Thursday 24 May 2012

Naumai e te whanua o te kura Muritai
Kia koutou katoa


Dear parents/caregivers,


Welcome to our new students - Tessa Treadwell-Burke (R7), Mia Treadwell- Burke (R13), Tai Treadwell-Burke (R1), Javier Perez-Benet (R1), Marta Perez-Benet (R15) and Marieve Wilson-Bray (R2).


A big thank you to Caroline Hutton (room 15), Anna Pringle (room 11) and Grace Emmanuel (room 2) who have been at Muritai for the last 7 weeks on teaching practice. It has been wonderful to have those extra pair of hands at school and a pleasure hosting them as part of their learning to become a trained teacher. 


REPORTING TO PARENTS
Staff are currently preparing reports on student progress to hand to parents in the final week of this term. Reports go home on Friday 22 June with the student learning journeys (previously portfolios). These reports are plain language evaluations of where your child is sitting in terms of strengths and their next steps against the New Zealand curriculum and how they are progressing towards the end of year National Standard. These reports are supported by the parent interview.


We hope to give you a clear picture of how your child is achieving at school, not just in the basics of reading, writing and maths but also their wider contribution to the school environment such as their conduct and effort in class. These are difficult to measure but vital in terms of framing success.


A reminder that staff are available to meet with parents at any time but please set up an appointment so the teacher can do some preparation. 


PARENT/TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Parent/teacher interviews will be held in the last week of term on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 June.  School will be finishing early on both these days at 2.15 with interviews commencing at 2.30.  We will let you know when the booking details have been finalised and how to book on-line.  You may like to mark these dates in your diaries to keep them free.


JUNIOR SCHOOL PARENT INFORMATION EVENING
Thank you to all the parents and caregivers who came to room 3 last week to learn more about the teaching of writing, handwriting and spelling in the Junior School. Next week, on Wednesday 30 May, there will be an information evening about the reading process in the first two years at school and some ways to support your child's reading at home.  All parents and caregivers of Junior School children are invited to come to room 3 at 7pm. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask Mrs Buckley.


NATURAL STANDARDS
As parents we know that our children are their own people, they are not the same as their siblings, they have their own set of strengths and weaknesses, their own passions, and they have their own individual skills and talents. They are people in their own right. One of our teaching colleagues has made this short video around a one size fits all approach to education. Regardless of where people sit on the political spectrum this 6 minute clip is worth watching.
The referencing of names to current politicians is uncanny.


AFTER SCHOOL CARE HOLIDAY PROGRAMME
The latest School Holiday Programme has been organised for the holidays 2 to 13 July with lots of fun events and outings for the children.  If you would like to book your children in for any of the days, please pick up a brochure from the school office or have a look at the ASC blog and download a brochure.  All enrolment forms and full payment must be received at the school office before Friday 22 June.  We cannot guarantee enrolments after this date.

NATIONAL PRIMARY SCIENCE WEEK 
Both teachers and students were keen participants during the recent National Primary Science Week. Staff experimented with chemical reactions during morning tea breaks and students had classrooms fizzing and popping with experiments involving chemical change; such as 'fizz inflators', exploding lunch bags and 'lava in a cup.'

Thank you to teacher Murray McMillan and Room 11 for assembling the rocket for Friday's end of week blast off on the school field.
Mrs Ryan


JUNIOR SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY
Yesterday was such a lovely day for this special event. Well done to everyone who tried their best. Thank you to Mrs Cody for organising the event and also thanks to our year 8 students who were marshalls or runners for the races. It was lovely to see so many parents, grandparents and caregivers joining us for the event.

Results were:
Year 1 boys - 1st - Theo Thompson, 2nd - Nelson Churchman, 3rd - Ned Sykes.
Year 1 girls - 1st Rosa Blair, 2nd - Lola Campbell, 3rd - Mia Campbell 
Year 2 boys - 1st Harry Rookes, 2nd - Joe Dickson, 3rd - Jack Roche 
Year 2 girls - 1st Lucy Mirfin-Newman, 2nd - Te Hani Archibald, 3rd - Esme Daley

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
Each year Scholastic books provides a fantastic opportunity for parents to view and purchase some of the books they have on sale through the Muritai School Book fair. This year the book fair will once again run in conjunction with the parent teacher interviews, on both Wednesday the 27th, and Thursday the 28th of June. Further information about the book fair will follow but please mark these dates in your dairy now.

We are looking for one special person who could help coordinate the book fair. If you are interested in finding out a bit more as to what would be involved please let Carole or Sue know in the office.



OXFAM 
Our charity leadership team did so well raising $451.70 for Oxfam with the wacky hair day and the coffee morning . Thank you for supporting this project that focused on the students learning about fair trade.










DOGS AT SCHOOL
Our school policy is that dogs are not to be on the property. Although we discourage our children to approach dogs, often they are tied up outside the school and there is always the risk that they will approach the dog. What happens next is always unpredictable and how a dog reacts to a boisterous stranger depends on the quality of the training. We would strongly encourage dog owners, if they need to bring the dog to school, to tie their dog up well away from the access areas for children. 


LOST PROPERTY
At the beginning of each term we have no lost property. At the end of week 4 we have a huge amount. All of it is unnamed and ranging in price from the expensive to the very expensive. Children scout the property after break and lunch and if clothing is named we find the owner. if not named it goes to lost property.  Room 7 then cross check and analyse the clothing once a week to see if any named clothing is there. Fortnightly we place the lost property out for inspection. Please help us keep lost property to an absolute minimum by naming clothing.


'HIKE IT, BIKE IT, SCOOT IT, SKATE IT' 
A copy of this resource from the NZ Transport Agency, which outlines safer journeys for school children has been sent home to all parents. I encourage you to make use of it.

NEXT WEEK
Best of luck to our year 8 school leaders who are in Wellington on Monday at the Young Leaders Day, and to our year 4-6 Zone Cross Country team who are representing Muritai on Tuesday at the zone sports at Boulcott School. I am sure both groups will represent the school with pride.


UPCOMING EVENTS

Fri 25 May - World vision  famine weekend
Mon 28 May - Young Leaders day (Y8 students)
Wed 30 May - Y4-6 Zone cross country/ Junior school reading mtg 7.00
Fri 1 June - School assembly 1.40
Mon 4 June - Queen's Birthday - School closed 
Wed 6 June - ICAS Science; Starting school at Five at 7.00 in staffroom
Fri 15 June - School assembly 1.40
COMMUNITY

House for Rent
4 Bedroom family house for rent - Days Bay, Ferry Road.  $595 per week.  Available from 7 June 2012.  Contact Liz or Ken Jones on 04 562 6309 or Jenny Hibbert at Select Residential on 04 565 3695 www.select-residential.co.nz

East Harbour Kindy Fundraiser
Join East Harbour Kindergartent for a fundraising event featuring a screening of Carnage.  Wednesday 6 June at 8pm, the Light House Cinema.  $25 per ticket includes a glass of bubbles or orange juice, a goodie bag and the chance to win fabulous prizes. 

Numberworks'NWords After-School Tuition
Numberworks'nWords supports Kiwi students by tailoring lessons according to each individual's needs by setting achievable goals and monitoring their progress and developing our own programmes using only qualified Maths and English experts for New entrant to Year 11
Contact - Phone 570 0737 or numberworksnwords.co.nz


Lost - one Royal Blue School Bag
A child has lost his school bag, probably on the bus to Point Howard.  It is named 'Ethan Smith' and has a lunchbox inside.  If you have found this bag, could you please contact Kirsty Colvin on 560 3633.


Wellington Girls' College
Wellington Girls' College will be holding their annual School in Action morning for Year 8 girls on Wednesday 13 June from 9am to 12.30 pm.  In an attempt to reduce congestion, the college will run three sessions 9am, 10am and 11.30.  

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