Thursday 30 October

Welcome to our new students - Brooke Harrington (R1), Svana Clark (R5), George Saunderson (R1).

It is hard to believe that we are in week 3 of our final term already. We have lots to get through in the month of November and this includes the Eastbourne Village Carnival and a visit from the Education Review Office the following day and through week 7. Please have a look at the diary below and make sure you are all familiar with the dates and times of events to come.

The estimated date of completion for our library is next Friday, 7 November and we are hoping to officially open the building on Friday 14 November. Further details about an opening ceremony will follow once things are confirmed. The building team are now moving around to complete stage 2 which is a large deck off the two-storey block, return the old library into a classroom and complete the Oroua St frontage. We thank you for your patience while this work continues.

As we continue our organisation for 2015 we are receiving some requests from parents for their children's placement in 2015. While we don't have a policy that allows parents to choose their child's teacher, or which children they can or can't be with, we try to be as inclusive as possible as an organisation. We really do appreciate that most parents just allow the school to place the children into classes in a fair and equitable way and while we are prepared to listen, we can't guarantee that we can action what individual parents wish for. School after all is a bit of a 'metaphor for life' and our children do need to adapt to the situations they find themselves in and do the best that they can in each environment.

As teachers, we take a great deal of time in developing classrooms. We work closely as a staff and take into account the needs of individual children and the ways they relate to various teacher styles. We know which children work well together and those who do not. Each class is balanced as much as possible with an equal number of boys and girls, with a range of ability levels, and a range of personalities.  These decisions are made very carefully by considering the best learning situation for all of our children. Our efforts are virtually wasted, however, when classes are filled by requests based upon vague reasons such as "her friend is in that class,"  or "I heard something good about the teacher," and "my son begged me to request this teacher" are not valid reasons for a request, and in fact undermine school attempts to provide the best situation for all the children we have to place. 

Remember, you or your child may not necessarily relate to a given teacher the same as another person might. Your child is different and special, however w
e are very lucky at Muritai to have such an experienced, committed teaching staff to guide our children's learning. 

CARNIVAL
With just a few weeks before our huge fundraiser, it is all go from the Carnival Committee.  It may seem a little quiet out there but the Committee have it all in hand.  Now it’s your turn.  They need you all to help out by putting your name down for jobs, either on the day, or before-hand prepping food, making goods (deli store, cakes, etc), potting plants and cleaning out your cupboards to donate your old toys, books and clothes.

Signs will be going up in the foyer very shortly so please ensure your name is down for one of the jobs – at least one person from each family.  Over the past few Carnivals, approximately $45,000 to $55,000 has been raised to help the school.  We are currently building our new library with funds from those Carnivals as well as purchasing new IT equipment for our children.

ATHLETICS
Athletic Sports Day for our Year 3-8 students was held today and went really smoothly. Thank you to the teaching staff and children for working so hard to make this such a wonderful event.  Children have been working very hard and set personal goals to achieve on the Athletics Day.  We really appreciate parents and friends joining us to support the children. 

WOW - WORLD OF WASTE
Last week some members of Room 15, part of the School Gen Lead Team, went on a WOW (World of Waste) trip.  This tour is run by Sustainable Hutt City and is designed to enhance students’ understanding about the nature and volume of waste that households and schools generate, and to offer alternative ideas to throwing things away and landfilling them.  It uses discussions, site visits and a range of activities covering several curriculum links including science, technology and social studies.  The students got to visits the Silverstream Landfill, the Earthlink Recycling Plant, The Dowse Art Gallery and the Waste Management Recycling Plant.  

Room 15 Students - "The trip was loads of fun and we enjoyed learning where the waste that we create at home and at school ends up when we put it in the bin or recycle it.  We even got to keep a toy or book for free from the Earthlink shop!"

RAPunzel
We had the 'Rapunzel' show today...it was cool!!!

"Rapunzel is the hot favourite to win ‘A Land Far Far Away’s Got Talent With X Factor Idol’. She’s a teenage triple threat, with the voice of Lady Gaga, the dance moves of Beyonce, and the hair of… Rapunzel!  But when she refuses to sign a contract with the 'udderly ruthless moosic' producer Simon Cow, he locks her in a recording tower high above the enchanted forest to steal her singing voice with a magic tape machine.

