March 30, 2010

We welcome Sebastian Campbell to Muritai School in room 3. We farewell Annie Isaacs; Sophie, Christian and Clayton Wake; Natalie Dunn; and Grace Manson from Muritai and wish them and their families well on their next journey.

The short term has come to an end. It has been a bit of a scramble but we feel that we are in a nice cycle of learning, the classes have settled well and teachers have made good gains building class cultures and establishing learning goals for the the children. Next term is our big one - 11 weeks and now that goals and relationships are established the children will continue to produce a good body of work to share their progress at portfolio, reporting and interview time at the end of term 2.

The children deserve a good rest. They are very tired at the moment but have put in a good effort in term 1. I am sure they will enjoy their holiday break and return on 19 April raring to go.

STAFFING

Next term we start a New Entrants class in room 1 with Margs Mills-Smith teaching in there until Barbara Ryan returns from her science teacher expedition. Click on Barbara's blog and read what Mrs Ryan is up to on her science journey.

We wish two of our departing staff all the very best for their next journey. Sarah Tweedie has been at the school as a teacher aide, a teacher trainee and over the last 4 weeks in between room 2 and 3 as a teacher. Sarah starts her first class at Belmont School next term. We wish you every success Sarah and know that the children of Belmont are very lucky.

Vanessa MacPherson is off on maternity leave for the rest of the year. We wish her and Glenn all the very best for the safe arrival of baby 'number 2'.

Next term we welcome back to the school our usual part-time teaching staff - Hayley Crawford (Y5-6), Ruth Holmes (Y3-4), Liz Sullivan (Y1-2) and a special welcome back to the original Miss M - Michelle Hollard who taught at Muritai until 2004. Michelle will be release teacher in Y7-8. Priya Gain will increase her part-time capacity by an extra day to run a 'Mantle of the Expert' enrichment programme in Y3-4 next term.

We welcome Leah Thompson (R22), Elizabeth Radich (R11) and Sabeshan Gnanan (R14) to the school as student teachers. They will be here until week 6 of term 2.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

At the last Board meeting Tim Wake stepped down as Chairperson as he and his family are transferring to Auckland. Tim has contributed immensely to the school in strategic, charter and policy development and I would like to pass on my thanks to Tim for the time and effort he has contributed to the school as a Board member and as Chairperson. Peter Schroder replaces Tim as Chairperson for the April meeting.

WHACKY HAIR DAY FOR AUTISM
Get out the sparkly hairspray, the coloured ribbons and colour for our Whacky Hair Day. Children can come to school tomorrow, Thursday 1 April,  with “whacky hair” and make a gold coin donation. Money raised will be going towards our Autism programme.


SLIPPERS AND LOST PROPERTY
With winter nearly upon us, we encourage students to bring slippers to keep at school. Students are required to take their shoes off before entering the buildings during terms 2 and 3. Students who have slippers to wear not only help keep our corridors free of mud but are also nice and warm during those cold Wellington winter days.

The battle continues with our lost property boxes which are often over flowing with designer labels. We have managed to move about 40% of the lost property this week. Lost property will be displayed in front of the main block in the afternoons.   We would really appreciate it if you could make sure that your child’s clothing is clearly named and when searching through the lost property please check that it is left in a tidy condition.

SENIOR SCHOOL MOSAIC

Thank you to Nancy Barclay and Ellen Giggenbach for the mosaic in the senior school entranceway. You can watch how it all came together on this short clip.

LAUGHTON KING

This excellent speaker spoke to the parents last night on Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia. Laughton has written 3 books on engaging reluctant learners. If you would like to purchase copies of these you can email Andrew .

SKULLDUGGERY - DEREK LANDY

Some of our year 6-7 students were lucky to see Derek Landy, author of the Skullduggery series, speak at Wellesley School today. You can see the details of their visit by clicking here.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES ELECTION

Nomination forms are due back in to the office by NOON on FRIDAY 23 APRIL not, as stated on the nomination forms, on Friday 28 April.  A newsletter has been produced with comments from our retiring Board members on being part of the Board of Trustees and Tim Wake, Chairperson, was interviewed as part of Muritai TV. If you would like any further information on being a Board member, please feel free to call Andrew Bird.

