Friday 26 June 2015

Kia ora koutou,

As we approach the last week we celebrate our children’s successes with written reports today. The mid year report shares the children’s progress against the curriculum requirements and indicates how the children are tracking towards achieving the national standard in reading, writing and maths. Teachers have noted comments of strengths and next steps as best they can. As always if you need additional information or would like to talk to your child’s class teacher then please contact them to arrange an appointment.

When reading the reports there was a common theme through them, and that is that our children are achieving very well but teachers would like the children to be confident to extend themselves to the next level, particularly in writing. Our teaching is focussed on introducing new ideas and we are finding some of our children feel safe in what they know and can do, rather than trying new ways to improve and extend their work.  In Maths we know that the children who have swift recall of their basic facts have an advantage over the students who labour with instant recall.  Going over number facts over the holiday break and beyond would be useful. Live Mathletics is a useful tool to speed up basic facts recall. As we go forward we will encourage the children to trial and experiment with new things to take their work forwards.

CELEBRATION OF LEARNING
Next Wednesday 1 July, parents are invited to visit their children’s classrooms where students will guide their parents through their learning journeys.  Teachers will be on hand for any clarification required.  Classrooms will be open from 3pm until 6pm.  This is a wonderful opportunity for you to see your child’s day-to-day learning and achievements, to reflect on their growth and this helps them self-review their own progress together with the teachers report.

TREE PLANTING
It has been great to see Matt Diederich installing the big trees at the school today. They make a significant difference to the deck area and the entranceway to the main school from Oroua St.

We have also been successful in being awarded 18 fruit trees by the Hutt City Council and so a selection of feijoa, pear and apple trees will be arriving shortly for us to plant at both the main school and the senior school.

INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT)
We have been spending the recent Eastbourne Village Carnival funds of late. We have managed to invest about $50,000 worth of ICT equipment into the school to replace ageing equipment including a selection of Chromebooks, Ipads and laptops for the children to use plus big screens and multimedia equipment. All this has been spread across the school from year 1-8 for all our children to use. So, a huge thanks to the Eastbourne Village carnival committee and all the parents and children who made last year’s carnival such a huge success - we now have the benefits of this effort into the classrooms.

CARNIVAL COMMITTEE
We won’t be holding a Carnival this year but we do need a Treasurer to look after the money and someone to apply for grants and deal with Council communications.  If you feel you would be able to fill one of these positions, please contact Sally Bain at iain.sally@gmail.com or see Carole or Jo in the school office.


POLYFEST
Yesterday a huge group of children from year 4-8 went to Walternash Stadium to perform in the Polyfest show for 2015. It was such an amazing experience, there were so many schools performing with different varieties of songs and costumes. From seeing all the different schools you could identify all the different cultures coming to life on stage. Muritai school sang three songs and made routines with poi, rako, and taiaha. It was an amazing turn-out and I would definitely recommend Polyfest for any other students next year.

A massive thank-you to Mrs Hooke and Mrs Algar for all the direction, choreography, organisation and giving up your own time to put the show together. Thank you, also, to Roger for helping us with equipment when needed.
Helena Cvitanovich

MATARIKI - KITE FLYING
As part of our current focus on Matariki, students will be making kites over the next few days and there will be a huge kite flying extravaganza (hopefully) on Thursday 2 July down at the WH Short Park in the afternoon.  Classroom teachers will advise the exact times next week.

WORLD VISION - 40 HOUR FAMINE
The children who participated in the 40 Hour Famine recently did really well and raised $2,993.60 between them.  Well done.

SCIENCE WEEK
Classes have enjoyed a mini science week this week with students experimenting and investigating in each syndicate.  Along with kitchen chemistry students and teachers have carried out experiments investigating the concept of air pressure and its effect on flight. Teachers learned how to keep pingpong balls afloat with a hair drier during a morning tea break and the year 1 classes spent an afternoon experimenting with forces by setting off air and then carbon dioxide gas powered rockets

STAFFING UPDATE
Congratulations to Anand and Fiona Ranchod for the safe arrival of baby Ahren. He came a lot earlier than expected but everyone is safe and well.

