Author Archives: Anna Reid

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 3

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Kia ora e te whānau,


The weather is turning cooler, and the days are becoming shorter. However, there is plenty going on at Beckenham in the Kōwhai team!

Cross Country

Last Friday, May 1st, we held the long-awaited cross-country run. We couldn't have asked for a better day. The sun was out, and the excitement was high!


Our Kōwhai students took on the challenge of a 700 meter course, completing two full laps of Beckenham Park. It was fantastic to watch them compete and their grit and determination were clear to see. Our Beckenham kete values were on full display, with tamariki showing We Love Challenge and We Get There Together. The cheering and sportsmanship from the sidelines was lovely to see too.


A big thank you goes to Kate McGregor and the Sports Team for their organisation behind the scenes, the day ran like clockwork. 


Finally, a huge thank you goes out to all the whānau and caregivers who joined us on the day. Having a cheering squad in the sunshine made all the difference for our tamariki. 













Inquiry Learning: Writing Our Pepeha

This term for our Inquiry learning, we have been focusing on writing our pepeha. A pepeha is a traditional Māori way of introducing yourself. It is used to tell others who you are and where you come from. 


Thank you to all of the parents and caregivers that have worked together with their tamariki to fill in the blank parts of their pepeha form that was sent home. 


At school, we have been working hard to write our pepeha, to understand the different elements, and finally to practice saying it aloud to others. It is wonderful to see the tamariki learning and sharing about themselves.





Eating At School

This is a friendly reminder for all tamariki to remember to have a nutritious breakfast at home each morning. We are noticing an increase in the number of children who are coming to school and are eating from their lunchboxes before school starts. 


Each day, we are actively reminding the children that there are times when we eat at school. We encourage the children to wait until the allocated times to eat, which are morning tea and lunchtime.


Staying Safe Online

The HDCA for Parents and Whānau

The Harmful Digital Communications Act (or HDCA for short) is an act passed by the Government back in 2015 to help people dealing with serious or repeated harmful digital communications. It covers anything digital like text, emails or social media content.


The most useful thing for parents to understand about the HDCA is the way the 10 communication principles define what is good or bad behaviour online.


If you’re ever concerned about your young person (or you just want to brush up on your knowledge!) visit Netsafe’s Guide to the HDCA. 



Kind regards,


The Kōwhai Team

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto













Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 1

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Kia ora e te whānau,

Welcome back to Term 2! 

We have an action-packed term ahead, starting with our whole school Cross Country event next Friday and our annual Readathon fundraiser. The Kōwhai children have settled in really quickly to the new term with our well-established routines, enabling a smooth start.

Cross Country

Next Friday, we will be holding our whole-school cross country event, which students have been preparing for since the end of last term. Please ensure your child comes dressed in suitable clothing and footwear for the day. Thank you!

Schedule:

  • Year 4 Boys – 11:00am
  • Year 4 Girls – 11:07am
  • Ferndale – 11:14am
  • Year 3 Boys – 11:21am
  • Year 3 Girls – 11:28am

We look forward to seeing you there to support and cheer on the children!









Readathon

Next week, our annual Readathon fundraiser begins. Your child/children should have brought home their sponsorship form today. Please take some time to discuss the Readathon with your child/children. You might like to help them set a daily reading goal and encourage them to gather sponsorship from family and friends. Over the following 14 days, you can record their reading progress together.

It’s also been suggested to set aside a regular time at home to 'Stop, Drop and Read' which is a wonderful way to get the whole family involved. Thank you very much for your support!

Nut Free Zone

A reminder to all that our hub is completely nut free. This includes any spreads in sandwiches that contain nut products (nutella, peanut butter), any muesli bars containing nuts, slices or biscuits with nuts in them, and any other products that might make their way into lunch boxes that have traces of nuts within them. If you are unsure, please read the back of packets to double check the ingredients. Thank you for your support with this. 

