Wednesday 31 August

Naumai e te whanau o te kura Muritai
Tena koutou katoa

Welcome to our new students at Muritai - Rio Salisbury-Metcalfe, Reuben Inwood, Matiu Inwood, Zac Walker, and Luke Barlow.

CHARTER
You will all have all recently received a very detailed newsletter from the Board about our future direction at Muritai. We would love to hear your thoughts and you can do this by clicking here and completing this survey. More than one person can complete it and you can go back to it and add or change your thoughts. Our website has further information on the charter consultation process.

ICAS WRITING 

Congratulations to the following students who experienced success in the recent ICAS writing examinations -

High Distinction - Sally Bird, Harry Crawford, Margarita Montes de Oca
Distinction - Rose Scott-Billing, Abby Barclay, Sean McElwain-Wilson, Eva Poland

Credit - Lucy Crawford, Helena Cvitanovich, Samantha Morphew, Grace Allan, Ruby Brandwood, Beth Brodie, Lily Griffiths, Maya Hahn, Rebecca Bergman, Lucy Bird, Liam Brandwood, Charlie Heath and Marguerite Kircher

MATHSWELL COMPETITION 2011

Mathswell is an an annual mathematical problem solving challenge competition run by the Wellington Maths Association.  Mathswell is  where the top Intermediate mathematical minds battle it out in a mind boggling team challenge.  This year’s competition was held at Fergusson Intermediate School in Trentham. Our team finished mid table and included Hazel Sisson, Meg Sykes, Marit Bruhn, Liam Brandwood, Casper Tilley and Kieran Cotter. 

FUNDRAISER - CUPCAKES FOR SPCA
300 Cupcakes have been donated by Edward Christian to be sold at $2 each.  All funds raised will go to the SPCA.  If you would like a cupcake, come to the hall at morning tea on Friday 2 September. 

ASSEMBLY

This Friday we will be having a whole school assembly starting at 1.40.

LIONS CLUB

Last Wednesday the Lions Club donated $300 worth of gardening tools, vegetable plants and seed raising equipment.  Ten students (from Year 1 to Year 8) and six Lions Club members spent the afternoon sipping tea, eating biscuits and cakes and gardening using the new tools.  It was lovely to celebrate the progress of the the Year 4 Gardening Club which started with the vegetable boxes outside Room 2.  The Lions are also donating 3 lemon trees to Muritai School for the children to plant shortly.

CALENDARS

Children have been making beautiful pieces of art to put on their calendars/diaries again this year with order forms being sent out to all families next week.  Prices are:


Calendars $12

Cards (Pack of 8) $12

Diaries $15

Your child's artwork will be on display in their classroom from Monday 11 September.  All orders must be received at the school office by Monday 19 September.  These make beautiful Christmas presents to send to grandparents, uncles/aunties or keep for yourself!

LIBRARY BLOG

This year we have a team of quality Librarian’s working in our School Library. As part of the Library Gold Award we are working on the School Library Blog. The Blog will give you information about up-coming competitions, new books, book recommendations, book reviews and other useful library news. We have awesome prizes for people who take part in our competitions. We would love it if you would check it out.
From the Library Blog Team.

CAN YOU HELP?
The school has a large set of sport uniforms which we need to sort, clean and put away after sporting events.  At the moment, the teaching and office staff try to keep on top of this but it can be a little time consuming.  The Home and School have very kindly offered to help with this but need a group of volunteers they can call on to help out.  If you would be willing to give a little of your time to help with the uniforms, please let either Sue or Carole in the school office know.

Are you able to help with road patrol? We have a wonderful team of year 6 children who manage the pedestrian crossing. Parents are most welcome to help our teaching team by supervising our patrollers while they are on duty. if you can spare 20 minutes around the beginning or end of school your help will be much appreciated. Please let either Sue or Carole in the school office know.

OLD LETTERHEAD

Do you have any old letterhead or blank paper you can donate to our Reading Recovery students?  If you do, please drop it off at the school office. 

DAFFODIL DAY
Thank you to everyone who bought fabric daffodils or stickers from our ambassadors on Friday.  We raised $306.90 for the Cancer Society. 

