FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Mānawatia a Matariki!
It is very exciting that tomorrow will be the first ever celebration of Matariki as a public holiday. Matariki is a time to honour the past, present and the future. At school classes have been involved in a wide range of activities related to Matariki and we are really looking forward to connecting with our families and our wider community next Thursday evening to share some kai and our learning together.
There has been lots of learning about Matariki using STEAM all around the school which we invite you to come along and look at with your children. There will be learning displays inside the hall, library, junior classrooms, room 10 as well as outside hanging in the trees or in the window of the downstairs classes from 4 pm to 6 pm on Thursday June 30th. You will be able to participate in some kite flying, use some PE gear and use chalk on the concrete to add to our cooperative Matariki picture. Students can bring torches too! Our Kapa Haka group has been working with Hilary Bevin, Ruth Hooke and Brooke Davis and will be performing at 5 pm during these Matariki Celebrations. Please bring some kai and a blanket as we will have a picnic in the hall or junior classrooms or if fine outside with your family and friends. At 6.30 pm there will be a whanau hui in the library which you are also welcome to attend. We hope as many of you can come to mix and mingle during this celebration!! Pop it into your diaries!
A warm welcome to Nikau Anderson-Budd to Room 2 and Finn Anderson-Budd to Room 13.
Parent evenings 2022
The Cyber Safety evening was the first parent evening that we have scheduled for this year. There was a huge turnout so thank you to everyone who braved the cold weather and came along. Rob and Zareen (Our Kids Online) were amazing presenters and their presentation certainly was thought provoking, confronting and insightful as a way to keep our students safe.
Further information can be found on our website with an interactive PDF from Our Kids Online This PDF contains a recap of the main points covered and tips and recommendations in relation to solutions.
We will be hosting another evening early in Term 3 to show the entire documentary that had snippets shown during the parent evening. Date for this is to be announced by the end of this term.
Special thanks to the Home and School committee members who organised and served the refreshments on the night with funds raised going towards our new school kitchen refurbishment.
Gotchas
Over this year, our students have been earning ‘Gotchas’. Gotchas are given by staff members who observe students in both the classroom and playground demonstrating our values. We have both the living values - be kind, respectful, resilient and working together along with the learning values - being an explorer, connector and contributor which encourage our students to be the best that they can be. The student leaders in this photo are counting up which house has earned the most and in week 10 there will be a fun afternoon for all the students across the school to celebrate. The winning house gets to choose what activities the afternoon will involve.
Structured Literacy
Teachers have recently been observed teaching structured literacy spelling lessons by an outside provider from iDeal. The person was extremely impressed by what they saw the teachers and students doing in every classroom. There was high engagement by the students and all of them were focused on the powerpoint presentations containing lessons e.g. involved with long and short vowels.
Information evening
Thank you to those parents who joined us for the ‘Starting School at Five’ information evening. Our new cohort of students have begun their school visits. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me or flovell@muritai.school.nz
School Assembly
Our full school assembly was hosted by Team Kororā who did a fantastic job sharing some of their great learning with us.Thank you to the parents and caregivers from Kororā who joined us today. We look forward to seeing what the Kererū team has been doing in the next assembly on the last day of this term.
Thank you to Howard Grigg for giving up his time to repair our hall sound system recently.
Learning around the school
Gymnastics
Each class around the school is taking part in gymnastics and learning new skills.
Some students in the Kererū team have been doing some chemistry experiments and creating crystals while others have been experimenting with the digital microscope.
Chess has become a popular pastime with many students using both the board game or playing on a device.
Artwork by Room 11 of Eastbourne Landscapes as part of their inquiry.
125th Celebration
We will be celebrating our school’s 125th year (2022) in early 2023. Planning has begun (although stalled due to Covid) with our wonderful committee. If you are interested in helping and would like to join the committee, please email me and let me know. We will be having a meeting early next term.
If you have any questions regarding our school or your child’s learning please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a wonderful Matariki weekend with your family and friends.
Ngā mihi kia koutou,
Maureen Buckley
Acting Principal
buckley@muritai.school.nz
FROM THE SCHOOL
Lost property
Once again we have a mountain of clothing that needs to be returned to students. If your child has lost something, please send them to the library to have a look or pop in yourself.
DIARY DATES:
23 June Whole school assembly hosted by Kororā syndicate
24 June Matariki Holiday
28 June Interzone Cross Country
30 June Matariki Celebrations
5 July Regional Cross Country
8 July Whole School assembly hosted by Kererū syndicate
8 July Last day of Term 2
25 July First day of Term 3
17 August BOT meeting at 6.30
7 September BOT meeting at 6.30
7 September Starting School @ Muritai 7.30pm
13 September Inter-school Futsal competition
30 September Last day of Term 3
TERM DATES 2022:
Term 1 2 February to 14 April
Term 2 2 May to 8 July
Term 3 25 July to 30 September
Term 4 17 October to 15 December
COMMUNITY NOTICES - Please Note - the following notices have been requested to be published and are not necessarily endorsed by us as a school. In the spirit of community we include these digitally for you to peruse.
Term 3 Guitar Lessons at Muritai School
Charles Hazlewood is currently accepting enrolments for guitar lessons beginning in the first week of Term 3
Lessons available for pupils in years 3-8
Contact charleshazlewood1@gmail.com for more information, or phone 029-9392759 or 9342759
Hutt City Council would love to invite your school community to join us at Puanga ki Matariki in the Lower Hutt Events Centre and Town Hall on Sunday 26 June. The event starts at midday with a whakatau in the Town Hall, which is open to the public and will be livestreamed, followed by a kapa haka performance.
Throughout the day there will be arts, education, activities, kai and performances with special guests “Tomorrow People”. A more detailed programme will be available closer to the time.
You might like to see the other events that have been planned across the city:
https://www.huttcity.govt.nz/people-and-communities/puanga-ki-matariki
