PHONE: (03) 315 8233 NEWLETTER NO 26

E-mail: principal@amuri.school.nz Week 5

Web: www.amuri.school.nz Week Ending 24th August 2018

Tena koutou katoa

This week we had a wonderful day for our Years 5 and

6 students to go skiing at Mount Lyford, making the

most of the recent snowfall. I also had the opportunity

to take a group of 8 students from Years 3 and 4 to

Southbrook School to examine the working radio

station they have there and to see if this could work

here at Amuri. These students are now putting together

a proposal for the Board of Trustees to consider. Our

students also made a strong showing at the Cantamaths

competition at Horncastle Arena.

Thanks once again to the wonderful parents who put in

so much effort to celebrate Buwan ng wika with us this

week. I was so impressed with the Filipino cultural

dress and food on offer in addition to the activities for

our students to enjoy.

The school partnership with Hurunui Rangers Football

Club has led to a strong development of football players

who are now reaching the Secondary end of the school.

To support this, in 2019 we will be sending a mixed

representative football team fromYear 9 and 10 on a

West Coast tour playing 5 games against Karamea,

Tapawera, Reefton, Westport and Murchison Schools.

Trials for this team (which will have limited spaces)

will be held early in Term 1 2019 with the trip heading

out for 5 days at the end of March. This will be a great

opportunity for our school to play against varied

opposition and for the students to have the experience

of going on tour. We will, as ever, be seeking ways to

keep the costs down for students and welcome any

support, for example, kit sponsors from our local

community. If you have any queries on this trip please

contact me directly.

Thank you to all the volunteers for our uniform review.

I will be starting to arrange meetings for this next week

and I will be in touch with those who have expressed an

interest.

Over the weekend I will also be sending out a Survey

Monkey link via the school app to gather information

for the Board of Trustees for our upcoming review of

Religious Instruction at Amuri. This is part of our

regular three-year review cycle and I appreciate this is a

subject that can produce some polarising and strongly

held opinions. In the interests of transparency it is our

intention to publish the summary of results of the

survey in this newsletter in Term 4 along with any

outcomes from the Board of Trustees.

Please take time to complete the survey by following

the link on the app and be assured there is no need for

your name or any identifying details therefore your

thoughts and views will be completely anonymous. For

those without the app the link to be put into your

browser is:-

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YLKTQ2P

Religious Instruction/Bible In Schools Survey

www.surveymonkey.com

Web survey powered by SurveyMonkey.com. Create

your own online survey now with SurveyMonkey's

expert certified FREE templates.

This survey will close on the 14th September.

Have a wonderful weekend.

James Griggs

Raising Achievement; Realising Potential; Encouraging Excellence

Senior School News Dear Parents and Whanau After a very successful Maths week focus last week the whole school has been enjoying celebrating ‘Buwan ng wika’. This has given our students an opportunity to try using ‘tagalog’ and to explore some of the culture and traditions of the Philippines. Along with the schoolwide activities, our seniors have been involved in a form time challenge to create a bahay kubo. The Year 7 and 8 students prepared craft kits, along with background information on the way bahay kubo are used in the Philippines, ready for each form class. The competition resulted in fantastic replicas of varying styles demonstrating significant creativity and talent – well done to all the form classes across the school primary and secondary who really got behind this challenge. Amuri Area School has 37 Filipino students and it is important to recognise and respect their culture and to celebrate with them.

“Wikang Filpino saan man sa mundo mapag iisa tayo” – Our Filipino language brings us together wherever we are in the world.

Students in Years 11-13 for 2019 have completed the first round of subject choices – this information is now used to draw up timetable lines before students make their final choice. Any students intending to be part of the dual pathways option at Ara have been given enrolment forms to complete, please ensure these are returned promptly as numbers are limited on all courses. Assessment week is coming up for Year 10-13 students in Week 8. These assessments are held in the Rugby Club rooms and are supervised by our NZQA supervisor. For the Year 10 students it is good to experience the conditions required for NCEA external exams so that they won’t come as a surprise next year. For our senior students there are now only 8 weeks left (including assessment week) before the external exam period starts. As the clock ticks down every student needs to be very aware of where they are currently and what else needs to be done. Constant attention to class work, study, revision and meeting assessment deadlines will help to avoid the stress and panic that arises from the ‘so much to do, so little time’ situation that we are no doubt all familiar with. At home you will be supporting and encouraging them to meet their learning goals as we know you want your child to achieve their potential. Please also ensure that your child is not over committed with work/outside activities during this period.

