PARENTS NEWSLETTER TERM 2, WEEK 4 30 May 2013

Maranatha Values

“A LIFE in Christ is the basis of our Values”

Love: We love as Christ loves us.

Inquiry, Innovation, Integrity: We seek His truth by

thinking critically, creatively and reflectively.

Faith: We believe & trust God for all things.

Excellence: We aim high & do our best for God.

Maranatha Christian School 180 Hill Road, Belmont, Lower Hutt 5010, New Zealand

T 565 0749 F 565 0747 E maranatha@maranatha.school.nz W maranatha.school.nz

Debbie Middleton - Principal

Tena koutou katoa Maranatha Christian School Community, I have just come home from seeing 27 of our students from Kotari, Kereru and Ruru classes singing in the Kids for Kids World Vision ‘Everything is Ka Pai’ Concert. Congratulations to our students who looked and sounded as if they 'sung their hearts out'. As our board chair, Ben Johnson, commented “so many talented children and happy faces”. A big thank you to Mrs Parlane for organizing it all and to Kyla Engelbrecht for the leadership she showed in running the lunchtime rehearsals.

It is great to have students, parents and staff passionate about life, and particularly passionate about L.I.F.E at Maranatha.

Following on from a small group meeting with people passionate about education at Maranatha, and improving what we offer in the way of Maori education and experiences, we will be holding a Maranatha Maori Community meeting. This is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26th starting with food at 6.30 p.m. We would love to see as many parents of Maori students here as possible. Specific information regarding things to think about and discuss with each other will be sent out closer to the time.

Ma te Atua koutou e manaaki,

Debbie Middleton

MFB Community Prayer Meeting The MFB prayer meeting this term will be a time where the whole family can come and pray for the growing faith and the related actions of our children. We will spend some time praying together in families for the 40 Hour Famine and the people of PNG, that we are raising money for. We will then spend some time with the adults and children praying separately for the needs of the school. Please join us for this special time as a school community, lifting our students and school up to the Lord in prayer.

When: Thursday, 6 June, 6.30 pm Where: Maranatha Christian School Hall

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 ESV

Mark your calendar: Friday, 31 May Technology Y7&8

Friday, 31 May Missions & Ministries

Monday, 3 June Queens Birthday Holiday

Tuesday, 4 June Western Zone Cross Country

Tuesday, 4 June Assembly, 2—2.40 pm

Thursday, 6 June Western Zone Cross Country (alt date)

Thursday, 6 June MFB Community Prayer Meeting—6.30 pm

Friday, 7 June Technology Y7&8

Friday, 7 June Missions & Ministries

Friday, 7 June—9 June 40 Hour Famine

Monday, 10 June National Young Leaders Day

Thursday, 13 June Matariki Whanau Celebration Day

Thursday, 13 June PTA Meeting, 7.30 pm

Friday, 14 June Technology, Y7&8

Friday, 14 June Missions & Ministries

Wednesday, 26 June Maori Community Meeting, 6.30 pm

Queens Birthday Weekend

Remember that Monday is a Public Holiday so we don’t want to see anybody at

school :-). Have a lovely long weekend and enjoy the break.

HCC Dog Handling Demonstration The Junior School was treated to a demonstration by a Hutt City Council worker on the proper way to handle/pat dogs. The children had a great time with “Amber” as you can see:

Uniform Questionnaire The Maranatha Christian School uniform is an important part of our school. It sets us apart from other schools, it unites the children, it creates a sense of pride and it should not only look good but should also be comfortable to wear. There have been a number of valid concerns raised by parents with regard to our current uniform. Your child will be coming home shortly with a Uniform Questionnaire. This has been created as a data gathering exercise. We encourage you all to fill this out and return it to the office by Friday, 14 June. As an added incentive to encourage you to fill in and return the Questionnaire, everyone who returns their form by 12.30 pm Friday, 14 June will go into the draw to win a Lighthouse Petone Gift Voucher to the value of $25.00!

Lost Uniform

Please check the label in your child/ren’s jersey. Levi Watkins is missing TWO jerseys—both have his name in them. If you come across a jersey with Levi’s name in it, please return it to him in Room 3. Thank you!

Parking - 3 minute pick-up and drop-off zone only:

A reminder that we have been encountering more traffic than normal this term and had to make a few changes to relieve the congestion of traffic in the afternoon. When the top car park is full (in the afternoon only), only drive down to the lower court under strict supervision from a staff member and/or road patrol warden. Please DO NOT drive down if there is no supervision (even if the chain is down). Only use the car park as a 3 minute, pick-up and drop-off zone .

If you have an appointment with a teacher, please let us know that you are planning on parking for a while longer. More road patrol wardens will be on duty to regulate traffic, please be patient and understanding with them.

The safety of our children is of the utmost importance, so your cooperation will be much appreciated in this regard.

Kids for Kids

Important Notice regarding notices! If you would like to get a message to your child regarding changes to their transportation arrangements, wherever possible please give the information to the office before lunchtime. We can not guarantee that messages sent in the afternoon will get through to your child.