Hand Washing

As the winter months approach, we are placing a strong emphasis on washing hands after break times and before eating morning tea and lunch. We have been discussing how this helps keep everyone healthy in the weeks ahead. Through this, we are demonstrating that We Get There Together, We Make A Difference, and We Care!

Fleeces

This is just a reminder that as it gets colder, please can you ensure that your child/children are bringing a school uniform fleece to school every day so they can enjoy learning and playing outside in the colder months. Thank you!

Team Hui

Every Friday at the end of the day in the Kōwhai hub, we come together for a celebratory Team Hui. During this time, we recognise our learning and achievements, present certificates, share any important notices, and enjoy singing together. It’s a wonderful way to wrap up the week, and the children have really loved gathering and singing as a group.

Cyber Safety

Random Chat Online

How do random chat websites work? And what are the risks for tamariki using them?
Random chat websites, like Chatroulette, pair users randomly through text or webcam conversations. The appeal is getting
to talk to someone new that the user would never meet. But these websites are designed for adults and often allow nudity
and other inappropriate content from users.
If you’re concerned that your young person might be exposed to these sites or you want to introduce parental controls, you
can find out more on Netsafe’s Random Chat Websites page. 

Have a great ANZAC holiday weekend!

From the Kōwhai team

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 4

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Kia ora e te whānau,

Here is the latest news from the Kōwhai team!


School Uniform


Thank you for ensuring that your children are wearing the correct school uniform to school each day. Here is the link to the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto uniform guideline. There is an extensive range of reasonably priced second-hand uniform items available through our School PTA Uniform Shop. Please contact the school office for current opening hours.


A reminder that all children are to bring their sunhats to school each day. We really appreciate your support. As you know, staying sun smart is important. Any children who forget their hats will need to remain under the hall verandah during break times, with duty teachers supporting and reminding students as needed.


Kapa Haka Performance

The Kōwhai hub will be performing kapa haka at our celebration assembly on Friday 13th March. If you would like to see your child/children perform, assembly will be in the hall at 10am.


Top Team

What a fantastic afternoon we had! It was wonderful to see so much energy at Top Team. The true highlight was seeing our school kete values in action. Despite a few splashes and some soggy uniforms, our tamariki were amazing, navigating obstacles, displaying teamwork and cheering each other on with kindness.

Events like this simply wouldn't be possible without our community. A huge thank you to our wonderful parent helpers. Your time and energy ensured everything ran smoothly, and we are so grateful for your ongoing support of our tamariki. Nau mai te whero - We Love Challenge! 

Here are some photos from the day.

Maths & Literacy Groups


We are now full steam ahead with learning in the Kòwhai hub! This week we started learning in our new maths groups for the year. Next week, we will be starting our literacy groups. 


Please be aware that only the children working on the structured literacy programme will be bringing a book home from school to read each week. We continue to encourage all children to read at home and to make use of the school and public libraries to find new and interesting books to read.


Scooter Opportunity


As you will remember, on Thursday 19th March, a representative from the Christchurch City Council will be visiting our school to run a Scooter Skills programme throughout the day. Tamariki will participate in 45-minute sessions in groups of 20. As we are required to supply our own scooters, and it would be impractical to have 100 scooters at school on the day.


We are kindly asking if five more families would be willing to lend a scooter for the day. All scooters would be returned at the end of the day. Thank you to the families who have already volunteered their scooters. If you are able to help, please let your child’s homegroup teacher know. All children need to bring a helmet for the scooter skills day.


Staying Safe Online

As our tamariki spend more time online, it’s important parents and whānau help them

stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital

technology.


Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit so parents, families and whānau have

all the information they need to talk about online safety.


If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.

Have a great weekend!


The Kōwhai Team

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto


 

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 2

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Kia ora e te whānau,

Welcome to our 2026 blog! We have had a fantastic start to the year in the Kōwhai hub. Everyone is settling in well and becoming familiar with new routines in our new learning space. This year, each child has their own cubby for bags, and after a few early teething problems, we are all remembering where our spots are!

