Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

How lovely it has been to see everyone back at school today!

There are a couple of important events happening this week that we needed to let you know about, hence the brief newsletter today.

There will also be a fuller newsletter coming out this Friday.

Please remember to contact your child's home group teacher, in the first instance, if you have any questions or wonderings about anything that is happening with your child's learning.

Our staff had a very full and exciting week last week with three days of Professional learning and then the two days of learning conferences. All of which was part of our preparation for the start of the school year, and for the children to arrive today.

Remember all children need a named school hat at school every day, please

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the team

There will be a separate information sheet coming out later today from the Board about our new requests for school donations process.

Community Notices

Play Football throughout 2020 at Halswell United AFC.

The registrations for the Winter Season 2020 are OPEN
Club Trials are underway. Make sure you don’t miss out being selected for a team!
Just head to our website for more information and to register: http://www.hawkfootball.org.nz/Register

SUMMER FOOTBALL

Skills Centre+ Registrations (for kids aged 8-12) & First Kicks/Fun Football Registrations (for kids aged 4-8) are open for Summer Term 1
http://www.hawkfootball.org.nz/Programmes/Summer-Programmes

Governors Bay Annual Fete

Sunday 29th March 2020 12-4pm

Allandale Domain

Gold Coin Entry

"Focus on kids" - heaps of activities including a mobile farm where children can get "hands on experience". A special demonstration by GB volunteer Fire Brigade as well as music, food, cream teas and a variety of stalls and exhibitions.

Proceeds to Governors Bay Jetty Restoration Trust

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

What a fabulous send-off we had today for our Year 8 Leavers! With 62 graduates, this is the biggest cohort we think the school has ever had in Year 8. There was laughter, singing, sharing of memories and tears on many faces, along with broad smiles. We are, as always, very proud of these young people who have grown up in our school, many for the past eight years. Our Year 8 Leavers' Graduation is one of my favourite days of the year. It is a huge celebration of the growth and achievements of these fine young people.

A huge thank you today to the PTA and 24/7 team for supporting the prizegivers by providing the Leavers' Lunch for our leavers and their whānau.

Please remember that school finishes today at 12:30pm.

Home Groups for 2020

Today the children will get told about their home groups for 2020. They will then spend some time in their hub for next year, with next year's teachers and their new home groups. EVERY child who is returning to Beckenham next year will be given a paper copy of the letter explaining who their teacher is, AND how to book a Learning Conference for the start of the year.

Please note that we are only sending home one paper copy of the above information. If you do not get the paper copy today, Jacky will be in the office until midday on Friday 20th so you can contact her there to find out who your child's teacher is. The office will open again on Monday 27 January.
The information about how to book the learning conference is copied below, for your reference. You just need to know the name of the teacher your child will be with before you can book.

As we have done for the past two years, we will spend the first two days of Term 1 2020 (Thursday 30th and Friday 31st January) holding Individual Learning Conferences. You need to book a 30 minute time slot where you, your child, and their home group teacher, can meet to get to know one another and to talk about your child's learning. This is your chance to share any particular information you have about your child and the way that they learn. You can share your aspirations, your worries and the challenges and successes they have experienced so far in their learning. It will also be an opportunity for their home group teacher, and the rest of the teachers in the team, to talk with you about how the team will operate.
You need to book a time for this learning conference that will work for you and your child. To do this, you need to go online to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and enter the password sa3zp. Remember to book your learning conference with next year’s teacher.

If you need supervision for your child on the Learning Conference days, please book this with BOSCO by Wed 22 Jan at the very latest. You can contact BOSCO by emailing Yvette at manager@bosco.org.nz

Stationery for 2020

Your child will also bring home a stationery list tomorrow for next year. If you plan to use the OfficeMax online ordering, do get your order in by mid-January, so that it arrives in time for the start of term. The stationery lists are also available on our school website.

Office Hours

The office will be closed from 1pm today, then will be open again tomorrow (Friday 20th) from 8:30am - midday. It will then be closed until Monday 27 Jan.

