Wednesday 26 March

Welcome to Hettie Allen who has started school today!

As we approach week 9 of the term things are really starting to hum. The children are deep into their inquiries and are building a strong collection of work from this term.

We have our first stage of reporting to parents at the end of this term.  We will be will be doing anniversary or progress reporting against national standards for Year 3's and for year 4-8's we will be feeding back 'results' from term one testing as well as general progress against classroom expectations.  With just 15 minutes per interview, time is short but we will certainly aim to give you good information about how your child is tracking against the curriculum.

A reminder that our staff is always available to meet with you about student progress or any issue at any time by appointment.

CARNIVAL 2014 TEAM
For the last couple of Carnivals we have had a fantastic team lead the organisation of this event.  This year we need a new energetic and enthusiastic group of people to run this event.  The last team put together a comprehensive manual to keep it simple.  Each Carnival makes approximately $50/60,000 and is therefore an extremely important fundraiser for the school.  The last Carnival donation paid for our new pods of MacBook Airs and IPads for student learning, with previous donations being for our library which should be under construction shortly.

If you are interested in being part of this team, please let Jo or Carole in the office know.  Without your help there will be no Carnival this year!

PARENT INTERVIEWS

Parent Teacher interviews will be held on Tuesday 8 April and Thursday 10 April.  School will be finishing early on both these days at 2.15 to enable the first interviews at 2.30 and the last being 7.15pm.  You will be able to make appointments through the school interviews website from Monday 31 March.  Details will be sent via email to you all.

LIFE ED
We welcome the Life Ed team to Muritai for the next week or so.

SWIMMING SPORTS
The children were excellent in our recent swim sports held at Huia Pool for the seniors and Eastbourne pool for the juniors. They swam beautifully and thoroughly enjoyed the competitive environment that was organised so well by Mr McKay and his team. It was so good to see the quality of the swimming overall. Very pleasing!
Congratulations to our year group champions...
Year 5 - Kahu Rolfe and Emily Jones
Year 6 - Hamish Dalziel and Samantha Woolley
Year 7 - Callan Hughes and Helena Cvitanovich
Year 8 - Liam Mahoney and Milly Griffiths

The winners of the house relay was King and the champion house overall was Sanson. 

CROSS COUNTRY

The children are right in the middle of cross country training at present. We have a new track this year at the Eastbourne Recreation Ground. The event is on Tuesday 15th April. We have moved it to provide a flat track and a better viewing platform for spectators.

The new course goes as follows...

Start the race at the bottom right corner of the Rec (where the green flag will be).  Students to run:  

• anti-clockwise around the outside of the park and out of the exit by the carpark (Karamu Street)
• a short distance up the promenade and then down the steps and onto the beach
• run north up the beach until they come to Tuatoru Street carpark, run between the Rec centre and RSA clubrooms and back onto the field
• run back towards the finish (which is where they start the race)
• This is a 1km loop.  

We also have an open grade and championship grades for Y5-8 students

NEW Races

Y3/4 races will be 1 lap (Y3 boys and girls races, Y4 boys and girls races)

Y5/6 Championship race will be 2 laps (Y5 boys and girls races, Y6 boys and girls races), Y5/6 Open race will be 1 lap (Y5/6 boys and Y5/6 girls races) 

Y7/8 Championship race will be 3 laps (Y7 boys and girls races, Y8 boys and girls races), Y7/8 Open race will be 1 lap (Y7/8 boys and Y7/8 girls races) 

Estimated times are...

Junior cross country between 9am and 10.30am

Middle and senior cross country between 11am and 1pm (ish)

DRESS AS A RAINBOW DAY FOR KIDS CAN 

The Senior Charity Group is organising a "Dress as a Rainbow Day" for Tuesday 8 April. Students are encouraged to come to school wearing their brightest assortment of clothes in the wackiest way they can and bring a gold coin donation for Kids Can.  There will be prizes for the student who most resembles a rainbow in each syndicate.

YUMMY STICKERS

We are collecting Yummy stickers again this year.  Please collect the Yummy cut-out labels from bags (each cut-out label is worth 10 stickers) and individual Yummy apple stickers available from New World, Pak'n Save and participating Four Square stores. The more you collect, the more sports gear we can claim so start collecting your Yummy cut-out labels and stickers now!

ART EXTENSION

For the past six weeks some very extraordinary year 7 and 8 artists were given the opportunity to express their talents in a most challenging way, doing a beautiful looking piece of art. The artist Susanne Kerr inspired Mrs Allen with a great idea for a painting workshop at school.  Susanne Kerr is a local artist living and working in Eastbourne. She has done many silhouette artworks, expressing feelings and stories. Our job was to come up with our own idea and a message or story.  It was very challenging and hands were aching with tiredness.  At the end of the project the art was amazing. They were great because they were all unique.  It was an amazing experience for all of us and I had a lot of fun!  Thank you Mrs Allen for giving us such an opportunity to show our talents!  Thank you also to Susanne Kerr for being so inspiring.

