You're a dendroid...

FACT:  The word DENDROID means " branching in a tree like way".  This is why the receptacles
 and transmitters are called 'Dendrites'.

 

Today we began by recapping.... the children had to model and explain a neuron to a pair from another class.

Because we think Neurons are so amazingly beautiful we are going to immortalise them in a triptych artwork. 

Lastly today...The children looked at the four lobes of the brain.  We created an Acronym to help us remember... FPOT...Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal...  We wore our brain caps...

The Hand Dance in action

Syndicate Assembly Week 6

It’s Brain Awareness Week @ Muritai School

·      Things will be a bit different this week with all classes focusing their learning on ‘THE BRAIN’

Taking Responsibility

·      IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CHOICES YOU MAKE.  THINK BEFORE YOU ACT.  "THE PRICE OF GREATNESS IS RESPONSIBILITY."— WINSTON CHURCHILL

Road Patrol Team

·      REMEMBER to be on time for your duty…

-arrive at school at 8.15am to set up in the morning and on patrol by 8.25am

-leave the class at 2.30pm to set up in the afternoon and on patrol by 2.45pm

BP Challenge

·      Meeting on Wednesday and Thursday.  A 4-person team will be selected to compete at the BP Challenge in Wellington.

CZ Cross Country Team

·      CZ Cross Country Championships on Tuesday @ Boulcott School

·      Meet in the library at 8.40am on Tuesday

CZ Football Tournament

·      Well Done!  Muritai School placed 2^nd overall

Table Tennis

·      The round-robin competition continues

Netball

·      The Y5 girls netball team are invited to attend and help out with the Y3 girls netball team at lunchtime on Wednesday

Brain Week

Today we kicked off Brain Week with a presentation from Neuro Scientist Pascal Saker. He talked to us about the brain, how it works and the different parts it has.

We then further explored the parts of the brain by building our brain caps.

During literacy as a brain energiser we tried to follow the "Hand Dance" video trying to make as few mistakes as possible. Give it a go. How did you do?

Waka Visit

Tomorrow some students get to visit the waka 'Te Matau a Maui'. The students were chosen because they have shown a passion for and commitment to our schools Enviroschools and Kapa Haka programmes. 

The waka was recently one of seven waka that spent close to 2 years sailing the Pacific Ocean - from NZ to Hawaii, California to Cocos Islands, the Galapagos to the Solomons – spreading a message of the need for a sustainable future within and on the Pacific. This journey and their message is currently being made into a film called “Our Blue Canoe”. See the trailer below:

There is also an opportunity for the public to see the waka at Chaffers Marina. 

Waka tours will be available on:

9th June 10am-12.30pm
15th June 11.30 - 12.30pm, 1-2pm and 2.30 - 3.30 pm.

Harbour sailing trips will be available on: 9th June from 1.30 - 2.30pm and 3.30 - 4.30pm. 

Syndicate Assembly Week 3

Shoes and Slippers

·      Remember to put your shoes and slippers on the racks.

Corridors

·      Stay clear of the corridors at morning tea and lunchtime, especially the entrance door.

Library

·      The library is open at 1pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  You need to enter the library through the ‘outside’ door (the door by the playground).

Art Class

·      The Y6’s art session will be today instead of Friday.  The Y5’s art class begins next week.

Table Tennis

·      The competition continues…

Waterpolo

·      Practice in hall at lunchtime today.

Camp DVDs

·      These were handed out today.  If you still want a DVD, see Mr. Chadwick ASAP.  He will take some late orders.

CZ Soccer – Tuesday 28 May

·      Teams are required to assemble at Sladden Park at 9.15am for a briefing about the tournament organization. The first game will then commence at 9.30am with the last game finishing at 12.00pm. The tournament concludes at 12.30pm with a 10-minute prize giving. We will be leaving school at 8.45am. Please be at school at 8.30am on the day of the tournament, we will meet in the library. 

The postponement day for the tournament is Thursday 30^th May.

