Muritai EnviroSchools

SCHOOL-GEN AWARD SECOND PLACE TO MURITAI.

2011-10-31T19:53:00.000+13:00

SCHOOL-GEN AWARD SECONDPLACE TO MURITAI.

Many of you will have seen the excellent Eco Houses in the Senior School and the foyerrecently. The entire year 7-8 group were awarded a special prize for schoolperformance in the nationwide SchoolGen competition and Hazel Sisson wasawarded 2^nd prize overall for her effort. Well done Senior School.

This is a huge achievement and acknowledges the amazing inquiry skills and efforts of the students

See the movie on Muritai TV about the Eco-Houses created

Electricity Monitors 2

2011-10-02T14:29:00.002+13:00

A new club hits the classrooms of Muritai!

2011-09-26T10:10:00.003+13:00

Chess Club is up and running!

We meet every Wednesday to have some fun playing chess. We have been learning about the names of the chess pieces and how they move. It is open to Years 2-8.

Little Kids Can be very Clever!

2011-09-21T13:47:00.002+12:00

Today the newest members of our school, Room 16, came around to show us all the rubbish that had been found at school in one day. It was full of packaging from chips, snack bars and all sorts of things like that.
Mrs Mills showed us a really good lunchbox that would be good to keep our lunch fresh but we wouldn't need to use gladwrap or foil. We should try and get one of those next time.

New Trees for New students

2011-09-21T08:07:00.004+12:00

A small group of new entrance students helped plant six natives in the Senior School Enviro Zone, with the help of some 7 & 8 students. These trees will be big and strong when the new entrance students reach year 7 & 8

Electricity Monitors

2011-09-16T10:07:00.001+12:00

Room 11's important Enviro Job

2011-08-30T15:34:00.000+12:00

We are a Green Gold School but that doesn't stop people dropping litter in our playground. Yuk!
Mostly we found packaging from food, mandarin peels and fruit scraps.We found a lot under or behind the bushes outside Mr Bird's office window. That is not nice for our environment.

Please put them in the bin and don't throw the litter on the ground!

Gardening with the Lions

2011-08-24T16:25:00.002+12:00

Today, 10 students from Muritai School received $300 worth of gardening equipment from the Eastbourne Lions Club. They spent the afternoon eating, drinking tea and gardening with the Lions.

Not these lions!!!

These Lions

Here's a few of the tools that were donated.

They were given trowels, spades, pitch forks, a dozen pairs of gloves, seeds, vegetable plants, flowers and a seed raising kit.

Together, they weeded, composted and planted the new plants.

Here's them in action.

HUGE THANKS FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!!!

Ready, Steady, Cook!

2011-07-07T15:13:00.003+12:00

Last week six lucky Year 7s and 8s ventured to Blue Carrot Catering in Petone to learn the tricks of the cheffing trade. Under the tutelage of Head Chef Adrian Hornsby, these kids are aiming to be the chefs who will cook at the end of the year's Art Aucton. Money raised will go to future gardening projects at Muritai. This is part of Muritai's way of being sensible sustainable members of our community. We hope to grow lots of vegetables so we have plenty of different dishes we can cook to the Art Auction.

Thank you so much Blue Carrot Catering for giving your time, produce and premises to spark a love of food and cooking in these young ones. They simply loved it and have begun cooking at home for their family.

MIRO – Mainland Island Restoration Operation

2011-07-01T14:54:00.005+12:00

Today nine students got the chance to find out all about the plant nursery at GNS in Seaview.

It is a very cool operation and the students really enjoyed being involved in the planting process and supporting MIRO.

MIRO is a volunteer group who work in partnership with Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Their 'Vision' is:

To protect and restore the natural forest and lakes ecosystem.
To eliminate pests, both plant and animal
To see vulnerable trees, birds, insects and fish flourish again
To reintroduce native species lost to the Park
The were very to receive same lovely native trees, which will be planted at the back of the Senior School.

http://www.miro.org.nz

Catering for our kids passion...

2011-06-28T19:03:00.001+12:00

Four dishes in an hour? surely not....

But this was the case for six lucky Year 7&8 children, read on and see how they were able to step up to the challenge.

On Monday the 27th June we attended a 'ready steady cook' session with the Executive Chef Aidy Hornsby, from Blue Carrot Catering Company.

The Kids traveled to the Blue Carrot Kitchen in Petone, where they met with Adrian, were split into two teams ( girls Vs Boys), presented with 4 recipes and had an hour to 'cook off' against each other. The girls team worked with Aidy, and the boys with chef Mark. These two were super patient, humorous and really great at allowing the kids to do all the hands on work.

The dishes were: leek and Potato soup, courgette and spinach mini tarts, pumpkin and spinach fritters with dipping sauce and a divine green hummus and carrot sticks. Aidy had created dishes which were specifically chosen to showcase the veg that we are currently growing in our school garden.

This training is in preparation for the Term 4 Art Auction, where the children will be in charge of cooking the nibbles for the evening. The next step is for the 'chef's' to meet with the Yr 4 gardeners (their veg suppliers) and discuss what they require to be planted out ready for Term 4.

So much fun, so much generosity from Gordon and Nicole, Aidy, Mark and the whole Blue Carrot Team, and a huge amount of pride at how our children performed!

Check out the Blue carrot Catering web site for your next function, big or small, their food will always be divine. www.bluecarrotcatering.co.nz

Making Compost - Using our Resources WELL

2011-06-23T16:17:00.001+12:00

Some the of the Year 4 Gardeners have been inquiring into:

How do you make COMPOST?

Compost is very important in a vege garden. It is something you add to soil for plants to eat so they grow big and strong...and yummy.

They found out that some of the main ingredients in compost are:

Dry leaves, green leaves, grass clippings and food scraps.

PROBLEM!!! We have lots of food scraps but not enough leaves or grass clippings. Where oh where could we find leaves???

Finally, after much deliberation, these kids thought of Mark the caretaker who seems to have a lot of leaves at his disposal everyday.

So, the gardeners sat down with him in the library, joined forces and made a plan for Mark to put the leaves and any grass clippings from around the school into the food scrap bin or directly into the compost bin. Now we can make loads of compost to feed the plants.

GREAT WORK Rosa, Eden, Zoe and Rochelle - GOOD SOLUTION!!!

