10th April 2019













Kia Ora, Talofa Lava, Greetings, Malo e Lelei, Kia Orana, Bonjour, Nǐ hǎo, Hallo, Hola, Kon'nichiwa, Namaste, As-salāmu ʿalaykum

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Kia ora koutou

We find ourselves in the final week of the term which and as we head into the holidays we look back upon a busy, wonderful and exciting two months at Muritai School.  We look forward to welcoming our learners back and connecting with you all in Term 2. 

Learning Conversations
We will be having Learning Conversations school-wide on Wednesday 1 May and Wednesday 8 May with appointments available with teachers from 3pm to 7.15pm on both days.

Room 6 will, however, have their Learning Conversations on Tuesday 30 April from 3pm to 6.15pm and Wednesday 1 May from 3pm to 7.15pm

You can book your Learning conference discussion here: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz
And use the code: q63nn

We look forward to seeing you all.

ANZAC Day:
Each year on the 25th of April there is a local Citizens’ Commemorative Service held here at our school memorial gates.   We take part in several parts of the service - the welcome and challenge with our kapa haka group  who are performing our school haka  in response to the arrival of the marching parade,  our school choir will sing a himene - ‘He Honore’, and finally our Head girl Scarlett Tito will lay a wreath on behalf of us all here at Muritai School.     
                       
Thank you in advance to all parents and students who give up one of their days of the school break to come and be a part of our special commemorations.  Thank you also to Ruth Hooke who annually prepares the choir and kapa haka group for this important day. 

Earlier this week some of our senior students took part in another special Muritai tradition when they carefully attached our beautiful knitted  poppies to our school memorial gates and fence line along Muritai Road.  We hope they bring you a smile when you are going past over the coming weeks.  

 


Learning at Muritai:
Our staff spend time each term collecting and analysing achievement data.  We use this to inform our next steps in teaching, to select students for intervention programmes, to design the learning programmes for the coming terms and to measure the individual, class, syndicate and school’s progress over the term and year.  Initial term one data indicates a strong start to the academic year across the school.  You will hear more about the next steps in learning for your individual child when you attend the learning conversations in weeks 1 and 2. 

We will be taking part in Mathematics professional development as a staff over this year and next.  We have been successful in the proposal we made to the Ministry of Education and I’m delighted to let you know that our project of PLD will be centrally funded by the Ministry.  I look forward to bringing you further information around this project as we begin our mahi next term. 

We continue our work on reviewing and refreshing our local Muritai School Curriculum.  In 2006 the New Zealand Curriculum launched, and with it, the requirement for schools to continue to follow the national curriculum, and to also localise what is taught in a school to suit its unique community and  geographical location.  It is time now for us to gain further understanding about the teaching and learning we want at our school from all of our stakeholders.  Our aim is  to create a local curriculum that strengthens our people and celebrates our place.  This will be an ongoing process and each term we will connect with our community around parts of our learning.  Next term we will be gathering further information from parents, students, our Board of Trustees and our staff about what’s important to you about learning at Muritai.  

Staffing Updates:
We are sorry to be farewelling two of our Muritai whanau early next term when we say goodbye to Morag Roberts and Jo Salisbury who share a teaching position in Room 6.  Jo has retrained as a librarian and at the end of last year she completed her qualifications. She is now hoping to secure a job in a library. Morag has decided to move to a school nearer to her home in Wellington and has been appointed as a Year 2 teacher at Ngaio School. They  have been a superb teaching team in Room 6 and we have many happy memories of their time here at Muritai School.

We will host the farewell for these two teachers at a special assembly on Thursday the 2nd of May in the afternoon.  

Congratulations to Jamie Power who has recently been awarded as an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE). This is a prestigious global educational award to recognise educational innovation, excellence and leadership.  Jamie was one of four teachers/leaders across New Zealand who have been selected to receive this award in 2019.   

Congratulations to Anton Norman and his partner Lydia who are getting married today! Although Wellington has not turned on a great day weather wise for their exciting nuptials, I know you will join with me in congratulating them both! Congratulations Anton and Lydia! We wish you many happy years of wedded bliss! Best wishes on this wonderful journey, as you build your new lives together.  

It’s not long till Holli Williams welcomes her wee bundle of joy! Nikkie Andrews who has been teaching in room 16 will be taking care of Room 14 while Hollie goes on parental leave early next term.  
We officially welcome Brenda Nisbet to our learning support team in Term 2, and welcome back Sally Velvin who will be working as Deane’s release teacher in Room 16.  

Thank you:
A big thank you to our staff, our Board and our entire parent community for your support and connection over the past term.  We've had parents volunteering on class trips, to sporting fixtures, coaching teams, ongoing support from our Home and School team who fundraise  for the school,  and we’ve even had parents supervising and staying overnight this term at camp this term! Thanks to each and every one of you who make Muritai School such an amazing place to work and learn.  

Happy School Holidays from all of us here at Muritai School
 Kind regards
Ngā Mihi

Bec Power
Principal

FROM THE BOARD

Muritai School Board of Trustees elections

Muritai School will be holding its board of trustees elections in May.  The school is seeking five parent or community trustees to join the principal and a staff trustee on the Muritai School Board of Trustees (BOT) for the next three years.