Jackets

·      We are continuing to collect jackets this week.  If you have any jackets at home that you can donate, take them to the office.  We will be donating all of the jackets to a school whose students are in need of some winter warmth.

Friday

·      Remember: This Friday is a TEACHER ONLY day

Our Big Bang!

Muritai school has enjoyed a super science week this week with teachers and students involved in science experiments and investigations every day! To celebrate the final day Mrs Ryan and Mr Macmillan organised aGeyser Tube Challenge for the whole school.

Every class chose a student - (we chose Rosie) to pull the pin on a tube of mentos which then dropped into a bottle of coke. 

The resulting acid/base reaction shot a geyser of bubbles as high as 15 metres into the air! 

Congratulations to the winners - Year 5&6!

A very busy term

Term 2 is off to an amazing start!  Here are just a few of the exciting activities the children have been involved in over the past 3 weeks...

Inquiry - Our Changing Earth... The effect of Continental drift on the Earth's crust.

Firstly the children explored what is inside the Earth.  We found out that the Earth is likened to an Egg, in that it is made up of layers of different material.  The inner and outer core, the mantle and the Earths crust. Heres a rap that we listened to that explains it all:

When we understood what is inside the earth we began to explore what is happening on the layer that we live on... the earths crust.  We watched a short BBC film about continental drift, tectonic plates, the layers of the Lithosphere and what happens when plates colide.  We also found out that the continents used to be joined together, this Mega-Continent was called "Pangea" or "Gondwana land".

To further understand how plates move above the mantle we did a couple of experiments. The first experiment we boiled water, dropped in a handful of peas and watched the peas and how they moved. 

Our second experiment further explored how plates can move by demonstrating the scientific process of convection currents using red and blue dye. 

This video shows the same experiment:

Lastly we used slices of bread to represent the tectonic plates and explored the different ways they interact with each other. And that is just what we have been doing for inquiry learning!!!! PHEW.

Syndicate Assembly Week 1

Camp DVD of photos

·      Order forms were given out last week and need to be returned to the office by Friday.

·      If you need another order form, see your teacher.

Peer Mediators

·      There will be a training meeting on Tuesday at morning tea.  ALL peer mediators are to attend.

Road Patrol

·      A BIG thank you to all of our road patrollers for your work in term 1.  Keep up the good work!

Y6 Art Class

·      The art class will be on this Friday and next Friday lunchtimes in Room 14.

NO shoes inside

·      Remember to take your shoes off before you come inside AND to put them on when you are back outside.

Inside play

·      There will be more days spent inside during morning tea and lunchtime because of the winter weather.  Make sure you choose your ‘inside’ activities wisely.

BP Challenge

·      Mr. McMillan will LAUNCH the BP Challenge this Friday. 

Cross Country

·      The school cross country is next Tuesday @ Williams Park

·      The Y5/6 cross-country race will be run in reverse this year.  This means that you will run up the ‘switchback path’ and then down the walking trail.

Table Tennis

·      The Central Zone tournament has been cancelled

·      Mr. Chadwick will set up a school competition that will run throughout the term.

CZ Football

·      The boy’s trials are on Tuesday at lunchtime.

Waterpolo

·      Practice will be in the hall each Monday lunchtime.

Lest we forget

In the holidays many students from Muritai School attended ANZAC day celebrations to remember those soldiers who have passed away. In Eastbourne the Muritai Kapa Haka Roopu (group) was responsible for welcoming the parade and finishing the ceremony using haka and waiata. This years group were fantastic!

Callan, Harry and Willis perform Ka Mate.

Syndicate Assembly Week 11

New student

·      Welcome to Sasha, who is a new student in Room 11.

Best Syndicate Award

·      Well done to those from our syndicate that were noticed for doing ‘the right thing’ during assembly on Friday and therefore earned the Y5/6’s an extra 10 minutes play today.