What can Rapunzel do now she can’t sing? Rap!  With the help of a very handsome Fresh Prince, some very long hair, and a smattering of all your favourite fairytale characters, it’s time to flip this fairytale upside down, wave your hair in the air like you just don’t care, and put the RAP back into RAPunzel.
By Room 16
TERM DATES
The Board of Trustees have set the term dates for 2015. Please note the following - 

Term 1 - Monday 2 February – Thurs 2 April – 43 days
Term 2 - Monday 20 April - Friday 3 July - 53 days
Term 3 - Monday 20 July - Friday 25 September   - 50 days
Term 4 - Monday 12 October - Thursday 17 December – 47 days  

There are 2 teacher only days in 2015 - these are the Tuesday of Queen's Birthday and the Tuesday of Labour Weekend.

Please note in 2015 Anzac Day has been ‘Monday-ised’

ABEL TASMAN $100 NOTE RAFFLE
As part of their fundraising efforts for Abel Tasman, the Year 8 students ran a raffle for a $100 note.  The raffle was drawn in the first week of term 4, with the $100 note going to Robin Hamlin, a friend of the school.  Many thanks to everyone who bought a ticket and supported the Abel Tasman camp.

DIARY
You can access a full calendar on our website under 'Noticeboard'

Thursday 30     Y3-8 Athletic Sports
Fri 31 Oct        Assembly 1.45
Mon 3 Nov       Y5-6 Pedal Ready programme (runs for a fortnight)
Tues 4 Nov       Photos for R1 and our recent New Entrants
Wed 5 Nov       Year 7-8 Touch tournament
Thur 6 Nov       Year 8 testing at HVHS / Y1-2 trip to Musical Stars
Friday 14 Nov   Assembly 1.45 / Y5-6 Whitireia Show
Tues 18 Nov     Y4-6 Zone athletic sports
Thurs 20 Nov    BOT mtg 7.30pm
Mon 24 Nov      ERO visit / Swimming starts / Y1-3 parent conferences /Road patrol training for 2015
Tues 25 Nov     Y4-6 Inter-zone sports / Y1-3 parent conferences
Wed 26 Nov     Starting School at 5
Fri 28 Nov        Assembly 1.45
Mon 1 Dec       Y1-2 EOTC week / Y5-6 Road patrol pool party
Tues 2 Dec       Celebration of Learning
Wed 3 Dec       Y5-6 EOTC week begins / Junior school athletic sports
Thurs 4 Dec     BOT mtg 7.30pm
Mon 8 Dec       EOTC week for years 5/6 and 3/4 and Y8 to Abel Tasman
Mon 8 Dec       Year 7s to Matiu/Somes Island
Wed 10 Dec     Year 7s to Mt Holdsworth camp
Tues 9 Dec       Y5-6 2015 camp meeting
Thurs 11 Dec    Junior school Xmas concert
Fri 12 Dec        Reports go home
Mon 15 Dec      2015 classrooms meet together
Tue 16 Dec       Y8 leavers dinner
Wed 17 Dec      Y3-6 Xmas concert
Thurs 18 Dec    Last day of the school year / Final assembly 11.00
                      School finishes at 1.00

COMMUNITY NOTICES
Eastbourne Junior Swim Club Starts Thursday 20 November – Register Now! It’s almost time for the Eastbourne Pool to open, and that means our community Swim Club for Term 4 and Term 1 next year is about to start.  We want to have as many Swim Club nights before Xmas as we can, so are only taking PRE-REGISTRATIONS.  Please sign your child up at the Eastbourne Library or at our registration morning at the Eastbourne Pool 10-midday Saturday 15 November.  $30 per child. All children aged 5 and older catered for.

