Term 3 2015

Welcome back to the third term of the year. We hope the students all had an interesting and relaxing winter break - there certainly was a mixture of weather to contend with! Thanks again to everyone who attended our Celebration of Learning at the end of long and busy term 2. It was great to touch base with you all again and share what the students have been up to.

We have another exciting 10 weeks planned ahead. Below is a run down of what is happening.

Literacy/Inquiry

This term we are inquiring into the world of advertising, in particular visual advertising. We will be looking at the various features and language of advertising and what makes an advert so successful. We will also investigate how advertising targets a particular audience and how it  influences our lives. This is a really exciting unit and will give students opportunities to analyse a variety of adverts plus create their own.

We will continue to use a variety of 'quick writes' through our writing programme, focusing mostly on narrative writing. We have seen some great progress with this approach with a high level of engagement from all students.

Numeracy

We continue with cross grouping for maths this term and start with a Number unit of Fractions, Decimals and Percentages. In week 7 we will move into Geometry investigating reflection, translation, rotation and enlargement.

We will be continuing to provide Mathletics tasks for students on a weekly basis. Tasks are usually set on Monday but teachers may assign additional tasks throughout the week. Once tasks are completed, students can complete tasks of their choice or 'Live Mathletics'.

This term the Home and School team will be running a 'Factathon' fundraiser across the school. This is similar to the Spellathon done previously but focuses on basic facts. More information will be sent home about this shortly.

Please remember all teachers are available to meet with you to discuss your child's learning. This includes their maths teacher, so if you have concerns please get in touch via email.

Art Show

This year we are moving away from our traditional Wearable Art show which we normally hold every alternate year to our school production. This year we are offering more options to the students with a variety art show with a theme based on 'The Elements.' Students had the opportunity to sign up to Photography, Drama, Stomp/Strike, Visual Art and of course Wearable Art. They made their selections at the end of last term and are now in groups. In week 6 we are dedicating the entire week to prepare for the show yet some groups may need to do some additional preparation before this (particularly the wearable art group). This preparation will be done as part of homework. We will also be holding auditions for lead acting roles with students who signed up to the Drama group. Priority for lead roles will be given to Year 8 students.

PE

This term we continue with our large ball skills unit along with starting a striking unit focusing on hockey, padder tennis and badminton.

Regular fitness will start up again first thing in the mornings. Its great to see the children wearing appropriate clothes and footwear for physical activity. We welcome them bringing a change of clothes for these sessions if they wish.

Extra Opportunities

On Fridays for the first half of the term we have Lisa Allen working in Rooms 22 & 23 on a whole day art project then Melissa Coton working in Rooms 22 & 24 with hands-on Science experiments. We are lucky enough  to have Ruth Hooke on Fridays too who will provide drama opportunities for all the classes.

Also this term Melissa Coton will be training two teams for the EPro technology challenge (similar to the BP Challenge) which is held in August. In addition to this I will be facilitating  two teams to prepare for the Tournament of Minds competition in early September. We also have a team in training for the annual Mathswell competition early in the term.

There are two HRSA sports fixtures this term; Netball & Hockey.

Once again Muritai will be involved in the annual Artsplash show. Our senior students will have an opportunity to be a part of the choir this year along with sharing their wearable art. Our successful Kapa Haka group will have the opportunity to perform again at Dancesplash during the same week.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions we are always available. Email is the best way to get in touch:

Melissa: coton@muritai.school.nz
Anand: ranchod@muritai.school.nz
Lis: allen@muritai.school.nz
Stu: devenport@muritai.school.nz


Kind regards

Stu Devenport

Term 2 week 11

Phew! We have reached the end of a long and busy Term 2! What a great couple of weeks it has been in the Senior School; wrapping up the terms learning units, sport, art, celebration evenings... even a baby arriving!! Below is a run down of some of the highlights. A special thanks to Joshua and Helena who have helped out the write up this week.

Young Leaders Day

On Monday 15th June 2015, many students from year 7 and 8 were lucky enough to get the chance to go to NYLD (National Young Leaders Day)! During the trip we saw many inspiring and interesting people talk about their lives, and how they became famous! It was held in St. James Theatre, where every seat in the three level auditorium was filled! Many different schools were there, including one school that made the long trek from Auckland to Wellington just to see it!