A New Enviro Project at Muritai

2011-06-17T13:16:00.015+12:00

Muritai School is having an art auction at the end of the year. The Senior Enviro team have recruited some younger children to help grow yummy vegetables so some Senior cooks can create snacks for people who come to the art auction. Here is a short movie that shows the Enviro team beginning the new project.

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Eastbourne Rocky Shore

2011-06-16T08:01:00.001+12:00

Now Thats Fair!

2011-06-08T09:53:00.001+12:00

Today we were lucky enough to have Darren from the Salvation Army come and talk to us about international Fair Trade.

We were stunned to learn that in some villages in West Africa up to 9 women and children a week can be stolen while they are out walking to fetch water, and then forced to work in virtual slave-like conditions to produce foods, sports wear and clothing.

The focus was on fair trade farms which produce coco beans for cadbury chocolate and bananas. Fair trade means that the farmers rights are being protected- they are able to get a good price for their beans and therefore are able to have a better quality of life.

Did you know that some of the clothes we buy in New Zealand are made in Bangladesh- they earn an average of 25 cents an hour!! What fair trade is doing is increasing their standard of living, fighting for their rights so they can send their children to school, have medical care and ensuring they have a voice.

If you buy fair trade chocolate, clothes or sports balls you are helping people to lift themselves out of poverty. INFACT if you buy fair-trade bananas 2786 children get to go to school. Anything from Trade-Aid is Fair-Trade.

This all fits nicely into our sustainable living unit. Teaching the children about sustainable practices not only means protecting the earths resources but also looking out the earths people who are unable to protect themselves.

Darren impressed the teachers by giving us a tin of fare trade "Avalanche Coffee", and YES it tasted just that little bit better, knowing that by drinking this brand we were putting wells into villages in Costa Rica!

We were shocked at how much corruption and dishonesty there is in the world, and how the people who have the power are so willing to 'rip' off their own people.

We want to encourage all our families to buy fair-trade products.
We want to stand up and CONSIDER other peoples situations around the world. Our personal challenge is to make a positive difference through the choices we will make throughout our lives.

Yum! Pumpkin Soup

2011-05-19T12:51:00.004+12:00

It was all smiles in the Senior School today. Students were lining up for homemade(schoolmade) pumpkin soup, made from our very own garden grown pumpkins. Ms Berry used a special recipe passed down from her great, great grandmother and seemed to be the recipe for success. One child was heard saying it was the best soup they had tasted. Another student who has never liked soup had 3 cups. Sue and Carole in the office have requested the recipe (it must be good)

At a cost of $4.95 Ms Berry was able to feed 45 students and 6 adults.

A New Enviro Project at Muritai

2011-03-30T08:47:00.000+13:00

These kids have begun work on an exciting new project at Muritai School. Their aim is to grow vegetables in the school gardens and use the produce to create nibbles for an Art Auction. The money raised will be used for more gardens and garden equipment.

Yesterday, some of these Enviro leaders researched which vegetables they could grow at this time of year. They then drafted a letter to send to a local chef (Adrian Hornsby). The children asked him what recipes they could use and if he could be part of the project.

These three upcoming leaders helped begin work on a new project at Muritai School. They spear headed a team of Year 4s who are in charge of clearing the land of weeds and old plants, making room for new vegetable seedlings.

This week they will be finding keen gardeners to help dig compost into the soil so the plants have lots to eat and so the vegetables grow big and strong.

WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

2011 colourful start - Molly H

2011-02-23T15:58:00.004+13:00

A wonderful start to the 2011 school year.
It has been great coming back to school to see a garden full of flowers and veggies!
The garden with so many amazing things growing including corn, tomatoes, zucchinis, leeks, spring onion, garlic, lettuce and more!

Also a few years ago, our old caretaker Ted, sprinkled pumpkin seeds in the compost, so now we have a lovely big pumpkin patch growing next to the compost bins.
The new year sevens have been excited and enthusiastic about helping out in the garden and the Year Eights have been teaching them about the things we do in the garden over the past couple of weeks

Hopefully this year we will be able to do lots of work in the garden and plant some more yummy vegetables!

Room 15 & 3 Clean up!

2010-09-16T17:02:00.000+12:00

On an usually sunny Wednesday afternoon we took our Room 3 buddies down to the beach to search for rubbish! At the same time we made a tally of the rubbish we collected to assist us with our statistics unit. We collected a total of 515 pieces of rubbish!!

We plan to collate the data and present it in a graph. (watch this space)

Thanks Room 3 for your fantastic help!

Our Beautiful Garden

2010-09-13T19:54:00.001+12:00

When we planted our garden we also planted some iris bulbs in the corners of the each class plot. They have flowered now and if you look in our garden you can see these huge beautiful flowers. They are delicate purple and cream with splashes of yellow. Each plant has at least 2 flowers growing off the stem.

Spring is around the corner!

Wellesley College Visit

2010-08-30T08:49:00.004+12:00

On Friday, Wellesley College's Enviro-school team came for a visit. They listened to a fantastic speech from Sofija, Zoë and Verity and then looked around the wonderful gardens of Muritai School. They did some exploring in the senior school gardens and loved the green boat. Here are some pictures of the day.

Our Garden

2010-07-02T12:13:00.001+12:00

Our garden is growing very well. The carrots are getting really big and now we have a few sugar snap peas. First we saw the flowers and they have turned into little pea pods. When they are bigger we will eat them.

Introducing The New Line Of G.O.O.S Boxes

2010-06-23T13:53:00.005+12:00

Verity and Louis have been busy remaking new G.O.O.S boxes so that every class has a new G.O.O.S box.

G.O.O.S stands for "good on one side".
We use G.O.O.S boxes to reduce the amount of paper we use.
Classes use the boxes for different things from drawing to drafting work. We are very pleased to see that the G.O.O.S boxes have been used very well, it is a sign of your appreciation that environmental sustainability is the way of the future.

This is why Verity and Louis have been working so hard to get the new G.O.O.S boxes into your class rooms. This is the final product:

We hope you enjoy using the new G.O.O.S boxes.

By Hazel Sisson

Matariki and the Great Big Enormous Carrots!

2010-06-16T20:50:00.003+12:00

We planned to harvest some of our roly poly carrots on Matariki. Today is the day of the first moon after the arrival of the matariki stars in our sky. We had to pull and pull until the giant carrots gradually eased out of the ground. "Wow ", we all shouted. Most of the other carrots still need to grow a bit more so we have left them in the ground to grow. Mrs Chao washed and cut them up and we ate a bit each .

