Kia Ora, Talofa Lava, Greetings, Malo e Lelei, Kia Orana, Bonjour, Nǐ hǎo, Hallo, Hola, Kon'nichiwa, Namaste, G’day mate

A warm welcome to Amandine Oliver who joins us in Room 2 for our last day of the year.  

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Tena koutou katoa, warm greetings to you all

2017 Final Newsletter

Last week I was fortunate to attend the Year 8 Formal along with staff and parents.  Angus our Head Boy and Millie our head girl delivered exemplary speeches as well as speeches from our camp parents, Mrs Borgonje, Miki from the Board of Trustees and myself.  It was a special evening and I certainly see why such a long standing tradition is upheld and continued on for generations of Muritai learners who graduate at Year 8.  

As is tradition at the Formal, the Year 8 awards were presented, which we then presented again in front of the full school Assembly last Friday.  Congratulations to our Award winners in 2018.  

Year 8 Awards	Winner
Class of 61 Cup ~ “Outstanding Contribution to Muritai School”         Awarded to that pupil who has consistently excelled in a variety of activities and challenges during their time within Muritai School	Oscar Zuijderwijk
Kirsty and Isabella Clarke Cup ~ “Positive Contribution to Muritai School” Awarded to the child who has consistently made a positive contribution to the peer group to ensure a positive environment at Muritai School.	Angus Flynn
Abel Tasman Cup ~ “Awarded to that pupil who has risen to the challenge of the Abel Tasman Experience and made the most of the opportunity to show teamwork, optimism, enthusiasm, and to be inspired by the challenge	Joshua Ryan
Booth Family Cup ~ “The Student’s Student”                                   Awarded to that pupil who the year 8 students group feel has displayed outstanding qualities in leadership, academics and school culture as well as playing a major role in contributing to the success of the peer group as a whole.	Francisca Zaballa
Newton family Cup Service to the School Awarded to the pupil who in their time at Muritai School has continuously served the school to the highest quality – taken on challenges, volunteered their time, helped others, been noticed for their quality conduct and used their initiative.	Amelia Watkins
Beck Family Cup – Sporting Successes	Boy: Harry Bloomfield Girl: Grace Manson
The Mills Cup for Contribution to the Arts	Chloe Bothwell
Swain Family Cup for Leadership and Contribution to Sport	Ben Murphy
Debbie Bertaud Memorial Cup for Commitment to Science and Technology A cup and book voucher in memory of Debbie Bertaud, pupil, parent, tutor, mentor, awarded to the student who has made the greatest commitment to science and technology during her or his time at Muritai School.	Luke Thompson
Stotter Family Cup An all round student who is committed and dedicated to contribute and perform with excellence to new challenges in the environment, sporting and cultural life of Muritai School with a smile and positive attitude.	Holly Churchman
Jacobsen Cup for excellence in Mathematics Girls & Boys Awarded to that pupil who has consistently excelled in the area of Mathematics.	G - Halina Smith B - Luke Thompson
The Broadbent Cup for excellence in Literacy. (New for 2011) Awarded to that pupil who has consistently excelled in the area of Literacy ~	Lachlan McLachlan
Principal Cup Someone that has stood out - shown determination, resilience, loyalty	Miles Futter
Eastbourne Community Trust Leadership Cup	Lily Sambrooke
Teachers Cup Someone that the three teachers believe is deserving of an award. Have been a joy to teach and an asset to the Senior School.	Sophia Cotsilinis
BOT awards Improvement in year 8 Awarded to that child who, in their final year at Muritai School, has made the most improvement in a variety of areas	G - Holly Churchman B - Cooper Watson
Boy / Girl Endeavour award Awarded to those students who have tried their best in everything they have done at their time at Muritai School – academic, sports, the arts, conduct	G - Marta Perez-Benet B - Flynn Cook
Kyle Sturgess Cup - Music	Chloe Bothwell
Academic Prize Awarded to those students who worked hard in their academic studies and have consistently shown academic excellence across a wide range of subject areas	Girl Cella Connell Boy Oscar Zuijderwijk
Nicholas Bahler Award Empathy Given to the student who has shown care, empathy, consideration and kindness to other students who have physical, mental or social challenges.	Francisca Zaballa
The Malama Cup – The inspiring Visionary This award acknowledges someone who is a true asset to Muritai School. A person who strives to be the best person they can be through hard work and determination.	Josh Ryan
Reliability Cup – 2013 pou whirinaki	Sam Mc Robbie
Kapa Haka	Francisca Zaballa
Pointin Cup - For speeches or debating	Oscar Zuijderwijk

Today we finish our school year and with it, we farewell some families who have been connected to the school for some time.  We thank you for your commitment to Muritai, and know the connections will remain, even though your child may not be joining us at school each day.  

As it is the final day of the year, I take the opportunity to thank those who make Muritai such a enjoyable place to come to work each day.  

