Wednesday July 31

Kia ora koutou,

Naumai e te whanau o te kura Muritai 

Tena koutou katoa

Welcome to Rylon Watt in Room 5, Macklyn Smith and Gus Neilson in Room 1 who have joined the Muritai School community recently.

I trust you all had a lovely break with the family over the school holidays. It certainly was a very different experience for those of us who experienced the earthquakes recently, and they have been ongoing. Teachers have reinforced our procedures should a significant earthquake happen during school hours and we went through a drill this morning just to make sure things go smoothly in the event of an earthquake.

For your information our 'Emergency Evacuation Procedures' are on our school website, under the School Information / Key Policies section and can be viewed by clicking here.

COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PLAN

Board of Trustees member, Craig Griffiths and I have attended fortnightly meetings working with the Eastbourne Community Board and other key sector groups on developing an Emergency Plan for the Eastbourne community. This will be published soon and delivered to every household. This was a very interesting process to to be part of and four things really stood out to me that I will pass on - 

1.    You have no idea when or what, or for how long the 'event' will be.

2.    Your family has to be well organised should an event occur - particularly think about fresh water supplies, but also other supplies that you may need for 3 days or more.

3.    Should an event occur, emergency services have a clear set of priorities to follow so they may not be available immediately to assist you.

4.    Should an event occur check on your neighbours ....the Christchurch earthquake showed how vital close neighbourhood structures were to get things up and going again. The different skill sets from the different houses were very effective in keeping things going while the wider infrastructure was  attended to by the specialists.

Here is an excellent resource from Greater Wellington that can help your family plan for an event....click here 

PROPERTY FUNDING

The Board received a very pleasant surprise over the holiday break with the announcement that Muritai School is to receive additional property funding to the tune of $895,000 to develop non-classroom areas in the school. 

CONGRATULATIONS to....

Andrew Sutcliffe who once again topped New Zealand in the ICAS science exam and therefore will be presented with an ICAS Medal for this fantastic achievement.

Margarita Montes de Oca and Sally Bird who have had stories selected by editors putting together an anthology of writing about Eastbourne.

THE WINTER DRIVE

We have received a lovely letter of thanks from Simonne Goodall, Principal Randwick School to “thank you very much for the wonderful coats, tops and shoes that you donated to our school.  The children were so excited to get them and you have made a difference to so many of our families lives.  I would like to congratulate you on being every day heroes and making a difference for others”.  Children from the school also sent little thank you notes in the shape of teddy bears.

ICAS Science

In addition to Andrew's ICAS medal we had a number of students who scored very well. Congratulations to:

High Distinction (top 1%) - Rachel Vass, Pablo Montes de Oca

Distinction (top 10%) - Samantha Morphew

Credit (top 20%) - Charlotte Humphries, Kai Ferrier, Alexander Cox-Turk, Lauren Redpath, Harry Crawford, Margarita Montes de Oca

STAFFING...

Welcome to 

• Raewyn O'Sullivan who is here for the next 3 weeks while Ruth Holmes is away in the UK
• Ruth Vaughan who is in room 7 for this week while Richard Dobson is in Europe.
• Our 6 teacher trainees who start on August 12 through to the end of term.

FRIDAY MORNING COFFEE STALL

The Year 8's will be running their weekly coffee stall in the office foyer, starting on Friday August 9th. This is a fundraiser for their Abel Tasman camp at the end of the year. 

PYJAMA DAY

The senior school will also be running a pyjama day for the whole school on Friday August 16th to raise funds for Kids Can.  

SCHOOL DISCO

The school disco will be held in the school hall on Friday August 9th. 

Years 1-3    5.00 - 6.00pm

Years 4-6    6.15 - 7.45pm

Years 7-8    8.00 - 9.30pm

Cost: $5.00 includes a glow stick and an ice block. Pay on the night.

There will be a SAUSAGE SIZZLE ($2) throughout the evening. Other items for sale on the night. Get ready to dance the night away to the latest top 40 hits.

We still require about 6 volunteers to help on the night. If you can spare an hour or so please contact Michelle Hemingway at sizzles3@gmail.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

Fri 2 Aug - Assembly 1.45

Thur 8 Aug - Artsplash rehearsal at Muritai

Fri 9 Aug - School Disco 

Tue 13 Aug - ICAS Maths

Fri 16 Aug - Pyjama Day; Assembly 1.45

TERM DATES

Term 3 - Monday 29 July - Friday 27 September - 45 days

Term 4 - Monday 14 October - Friday 20 December - 48 days

A reminder we have our second teacher only day on Friday 25 October (Labour Weekend)

COMMUNITY NOTICES

DAYS BAY PLAYCENTRE FUNDRAISER: a special screening of 'Thin Ice' at the Lighthouse Cinema, Beach Street, Petone.

