Naumai e te whanau o te kura Muritai

Kia ora koutou

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend. This week of course has flown by and next week we are already up to week 4. Staff are currently working on ‘end of year’ assessments with the children to measure progress and spent much of Tuesday working on moderation processes for school reports and Ministry reports. November is very much a time where we find out how we have done this year.  The school feels great, the kids are working hard, the teachers report excellent progress so it is nice to match it with ‘data’.

2016 CLASSES

We are putting the finishing touches to our plan for 2016. Our numbers look secure and we are starting to allocate children to classrooms. Thank you for keeping us informed of any movements out of Muritai at the end of the year. We talked about the processes of forming classes at Board level earlier in the year and enhanced our Student Placement Policy which is attached to the newsletter.  Classroom allocation is always a hot topic of conversation and placing 400 children into 18 classrooms for day 1, 2016 isn’t an easy task. Teachers work really closely on creating fair, cohesive groups with an even cross-section of skills and attributes.

The Board, in developing the policy, asks parents to respect the complexity and equity of the class construction process, but invites parents who have particular educational concerns on their child’s placement and can inform the process, to put the concern in writing, explaining their reasoning, and address it to Andrew Bird, Principal before Friday 13th of November.

“Parent concerns will be seriously considered. It must be clearly understood, however, that no definite guarantees can be given regarding parents and that the Principal, after appropriate consultation, reserves the right to make final professional decisions regarding the placement of children. It is not possible to realise all individual’s preference of a teacher or friendship group, given the number of children placed into classrooms across the whole school.”

SCIENCE AT MURITAI

We are thrilled with the opportunity given to Melissa Coton that was announced last week - a 6 month sabbatical with the Royal Society of New Zealand. We have been growing our science opportunities with the children and example of this is our link with Hutt Science. This valuable resource sends us out a box of science equipment and corresponding teaching, learning and curriculum links to the school, with everything ready to go.   Room 7 have posted the experience on their blog - http://mrdobsons.blogspot.co.nz/2015/10/science-in-room-7.html

ATHLETICS

Next Monday, 2 November, we have our Year 3-4 athletic sports. This is based at school and the Eastbourne Rec. This is always a fun event which swings between participation and competition.  It is great to see our children trying their best, and for their House as well.

SCHOOL ENROLMENT ZONE

The Muritai School Board of Trustees invites applications from parents who wish to enrol an ‘out of zone’ student at Muritai School for 2016. Enrolment at Muritai is governed by an enrolment scheme, details of which are available from the school office. Applications are to be made on the official enrolment form, which is also available from the school office. The deadline for receipt of applications is Wednesday 4th November.

The Board has determined that up to 10 spaces are available at year 7-8 and 6 spaces are available at year 3-4 level. if the number of out of zone applications exceeds the number of places available, students will be selected by ballot.  If a ballot is required it will be held on Friday 6 November. Please call the school office 562 8409 for more information if required.

TOWARDS 2020 COMMUNITY SURVEY

The Muritai School Board of Trustees are developing a strategic plan to take the school forward for the next 5 years towards the end of 2020. The Board has gathered information from the staff, the students and the community to inform them of the current priorities. It has read widely on current education trends, researched the government priorities for education, listened to parents in the community and visited other schools.

The Board are keen to further gather information from our community before finalising the school strategic plan and invite you to make a contribution. At this stage the Board has identified 7 key areas to guide the development of Muritai School for the next 5 years.

These 7 key areas are -

1. Achievement and success for all students.

2. Using our local environment and local environmental issues to support our learning.

3. Enhancing and developing the teaching and learning in science, technology and mathematics.

4. Use the key competencies of developing self, respecting others, participation, contribution, thoughtfulness and creativity to drive our school culture and relationships.

5. Engage with the community to utilise local expertise to enhance our teaching and learning.

6. Using ICTs effectively to support skill and knowledge development, and communication.

7. Develop our teaching spaces for a better learning environment.

We invite parents to share their thoughts on the next steps for Muritai School on the survey provided. Please click the link to access the survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9X9JLZB

RAFFLE - TOURNAMENT OF MINDS

We are continuing with our fundraising for the Tournament of Minds team’s recent trip to Australia.  The TOM raffle has four fantastic prizes:

• A stereo with ipod dock from Dick Smith
• Massage Oil, Print, Coffee Beans, Pet Portrait, $10 voucher Giselle Kitchen, Mixed Fruit Drops
• Mustard and Jam, Coffee Beans, Regular Coffee, Holiday Tea, $10 Voucher for Giselle Kitchen, Travel Glass Mug, Whittaker’s Chocolate
• Vinaigrette and Dressing Pack, $30 Voucher for Sorrento, Molly Woppy Gingermen, Coffee Beans, Regular Coffee, $10 Voucher for Giselle Kitchen, Travel Glass Mug

The raffle will be drawn next Friday with tickets at $2 each or $10 for 6 tickets.  

FACT-A-THON

Many thanks to the Muritai parents, families, friends and, of course, students for their generous support of last term’s Fact-a-thon.  We raised over $8700 which is an amazing effort and will go towards the development of a science room.  Congratulations to all prize winners and a special mention to Room 16 who won the Class Award - we will be arranging lunch for you all shortly!

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