Reading Together® at Amuri Area School

2019

The following extract is from the Amuri Area School Newsletter (No. 17, Week 6, 7 June 2019) available here:

Reading Together® 
Another great night on Wednesday where participants braved the cold to spend time in the library with a focus on choosing appropriate books for their child.  Thanks to all that came along to support their child's development. ...  This course was oversubscribed which is a real indication of the level of engagement our parents have with their children.

Immigration New Zealand published an article in Dec 2018 titled 'Class act' available here. Extracts from the article follow:

A new Ministry of Education pilot programme is employing part-time Bilingual Support Workers in schools around New Zealand. At Amuri Area School, the programme is already proving its worth. ...
Leila is one of fifty Bilingual Support Workers who have been employed in a pilot programme to support new migrant students in state and state-integrated schools.
Leila's ten-hour-a-week position embraces a number of roles, says Migrant Student Co-ordinator Claire McCarthy. ...
Leila also has a broader, often after-hours, role as a bridge between the school, Amuri's longstanding residents, and the Filipino community. ...

A year earlier, Leila had worked with Claire to bring Filipino parents to a series of four evening Reading Together® workshops.
For time-constrained Filipino families where often one partner had to rise at 4am to milk cows and the other was commuting to Hanmer to work in the hotels, motels and holiday homes, this meant a serious commitment. But the workshops were a great success, says Claire.
"I remember one of the mums looking around the workshop and saying, with surprise, 'We are all Filipinos!' They were delighted to be there, and we were delighted too. It meant they were committed to helping their kids read at home."

2020

The following extract is from the Amuri Area School Newsletter July 2020 available here:

Reading Together® Workshop

Dear Parents of Amuri Area School

Following on from our three very popular Reading Together® Courses we would really like you to consider taking part in our Reading Together® workshop programme for parents. I am sure you will find it of great help for yourself and your child(ren) as you support their education. We all know how important reading is for children to succeed. One of the things that really helps children to become good readers is support from home. The Reading Together® workshops will show you best how to do this. A huge number of parents nationwide have already attended these workshops and found the programme very helpful, indeed we have already run three very successful workshops here at Amuri Area School.

The programme is FREE! We can even help with childcare costs if you need it and it will REALLY help your children to become much better readers. In particular, it helps children to UNDERSTAND what they are reading and helps you to form strong bonds and make reading a positive family experience.