Hello whānau,
2023 already seems to be absolutely flying by. That said, a big welcome to this new year to all our new and returning families.
Around the school we see new students and teachers joining us and becoming part of our school whānau. We see the new building taking shape and look forward to being able to expand into occupying it once completed. There will be more information on milestones and progress coming as we look to build expectation and excitement around its completion.
2022 was the election year for school boards of trustees and we had three new trustees join us on the school board. Our Board already consisted of myself, and Kris Love and Ruia Harris, who share a co-opted role on the Board representing our Amesbury Māori Whānau group. Shyam Tumuluri, Chris Dey and Trejan Perera have all recently joined us and have quickly settled into adding value to the school through their contributions. Our website is in the process of being updated so you can go see the updated profiles of all your current trustees. Clicking on each photo will give you some further information about each of your representatives.
So what does the board do and what could you maybe offer as a board member? At a high level the board exists to manage the wellbeing and achievement of our children plus the well being of our staff team. We do this through looking at the vision and forward planning for the school, sharing the progress and achievement data and discussing how best to support continued progress.
To do this well and to represent our communities well, a board needs diversity, people with a passion or advocacy for learning, knowledge of governance, finance or property. All these are good but the most important desire is to see the very best outcomes for our children and staff.
We do still have one vacancy left to fill and, as a board, it is our intention to fill this vacancy through the selection process. This means doing a stocktake of the representation we already have on the board, and approaching people who may bring an aspect of representation we currently do not have to complement those already on the board and to further meet the needs of our community. If you are interested in putting yourself forward or just talking a bit more about what being a trustee actually means then please email me at bot@amesbury.school.nz to arrange a time to connect and ask any questions you may have. Being on the board means generally attending 10 meetings per year. Putting time into reading all the information relating to each meeting's agenda and helping review and update current school policies.
As term one already draws close to its end and we turn our thoughts to our first school break, if you are heading away stay safe and, wherever you are, have a fun filled time of replenishment.
John Bunting
Presiding Member Amesbury School Board
