Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kura o Amesbury.
We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone back for Term 3 on Monday at Amesbury School.
A very warm welcome to all whānau (families), especially those joining our kura (school) for the first time. We hope you have enjoyed the holidays and took the opportunity to rest, recharge, and spend time with your whānau. Our kaimahi (teachers and support staff) are looking forward to another exciting term of learning with our ākonga (learners).
This article contains some basic admin information for Term 3, along with details about our continuation of Module 2 learning and the main events that are coming up this term. It is relevant for ngā ākonga (learners) throughout the kura. If you have more than one tamaiti (child) at kura, you will receive an email for each tamaiti. However, you only need to read the following information once!
Whānau Groups
Koru Hub has eight whānau groups and Pōhutukawa Hub has six.
The role of your child’s whānau teacher is to act as a learning advocate for your tamaiti (child) at kura. They are your first port of call if you have any questions, comments or concerns about kura (school) or your tamaiti. The whānau teacher is not your child’s overall ‘class teacher’ - most ākonga (learner) will work with kaiako (teacher) throughout the year, but the whānau teacher will have particular oversight of your tamaiti.
Our teaching teams for Term 3 2025 are:
Koru Hub new entrant group (Māwhero): Angela Herman-Childs & Wee Ai Teh.
Koru Hub main group: Amaria Picard (team leader), Hannah Sadler (team leader support), Aleesha Majaw Monisse, Lily Patrick-Duncan, Sophia Hughes, Kate Dammer and Lauren Brown.
Pōhutukawa Year 4, 5 and 6 whānau groups: Rupert Webb (team leader), Gar Kee Wu, Brydon Gillam, Charlotte Montu and Rachel Hosnell. Sarah King & Amelia Prendeville share a whānau group. Sarah works Monday-Wednesday & Amelia Monday-Friday.
Emma Murdoch is currently on maternity leave and will return to kura (school) in Week 6 of Term 3.
Release teachers: Katherine Somcio, Charlene Laing, Bina Chauhan, and Amelia Prendeville.
Learning support team: Sara Saunders (Māwhero), Navy Ny, Gerri Ng and Lida Ny (Koru) and Nic Love (Pōhutukawa) are our teacher aides who support ākonga with their learning.
Lida Ny is joining our team this term for the rest of the year. We are delighted to have her join Koru Hub. Lida is Kairi's mum, and also Navy's niece - keeping it in the family!
English Language Learner support teacher (working in both hubs): Kirat Singh
Mandarin Language Assistant: Yilin delivers Mandarin and extension Mandarin learning across the kura.
Senior Leadership Team: Urs Cunningham - Principal and Jenny King Associate Principal (SENCO).
Koru Hub information
Our Hub will be open from 8.30 am, and ngā kaiako (teachers) will be here to welcome all ākonga (learners).
Ākonga from Wee Ai's and Angela’s whānau will be based in Māwhero (pink carpet) and can enter by the large sliding doors next to the library. Ākonga will need to take their shoes off before coming into the space. Kaiako will then be available to show your tamaiti (child) where to put their bag and how to sign in. A ‘What’s On?’ timetable will be projected on a big screen, showing ākonga what to expect throughout the day.
Ākonga from Hannah, Lily, Aleesha, Kate, Sophia & Lauren’s whānau are also asked to take their shoes off before entering the learning space and sign in before finding their bag space. A ‘What’s On?’ timetable screen will be visible to help them settle into the day.
At the end of the day, ākonga in Wee Ai and Angela’s whānau can be picked up from Māwhero by parents, caregivers, or older siblings. The rest of Koru Hub will continue with the usual pickup from the basketball court or drop-off zone. If your tamaiti is being picked up from the drop-off zone, please remind them to head there at the end of the day.
Pōhutukawa Hub information
Our hub will also be open at 8.30 am, and ngā kaiako (teachers) will be there to welcome all ākonga.
