WEDNESDAY 13 JULY 2022

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Kia ora Koutou 

What a wonderful term we have had! The students have certainly had plenty of opportunities to be explorers, connectors and contributors in all areas of their learning and we have been delighted to be able to welcome their families back into our school. 

Thank you to the Kererū team who shared some of their wonderful learning at assembly on Friday. Although only a snapshot of some of the learning that occurs, it exhibited the many varied experiences undertaken and skills that the Year 5 and 6 students have. This included an outstanding violin performance, descriptive writing, amazing photography and art. 

The example below is from Room 10 - students explored our local beach and environment, collected lots of different items and then used them to create these art works.     

The students across the school earn ‘Gotcha’s’ when they are seen demonstrating our school values. At the end of the term, each area of the school had a celebration afternoon as just under 3,000 had been collected. The activities chosen were the students’ choice. Team Kororā enjoyed using different P.E. gear and art while the Tūī team did activities involving  Lego and sports. Kererū team had a disco and Kahu had a games afternoon at Bishop Park.                                 

Some of our youngest learners enjoying their Gotcha reward     

All classes are taking part in our latest inquiry entitled ‘To infinity and beyond’ with students currently exploring our place within the solar system. This learning is from two students in room 15.

Our Year 7 and 8 students have been doing their PPP (Personal Passion Projects) during the term and on Thursday students from around the school visited them to see what they have been learning about. The wide range of topics that they have done and their explanations to the students was outstanding. One of the PPP’s involved the making of this replica Tesla. The students who made this enjoyed giving rides to their younger buddies during the visit.

The Matariki celebration was such a success and we hope that you were very proud of your child’s learning which showcased the concept of Matariki and was done during WOW week. It was a wonderful time to see so many people from around the community attending. There was such a happy buzz both around the classes and outside. The children were very excited to be flying kites, using the P.E. gear, chalk drawing, racing around with torches, along with sharing their learning with their whanau and having fun especially as it was after school hours. We were delighted to see the adults reconnecting with other families and enjoying some kai together. The Kapa Haka was outstanding! They did an incredible performance despite only being together this term. They looked so proud in their uniforms and the hall was absolutely packed to the gunnels with also very little standing room outside. 

 Next term our younger students in Team Kororā will be joining Kapahaka at 8.30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. Parents are very welcome to join us during this time.

Thank you to those families who attended the Whānau hui. It was great to hear your ideas and feedback. If you didn’t attend, please complete the google form that was sent out to you  so we also can capture your thoughts.  

PARENT EVENING - Mark in your diaries! 

During the term we had a very successful parent evening about Cyber Safety and we have the sequel to this on Tuesday August 16th from 6.00 p.m. in the school hall. The presentation will be viewing the entire documentary that parents were shown snippets of as part of the first evening. Please email Jo or pop into the school office to register your name and the number of people attending - bentley@muritai.school.nz

Thank you so much to our families who have kept children home if they have been unwell. We work hard to follow the guidelines as set by the Ministry of Education involving hand washing routines, mask wearing and the ventilation of our learning spaces. Despite the cooler weather, classes have heating on, the CO2 monitors and air purifiers on and doors and windows open. Classes also go outside for short movement breaks. Like other schools, we have had staff and students unwell and face great difficulty getting relievers into classes. We have had to split classes only a couple of times and have managed to not have rolling attendance of year groups or the school closing like many others have. 

I do hope everyone manages to get a lovely holiday break and a chance to stay safe and well. Looking forward to working with you again in Term 3.

Ngā mihi kia koutou,

Maureen Buckley 

Acting Principal

buckley@muritai.school.nz 

FROM THE SCHOOL

BUSES

If your child/ren takes the bus to and from school and there are changes to this can you please email Jess Richards  jrichards@muritai.school.nz as she is overseeing the organization of this? Please also contact her if you want your child added to the bus list. Sue Fieldes fieldes@muritai.school.nz oversees the students boarding the bus after school. 

SPORTS

Cross Country

The Regional Cross country event was held on Tuesday at Harcourt park in Upper Hutt.  We wish to congratulate the following runners:

Year 5 Boys

Hugo Thompson 2nd

Tiago Meikle 10th

Year 5 Girls

Lara Binnie 5th

These students qualify for Nationals held in Nelson. Excellent work.

Rugby Skills

Over the last few weeks we have been lucky enough to have had Greg Halford come into school and run some rugby skill sessions with our Year 5/6 and Year 7/8 students. The students loved learning new skills from Greg. Thanks to Greg for offering his time and expertise to our lucky children. Hopefully we can have him again next year!

Netball

The netball season is going really well and we look forward to our teams’ successes in Term 3.

Basketball 

Term 3 - Done and dusted. We had a successful season with all our teams doing really well. Here are the following results with Year 1/2 playing on Friday night.

Muritai Celtics - Just lost their final

Muritai Lakers - 2nd

Muritai Heat - 1st 

Muritai Eagles - Just lost their final

Muritai Thunder - 1st

Muritai Long shots - Just lost their final

Muritai Pistons - 1st

Muritai Hawkes - Great last game

Muritai Saints - Won their final

Here's a note from Thunder - The Muritai Thunder won the Y6 A Grade final against Waterloo 22-16. The improvement from all boys over the term was great to see. They played really well as a team with each player having great moments. Special thanks to previous Muritai School pupil Joseph Keenan for coaching the team. Bring on term 3.                          

DRUM LESSONS

Drum lessons will be available at school again with Peter Elliott taking students for lessons in Term 3 on Friday. If you or your child/ren are interested in having drum lessons please email him and also let him know if your child/ren have had any musical experience previously. He will then email you details of the lessons and forms to complete. His email address is peter.shakhan@gmail.com

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. 

What’s happening at Ngā Manu Nature Reserve?

 Golden Kiwi Egg Hunt – 9 – 24 July 2022 10am – 5pm

Find the locations of 8 Golden Kiwi Eggs hidden in the reserve and answer the questions to enter our weekly draw to win a Friends of Nga Manu Family Membership (valued at $100 and valid for 12 months). Existing members will have an additional 12 months added to their membership.

We will also be running two eel talks every day during the school holidays; one at 11am, the other at 2pm. The talks are free, but if you want to feed the eels it will be $2 per person. Tokens can be purchased at the Visitor Centre.

For more information about these events and others, check out our website.

Lunch time French for kids at Muritai

Kids can experience French learning the fun way! Children speak French from the first lesson

ages 5 to 10, lessons once a week, lots of fun interactive activities: active games, drama, music, a bit of writing, quiet grounding activities

Free trial lesson is available

Contact Stefi 0211782099 or email stefi@lcfclubs.co.nz 

 

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

KALEIDOSCOPE

Heather from Kaleidoscope Solutions provides tools and strategies for students and adults to navigate through everyday life whilst overcoming obstacles and challenges. She supports children to create a solid and secure foundation for future learning, wellbeing and development. If you are interested and want further information please go to her website www.kaleidoscopesolutions.co.nz