They were sweet and fresh and we loved them!

Year 4 Matariki Kapa Haka

2010-06-16T20:47:00.003+12:00

Thank you Mr Chadwick for organising a fantastic Matariki kapa haka session today.

Planting on the sea wall

2010-06-12T12:33:00.002+12:00

On Friday a select group from the EnviroSchools Team, with the support of Caroline from Hutt City Council and David from Eastbourne Dunes Protection group were involved in sea wall planting at Robinson Bay. As well as weeding and a bit of a beach clean up.

WHAT A FANTASTIC AFTERNOON!

The little blue penguins will be very happy with their new protection and clean beach.

Thanks Team.

Enviroschools Visitors

2010-06-10T19:16:00.003+12:00

“Our students did us proud”

On Tuesday 8th June, a group of 15 Enviroschools facilitators from all over New Zealand came to see Muritai, so that we could share our journey to becoming a Green / Gold Enviroschool school and our life as a Green / Gold School.

Welcomed by our Kapa Haka group with Mcleod at the helm as Rangatiratanga.

Then Kenzy and Zoe spoke about their experiences as Enviroschool leaders and the journey of the school. Then the Enviroschools Year 8 Ambassadors answered questions and shared their thoughts about Muritai as an Enviroschool.

Solar Patrollers

2010-05-25T14:40:00.000+12:00

For the last couple of days we have been forming the Solar Patrollers, a group representing schoolgen at work in our school. We will be presenting how well our solar panels are doing every assembly. We will also tell you a fun fact and ask a solar question. If you get it correct, there are housepoints up for grabs! If you have any questions ask Matty, James or Mr Devenport.

Environmental Sustainability at Muritai - One of our Values

2010-05-19T18:47:00.000+12:00

How is our Garden Growing?

2010-05-11T08:01:00.002+12:00

Wow ! The garden is so lush and full! It is amazing how much all the plants have grown. Last week we added some food with sheep pellets which has given everything a good boost.
Jack told me he could see a real big carrot like you get in the shops, poking out a little bit above the ground.
Room 9 are going to try their radishes and Room 8 has very edible looking silverbeet.

Do come and have a look when you are next at school.

Anzac Biscuits

2010-05-07T08:46:00.000+12:00

We had a great time making the Anzac biscuits and learned how they were originally called soldier biscuits. After the battle of Gallipoli they became known as Anzac biscuits. The soldiers must have loved them. We sure did.

Here are a couple of our 5 sense poems about the Anzac biscuits

Golden, crumbly, circular oats
Buttery, syrupy, sugary sweet Anzac biscuit smell shooting up my nose
Squishy, feeling like jagged rocks under the sea shore
Syrupy,oaty ,buttery, nutty sugary tastes slipping down wet throats,
Mmmms, crunches, gulps coming from people's mouths
Scrummy, terrific wonderful Anzac biscuits!
By Euan

Golden brown masterpieces floating before my eyes
Solid oaty and warm smell wafts past my nose
Crusty, warm, soft , cracked and round running under my fingers
Oaty, floury strong and rough on my tongue
Sounds of enjoyment
Oaty ,warm,golden best thing ever Anzac Biscuits.
By Lauren

Room11's ANZAC Spirit!

2010-05-06T18:30:00.002+12:00

Room 11 have been working very hard on their ANZAC spirit. They have been visiting the war memorials and making ANZAC biscuits these are some of the poems they have written about their wonderful biscuits.

Eastbourne War Mermorials

2010-04-29T07:59:00.003+12:00

Today room7 looked at two war memorials here at school. The first memorial they looked at is the Pohutakawa tree on the corner of Rata and Orua Street. Did you know this was the first war memorial for the Gallipoli campaign in New Zealand?

The next war memorial they looked at was the Memorial Gate under the flag pole. We noticed that some names had poppies besides them, and realised these soldiers were the ones who died.

It's Growing!

2010-04-27T20:19:00.000+12:00

Look at our lovely garden! The plants have really enjoyed the weather and have taken off.

We have little carrot tufts and sugar snap pea plants with little leaves. Even the iris bulbs have shot up and look like little onions. Everything has grown.

Thank you to all the people who have watered the plants over the holidays. Take a look on Monday and say hello to the plants. See if you can name everything in our garden.

ehomework

2010-04-16T13:24:00.004+12:00

In a bid to help the environment and save paper, the Year 5/6 Team are now publishing our homework and newsletters online. It will hopefully save us time in the class because we won't have to stick sheets into our books!

Click on the image to take you there.

Awesome!

Flowers for 2010

2010-03-03T18:22:00.004+13:00

Some of the lovely flowers appearing in the Senior School Garden.

AND THEY EVEN ATE GREEN VEGES WITHOUT FORCE!!

2010-02-04T15:32:00.003+13:00

The new years gardening begins!!

This afternoon after a cooling swim at the pool Rm22 began the long task of exorcising the weeds from our back garden ( with the help of several borrowed keen Rm23 kids) . We definitely learned to heed the saying "one year to seed and seven years to weed!!" We decided that the parsley was particularly resilient and easily spread - thus it went at the top of our hit list. the kids were all so committed and we soon had 2 huge piles of weeds ready for the skip.
To our delight we found a mass of purple beans, strawberries, dill ( which we de-headed and put into the drying house for seed collection) and spinach - all of which were feverishly enjoyed by the children.
Once the plots are re-cleared we will begin our new years planting. We are really excited to be working alongside our buddies in Rm10 in making another raised garden to add to the collection!
The joy of discovery was evident during this learning session as shouts of delight went up whenever a new vegetable or a developing sunflower was found in amoungst the weeds. Thanks kids, great effort!

Close Up

2009-12-09T21:13:00.001+13:00

Amy O from Room 11 has written a 5 senses poem about Antarctica. Check it out!

Hutt News Article

2009-11-26T10:26:00.001+13:00

Room 5 celebrate our Green Gold award

2009-11-15T09:59:00.002+13:00

What a day! Full of fun, sun, singing, laughter, yummy food and pride!

We started our celebrations outside with the Kapa Haka welcoming our guests with another superb Powhiri full of waiata, speaking and of course the haka.