Available for Babysitting
My name is Jasmine Henwood.  I am 32 years old.  I am available to look after your kids even in the school holidays.  Please text me or call on 021 066 0536.  My hourly rate is $10 per hour



Wednesday 15 October

Naumai e te whanau o te kura Muritai 
Tena koutou katoa

Welcome to our new students -  Paris Moore (R9), Mason Donnelly (R13), Adreeta Acharyya (R1), Ava Hosking (R1), Cameron Johns (R1), Makenzie Reddaway (R1) and Romy Olsen (R5) who have all joined our Muritai School community. We begin the term with our roll sitting at 454 pupils with 15 children still to come towards the end of the year which means we should finish the year on a very similar number to last year.

We also welcome Janelle McKay who has started in room 11 replacing Jess Savage who is on maternity leave. Hayley Skilton is leading the year 3-4 team. We also welcome Sally Velvin and Sally Ingram back to Muritai to join our part-time teaching team for this term.

The term has begun quietly and the children are straight back into their learning. This nice atmosphere reflects how well the students are focused, organised and into a nice rhythm from their previous terms. The school is very settled and in good heart.

Term 4, and the run through to the end of the year, is always very busy. Our term plan looks very manageable but the teaching staff  do have a number of administrative requirements to attend to as we close off 2014 and prepare the school for 2015. The senior management team is putting the finishing touches on our school structure for 2015 so if your plans are changing for next year, please let us know as soon as possible.

Term 4 often passes very quickly. There is much to be done and over the next few weeks the children will be required to continue to do their best work to show that they deserve a good quality report at the end of the year. This should not be too tricky as we always try to do hard to ‘be the best that we can be'. As always the work will be a little bit tougher, and a little bit faster, to keep up with the momentum of progress and growth. There will be a healthy dose of fun, exploration, creativity and interest mixed in with it all to keep the children engaged with their schooling.

One thing remains important however and that is to keep in close contact with your child's class teacher. Our next reporting round is at the end of the year with learning celebrations and written reports but you may feel that it is necessary to touch base as the term progresses to get feedback on your child's progress. Our doors are always open for this to happen and it is actually a regular occurrence.

TEACHER ONLY DAY
A reminder that school is closed for a Teacher Only Day next Friday 24th October (Labour Weekend). The teaching staff will be moderating assessment information in preparation for end of year national standards reporting. This gives families an opportunity to have an extra long weekend. 

2015
If your plans are changing for 2015, and your children will not be at Muritai next year, please let the school know as soon as things are confirmed. Many of you have done this and it is much appreciated.

DEBATING FINALS
At the end of last term we were entertained by some exceptionally talented year 7/8 children in the Big Debate. Two year 7 and two year 8 teams debated hard to find the best debating team and the best speakers. The quality of the writing and speaking was just stunning and at the end of it Emma Beevers was selected Best Year 7 Debater and Beth Brodie the Best Year 8 Debater with Mia Treadwell-Burke winning the overall prize as Outstanding Speaker Award and the Pointon Cup for Senior Speech.

You can view the debates by clicking here.

INTER REGIONAL CROSS COUNTRY
At the end of last term we were excited to receive the news that 3 of our students placed in the inter-regional cross-country in Hanmer Springs.

Congratulations to –
  • Macey Caughley – 2nd
  • Charlotte Humphries 6th (now at Samuel Marsden )
  • Samantha Woolley 18th
This is the result of some very serious extra training to enable them to perform at this very high level. A lesson for all of us about how hard work can bring the results we want. These efforts helped Wellington to win the Phil Costley Shield for the first time in a while.

ATHLETICS
Our school athletic sports (Y3-8) are on Thursday 30 October. It begins around 9.15 and goes through to 2.30. Deane McKay is coordinating this and will provide updates before the event. Deane took the staff through a professional development session on Monday and passed on some excellent coaching techniques. As the children are training regularly for athletics, appropriate footwear is recommended.

D.A.R.E
We welcome Constable Julie Orr here for the next few weeks working in the senior school on the Police education programme 'DARE - to make a choice'. Julie has been doing this for a few years now and it is an excellent programme.

YEAR 7-8 FITNESS
We also welcome Richie Hackney who is working with the year 7-8 children in the next few weeks on physical strength and fitness activities. The children have enjoyed the initial sessions... it is a great opportunity. 