WEARABLE ARTS – REBOOT 2010
Our Year 5-8 Wearable Arts performance this year is titled ‘Reboot 2010’. It will be a colourful and exciting show looking at the theme of a sustainable future. Humans are beginning to ask themselves 'if we could do it all over again what would we change'.


Tickets will be on sale at the school office from Monday 12 September with evening performances on Wednesday 5 October and Thursday 6 October and a matinee performance on Tuesday 4 October.


ARTSPLASH
Wellington’s young people’s arts festival brings primary and intermediate schools throughout the region together to celebrate dance, music, drama, visual art and wearable art. They perform for their parents, whanau, friends and the public.  Some of our Year 4-6 students will be performing in the Artsplash choir on Wednesday 21 September. 


Tickets are now available for families who have children participating in the Artsplash performance.  These tickets are being sold by the school office at $5.00 each and are limited to 3 per family. 


SPORTS
Netball
The season has finished and our netball teams had much success across the season. With seven teams in action we ended up with 3 grade wins - our two year 6 teams and a year 5 team. All our girls made significant improvements under superb and dedicated coaching, management and support from our parent community. We are very grateful to our coaching teams of Fiona, Hilary, Mae, Ali, Robyn, Millie, Claire, Hayley, Kat, Louise and Lisa and their support teams for their service and enthusiasm for our children this year. Well done all!

Primary and Intermediate Waterpolo
The season has drawn to an end with mixed results. All four Muritai teams started relatively inexperienced and it took a while to get the hang of the rules and for all the players to gel together in their respective teams. As the season drew to completion the results started to show a marked improvement.  It is hoped that the skills gathered this year will be further developed next year.


Year 7/8 Indoor Sports Tournament
On Friday 26th August the year 7/8 syndicate traveled to Action Indoor Sports to compete in teams against the teams from Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Ara Whanui. It was great to see the mixed teams competing in a wide range of sports for the morning. Sadly Te Ara Whanui was to have the winning team on the day, however, the spirit and standard of play by all was excellent to observe.


Underwater Hockey
With only a few Muritai players determined to play on Saturday 27th a combined team had to be formed with players from Marsden College. This clearly was a winning combination as the Muritai/Marsden team laid waste to the competition and were able to take first place.


COMMUNITY NOTICES

Eastbourne Market is back and on at Muritai Senior School playground this SUNDAY 4th September 2011 from 11am to 2pm. Come along and support your local traders while enjoying Fathers Day sampling foods, jewels, handicrafts and various take home treasures.


Any queries please contact them team at Eastbournemarket@yahoo.co.nz or call Lisa Dymond on 021 44 7252.

Muritai Tennis Club
Muritai Tennis Club invite you all to get back into tennis for the new 2011/2012 season @ our fun-filled Back2Tennis day. Play tennis, get coaching from the Capital Coaching team - Andy Wheeler and Richard West.  Enjoy a barbecued sausage, nibbles after 4pm, BYO drink.  Demonstrations from Thump Sports, prizes and lots of fun!


We will also be registering all juniors for coaching and interclub (please bring payment on the day).


When: Sunday 4 September 2011 (Sunday 11 September if wet)
11.30am to 1.30pm for all juniors (Registration Day also)
2.00 pm to 4.00 pm for all seniors


Where: Muritai Tennis Club, 356 Muritai Road, Eastbourne.  For more information contact: Denise Cornford: 562 7465 or Andy Wheeler: 027 4599 321


Hutt Valley Marist softball club's registration days are Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September from 2pm-4pm at Fraser Park, Percy Cameron Street, Lower Hutt.  Contact Emily 563 9491 or 021 606 720.


Lunchtime French at Muritai School
Please come along this Monday lunchtime (5th September) to a FREE TRIAL CLASS in the green room. You can bring your lunch.  Games, songs, drama and stories are taught in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with the emphasis being on FUN!


