FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa!

Welcome 

Wow! It is already the end of the term! We have had much to celebrate over the past ten weeks with fantastic learning in all areas of the curriculum along with many fantastic achievements of students in a wide range of activities.

A warm welcome is extended to Arlow Grace in Room 3 and his whanaū who have recently moved to Eastbourne. 

We are very fortunate to have Sue Fieldes here at Muritai school as our Librarian and we recently had a special celebration for her. She has been here for twenty five years in a variety of roles including working in classrooms and the office to now running the library. She has a wealth of knowledge that all staff and students, both current and previous, have benefited greatly from. To celebrate this great milestone, we had fun with staff and students dressed up as their favourite book characters and sharing this in a parade, despite the rainy weather. During the day, staff (both teaching and support staff) read books to children across the school and also did D.E.A.R. (drop everything and read). She is not leaving us so we will continue to gain from her experience, enthusiasm and enormous expertise.

A huge thanks to Andrew Saunderson (six years) and Jeremy Buckley (three years) for their enormous contribution as Board of Trustees members. They have both brought enormous   reasoning and clarity to the many different discussions that the Board of Trustees cover. We thank them for their time and commitment to our school. Thank you to those parents who put themselves forward for the latest election. Congratulations to our new board members and commiserations to those who missed out. 

 

Our Kapa Haka ropu have been very active doing wonderful performances over these past two weeks. They have been practising since term 2 and finally had the opportunity to perform to audiences at both the Eastbourne Library and at Hutt Fest. They were outstanding. They were very polished in their movements and the singing of the waiata was so beautiful with amazing harmonies. Thank you also to Tom for speaking in front of the huge audience and giving a clear explanation of why “He Honere’ was chosen. It is the waiata we sing each year as part of the Eastbourne ANZAC day service. Thanks to Ruth Hooke, Hilary Bevin and Brooke Davis for their wonderful efforts with Kapa Haka. Thanks also to the other staff members who also gave up their time to support these events. 

 

THANK YOU 

A huge thank you to the many parents and staff who have taken part in the Winter codes in differing roles of coach, referees and supporters of our students. We appreciate you giving up your time for our students to take part in so many different physical activities. 

FROM THE TEAMS

Gotcha Celebrations 

This week the students have been taking part in a range of activities to celebrate their gotchas that they have earned throughout the term for exhibiting our school values. Kororā team visited our local beach.

SUN SAFETY

From the start of Term 4 all students need to be wearing a named sunhat (wide brimmed) and Year 7 and 8 a cap. For those of you who ordered them through our Home and School Fundraiser these will be given to your child on the first day back. 

Please make sure that your child has sunscreen applied and if they bring some for their own use to school please ensure that it is named.

A VISITOR 

Room 10 and all Kereru rugby players were treated to a visit from George Bower on Thursday. George is a Crusader and an All Black and he spoke to the children about hard work, resilience and taking opportunities that come your way with both hands. The kids were given the chance to ask their own questions to George and they were lucky enough to get signatures and individual photos with him. Not only is George an impeccable rugby player, but he is a humble, down to earth and all round solid guy. George is a brilliant role model for the kids, especially our budding rugby players; I have no doubt they will never forget meeting him - What a great experience for Kereru!

Holli Williams

New entrant books

On starting school, our youngest learners receive a book to welcome them to school and start to their learning journey at Muritai. 

TERM 4 - Week 1 

There will be a Teacher Only Day on Friday 21st October adjoining Labour Weekend so mark your diaries for a four day weekend. School will be closed for students.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2023

Reminder

If your child or children are moving or leaving Muritai School at the end of this year could you please email me if you haven’t already done so? On another note, we are unable to offer a teacher selection option to our parents, however, I do encourage you to email me at principal@muritai.school.nz if there is something you would like us to know or consider about your child that we need to be aware of when we begin class placements. All our students have a voice in our process as well and are able to select some students they work well alongside to be in their class for next year. We begin class placement drafts early in Term 4, the deadline for any input from parents is Friday October 21st - the end of the first week back. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

I have had a wonderful time working alongside families, my colleagues these past six months as acting Principal. Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to returning to my Deputy Principal position and working once again with Stu Devenport. 

Have a wonderful holiday break with your family and friends. 

Ngā mihi kia koutou,

Maureen Buckley 

Acting Principal

buckley@muritai.school.nz 

FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Welcome to our New Board 

Thank you to everyone who voted in the recent election.  Welcome back to our incumbent board members, Kaye Sherwin, Lisa South and Kurt Renner and to our new board members, Matt McCorkindale and Joanne Neilson. 