Next we went into the hall to listen to our very talented Enviroschool Top 6 passionately speak to us about our achievements as an Enviroschool. Mr Eames and Mr Skilton congratulated us too and were followed by Karen Burgess who is an Enviroschool's facilitator. She was a very funny speaker and got us all involved. Karen also presented us with a rata tree which some children later planted on our school field. We will treasure our rata tree and hope it lives for at least five hundred years like the rata trees that provided the seed for our little tree! Then we were finally presented with our Green Gold Flag which we will hang with pride.

At 11.30am we ventured outside to see the hangi unveiled. The smell was delicious, wafting around the school and teasing our tastebuds! We waited patiently in the sun to be served and then excitedly stood in line with our plates and cutlery. We had a choice of chicken drumsticks, lamb chops or pork chops with lots of yummy stuffing, kumara, pumpkin, potato and cabbage. It was truly scrumptious and tasted quite earthy and smoky. We all agreed we would love to have another hangi one day as the food was so yummy - some of us wanted a second helping!

Just when we thought the day couldn't get any better - the Fire Service arrived to help cool down the smouldering ashes and simmering hot irons. Jake's Mum helped to hose down the hangi pit so that it was safe for us all once again.

We all had a fabulous day and will remember it as one of our best ever!

2009-11-02T20:38:00.001+13:00

ENVIROSCHOOL’S GREEN / GOLD CELEBRATION DAY!
We would like to invite parents and the community to this event and anyone who has been involved in helping the school reach this amazing level of achievement. So please add the 13th November to your family calendar as the school is celebrating becoming a Green-Gold EnviroSchool. There are so many people, including ex-students, who have played a significant part in helping us achieve our goal
of becoming a ‘Green-Gold’ EnviroSchool and we would love to have all those who contributed come along to celebrate with us. The day will begin outside the Oroua Street entrance beside the mural at 9am with a student lead powhiri. There will then be presentations, speeches and a kapa haka performance in the school hall followed by a morning tea. As part of this celebration the school will be open to the public between 11am and 12pm.

This is an opportunity for students to share and talk about some of the exciting things that they have been involved in. This a chance for the school ambassadors to show you first hand what has gone into achieving this prestigious award.

We are planning to wrap up the celebrations with a school hangi lunch.

Enviroschool Interview with Radio New Zealand

2009-10-18T17:26:00.003+13:00

Ned and Samantha speak on National Radio about Enviroschools.

Well done! -Listen to MP3 National Radio EnviroSchools

Room 5's Buddy Beach Clean-Up

2009-09-13T17:43:00.000+12:00

This week Room 5 helped to clean up Eastbourne
Beach with our Room 13 Buddy Class. We
held the rubbish bags while our buddies
picked up rubbish with their gloves on.

We were pleased to find that the beach was pretty clean really. Let's hope people keep it this way!

The Year 3 and 4 Team clean Up the Beach

2009-09-08T15:20:00.001+12:00

Yesterday the Year 3 and 4 team set off to clean up the beach. It was windy and wild but fun. Actually there wasn't as much rubbish as we thought there would be but there was still enough to need a clean.

If everyone took their rubbish home the beach would be a lot better.

'GREEN DAY" - Senior School Action Day

2009-08-20T17:45:00.005+12:00

Today was Muritai Senior Schools ‘Green Day’
‘Green Day’ was a concept thought up by students as an ‘Action’ from the Take Action For Water unit.

Students were able to incorporate a whole day of environmentally focused ideas:

Bring a spade plant a tree.
Wear Green or Recycled clothes (some interesting clothing came out of parents wardrobes)
Walk, Bike or Bus.
Nude food - No wrappers (See below at 5 & 6 nude food day)
Donations for a water tank.
Stone collection for the garden path.
Enviroteam Thank You cards created.
Garden make over.
Less light

What a fantastic day. The planting of 102 native trees was the highlight.
Students carefully planted a selected tree. (Before planting a group of students had done research on conditions, planting needs, space etc). When it come to planting students had to know what type of tree they were planting. Many went as far as naming their tree eg. Terry Totara and Kevin Kowhai. Potting mix, compost, worm wee and a lot of TLC went it the planting.

2009-08-16T12:36:00.001+12:00

Excitement! 102 Natives

2009-08-11T18:28:00.004+12:00

Today 102 Native Trees were delivered By Richard from Greater Wellington Regional Council. The trees were purchased by GWRC from Forest and Bird and given to the School to Support our Action learning, from last term's 'Take Action for Water Unit'

Gardening and Visitors to the Senior School

2009-08-05T19:51:00.006+12:00

It was lovely to have the Year One students visit the Senior School EnviroArea. While the Gardening group worked hard in the Senior
School garden.

Year 5/6 Nude Food Day!

2009-07-30T19:57:00.000+12:00

What a fantastic day we had today! It was our very first Nude Food Day. All of us made a real effort to try to minimise the waste from our lunchboxes.
Check out the difference in the rubbish from last Thursday to this Thursday!
Last Thursday

This Thursday
Have a close look at the waste that was collected today. Is there any way we can reduce this even more?
Feel free to give some suggestions when you comment!

What a Load of Rubbish!

2009-07-28T19:53:00.000+12:00

Yesterday the Year 5 and 6 Team got together to take a closer look at the waste we were creating each day from our lunchboxes. We were quite shocked by what we discovered. We had a big chat about how we can reduce the waste that is ending up in our bins.

We have decided to take action! An action group has been established to educate us on how we can make our food nude. Next Thursday is going to be our first 'Nude Food Day' where all of us will try to think carefully about what we are putting in our lunchboxes so we can reduce the waste.

Keep checking out this blog for more information!

Take Action for Water explore day.

2009-06-08T17:29:00.004+12:00

Today room 21 went on its Take Action for Water explore day. We spent our day testing two very different streams and exploring what creates a healthy stream. Catchpool Stream in the Rimutaka Park was very healthy with lots of mayflies and stoneflies to be found. It also had lots of big rocks in the stream bed and trees to provide bank stability, shelter and food for the aquatic animals. Black Creek in the middle of Wainuiomata was very different with lots of human impacts to be seen.