For more information please contact: Stefi Plimmer-Blattner, LCF Clubs Fun Languages, ph: 562 8211/email: stefi@lcfclubs.co.nz. Website: www.lcfclubs.co.nz

Thursday 18 August

Welcome to our new students and families to Muritai School – Ilya Kozintsov (R8) and Finlay Clark (R6).

The once in a lifetime weather phenomenon this week has certainly been a memorable experience for us all. We were lucky to be able to keep the school open and able to cover classes when some staff were snowed in.

CHARTER CONSULTATION
Today you will have received a hard copy of a very detailed Board of Trustee newsletter providing background to the charter consultation process. The Board is currently reviewing it's Charter goals and strategic direction and wants your input on a range of important aspects relating to the school’s effectiveness and next steps.

 You can help us determine the future direction of the school through our charter consultation. The School Charter is the formal statement of the school’s vision, strategic goals and educational delivery plan of action. The School Charter is annually reviewed and is approved by the Ministry of Education.

As part of this process, feedback from the parents in terms of student achievement, resources, the teaching, the qualities and suggestions for future focus would be very much appreciated. We believe most parents know the school pretty well through their high level of everyday participation in school life. Because of the good knowledge of the school and how it delivers education, we believe your feedback will be of great benefit to us.

Constructive feedback will assist the Board and the staff measure how people generally feel about the school and its future direction.  It’s all about hearing the community voice to identify the strengths that need to be maintained and to hear about ideas and suggestions for continued improvement and development.  We view “feedback” as an essential aspect of our planning processes.

On our website there are a number of resources that we have put together to inform parents and enable them to make a contribution. An excellent place to start is a Muritai TV interview with board member Craig Griffiths that introduces the charter.

TEACHER TRAINEES

We are very fortunate to have 2 excellent teacher trainees working at Muritai at present. Matt McDonnell (room 10) and Jono Laird (room 1) have 3 more weeks left and are thoroughly enjoying their experience teaching at Muritai.

Upcoming dates –

Friday 19 – Assembly 1.40

Monday 22 – BoT meeting

Tuesday 23 – Information evening regarding year 7-8 at Muritai 2012 (5pm)

Friday 26 – Assembly 1.40

DAFFODIL DAY
Next Friday, 26 August, is Daffodil Day.  Our Senior School Ambassadors will be selling fabric daffodils and stick on tattoos from the school foyer on this day.  Please bring along a gold coin donation for this very worthy cause.




ARTSPLASH CHOIR
Year 4 and 5 students have the opportunity again this year to be part of the Artsplash choir.  The performance will be at the Michael Fowler Centre on Wednesday 21 September with a full rehearsal that morning at the Wellington Town Hall.  The Artsplash choir went to Hutt Intermediate last week for a cluster rehearsal.  They sang beautifully and enjoyed the experience of harmonising with other schools.  A detailed notice will be coming home shortly regarding ticket sales and drop off/collection points at the Michael Fowler Centre. 


THANK YOU
We would like to say a big thank you to Mike Parker and the 'Menzshed' for building a new bike rack for the senior school.   They all did a fantastic job.

WORLD VISION FAMINE 2011
We have received an email extending a huge thank you to Muritai School for taking part in the World Vision 40 Hour Famine for 2011 and for raising $3222.20.  This was a remarkable achievement, especially given that Kiwis are still recovering from the Christchurch earthquake and a global recession. The funds raised will go a long way to helping eliminate extreme hunger in countries like East Timor.

We will soon be receiving a special certificate in the mail in recognition of Muritai School's fantastic fundraising efforts for the 40 Hour Famine and Ruth from World Vision will be attending our next Assembly on Friday.

In recognition of our being one of the top fundraising schools (per pupil), four Year 7 and 8 students and a teacher have been invited to attend a special workshop run by World Vision in a few weeks.

Thank you everyone for participating or supporting our students.   Karen Chao and Annabel Capper.


