Volume 1 - April 2013


Board of Trustees newsletter

Well its all over – the summer that is.  As is the drought, swimming and believe it or not the first term; and what a great start to the year it’s been.  Hotly contested swimming sports, another brilliant year 5-6 camp, trips to Capital E to see some great shows all added to the usual creative and exciting learning experiences delivered every day by our talented and incredibly committed team of teachers and support staff.

The Board has also been busy, reviewing and analyzing data from last year and making sure everything is in place from a governance perspective for 2013.

Charter And Annual report
·         One of the first activities for the New Year is to complete compliance work for the Ministry of Education. Using information gathered at the conclusion of last year we have completed and submitted our Charter and Annual Report that provide an over-view of our goals as a school and how successful we have been in achieving those goals in 2012.  We have made both the Charter and the Annual Report available for the community on the school website and it should be up shortly. Both reflect very positively and we encourage you to read them.

Finance
·         The additional teaching supplement and activity fee information has gone out to the school families. We had an excellent return last year from families committed to support the additional teaching resources provided for the children at Muritai School and we have budgeted to receive similar levels of continued support in 2013. The activity fee of course is compulsory and at $100 represents good value for service provided. This includes mathletics (which has had a massive impact on our schoolwide maths achievement), swimming, bus charges for trips and visits and visiting performers and some EOTC charges. The additional teaching subsidy provides for significant extra staffing that the school would not otherwise have. A reminder that this is a donation and so enables you to claim back 33% on tax rebate.  To enable us to budget throughout the year it is really helpful if you are able to get your payments in sooner rather than later. 

Buildings
·         Managing school building development has become extremely difficult in a ‘perfect storm’ of the recession/GEC, Christchurch earthquakes and constantly-changing governmental priorities. We communicated last year that the middle block that was assessed as being ‘earthquake prone’ and remedial work was done immediately to lift it to an appropriate and safe level. The Ministry initially told us that funds would be made available as soon as we required them to enable us to undertake the next phase of work to take the building to as close to 100% of new building standard as possible.  Accordingly the Board had expected to be able to complete these significant additional works within 12 months.  The strengthening works are substantial and initial estimates put them upwards of $500,000-$600,000.  Unfortunately the Ministry has now advised us that funds may not now be available as soon as we would like due to the extensive amount of work required to other schools around the country. Our building is currently not earthquake prone and as a ‘lightweight building’ (because it is made of wood) carries considerably less risk than other buildings across the country.  The Board will continue to push the Ministry for strengthening work to be done as soon as possible.

Sports uniforms
·         You will now be aware that the Board has decided that children should have their own sports uniforms from Term 2.  With the school budget stretched it has become too costly and time consuming for the school to manage sports uniforms and with some children having access to the uniforms for 20-40 times a year the Board considers it is appropriate for children to own their own uniform rather than school supplying the uniform for children.  This is in line with all other schools that children from Eastbourne attend.  The sport T-shirts will also be used on school trips, cultural events and whenever children represent the school at the numerous events throughout the year.  Accordingly all children will need to have one (for this year, year 3-6).  There will be a couple of opportunities to purchase these in the coming weeks and we ask you to please not leave it till the last minute.

ICT investment
·         Following on from a generous donation from Home and School enabling the purchase of a number of ipads in 2012 the Board has approved the purchase of 32 laptops to bolster our stock. These will be funded by the money raised at the last Eastbourne Village carnival. This means the Board will have met its recent objective of meeting the national average of 1 ICT device per 5 children.
·         The school is currently being connected to the ultra fast broadband and hopefully this connection will be a smooth fit with our existing internal ICT structure

Home and School
·         After years of service many of our current home and school members are moving on and accordingly we are very keen for a new group to emerge. We are enormously grateful to our Home and School Committee for the huge contribution they make to the school. Over the last few years the Home and School and carnival group have funded 32 Ipads, 44 laptops, data projectors, an adventure playground, a sand pit, music and PE equipment, special interest junior reading books, the Rainbow Reading programme, games and materials for maths, lunchtime games for classrooms for wet days, drum kit, microphones and amplifiers for the school band, scooter parks, jackets for sports teams, grants for our Enviroschools gardens, sound system in the hall and many, many other things.  Please contact the office if you are able to help.

After School Care
·         If you do use this service we would remind you that last year, in response to on-going issues around the payment of After School Care (ASC) fees, the Board implemented a policy that payment for ASC must be made prior to a child's attendance.

·         ASC is intended to give parents who work or have other commitments after school a reliable and enjoyable place for their children to be looked after.  The Board and staff take great care to ensure that it runs smoothly, activities are provided for children and both casual and permanent places are available.  While the majority of parents pay for care on time, there are instances where the service is being used but the school is not receiving payment.  This results in signficant follow up by our administrative staff and puts pressure on the school being able to continue to run the ASC service. 

·         We have asked ASC staff to ensure that all parents are aware of the Board's policy and if you have an outstanding account we encourage you to make payment as soon as possible.  Children with outstanding fees at the start of Term 2 will not be able to use the service until payment is brought up to date.

Education in the Media
·         Obviously education has been in the spotlight recently highlighting many significant issues that have the potential to impact on our schools. There is still much uncertainty in education policy going forward with school funding at the heart of the issue.  Last weekend’s rallies supported by education professionals, unions and parents and of course opposed by others highlighted concerns around the rapidly changing face of education in New Zealand with issues such as national standards, school closures, Christchurch re-build, data based learning, performance pay, charter schools and the move away from personalised learning high on the agenda.  
·         The Board is confident that at Muritai, supporting a strong charter and strategic plan, we have a dedicated and professional team of teachers committed to maintaining a system of collaboration, equity, collegiality and trust which ensures students’ individual learning needs are met.  We continue to monitor the national developments and will engage in any discussions necessary to ensure the quality of learning we currently enjoy is maintained.  The introduction of Novopay has been an unnecessary distraction for the school and we commend the staff for being so patient over the last two terms.

Board elections
Finally we have the Board of Trustee elections coming up. You will have received the documentation around the elections and nominations for trustees are currently open with the election falling in May.  
Our school is governed by a democratically elected group of people called the Board of Trustees. These trustees make important decisions about our school's strategic direction, student achievement outcomes, resources, staffing and much more.
Being a trustee is an important and rewarding role. Parents, families, whānau and people from the wider community can all be trustees. We're looking for a range of people with a variety of skills, experiences, and attributes who believe in making a positive difference to our children’s learning.
If you're interested in standing for election or nominating someone you know for one of the 5 positions available please contact the school office. You can nominate yourself and nominations need to be in by NOON on 16 May 2013.  The Election Day is 30 May (where there are more nominees than positions).
Make sure your vote counts. All parents of full-time students who are on the school voting roll can and should vote in the elections. Look for your voting papers in your letterbox and make sure your vote is received by noon 30 May.
Nga mihi nui
The Muritai School Board of Trustees

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