We ask that ākonga enter through the door closest to their whānau space. Shoes should be removed and neatly placed on the shoe racks outside their area before entering the hub. School bags will also need to be placed in their whānau space.
Each morning, ākonga will need to sign themselves in using the TV screen set up for this purpose. A ‘What’s On?’ schedule will be projected on a big screen, outlining the day's plan and any notices. At the end of the day, ākonga are released from the hub at 2:55 pm.
*Before-School Reminder
As mentioned above, hubs are open for ākonga from 8:30am onwards. We ask that ākonga do not arrive before 8:30am, as they are not supervised by kaiako at this time.
Kelly Club operates a care programme before kura (school) for ākonga who need to arrive earlier. Please visit the Kelly Club page on our website for more information.
We encourage all ākonga to be at kura by 8:45am, allowing time to settle in, put bags away, check the day’s timetable, and connect with friends and kaiako before the bell rings.
Communications - HERO
We use LINC-ED Hero for all our communication, learning and administration at Amesbury School. Here is a link with step-by-step instructions for setting up a new Hero parent account. Hero will be regularly updated with school admin information, upcoming events, and general educational updates, as well as notices about events happening in our local community. You can also find tips and tricks for using Hero effectively in this helpful guide.
Any public notices will also be published on our kura (school) website.
Koru & Pōhutukawa Learning Sites
Each hub has its own website where you can find the hub timetable overview and links to current planning. These sites are open-access and can be viewed by anyone.
Please note: no personal student information or names are included in any of the planning shared on these public sites. Any documents containing specific names or personal details are kept private and can only be accessed by Amesbury staff.
You can find links to each hub's learning site here, and this article explains how to locate them from our main kura website.
Inquiry Module 2 – Living in the Pacific
This module started last term and will run through to Week 6 of Term 3.
Across the school, we will be exploring three big ideas:
Aotearoa New Zealand is a unique place, made up of two main islands and forming part of a wider group of countries known as the Pacific.
Local, national, and Pacific connections have been shaped over time by voyaging, discovery, trade, and tourism.
Places change over time due to human activity, access to resources, and the natural environment.
Ākonga will engage in a range of learning experiences including reading, locating, and drawing maps as they explore the Pacific. They will learn why certain places were established in particular regions, how and why people travel between them, and explore the similarities and differences among Pacific cultures.
There will also be a strong focus on the arts, visual arts, dance, and sound arts, to support and deepen this learning. In addition to this, we are excited to let you know that starting in Term 3, we will be welcoming Te Hau from Inano Dance into our kura each week. Te Hau will be sharing her skills and knowledge of Pasifika dance and culture, helping our ākonga grow in confidence, connection, and cultural understanding. She will work with Pōhutukawa Hub one week and then Koru Hub the next, alternating each week throughout the term. We’re really looking forward to this special opportunity and know our ākonga will thoroughly enjoy it!
Term 3 Health Module
This term, the focus on health is on capability and continuous learning.
Year 1-2 ākonga will focus on what a capable learner is, identifying things that are tricky and ways to persevere, understanding that it is okay to make mistakes, and knowing the difference between a close friend and a good learning buddy. They will also explore strategies they can use when they are stuck, positive self-talk, what problems they can solve themselves, as well as what it is to be a continuous learner.
Year 3-4 ākonga will learn about making wise choices in person and online, and how to make the best decision in any given moment. They will look at healthy online habits, including how to use a device to help their learning and their posture when working on a chromebook. They’ll explore what it means to be a continuous learner and share things they are curious about.
Year 5-6 ākonga will learn about practical wisdom - responding or acting appropriately in a given situation, using their prior experience. They will evaluate websites, and learn to be a critical consumer of information and ideas. They will look at how to balance their online and offline time, and the choices they need to make to achieve this. They will explore how to become a life-long learner, asking questions about the world and seeking the answers, at school and outside of school.
