Eastbourne Village Carnival

Once again the Muritai School Eastbourne Village Carnival was a huge success. Developed 7 years ago as part of our commitment to our community the carnival is principally a fundraiser for the school but the size of the event must also have huge spin offs for the community of Eastbourne. About 10,000 people came to our little village to see what was on offer and experienced various forms of entertainment from music, stalls, fun for the kids and wholesome food. An amazing group of parents put together a wonderful event and we raised around $60,000 for an upgrade of our school library. We managed to get 150 stalls into the surrounding streets which was a real achievement. Almost every school parent became involved in some way or another from donating gear, baking or making, running a stall or setting up or cleaning up. Our children were heavily involved as well with all our senior students contributing in some way or another. Thank you carnival team. You have done us proud.

The End is Nigh!

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 what helped it to be such a great show. Thank you all for your continued support.

Extra-curricular life at Muritai

I was really impressed with year 3 teacher Sarah Drinkwater tonight. She was out at 3.00 with 22 6-7 year olds working with them to develop their netball skills, with parents Astrid Cheyne and Hillary Beadle in support. Sarah is a fantastic first year teacher, much loved by the children and she has the right ethic. One of the things our teachers have to do is contribute something else to the school environment beyond just classroom teaching. Teachers are passionate about doing their best for the children that they teach but classroom management is just one string to their bow. Staff at Muritai spend much of their additional spare time, in their lunchtimes or after school, working with the children in some context and this creates extra opportunities for them. It adds to their workload but is vital as it adds to the children's experiences at school.  Our annual school production is an example of this - so much work but great fun and very satisfying and the kids just grow so much through the process. Eastbourne has so much going for it with strong club and activities for children. These are all run by adults and parents. The media laments the loss of the outdoor lifestyle but in Eastbourne it is central to what makes it so special.