Today we farewell our beloved drum and guitar teacher Steve Wren. Steve joined us as an itinerant teacher about 10 years ago and has been the force behind the ‘Drummers and Strummers’ during this time. He has also put together a number of school bands that have performed with distinction over the years. We will miss Steve and we thank him for his great work at Muritai. We wish him and Debbie a safe return to the UK.

Steve has personally found two people to take over from him and next term Charles Hazlewood and Andy Russell take over Steve’s portfolio of guitar and drum students.

At the end of this term one of our Teacher Aides, Lorna Lane, will be moving to a new job in town. Lorna has special link to one of our students who she cares for but the time is right for Lorna to do something new. We thank Lorna for everything she has done at Muritai and wish her well in her new opportunity. Rachael Armstrong joins our support team.

We also welcome Hannah Watkins, Brenda Anderson and Rachel Cope to the Muritai support team working in new entrant.

MURITAI SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMME
Winter is here and it’s holiday time!  We have some great activities lined up to keep your children entertained these holidays:

  • Soap decoupage
  • Make your own sherbert and Junglerama
  • Marshmallow Madness and Wallet making workshop
  • Alternative Art Day
  • Lighthouse Cinema and Talent Show
  • Creative Ceramics
  • Indoor Skating
  • Funky upcycling day
  • Gymnastics and Indoor Sports day
  • Indoor Carnival

Pick up a brochure from the school office or visit the After School Care page on the website - http://muritaiafterschoolcare.blogspot.co.nz/

DIARY DATES FOR TERM 2 and 3
25 June    Board of Trustees Meeting / Kapa haka roopu at PolyFest 2015
26 June    Assembly / Mid-year reports go home.
1 July Learning celebrations 3pm - 6pm
3 July        LAST DAY OF TERM 2 (Usual finishing time of 2.55pm)
20 July      FIRST DAY OF TERM 3
23 July Otago Problem Solving
23 July Pedal Ready Programme begins for the year 3/4 syndicate
28 July ICAS English exam
11 August ICAS Maths Exam

SPORTS
Upper Hutt Netball Tournament
Last Sunday we had two year 4 and one year 5/6 netball team represented in the Upper Hutt Netball Tournament.

All of the teams played extremely well and fought hard against extremely tough opposition. I’m sure the experience will help them greatly with their regular weekly games.

The Year 4 Muritai Wombats should be very proud of themselves having won the overall Year 4 competition.

Well Done Muritai Netball!!

COMMUNITY NOTICES
Toolbox Parenting Groups - from The Parenting Place
Fun and inspiring small group parenting courses for parents of children and teenagers.  
Middle Years (6-12yrs)   Designed to help you stay connected, teach skills and build memories.
Mondays  10am to 12pm  | 27 July to 31 Aug |Pinehaven School Library  OR
Tuesdays 7:15pm to 9:15pm | 28 July to 1 Sept | Belmont School
Building Awesome Whānau (0-12yrs) Whether you are already a super-parent or you’re struggling a bit, this will give you lots of good ideas to create a great family team.
Thursdays 5:30pm to 7:30pm |  30 July to 3 Sept | Lower Hutt
Bookings are essential. Cost: $75 individual, $110 couple (subsidies are available)
Free for foster and adoptive parents and grandparents raising grandchildren, thanks to govt funding.
Visit  theparentingplace.com or contact Natalie P: 934 8483  E: HuttKapiti@theparentingplace.com

July School Holiday Children’s Theatre ..... Let's Make A Puppet.... Let's Tell A Story..... 13th & 14th July 10am or 11.30am at Epuni Community Hall, 37 Mitchell Street, Lower Hutt.... contact Sarah on 021 042 1851 or info@littledogbarking.co.nz  or visit our website www.littledogbarking.co.nz