Our full planning for Term 3 can be found here.
Sharing and celebrating learning
Throughout the term, kaiako (teachers) will upload learning posts to your child’s Hero profile. These posts will include examples or explanations of the learning your tamaiti has done. You’ll receive a notification through your Hero account when a new post is added. As ākonga progress in their learning and achieve goals, their goals will be marked as achieved and new goals will be set. In each key learning area—reading, writing, and maths—there will be a statement showing where your tamaiti is currently working. If you have any trouble setting up or accessing your Hero account, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s whānau teacher for support.
Student conferences: Term 3: Week 6 - Wed 20th and Thurs 21st August Student conferences - parents and whānau have a 20-minute in-person conference with their tamaiti (child)’s whānau teacher.
Every fortnight, both hubs will come together on Fridays to share and celebrate all the awesome things we’ve noticed happening across the kura (school). These gatherings are informal and are a great way to highlight the amazing learning and moments happening across the term. At the end of each term, our final share and celebrate event will include the presentation of the Amesbury Awesomeness Award from each hub.
Sports in Term 3
All ākonga (learners) will participate in weekly PE sessions, along with daily fitness and movement activities.
In addition to this, during Term 3:
Thursdays starting from Week 1 - Pōhutukawa Hub ākonga will have eight swimming lessons. The ākonga not swimming will be doing P.E. while their peers are swimming.
Tuesday 22 July - Junior Swimming Carnival
Tuesday to Thursday 2 - 4 September (tbc) - Futsal Festival
Monday 8 September - Senior Swimming Sports
Clothing and Lost Property
Named items will be handed directly back to your tamaiti (child). A small lost property box will be located in the main office for unnamed items. Clearly named items will not be held here.
To help ensure lost items are returned quickly and easily, please make sure that all uniform and clothing items are very clearly named before the start of term. As ngā ākonga (learners) will often be the ones reading the names, it’s important that names are clear and easy to read. We recommend using fabric label pens, name stamps, or iron-on name tags to make items easily identifiable.
Toys and Personal Belongings
We generally don’t recommend that ākonga bring beloved toys or special personal items to kura. However, we understand there may be good reasons for some ākonga to bring items from home. If your tamaiti (child) chooses to bring a toy or other personal item, it must be kept in their bag during learning time. Please note that we cannot take responsibility for lost, broken, or traded items.
In Pōhutukawa Hub, we have said no football trading cards to be brought to school, due to issues with lost, traded or stolen cards.
Absences
Schools are legally required to account for the safe whereabouts of each tamaiti (child) every day, so notification to the school office should be before 9am if ākonga will be more than 15 minutes late or will not be attending kura (school). Please provide a reason for a late arrival/absence as kura are required to record this information. Absence notifications can be made by:
Hero app (preferred way - most efficient)
Email – office@amesbury.school.nz
Telephone – 04 477 3423
Text – 021 86 55 28
If your tamaiti arrives at kura any time from 9:00am, they must sign in at the office, not in the hub.
All absences are to be advised to the office, with extended leave requests of more than a week sent to the tumuaki (Principal).
Some Important Term 3 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. 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:
Thursday 17 July - Mihi Whakatau
Monday 21 July - NZ Playhouse show - The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Tuesday 5th August - ICAS Digital Technology Exam (for those signed up)
Tuesday 12th August - ICAS English (reading) Exam (for those signed up)
Tuesday 19th August - ICAS Science Exam (for those signed up)
Wednesday 20 August - Student conferences
Thursday 21 August - Student conferences
Tuesday 26 August - Dance Splash rehearsals (morning) and show (evening)
Tuesday 26th August - ICAS Maths Exam (for those signed up)
Friday 5 September - School Disco
Saturday 13 September - St Brigid's Kapa Haka Festival
Friday 19 September - Last day of Term 3
We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 14 July.
Ngā mihi nui,
The Amesbury Team