To the students -  

• Well done on a great year of learning - your efforts and progress are to be celebrated!
• Congratulations for demonstrating our school values and vision - and continuing to be the best you can be when at school or home
• Thank you for helping make the year a success by helping each other - in your classes and as a school we need the support our students give in doing all sorts of jobs like: collecting the milk, doing road patrol, kahikatea leaders, the year 7/8 leaders and portfolio holders and to our head students - thank you all.
• Good luck to those finishing with us at the end of 2017, I know you’ll be a success as you are a Muritai kid and we look forward to hearing your story of success continue into the future.  

To Parents

• Thank you to our parents and families who help out at a number of events, fundraising initiatives and class trips and camps, we thank you for making our EOTC activities such a learning success
• Thank you to the generous donations we receive from parents - financially and in time donated to the school.  
• Our home and school team tirelessly work at bringing us inventive and fun ways to raise funds for our learners, and this year is no exception - pizza mondays, entertainment books, batteries, cookie time cookies, the Eastbourne Market and even a school disco! Thanks also to all of you who have supported these initiatives by getting out alongside your children and fundraising - or eating the odd christmas cookie.  
• Thank you to our Board of Trustees who dedicate a lot of time and energy in supporting our staff and students to be the best they can be - we appreciate your dedication.  

To our staff

• Thank you for an amazing 2017, your passion, commitment and energy are one of a kind.  Our patient and kind support staff, our fun after school care, our extra special office staff, our fit caretaker, our knowledgeable librarian, our dedicated cleaners and our incredible teachers and senior leadership team.
• We all play a part in making Muritai a wonderful place every day, and I thank each and everyone of you for your efforts and support in 2017.  You are an amazing staff to work alongside.  

Our wider school community, our learners, our parents and our staff all contribute to make one amazing team.  Thank you all for making my first year at Muritai such a superb one.  

On our farewells - Today we farewell some very special staff who move on from Muritai for promotions, in retirement, or off on other adventures. We spoke to each of these special ladies last week in Assembly, where the whole school farewelled each of them.   We thank each and every one of you for giving part of yourself in making our school so special.  Goodbye to Ruth Holmes, Francie Charlton, Karen Chao, Melissa Coton, Julie Small, Heather Mawby, Raewyn Roberts and Rachel Rossiter.  This group of support staff and teachers have been a joy to work with, either in teacher aiding, part time release teaching, or in own class teaching we will miss you all. Good luck in your new roles and adventures in 2018!

Also - If you are looking to purchase new bikes for any children over the summer, or know anyone who is, please support our friends at Holy Family School in Porirua who we at Muritai have helped in the past by donating any bikes that are surplus to requirements.  Chris Theobald, the Principal, will come and pick them up, check out the letter attached from him below.  

I wish each and every one of you all a fantastic Christmas and holiday break - I look forward to seeing you all back rested and relaxed in 2018.  School begins on Wednesday 31 January, and please note we are holding a Teacher Only Day on the 5th February - the Monday before Waitangi Day.  

Bec Power

Principal

FROM THE BOARD

Achievement

Student achievement has again been consistently excellent in 2017, with 85.3 percent of Muritai students at or above standard in maths; 81.3 percent at or above in writing and  88.5 percent at or above in reading, against school-wide targets of 90 percent for reading and 85 percent for writing and maths.

This compares well to nationwide achievement of 77.9 percent at or above in reading 75.4 percent at or above in maths and 71.2 percent at or above in writing, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Education, (2016).

Reading continues to be a particular strength school-wide, while girls’ maths and boys’ writing are areas we would like to see further improvement in.

While our targets were not always met, all students significantly progressed their achievement across the whole curriculum through the year, our most important measure of learning success.

National Standards

On that note, with the dropping of National Standards in 2018 Muritai is looking a new ways of assessing and reporting to parents, likely to be more focused on individual progress rather than a national comparison.

Our future vision and strategic plan will also be a focus as updates to the Education Act around planning and reporting come into play.

Change

It's been a year of significant change at Muritai this year with the appointment Bec Power to lead the school. Bec has brought with her phenomenal energy levels, empathetic and collaborative leadership, keeping the wellbeing of the children firmly at the centre of every decision she makes in partnership with a skilled and committed senior leadership team and staff. We thank her for her commitment to the role, school and its students and look forward to another dynamic year in 2018.

Finally, huge thanks to all the staff, students and families at Muritai for their part in creating a stimulating and caring learning environment - see you in 2018! arohanui, meri kirihamete and haere ra until next year!

Special thanks also to Carole Lowe for her commitment, organisation and administrative skills to support the board as well as the running of the school.

- from your board of trustees Nigel, Louise, Miki, Mary, Andrew,  Phil, Bec and Deane.

TERMS DATE FOR 2018

Term 1 - Wednesday 31 January - Friday 13 April (NOTE: Teacher Only Day - 5th February - the Monday before Waitangi Day)

Term 2 - Monday 30 April - Friday 6 July

Term 3 - Monday 23 July - Friday 28 September

Term 4 - Monday 15 October - Tuesday 18 December