 The main goal of NYLD is to inspire and teach children how to be good leaders. Many famous New Zealanders came in on Monday to tell us how THEY became great leaders, and their philosophies and attitude towards getting there. Speakers included William Pike (a mountaineer who lost his leg whilst climbing a mountain), Simon Gault (Masterchef Judge), Marcus Winter the ‘Sandman’ (an amazing speed artist), Chris Jupp (who has worked with World Vision and the 40 Hour Famine), Jamie McDell (a famous New Zealand singer).

The day was so much fun! As well as the speakers, we got to watch a few videos about other inspiring people, as well as people that couldn't make it, a few breaks for morning tea and lunch, and the presenters even played games with us! All in all, it was a very inspirational day, and I for one feel more motivated and qualified to be a good leader!

  Joshua Toomath

Cross Country

The following day, a large group of our senior students represented Central Zone at the Interzone Cross Country at Sladden Park. The conditions were excellent and our students ran with pride, giving it their all on the course. A special congratulations to 3 girls; Macey Caughley who placed 2nd in the Year 8 race while Lea Pummer was 5th and Mia Lowe 9th in the Year 7 race.

Macey and Lea went on to race in the Regionals this week. Lea placed 15th in her race while Macey ran a fantastic race, coming 5th which means she qualifies for the next stage in Blenheim later on in the year! Great work girls!!

Polyfest

 Last week a huge group of children from year 4-8 went to Walter Nash Stadium to perform in the Polyfest show for 2015. It was such an amazing experience, there were so many schools performing with different varieties of songs and costumes. From seeing all the different schools you could identify all the different cultures coming to life on stage.

Muritai school sang three songs and made routines with poi, rako, and taiaha. It was an amazing turn-out and I would definitely recommend Polyfest for any other students next year.

A massive thank-you to Mrs Hooke and Mrs Algar for all the direction, choreography, organisation and giving up your own time to put the show together. Thank you, also, to Roger for helping us with equipment when needed.

  Helena Cvitanovich

Check out this week's Hutt News for some great pics of our group on the night. Here's a snippet of the action from Walter Nash:

Michael Smither Art

Over the past couple of weeks the classes have been looking at the New Zealand Artist Michael Smither. The students have been developing their painting techniques through their own interpretation of one of his artworks... what outstanding results!!

Technicraft

On Wednesday we completed our third Technicraft cycle. Once again, we saw some amazing products produced from the tech rooms at Wainuiomata.

There were also some impressive Spanish movies coming out our Mr Ranchod's Spanish classes... check them out!

Matariki - Kite Flying

It is the season of Matariki. The Seven Sisters (also known as the Pleiades star cluster) have reappeared in the night sky. If you happen to be up on a clear pre-dawn morning you can spot the Sisters low in the North-East sky.

Matariki falls on the day of the first New Moon after the Sisters return. This year Matariki was on Thursday the 18th of June.

To celebrate Matariki this year the students and teachers decided to have a go at kite making! It was a great day on Thursday to head down to the Eastbourne Rec to test them out. It was also great to see Room 22 working with their buddy class, Room 9 to create and fly their kites together.

Steve's Farewell

Last week we held a special assembly for Steve, our awesome music teacher who is leaving us to head back to family in the UK. The school band gave him a special farewell with a couple of great numbers. All the best and safe travels!





Space Inquiry

As part of our Space inquiry the classes spent some time investigating the various ways astronomers can identify the existence of distance planets and stars in other galaxies. We explored this interesting website by NASA which showed 5 ways they discover new planets. Later on, we had a go using a simple circuit  to create a model of planets orbiting a star to demonstrate these different ways of discovery.

Chemistry of Light at Victoria University

Today we got a very last minute opportunity to attend the 'Chemistry of Light' show at Victoria University. It was very exciting heading into the lecture hall - quite a different place to our classrooms! The lecturer gave a quick journey through the history of various chemicals being used creating light. There were some amazing reactions on show!! Special thanks to Paul, Cass, Libby and Renata for taking the students in the city so they could be a part of this experience.

Celebration of Learning

On Wednesday evening our classrooms were opened for the students to share their learning with their parents and whanau from the past two terms. It was a lovely atmosphere and we really hope you enjoyed seeing what your child has been learning and the progress they are making. This evening compliments the written report that came home last week. It was great to see you all! Thanks once again for the amazing support you give to your children to ensure they can be the best they can be!