EVOLVE
Calling all future tennis stars!  Evolve tennis coaching are now providing coaching at the Muritai Tennis Club under the guidance of Head Coach Jakim Malan.  Registrations for Term 3 tennis coaching are now open.  All ages and abilities are welcome.  For further information please contact Evolve ph 479 1386 or email evolvetenniscoaching@gmail.com or visit www.evolvetenniscoaching.co.nz

FRIDAY 19 JUNE 2015

Kia ora koutou,


As we prepare for the last fortnight of term I want to recognise the big effort our students and their teachers have made this term. Term one was frenetic but this term it has been consistently steady and we have made many gains. We have achieved a lot and the work displayed around the walls and in the books shows that we have made good traction. The children all look a bit older and wiser as we head to the mid-point of the year.


Next week our Kapa Haka roopu perform at the Polyfest. Under the tuition of Carol Algar and Ruth Hooke they have made significant gains of late and are ready to showcase their talents in Taita. We all wish them the every success as they aim to present a polished performance to the crowd in this showcase event.


Trees
We have been granted 18 fruit trees for the Hutt City Council Tees in Schools programme and will be planting feijoa, apple and pear trees in the school early next term.


Kate Brownsword and Matt Diederich have been working together to arrange the planting of the big trees to complete the library landscaping and we expect these to go in within the next week or so.


Mike Weston visit
Recently, Room 24 was graced with the appearance of Mike Weston, a famous New Zealand artist! Mike Weston was kind enough to come into Room 24 on Thursday to teach us about how he became such a successful artist!
His career as an artist began mainly with photography and photo-shop as he worked to create posters for his music gigs. Unfortunately, he found that most of the time, all of his work would go to waste after his show, as he had to scrap the posters afterwards.
He decided to do full time art, but his real career began when he started to work with his friend, Otis Frizzell, and acted as a sort of 'Art Producer' like how a music producer might work.He would tell Otis what to paint, how to paint it, and when. Otis used to be mainly a street artist, but with this new setup, he could paint on canvases instead of walls, and so, get paid.
Later, Mike Weston became famous for his 'Behave' piece of Artwork. He drew the original draft on a napkin at a dinner party, and later made a rough draft on the computer. The piece of artwork consisted of the Beehive matchboxes logo, with the Beehive company brand below changed to 'Behave' in stencil writing. The original black and red stripes were changed to have four white koru's in-between them to add some Maori cultural influence. The piece was made during a time where the country was trying to figure out how to be multi-cultural, the art piece saying that the solution is to 'Behave'.


However, when he presented it to his wife, she said that it was dumb and wouldn't sell. After many iterations he abandoned the idea and let it sit for awhile. A few years later he re-visited the idea, and he decided to dump his box of sharp metal pieces, nails, bolts, screws, rocks and sandpaper all over the piece of art. Surprisingly, it made it look much better, the scratched and bruised 'Behave' looking much better than the clean and non-damaged one.
He brought it to an art exhibition where it quickly sold for $1500 to the Labor party leader at the time, who quickly displayed it in her office within the Beehive (House of Parliament). It sold quickly after that first time as the price was set, and many copies were sold, even requiring them to find a printing press so that they could mass-produce copies. Eventually it even managed to become a sponsoring brand, going on to win an award at a wine awards ceremony.
The 'Behave' brand was Mike Weston's crowning achievement, making him $1.5 Million  over the ten years since it was first launched in 2004. However, Mike Weston has worked on other projects despite the fact that 'Behave' is still making him money today. Some of his other more interesting projects include artwork on Woolworth's recycle-able and a large mural depicting Auckland's most famous landmarks.
Because we were so inspired by him, Room 24 will be making a 'Behave' mural on our bland breeze block wall, which is quite fitting for a school! Room 24 gives many thanks to Mike Weston for spending some of his time to come to our class and teach us about himself and his art.
- Joshua Toomath
NATIONAL YOUNG LEADERS DAY
On Monday 15th June 2015, many students from year 7 and 8 were lucky enough to get the chance to go to NYLD (National Young Leaders Day)!  During the trip we saw many inspiring and interesting people talk about their lives, and how they became famous! It was held in St. James Theater, where every seat in the three level auditorium was filled! Many different schools were there, including one school that made the long trek from Auckland to Wellington just to see it!