Take Action for Water - Jigsaw Reading

2009-05-27T20:39:00.000+12:00

Last week during inquiry Room 15 were investigating animals that live in the catchment. Each reading group read a fact sheet about one animal, either the mayfly, cased caddisfly, the banded kokopu or the long-finned eel. After becoming 'experts' on an animal we then split up and went to another group to present our findings and listen to others about their animals.
We are now 'experts' on all four animals!

Worms & Compost

2009-05-20T19:19:00.006+12:00

One of the main ways of managing and reducing the waste we create are composting and worm farming. These are great ways of diverting food scraps from heading off to the landfills and it is also fantastic for our school vege and herb garden.

Kapa Haka at Muritai School

2009-05-07T09:51:00.004+12:00

Yesterday I was busy working in my office when I heard the waiata 'E Papa Waiari' coming from the school hall. Being blown away by such wonderful singing I just had to go and investigate which children were working with Mr Chadwick as part of the schools kapa haka programme. I was greeted by both room 8 and 10 (Year 3) who were learning 'Tii Rakau' (actions with sticks). There was a high level of engagement as it was clearly evident the children were enjoying this fantastic learning opportunity.

Every Wednesday morning throughout terms 2 and 3 Raihania is leading a school wide kapa haka programme for our Year 3 to Year 8 students. He is also taking waiata at junior assemblies held every second Friday. The programme aims to provide rich learning experiences and performance opportunities for three kapa haka groups. We are very fortunate to have such a talented and passionate teacher with skills and knowledge in this area of learning.

How are the Veggies Growing?

2009-05-06T22:16:00.002+12:00

Wow the cabbages and broccoli are getting really big. The weather has been warm but wet and veggies love that. The carrots have not done so well but the spring onions are growing well and so are the lettuces. The rain has helped our plants a lot. Now we need lots of warmth from the sun as well.
We are learning about garden creatures at the moment and then moving on to composting in a few weeks. This is a fun inquiry and we really are making a difference with plants!

ANZAC DAY

2009-04-28T20:48:00.002+12:00

I recently attended the Eastbourne ANZAC day ceremony where Muritai had a heavy involvement, not only in the upgrade of the memorial wall but also in the proceedings itself. I was immensely proud of the senior school kapa haka group for the way they set the tone with a heart warming haka. It was encouraging to see the mutual respect shown between the returned servicemen and our Y7/8 young leaders during that special moment. We also had our student representative Ned Grenfell and Ellen Sullivan lay a wreath, symbolizing the special relationship Muritai School has with the RSA. Ned and Ellen also had the honor in assisting with the unveiling of the newly added names of the soldiers who did not return to Eastbourne. It was moving ceremony and one which I believe is symbolic of the community spirit of Eastbourne.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

2009-04-28T09:42:00.002+12:00

The Year 5 to 8s are studying WATER.

The Big IDEA
To understand the importance of being kaitiaki (guardians) of the environment, and that our waterways are interconnected and have mauri (life force)

The platform for learning will be the “TAKE ACTION FOR WATER” programme, which is an exciting unit supported by Greater Wellington Regional Council. Take Action for Water is an environmental education programme developed in order to give students the opportunity to learn about the value of water, preserve our most important resource and take action to keep the environment healthy and clean. The unit develops children’s environmental awareness and teaches the skills needed to act responsibly for the world.

The Veggie Garden

2009-04-19T09:13:00.001+12:00

In the last week of school we finally planted out the boxes. It was such a hot day that some of us sat under the shady tree while we waited for our turn. Firstly we put in the compost with the potting mix and really mixed it together. To keep the plants happy we watered it a little before putting them in.

In the boxes we made little holes for the roots and carefully placed in the cabbage,lettuce, broccoli, carrot and spring onion seedlings. Then we watered them again very carefully. Now we have to water them regularly and wait for them to grow.

Very exciting!

Shopping for Plants.

2009-04-04T11:13:00.009+13:00

The Year 3 and 4 team are growing plants at school to make some soup for the whole team.We have had to learn a lot about how plants grow and what their needs are to survive and are now ready to plant up our boxes. They were made from recycled timber by our caretaker Ted. Thanks Ted.
On Wednesday Mrs Chao took a group of students to buy the plants we needed for our planter boxes. Armed with a list for each class we started at Pak and Save as they have bundles of plants at a good price. Well when we got there we found that the bundles were 2 for $5 so they were a bargain!
Each class decided as a group which vegetables they wanted to grow. Dorrie and William needed peas and cabbages for Room 11. Just to be sure we checked the packet to see if peas grew in autumn and they do !
Room 10 had a big list and Harrison was in charge of it. Room 8 were going to share vegetables from other classes and Louis knew a lot about plants and was very helpful.
Room 11 already had carrots,lettuces, broccoli and strawberry plants. Thank you Jessica for bringing them to school. We found most of what we needed and bought them at the checkout.
Sadly we couldn't find spinach and some of the herbs but we got celery instead. Lots of people probably can give us cuttings of herbs for our garden and that won't cost us anything. Good gardeners share plants with their friends.
It was great that we were able to buy the plants and not spend a lot of money. We spent about $17 for 6 bundles of plants and a packet of peas.
All we need to do now is to plant out the boxes and look after them...

Green/Gold Taskforce

2009-04-01T11:41:00.001+13:00

It’s an exciting time for Muritai. We are in the process of gaining Green / Gold as an Enviroschool. A taskforce has been set up to establish where we are at and what we need to do to become a Green / Gold School.

Where we are at:
We have a living, evolving school where progress is celebrated and new ideas are being added all the time. The Guiding Principles are woven into all aspects of our school life. Environmental sustainability is part of all our decisions and everything we do. Students at our school have a strong sense of connection to the environment - we know we can effect change for a sustainable world. The enquiry and action is mainly led by students. We have been able to measure many changes from our actions, and show that we are making a difference. The environment is more vibrant and healthy; it feels like a living ecosystem that can support our community towards sustainability. Māori perspectives are enriching our journey. The school is involved with our community, honouring the diversity of people within it.

Weta Alert!

2009-03-20T20:50:00.000+13:00

Room 5 appears to be a great place for children and wetas! Today Eden and Maya found another weta on the deck outside our classroom. It's not unusual for our weta friends to visit our classroom, but today's weta was quite a big one! Eden and Maya did the right thing and captured it so they could later release it back into our garden - well done girls :)

Photos Online

2009-02-27T11:45:00.003+13:00

Check out the online photo gallery and also check the power from our solar panels.