HATS
Term 4 signals warmer weather (hopefully) and the return of hats at school.  Can you please ensure your child comes to school this Term and Term 1 next year with a wide brimmed hat to be worn at all outside play times.  You may also like to consider putting sunblock on them before they come to school.  

EOTC WEEKS
Staff are currently planning our Education Outside The Classroom programmes for the end of year. Preparation is well down the path for the Year 8 students’ big camp at Abel Tasman in week 9.
It may be helpful to add these dates in your diaries as you may like to join in the activities.  We can confirm that each syndicate will be on EOTC at the following times –

Year 1-2 - week 8 - December 1-5
Year 3-4 - week 9 - December 8-12
Year 5-6 - week 8/9 - December 3-12 (this is over 2 weeks)
Year 7-8 - week 9 - December 8-12

DIARY DATES FOR TERM 4

Friday 17 Oct – Assembly 1.45 / Sustainable Coastlines and beach clean Up
Thursday 23 Oct – Y1-6 Rapunzel Show; BoT meeting 7.30pm
Friday 24 Oct - Teacher Only Day
Monday 27 Oct – LABOUR DAY
Tuesday 28 Oct - Y5-6 Zone cricket
Thursday 30 - Y3-8 Athletic Sports
Fri 31 Oct – Assembly 1.45
Mon 3 Nov - Y5-6 Pedal Ready programme (runs for a fortnight)
Tues 4 Nov – Photos for R1 and our recent New Entrants
Wed 5 Nov - Year 7-8 Touch tournament
Thursday 6 Nov – Year 8 testing at HVHS / Y1-2 trip to Musical Stars
Friday 14 Nov – Assembly 1.45 / Y5-6 Whitireia Show
Tues 18 Nov - Y4-6 Zone athletic sports
Thurs 20 Nov - BOT mtg 7.30pm
Mon 24 Nov - Swimming starts / Y1-3 parent conferences /Road patrol training for 2015
Tues 25 Nov - Y4-6 Inter-zone sports / Y1-3 parent conferences
Wed 26 Nov - Starting School at 5
Fri 28 Nov - Assembly 1.45
Mon 1 Dec - Y1-2 EOTC week / Y5-6 Road patrol pool party
Tues 2 Dec - Celebration of Learning afternoon
Wed 3 Dec - Y5-6 EOTC week begins / Junior school athletic sports
Thurs 4 Dec - BOT mtg 7.30pm
Mon 8 Dec - Y3-4 EOTC week and Y8 to Abel Tasman
Tues 9 Dec - Y5-6 2015 camp meeting
Thurs 11 Dec - Junior school Xmas concert
Fri 12 Dec - Reports go home
Mon 15 Dec - 2015 classrooms meet together
Tue 16 Dec - Y8 leavers dinner
Wed 17 Dec - Y3-6 Xmas concert
Thurs 18 Dec - Last day of the school year / Final assembly 11.00 School finishes at 1.00

___________________________________________________________


COMMUNITY NOTICES

Fundraising for The Loft -  Eastbourne Youth Group – Car Boot Sale, Muritai School, Sunday 19th October 10am until 1pm.   $10 to register your car.  Phone 5626282 or 0276788924.

Bake Sale
A group of locals went to the Forum on Child Poverty held in Wellington before the election and decided we would like to do something as a community to help those children who don't have what they need to thrive. If you would like to know more, there is an article raising awareness of the issue on page 5 of the Sept Eastbourne Herald. The three local churches are getting together to do some fundraising for communities in need. We're starting with a bake sale in the village Sat 18th Oct 9am -12pm to raise money for Natone Park School, a Decile 1 school in Porirua. If you and your children would like to support our stall, you can contact Sarah White by text (0221650258) or bring some baking down  to the stall on Rimu St at 9am on Sat. We are so fortunate to live in this beautiful community where our children prosper while in other parts of our city, children have so little.

NITSY PIXIES - The Natural Magical Cure for Nits!
In-Salon Treatments done for you! Or do it yourself safely at home?
Call Lisa on 0800 nitsypixies (648 797) or visit www.nitsypixies.co..nz 

Currently a 25% discount if you mention you saw this through your school notice till the end of November!



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