Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 7

Kia ora e te Whānau, 

Welcome to the Week 7 Kōwhai blog. 

Top Team 

Last Friday, Top Team came to Beckenham, and the Kōwhai children had a great time trying lots of different team building activities out on the park. They worked in teams of 6-8, competing against other teams as they rotated around a variety of tasks. They showed amazing co-operative skills and really embraced the school values 'Nau mai te wero - We Love Challenge' and 'Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe - We Get There Together'. It really was wonderful to see, and we are so grateful that the weather turned out so well for us. Have a look at the photos below:

















Science 

This term, our inquiry focuses on science, specifically understanding chemical and physical changes. Students have been exploring this concept through hands-on experiments. So far, they have investigated the reaction between Mentos and Coke, and some classes have done a fruity-sweet colour-mixing experiment. Throughout this inquiry process, students will be developing their scientific thinking by forming hypotheses, making observations, recording results, and reflecting on their findings. We look forward to continuing to explore this topic.






NO Nuts Reminder

This is a reminder that the Kōwhai Hub is nut-free this year, so please ensure your child has NO nut products in their packed lunch. Thank you for your support with this.

Online Safety: Gaming

Eighty percent of tamariki in New Zealand aged 8-17 have played games online. Games can have many benefits: entertainment, social opportunities, coordination development, problem-solving and multitasking skills. But, most of all, gaming is popular because it’s fun. 


But games can be tough for parents and whānau to navigate. How much gaming is too much? How do I make sure my tamariki aren’t seeing inappropriate content or chatting in-game with strangers?


Today we’re sharing Netsafe’s Online Gaming Whānau Toolkit so you have all the resources you need to keep your kids safe. 


YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/rPN_ev1RSDQ


We hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Ngā mihi nui,
The Kōwhai team

Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 8

 Kia ora e te whānau! Welcome to the Kōwhai team's week 8 blog.


World Culture Inquiry

During term 3, Kōwhai students have been learning about countries from around the world. Each homegroup has looked at flags and greetings. It has been great to hear students using some of these greetings during our morning roll call! In recent weeks, students chose a country that they were particularly interested in and conducted research to learn more. They gathered this information, recorded it, and then presented it in a poster or slideshow. We are very impressed with how much effort was put into this project and it was wonderful to witness the passion and excitement for learning about different cultures!


Here are some examples of the finished posters:







Willowbank

A reminder about our upcoming Willowbank trip which is taking place on the 20/09/2025 (Week 9, Friday). This week we have shared the social story with students. If you are interested to know more about this trip or think it would be helpful to discuss this at home with your child, here is the social story


Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to help with this trip. If you are a parent helper, your child's homegroup teacher will be in touch in the coming week. 

Uniform 

Over the past few weeks, we have noticed that some students have been wearing non-uniform clothes and footwear to school. While we understand that this is sometimes for a good reason, it is important that, where possible, students are following the dress code for Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto. If your child is wearing non-uniform clothes to school, please send an email or note to the homegroup teacher. For more information about school uniforms, please visit this link. Thank you for supporting your child to wear the correct uniform.


Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori

Next week Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto will be celebrating Te Wiki o te reo Māori (Māori Language Week).


Māori Language Week, Te Wiki o te Reo  Māori, is a time for all New Zealanders to celebrate and encourage the use of te reo Māori in the classroom, home, workplace, community and beyond. 

With over 900,000 Māori living in New Zealand and thousands more living in nearby islands and countries, te reo Māori is highly important and valued. Māori Language Week is celebrated through speaking, song, dance, cultural displays and community events. The overarching theme for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks is sustainability. 

When was Māori Language Week created?

Māori Language Week commemorates the presentation of the Māori Language Petition to parliament on 14th September 1972. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori has taken place every year since 1975. It is an opportunity to celebrate, promote and help revitalise the language across Aotearoa.

What is Te Reo Māori?

Te reo Māori is the second most widely spoken language in New Zealand. It was recognised as an official language in 1987.

Like any language, te reo Māori has a lot of interesting characteristics that make it stand out. Unlike the English Alphabet, which has 26 letters, the Māori alphabet has 15 letters or distinct sounds.