HOME AND SCHOOL

On Monday evening Home and School had a meeting to run through fundraising options for the year. Entertainment books will be coming home next term. If you are not interested in purchasing you just return it but if you are then you purchase it - just like the chocolates. The carnival will be going ahead later in the year - many people have expressed a desire to help and so we have a carnival meeting first week back at 7.30pm in the staffroom on Wednesday 21 April.  If you are interested in being on the Carnival Committee, we would love to see you at this meeting. 

OUT OF SCHOOL CARE EASTER HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

Muritai Out of School Care are providing a school holiday programme during the coming holidays. There will be lots of exciting activities such as Glow in the Dark Mini Golf, Bead Bonanza, Visit to Somes Island and more. Check out our brochure on-line or pick one up from the office. Complete the enrolment form and return to the office with full payment to ensure a place for your child/ren.

HOOKED ON BOOKS

This fantastic reading programme for our students in Years 1 to 4 is carried out each year by our wonderful parents and caregivers. If you have some time next term to take part in this then please email me or contact me as soon as possible so that I can complete the roster. I need adults who are willing to encourage and support some of our students with their daily reading during school hours, either once each week or on a two week cycle. The times can be either first thing in the morning when you drop your child off or during the afternoon when you collect them. If you know of any grandparents or other people in our community who have an hour to spare and who would be interested in this could you also let me know? I will run a quick five minute meeting after school in the first week of the term to show you what the children will be doing with you. Maureen Buckley

HEALTH ISSUES

Summer and Autumn are the times of the year for increased chances of getting serious skin infections from cuts, grazes, burns and insect bites. Cleaning and covering as soon as possible are the most important ways to look after stings, bites, cuts, grazes and burns.

Looking After Sores

1. Wash hands with soapy water for 20 seconds and dry for 20 seconds before cleaning the wound.

2. Use a clean cloth. Put a cup of warm water and ½ a teaspoon of salt in a basin and use the cloth to soak and wash the sores. Put the cloth in the rubbish. Alternatively clean the wound with running tap water and a clean cloth.

3. Dry sores with a clean cloth. Put the cloth in the rubbish.

4. Cover the sores with a fabric sticking plaster (change plaster daily).

5. Wash hands again and dry them really well (20 second rule).

6. Cut nails as germs live under long fingernails. It also helps lower the chance of scratches.

7. Go to the doctor if the sore or redness has one of the following:

• Is the size of a 10-cent coin or bigger.

• Has pus

• Is getting bigger.

• Has red streaks coming from it.

• Is not getting better within 2 days

• Any sore or redness near the eye needs to be seen by a doctor urgently.

Additional information can be found at http://www.skininfections.co.nz/facts.htm

DENTAL CLINIC

The Dental Clinic will be closed for Term 2 (19 April to 2 July 2010) as Mandy and Sarah will be at Randwick School. For any enquiries, please call 562-8915. The phone will divert to Randwick Clinic. The Clinic is open from Mondays to Wednesdays. Thank you - Mandy McMaster.

HOT DOGS
Thank you for all those parents who have volunteered to help make hot dogs for children over the winter terms. Hot dogs will be on sale starting the first week of Term 2 through to the end of Term 3. If your child would like a hot dog, please put $3 in an envelope marked with their name, how many hot dogs they would like and whether they would like tomato sauce. Envelopes need to go to teachers please. First day for hot dogs is Wednesday 21 April.

SPORT

Touch Rugby

An amazing end to what has been a very enjoyable touch competition. All teams played in the finals and 3 of our teams were playing for first and second place.

The results…

• Flyers played HIS Dolphins and lost 3-2 in extra time. The Flyers finished 6th.

• Rockets played in the grand final against OLR Eels and lost 1-0. The Rockets finished 2nd.

• Storm played in the grand final against OLR Broncos and won 7-3. The Storm finished 1st.

