Tena koutou te whānau o te kura Muritai,
March already. Remote summer beaches and Christmas festivities but a distant memory replaced by school lunches, early starts and ferrying children to after-school activities. Obviously the bustle and excitement of a new year in 2011 has been tragically and dramatically affected by the earthquakes in Christchurch and now Japan. Our hearts go out to all those affected including those from our own community who have been personally involved. In the midst of the tragedy it has been wonderful to see and experience the generosity and kindness of New Zealanders. Muritai School continues to play its part in hosting children from affected Christchurch schools as well as the incredibly well supported Red and Black Day.
For us as a Board it has been great to see the school kick back into action seemingly so effortlessly. We are well aware that the “effortlessness" is in fact due to many weeks of preparation from our dedicated teaching staff and we are sure you will join with us in thanking them for their tremendous work on behalf of our children. Aside from the classroom work we have already had the year 3-4 Swimming Sports, the year 5-6 camp at Forest Lakes (both of which miraculously took place in unforecast glorious weather), beach days, sporting events and trips to the theatre. These all require a tremendous amount of organisation, as anyone who tried to buy ice cream's for just half a dozen children over the Christmas break will testify.
It is really pleasing also that the exceptional work of the staff and management at Muritai has been formally recognised by the Education Review Office (ERO) who undertook a review of the school in the last term of 2010. With our correspondence mailed to you this week we included a copy of ERO's letter to the community reporting their findings and we would urge you to take a moment to read it. The Board is delighted with the findings which speak of a well-managed, effective school with a positive tone where students are highly engaged in learning and high standards are both set and achieved. Historically ERO reviews come around every three years and it is reassuring that such is their confidence in the school that ERO do not feel the need to return within the next 4 to 5 years. The Ministry of Education have effectively given Muritai an A+ report card and we are sure you will join with us in congratulating the management and staff for such a wonderful success.
And on the subject of congratulations, you may have read in the 24 February school newsletter that Muritai has just become New Zealand's first dyslexia friendly school. This is a mammoth achievement and recognises the work of all of our teachers in ensuring their classes are dyslexia friendly. As was mentioned in the newsletter, this benefits all of our children as teaching structures are designed to meet the individual needs of each child. Sarah Richardson has led the initiative over the last couple of years and has done an amazing job. Thanks to her and all of the staff in helping Muritai School become a national leader in this area.
Also exciting, though on a completely different level, are the ongoing improvement works to school property. Many of you will have noticed the new carpets and blinds in rooms 7-14 installed over the Christmas break. We hope to have new wall linings and much-needed modifications to the heating system completed shortly as well as work done to stop the winter winds coming through the windows. The library renovation, for which so many of you have worked so hard for some years, is also underway and we hope to be in a position to start building towards the end of the year.
Apart from the usual business the other major initiative for the Board in 2011 will be the redevelopment of the Muritai School Charter. This presents an exciting opportunity for the community to be involved in the shaping and defining of your children's school's governing document. We will shortly begin a consultation process aimed at discovering your hopes and aspirations for the school which can then be refined in condensed into a new Charter for 2012 and beyond. Keep your eye out for these opportunities as it would be great to have your contribution.
Finally you will recall that the election for three available parent trustee positions at the end of last year resulted in the nomination and subsequent election of Craig Griffiths and it has been wonderful to have Griff on the Board for the last few months. The Board has resolved under section 105 of the Education Act 1989 to fill the remaining two vacancies by selection. A notice was published in the Hutt News on 1 March in this regard. If ten percent or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the board, within 28 days of that notice being published, to hold a by-election to fill the vacancies instead, then a by-election will be held. Any eligible voter who wishes to ask the board to hold a further by-election should write to Stuart Stock, Chairperson, Muritai School Board of Trustees, Muritai School, Eastbourne by 29 March 2011.
Thanks for all your support and enjoy the few remaining weeks of summer.
Olivia, Lisa, Griff, Andrew and Stuart