  • Five vowels: a, e, i, o, u
  • Eight consonants: h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w
  • Two digraphs (two letters that combine to represent one sound): wh, ng

Short vowel sounds are pronounced as follows:

Long vowel sounds are pronounced as follows:

  a as in about

  ā as in fast

  e as in enter

  ē as in led

  i as in eat

  ī as in peek

  o as in awful

  ō as in worn

  u as in to

  ū as in moon

 

Māori Language Week gives all Kiwis an opportunity to learn some basic Māori words and phrases. It gives students who speak Māori the opportunity to further celebrate and share their knowledge in the classroom. There are also community events that take place across New Zealand to celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

For more information about how you and your whānau (family) can support Te Wiki o te reo Māori, please visit this website.

Reference - https://www.twinkl.co.nz/event/maori-language-week-2024

Contact Details

This is just a reminder that, if there are any changes to your contact details, please let the office know as soon as possible so we have the up-to-date information to hand. Thank you!

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



Have a great weekend. 

Ngā mihi nui, 
The Kōwhai Team. 

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 6

Kia ora e te whānau! Welcome to the Kōwhai team's Week 6 blog! 

Learning Conferences 


A reminder that learning conferences are taking place next week. Conferences will start at 1.45pm on both days. To support the availability of staff for these conferences, we ask for children to please be collected from school on both days at 1.30pm. Supervision will be available until 3pm for a small group of children. More information about this will come out to you via Hero next week. These conferences will be an important opportunity to connect with your child's teacher and learn more about your child's learning progress and achievement. Your child attends the learning conference with you.


Please book a learning conference for each of your children by clicking on this link and enter the code usvg6 and follow the instructions. 


We recommend not booking time slots back-to-back, in case meetings run over the allocated time.


If you need any assistance to book a conference, please contact Jacky in the office on 03 337 1404 or office@beckenham.school.nz


Pepeha


For Inquiry this term, we are exploring our Tūrangawaewae (standing place) through pepeha. 


A pepeha is a way to introduce yourself and it is an important aspect of Māori culture. It tells a story of the places and people we are connected to. In a pepeha, you explain where you come from and often make connections with a mountain, river, canoe and family. It also includes things that make us who we are such as our history, culture, and whakapapa. Creating a pepeha as part of a class activity, is also a fantastic way to allow Kōwhai students to understand this aspect of Māori culture, while introducing themselves to their classmates.


The template students will be using for their pepeha will vary depending on whether they are Māori or non-Māori. Please contact your child's homeroom teacher if you have any questions about this. 


Ball Games


Our students have recently started learning exciting new ball games, including Over and Under, Tunnel Ball, Captain Ball, and Leader Ball. These activities are not only fun but also help build teamwork and coordination skills. Towards the end of the term, they will have the opportunity to showcase their skills in a friendly tournament with all the Kōwhai classes. We can't wait to see their sportsmanship in action!





Recorder


This term, the Kōwhai team have started recorder lessons on a Tuesday afternoon. So far 4 out of 5 classes have had 2 lessons. The students have been making fantastic progress! They've been learning to read music and have successfully mastered playing the notes A and B. It's wonderful to see their enthusiasm and dedication as they develop their musical skills. 




Farewell to Charlotte 


Next week, we will be farewelling the wonderful Charlotte Verity who is moving on to another kura (school). During her time at Beckenham Te Kura, Charlotte has made a positive difference to not only the children she has taught but to all the staff who have been fortunate to work alongside her. We will be sad to see her go and wish Charlotte all the very best with this new adventure.


Online Safety: Gaming 


Eighty percent of tamariki in New Zealand aged 8-17 have played games online. Games can have many benefits: entertainment, social opportunities, coordination development, problem-solving and multitasking skills. But, most of all, gaming is popular because it’s fun. 


Games, however, can be tough for parents and whānau to navigate. How much gaming is too much? How do I make sure my tamariki aren’t seeing inappropriate content or chatting in-game with strangers?


Today we’re sharing Netsafe’s Online Gaming Whānau Toolkit so you have all the resources you need to keep your kids safe. 


YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/rPN_ev1RSDQ



Have a great weekend!






















Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 5

Kia ora e te whānau, 


Welcome to the Kōwhai team's week 5 blog! 


Transition Plan for 2024

As we near the end of the year, students will no doubt be starting to think about classroom placement for 2024, particularly the Year 4’s who will be moving hubs. To support this transition for our Year 4 students, they will have a couple of opportunities to spend time with the Year 5 students and to meet some of the Year 5/6 teachers. This will involve two Kōwhai teachers taking the Year 4’s to Pōhutukawa for Discovery, while the Year 6’s will come to the Kōwhai hub to spend some tuakana/teina time with Year 3’s. The objective of this is to enable our Year 4 learners to re-establish connections with their Year 5 peers, familiarise themselves with the new hub, and ensure students have a positive transition.  