• Sharks played the Tigers and lost 5-4. The Sharks finished 8th.

• Bears played SSPP Dragons and lost 10-2. The Bears finished 6th.

• Eagles played in the grand final against Boulcott Comets and won 6-2. The Eagles finished 1st.

A very special thank you to all of the players – you all did Muritai and yourselves very proud. Also, a huge thank you to all of the parents who coached, supervised and supported the teams. The competition would not have been as successful without you.  Please remember to return all uniforms to Mr Hull (Room 12) in a named plastic bag. Let’s do it all again in Term 4!

Year 5-6 Zone Swimming

What a fabulous event we had at the Central Zone Swimming Sports on Tuesday the 23rd of March. Competition was very tough and many records were broken. Six of our Muritai swimmers made it through to the Inter Zone Swimming Sports held on Tuesday the 30th of March at NaeNae Pool. This is a huge achievement for these students and they have done incredibly well to make it this far.Those swimmers are:

Dorrie Brennan (competing in an amazing 4 events!)

Hailey Griffiths (competing in 2 events)

Ella Tait (competing in 1 event)

William Langley (competing in 1 event)

Milly Griffiths (competing in 1 event)

Caitlyn Leong (competing in 1 event)

Special congratulations and thanks to all swimmers for your participation. Also, thank you very much to the support from the parents who help make these events run smoothly.

Hutt Regional Interschool Swimming Sports
On Monday 29th March the best year 7/8 swimmers from Muritai competed against other schools at Naenae in the Hutt Regional Interschool Swimming Sports. It was a fantastic opportunity for these selected students to extend themselves against fresh competition. All the students did incredibly well with Jessica Woodnorth placing 2nd in the year 8 girls 100m freestyle event and Iman Holden placing 3rd in the year 8 Girls 50m freestyle event. Congratulations girls.

Underwater Hockey
On Saturday the year 7/8 students had the opportunity to participate in the first underwater hockey tournament of the year. With two teams entered and most players new to the sport both teams put up commendable efforts placing 5th and 6th. Hopefully with increased experience the Muritai teams will be able to receive higher accolades in future tournaments.


COMMUNITY

Learn to Play Tennis

Holiday Programme For Primary School Children Supported by HVTA Dates: Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 April, 2010 (wet or fine )Venue: Mitchell Park (Mitchell Street, Lower Hutt)Timetable: 9.00am-10.00 am- Girls from 5-8 years old10.00am-11.00 am- Boys from 5-8 years old11.00am-12.00 noon- Girls from 9 years +1.00pm-2.00 pm- Boys from 9 years +Cost: $28.00 for the 3 days. Money to be paid on the first day.Registration: Contact Gary Nelson –Ph. 5897178 or Email - a.nelson@xtra.co.nzBy—Wednesday 31 March, 2010. EARLY ENROLMENT is advised as this programme is very popular and the first 12 enrolments in each age group will be accepted.

Staglands School Holiday Special

Children half price every week day of the school holidays. Get out and about and run wild at Staglands these school holidays. All children are half price every week day (excluding Good Friday and Easter Monday). This means it's only $4 per child with 3 years and under still no charge. It's a great excuse to pack a picnic and head up the Akatarawa Valley for a relaxing day out and about. We hope to see you over the break. Please note: this offer is not available in conjunction with any other special offer and ends Friday 16th April 2010. Excludes Good Friday and Easter Monday. http://www.staglands.co.nz/Wellington’s hidden treasure

Alliance Francaise - After School French Lessons.
We expect to continue sessions on Tuesdays in the second term subject to sufficient interest from students. If you are interested in French lessons for your children, please contact Alliance Francaise - Nathalie Buckrell, Schools Programme Coordinator, Alliance Francaise Wellington, 04 472 12 72, alliance@paradise.net.nz

Fair Trade Organic Coffee - Locally Roasted
Locally run coffee company, Wellington Coffee Co-op, provides Fair Trade Organic coffee at very reasonable prices. For $30 a kg, we can provide beans or ground coffee, in 200g, 250g, 500g or 1kg bags. Free delivery to your door within the Eastbourne area. For a menu or any further details, please email us on wgtncoffeecoop@xtra.co.nz.