There will be staff around school from Monday 20th -24th January, however, the office will not be staffed.

Thank you all for the support you have given to our staff and our children this year. I wish you all a very safe and relaxing holiday season and we look forward to seeing our 2020 students and whānau back in the new year!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

HELP Mini Ball Coach Needed

We are in the need of some wonderful parents who would be interested in coaching a Year 3-4 mini ball team in Term 1. There would only be 8-9 children in a team and practises could take place with before school, lunchtime or after school. We have 26 keen and enthusiastic players, however only one coach. It would be a shame to only provide this opportunity to one team.

If you are able to coach a team in Term 1, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Paulette Newton at paulette.newton@beckenham.school.nz

Outdoor Spaces Celebration!

This week, we have met with Greenscapes who have successfully won the tender to redevelop the main play space. At this stage, the landscaping of stage 1 is likely to begin early January. This will involve the creation of the river, the hill with slide and the pathways in the main play space.
As this is a large area being redeveloped, it will be fenced off while construction takes place. Feel free to pop in to take a look.

We are really thankful to the PTA for the fundraising they have done to make this happen and are aware that this has been a long time in the making.  Here is the play space plan.

Keeping it cool for our Tamariki!!

Over the holidays we will have a large group of workers installing air cooling units into Tahaki and Parenga ready for the summer heatwave. If you are playing at school, please be aware there may be several areas closed off.
SUPPORTING YOU OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD

Please be aware of the following organisations who can provide support over the holiday period if required:

Parent Helpline 0800 568 856

Healthline Call 0800 611 116

1737 Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor.

Kapa Haka Uniforms

Please return these to the office by Thursday.

PTA News

Uniform Shop hours - January

The uniform shop will be open on Thurs 30th Jan between 10am - 11:30am & 5pm - 6:30pm (the first day of the Learning Conferences).

Congratulations to...

Well done to the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto students who took part in Southern Cross Irish Dance's Christmas show - Sean Pettigrew, Alex Pettigrew, Liv Wilson, Sophie Redmile, and Jayme Scott. You all put on an amazing show!

Community Notices

Huntsbury Hill Celebrations

Fri 14th – Sun 16th February 2020
In January 1920, the first sections were sold on Huntsbury Hill. Now, 100 years later, we are celebrating our unique Huntsbury Hill community with a weekend of events for young and old, past and present residents. Come and join us!

* Wine and cheese evening at Community Centre
Friday 14th 6.30-9.30pm
Meet your neighbours, Entertainment, history & photo displays

* Garden party at the Reservoir
Saturday 15th 1pm – 5pm
Market stalls, Performances, food trucks, bouncy castle, zorb balls & mini jeeps.

* Devonshire Teas at Community Centre
Saturday 15th Feb 11am – 4pm
Photo & History displays

* Walking History tour, hosted by Mike Yardley
Saturday 15th Feb 4-6pm & Sunday 16th Feb 10am–12pm
Learn the fascinating history of development on the hill

Huntsbury Residents we need your help!
Can you assist us with Donations, sponsorship/prizes, volunteering your time, ideas or historical knowledge, & contacting past residents?

Registrations for market stalls, performers or walking tours please email Anna: huntsburyevents@gmail.com<mailto:huntsburyevents@gmail.com>
Event details: www.facebook.com/groups/HuntsburyNeighbourhood<http://www.facebook.com/groups/HuntsburyNeighbourhood/>

Play Football throughout 2020 at Halswell United AFC.

The registrations for the Winter Season 2020 are now OPEN for all members
Club Trials dates for Juniors and Youths are also set (starting January/February)

Just head to our website for more information and to register: http://www.hawkfootball.org.nz/Register

Skills Centre+ Registrations (for kids aged 8-12) & First Kicks/Fun Football Registrations (for kids aged 4-8) are open for Summer Term 1
http://www.hawkfootball.org.nz/Programmes/Summer-Programmes

Starfish Swim School Bookings for the January Holiday Program are now open!

