are times when technology is used to support the learning and there are times when they are put away and not to be used. Facebook, social networking sites and inappropriate sites are blocked on our school system and monitored carefully by the Ministry of Education N4L (Network for Learning). All students are expected to sign and agree to a cyber-safety agreement and breach of this agreement will result in school access being removed for a period of time. In 2018 we will launch the Linewize content filtering system in the school to provide an extra layer of protection for students using their own devices on the school system.

We ask you do not invest in iPads or tablets as these have very limited applications once a student moves into NCEA and they are unsuitable for using the 365 office package to its full extent. Chromebooks/Streambooks or similar are fine up to around Year 11 so if you are entering Year 7-10 and already have one, do not buy anything new. If you already have a working laptop try it out for a time before purchasing anything, as it may well be fine. Here are the minimum specs we recommend for new purchases:- A laptop with a minimum of 250GB of memory.- A screen that is 13 inches or larger.- Windows 10- A keyboard that is big enough to type on prefer ably with the F keys along the top.- Antivirus for when your child is no at school.

We want to make this easy for you so please feel free to send me a screen shot of any intended purchase if you are not sure or call. Please call me directly if you wish to discuss anything around our BYOD programme.

James Griggs

Water main works over the holiday break:We are having major works completed on the secondary side over the summer. This will mean lots of fencing (not used to that much already) and more importantly no water.

Water is planned to go off on around the 16th December and back on before the 19th January.

If you are and around school during this time the library will have temporary water supply for toilets and please be careful re trenching etc.

On the Primary side the multi turf will be laid starting on the 9th January with anticipated completion by the 29th Jan.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARYICAS International Competitions & Assessments for

SchoolsHPSSA Hurunui Primary Schools Sports AssociationCCHS Canterbury Country High SchoolsCASA Canterbury Area Schools Association

NOVEMBER27-29th Year 6 Camp

DECEMBER5th Transition Day11th Prizegiving & End of Term 4

JANUARY 29th Years 1-6 Return30th All Students Return

Bus RollsPlease remember that if your child is on the junior side the office or driver needs to be

informed if your child isn’t on the bus.

Liz Teulon, Bus Controller