Tuesday 20th August at 8.00 pm.

'Thin Ice' is a new documentary film about the science of climate change, made by Simon Lamb and David Sington. The film features climate scientists talking about their work, and their hopes and fears, with candour and directness, creating an intimate portrait of the global community of researchers racing to understand our planet’s changing climate.

Simon is a geologist at Victoria University, with children at both Days Bay Playcentre and Muritai School. He will introduce the screening, as well as answer questions afterwards.

If you want to hear Simon talking about the film on either TV3 or the Kim Hill show, click on or load in your browser:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/20130406

http://www.3news.co.nz/Climate-change-film-gives-scientists-voice/tabid/1160/articleID/289874/Default.aspx

So please mark the date in your diary:  8.00 pm on Tuesday 20 August 2013.

Email Days Bay Playcentre for tickets playcentre.daysbay@gmail.com. Ticket costs $20, with over half going directly to Days Bay Playcentre (the rest to the Lighthouse cinema).

ESOL TUITION, one-on-one assistance. Registered teacher available. Details, please phone Susan on 568 2268

GARAGE SALE : 5 Matipo St - THIS SUNDAY  4^th August  9 – 12noon.

Kids/baby toys and books, nic-nacs, curtains, good quality linen etc.

Wednesday July 3

Kia ora koutou,

Naumai e te whanau o te kura Muritai 

Tena koutou katoa

Welcome to Samara Gethen-Jones in Room 1 and her family who have joined the Muritai School community recently.

Welcome also to new staff Lorna Lane and Liz Alderson who join our learning support staff working in the junior school.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FEEDBACK 
We are just putting the finishing touches to our reporting to parents and on Friday mid-year written reports will be issued. 

The written report identifies your child’s achievement against a 5 point scale ranging from well below to well above against the expected year levels of the NZ curriculum. Rather than just focussing on reading, writing and maths, we aim to cover all areas of the curriculum, including work and study skills and the key competencies.

Next week we have meetings for most groups. Year 1, 2, 3 will be meeting the teacher where teachers will guide the parent interview and relate and explain your child’s progress towards meeting the year level national standards. It is important to note that for most children receiving a progress report, at this mid-year stage that these are a prediction as to how students are currently tracking against the national standard (which is an end of year judgment). 

For year 5 - 8 the children will guide the parents through their learning journeys. Teachers will be on hand for any clarification required. These sessions take place next Wednesday 10th July -  3:00 until 5.30.  Children's day-to-day learning and class work is a very important part of reporting improvements for the children. It gives them a chance to share their achievements with you and it gives them a chance to reflect on their own growth together with the teachers in support.   The language used to put the journeys together helps them self-review their own progress and achievement.

The key thing however is to continue those ongoing conversations about your child's strengths and weaknesses and understand future learning goals for the next phase of learning. 

As always, if at any time you would like to meet your child's teacher to discuss any issue or progress, please feel comfortable to contact them directly to set up a suitable meeting time.

Year 1,2,3 parents please go to School Interviews to book an appointment. The Event Code is LBFZV.  Alternatively, you can contact Sue in the school office who will make an appointment for you.  

NEW LUNCH OPTION

FOOD FOR THOUGHT – a healthy, freshly made, yummy lunch now available next term!

Two local mothers with children at Muritai School, Carmen Mitchell-Arquier and Megan Brugh,  are providing a lunch option on Thursdays next term .

From Term 3 onwards, every Thursday, they will offer a different lunch option for Muritai children (and staff) by providing healthy, seasonal and delicious lunchtime meals, including warm options in winter. They have called this initiative “Food for Thought”.

The menu will be delivered on Thursday next week to every child to take home. You can place your order form with payment in the brightly painted “Food for Thought” box in the kitchen by 10.00 am on Wednesday 31^st July (first week of term 3). 

So don’t forget to check your child’s schoolbag next Thursday!