March 17, 2010

NAU MAI E TE WHANAU O TE KURA MURITAI

TENA KOUTOU KATOA

Welcome to our new newsletter format. This format will give you quick links around the school if you want to investigate any information further. We welcome Cella Connell, Lachlan McLachlan, Maz Cameron and James Downing to Muritai.

BUSY TIMES

The last 2 weeks seem to have been a bit of a blur. Staff have been very busy with school events as well as analysing student achievement information. Each team has had a day together to look closely at the children in their team and to develop action plans around the next steps for various groups within syndicates. This moderation and team approach helps team leaders to focus their staff on planning to best meet the needs of the children in their classrooms. Although our achievement at Muritai is generally very high, each team has identified key focus targets in reading, writing and maths for the year. These will be discussed with the Board and published shortly.

DYSLEXIA

As a staff we meet weekly for professional development, school planning or moderation of student work. On Monday we had an excellent session with Laughton King on learning difficulties, his experiences growing up with dyslexia and what it was like coping in a language heavy school environment. He painted a very clear picture of living in a world of pictures, not words. If you have visited Sarah Richardson's blog you would have seen the work we are doing to become better educators at working with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. We have invited Laughton back to Muritai because we think many parents would value hearing his message.

We are running an evening for parents on Tuesday the 30th March from 7-9 p.m. with Laughton King who will speak about dyslexia, learning difficulties and also cooperative parenting. Despite having learning difficulties Laughton has a masters degree and is a practising psychologist, mediator, author, public speaker and trainer. His personal story of overcoming his own learning issues is inspiring and informative.

There is a suggested koha of $5 per person to cover Laughton's travel costs and this represents excellent value.

YEAR 5 AND 6 FOREST LAKE CAMP

The Year 5 and 6 Team are home after a very successful week at Forest Lakes Camp, just north of Otaki. The weather was very kind to us, especially on the Tuesday and Wednesday. The students took part in a wide variety of exciting activities including the infamous mudslide and waterslide, horse riding, kayaking, abseiling, the flying fox and confidence course. Several Year 6 students opted to sleep in tents on Wednesday night (only to be woken at the crack of dawn by the local noisy rooster!) Thursday was spent at the beach in Waikanae, then a visit to Nga Manu Bird Sanctuary. A special thank you to all the fantastic parents who gave up their precious time to spend the week with us. We really value your help as the camp would not have been successful without you. (Stu Devenport)

If I may pay tribute to Stu Devenport and his team of Lisa, Ruth, Holly, Pete, Matt, Romy for their organisation, goodwill, dedication and enthusiasm to provide such a supportive environment for the children. Thanks team (Andrew)

SWIMMING SPORTS

We have held 2 very successful swimming sports recently. The Year 5-8 sports, coordinated by a team led by Mikaela Cody, went off without a hitch and was much enjoyed by the children who really gave it their all, showing a high level of skill. Congratulations to Cook for winning the house relay and Charters for being champion house overall. You can view action footage of the swimming sports here. The year 3-4 swim carnival at Eastbourne pool was equally successful. A real team effort from the year 3-4 teachers saw the sports run smoothly with great support from parents. The quality of the swimming augurs well for the future. You can view some action photos on Mrs Chao's class blog.

Year 5-6 Swim Champions

Year 8 - Jack Griffiths and Scott Manson, Jessica Woodnorth; Year 7 - Levi Walton; Lily Giles; Year 6 - Hayley Griffiths; Xavier Manson; Year 5 - Harry Crawford; Dorrie Brennan

Year 7-8 Zone Sports

Raihania Chadwick took a team of 25 year 7-8 children to Huia Pool where they overwhelmed the other schools in their zone comfortably securing champion school status. Many of the zone place-getters will represent Lower Hutt in the regional champs later in the term.

Year 5-6 Zone Sports

We wish Peter Hull and his team of year 5-6 swimmers well next Tuesday at the Central zone swim champs at Huia Pool.

