7 May 2014



Welcome to Olivia Hallum, Quinn Knapman and Blake Carroll, our recent arrivals to Muritai School. We start the term with 433 pupils.

Welcome back to term 2. The children have settled straight back into their learning and we are very impressed with the way they have just got back into the classroom routines. This is a 9 week term, with Queen's Birthday so it will go quickly. 

Next week we have progress and anniversary interviews for year 1,2,3 children. At the end of this term written reports and national standards progress information will be issued. The children will also host a learning celebration afternoon to share their learning with parents and caregivers

There is a real science flavour to this term. Each team's inquiry is focussed on science and our curriculum committee has prepared some exciting learning experiences for the children. We have science week in week 3 which this year focuses on things Astronomical through the slogan  'Out of the World'. We are planning a series of exciting experiments for the children to observe scientific change and to understand how our world works. You will be able to see most of this in action on each class blog as the term unfolds. The senior school science blog has been going since the beginning of the year and you can see how science unfolds in the senior school by viewing their blogsite.
At the end of this term year 7-8 will have their science exhibition for parents to view.  Muritai TV kicked things off by connecting with Mrs Ryan and her children about tagging butterflies. View here.

A reminder that we have a teacher only day on Friday 30 May. This is in the weekend of Queen's Birthday so allows families to have an 'extra long weekend'.  A reminder that this is not actually a day off for teachers (as suggested by Mike Hosking on Seven Sharp).  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.  This teacher only day allows us to complete our legal requirement of 193 school days within the preferred start and finish dates of Monday 3 February and Thursday 18 December. 

During the holiday break we have had to remove one of our gum trees. While it is always sad to see a tree come down, the damage incurred in last year’s major storm which tore the middle out of it,  was too much for the tree to recover from and it was significantly 'stressed'. The recommendation from the arborist was that it was to start again and we will be replanting in that spot soon.

NEW STAFF
We welcome Annette Borognje and Briana Lee to the teaching staff at Muritai replacing Kirsten Berry and Hayden Ray  who leave us in week 3. Annette joins us from Belmont School and Briana joins us from Crofton Downs. Both Annette and Briana are very excited about joining the Muritai team very soon. 

CROSS COUNTRY
In the last week of the term the weather held out enough for us to hold our cross country at our new venue at the Eastbourne Rec. A tough headwind down the beach provided an excellent challenge and the children are to be complimented for their courage, tenacity and effort to get to the finish line. We ran 2 grades this year, a championship grade, a longer distance for those striving to make the school zone team, and an open grade for those children who found a shorter distance more comfortable for their fitness level. The quality of the running was superb. Congratulations to our children for their efforts and Mr McKay and his team for their organisation

Muritai School Cross Country Results 2014

Year 3 Girls - 1st Rosa Blair, 2nd Lola Campbell, 3rd Mia Campbell
Year 3 Boys - 1st Felix Pummer, 2nd George Baird, 3rd Rylon Watt
Year 4 Girls - 1st Gretta Woolloff, 2nd Ana Zuijderwijk, 3rd Lucy Mirfin-Newman
Year 4 Boys  - 1st Jack Roche, 2nd Harry Rookes, 3rd Cameron Bentley
Year 5/6 Girls Open - 1st Sophia Cave, 2nd Francisca Zaballa, 3rd Katie Beevers
Year 5/6 Boys Open - 1st Leon Medcalf, 2nd Fergus Hart, 3rd Finlay Clark
Year 7/8 Girls Open - 1st Freya Neal, 2nd Sofya Dickson, 3rd Isabella Zaballa
Year 7/8 Boys Open - 1st Theo Weston, 2nd Sasha Houthoofdt, 3rd Javaan De-Gaia
Year 5 Girls Championship
1st Grace Manson, 2nd Gemma Grant, 3rd Chelsea Summers
Year 5 Boys Championship
1st Henry Evans, 2nd Joshua Apaapa-Preston, 3rd Jack Evans
Year 6 Girls Championships
1st Charlotte Humphries, 2nd Samantha Woolley, 3rd Charlotte McFarlane
Year 6 Boys Championship
1st Theo Jones, 2nd Hamish Dalziell, 3rd Luca Campbell
Year 7 Girls Championship
1st Macey Caughley, 2nd Rosie Owles, 3rd Helena Cvitanovich
Year 7 Boys Championship
1st Ben Cass, 2nd Matthew Jones, 3rd Matiu Inwood
 Year 8 Girls Championship
1st Anna Rodgers, 2nd Mia Treadwell-Burke, 3rd Milly Griffiths
Year 8 Boys Championship
1st George Mirfin-Newman, 2nd Jake Murphy, 3rd Fabian Chumko

ANZAC DAY AND RSA ESSAY
Thank you so much to our students who were there on Anzac day, representing the school and the other organisations in the Eastbourne community. Our kapa haka group were wonderful, and despite two-thirds of the group being on holiday and unable to attend, were strong and sang beautifully.

Congratulations to Sally Bird who won the Eastbourne RSA essay competition and to Brianna Kirkham who came third. 