MAORI LANGUAGE WEEK

Following on from Matariki, this week we have joined in with Maori Language week, a nationwide programme to celebrate te reo in Aotearoa. Our lead teacher Raihania Chadwick works with staff on a weekly basis to create many opportunities for children to grow in their knowledge of te reo. This year the focus is on Place Names. On our webpage you might like to click on our MuritaiSchool Tikanga Maori blog.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR

Next week we are holding our annual Scholastic Book Fair to coincide with the school interviews.  The Book Fair will be held in the library on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th July from 2.40pm - 3.30pm and then again on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th July from 2.40pm - 7.30pm.

Please contact Carole or Sue in the office if you can help in any way on any of the days.  Thank you so much to Liz Alderson who is co-ordinating the Book Fair this year.

THE WINTER DRIVE

Thank you so much for your continued support for 'The Winter Drive' - our little 'Pay It Forward' project this year.  Wellesley and San Antonio have joined in with the programme and we have been able to deliver a new batch of good quality shoes, jackets and clothing to low decile schools who are not in the KidsCan programme.

So far we have delivered 150 winter coats to Naenae Primary, 200 pairs of shoes and 50 coats to Randwick School, 200 pairs of shoes and 50 coats to Natone Park School, 40 pairs of shoes, 20 warm tops and a bag of spare clothes to Cannons Creek Early Childhood Centre and a big bag of shoes, tops and jackets to Cannons Creek School. These donations have been gratefully accepted and all items have all gone to good homes. This generosity is hugely appreciated by the children of these schools.

INTER-ZONE CROSS COUNTRY

Well done to our Y4-6 cross country team who competed in the inter-zone event in Petone last Tuesday. The following children placed in the top 10 and therefore will compete in the regional cross country event at Rathkeale College, along with Maya Hahn from year 7-8, in Masterton next Tuesday. A tremendous team effort.

Year 4 Girls - Chelsea Summers - 3rd; Gemma Grant 6th

Year 4 Boys - Henry Evans - 7th

Year 5 Girls - Charlotte Humphries - 1st; Samantha Woolley - 10th

Year 5 Boys - Theo Jones - 8th

Year 6 Girls - Macey Caughley - 1st

Year 6 Boys - Andrew Sutcliffe - 5th; Max Hahn - 9th

A big thank you to Jenny Caughley and David Lewis who have been training the squad for these events.

YEAR 7-8 SPEECH FINALS

These are on this Friday in the hall starting at 11.00. Come along and find out who will be the school champion and the winner of the Pointon Cup!

FACEBOOK 

With many parents now on Facebook we are able to share information and school news events via Facebook. Presently we have about 160 'friends'.

You can sign up to Muritai School's Facebook page and therefore get regular updates of events. Just click on our page and 'Like'.

Alternatively, if you are not on Facebook you can also receive these updates straight to your cellphone via Twitter. Simply text 8987 and type in follow MuritaiSchool and you will receive updates, simple messages, reminders, cancellations direct to your cellphone.

DIARY DATES

July

Fri 5 July - Y7-8 Speech finals 11.00 / Assembly 1.45

Mon 8 July - Scholastic book fair 2.40-3.30

Tues 9th July - Scholastic book fair 2.40 - 3.30

Wed 10 July - Year 1-3 parent interviews (3.00-7.30) and year 5-8 learning celebrations (3.00-5.30) / Scholastic book fair 3.00-7.30

Thurs 11 July - Year 1-3 parent interviews (3.00-7.30) / Scholastic book fair 3.00-7.30

Fri 12 July - last day of term

The Book Fair will be held in the library on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th July from 2.40pm - 3.30pm and then again on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th July from 2.40pm - 7.30pm.

TERM DATES

Term 3 - Monday 29 July - Friday 27 September - 45 days

Term 4 - Monday 14 October - Friday 20 December - 48 days

A reminder we have our second teacher only day on Friday 25 October (Labour Weekend) 

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Family Pantomine

Butterfly Theatre Troupe latest production is Beauty and The Beast. This production opens next Thursday 4 July and runs through to Sunday 14th July with a 2.30 matinee on Sunday 7 July.  Tickets available at Rona Gallery and www.bctt.org.nz

Kids Cross Country Series

The next Kids Cross Country Event is at Grenada North Park in Tawa on Sunday 14 July.  Register at least 7 days prior and receive your own personalised race bib.  Open to year 3s through to year 10s.  Enter as an individual or get a couple of friends together to enter a team of three.  Team and individual awards. The next event is being held in Tawa, Upper Hutt and Wellington.  For more details contact Jo Murray on johanna.murray@xtra.co.nz

or 2329409.