Inquiry: Ngā manu (birds)

Over the past two weeks, the Kōwhai children have begun learning about birds as part of our inquiry topic. Students have enjoyed learning more about some of New Zealand’s native birds and exploring some of their defining features. There was great conversation around the question, "What makes a bird a bird?", and lots of debate around whether penguins were birds! In the coming weeks, students will have the opportunity to observe birdlife within the Beckenham Te Kura environment and inquire into why these birds are suited to this particular habitat. 

Students have enjoyed looking at the candidates for bird of the century this week and some classes submitted their votes. If you are interested in learning more about this and having your say, follow this link

Art

Linking into our inquiry topic: Ngā manu, our art focus for the term is sketching, with a particular focus on the natural world. Students will have opportunities to explore sketching techniques and apply this to different contexts. They will be sketching things in nature, such as plants, birds and insects. We are looking forward to seeing their artistic growth.




Uniform

Over the past few weeks, we have noticed that some students have been wearing non-uniform clothes and footwear to school. While we understand that this is sometimes for a good reason, it is important that, where possible, students are following the dress code for Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto. For more information about school uniforms, please visit this link. Thank you for supporting your child to wear the correct uniform.


Being SunSmart

It has been great to see so many children remembering to wear their hats at school, especially with all these sunny days we have been experiencing. Please continue to make sure that your child has a hat at school every day and that it is clearly named. There is always the option of keeping hats at school, either in tote trays or in an allocated hat tub. We also encourage everyone to have sunscreen on. This can be applied before coming to school and we also have sunscreen at school if anyone needs to top up or they forget to put sunscreen on. Thank you so much for your support with this.


Discovery

Here are some pictures of what students have been up to during Discovery:









Have a lovely weekend, 

Ngā mihi nui


Kōwhai Gymnastics Trip and News Week 1, Term 3

Kia ora e te whanau, nau mai hoki mai.

We hope that you enjoyed the break. It has been lovely to hear students share stories about their holidays. It sounds like lots of fun was had whether they stayed in Christchurch or travelled elsewhere. It is hard to believe that term 3 is here already! The students have had a great first week and have started settling back into the routine.


Gymnastics Trip - Parent Helpers Needed

As a team, we will be teaching a Health and PE unit about our bodies and how we move these, focusing on gymnastic movements. During weeks 3 and 4, the Kōwhai team will be travelling to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics for a couple of sessions. Working with a professional gymnastics school will help us educate the students in a safe environment with expert help. The dates and times for the trips are as follows:

Thursday August 3rd 2023

  • Charlotte's Homegroup: 9:00-11:30
  • Rowe's Homegroup: 10:30-1:00
  • Nick's Homegroup: 12:30-3:00

Thursday August 10th 2023
  • Charlotte's Homegroup: 9:00-11:30
  • Rowe's Homegroup: 10:30-1:00
  • Nick's Homegroup: 12:30-3:00
Anna M and Anna R's classes will be divided up and spread amongst the 3 groups. We are looking for some keen parent helpers to attend and help out. If you are available and would like to come along and help, please complete this form by Monday, 24th July.


Calendar Art

This term, students will have the opportunity to explore the iconic artistry of Romero Britto and create their very own calendar art, bursting with Britto-inspired brilliance. From his playful use of vibrant hues to his distinctive patterns, Britto's artworks radiate joy and positivity. We are very excited to get creating and can’t wait to see the finished product!

Balloon Racers

This term, our inquiry focus is on technology and revisiting forces and motion. The students will embrace their inner inventors and set their imaginations soaring as they construct their very own balloon racers. Through this hands-on project, they will explore physics, discovering how forces shape the world around us. As students engage in the process of designing and refining their racers, they will build collaboration and reflection skills.

For the balloon racers, we are after some construction materials. If you have any of the following, could you please send them in as soon as possible?:
  • cardboard
  • small boxes for construction (e.g. cereal boxes/boxes smaller than a shoe box)
  • small plastic containers (e.g. recycling)
  • milk bottle tops
Tēnā rawa atu koe – thank you.


Here are some photos of what's been happening this week. 










From the Kōwhai team