Staff Update
We welcome a new release teacher to our team: Kieron Sexton is joining us all the way from Dublin, Ireland, having taught for five years in London. Kieron has been appointed as a full time teacher at Amesbury School for 2018, and he will be joining us as a release teacher for some of the time in Term 4, to allow him time to get to know the staff and students. We warmly welcome Kieron to our team.
Term 4 Inquiry
Our Term 4 inquiry is ‘Living Sustainably’ and is based around the provocation ‘What will my ecological footprint on our planet be?’ The inquiry is based around a number of key understandings:
Habitats are fragile and unique
We have an impact on our environment
The environment has an impact on us
Our actions can damage or conserve environments
With awareness and knowledge we can make a difference
We want a mindset that values and shows care for our world - Kaitiakitanga
This inquiry looks to be lots of fun, with some great links to our camps later in the term, which give us opportunities to explore some of our amazing environments and ecosystems around New Zealand.
Electives
We run a module of electives every term for 5 weeks. Electives run once a week for an hour and 20 minutes. Teachers offer a range of different activities and students across the school opt into an elective, which they then do for five sessions. We ask students to give us two choices, and students will get one of their two choices.
Through the year we will ask students to give us feedback on electives they would like us to offer, and teachers will choose from a wide and interesting range of options!
This term our electives are running in the first five weeks of term, and in answer to feedback from Harakeke students, we will be trialing running electives on Mondays, as a great way to start the week. The options for electives this term are:
Weaving; Be an Innovative Engineer; The World Peace Game; Games and Activities From Around the World; Painting; Bike Maintenance; Science; Making Little Gardens; Create Your Own Habitat; Chess Club; Block Printing; Make a Rubber Band Powered Car.
As you can see, a great range of choices! We look forward to seeing how these electives go over the next five weeks; they will start on the first day of term. Students opted into electives last term. If your child was away from school in the last week, they will opt into electives on the first day.
School Athletics
We will be holding our School Athletics days early in Term 4. Students had various aspects of athletics (throwing, running, jumping) as their focus for PE sessions on Wednesdays last term, along with gymnastics on Tuesdays or Thursdays. They now have a chance to put their skills into action in our athletics competitions. All Year 3-6 students will take part in athletics on Tuesday 17th October in Week 1 of the term, at Newtown Park. All Year 0-2 students will take part in athletics at school on Wednesday 25th October, in Week 2.
Please click here for further information on school athletics.
Term 4 camps and overnight stays
All students have the opportunity to take part in overnight stays or camps each year. Towards the end of Term 4 all teams will be running camps for students:
Year 0-2 students: Overnight camp at school, with a day trip to the ASB Sports Centre in Kilbirnie. *Students can choose to take part in the day trip to the sports centre, but not stay overnight at school. More information will be sent out about this trip / camp in the next few days. The day trip and overnight stay will be held on Thursday 7th December.
Year 3-4 students: Two day / overnight stay at Palm Grove camp in Waikanae. This camp includes a day of camp rotations at Palm Grove and a day at Nga Manu Nature Reserve, exploring the unique ecosystems within this area of coastal lowland swamp forest. This camp will form part of the transition programme being run for Year 3 and 4 students as Year 3 students move across from Koru Hub to Harakeke Hub. This camp will be held on Thursday 30th Nov and Friday 1st December.
Year 5-6 students: Week-long camp at Curious Cove in the Marlborough Sounds, South Island. This will be a fabulous opportunity for students to explore the unique environment of a beautiful part of the world. This senior camp will run from Monday 27th Nov - Friday 1st Dec.
Surf Life Saving Program
Towards the end of term all students have the fabulous opportunity of taking part in a Surf Life Saving Programme, run by Surf Life Saving New Zealand. This is very timely, given the summer break coming up, with many of our students spending some time over the holiday at the beach or close to water.
Due to a change in dates for our Year 3 and 4 camp, we have swapped the Yr 3 and 4 Surf Life Saving days with the Year 0-2 days. The revised dates are listed below, and are on our school calendar. The article sent out about Surf Life Saving last term has also been amended with these dates. Here is a link to the article.
A consent form must be filled in for every student, even if you do not want your child to participate in this programme. We do not yet have responses for all students. If you have not already done so, please complete a consent form for each child:
Te Rito Surf Life Saving Consent Form
Koru Hub Surf Life Saving Consent Form
Harakeke Hub Surf Life Saving Consent Form
Term 4 Dates
As always, our school events are all added to our school calendar as soon as we become aware of them. Please follow this link to our school calendar, housed on our school website and the school app. Some events may be added to our calendar as we go through the term, so please keep an eye on the weeks coming up on the calendar. Here are the main school events to date:
Week 1: Mon 16th Oct - term starts
Week 1: Tues 17th Oct - Year 3-6 Athletics at Newtown Park all day Article
Week 2: Mon 23rd Oct - Labour Day public holiday, school closed
Week 2: Wed 25th Oct - Year 0-2 Athletics at school 10am-12:30pm Article
Week 3: Mon 30th Oct - School Powhiri for new students 2:30pm in hall
Week 3: Mon 30th Oct - New Entrant Parent Session 3:30 - 4:30pm in Te Rito
Week 4: Mon 6th Nov - Yr 4-6 Northern Zone Athletics Competition
Week 4: Wed 8th Nov - Yr 0-2 Athletics postponement day
Week 5: Wed 15th Nov - Community Evening event 5:30 - 7pm
Week 5: Sat 18th Nov - Senior Camp Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraiser
Week 6: Tues 21st Nov - Year 4-6 Inter Zone Athletics Competition
Week 6: Wed 22nd - Mon 27th Nov - Scholastic Book Fair at school
Week 7: Mon 27th - Fri 1st - Year 5 and 6 South Island Camp Article
Week 7: Wed 29th Nov - Te Rito Surf Life Saving programme Article
Week 7: Thurs 30th Nov and Fri 1st Dec - Year 3 and 4 at Palm Grove Article
Week 7: Thurs 30th Nov and Fri 1st Dec - Year 1-2 Koru Surf Life Saving Article
Week 8: Mon 4th and Tues 5th Dec - Year 3 and 4 Surf Life Saving Article
Week 8: Tues 5th Dec - Year 4-6 Regional Athletics Competition
Week 8: Wed 6th Dec - Year 4 Road Patrol Training (at school)
Week 8: Thurs 7th Dec - Year 1 and 2 ASB Sports Centre trip / overnight stay at school
Week 8: Fri 8th Dec - Year 5 and 6 Surf Life Saving Article
Week 9: Mon 11th Dec - Year 6 Graduation Dinner at school 5:30 - 7:30pm
Week 9: Tues 12th Dec - Term 4 Learning Celebration 1:45 - 2:50pm in hall
Week 9: Wed 13th Dec - Year 4-6 End of Year Reports go live on ALF
Week 9: Thurs 14th Dec - school fun 10:30 -1pm (water play, sausage sizzle, picnic)
Week 9: Thurs 14th Dec - school closes for the year at 1pm
Enjoy the last few days of the break and we look forward to seeing you all next week.
Warm regards,
The Amesbury team
