FRIDAY 1 APRIL 2016

Bird’s Eye View Number 9

Friday 1 April 2016

Naumai e te whanau o te kura Muritai

Tena koutou katoa

Welcome to our new children - Mikayla Sim, Leo and Estelle Languette and Riley Knight-Hewson who have started at Muritai this week.

It has been quite a vibrant April Fools Day at Muritai today. Lots of pranking between teachers and teachers; teacher and students and students and teachers. All good fun!

I have spent the last 2 days up at Makahiwa camp with the year 5-6 team. This camp is quite a different experience from the traditional venue of Forest Lakes. The owners, John and Sally, have developed quite the old fashioned bush experience for visitors  and my observation was the children are thriving in this challenging environment. They will be extremely tired but will have lots to talk about on their return to Eastbourne...the cold nights will be front and centre of their comments! The large team of instructors and kitchen staff at Makahiwa were extremely effusive in their praise for our children - which as a principal is lovely to get that feedback. As first-time visitors, this year 5-6 team have enhanced Muritai’s reputation beyond Eastbourne and set a high standard for next year’s group to reach.

PARENT INTERVIEWS WEEK 11

On Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th April we are holding our first ‘Student Progress’ signpost of the year - parent interviews to feedback student progress across the first term. Over the term we have formed a learning picture for each child and we are able to give you feedback on how the children have done in their initial ‘testing’ and show you examples of work that indicate where they are now and where they are going.Generally the focus is on the primary school key elements of reading, writing and maths, as well as how they are ‘working’ within the class setting.

To make an appointment go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz, put in the code 88cr7 and follow the prompts.

It is important to know that you can meet with your child’s class teacher to disucss progress at any time. Please arrange contact via email.

CHILDREN ARRIVING AT SCHOOL EARLY

Just a follow up from last week’s entry around children arriving at school - our expectation at Muritai is that a safe time for children to arrive is around 8.15 with a preference of children arriving closer to 8.30. The ‘go to class’ bell is 8.40 and so children should be here by then, with the school day starting at 8.50.

DOGS ON THE PROPERTY

Just a follow up from last week’s entry to keep an eye on making sure dogs are not roaming on the have been on our property to keep our ground free of dog waste. Please keep an eye on our gates being closed out of hours.

INTER-ZONE SWIMMING

A small team competed at the Inter-zone swim competition with our Y5-6 group unable to attend because of Makahika camp. Congratulations to the following  who made the top 4 at Inter- Zone swimming :

• Izzy Kane - 1st Y4 Girls 25m Breaststroke
• Ben Murphy - 1st Y7 Boys 50m Backstroke; 2nd Y7 Boys 50m Breaststroke
• Joseph Keenan - 4th Y4 Boys 25m Backstroke

SPEED AROUND SCHOOL

A follow up from the last newsletter - reminder that the roads around Muritai School are a variable speed zone and the speed limit recommendation law is 40kph from 8.30- 9.00 and 2.45 - 3.15.

HOT DOGS VOLUNTEERS

We are still looking for volunteers to help with the hot dogs the Home and School Committee would like to offer for the children on Wednesdays during Terms 2 and 3.  Being on duty is very simple.  There are detailed instructions, and volunteers with less experience are partnered with someone who has done it before.  The time commitment is minimal from 11:30am to 1:30pm.

If you would be willing to volunteer during Terms 2 and 3, please see Jo in the school office .   

MURITAI SCHOOL BOOK FAIR

The Muritai School Library will be holding a Scholastic Book Fair in Week 11 of Term 1, 2016. The school gets 30% of every sale making this a good fundraiser for our school library. The timing of the Book Fair is set around the parent teacher conferences being held on the Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th from 3-8pm and a final chance on Wednesday 13th 3-4pm.

We are asking for some help to run the book fair, one hour of time would help immensely.  If you can help could you talk to Sue in the School Library or see Jo in the office.

DIARY DATES (staff may contact you with more details about these events)

Mon 11/Tue 12 April  Parent / Teacher meetings 3.00 - 7.30

Thur 14 April Y7-8 Trip to Parliament

Thur 14 April BOT mtg 7.30pm

Fri 15 April School assembly 1.45 (Last day of term!)

Mon 2 May Term 2 begins

TERM DATES FOR 2016

Term 1 = Monday 1 February - Friday 15 April

Term 2 = Monday 2 May - Friday 8 July

Term 3 = Monday 25 July - Friday 23 September

Term 4 = Monday 10 October - Friday 16 December

We have 2 teacher only days this year at Queen’s Birthday and Labour weekend.

Teacher only day one = Tuesday 7 June

Teacher only day two = Tuesday 25 October

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Bee Healthy – School Dental Service

There are changes to the current School Dental Service, Mandy & Sarah are no longer based in the Dental Clinic.  If you need to contact them regarding concerns about your child’s teeth or your child has dental pain, you can arrange an appointment by calling 0800 TALK TEETH (0200 825 583).  You can also call this number to update your contact details.  This is a national free phone number, which when calling from the Wellington Region will automatically transfer your call to the Bee Healthy service.  

If you have a preschool aged child, then he/she will be seen with you at a local dental clinic or ‘hub’ for an examination each year.  If your child needs any further treatment they will require further visits with you to the Petone Hub to complete their dental treatment.

If your child is school aged, he/she will be examined on a new dental mobile van which will visit schools annually.  Mandy and Sarah will be in the van at Muritai School during term 2 where they will examine all Muritai School children.

The important change for you as a parent/guardian is that if your child is identified at their examination appointment as needing further treatment, such as a preventive coating or filling, he/she will require this treatment at a dental hub.  As a parent/caregiver you will need to ring 0800 TALK TEETH (0800 825 583) to arrange a suitable time and attend this appointment with your child.

Further information about Bee Healthy Regional Dental Service is available at

www.beehealthy.org.nz/content/default.html

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The weather is changing, so is our Friday Lunch Menu. Starting 1st April children can order our NEW Mince or Mince & Cheese Pie lunch combo (with baking surprise & seasonal fruit).

Combos are $7.50 and delivered to the school hall every Friday at 12.30pm. Send us your child/ren”s name, room number, and order by 3pm Thursday. Txt 022 468 6325 (022 HOT MEAL) or email info@fft.co.nz.

Order forms available at the school office. Payments to 12-3145-0180659-00. See our other popular lunch combo options and term order information at www.fft.co.nz.

Netball – Upcoming Event. Saturday 9 April Walter Nash Centre - Saturday 9 April

The ANZ futureFERNS Festival Day is a special one-off event to celebrate Netball.  It is open to all Year 1-6 children – whether they play and love netball already, or are keen to give it a go. A fun programme is planned with netball activities and the chance to meet current Pulse players and Netball legend Irene Van Dyk.

Saturday 9th  April ...

Year 1-2 from 11am -12pm

Year 3-4 from 12.30-1.30pm

Year 5-6 from 2pm -3pm