Over the first few weeks, we are focusing on getting to know one another within our homegroups and establishing our daily routines. This time is important for helping the children build a strong sense of security and belonging in their learning environment.

Girls Smash Cricket

Yesterday, all of the girls in the Kōwhai team had the opportunity to take part in a cricket session to encourage them to give the sport a go. They practised their bowling and batting skills through a range of fun games and activities, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

If your child is interested in joining a cricket club, they were given a leaflet with further information. The closest club is based in Beckenham, making it a very convenient option.





Top Team

This is a friendly reminder about our Top Team event next week. Weather permitting, it will be held on Wednesday 18th February in the afternoon at the park and will feature a variety of fun team-building activities.

As some water activities are planned, please ensure your child brings a change of clothes (including shoes) and a towel in their bag to use afterwards.

A big thank you to the parent helpers who have kindly offered their support — we truly couldn’t run events like this without you!

Construction

During Discovery time, many of our children love getting creative and building all sorts of things using cardboard boxes. At the moment, our supply is running low, so we would greatly appreciate any donations of small to medium cardboard boxes or containers.

Thank you for your support!

Water Play

Last week, we managed to squeeze in 2 sessions of water play with the weather not being altogether reliable! The children had lots of fun using their water blasters and sliding on the water slides with washing up liquid added for extra speed!







Discovery

Over the first couple of weeks, we have enjoyed plenty of Discovery time, giving our tamariki the opportunity to explore a wide range of activities while getting to know one another. Outdoor options have included giant checkers, four square, hula hooping, and chalk art. Indoors, children have been busy with marble runs and magnets, construction and Lego building, card making, and Zendoodle art. It has been wonderful to see everyone exploring the choices available and giving new things a go!










Hats

Thank you for ensuring your children bring their hats to school, we really appreciate your support. As you know, staying sun smart is important. Any children who forget their hat will need to remain under the hall verandah during break times, with duty teachers supporting and reminding students as needed.

Cyber Safety

Staying Safe Online


As our tamariki spend more time online, it’s important parents and whānau help them stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital technology.


Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit so parents, families and whānau have all the information they need to talk about online safety.


If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.


We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 6

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Kia ora everyone!

Welcome to the Kōwhai blog for Term 4, Week 6! The term is rapidly disappearing and while we have achieved so much already, there is still much to do.

Production

Over the next few weeks, we will be very focused on putting our production together. We have been busy rehearsing our dances and preparing props and costumes and it is now time to put it all together into one big extravaganza!

This is a reminder that you are all invited to come and see our performance on Thursday 4th December at 11:30am in the hall.

Ukulele

Everyone is continuing to enjoy their dance and ukulele lessons every Tuesday. In our ukulele sessions, the children have been helping to make up a song about the school, contributing lots of great ideas. We look forward to hearing the end result!

Chicks Hatching

As you may have already heard, we have some chick eggs incubating in our very own school office! They have been carefully guarded by Sue, Jo and Cade over the last weeks. We have all had the opportunity to visit and see the eggs and Sue has been telling us all about the kind of chickens that will hatch and what we are going to do with them. Thank you, Sue! 

And now the chicks have started hatching and it is very exciting! We have starting thinking about names for them all. What do you think? Can you think of any good ones?



Colour Run

The PTA have organised a Colour Run event to take place next Friday afternoon. So far, the PTA have raised around $9,000 which is absolutely amazing! If you would like to help raise money for this fundraising event, just click on the following link and hit the red “Set Up a Fundraising Page” tab: 

In order to drum up some more support for this event, we are also sliming teachers, one teacher per $1,000 raised. Yesterday, at the end of the school day, we slimed 8 teachers in total with Chris getting slimed twice! The children absoltuely loved witnessing this and are looking forward to seeing more teachers get slimed next Wednesday. We will have to see if any Kōwhai teachers get included next time round! 






Have a great long weekend!

From the Kōwhai team