By Helena Cvitanovich

INTER-SCHOOL FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

Last Wednesday, 30 members of the year 5/6 syndicate took part in the inaugural Wellington Regional Inter-school Football tournament. The tournament was held at the Hutt Park and Muritai School represented three of the major footballing nations in Europe - the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. The students had a fantastic time and many were recipients of spot prizes such as mini footballs. The Netherlands squad finished the day in first place while Spain and Germany followed close behind in 2nd and 4th place. A big thank you to all the parents who supported the students on the day.

WILD FOOD CHALLENGE

The 4^th Annual Eastbourne Local Wild Food Challenge attracted more than 40 entries and 250 spectators to the Days Bay Pavilion.  There were lots of great entries from local kids who really made such a fantastic effort sourcing their wild ingredients. 

The winners of the Kids Challenge were Sam Woolley & Georgie Allen with their Wild Child Smoked Eel Pie with Blackberries.  We had lots of great entries from local kids who really made such a fantastic effort sourcing their wild ingredients.
                                             Sarah & Bill Manson

TECHNOLOGY

A group of our Year 7 and 8 students entertained the children at Barnardos Early Learning Centre last week , giving them a ukulele performance. The students have been learning to play ukulele as part of their technicraft rotation over a period of 5 weeks. By the end of the rotation the children have learnt the basic chords and have developed quite a repertoire. Part of the performance included a selection of songs for wee people – this allowed the Barnardo’s children to join in with the singing, body percussion and it was evident that they were having a great time! Not only did the wee guys enjoy it – our seniors loved the chance to get into the sandpit, play on the outdoor equipment, read stories and dress up and play in the family corner!

Ruth Hooke

TOUCH

With 5 weeks of games already played, finals week is now here. We have been really lucky with the weather this term and hopefully this continues and all teams can get to play their final game. There will be prize giving after the games with full details being emailed out to parents later this week. Good luck to all of you who are playing or coaching (and supporting).

Raihania Chadwick

SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS

Please note that if you are using the new online ordering system for scholastic your order needs to be done by the 4th of April. You can make your order using this link: https://www.txtpay.co.nz/VPos/ScholasticOrder.aspx

If you would still like to make your order through school these can be accepted up until the 10th of April. If paying by cheque please make this out to Scholastic NZ. No cash orders can be accepted.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Little Dog Barking Children's Theatre brings you 'Party Pigs and a Sausage Went for a Walk' - Epuni Community Hall, 37 Mitchell Street, Lower Hutt - 30th April 2014 10am & 11:30am - tickets $7 each (under 2's are free) See www.littledogbarking.co.nz tickets contact Sarah 021 042 1851 sarah@littledogbarking.co.nz.   Suitable for ages 2 - 8 years.

Queen Margaret College Scholarships
Queen Margaret College invites Year 8 girls to apply for the following Year 9 QM 2015 Scholarships:

Year 9 Academic Scholarship
Year 9 Fuji Xerox Sports Scholarship
Year 9 Performing Arts Scholarship

Further information and requirements for these scholarships can be found at www.qmc.school.nz/admissions/scholarships or email enrolments.registrar@qmc.school.nz

Wednesday 12 March

Kia ora koutou,

As we approach week 7 next week we can see that we are on the other half of the term. Time really does fly at a primary school.  We welcome Briar Dupont and Ethan Cowley in Room 3 who started at Muritai School recently.

Towards the end of this term we have our first reporting to parents phase. For parents in year 3 - 8 we will share results from term 1 'testing' and feedback progress the children are making this year. For the year 3 children requiring anniversary reporting on national standards this will be done at this time. These will be held in week 10 and are set for Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th April. Booking times will be available in the next newsletter.

We are pleased with how much dialogue we have with parents on student progress. This is a key issue nationally - parental engagement. While Muritai has plenty, some schools have very little. Evidence shows that when parents show a strong interest in their children's education, children progress well. 

We appreciate the children being well prepared for school and keeping up the other aspects of learning after school, such as playing sport, doing things as a family and being active in their community. Please keep an eye on their tiredness. Kids do get tired very easily and we need them fresh and focused at school to progress in their learning. School is very busy and the children do a lot during the school day.

As you can see from this newsletter the event schedule is starting to build up. A date to book into your diaries is the school cross country which we are holding at the end of this term on Tuesday 15th April. Extra activities fit within the category of education outside the classroom. For many children these special events are the things they love the most and provide a good chance for the children to 'grow' in different ways. We do try to manage opportunities so they don't impinge too much on classroom learning.

Overall we are thrilled with how the children and the school is sitting after the first half of this term and we look forward to a successful run through to the holiday season at Easter.

Upcoming events -

Friday 14 March - School assembly 1.40

Wednesday 19 March - Starting school at 5  at 7.00pm in the staffroom

Wednesday 26 March - Life Education bus here / Zone swimming sports for Y4-6

Friday 28 March - School assembly 1.40

Friday 28 March - Touch Finals

Wednesday 3 April - Y4/6 Inter Zone Swimming Sports

Tuesday 8 April - Y3-8 student achievement family interviews

Wednesday 9 April - Y3-8 student achievement family interviews

Friday 11 April - School assembly 1.40 

Tuesday 15th April - Whole school cross country event 9.30ish

Thursday 17th April - last day of term.

