23 May 2014


Welcome to Poppy Harrison, Paige Levine and Reihan Kusnadi to Muritai School. It is lovely to have you as part of our Muritai family.

FAREWELL
Today is the last day at Muritai for Kirsten Berry and Hayden Ray. They have been fantastic teachers and they have huge respect and are much loved by the children of the school. They have been wonderful colleagues of the staff and we will miss them dearly. We wish them all the best for their new challenges and are sure they be successful in all they do.

Next week Janelle McKay starts in room 14 until the end of the term and our new teacher Annette Borognje will start in term 3. Briana Lee is not able to start in room 7 until week 6 and so Barbara Ryan will be in room 7 for the next 2 weeks.

SCHOOL NETWORK UPGRADE
At present we have the team upgrading our School Network. They will be here for about a month re-cabling and future proofing the school for ICT advances. This will allow us to do many more

WORLD VISION
Good luck to our children who are doing the 20 hour/40 hour challenge this weekend in their support of World Visions campaign for Malawi.


WHACKY HAIR DAY
Whacky hair day was a great success last week with students donating $739.20 to World Vision for Malawi.  There were some fantastic creations and the kids had a wonderful time with coloured hairspray, glitter, coloured pipe cleaners, pegs and ribbons galore!

TEACHER ONLY DAY
A reminder that we have a teacher only day next Friday the 30 May. This is in the weekend of Queen's Birthday so allows families to have an 'extra long weekend'.   The teaching staff will be working in their teams, moderating student achievement and progress in preparation for mid-year reporting to parents.  After School Care will be running a programme for children who need looking after the day.  

SCIENCE WEEK
Muritai has been abuzz with science this week. Primary Science Week is an opportunity for all New Zealand primary schools to engage in science teaching and learning. Led by Barbara Ryan and her science committee, this week we have been full of science activities culminating in the Blast Off at lunchtime today with our water-powered rockets.  We have a number of specialist visitors – I enjoyed meeting James and Karyn today from Weltec as the children constructed moving vehicles

Primary Science Week 2014 is focusing on things astronomical and is about celebrating science through Understanding, Investigating, Communicating, Participating and Contributing.  Our year 7/8 students are currently going through the process of carrying out a science investigation to present at the Senior School Science Fair at the end of term.  Once again, the teachers are thoroughly impressed with the wide variety of topics being investigated.  Students' work will be on display at the end of the term.

ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS
As part of our Home & School fundraising plan, we are once again selling the Entertainment Book membership. This year you have a choice of the book or the new digital membership (can be downloaded to your mobile phone). The cost is $60 per membership. For each membership sold we get $12, so this is a great fundraiser for our school.

If you do not wish to purchase a book, please return it to the school office as soon as possible.

HUTT CITY COUNCIL MURAL COMPETITION
You may recall seeing four murals painted on fence panels sitting in the foyer at the end of last term.  These were created by our Art Ambassadors in the year 7/8 syndicate and children from our year 5/6 syndicate.  The students had been busy working on their murals over the last few weeks of Term 1 and were delivered to the Hutt City Council and have been put up around HCC’s administration building on Laings Road. 

Last week these students were invited to attend a prize giving ceremony where our Year 7/8 students discovered they had won 2nd prize.  They were awarded with $500 for our art department.  An awesome achievement for everyone involved.  A big thank you to Mrs Allen and Mrs Berry for organising this opportunity. The quality of all the murals were remarkable so we would really recommend going to visit.

SENIOR SCHOOL INQUIRY
The end of Term 1 brought the end of a fantastic inquiry on War.  The senior school teachers were extremely impressed with the final presentations of the students' personal inquiries.  There was a huge variety and clearly a large amount of effort had been put in by all.  A selection of these projects is on display in the main school foyer.  The senior school teachers were particularly impressed with Eva Oliver's presentation - a true sample of going the extra mile for excellence.
  
SHINING STAR
Katie Beevers is the Eastbourne Shining Star this month. The 'Shining Star' award is an initiative of Jacqui Wall from Professionals Real Estate and was presented to Katie Beevers today.  This award is shared amongst the 3 Eastbourne Schools and is a great idea of Jacqui’s to recognise the wonderful children who are part of our community.