Muritai Schoolgen Website

New Year New Energy.

2009-02-27T10:18:00.003+13:00

What a great start to 2009. This year we have got straight into our environmental commitment.

• The ‘Greenhouse’ has been created. This is an environment learning classroom and celebration space.
• 12 new solar panels on our ‘greenhouse’ (Environmental classroom) roof.
• A really enthusiasm school
• A top 13 Enviro leadership group. They have been given full training and workshops.
• The Environmental focus group of 42
• Compost and food scrap bins were out on the first day of school
• All the classes in the school are looking at their waste management and are very excited about being and Enviro-School.

The Team

Muritai gets solar panels.

2009-02-09T16:03:00.006+13:00

Muritai School is really lucky to be the first schools in Wellington to become a Schoolgen school and have solar panels installed.

Schoolgen is a programme developed by Genesis Energy (one of New Zealand's largest energy retailers and electricity generators) to bring solar energy to life for children across New Zealand. They want to bring solar energy to life in a fun, exciting way to children because young people are our future leaders and decision makers.

Genesis Energy has funding for Schoolgen to bring solar panels to 56 schools across New Zealand by 2010.

It is so exciting to be one of these school and even more exciting is that Muritai School has been chosen as the school to launch this programme in the Greater Wellington region with a grand opening on the 17th of February.

Hutt City acknowledgement

2008-11-27T10:14:00.004+13:00

We had a very special assembly today with special guests from Hutt City Council. We welcomed them to the school with a Powhiri followed by celebrations of the wonderful achievements Muritai has made in the journey to become a green/gold enviro-school. Jean Pugh (enviroschool facilitator), Sandy Beathcroft (Hutt City Environmental Sustainability co-ordinator) and Joy Baird (Hutt City Councillor) presented Muritai with a certificate acknowledging the hard work the school has been making. Joy delivered a well received speech which made mention of all the class and school activities. Hutt City Council has provided invaluable support to Muritai over the last few years as part of the enviroschools programme.

Armistice Day celebrations

2008-11-26T20:46:00.002+13:00

We are very lucky to have a war memorial on the school grounds. It is a significant feature of our school environment. We were pleased to be able to be part of the Armistice Day celebrations at the War Memorial this year. The Eastbourne RSA invited the senior students to be part of the proceedings and we chimed in with haka and waiata to show our appreciation of the contribution our armed services have made to our countries history. Feedback from the RSA has been hugely positive and it is nice to be able to continually play our part in our community celebrations.

Attracting Wild Birds into your Garden

2008-11-24T22:27:00.003+13:00

Room 11 with the help of Rebecca Neal made clay bird feeders to sell at the carnival. Students went in small groups to Rebecca's studio to make their own creation with the help of a few keen parents. After they were fired students painted the bird house lids with their own designs.Rebecca glazed them and fired them again.
We were all very impressed with our efforts and wanted to keep them. A few lasted till the carnival and we sold them along with some packets of luxury bird seed. The bird seed will help attract wild birds into our gardens which is good for both us and the environment.

Why Paper Isn't good for the Environment!

2008-11-13T23:46:00.003+13:00

Today we had a special visitor, Murray Sim, who told us all about paper production and what was involved. Murray worked as an industrial chemist at the Kawerau paper mill in the late 80s. It was amazing to learn how different types of paper were made. We didn't really know about all the nasty chemicals used to bleach and clean the wood pulp to make special kinds of paper. Did you know that shiny thick glossy paper like in the real estate magazines has latex in it?
Murray showed us how different types of paper burn and what was left afterwards. Newsprint burns almost completely but the thick glossy paper smelled like plastic and quite a lot of it was left after burning. What was left was the latex.
This afternoon we are making a brainstorm about the environmental issues involved in paper making. It really isn't a clean and environmentally friendly process at all. This has made us really think about how much paper we use.
Thank you Murray for giving up your time to talk to us!

Greater Wellington Regional Council Awards

2008-11-06T11:12:00.002+13:00

Yesterday on the fifth of November 2008, Mr Eames, Mrs Berry, Ned, Phoebe and I, went into Wellington, to the Greater Wellington Regional Council meeting room. Muritai School got through to the finals of The 2008 Environmental Awards- Meridian School Sustainable Project Award.

A few weeks after being nominated for the award, some council members came to our school, for a walk around, so we showed them around, all the projects, and the progress.

They said they were impressed, and they would get back to us (Muritai). So they did. During the awards the three schools which had made it to the finals were waiting patently, for a winner. The award went to Fernridge School, for their awesome part in the protection of the environment. We received a a merit certificate, and a baby Kowhai tree

We did really well to get into the finals, and next year we can hope to get our projects, finished, and we might even get the award.

Sophie McElwain-Wilson

October plantfest!!

2008-10-29T11:10:00.001+13:00

Today we installed 3 raised gardens made from recycled tyres, ( thank-you to the Tony's crew!!) These gardens are filled with our special compost and worm wees, then topped off with potting mix. We planted zucchini's, butternuts, capsicums and herbs.
We also planted out more wonderful spinach, corn, new potatoes and celery. Sadly it was too windy to plant the beans, tomatoes and capsicums, but we will install a trellis for running these plants up over the next week - weather permitting!
Also we potted out radish seeds, they are really quick growers, in fact it only takes 31 days from planting to eating!!!

Mr Bird - Riding to work

2008-10-15T09:33:00.002+13:00

Mr Bird has started biking to work. Check out the flash new helmet.

First Potato!

2008-10-15T09:32:00.002+13:00

Staff Meeting 14th October

2008-10-15T09:26:00.004+13:00

Students presented their reflections, evaluations, ideas and findings to the staff. Then Karyn Burgess discussed Muritai's Green / Gold Progress. The teachers were very proud of the students and appreciated their efforts. Karen was extremely impressed with the School. Well Done Muritai.

Art inspired by Shaun tan

2008-10-14T15:07:00.001+13:00

For our calendars this year we chose to use some recycled materials. Many of the artworks you see here have a message.
For our artwork we used an illustration from The Red Tree by Shaun Tan as our inspiration.
We looked closely at the illustration. We spoke about the main shapes that we could see and the colours that were used. We also looked at how the layering effect was created and what messages were being given.
As a class we wrote a brief procedure on how to complete the work. We had to make sure we started from the background and worked our way up.
We dyed newspaper, cut out old pictures from dictionaries, magazines and junk mail.
This took us a long time but the art we have completed is amazing.
Come up to our class and have a closer look if you like.