Week One: Monday 20 th January to Friday 24th January
Email: info@starfishswimschool.co.nz
Or phone us at: 03 3381795
2 Nash Road, Aidanfield

Come swim in our intensive week to refresh your skills!

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

A slightly belated newsletter for last Friday...

Please remember that school will finish at 12:30pm on THURSDAY 19th December

You are invited to our "Thank you..."

There are many people within our school community who go the extra mile to help others and make our school the caring community that it is.  Many thanks to all those who recently made meals and baking for a school family who needed a bit of extra support, your kindness was truly appreciated. Thank you to the whānau who accompanied our children on the Farm trips this week! Thank you to the people who help on with trips, being on the PTA, serving on the Board, baking days, book sorting, junior playground duty, and many, many more varied activities around our school, that keep the school running and support our tamariki and our staff.

As a small token of our appreciation as a staff, for the work that parents, grandmas, grandads, aunties, uncles, neighbours, friends and others in our community do to support us, we will be hosting  Croissant and coffee on Tuesday December 10th in the staffroom from 8:30 - 9:15am.  We would love to see as many people as possible there.

Farewell for Sherrilee Herangi-Harrison - Wed 11 Dec 9:30am

We have sadly received the resignation of Sherrilee as our Kaiako Te Reo Maori. Sherrilee has been on our staff for 25 years, and has made a huge contribution to our school through her teaching of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and Kapa Haka. Sherrilee has been offered work in secondary schools which she is excited about taking up and we wish her all the very best for that.
We will be holding a farewell assembly next Wednesday morning, from 9:30am. We are inviting past students of Te Whānau Mahi Tahi to attend, along with our current whānau.
We would appreciate if parents of current students could bring along a small plate of food to contribute to the morning tea, as a way of contributing to the 'thank you'

Special visitors in town...

We were invited to send a group of eight senior writers to a writing workshop at Tūranga last week, where they learned from some professional writers and industry experts, and then had the opportunity to meet HRH The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. A very memorable day for those students!

Important Dates

Citizen of the Week

Lexi Penter - Year 7

Lexi, you have grown so much as a learner. You show initiative in all areas and you put forth great effort in reaching your learning expectations. You show the value "We Care" everyday by being such a kind and caring friend. You have developed confidence in yourself and it shows by how happy you are during class time. You love to learn new things, which is great to see. You are such an asset to the Kauri hub. Ka pai Lexi!

Alyssa Gilmour - Year 4

Alyssa, you are a star in our hub. You consistently demonstrate a positive and caring attitude and are a great friend to others. You are very responsible and are always willing to help out around the hub. You have excellent self-management skills and are a positive role model to others. Tino pai, Alyssa.

Henry Hood - Year 7

Henry, you are a larger than life character in our Kauri whānau, bringing enthusiasm and humour into all that you do, and you are so much more than this. Henry, you are an intelligent and perceptive young man. You intuitively step up and act to meet a need. You're inclusive and kind to those who need a friend, you are resilient and encouraging on the sports field, and you naturally step up to lead at appropriate moments. Thank you for all you do to make a positive difference to our team.

School Notices

Parking on Sandwich Road

Congratulations to...

Grace for winning the Queen's Essay Competition (Junior division). She was presented with her certificate last week at Tūranga by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.


To Malachy for completing his Paleontology Science Badge - following a passion and focussing on getting this finished to a high level.

Jack Kelly recently sat the London School of Music guitar exam and scored 92.5%, an outstanding result as it is rare to score above 90. Tino pai Jack!

Roxy Murfin recently competed in a Canterbury Under 13 Fencing Tournament. She earned a bronze medal for the individual competition and was the only female medalist. For the team event she led her team to Gold medals. Tu meke Roxy!

Beckenham Booty

Spots are filling up fast for the last Beckenham Booty of 2019.

Bookings are now open for Sunday 15th December 9-11am

Click on this link to secure your spot.