·      Unfortunately there were a few students who let themselves, their class and the syndicate down in assembly BUT gratefully it didn’t impact all of the good work by most of the Y5/6 students.

TAKE NOTE:

“You are the older students on this side of the school, so the expectations are high” (Mr. Bird)

REMEMBER:

Make good choices!

“A true hero is not someone who thinks about doing what is right, but one that simply does what is right without thinking!”

(Kevin Heath - Ceo More4kids)

Sport

·      Cricket:

Congratulations to the Y5/6 boys team on their win against Dyer Street School on Thursday.   It was also good to see all of the support for team at lunchtime.  The Y5/6 girl’s team will play their game against Dyer Street School on Thursday; practices will be on Tuesday and Wednesday.

·      Hockey:

If there is anyone who is interested in playing Saturday morning hockey, please see Mr. McMillan ASAP.  The competition begins in May (Term 2).

·      Table Tennis:

We are in need of a table tennis table so that we can run a tournament and trails for the Y5/6 teams to compete in a zone competition. 

Library Award

·      Congratulations to Georgia Barrand for receiving the library silver award and for being the top Y5/6 student for the library.

ANZAC Day

·      If you are going to be in Eastbourne on the 25^th April (ANZAC day) it would be great if you could be a part of the Haka and/or singing groups to perform during the ANZAC service.

Good Sorts

Every Sunday on TV ONE News at 6pm they have a segment called Good Sorts, which celebrates the good in every community. To see some TV1 examples go to http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/one-good-sorts-2672527. You can also nominate people who you think have done something good in the community and deserve some recognition.

Room 13 decided to create our own fictional 'good sorts'. Check out our creative pieces:

Syndicate Assembly Week 10

Peer Mediators

·      A timetable for the first two terms has been given to each of the Y5/6 teachers.  Make sure you check to see when you have been assigned.

Kapa Haka

·      Thank you to those who have signed up for Kapa Haka.  If there are any more students interested, make sure you see Mr. Chadwick ASAP.

Camp DVD

·      An email will be sent before the end of the term asking for interest in purchasing a DVD of photos and videos (parents and teachers skits) from camp.  Please RSVP the email so that you don’t miss out.

BP Challenge

·      There will be more information about the BP Challenge next term.

Y4-6 Inter Zone Swimming Championships

·      We have a few students who will represent the Central Zone at the Inter-zone championships on held on Wednesday 10th April at Naenae Pool from 10.30-1.30pm:

Y6 Girls 50m Freestyle - Helena Cvitanovich
Y6 Girls 25m Freestyle - Helena Cvitanovich
Y5 Boys 25m Breaststroke - Hamish Dalziel
Y5 Girls 25m Breaststroke - Samantha Woolley
Y4 Girls 25m Backstroke - Emily Jones
Y5 Girls 25m Backstroke - Rachel Vass
Medley relay - Helena Cvitanovich (Freestyle)

Cricket

·      Boys: Game on Thursday v Dyer Street School @ 12pm @ Muritai School

(Training will be on Wednesday)

Boys: Game on next Monday v Waterloo School @ 12pm @ Muritai School

·      Girls: Game next Thursday v Dyer Street School @ 12pm @ Muritai School

(Training will be on Friday)

Teasing Issues

·      It has come to our attention that there have been a few instances of students being ‘teased’ about ‘boyfriends and girlfriends’.   This MUST stop and if there are any more issues surrounding this, further steps will be taken which may include speaking with parents.

Corridor noise

·      We need to remember to show our RESPECT for the students and their learning in the classrooms downstairs by moving around the corridor quietly.

Trees and field

·      There has been another incident on the field where a tree branch has been broken off.   RESPECT our environment by looking after our trees in and around the playground.

Photo Wall

·      There have been a few photos that have been ripped or scratched.  The photo wall is for looking at; it is a celebration wall of photos from camp, let’s look after it!

Responsibility

·      Make sure that when you are given a responsibility for something that needs you leave the class, do it with COMMON SENSE and CONSIDERATION for others.