Recapitation Survey
As I said in my editorial, this year is likely to be the last opportunity we will have to apply to become a year 1 - 8 school. Once the new building’s foundations go down, there will no longer be an adequate building site on the Amesbury grounds for a further build. Hence, any additional provision will need to be included as part of this new build. Indications are that there will be a much more positive response to an application to include year 7/8 this time around having been turned down 3 times already. However, it is a lot of work to put an application together and the Board of Trustees is very keen to be sure that this is what parents want. Included in this article (several times) is the link to a very simple survey, so that you can let us know what you think.
The intention of applying for recapitation is not to reduce choice, but to increase it. The question we are asking is: “Are you interested in having the choice of your child remaining at Amesbury School for year 7/8?”
In considering your answer to this question, it is important to understand that Newlands Intermediate is over-subscribed and may have to reduce its zone even further by removing the Amesbury part of Churton Park from its zone. Thus in the near future, it is possible that our students will not have the choice to attend Newlands Intermediate. Raroa Intermediate is also very full. Hence, there is a very strong argument for having year 7/8 provision at Amesbury School. However, we fully understand that parents may be looking for different things in a year 7/8 education some of which might be better provided for at a bigger school. Hence, the question we are asking is not whether you would send your child to year 7/8 at Amesbury School, but whether you would like to have the option.
If we receive overwhelming support from parents for recapitation, the next step will then be to talk to the schools in our network to try to gain their support (or, at the very least, their agreement to not oppose our application). In the past, a few of the schools in our network have been strongly opposed to the possibility of our school recapitating. It would be very helpful if this has changed.
Please fill out this Recapitation Survey as quickly as possible. We are on a tight timeline for getting this application done.
Nga mihi nui
Lesley
