Principal's Patch
Kia ora koutou
This will be the last official newsletter of the year (although there may still be the odd email over the next week!). Please do read this through carefully, as there is a lot of important information in this!
Tomorrow, our final day of school, your child(ren) will be told who their 2021 homgroup teacher will be and then they will be visiting with their new teacher (if available) and homegroup for some time to get to know one another.
Your child will bring home a letter for you, confirming who their home group teacher will be. This letter will also contain contact information for all of the teachers in your child's team for next year.
Please Book your Learning Conference now...
Tomorrow's letter will also contain information about how to book a Learning Conference for the start of 2021. Please log onto www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and, using the code 4ga7w, log in to the site and book a 30min conference with your child's new teacher.
Please note that there will only be one letter per child. If you live in a different home to your child, ask them who their teacher is for next year. We do have a limited number of booking slots, so we do ask that separated parents do work together to book a single learning conference for their child so that all families are able to book a time.
Stationery Lists
Also coming home tomorrow will be next year's stationery list. You can also find this list on the school website. You can order most of the items on the stationery list by logging onto the OfficeMax 'MySchool'
website, and putting in our school name.
BYOD Chromebooks are available through
PBTech - log onto their website and put in our school name to order a Chromebook for your child if they are in Year 5-8 next year. (This is optional, and strongly recommended).
A final Staffing Update...
We will have had a number of changes to our staff by the time school starts again next year.
In our final update for the year, we welcome Nicola Reddecliffe to our teaching staff for 2021.
We are now able to confirm our teacher staffing for next year:
Jo Smith will join Sue Leadbetter and I in the senior leadership team as Acting Deputy Principal.
Koru Team - (New Entrants)
Elizabeth Drummond, Nicola Reddecliffe & Stacey McLachlan
Kahikatea Team (Years 1/2)
Amber Donovan (Team Leader), Katie McFarlane, Charlotte Verity & Lisa Collier
Kōwhai Team (Years 3/4)
Laura Williamson (Team Leader), Rowena Barker, Nick Bruce, Quynh Nguyen & Meagan Mathers
Pōhutukawa Team (Years 5/6)
Steve Cooke (Team Leader), Anna Reid, Gayle McNaughton & Rae Marsh
Kauri Team (Years 7/8)
Nicky Dunlop (Team Leader), Megan Culver, Jenny Diggle, Caitlin Worsfold & Georgie Jones
Our congratulations go out to Lisa Griffith who has won a specialist Reading Recovery Teacher position at Te Kōmanawa Rowley School next year. We wish Lisa all the very best with this new role.
Congratulations to Sari Farrant who joined us to start our last New Entrant class in Term 3 this year, and who has won a position at Leeston School for next year. We wish Sari all the very best with her new role too.
We take this opportunity to thank Tracey Maloney for the commitment, energy and care that she has given to our Year 3/4 team in particular, joining our staff full-time just as lockdown began to fill the position made vacant when Paulette Newton left. We hope that we will see Tracey back at Beckenham as one of our key relievers in 2021.
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| Left to right: Lisa Griffith, Sari Farrant, Tracey Maloney |
Outreach Band
We had our first and final performance of our 2020 Outreach Bands at school last week. The bands are made up of a combination of students from Beckenham, Hillview Christian School and Ōpāwa School. It was such a treat to hear them all perform.
The CSM Outreach Band programme will continue next year. If your child will be in Years 5-8 next year and would like to join the band programme, please contact Jody Keehan (the CSM Band co-ordinator) by emailing: outreachband@csm.org.nz
Requests for School Donations, Camp Contributions and Technology Fees
Last week you may have received a school statement with requests for your contribution, or outstanding fees to pay.
As you know - we now have a
system in place (see our website for full details) where we request just $150 per child each year as a donation. That covers everything EXCEPT camps (Year 7/8 Dunedin Camp, Year 5/6 Living Springs Camp, and Y3/4 Noho Kura) and take home materials - in particular, the charge from Christchurch South for Year 7/8 technology.