The main goal of NYLD is to inspire and teach children how to be good leaders. Many famous New Zealanders came in on Monday to tell us how THEY became great leaders, and their philosophies and attitude towards getting there.  Speakers included William Pike (a mountaineer who lost his leg whilst climbing a mountain), Simon Gault (Masterchef Judge), Marcus Winter the ‘Sandman’ (an amazing speed artist), Chris Jupp (who has worked with World Vision and the 40 Hour Famine), Jamie McDell (a famous New Zealand singer)


The day was so much fun! As well as the speakers, we got to watch a few videos about other inspiring people, as well as people that couldn't make it, a few breaks for morning tea and lunch, and the presenters even played games with us! All in all, it was a very inspirational day, and I for one feel more motivated and qualified to be a good leader!
  • Joshua Toomath

MURITAI SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMME
Winter is here and it’s holiday time!  We have some great activities lined up to keep your children entertained these holidays:


Soap decoupage
Make your own sherbert and Junglerama
Marshmallow Madness and Wallet making workshop
Alternative Art Day
Lighthouse Cinema and Talent Show
Creative Ceramics
Indoor Skating
Funky upcycling day
Gymnastics and Indoor Sports day
Indoor Carnival


Pick up a brochure from the school office or visit the After School Care page on the website - http://muritaiafterschoolcare.blogspot.co.nz/


SPORTS
Cross Country
It was a fantastic day (Tuesday 16 June) at the Y4-8 Cross Country Championships.  All of the students did a great job!  We had a few podium finishes:  Macey Caughley 2nd place - Year 8 Girls Race, Greta Woolloff 2nd place - Year 5 Girls Race and Rosa Blair 1st place - Year 4 Girls Race.  We also had a number of students place in the top 10 of their races.


Year 8 Macy Caughley - 2nd place
Year 7 Lea Pummer - 5th place
Mia Lowe - 9th place
Year 6 Henry Evans - 4th place
Jack Evans - 6th place
Emily Jones - 6th place
Year 5 Greta Woolloff - 2nd place
Elodie Bain - 6th place
Jack Roche - 9th place
Year 4 Rosa Blair - 1st place
Mia Campbell - 6th place
Theo Thompson - 9th place
George Baird - 10th place




These students will now represent Lower Hutt at the Wellington Regional Primary and Intermediate Schools Cross Country Champions to be held on Tuesday 30 at Trentham Memorial Park in Upper Hutt.


Basketball
Our Year 5 boys basketball team won the Hutt Valley competition last night in a close and exciting game against Waterloo School 14-12. Our boys were smaller but were successful because they work very hard individually but more importantly play well as a team. The team are Jack Roche, Fionn Theobald, Brody Parker, Harry Rookes, Barney Cass, Ted Woolley, and Rory Moffat. Congratulations team.


Our Year 8 boys team also were placed 3rd in the Hutt Valley Competition. This is a fantastic effort as there are 15 teams in this grade and many teams are from large intermediates or year 7-12 high schools with a much bigger number of boys. Our team is Tom Flynn, Lincoln Moffat, Callan Hughes, Tobias Knight, Matiu Inwood, Tommy Pajo, Ben Cass and Finlay Steel and Bob Jones.
Out of this Year 8 team 4 players Tom Flynn, Lincoln Moffat, Callan Hughes and Tobias Knight were selected earlier in the year to play for the Under 15 Hutt Valley representative development team which is a great achievement as the boys are all 12 years old.