This is an opportunity to make a positive difference for our school community. School boards must represent their diverse communities and we need a wide range of people willing to contribute their skills to benefit all our Muritai children.

The BOT’s role is to ensure every child can achieve their full potential. It is responsible for setting the school’s strategic direction and educational goals, then supporting the principal and staff to navigate the school in that direction.  The board also monitors and communicates progress in that journey to the school community. It ensures the school is a safe place and oversees management of staff, property, finances, curriculum and administration.

The current board meets on an evening every six weeks or so and divides its workload among members. Boards can also appoint other parents or community members if they need to fill a skill gap.

So, if you want to make a difference for our great local school, we would love to hear from you!

Current trustees will be available to chat about what’s involved to those considering standing, at the school library during learning conversations on Wednesdays May 1 & 8 early next term. Alternatively, please leave your number with Carole or Jo in the office and a Board member will give you a call and try to answer any questions.

Nomination forms will be sent out in late April with nominations closing at noon on the 24th May.  From here voting papers will be sent out with voting finishing on 7 June. If five or less nominations are received, they will be accepted with no need for elections.

All five places must be elected, including current members.

Check out www.nzsta.org.nz for more details on becoming a trustee.

FROM THE SCHOOL

ABSENCES
If your child is absent from school, please contact the office as soon as possible giving your child’s name, room number and the reason why they are away.  You can contact us by telephone (04 562 8409) to leave a message or talk to a member of staff or you can now text.  Our cellphone number is 027 531 1772.  This phone is not manned so please do not call it.  

We would also ask that you do not email as emails are not always checked before the school attendance registers are completed.  

BOOK FAIR
Our school library will be hosting a scholastic book fair in week 1 of term 2. This will coincide with parent teacher conferences. This is a fund raiser for the school with the school getting 30% of sales in the form of new books for the school library.

Dates and times are as follows:

Monday 29 April           3pm to 4pm
Tuesday 30 April           3pm to 4pm
Wednesday 1 May        3pm to 7pm
Thursday 2 May            3pm to 4pm
Monday 6 May              3pm to 4pm
Tuesday 7 May              3pm to 4pm
Wednesday 8 May        3pm to 7pm

A Twelve Year Old's Thoughts on the School Strike for Climate Change

On Friday the 15th of March, 2019, around a million students worldwide went on strike from school to protest the lack of action on climate change. New Zealand took part in this, with protests in all large cities, and some small towns. In Wellington, around three thousand young people and our supporters gathered in Civic Square, then marched to Parliament, where we were met by three MPs (James Shaw, Grant Robertson, and Nicola Willis). There were speeches made by student representatives, then a question and answer period between the strikers and the MPs.


The Kiwi students’ main demand was that the New Zealand Government do more immediately to restrict global warming to no more than 1.5.  We should do this by:
I.Passing an efficient Zero Carbon Act that installs a long term plan for NZ to be carbon neutral by 2050.
II.Having climate change in mind when future decisions are being made.
III.Establishing transparent courses of action so the public can view our progress and hold the government to account.
IV.Stopping all extraction of fossil fuels at once, and investing in clean and sustainable energy immediately.
V.Managing emissions from agriculture - there is currently no plan for this, even though it makes up nearly half of emissions here.

We (the students) will continue striking until our worries and demands are heard, and action is being taken to stop climate change.

Written by a 12-year-old student who took part - Sage Pettus

GUMBOOT FRIDAY - 5 APRIL
Mike King (New Zealander of the year) and Mental Health charity I AM HOPE called for New Zealanders to wear gumboots on Friday 5 April to support kids in need.  

Zac Hallam, on behalf of the Charity Ambassadors of Muritai School, wanted to raise awareness of Gumboot Friday, as it is focusing on the mental health of young New Zealanders.  He asked that the senior school students support young New Zealanders by hosting Gumboot Friday (for awareness in Muritai school) by wearing their gumboots to school and bringing a gold coin donation to go towards the I AM HOPE foundation.

The day was very successful with the Kahu syndicate raising $136.50 for this charity.   
  
WELLINGTON STACKERS’ CLUB
The next Wellington Stackers’ Club meet up will be held on Saturday 06 April, 3.15pm-5.15pm in the Northland Memorial Community Centre, 5 Woburn Rd, Northland, Wellington. This is a free event and all are welcome, any ability. Cups will be provided if you don’t yet have your own set. Tuition and guidance given by one of our NZ Black Stacks. Bring a friend and introduce them to sport stacking. See you all there! (Upstairs in the kitchen at the venue).
LIKE the club Facebook page wellingtonstackersclub to receive club updates and all stacking news.

LOST PROPERTY
Our lost property is overflowing once again.  Please come and check to see if any of your child/ren’s clothes are sitting in lost property and reclaim them.  
We have a wonderful team of parents looking after our lost property and it would greatly help them if you could name your child/ren’s clothing.  Anything named is returned to the child.


