Staffing
We will sadly be saying goodbye to several staff members at the end of this term. As previously mentioned, Gemma will be leaving at the end of the year. Gemma and Shane and their two young twins have moved up the coast, and Gemma is looking for more local part time work to fit in with the needs of her whānau. We will be very sad to see her go, and we have loved having Gemma as part of our team.
Bronwyn joined us in term 2 this year on a fixed term contract for the year, and will be leaving at the end of term 4. Bronwyn has been a very valued member of the Koru team, and we have really enjoyed working with her.
A reminder that Amaria Picard will be on study leave for most of 2023, as she studies to become fluent in te reo Māori. Amaria will be at school for the first six weeks of term 1, until her study begins.
We would also like to let the community know that at some point later next year Lisa Bengtsson and her whānau will be heading overseas. Lisa's husband, Magnus, is from Sweden, and it has always been part of her family's plan to raise their two children for some years in Aotearoa New Zealand, and some years in Sweden. At this point it looks like Lisa will be with us for about half of the year, and will look to move to Sweden in the second half of the year. As a foundation member of the Amesbury team we will be tremendously sad to see Lisa leave, but it will be an incredibly exciting shift for their whānau and a great opportunity for them all.
We have made two new appointments for 2023:
- Jingwen Zhang will be joining Harakeke Hub next year. Jingwen is currently a Chinese and te reo Māori teacher at Hutt International Boys' School. Jingwen is originally from China, and was a teacher in Xiamen.
- Sophia Hughes will be joining Koru Hub as a beginning teacher next year. Sophia is from Aotearoa and is a very passionate advocate of meeting the individual needs of every learner.
- Ciara Lynch has joined us this term as a part time release teacher in Koru Hub, and she will continue to be a release teacher with us in 2023.
Learning teams for 2023
Koru Hub: Angela, Hannah, Sonali, Gina, Davina, and Sophia
- Angela and Hannah will work in Kōwhai with our newest five year old tamariki.
- Gina, Davina, Sonali and Sophia will work in the main group in Koru, where our older year 1s and all of our year 2 students will be. Sonali will be the team leader in this hub, and Angela will be the learning lead teacher. Later in the year, a seventh teacher will join the team full time as numbers grow.
- Ciara will be a release teacher in Koru Hub.
Harakeke Hub: Jemima, Natalie, Eilis, Rupert, and Jingwen
The Harakeke team will teach our year 3 and 4 ākonga.
Natalie will be the team leader in this hub next year, and Jemima will be the learning lead teacher. Rupert, Eilis and Jingwen will be teaching in Harakeke.
Pōhutukawa Hub: Kalesha, Onaitta, Lisa, Gar Kee, and Brent
Pōhutukawa will have all of our year 5 and 6 ākonga, and a small number of year 4 ākonga. We will contact you a little later this term if your year 4 tamariki will be in this hub.
Kalesha will be the team leader, and Onaitta will be the learning lead teacher. Brent and Gar Kee will be teaching in the team. Lisa will be the learning partner in the team for three days each week, and she will continue in the Across School Role in our Kāhui Ako cluster of schools, working across all schools for two days each week.
Across school learning team:
Kirat will be our ELL (English language learner) teacher across the school, and she will also work for one day per week in the library.
Navy will continue as our fabulous learning assistant across the school. Navy works full time with individual students and small groups of students as needed, particularly supporting with literacy learning, English language development, and pastoral and wellbeing support as needed.
Yamama will continue to work the equivalent of one day per week as our Arabic Bilingual Support Worker. Yamama supports our Arabic-speaking students in their learning, their development and use of English, and also with pastoral support, where needed.
Jenny will continue in her role of learning support across the school, and will also be the learning partner in Harakeke Hub.
Demelza will continue as the leader of our Design of Learning team, working with all learning lead teachers. She will also be the learning partner for Koru Hub.
For more information about the role of learning partner, please see this article.