We wish to thank everyone who put their name forward to be considered for the Board of Trustees, Adam Edwards, Howard Grigg, Rupert Mackintosh, Suzanne Roff for what proved to be a close election.

The first board meeting will be on 2 November 2022.  Community members are welcome to attend board meetings which are open to the public but are not public meetings.  In other words, you may attend and listen but you may not speak unless you have requested to speak in advance through the Presiding Member.   

FROM THE SCHOOL

Enviro Holiday Activities

Elodie Dent Y7 has been working on some fun holiday activities for fellow Muritai learners. They involve getting into nature and being creative. This is something we could add to each holidays involving new activities and ideas from other Muritai students. 

I have created an easy template that we can build on over time, creating a large resource full of environmentally friendly fun (see below)

 

AIMS Games

I was really proud to represent Muritai at the AIMS games recently. I wasn't sure what to expect but when I arrived and saw the 3km course with crazy hills, hurdles and that there were 130 kids in my race I felt quite daunted ! The event itself was incredible. It was a fun opportunity to meet  people from other schools. The race was a super fast pace with the course record being broken. I ran as best as I could and was pleased to come 23rd with a time of 12 minutes 56 seconds. 

Elodie Dent

Kenzie and Elizabeth competed in the aims games up in Tauranga, where they competed in the gymnastics event representing Muritai school,  enjoying the competition with no stress and just fun. There were only seven people competing at that level, all of them from different places across New Zealand. Although there were no medals for apparatus placings, Elizabeth would have come third on beam and vault and Kenzie would have come third on bar.  

By Elizabeth and Kenzie

Year 4 - Muritai Lakers kids-basketball team

We have had a great season with all the players contributing well. The final was a tough one against a really good opposition who had great defence. 

We played really well as a team and ended winning 12-6. 

We are expecting some contract offers from top American universities over the next few weeks. 

Murphy Theobald 

Inter Zone Swimming Event Friday 16th September

Last Friday at Huia Pool we had a group of Muritai Students attend the Inter Zone Swimming competition. Congratulations to everyone that attended.

Special mention to the following students that placed top ten in their events:

Charlotte Lidgard

3rd 25m freestyle 

5th 25m breaststroke

9th 25m backstroke

 

Tess McIntosh 

6th 25m freestyle 

 

Elodie Dent 

3rd 50m freestyle 

2nd 50m backstroke

3rd 50m breaststroke

 

Theo Longhurst

3rd 50m backstroke

8th 50m freestyle

 

Elizabeth Longhurst

3rd 50m backstroke

6th 50m breaststroke

 

Millie Martin

4th 25m breaststroke

10th 25m freestyle

 

Lucy Sherwin

8th 25m breaststroke

10th 25m freestyle

 

Futsal

On Tuesday 20th September, the Year 7 Futsal team went for a day tournament at Walter Nash Sports Centre. The team included Eli Wylie, Seb Bodden, Chamber Pearce, Guy Marshall, Elodie Dent, Max Longley, Ben Mitchell and Zach Neilson. Excitement was high as we left school and made our way to Walter Nash sports Centre. Bottle flipping kept us busy while we were waiting between games, with Ben Mitchell being the best bottle flipper. We played four games against different schools from across Wellington and won all of our matches. We had great fun while we were playing and even did a couple of cool tricks. We would like to say thank you to Trish Theobald for organising our team to enter, Jane Dent who gave us coaching and all of the parents who volunteered to transport us to the tournament.

By Eli Wylie 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

Looking for affordable family entertainment these school holidays?

 

Mik's catering sushi lunches every Thursday

Thank you so much for supporting my school lunch business. Just to let you all know I am moving to Raumati. I would very much like to continue providing lunches for your children. 

In order to be able to do this, I will need to alter the payment structure.

What this looks like is a one-off payment per term $70.50.This would provide 10 lunches. 

If I gain enough interest, I will then look forward to continuing making sushi for your lovely children.

Please let me know by txt Miki 0211819134

Thank you very much and have a lovely school holiday.

Term 4 Guitar Lessons at Muritai School

Charles Hazlewood is currently accepting enrolments for guitar lessons beginning in the first week of Term 4

Lessons available for pupils in years 3-8

Contact charleshazlewood1@gmail.com for more information, or phone 029-9392759 or 9342759