As I move around the classes it is a joy to see some fantastic work being done. So many of our students are showing good self-management with their learning and the environment in classrooms is positive. We have a wonderful group of students here at Amuri who are a delight to work with – yes there are at times the odd ‘hiccup’, but there should be nothing that cannot be resolved. Life is full of obstacles and challenges - it is the way we manage these that determines our success. Penny Mossman

Celine Barnes

John Jackson

Nathan Lampinez

Avril Paea

Tuhi Tewao

1st

Merit

Kaio Brown

Tyrone Coulter

Thomas Croft

Katie Gardner

Fred McRae

Arthur Milne

Caleb Minson

Rommie Murie

Ansariya Nisha

Stephanie Robinson Gutierrez

Sachi Wilkes

Roll of Honour

Highly commended Callum McDonald Year 9 Motif Lily Burke & Maddie McCabe Year 9 Wearable Dominic Brett Year 10 Motif Alisha Fraser-Wyllie Year 10 Written work Celine Barnes, Jamie Simmonds, Avril Paea, Ella Scarlet & Grace Moriarty Year 10 Written work

Excellence Neil Sales Year 10 Motif Well done to Esme Hewitt, Patrick O’Shea, McKenzie Batchelor, Nu Roberts, Nic Mones-Cazon, Nathan Kay, Willow Devine & Lily Burke for representing Amuri Area School at Horncastle Arena. You did a fantastic job of solving complex mathematical questions under pressure & gained a great score.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

ICAS

HPSSA

CCHS

CASA

AUGUST

29th

31st

SEPTEMBER

3rd

12th

19th

19th

26th

28th

OCTOBER

15th

International Competitions and Assessments for

Schools

Hurunui Primary Schools Sports Association

Canterbury Country High Schools

Canterbury Area Schools Association

Caverhill Assembly

School Closed – Annual Shared Development Day

Stronger Families 7:30pm – 9:00pm

Music Festival Practise

Year 9/10 Get to Go Challenge

Mitchell Assembly

North Canterbury Kapa Haka

End of Term 3

Term 4 Starts

NZA

Hurunui Transport Survey Kia ora

Public transport options in Hurunui are few and far between due to

a low population spread over a large rural district.

While most people appreciate that long distances are a feature of

rural life, there is a need for public transport within the district for

socialisation and employment as well as transport into

Christchurch and Rangiora for services, employment, and retail.

High levels of car ownership in the Hurunui reduces the problem,

but there is still a need for public transport.

Together Hurunui is interested in how to improve public transport

in the district and values your opinion on how this may look.

Attached is a brief survey about transport options that will only

take a few minutes of your time.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/hurunui-transport

Thank you so much for completing this survey – your opinion

counts. Please feel free to share this survey with your Hurunui

networks.

Nga mihi

Ange

Together Hurunui is a non-statutory network of social services operating

in the Hurunui District. The Together Hurunui collaborative includes

community groups, schools and health centres, NGO agencies, local

council and central government.

By identifying gaps in service delivery and advocating for these services,

the Together Hurunui network is helping to create a more connected

community that can readily access services needed for wellbeing.

"On Monday we celebrated 'Buwan ng wika'. We tasted traditional food from the Philippines. At the start we wore our traditional clothes, mine was called a barong. My mum's dish was called 'toron'. I ate my mum's toron, Daphne's pansit and Nathalia's bibingka." Van Samera

"On Monday we had 'Buwan ng wika' and we had to go in front of everyone in our national clothes. Nathalia and I had the same clothes. Our skirts had to be lower than our knees and we also had beautiful sandals. Mine were pink and they had shiny beads on them. Our national gem is a pearl and Sophia had a necklace, a bracelet and earrings that had pearls, so shiny." Daphne Delos Santos