Year 5-6 Cricket
On March the 12 the year 5&6 Cricket team went down to H.W Shortt to play cricket against 2 Wellesley Teams.  First we played the year 5’s, the ground was very wet.  We only got 66 runs but then we bowled and fielded really well and got them out 13 times to win the game.  Our second game started fifteen minutes after the first so no rest for us! Which we unfortunately lost.  We still had a great time and want to thank Brett Fastier for coaching us.
Max Bentley


SPORTS - FAST FACTS

Touch - Muritai had 10 teams competing in the Friday night touch competition and we had finals tonight! Hopefully the teams played their hardest and are proud of themselves.

Cricket - We played in the Wellington Schools competition. We were up against both Wellesley School teams. We won the first game and sadly lost the second.

Rippa Rugby - 2 weeks ago we had an inter- school Rippa Rugby tournament, we had 4 teams attend and compete from Muritai. From this tournament we had three of the teams qualify to the inter - zone tournament. This tournament was played Tuesday 26th March at Hutt Park. Our teams played hard and fair. Well Done.

Basketball - We are ready to roll for basketball this year. We have registered 7 teams with a total of 69 children involved in basketball this year. These games are played at Walter Nash Stadium on three seperate days.

Mondays - Year 3/4
Wednesdays - Year 7/8
Thursdays - Year 5/6
Fridays - Year 1/2

Netball - We have 7 teams representing Muritai School this year. We have just finished trials and the players did extremely well. Thanks so much to Jane Lloyd Evans for all her hard work!! We are very lucky to have such expertise in our community.

Waterpolo - This year we have one Year 7/8 team representing Muritai in term 2 and 3. These games are played on a Wednesday night throughout the winter.



TERM 1 2019 DATES
26 Mar
IZ Rippa Rugby Tournament - Y3-6
2-5 Mar
Makahika Camp for Kereru syndicate
5 Apr
Whole school assembly - Korora
12 April
Last day of Term 1
29 April
First day of Term 2
2 May
(NOTE : This is a Thursday) Powhiri to begin the term & Farewell to Morag and Jo
7 May
Walk and Talk with Bec Power (9am)
21 May
Walk and Talk with Bec Power (9am)
22 May
 Basketball Inter-school
24 May
Y8 Gardasil vaccinations
28 May
Inter-school Cross Country
30 May
PP date for Inter-school Cross Country
4 June
Walk and Talk with Bec Power (9am)
11 June
Year 7/8 Basketball
18 June
Walk and Talk with Bec Power (9am)
18 June
Inter-Zone Cross Country
20 June
PP date for Inter-zone Cross Country
20 June
BOT Meeting 6.15pm
2 July
Regional Cross Country
2 July
Walk and Talk with Bec Power (9am)
5 July
Last day of Term 2
22 July
First day of Term 3


TERM DATES FOR 2019
Please note our term dates for next year - 2019
Term dates for 2019 have been confirmed by our Board of Trustees as follows:-

Term 1 Monday 4 February to Friday 12 April
            Teacher only day on Friday 15 February
Term 2 Monday 29 April to Friday 5 July
Term 3 Monday 22 July to Friday 27 September
Term 4 Monday 14 October to Thursday 19 December


Community Notices
 

Welcome to the 2019 Eastbourne Football Club Season!  
The 2019 season kicks off for our Junior grades on 6 April 2019.
Registrations are now open on our website; www.efc.org.nz
You'll find everything you need to know about this coming season and instructions on how to register via MyCOMET.

We've also put some FAQs together which you'll find here; http://efc.org.nz/PDFs/EFC-FAQs.pdf

If you have any questions, contact us at info@efc.org.nz

We welcome back our returning players and look forward to meeting new ones.

Guitar Lessons at Muritai School Do you want to learn to play guitar?  I am now accepting enrolments for Term 1 for pupils in years 3 to 8. The lessons are taken by Charles Hazlewood on Mondays or Fridays during school time. The tuition is held in small groups according to ability and age. It is educational, and normally a lot of fun!
The school has guitars to use at lesson time, but you will need a guitar to play at home. I am a very experienced music teacher currently teaching at several schools in Lower Hutt.

The cost will be $12 per 30 minute lesson, multiplied by the number of lessons to be held during the term. Usually there would be 8 lessons, so the term fees would be $96.
Please call Charles on 04-934-2759 or 029-9392759 or charleshazlewood1@gmail.com

Drum lessons available for Muritai students between years 3 and 8. Please email our drum tutor Andy Russell at andyrussellmusic@gmail.com for more information or to sign up.

Fun French for Muritai School children lunch time

Special class available for juniors on Thursdays. Class for older students on Tuesdays.
· Experience French learning the fun way! Children speak French from the first lesson
· Lessons once a week, lots of interactive activities, role play, crafts, active games and music
· Free trial lesson.  After that $14.50 per lesson, plus a membership starter pack of materials to use at home, siblings 10% discount
· To register your interest please contact Stefi  on Stefi@funlanguages.co.nz or 021 178 2099
· visit the website www.lcfclubs.co.nz
Get in touch for more details.

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