Katie is a Year 6 student, in Room 15, at Muritai School.  Katie is always 'respectful to her teachers and peers' and she is responsible, shows initiative in all her learning and is very supportive towards her classmates.  Katie has lots of empathy for others, which is a wonderful attribute to have.  Katie is also fully involved in school-life through the Peer Mediation programme, a member of the school road safety team, Kapa Haka performance group and in numerous school sports teams.  She is a great role model for others. Katie is definitely a 'Shining Star'.

JUNIOR SCHOOL PARENTS EVENINGS
Maureen and her team are running junior school parent evenings on reading, writing and maths in the early years at Muritai School. These popular evenings are on a Wednesday evening and start in Week 5 – Week 9. The dates are listed below.

UPCOMING DATES
Tuesday 27 May                   Y5-6 Zone football tournament
Friday 30 May                      Teacher Only Day - school closed
Monday 2 June                     Queen's Birthday - school closed
Wednesday 4 June              ICAS science exam / Junior parent reading evening 7pm
Thursday 5 June                   Strike percussion performance
Friday 6 June                        School Assembly 1.40
Monday 9 June                     Y1-2 fun ferns netball
Tuesday 10 June                  Y1-2 fun ferns netball; Y4-6 Zone cross country
Wednesday 11 June            Y1-2 fun ferns netball, Junior parent reading writing 7pm
Thursday 12 June                 Y1-2 fun ferns netball
Monday 16 June                   ICAS writing
Tuesday 17 June                  ICAS spelling
Wednesday 18 June            Starting School at 5 mtg 7pm
Thursday 19 June                 Board of Trustees mtg 7.30 staffroom
Friday 20 June                      School assembly 1.40
Tuesday 24 June                  Y4-6 inter-zone cross-country; Y7-8 Zone football
Wednesday 25 June            Junior parent maths evening 7pm
Monday 30 June                   Matariki 
Tuesday 1 July                     Kapa haka roopu at Lower Hutt primary festival 7pm
                                             Y4-6 Regional Cross Country; Y3-4 Football in Schools
Thursday 3 July                    Y5-6 Speech finals; Celebrations of learning 3pm - 6pm
Friday 4 July                         Last day of term 2 - school finishes at 2.55


COMMUNITY NOTICES

Does your child have a learning difficulty?
Arrowsmith is an internationally recognised programme that has proven effective for students with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. The focus of Arrowsmith is to address the underlying mental processes that cause the learning disability, rather than aiming to manage the symptoms. The Arrowsmith Programme is founded on neuroscience research and over 30 years of experience demonstrating that it is possible for students to strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying their learning dysfunctions through a programme of specific cognitive exercises. 

Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, founder of the Arrowsmith Programme and author of the book “The Woman Who Changed Her Brain” is visiting Wellington in June.  Details: Samuel Marsden Collegiate School hosts An Evening with Barbara Arrowsmith-Young - Tuesday June 24, 2014 7:00 – 8:30 pm at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Auditorium, Marsden Avenue, Karori, Wellington.

For more information about Arrowsmith please see the website: http://www.arrowsmithschool.org/arrowsmithprogram/index.html 

Please register here: http://samuelmarsdencollegiate.eventbrite.ca

Eastbourne Plunket
Clean out your bookshelves and toy boxes for Eastbourne Plunket! We would love any pre-loved, good quality preschool toys and books for our Plunket rooms. We would like to update and freshen our collection so if you have anything your children have grown out of playing with or reading, please donate them to us. Contact Virginia to arrange collection on 04 562 7394 or totsandrew@gmail.com. Anything surplus to our requirements will be donated to a local charity.

Kids Cross Country Series - next event at Trentham Memorial Park, Upper Hutt
Athletics Wellington is running the Kids Cross Country Series over the winter months at various venues around the Wellington region.  The next event is Sunday 8 June at Trentham Memorial Park.  Get a few friends together and form a team.  Team and individual awards.  Children get their own personalised race bib if they enter 7 days prior to each event.  With school cross-country season in full swing it’s a great opportunity to take part in these cross-country events throughout the winter season.  You don’t need to be a club member to take part.  Everyone is welcome.  For more information, or to enter go to www.athleticshub.co.nz or email jo@athleticswellington.org.nz or phone 021 976116.

Babysitter Available
My name is Hasmine Henwood.  I am available to look after your kids anytime.  I am 33 years old.  Please give me a call on 562 7009 or text me 021 171 6721.  The rate if $10 per hour.



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