If you have outstanding balances on your statement, we would appreciate that the fees (Y7/8 technology) are paid, and any contributions to school donations and camps are still made and will be very much appreciated. We are not able to continue to run camps if we do not get donations from whānau as they are outside what the Ministry of Education funding will accommodate.
The school bank account is 12-3148-0131641-00 Please use your child's name as the reference.
Sandpit Box - installed
Thanks to funding from the PTA Outdoor Spaces fund, to the engineering and carpentry skills of Justin Palmer, and the determination and tenacity of Nathalie Doering to get this project finished, we now have a wonderful Sandpit box installed adjacent to our sandpit. This will enable us to store sandpit toys securely and have them available for the children to use each day.
Today was a very special day as we farewelled out Year 8 Leavers at their Graduation Ceremony. Our best wishes go with them all as they head to high school in 2021. We also farewell the families who will no longer have children at Beckenham after tomorrow - we thank you for your support over the years.
As I noted in my speech at the leavers' graduation today, 2020 has been a very challenging year in many ways. I wish you all a very safe, relaxing and happy summer break. Thank you all for your support through the challenges that 2020 presented to us. We look forward to seeing those of you who have children returning, in 2021.
Remember that school finishes at 12:30pm tomorrow!
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki
Important Dates
Upcoming Events
Wed 16 Dec: - 12:30pm - School finishes for the year. Stationery lists and home group team and teacher information for 2021 sent home.
Term 1 2021
Tue 2nd February & Wed 3rd February - Learning conferences
Thu 4th Feb - Classes begin
Fri 12th Feb - Combined School, PTA, Board & BOSCO Whānau Picnic - bring along your dinner and get to know other families
Term Dates
Click here to view 2021 term dates.
Citizen of the Week
Corry Lee - Year 4
Corry, you are a delight to have in the Kōwhai hub. You are a polite and helpful team member who is always willing to take on extra responsibilities and show our school value "We Get There Together." It has been fantastic to see you grow into such a positive role model to all students this year. You work hard at everything you do, and share your thoughts with others in a kind and caring manner. You have fantastic self management skills and are a very responsible student. Thank you for always demonstrating our school values. Ka pai Corry!
Isabella Day - Year 6
Bella, you are full of life and energy and you are also an extremely loyal friend to your peers. You give everything a go and you encourage and include others which shows how you demonstrate the value 'We Make A Difference' and 'We Get There Together'. You also have a positive mindset with regard to your learning, showing great persistence even when you are finding it difficult. Ka pai Bella!
School Notices
It's not too late to make contributions, donations or to clear payments on your school account! Every single dollar counts in the running of our school, and you will have recently been sent a final invoice for the year. This will include, for Year 3/4 whānau, the request for a contribution to the Noho Kura that was held last Friday.
If your child has attended one of the Year 3/4 Noho Kura, or the Year 5/6 or Year 7/8 camps this year, your contribution towards that cost would be very much appreciated as these events (being overnight events) are not covered by the school donations.
Dental Care during the School Holidays
The Community Dental Service will be providing dental care for children enrolled with our service during the upcoming school holidays. The clinics will offer treatment and relief of pain sessions by appointment only. To make an appointment please call/email our Contact Centre which operates between the hours of 8am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday throughout the holidays (closed between 25th December to 5th January).
The following Dental Clinics will be open during these school holidays:
· Woolston Clinic, 11 Hopkins Street, Woolston,
· Hornby Clinic, 2 Hei Hei Road, Hornby,
· Northcote Clinic, 24 Tuckers Road, Casebrook,
· Timaru Clinic, Level 1, 18 Woollcombe Street, Timaru
The clinics will offer appointments between 8.15am and 4.45pm for school-age and preschool children. If your child has dental pain because of an accident, please contact your dentist in the first instance.