For those shoppers looking to lessen the stress at Xmas- why not grab one of these amazing Xmas Cakes from  Beckenham Booty 


One of our many talented vendors will be there selling these amazing cakes- be quick as they won't last!

And for those wanting to host a ‘Sustainable Christmas’ by purchasing second hand & taking advantage of some of the affordable sustainable products on offer. The PTA’s ‘We Care’ stock is very low but we do still have the following available for those family & friends who are hard to buy for at Christmas :

Assorted Beeswax Wraps- from $5- $20

String Vege Bags- $10

Jute Shopping Bags- $10

Recyclable Coffee Cups -$17

Flow Designed Beckenham Tea Towels- $10

Grid Designed Beckenham A2 Canvas- $30

Frozen Cheese Rolls- $8 per dozen or 4 dozen for $30.

Twilight Fair Sponsorship.

What are we fundraising for?

Funds raised will be used to update our school sports uniform collection for our children. Another major expense for the school is ensuring our digital technology is adequate for incoming curriculum changes set out by the MOE. We need to acquire equipment to enable our children to develop coding skills & utilise robotic tools.

What support are we seeking?

● Sponsorship of a major attraction on the day. (Rental fee costs approximately $300)

● Raffle Prizes

● Donation of services

● Silent Auction items

● Monetary Donations (to assist with set up costs, entertainment, food etc)

By donating upwards of $300, we will add your name to one of the major attractions where you can display your own signage. All of our sponsors’ names will be published on our PTA website, on our PTA Facebook page & at the Fair.

Can you help? email Belinda if you can help: julianandbelinda@gmail.com

BOT Update

ReplaceWithBOTinfo

Community Notices

Child car seat recycling in Christchurch

Recycling isn't limited to the paper, glass, tins and plastic you put in your recycling bin each week.

In the Christchurch parents and caregivers can recycle their damaged, expired or unwanted child car seats through the SeatSmart programme, thus preventing highly recyclable metal and plastic from going to landfill.

The cost to recycle a seat in Christchurch is $25 RRP as some of the dismantling of the seats is done by social enterprises, which provide employment for people who have a disability or are disadvantaged or marginalised.

Christchurch has two collection sites where one can take a seat - Baby on the Move Christchurch North and Baby on the Move Christchurch Central. For more information please visit www.seatsmart.co.nz 

Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration

Come along to the Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration located in the grounds of Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto on Thursday 12th December from 5.00-7.00pm

Free BBQ sausages, Christmas sing-a-longs & a spot of Xmas shopping- just TWO WEEKS away!!!

Still spots available for those wanting to book a market stall -No charge

 Book a Christmas Market Stall, click on this link NOW

Organised by Beckenham locals for the Beckenham community.

BBQ provided by Beckenham Neighbourhood Association.

PIANO & FLUTE LESSONS

Hi my name is Aimee. I am a piano and flute teacher with 14 years experience. I have a few spaces next year on Wednesday afternoons (for children) and Friday mornings (for adults). My studio is in Cashmere. Please contact me on 021 136 2865 or aimeeaiken@gmail.com

Principal's Patch

Kia ora e te whānau

A huge thank you to everyone who turned out to the Whānau Rōpū picnic and 'Ki o Rahi' event last Friday evening on Beckenham Park. It was a beautiful evening, and really great to see so many children and their whānau out to learn a new game together.

Education News this week...

This week the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins has announced Supporting all schools to succeed, the government’s response to the final report of the Tomorrow's Schools Taskforce. Both reports were released at the same time.
Whilst some of the original proposals of the first draft of the Tomorrow's Schools Taskforce report have been changed, there are definitely some positive changes signalled in the government's response. The three key features of the changes being proposed are stated as being:

• More responsive, accessible and integrated local support to schools and early learning services
• Stronger arrangements to underpin principal leadership of the schooling system
• A better balance between local and national responsibilities for school property and network
• provision.

This is still a very aspirational document and the real change and detail of what that will look like is still to be drafted, negotiated and legislated over the coming years.

Final Reports for the year will be out next Friday, 22 November.