PARENT EVENING - NATIONAL STANDARDS

Matt Skilton and I ran a parent meeting on how National Standards will integrate with Muritai School. We had about 35 parents in attendance and were able to get some dialogue going around how our current assessment processes fit with national standards requirements. We will continue to keep parents informed going forward on our National standards/ new curriculum blog . We have posted Matt's slideshow from the presentation for parents to view.

BOARD OF TRUSTEE ELECTIONS

Our Board of Trustee elections are coming up. You will have received a letter of information from our returning officer Sue Fieldes with an enclosed nomination form. Nominations need to be received by NOON on Friday 23^rd April 2010. If you are interested in joining the School Board of Trustees and would like further information there is a useful section on the NZSTA website called ‘What is a trustee?’ or feel free to contact Tim Wake, Chairperson or Andrew Bird, Principal.

WHEELS AND DOGS

We are currently reinforcing a rule that no one will be riding on wheels before school and directly after school. Wheels need to be walked through the school. There are so many people in the playground and it is very slow to clear as people stay and enjoy each other’s company. For the record this involves bikes, scooters, street-surfers, long boards, skateboards, bikes and unicycles - (wheel chairs and prams need to be driven with care). Parents – please set a good example. Wheels are allowed after 3.15 and in weekends.

Dogs should not be on the property and need to be tied up outside school grounds even though this still presents a risk to children however. Often it is not the dog that is unpredictable but the children. 300 children leaving school at the same time can unsettle dogs and so the best solution is not to bring your dogs to school.

LANDSCAPING OF SENIOR SCHOOL

The senior school landscaping project is nearly complete. The goal was to provide an attractive entrance to the senior school and rearrange the play spaces. I am pleased with the concluding result. To complete the project there will be some fencing and some painting. In addition to this we are very lucky to have school parents, Nancy Barclay and Ellen Giggenbach constructing a mosaic for the entranceway. This feature will be a welcome addition to our growing collection of school art.

'THE ARRIVAL'

Shaun Tan’s picture book ‘The Arrival’ is an amazing story of a stranger in a magical land told through wonderful illustrations. The year 7 and 8 students have been exploring the many images and through literacy piecing together the fascinating story which you can view at their blogs - room 21; room 22; room 23. On Friday the Year 7 and 8 students went to see ‘The Arrival’ which is here as part of the Wellington Festival of the Arts. A wonderful and magical show. The New Zealand Herald review said .. "The Arrival held its audience in a state of rapture and curiosity". Muritai students and teachers totally agree and were thrilled with the experience.

HOME AND SCHOOL - HOT DOG HELPERS REQUIRED
Home and School are desperately looking for people who can spare an hour and a half, once or twice a term, to help prepare hot dogs that are provided as a hot lunch option every Wednesday for term 2 and 3. We are looking for new team members to replenish our team of experienced hot dog makers. Sadly we've lost a few of the team due to children moving on from Muritai this year, so if you are able to make a contribution of your time we would love to hear from you. Jo Salisbury is organising a roster and can help you with any queries if you would like to know more. You can email her at salisburyjo@yahoo.com.au or call on 589 8090.

YEAR 7 AND 8 ART WEEK

The Year 7 and 8’s have been exploring contemporary New Zealand painting. They discussed how New Zealand functioned in post war 1950’s and the idea of immigrating to New Zealand with a dream of owning a family home with a large section to raise your family on. They used objects reminiscent of this era and created still life paintings with 1950’s wallpaper designs in the background. The focus artist was Lex Benson-Cooper who’s painting “Quarter Acre” inspired the direction they chose to take during arts week.

Come and see some examples of their fantastic work which are displayed in the school foyer or you can view room 22's efforts here.


SPORT

Soccer

Congratulations to both Harrison Swift and Kenzy Cooper who have made it through to a professional youth development squad for Soccer. Well done!

Touch

Touch rugby has been going very well this term. All of the teams have experienced success. Here are the results from round 2 and 3. The Bears and Storm were the only 2 teams who started their round 4 games before a major storm hit 1-2 minutes into the second half!