To book an appointment at one of our clinics please: call 0800 846 983, or email commdental@cdhb.health.nz
BOSCO
Our bookings for the January Holiday Programme are open now. If magicians, nerf wars or pony parties sounds like fun, be sure to contact Juanita on 027 654 6632 or you can email her at office@bosco.org.nz to make a booking. We also have an around the world day, a science and magic day and a crazy hair and dress up day. There will never be a dull moment if you join us these holidays!
Guitar, Bass and Ukulele Tuition Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto 2021
Beginner Guitar, Bass and Ukulele lessons, both group and some individual are available during school time beginning February 2021.
Roger Hamilton has been teaching these instruments for the NZ Modern School of Music for 15 years both privately and in other South West Christchurch schools as well as at Beckenham.
Lessons are $9 -10 per week, depending on group size invoiced per term for the number of weeks/lessons.
If you would like your child to learn an instrument, either call or email Roger directly on the contacts below or collect a form from the office to fill in and return bottom section to the Office by start of Term 1, 2021.
email: rbhamilt@gmail.com
cell: 027 3070466 / 03 9424619
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Note:
Ukulele
Learning ukulele is a great way to start a life of making music. It’s relative physical simplicity to play allows early success in musicality while learning the basics of music theory and of producing sound, which is what music making is all about! Children can learn Ukulele from Year 3 up.
Guitar: To learn Guitar, you need to be at least Year 5.
Bass Guitar: Bass learning is from year 6 up.
The reason for the limits on different instruments is the physicality of learning them. Many students start on Ukulele and go onto Guitar. They learn many of the skills of guitar by learning Ukulele first, plus they learn to play 2 instruments!
Roger teaches with the NZ Modern School of Music and manages the Christchurch area.
BOT Update
With the resignation of Parent Trustee Carmel Wade earlier this term and the end of the tenure of three other Parent Trustees, there have been four impending vacancies on the Board of Trustees.
Nicole Forster has been selected onto the board as a Parent Trustee to fill the casual vacancy left by the recent resignation of Carmel Wade, at the October meeting.
The terms of three trustees; Ester Vallero (Chair), Matthew Macdonald and Jude Clarke came to their end this week. Two of those places were filled through the recent election, and we welcome Suran Dickson and Richard Scott to the Board.
The third vacant position was not filled through the election, resulting in a casual vacancy.
The Board of Trustees had their final meeting of the year this week and Matthew Macdonald was selected to fill the casual vacancy. Matthew was also voted to hold the role of Chair, until the first meeting of the new year; the meeting when the role of Chair is always up for election from within the membership of the Board.
The Board also made the decision to appoint Jude Clarke back to the Board for a further year, to support the board in the finance role that she has held for the past three years, so as to maintain some financial continuity whilst the new accounts and payroll administrator becomes familiar with her new role.
The Board would like to acknowledge the leadership and mahi of outgoing Chair, Ester Vallero over the 4 years she has been on the Board, the last two of those as Chair. Ester has led the Board with children and their families at the very heart of every decision made. We are extremely grateful for her commitment and passion to support the wellbeing of our children, their whānau and our staff. Thank you, Ester!
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| New Parent Trustees: Nicole Forster, Richard Scott Suran Dickson |
Community Notices
(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
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The Fencing Institute
We are running a fencing holiday programme in January at our fencing club in Addington.
The dates for January are 6,7,8 & 18 – 22nd. Fencers at primary and intermediate school are in the mornings.
Go to our website
here to register. Read the info first. There is a 20% discount if you register for 3 or more sessions for each holiday programme. To apply the discount use the discount code holiday. When you hit confirm it applies the 20% discount.
Elements Plus
Elements Plus (10-14yrs) programmes are now open for summer registrations. Learn new skills such as using pocket knives, rope & possibly fire. Time to explore, climb trees, group games & laugh in open spaces. Also construction & crafting opportunities too. Check out our facebook pg or website to see what we do. Westmorland farm or Brighton. Various dates from 16 Dec to 29 Jan
Book through https://elements.aimyplus.com Also listed as events on Facebook Elements
to join our email list: elementsprogrammes@gmail.com