In addition to this we acknowledge Lincoln Moffat and Theo Weston who have been selected to represent Hutt Valley in the Under 13 and Under 12 teams respectively competing in the Intraprovincial Tournament in July and we also congratulate Lincoln for being selected in  a Wellington cricket XI after his success as an opening batsman playing for the Hutt Valley in a regional tournament in the Summer Holidays.


DIARY DATES FOR TERM 2 and 3
25 June    Board of Trustees Meeting / Kapa haka roopu at PolyFest 2015
26 June    Assembly / Mid-year reports go home.
1 July Learning celebrations 3pm - 6pm
3 July        LAST DAY OF TERM 2 (Usual finishing time of 2.55pm)
20 July      FIRST DAY OF TERM 3
23 July Otago Problem Solving
23 July Pedal Ready Programme begins for the year 3/4 syndicate
28 July ICAS English exam
11 August ICAS Maths Exam


COMMUNITY NOTICES
Fundraising for Cross Country
Hello my name is Liam.  I am a 14 year old student (ex Muritai School). I recently came first place in the Wellington Secondary Schools Cross Country Champs.  I have been asked to represent Wellington in the Nationals which are being held in Dunedin.  I am fundraising for this by selling bags of pinecones.  The pinecones are packaged in new onion sacks.  They are closed pinecones which burn long and hot (we have tried them).  I am asking $10 per bag.  If you would like to place an order please phone 589 6138 or 027 811 8191.  We will deliver.  Thank you.


LIQUIDATION SALE
Rixon Groove (old Bank Arcade)
Quality Womens’ shirts - were $199-$289 NOW $35 EACH
Scarves/Shawls - $20-$45
Mens’ Boxer Shorts - All $15
Mens Ties - All $15
Stirling Agencies
Womens’ quality dressing gowns & pyjamas - $20, nighties - $15, Italian tights $10
Saturday 20th June 10am - 4pm
Sunday 21st June 1pm - 3pm
Or contact HELEN on 0274405205 for viewing times outside of these hours
5 TAUNGATA ROAD, YORK BAY
Cash/Cheque only please


Resilience seminar, Wellesley College School Hall – Thursday 25 June, 6.30pm
Wellesley College Parents Association will be hosting Dr Sven Hansen, founder of the Resilience Institute, who will provide an entertaining, thought provoking and practical talk on “Resilience”.
The heart of Resilience is the ability to remain calm, effective and responsive in challenging moments. Resilient people learn how to show bounce, courage, creativity and connection. This seminar will focus on the role of parenting and will define a handful of key practices that can reduce distress, improve wellbeing and support learning.
Doors open at 6pm. Details of the event and how to register can be found here: http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2015/resilience-dr-sven-hansen-keys-to-resilience/wellington


Netball Hutt Valley July School Holiday Programme
July School Holiday Programme
  • Keep active in the holidays with our block course. Open to years 1-10 and focussing on key netball skills with games where numbers allow.
  • Held each day in the first week of the School Holidays (6-10 July)
  • Inside at the Walter Nash Stadium
  • Years 1-4   9.00-10.30        $70
  • Years 5-6   9.00-11.00        $100
  • Years 7-10   11.30-1.30        $100
Please refer to the Netball Hutt Valley Website for further details.


Kids Cross Country Series - next event at Memorial Park/Sladden Park, Petone
Athletics Wellington is again running the Kids Cross Country Series over the winter months at various venues around the Wellington region.  Our next event is Sunday 26 July at Memorial Park/Sladden Park, Petone.  Races for pre schoolers though to year 8s.  This event has grown in the past couple of years with close to 600 kids at our last event, so come along and have some fun.  For more information or to enter go to www.athleticshub.co.nz or email jo@athleticswellington.org.nz or phone 021 976116.  Enter by Sunday 19 July to receive a personalised race bib on the day.


Babysitter Available
My name is Jasmine Henwood.  I am 33 years old.  I live in the Eastbourne area and am available to babysit your kids anytime.  Please give me a call on 021 066 0536.  My hourly rate is $10 per hour.

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