Results so far:

Muritai Bears: Round 2: Won 3-1 Round 3: Won 4-2

Muritai Eagles: Round 2: Won 9-0 Round 3: Won 9-3

Muritai Sharks: Round 2: Lost 7-2 Round 3: Won 5-0

Muritai Storm: Round 2: Won 9-5 Round 3: Won 13-0

Muritai Rockets: Round 2: Won 4-0 Round 3: Lost 7-4

Muritai Flyers: Round 2: Won 5-1 Round 3: Won 7-0

Round 4 was called off due to the weather.


2010 Wellington Athletic Championships
Congratulations to some of our students who entered the Wellington Athletic Champs recently:-

• Phoebe Evans – 1st Long Jump, 3rd 200m, 3rd 100m, 3rd 60m, Finalist Discus and Shotput
• Macey Caughley – 2nd Long Jump, 2nd 100m, 4th 60m
• Maya Hahn – 4th Discus, Finalist 200m, Finalist Shotput and 2nd in the 4 x 100 relay
• Phoebe Evans also won the Wellington Interclub Championship for 2009/2010 season for 7 year old girls.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Saxophone and Clarinet teacher Classical and Jazz Performance and Theory Lessons. Phone: 027 424 3869. Email: Lauryn_anne_williamson@hotmail.com

Little Lambie Nannies is an exclusive Nanny Agency based in Petone. We represent the very best Nannies - Nannies that ooze initiative and make life wonderful for everyone! We currently have a superstar Nanny who is looking for these hours in Eastbourne. 2.30 pm onwards, Monday to Friday, with occasional babysitting on weekends. Cushla will be able to collect the children from school, assist with homework and after school activities. Your home will be happy and calm when you come home! Contact: kate@littlelambienannies.com

Eastbourne Scouts Golf Tournament - Wainuiomata Golf Course 30 April 2010
A fundraising event with all profits going towards the Eastbourne Scouts Jamboree 28 December 2010. Tournament Information - Ambrose competition, Pre-match sausage sizzle, Spot Prizes, Refreshment carts on course, Celebrity foursome, After-match dinner and prize giving, Auction. Entry Fees (Includes dinner) $100 per player, $400 per foursome, $50 partners dinner.

March 1st , 2010

We have had a number of children start this last fortnight. Welcome to Eliza, Andrew and Curtis Shaffer, Riley and Oliver Day, Liam McNamee, Joshua Gratwick, Oliver Fastier and Solomon Tito.

We welcome Sarah Tweedie back to the teaching staff until the end of term. Sarah will be working in the junior school.

As we approach the mid point of the term classrooms are very much into the rhythm of learning. Routines and treaties have been established, initial parent meetings are complete, key assessments have been done and staff are currently working through the process of developing focus targets based on cohort achievement information.

Children should be well settled by now and getting stuck into the daily workload and trying to do their very best in all that they do.

Tonight the Board of Trustees and senior staff are co-ordinating a session for parents on the national standards. This is the first of three presentations this year to inform parents about education at Muritai School.

An agenda is on the front page of our website so you can see the order and topics of the evening.

Basically the order looks like this:
Welcome – Tim Wake (BoT)
Facts and perceptions – Andrew Bird
Implementing national standards – Matt Skilton
Reporting to parents – Andrew Bird
Resources / School Blogs - Matt Skilton
Conclusion – Tim Wake

SOME THOUGHTS FROM ANDREW ON NATIONAL STANDARDS
The impact of National Standards in literacy and numeracy on primary and intermediate schools across New Zealand must not be underestimated, and the approach taken to incorporate these into the successful programmes that schools are already running requires careful consideration. Some key points -

· The standards describe the benchmarks all children need to meet to keep up with the curriculum at primary and intermediate schools.
· Teachers will decide whether a pupil is at, above, below or well below standards of literacy and numeracy.
· The standards will require teachers to make an overall judgment on a child’s progress based on comprehensive evidence including tests and observations.
· The Education Review Office will check schools to ensure they are using the standards properly.
· The Board of Trustees will have to report to the Ministry of Education by May 2012 on the numbers and proportions of pupils at above, below or well below the standards.