ICAS EXAMS
Several of our students have recently taken part in the ICAS exams which are optional for Year 4 to 8 students.  The top results from the Science and Spelling exams are as follows:-


Science
Distinction - Year 5 - Grace Allan, Ella Tait; Year 6 - Harry Crawford, Matthew Sutcliffe; Year 7 - Finn Connell, Kieran Cotter; Year 8 - Finn Janssens
Credit – Year 5 – Monty Daley, Jasmine Stock, Charlotte Wilson, Max Woodnorth; Year 6 - Margarita Montes de Oca, Oscar Sykes; Year 8 - Liam Brandwood, Hazel Sisson, Meg Sykes

Spelling
Distinction – Year 5 – Lauren Redpath, Ella Tait; Year 6 - Amy O’Shannessey, Matthew Sutcliffe; Year 7 – Rose Scott-Billing; Year 8 – Sean McElwain-Wilson
Credit – Year 5 – Liam Ferrier, George Mirfin-Newman; Year 8 – Liam Brandwood, Molly Hancock, Charlie Heath.

A special mention goes to Margarita Montes de Oca who was awarded a High Distinction in Spelling.

Well done to all the children who participated in these exams.

SPORT

Netball
Last Tuesday 9th August our top Year 5 and 6 netball players participated at the annual Central Zone Netball Tournament held at the Taita Courts. Muritai entered 4 teams, each competing in their respective grades. There were mixed results with some great wins and the odd loss. Everyone involved gave it their all, representing Muritai with pride and a commitment to each and every challenge. What was obvious was the continual improvement of all the teams as the tournament progressed.

Special congratulations goes to the Muritai Year 6 A team who finished second in their grade, the top division of the tournament. They will now go on to represent the Central Zone at an Inter-Zone competition held on Tuesday the 15th September. Also on behalf of all the players a big thank you to the parent helpers and coaches. Without these offers of transport and assistance with supervising teams such opportunities wouldn't be possible.


and Congratulations to ...  Levi Walton who has won a place on the Wellington Rugby Reps team - no mean feat!

COMMUNITY NOTICES
Work and Family Balance
Are you (or someone you know) a parent considering returning to work or have you returned to work but are struggling to find the right balance? If yes, BALANCEDYOU Ltd, a career consultancy specialising in work and family balance, could help you. To find out if this service is right for you, please contact Kerryn Parke on mob: 021 077 5160, e-mail: kerryn@balancedyou.co.nz or visit my website: http://www.balancedyou.co.nz/


Bonjour !
Would you like to learn some French?  If you are in Year 3 to Year 6, come and have fun with us after school.  A native French teacher from the Alliance Française will be happy to come and teach you. Courses are interactive and include learning, while playing and singing.


For any inquiries, please contact your school or the Alliance Française at 04 472 12 72 or schools@french.co.nz    We would need a minimum of 7 children to open a class, cost would be 105 dollars per term.)


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MID-WEEK TENNIS at MURITAI TENNIS CLUB
Tuesdays 9.30am at 356 Muritai Road
Summer and winter! Primary School Terms
Men and women welcome - beginner to advanced
Small playground for pre-schoolers
Lessons available through club
Enquiries: Merryn 562-0236 or Carol 568-5360
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3 August 2011

WELCOME BACK
We welcome all the new children and their families to Muritai School since our last newsletter – Isabelle van der Wilt; Monty and Harry Rookes; Jack Armstrong; Rosa Blair; Arhit Acharyya; Amelie Adair; Charlie Stapleton; Zoe Lambe; Mia Lowe; Hamish Dalziell; Molly Harrison; Natalia Van Beynen. Our roll stands at 423.

I am sure you all had a lovely holiday break. It was a good chance to recharge the batteries after a long term.

I hope you were able to get a good picture of how your child is progressing at Muritai with the mid-year reporting process. Teachers were extremely positive about the interviews and feedback received and would like me to pass on their thanks for your support and encouragement around the process of learning. Please feel comfortable to meet with teachers at any time regarding any concerns that you may have. We are only too willing to help in any way.

Term 3 is an important term. With term 4 very short (8 weeks) we hope to make as much ground as possible in student progress, as well as having fun learning along the way. There was a lot of sickness last term and we need children to be at school as much as possible to string together a consistent attendance record. Attending school everyday allows the children’s learning to flow from one activity to the next and inconsistent attendance does impact on their overall progress as children miss chunks of key information.