Muritai Regional Coordinator Visit – 14th October 2008

2008-10-14T11:45:00.005+13:00

On Tuesday the 14th October Karyn Burgess (Enviroschools Regional Coordinator) came to school to work with the students and teachers to reflect on and evaluate the progress made at Muritai as part of the process of working towards a green-gold award.

As well as to finding out what’s happening at Muritai we had to find out how good we are at reflecting and evaluating on our own practice.

We shared all the exciting things the school and community has been doing. Karyn really enjoyed the enthusiasm and commitment from everyone.

At the end of today’s visit Karyn was able to tell us what needs to be done to reach Green Gold and what the process from here is.

It was an exciting, stimulating and rewarding day.

The End is Nigh!

2008-09-25T19:11:00.003+12:00

Tomorrow is the last day of term. Sad in some ways as it has been fantastic but we are all very tired and could all do with some family time. The Lorax last week was a huge success and I was so impressed with the confidence and the capability of the children. It is well documented that the year 8 children were my new entrant group when I started and they really raised the bar when performing in the show. It is so nice to see them progress from 5 to 13 - it is a real journey for them. I was so impressed with our lead actors that carried the show. Georgie and Finn as the Lorax and Michaela and Kate as the Oncelor were just superb. We haven't had that level of dialogue in a show for a long time. Overall everyone pitched in and played their part and that is waht helped it to be such a great show.

Dangle

2008-09-23T15:10:00.001+12:00

Han-Able the Can-Able Competition

2008-09-20T20:28:00.008+12:00

At the beginning of the term we entered a competition to make monsters from recycled steel cans. Sadly we didn't win the competition but we received a wall clock made from recycled steel cans and a certificate for our creativity and participation. The entries were amazing and so was the overall winning one. Well done to everyone who entered.
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Solar Power at Muritai -By Mr Bird

2008-09-14T11:52:00.002+12:00

We always have new things on the go at Muritai. One of the latest things is the prospect of linking up with Genesis energy and their SchoolGen programme. Schoolgen is a programme developed by Genesis Energy to bring solar energy to life for children and schools across New Zealand. When our year 5 and 8 children looked at renewable resources as part of their inquiry, solar and wind power was investigated very closely by the children as potential dominant forces when oil is no longer available. Working with Matt Skilton and Stephen Eames we have got ourselves involved in the process to bring solar power to Muritai. Today we were visited by a team from Genesis Energy and Lulu, Georgie and Ned gave our visitors a very thorough tour of our school with a specific focus on the Enviroschool programme which is such a dominant part of our daily life. This is the big world in action. Well done team and fingers crossed for sustainable energy at Muritai School.

Bright Sparks

2008-08-27T14:53:00.010+12:00

Watch out for Room 11's environmental newsletter "Bright Sparks". The link came by email to all families at Muritai School. It contains all kinds of helpful information about what goes on at school and how you can help save our environment.

We would like the changes to became habits rather than a one off thing. If everyone just changed a few bad habits then maybe ...

Wellington Science Fair Success

2008-08-25T20:17:00.003+12:00

Ned in Room 21 won the NZ Farm Forestry Association Award at the Wellington NIWA Science with his display on what is the best firewood?
He looked at a range of properties, including which wood is the most environmentally friendly.

Freya in Room 23 won the Victoria University of Wellington College of Education Award for her display on Wonderful Wind.

Rosie Reid in Room 23 won the Meat & Wool New Zealand Award for her display on: Which is the most effective fibre to make recycled paper?

Conservation Week Beach Clean Up

2008-08-16T11:13:00.002+12:00

As it was also Conservation Week Room 11 decided to join their little Room 4 buddies and walk to the beach for a cleanup. Despite the cold winds we were full of enthusiasm and ready for our mission. It was great to see that since our last clean up there was not as much rubbish. Hopefully people are being more responsible and taking their rubbish home. Well done everyone!
Check out our slideshow.

Cowley Street School Powhiri

2008-08-14T16:45:00.002+12:00

Today we welcomed Cowley Street School to Muritai with a powhiri. It was great to that the Kapahaka Roopu (group) were able to show what they have been practicing and apply it in such a natural setting to welcome visitors to our school, who were here to see some of the wonderful things that occur throughout Muritai School.

Room 13's Eco-bulbs have arrived!!!

2008-08-12T15:01:00.001+12:00

After writing letters to over 10 local companies asking for donations for energy efficient light bulbs only one offered to help us out. Thank you so much Placemakers Seaview who gave us 116 eco bulbs for every member of the Year 5/6 Team. The bulbs will be well used in homes throughout Eastbourne and surrounding bays.

Placemakers you rock!!!

Proven Energy Wind Turbine Launch

2008-08-09T11:49:00.004+12:00

Friday 8th August - Proven Energy Launch.

The Honourable Trevor Mallard launched the first Proven Energy Wind Turbine by throwing the switch on a 6kw unit at the premises of E Sime Ltd in Seaview.

Daranee Bolger in Room 23 wrote a letter to the editor about wind power production which was published in the Dominion Post in July, as a result of this a group of students with Mr Eames and Ms Berry got invited to this exciting event. It was great to see so many people from the Eastbourne community as well as government officials and important people. They all said how good to was to have students there.

Concluding our Friendly Footprint Inquiry

2008-08-08T12:08:00.001+12:00

In Room 4, we have now completed our Friendly Footprint Inquiry.
To conclude and share our findings, we have made a scrapbook of our thinking skills brainstorming, photos, posters and ideas; and have presented it to our Enviro Schools team. Here is a taste of what you can see inside our scrapbook!

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Some of us have become Tree People - have you?

Solar Powered Bedside Lamp - Room 14

2008-08-05T09:05:00.001+12:00

We had a great day making these with Stan. Check out the video. You could even make your own!

Monster Maker Competition - Room 14

2008-08-04T16:32:00.002+12:00

Last week we designed and constructed creations made mainly from steel cans. The focus was on recycling the cans and finding another use for them. Check out our pictures. We had lots of fun making them!