At Muritai School our priority is to balance the importance of being able to report on our children’s levels of attainment in a set of nationally accepted benchmarks with our current direction and focus in developing thought processes, key competencies and values, and extending learning abilities thorough the creative and innovative teaching styles our teachers are encouraged to employ.

Fortunately at Muritai we have been using a comprehensive range of assessment and reporting procedures that already provides quality information on achievement growth, trends and comparisons within individual and age group expectations. Our current procedures are well placed to incorporate the National Standards, and I therefore expect the refinement needed to incorporate any national testing tools that are yet to be developed will simply be an addition to what we already do.
You can get a picture of what we do by accessing our Charter and our Reporting improved student achievement to community

Our challenge will be to ensure that we do not lose sight of the vision that we have for the ‘Muritai Child’ and the exciting work we are currently developing through children’s engagement, learning opportunities, key competencies and values education. While reading, writing and arithmetic have been given high priority by the current government, parents can be assured that we most certainly will not be undervaluing or sacrificing our vision or the importance of social sciences, sciences, technologies, the arts and sports as we believe these have a significant positive impact on the development of our children.

Of course there will be teething problems with the new standards and much will be required of professionals to work with the Ministry of Education to find solutions. Indeed this may take several years before all are satisfied. Undoubtedly however, the successful implementation of the new standards will rely greatly on principals and teachers themselves, how they approach and embrace these and how they successfully incorporate them into their current programmes without undermining what they are currently delivering well and striving for.

We encourage feedback on our reporting processes. Our staff are available at any time to meet with you for feedback or to address any concerns. Please feel free to discuss how this is working for you and your child with the classroom teacher. It is important to us that you are receiving quality feedback on a regular basis that informs you in simple and honest terms “where your child is at”.

Andrew Bird
PRINCIPAL / TUMUAKI

SWIM SPORTS (YEAR 5-8)
This Thursday is swimming sports at Huia Pool for year 5-8 students. The event will run between 9.00 and 12.30. This means that buses will be leaving at 8.40 on Thursday so we can get through the numerous events and complete all the relays. We appreciate your support in getting the children to school by 8.30 for this event.

YEAR 5-6 CAMP
All the very best to our year 5-6 students and teachers who head off to Forest Lakes, near Otaki on Tuesday next week. I am sure you will have a great time.

YEAR 7 MURAL
Many of you may have noticed the new mural on the side of the school on Muritai Rd. It is a tradition for our year 7’s to contribute an art project to the school before they become our school leaders. The 2009 effort is another exceptional contribution. Congratulations to Kirsten Berry and our 2010 year 8 students for their efforts.

MAKING PAYMENTS TO THE SCHOOL
We have had a lot of queries recently about how parents can pay for school donations, fees, camp, etc. One of the easiest ways is by a direct payment with on-line banking. The school’s details are:
Bank: National Bank
Account Name: Muritai School Board of Trustees
Bank account: 06-0545-0236275-00.
Please ensure the reference fields contain your child/ren’s name and details of the payment, ie Smith, camp fees. Payment can also be made by cheque or cash. If you need any further information, please see Carole or Sue in the office.

BOT ELECTIONS
The Muritai School Board of Trustees is holding elections during May 2010 to fill 3 positions. There is a useful section on the NZSTA website called ‘What is a trustee?’

We will be posting out Candidate Nomination forms to the school community in the second week of March with nominations closing at noon on 23 April. Voting day will be Friday 7 May 2010.

If you are interested in joining the School Board of Trustees and would like further information, please feel free to contact Tim Wake the Chairperson or Andrew Bird, Principal.