OLIVIA AND 'ANNIE'
Congratulations to Olivia Morphew who has been selected to perform in the Annie production which opens in Wellington shortly.

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.

We sent out the books yesterday. To encourage prompt sales we are offering two prizes - one refund of membership purchased and one ‘$100 off voucher’ for Carlton Party hire. To enter the draw to win one of these prizes please ensure you purchase your membership by 16th May 2014.

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

UPCOMING DATES
Friday 9 May                     School assembly 1.30
Monday 12 May                Junior school interviews 3.15-7.30
Tuesday 13 May               Junior school interviews 3.15-7
                                         Y3-4 football in schools
Friday 16 May                   40 hour famine Assembly 9.30
Monday 19 May                Science Week
                                         Y3-4 football in schools
Tuesday 20 May               Y3-4 football in schools
                                         Vision and hearing testing for NE and Y7
Thursday 22 May              Board of Trustees mtg 7.30 staffroom
Friday 23 May                   Kirsten Berry and Hayden Ray last day at Muritai
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
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
Thursday 12 June             Y1-2 fun ferns netball
Monday 16 June               ICAS writing
Tuesday 17 June              ICAS spelling
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
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                Celebrations of learning 3-6
Friday 4 Jul                       Last day of term 2 - school finishes at 2.55

PEER MEDIATORS
Our year 6 peer mediators have started in the playground this term. These children have been through a thorough training programme with Mr McKay and our now floating in the playground with our 5 adults addressing any niggles that may be occurring between children.

JACKET / SHOE DRIVE
Thank you for supporting this project this year. We have managed to give each child at St Patricks Primary in Kilbirnie a set of shoes and a jacket, with the excess going to Wainuiomata Primary School. This fits in with our school value of Kindness and it is good to note that this 'movement' has flowed into other communities who are doing similar acts of kindness.

HOT DOGS
From this Wednesday throughout terms 2 and 3, the Muritai Home and School group will be offering a hot lunch option for our children at the affordable price of $3 each.

If your child would like a hot dog on Wednesday, simply put $3 in an envelope labelled with your child's name, room number, and whether they would like sauce. The envelope needs to be given to your child's teacher on Wednesday morning and placed in the classroom's designated order bag along with the class's order sheet.

All proceeds from the hot dog sales go directly to the school so this is a super fundraising opportunity.

NETBALL
The netball season starts this Saturday and we have 9 teams representing Muritai from Y3-Y8. A special thank you to all of the coaches and managers who are helping out this year, we can't do it without you and also to Narelle Ferrier who has been working hard behind the scenes to register our teams with Hutt Valley Netball.  We wish all of the teams the very best of luck this season.

SLIPPERS
As we are now into winter, children will need to keep a pair of slippers at school to wear inside the classrooms. We have about 80% so far, which is excellent. Can you please ensure your child/ren bring a pair to school asap to ensure they have nice dry warm feet during learning time.

CARNIVAL MEETING
We have had a great response to our request for volunteers to be part of the Carnival Committee this year and have quite a number of people willing to help.  The first meeting is to be held next Wednesday, 14 May at 7.30 in the staff room.  If you are interested in helping set up the Carnival, please feel free to come and join us next week.

DOUBLE PARKING
We are still experiencing cars double parking outside the school entrance on Muritai Rd, completely blocking the view of our 10 year old children operating the road patrol looking south down Muritai Rd and forcing cars to move across the middle line to go round them.  This will probably get worse as we move into winter and the weather gets wetter.  This is a problem for many schools across the country as parents seek to get as close to the front door as possible. Whilst our traffic behaviour is generally pretty good there is a blitz on double parking across the country at the moment and we have been asked by the Police to report any cars double parking outside the school so that they can follow up with the drivers.  Please help our road patrollers by parking considerately and ensuring all our children stay safe.

DENTAL CLINIC
For Term 2 the Dental Clinic will be open on Tuesdays only (May - July).  Mandy and Sara will be at Petone Central School on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Please leave a message on 562 8915 and we will be in touch regarding any queries.  Many thanks - Mandy McMaster

COMMUNITY NOTICES
Kids Cross Country Series
Athletics Wellington is again running the Kids Cross Country Series over the winter months at various venues around the Wellington region.  First event Sunday 11 May at Karori Park.  Enter and compete in all five events and receive a competitor’s medal at the last event.  Get a few friends together and form a team.  Team and individual awards.  For more information or to enter go to www.athleticshub.co.nz or email jo@athleticswellington.org.nz or phone 021 976116.

Middle Years Toolbox Parenting Group - from The Parenting Place
A fun and inspiring small group parenting course for parents of children aged 6-12 years.  It’s designed to help you stay connected, teach skills and build memories.  Wednesdays 21st May to 25 June, 7.15pm to 9.30 pm in Avalon.
Cost: $67.50 individual, $90 couple (subsidies are available)

To find out more visit theparentingplace.com or contact Natalie P:934 8483 E: HuttTBX@theparentingplace.com


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