Solar Powered Pump - Room 14

2008-08-04T16:29:00.002+12:00

A couple of weeks ago Stan came in and showed us how to pump water using the energy from the sun. We had a bucket half filled with water, a pump and a solar powered panel.
Using the energy from the sun we pumped the water through the hose and had some fun squirting it!
Wouldn’t this be a good idea for people in other countries who have to walk for miles to get their water. They could use the energy from the sun to do it.

The Lorax - Term Three Production

2008-07-22T20:41:00.003+12:00

The 2008 school production is based on the Dr Seuss book ‘The Lorax’
The Lorax has an environmental message that we feel is very relevant to student learning and links nicely with Muritai’s environmental commitment. Planning is well underway and it should be a wonderful show.
We will keep you updated on the progress!

Take Action For Energy.

2008-07-01T20:33:00.002+12:00

The students in Room 23 have created some amazing inquiry work.
Based on their findings they created presentations and resources to inform/change the opinions of the people they interviewed and others with the same views. Here some of the informative posters.

Solar Powered Torches

2008-07-01T16:17:00.002+12:00

On Tuesday the 1st of July we were lucky enough to have Stan Swan come into our classroom to show us how to make solar powered torches out of a garden lamp and card. They can also double up as a battery recharger too.
Stan gave us a short talk on energy to begin with, which was very interesting. I learnt that most of the energy in a light bulb is used up by heat and not light. It wastes 90% of its energy on heat! That is amazing! Stan also spoke to us about how amazing the sun was. Every form of energy traces back to the sun. For example we get energy from food that has been grown by the sun.
To begin with we dismantled the lamps and had to cut some of the plastic to make it small enough and portable. We had to be careful not to chop any of the wires.
After this we sanded the sharp edges to make them smooth and began to make the box to hold and protect the solar panel and wiring.
Stan drilled us a hole in the torch so we could poke through the LED (Light Emitting Diode).
The final step was to put the torches inside the box and make them look great.
What a great afternoon!

Room 14's Group Guided Reading

2008-06-19T12:23:00.001+12:00

Yesterday we based our group guided reading around a discussion text about Global Warming.

The Earth is warmed by absorbing the sun. About a third of the heat is then reflected back into the atmosphere. This then becomes heat energy. Some of this heat can get trapped in the lower atmosphere by certain gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour. This means that with the build up of these gases the Earth is warming up. This is called the Greenhouse Effect.

We found out that we are releasing too many of these gases into the atmosphere and that it is causing a lot of damage. Palaeontologists believe that it will lead to more animals and plants becoming extinct. This will upset the food chain.

Something else we found out was that our pollution is greater now than it has ever been in history. If we don't make changes global warming will increase evaporation and as a result there will be less water to sustain forests. Farmlands could become deserts and the water in our lakes could become dry. We can't survive without water!

What are you as an individual trying to do to save the environment? What could you change to help?

Cowley Reading Group in Room 14

2008-06-18T15:45:00.002+12:00

Room 12's new enviro blog!

2008-06-18T11:16:00.003+12:00

Come and have a look at Room 12's new Enviro Freaks blog!!
This blog will show you what you can do to save energy and preserve our environment!

www.envirofreaks.blogspot.com.

Room 13's Wind Farm Investigation

2008-06-17T20:24:00.005+12:00

This week Room 13 is writing an exposition on our opinion of building a wind farm in the hills above Eastbourne. After exploring www.generationisland.co.nz we recorded the pros and cons of wind energy on the T-chart below.

Friendly Footprints

2008-06-12T15:28:00.004+12:00

Rooms 4 and 5 made friendly footprints all the way to the Senior School to explore how Muritai is an Enviroschool. Lulu and Kate were our enviro tour guides!

Firstly we went to see the big rubbish bins by the school library. In the big orange bin we place everything that is going to the landfill. In our new flash blue bin we put paper to be recycled. Our G.O.O.S.E. paper ends up either in the big blue bin or Mrs Skilton uses it for photocopying. Sometimes we draw on the G.O.O.S.E. paper too. We also saw one of the red food scrap bins and we were impressed to see food scraps in it! There is also an orange bin that we put glass, plastic in.

Next we travelled over to the Senior School to visit our friends the worms! The worms eat all of our food scraps and they turn it into worm juice. The worm juice is put into soil. The soil is used to grow vegetables. We were really impressed with how spectacular the gardens were. The vegetables were very healthy, big and juicy! Yummmmm!

We learnt that worms have two heads! Worms can’t eat all food scraps so the left over food goes into the compost bins. The compost is used for soil.

Muritai School even recycles classrooms! We saw the new Room 24 which is really a recycled classroom as it has been used before.

We would like to thank Lulu and Kate for teaching us how to leave Friendly Footprints at school and at home.

World Environment Day

2008-06-12T12:37:00.002+12:00

World Environment Day

Our year 5 & 6 team decided that our action for World Environment Day would be to clean up some of our local environment. We cleaned up around Bishops Park playground and part of the beach area. We were incredibly surprised by how much rubbish we found.

Room 11's Beach Clean Up.

2008-06-12T09:55:00.000+12:00

Our team's action for environment day was to do a beach and park clean up. Armed in pairs with gloves and rubbish bags we hit the beach at about 9.30. At first glance it didn't look too bad but once we got started we found lots of rubbish like plastic wrappers and cigarette butts.Quite a lot was hidden in the dunes. We were not impressed!
At the end we tipped out all out rubbish on the beach and looked at it. Yuk it was awful. We think that people should take their rubbish home and think about the impact that their rubbish has on the environment.
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Spades, Flax and Penguins!

2008-06-11T09:22:00.001+12:00

Today Ms Berry and some of our Enviro-team met up with the Eastbourne Dune Preservation Society to complete a project, which was started two years ago.
They were just seeds when the we received them in 2006, but today the flax were big enough to be planted in the rocky area next to the Rec.
We worked along side the EDPS to create safe places where the little blue penguins can nest, when they come ashore later in July.
The children worked like troopers and managed to plant the 120 or so flax's in under one hour!
The society were really thankful for the children's help, and have asked us to harvest more native flax seeds to plant out next year.
It is really great to be an active part of keeping Eastbourne's wildlife and flora safe.
And we weren't the only ones at the rec today... we were especially blessed to find a tiny pair of little blue penguins snuggled tightly into a rock crack- just making sure we were planting the flax in the right place.
Well Done t all those involved!