PERFORMING ARTS
On Friday 19 February the percussion group STRIKE performed at Muritai and gave us a show to remember. It was a highly energetic and entertaining performance, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. They opened the show with a piece called ‘Fire’ which involved them using flames to create sounds - quite spectacular. They performed many pieces with different drum and marimba combinations and invited a group of students and teachers to join them up on stage and accompany them. You can see the Muritai TV interview with STRIKE at http://www.muritaitv.blogspot.com/

We have a lot of students who have drum lessons at school with Steve Wren and it was interesting for them to see drums and percussion being played in this way rather than your standard drummer as part of the rhythm section of a band. Some of the Year 6 students have experimented with one of Strike’s ideas of using cans of food to create a piece of music. Some of these creations will be performed at the Forest Lake’s camp concert!

AFTER SCHOOL CARE VACANCY
We are looking for a special person to work from 2.30 – 6pm on a Wednesday at After School Care. Must have some skills to contribute to our programme such as art, craft or sport, have experience working with children and be fun, fit and energetic. Please contact Cath Barker 5627718 or barker@muritai.school.nz, ASAP.

SCHOOL LEADERS
We have an exciting group of Year 8 students who are very eager to take on leadership roles and responsibility. Congratulations to Jack Griffiths and Sofija Cvitanovich who are our two lead students this year. Jack and Sofija have consistently provided leadership in their peer group over the years and will work closely with senior management on school developments.

In the senior school we encourage leadership. We have some amazingly talented individuals who are continually promoting and displaying leadership qualities. Everyone has the potential to be a leader, whether they are leading by example, role modelling, are sports captains, providing encouragement or by being given the opportunity to take on any role of responsibility on request. Leadership doesn’t always come with a title.

We will continue to promote and encourage our students with roles of responsibility.

School Reps: Sofija Cvitanovich, Jack Griffiths

House Captains: King – Scott Manson, Jessica Woodnorth,
Sanson – Harry Heath, Maddy Hesketh,
Charters – Finn Small, Georgia Crawford,
Cook - Lucien Beck, Kenzy Cooper
Class Reps: Room 21 – Megan Baldock, Nick Bielby,
Room 22 – Lisa Hanschke, Louis Littlejohn,
Room 23 – Verity Mc Rae, Thomas Rodgers

All year 8 children are involved in leadership activities which include – Charity organizers, assembly coordinators, Muritai TV, Enviroschools, Classroom liaison, sports leaders.

On Friday 48 senior students began their training to be PALS – (physical activity leaders). This is a programme to promote our older children training younger children in physical activity. The leadership training addressed becoming good role models, identifying fair play, and be active, responsible students. This is what the physical activity leaders (PALs) are.

With guidance from Georgina from Sports Wellington, students were involved in a range of activities designed to develop:
Leadership skills
Good role modeling
Skill needed to run physical activity sessions with younger students
And encourage fair play and build confidence

Opportunities to display leadership are continually arising. We are looking forward to seeing this year’s student’s shine in these challenging roles.

LEARNING SUPPORT
Sarah Richardson, our learning support teacher, has created a blog called “The Learning Den”. Parents, children and teachers can access lots of useful information and links about learning difficulties and sites for your children that provide high engagement in learning the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. Sarah will continually build resources for parents to access in a timely manner. You can access the blog at The Learning Den.

This Wednesday is World Read Aloud Day. Sarah has put some activities that you can do on her blog. You may like to communicate with Sarah, become a follower or identify things that you believe would be helpful at her site.

SPORT
Touch
What a great first round for the new 2010 touch season. We have 6 teams (along with a brand new year 3 team playing for the very first time!) Hutt Park is our new venue and is a great place to play touch rugby - what a game!

Here are the results for round 1:

Muritai Bears (year 3 boys) - lost to a year 4 boys team 8-0
Muritai Eagles (year 4 mixed) - won 7-0,
Muritai Sharks (year 5 mixed) - lost 7-0
Muritai Storm (year 6 boys) - won 6-1
Muritai Flyers (year 7 girls) - won 2-0
Muritai Rockets (year 7 and 8 mixed) - won 3-1

Netball
Netball teams are being co-ordinated at the moment and we are pleased to announce we have three Year 5 & 6 netball teams and two Year 7 & 8 teams. These teams are ready and eager to start training for the upcoming season which starts on Saturday 1st of May.