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!