Full School Homework Hopefully you are all now well underway with the full school homework. Please remember to keep up with each area but only complete tasks to a level that keeps learning fun and positive in your house. The intent of this type of learning is to give you the chance to explore and discuss things as a family, enriching your child’s learning and therefore giving them a broader base from which to draw from. We truly hope that you and your families will learn many things and have some positive times together in the process!

40 Hour Famine Well done to all those students that have signed up to do the 40 Hour Famine. There is still time to sign up, but the famine is next weekend so be in quick! This is an awesome opportunity for kids to make a small sacrifice that will save the lives of other kids. I would strongly encourage everyone to get involved! If your child has signed up then be sure to sign them up on-line too and send out a link to everyone you know. People are likely to give up to 3x as much on line. Keep up the good work everyone and watch out for the school held events over the next few weeks. “You should do 40 hour famine because all the poor people need you to help the people in Bougainville to be healthy and to survive. It’s sad to see people dying - they need to survive so we need you to help them!!! The people need money and food, especially water, to stay healthy like New Zealanders. So please help them. DO THE 40 HOUR FAMINE!!!!” Abraham Fletcher and Samuel Kee

EN

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Last week we got into house groups for a school wide enviro day. We were looking at what it means to be ‘Environmentally

Sustainable”. Each house has been assigned a sustainable practice to explore

and improve over the next year. Each house came up with a vision for what they would like to see happen in their area. We look forward to seeing what will happen to our areas of native bush, our school

gardens, the waste at our school and our energy consumption as the houses

endeavour to tackle these sustainable practices.

Matariki Celebration Day Matariki Celebration Day - We will be holding a day to celebrate Matariki on June 13. This will be a day where house groups get together and explore some aspect of Maori culture that is related to the sustainable practice each house has adopted. It will be a day of fun, practical activities. Parents are welcome to come and join us in this learning adventure and we ask that children come to school in mufti that is suitable for getting dirty.

Missions & Ministries Missions and Ministries is all underway and the students are enjoying the chance to do a variety of things around the school. Lee Harper has helped us out with the Sports Group but is not able to continue due to work commitments. Are there any parents that are able to continue on the good work that Lee has started - teaching our students about what it means to be a witness for God out there on the sports field? Please contact me ASAP if you are interested! Liz Horn

We welcome the following new students to Maranatha: Eden (Piwakawaka) Zeb (Tui) Alyssa (Tui)

Parent Teachers Association The PTA needs your help! If you are interested in finding out more about the PTA, please come to a meeting on Thursday 13 June, from 7.30-9.00pm at 1 Summit Road, Fairfield, Lower Hutt. Please call Robina Jorgensen on 938 3375 for more information. Reminder: There are still more Entertainment Books available for purchase. Order at: http://www.entertainmentbook.co.nz/orderbooks/10548p4

2014 Enrolments: Reminder We are in the process of establishing next year’s roll. If you know of people who are interested in sending their child to Maranatha, please suggest they apply as soon as possible in order to secure a place. Don’t forget that siblings are not enrolled automatically, so please make sure applications for

sibling enrolments have been submitted. Interviews will be taking place in early July.

Beatitudes for Parents

“Blessed are those who make peace with spilled milk and mud, for of such is the kingdom of childhood. Blessed is the parent who engages not in the comparison of his child with others, for precious unto each is the rhythm of his own growth. Blessed are those who have learned to laugh, for it’s the music of a child’s world. Blessed and mature are those who without anger can say “No,” for comforting to a child is the security of firm decisions. Blessed is the gift of consistency, for it brings heart’s-ease in childhood. Blessed are they who accept the awkwardness of growth, for they are aware of the choice between marred furnishings and damaged personalities. Blessed are the teachable, for knowledge brings understanding and understanding brings love. Blessed are the men and women, who in the midst of the unpromising mundane, give love, for they bestow the greatest of all gifts to each other, to their children, and, in an ever-widening circle, to their fellowmen.” Written by Marion E Kinneman

KOTARE (ROOM 6) HAS SOME BUDDING

POETS IN THEIR CLASS:

NETBALL NEWSNETBALL NEWSNETBALL NEWS

Great work to all the netball teams who have now finished their grading games and are preparing for the official season to start. A big thank you to all the

parents that are giving up their time to coach, manage or umpire these teams, our students are blessed to have you. Below are some photos of the Maranatha

Fireworks Team in action.

Public Notices: The New Zealand School of Music Big Band is a phenomenal 18 piece Jazz band and they will be doing a family concert at 7:00pm on Wednesday the 5th of June. The concert will be held in Goodtime Music Academy at the ZEAL building, 101 Ghuznee St. It's just a gold coin donation at the door, and everyone is wel-come! For any further details please email info@goodtimemusicacademy.co.nz. Hutt Valley Basketball Association will be having trials for U13's Rep's this Sunday (2 June) at St. Pats Silverstream from 1.00pm - 3.00pm.