We hope you have all had a good week. We have been busy bees in our hub! This week, our tamariki enjoyed watching the staff vs students netball game and there was a lot of excitement and cheering. We were also looking forward to a tug of war between the houses today but unfortunately, it was called off last minute due to bad weather. Hopefully, we can rearrange it for another time! 

Beckenham's Got Talent

The student council is excited to be running another talent show this year. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for this and lots of brainstorming amongst the students. At this stage, our students have been given the opportunity to sign up for this during our morning notices. Whānau can also email their child’s homegroup teacher to sign them up if they wish.

When the students are planning their act, it is important to note that the maximum group size is eight people. The maximum performance time is four minutes and we encourage students to be able to perform their act for at least 1 minute. Students will have the opportunity to organise and practice during Discovery time.

The auditions will held in week 8 within our hub. We will then narrow it down to 4 semi-finalists who will perform for the whole Kōwhai hub and 2 acts will be chosen to go through to the finals which will be held in the hall on Friday 19th of September. Good luck!

4 Square Tournament

A schoolwide 4 Square tournament is being held during Friday lunchtimes in weeks 7 and 8. Students have been signing up for the event and are practising diligently in preparation for this.

Maths Week Next Week!

To celebrate Maths week next week, we will have a daily joke and maths problem for you to solve on a whiteboard outside the Kōwhai hub. Please do check them out and see if you can solve the conundrums together. We Love Challenge!

Mathematics & Statistics: Understanding your child's learning

The Ministry of Education Parent Portal is a collection of guidance and resources for parents, families and carers. Here, you will find information about the learning your child is doing at school within their year level, and how you can support them in their learning. Feel free to have a look and explore what you can do at home to support maths learning, while keeping it fun!

PB4L (Positive Behaviour For Learning)

So far this term, we have been: 

• Celebrating how our brains work (learning about the diverse strengths and differing ways that our brains think)

• Learning how to use the S.O.A.R (Stop, Observe, Assess, Respond) strategy to problem solve in the playground

• Learning how to use a set of negotiation steps to express our problems and work with our peers to find a solution and check in with how this solution is working.

Cyber Safety

Staying Safe Online: Snapchat and Privacy

Snapchat is a popular messaging app that lets users exchange pictures and videos (snaps) that are meant to disappear after they’re viewed. Many young people love Snapchat but it’s important that they understand how to protect their privacy on the app.

Check out Netsafe’s Privacy on Snapchat page for some helpful information on Snapchat’s features. You can also find out more information about privacy, security and safety on Snapchat’s help centre.

Have a great weekend!

From the Kōwhai team

Welcome to the Week 8 Kōwhai blog.

Matariki 

Mānawatia a Matariki! Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades, which rises in mid-winter and marks the beginning of the Māori New Year. It is a time of remembrance, celebration, and renewal. Over the last two weeks, children have been learning about the different stars that make up the cluster. The nine stars of Matariki are Waitī, Waitā, Waipuna-ā-Rangi, Tupuānuku, Tupuārangi, Ururangi, Pōhutukawa, Hiwa-i-te-Rangi and Matariki. In te ao Māori, each star has a special job to do to look after our wellbeing and environment. Please see this slideshow for more information. 

On Tuesday evening, we held a Matariki evening at school. It was wonderful to see so many parents coming to see the kapa haka group perform and share in our Matariki activities. The Kōwhai students did a fantastic job performing, and we were very impressed by their effort. 

Reports and Learning Conferences 

Last week, we celebrated the Kōwhai students' progress and success during learning conferences. Thank you to everyone who came to a conference. It was great to have the opportunity to reflect on the first two terms of 2025 and discuss the amazing learning students have been doing. 

PB4L 

This term, the Kōwhai students have been engaging in Positive Behaviour For Learning lessons (PB4L) on Tuesday mornings. The objective of these sessions has been to support students to develop social/emotional skills and develop strategies to manage challenges and improve their wellbeing. Over the term, there have been several topics that we have covered. These have included: 

• The Zones of Regulation 

• Understanding our emotions in relation to cross country

• Appreciating our differences 

• How to be a good friend

For information about Wellbeing at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto please follow this link.

Instructional Writing 

Over the past few weeks, Kōwhai students have been learning how to write an instructional text. An instruction text is a type of non-fiction text that provides step-by-step instructions on how to complete a task. The text may include organisational devices. As part of the writing process, students have been learning how to follow a set of sequenced instructions and then write about their experiences. For some classes, this has involved doing some baking and creating!

For more information about instructional texts, have a look at this slideshow.

Ferrymead 

The Kōwhai Ferrymead Trip is coming up next week, Tuesday 24th June and Wednesday 25th June (Week 9).

A reminder that on the day your child is attending the trip, they need to be at school before 8:45 am. They will also need to bring: 

• A lunch box with enough morning tea and lunch for the day

• A full water bottle 

• A polar fleece or jersey 

• A light waterproof coat if it appears overcast

• Comfortable walking shoes

If you have any questions or concerns, please email your child's homegroup teacher or Georgia (georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz).

Head Lice

Unfortunately, we have had a growing number of cases of headlice reported across the school. Can you please check your child's head for eggs and live lice regularly and treat accordingly if detected. The following link has very helpful information about headlice and how to treat it.

https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/head-lice#main-content

Staying Safe Online: Scams

People in New Zealand are losing millions of dollars to scammers each year – and this is just the figures reported to Netsafe so the actual figure is likely much higher!

It’s important that you and your tamariki know what to look out for to avoid scams. Netsafe have put their best advice together to help you stay safe online and stay away from scams.

Read their scam tips here. 

Lost Property

We hope you have a wonderful Matariki weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai team