3 May 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

Welcome back to Muritai School after the holiday break, we have had a wonderful first week back, and hope you have too.

NZEI

Next week, primary teachers and principals around the country who are NZEI Te Riu Roa members are heading to meetings to vote on whether to accept or reject the latest collective agreement offers from the government. They will also be voting on whether to take strike action should the offers be rejected.

We are remaining open during the time the teachers will attend these meetings, however your child may be placed in a different class or have a reliever on either Tuesday 7 May or Thursday 9 May from 1:30 - 3 pm so that their teacher can attend one of the local meetings.

These meetings are a crucial part of the ‘Kua Tae Te Wā - It’s Time’ campaign. They’re an opportunity for teachers and principals to come together to discuss the offer and decide next steps.

We want to ensure teaching is an attractive profession for people to join and stay in, and we have asked that the government provide for better staffing to reduce class sizes and give us more time to teach and time to lead.

The offers received are only minimally different from what was offered (and rejected) last year. This is because the government has refused to increase the amount of money available.  

Already, many schools are having to make sacrifices because of the difficulty in recruiting teachers and relievers, and we must take bold steps to turn this around.

We really appreciate your continued support. If these offers are rejected, it is the voices of parents and the wider public that will be key to forcing the government to listen as we continue our campaign to ensure every child gets the best possible education.

For more information, please go to http://campaigns.nzei.org.nz/time/ or talk with your child’s teacher.

Learning Conversations

Thank you to all of our parents who came to learning conversations this week, we look forward to seeing you if you have a booking next week on Wednesday 8 May with appointments available with teachers 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:

We were delighted to have such an incredible turnout of students and parents for our ANZAC commemorations this year.  We are very grateful to all who made time during the school holidays for their children to attend and take part.  We had 50 students in our choir and kapahaka group and many more Muritai students in the parade representing the Scouts, Eastbourne Rugby Football club, Eastbourne Football club, and Eastbourne cricket club.

   

 

Thank you to Phil Benge for the ANZAC Day photos

Kind regards

Ngā Mihi

Bec Power

Principal

Board elections are underway.  Nomination forms have been sent out by mail.  If you would like to be part of Muritai School Board of Trustees, return your nomination form.

FROM THE SCHOOL

SCHOOL GATES

Starting from next week, we will be locking most of the school gates during the school day once classes are underway.  The gate closest to the village on Oroua Street will remain unlocked, as well as the gate at the end of the hall on the Muritai Road side.  

For safety, all other gates will be locked at 9am and re-opened at 2.40pm to allow easy access to 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

The Book Fair has been a great success to date with many of our students and parents taking the opportunity to visit the library before or after the Learning Conversations this week.  The school receives  30% of all sales in the form of new books for the school library so please help with this wonderful fundraiser.

Dates and times are as follows:

Monday 6 May            3pm to 4pm

Tuesday 7 May           3pm to 4pm

Wednesday 8 May      3pm to 7pm

TERM 2 2019 DATES
7 May	Y5/6 Ripper Rugby National Qualifying Tournament
7 May	Walk and Talk with Bec Power (9am)
21 May	Whole School Cross Country
20 May	BOT Meeting 6.15pm
22 May	Interschool Basketball
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