Over the holiday period we have done some classroom renovation work in rooms 4,5,6,7,8 and 9. The children will find things warmer and cosier with long overdue work done on wall linings, heating, windows, carpets, lighting, electrical and painting work. We have also enhanced the rainbow room and added a new withdrawal space beside room 6. Rooms 5 and 6 will be complete by Friday and we thank the children and staff for continuing their learning together in the library while their classrooms are completed. Phase 2 will see rooms 10,11,12,13 and 14 completed in the next holiday break.

Sadly we recently received the resignation of Amanda O’Brien as after school care manager. Amanda is completing her teacher training at the same time as managing the centre and it has been difficult to fit both in.  Melanie Dowdall is the new manager. Mel is a trained educator with experience in care programmes. Mel has started this week and is working alongside Amanda to complete a smooth transition. Amanda has worked hard on the after school blog so you can check out what after school care has been up to http://muritaiafterschoolcare.blogspot.com/

POU CELEBRATION

We recently celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Pou by taking it down for renovation. This saw us welcome our kaumatua Alma Mihaere form Kokiri Marae who conducted the ceremony.  The Pou will be renovated by the senior school children over the next few weeks.

MURITAI TV

The team have posted up their latest article on peer mediation at Muritai School. You can view this by clicking here

GARDENING EQUIPMENT

We would like to say a big thank you to the Lions Group who are kindly donating $200 to the Gardening group at school.  Eden Armstrong wrote to the Lions recently to tell them of the exciting plans we have for the garden at the school and asked if they would be able to help us to buy a much needed wheelbarrow.  The donation from the Lions will be used to buy a new wheelbarrow, gloves, etc.

 BOOK FAIR UPDATE

Thank you to all for your very generous support of our annual Scholastic book fair which was held at the end of last term. With your help a little over $3000 was raised, giving the school library 30% of the profits to spend on new books for our children to enjoy.

Each book sale enabled children to enter a draw for book prizes. Our congratulations go to the following children who were our winners: Scott Langridge, Macey Caughley, Charlotte McFarlane, Zoe Alexander, Kai Ferrier and James Downing.

Many thanks also to our wonderful crew of parent helpers who made this event possible. Thank you Narelle Ferrier, Liz Lander and Jackie Ryan.  A special thanks once again to Jo Salisbury and of course Sue Fieldes, our librarian, for your time and commitment to this event.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS
The next Scholastic Lucky Book orders are due back at school by Wednesday 17 August .  Please note that we can only accept payment by cheque made payable to Scholastic or by credit card.  Please NO CASH as we have to send all payments through to Scholastic by post. 

ORPHANS OF NEPAL DRESS UP DAY
On the last day of term 2 the school held a dress up day to celebrate Literacy week and to collect money for the Orphans of Nepal Trust.  There were lots of wonderful costumes and we raised $259.60.

ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS
Thank you to everyone who bought an Entertainment Book through the school this year.  We made $1,404 from sales.  We hope you enjoy using them.

SPORTS
Basketball
Congratulations to Xavier Mansion who has been selected for the Hutt Valley basketball team and to Moss Grenfell and Cahon Holden who have made the development team.

Years 5 and 6 Basketball
Any Year 5/6 students interested in playing basketball at Walter Nash Stadium on Thursday night, please contact Narelle (Liam Ferrier's Mum) on 022 0646 046 or ferrier@vodafone.co.nz  All current team members, please re-confirm your wish to play.  Thanks - Narelle Ferrier

COMMUNITY
Does your child want to learn a new language in Eastbourne?
LCF Clubs Fun Languages is offering children the opportunity to learn French German and Italian after school.


• Experience a new language the fun way!
• A huge variety of interactive and communicative activities – role play,
crafts, activity sheets, lively games, board games, songs and drama
• Professionally designed materials including flashcards, games and cds
• Spanish and Mandarin available depending on demand


To register your interest please email: stefi@lcfclubs.co.nz, phone 562 8211 or visit the website www.lcfclubs.co.nz