Pōhutukawa Team News Term 3 Week 6 2026 – Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto

Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all,

It's been great to see us starting to get back to our usual numbers here at kura after a few weeks of sickness throughout the team. Thank you again, whānau, for keeping tamariki at home who are unwell during this season of coughs and colds. It was just wonderful to see the sun out last! and have everyone outside being active and playing sports. Let's hope for some more sunshine! We also have the Duathlon coming up this Wednesday.Term 3 continues to be a busy and exciting term!

Christchurch City Council Cycle Safe Programme

Our Year 6 students recently completed the popular Cycle Safe programme, and what a success it was! Despite battling some challenging Christchurch winds, our tamariki showed fantastic resilience and determination as they mastered essential riding skills.

After practicing their control and signaling on site, the students put their training to the test by cycling out on the live roads around the Beckenham neighbourhood. A massive thank you to the awesome instructors from the Christchurch City Council team for their expert guidance, patience, and high energy. Our kids learned so much and had an absolute blast! ka rawe, Year 6!

Some feedback from the students:

L said - "They were very good at explaining what we were doing and very clear. They led by example. They showed us how to turn."

E said - " I know how to indicate when I turn right and it was a lot of fun!"

M said - "I learned road rules I never knew, especially the give way one off a side road."

Volley Ball Tournament: Selwyn Sport Centre, Rolleston

What an incredible day of volleyball! Our Year 5/6 Beckenham teams served up an absolute masterclass at the recent tournament, showing outstanding grit, growth, and team spirit.

As the tournament progressed, the kids adapted brilliantly, learning new skills on the fly, sharpening their rotation, and working seamlessly as a team. Their hard work paid off in the ultimate showcase: an all-Beckenham final battling it out for both 1st and 2nd place!

A massive thank you to our amazing coaches and parents, whose guidance and energy kept the players inspired all day long. Congratulations to all of our fantastic tamariki for representing Beckenham with so much enthusiasm and heart!

The bus may have been late and it was trying to rain but that didn't dampen our spirits!

Food for thought Programme

Our first sessions in the Food for Thought programme got under way today for four of five of our home groups. We looked at different types of vegetables, fruits, grains, proteins and milk products and what they are good for for our bodies. We had a good time working through an interactive quiz and learnt the colours of different foods and how they help different areas of health for the body.

It was great to see students engaging in the topic and comparing liked foods with their peers. Lots of conversation around healthy foods and fast foods as well! We look forward to continuing these sessions throughout the week and having our supermarket visits on Thursday and Friday!

Inquiry Unit

Our current inquiry focus is on body systems. We have looked at flowers, mushrooms and now we are moving into the human body.

We were extremely fortunate to have Ross, Kate's dad, come and visit us with his torso skeleton and fully articulated skeleton to help in the understanding of body systems.

He focused on the following:

The human respiratory system includes the trachea, lungs, diaphragm, ribs, and intercostal muscles. The structure of each part supports its role in breathing (e.g. the ribs form a protective cage, while the diaphragm and intercostal muscles draw air into the chest cavity).
The human circulatory system moves blood around the body and includes the heart, blood, and blood vessels. The structure of these parts relates to their function.
The digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems work together to supply oxygen, water, and nutrients to the human body.