FOREST LAKES CAMP 2014

Forest Lakes Camp was a fabulous success.  Despite the weather looking a little harrowing at times, the children had a great time, pushing their boundaries, experiencing new things and building relationships within the year 5/6 community.  Some of the highlights this year included yet again another fabulous parents skit where parents dressed up as the teachers and proceeded to dance mightily to “what did the fox say”. The main highlight for the children was of course the water activities including the mud slide, water slide and raft building.  All the children returned exhausted but invigorated and the parents and teachers worked well together to create yet another great camp experience.

We would like to say a very big thank you to our year 5 and 6 syndicate teachers for all their hard work and enthusiasm at camp.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE

On Friday 7th March our school student leaders went to the Government House in Wellington, to learn more about the role of the Governor General as a leader.

Our tour guide’s name was Heather who showed us around the beautiful house. Firstly, our tour guide explained what the Governor General does and what Government house was all about. We learned that the Government made the laws and passed them on to the Governor General who then decides whether to allow this new law or not. When we walked into the house we were amazed at the beauty and the perfection of everything! The Governor General had just arrived home from Auckland. We knew this because the flag was at the top of the mast and we met his chauffeur who just dropped him off in his very fancy car!

(Todd Wellwood)

ZONE ATHLETICS INTERMEDIATE

A wonderful day at Hutt Rec yesterday where 34 Year 7-8 children took part in the local Zone Athletics competition.  We had some great results as follows:-

Year 7 Girls	100m	Macey Caughley 1st
		Helena Cvitanovich 4th
	200m	Macey Caughley 1st
		Sofia Dickson 3rd
	400m	Ella Giles 1st
	800m	Macey Caughley 1st
	Long Jump	Helena Cvitanovich 4th
	High Jump	Angelina Hardy 2nd
	Vortex	Paige Schroder 3rd
	Relay	First
Year 7 Boys	100m	Alexander Cox-Turk 5th
	Relay	Fourth
Year 8 Girls	200m	Mia Treadwell-Burke 5th
	400m	Mia Treadwell-Burke 5th
	800m	Milly Griffiths 5th
	High Jump	Emeline Gray 3rd
	Shot Put	Brianna Kirkham 4th
	Relay	Third

Well done to all our athletes.  

CROSS COUNTRY

Children will be swapping their togs for running shoes next week as we start preparing for our Cross Country running competition scheduled for Tuesday 15 April.  Can you please ensure your child wears appropriate shoes for their training every day.

HEALTH

With the onset of colder weather we are seeing more absences with children suffering from colds and some kind of tummy bug.  As a rule, children should not return to school in the 24 hours following vomiting or a bout of diarrhoea.  This helps to limit the transmission of bugs.  Please remember to let the school office know that your child is away sick.

The Ministry of Health has also asked schools to pass on messages about measles, an outbreak of which has occurred in the northern North Island. The Ministry says that between late December 2013 and 24 February 2014, there have been 47 confirmed measles cases reported in New Zealand: 29 in Auckland, fifteen in Bay of Plenty/ Lakes, and three in Wellington. Some of these cases have been in pre-school aged children. A total of eight cases have required hospitalisation to date. They say that most cases have occurred in unimmunised people, and immunisation remains the best way to prevent infection and spread within the community. There is further information on the Ministry of Health website. 

CHANGES TO SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB

Muritai School has been chosen to pilot Scholastics new book club procedures.  You will still receive brochures as per normal BUT now you DO NOT need to send the order forms back to school.  It's all done online and Scholastic have made it really easy.  Once you have registered at https://www.txtpay.co.nz/VPos/ScholasticOrder.aspx  then it's just a matter of logging in for each order.  Follow the simple steps to select the item you want with payment via your credit or debit card.  

FOUND

One gold bracelet, found on the school grounds a couple of weeks ago.  If you are missing a bracelet, please see Carole or Jo in the office and see if it is yours.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

No More Nits!

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100% Natural and Highly effective. Do it yourself at home OR Come see me and I'll do it for you?!

Visit me on www.nitsypixies.co.nz or call Lisa on 0800nitsypixies (648 797)

Lost Scooter

Tim Michael has had his scooter taken from school - a blue Grit scooter with his name underneath.  If you find it, can you please bring it to the school office.

Wellington Festival of Education

Be inspired by a fun and free day out at the Wellington Festival of Education, 10am – 4pm, Saturday March 29, at TSB Bank Arena, Shed 6 and Frank Kitts Park. Enjoy performances from NZ’s Got Talent winner Renee Maurice, K-Pop singing sensation Emily Mwila, and local Wellington school groups, alongside fun activities, interactive demonstrations and talks from world experts in education – all FREE. Other highlights include learning a language in just fifteen minutes, brushing up on cycle skills with Pedal Ready, making seed bombs with Wellington Zoo and story time with a well-known Wellingtonian. Come celebrate our innovative education sector!