This year we have pulled back the date that we publish the final student progress and achievement reports for the year, from the final day of the term to the end of Week 6. There are many reasons why we think this will be a better way of doing this, two big ones being:
a) you get the opportunity to talk to teachers about anything in the report you aren't sure about before the end of the school year, and
b) teachers are not trying to write reports in the final 4 weeks of the year, on top of all of the other end of year activities that are going on.

We have made some changes to the report format, based both on feedback from families and from the move away from National Standards over the past 18 months. We look forward to getting your feedback on the new format. You can expect your child to bring home their report next Friday, 22nd November. Some of our children need two copies of their reports for parents who live in different homes. If we are aware of this need, we will accommodate it. If you need a second report and don't get one, please do let Jacky in the office know, and we will rectify that and make a note for future reports.

Students will still bring home stationery lists,  and information about learning groups for 2020 and 2020 Learning Conference bookings, in the final week of this term

I hope that you all have an enjoyable and safe Anniversary Weekend

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the team

Important Dates

Learning more about our Diverse Learners

Positive Behaviour 4 Learning - PB4L

Mana Ake News

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on alternate Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:10am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is ku2j6. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Parent Seminar on Digital Safety - Tuesday 19 Nov 7 - 8:30pm, Staffroom

Mana Ake will be offering the following important Parent Seminar in November - please put this in your diaries now. The digital world is here to stay. Come along and find out how to keep your children safe in the digital world. Learn how the digital world can affect children's well-being and how to support them in this environment.

Writing Utensils Recycling Programme

Te Mana Raupō Kahui Ako Update

The Te Mana Raupō Kahui Ako is our local cluster of schools who work together for the improved achievement of our children. The schools in our Kahui Ako are Cashmere High, St Martins, Waltham, Thorrington, Ōpāwa, Beckenham, St Mark's School and Diamond Harbour, along with over 30 Early Childhood Education centres.

In the past two weeks, the maths teachers from Cashmere High, along with most of the teachers from the primary schools, got together at St Mark's School for an after school hui on Maths teaching. It was really worthwhile to connect with the other teachers and to begin conversations sharing the good practice we each have in our maths programmes and teaching. We expect this to be the first of many conversations like this, going forward.

Another change that has come about from our strengthening relationships within the Kahui Ako, is closer conversations with the staff at Cashmere High about transitions from our various primary schools into the high school environment. This has resulted in Cashmere High making some significant changes to the way that it gathers information from both teachers and whānau about incoming Year 9 students and we have been very impressed by these changes. The greater depth of knowledge and understanding of the diverse needs of our students that Cashmere High is getting should enable them to better support students with a positive transition from Year 8 through to Year 9.

Congratulations to...

During the school holidays Katy Agar took part in the Christchurch Gang Show. This was a fantastic, highly entertaining variety show put on by the Scouts and Guides of Christchurch. The show had singing, dancing and some very funny skits. There was 6 months of hard work put into rehearsals and 5 full-on performances which were held in the auditorium of Christs College. The cast gave it their all to entertain and Katy was delighted to see some of her friends in the enthusiastic audience. Katy was a little nervous at first with having a big solo but shone like the rainbow in the song she was performing. Well done, we are very proud of you!

PTA News

Beckenham Booty

Spots are filling up fast for the last two Beckenham Bootys of 2019.

Bookings are now open for Sunday 24th November & Sunday 15th December 9-11am

Click on this link Beckenham Booty to book for either or both of these events.

For the shoppers, we are offering the opportunity to host a ‘Sustainable Christmas’ by purchasing second hand & taking advantage of some of the affordable sustainable products on offer. The PTA’s ‘We Care’ stock is very low but we do still have the following available for those family & friends who are hard to buy for at Christmas :

Assorted Beeswax Wraps- from $5- $20

String Vege Bags- $10

Jute Shopping Bags- $10

Recyclable Coffee Cups -$17

Flow Designed Beckenham Tea Towels- $10

Grid Designed Beckenham A2 Canvas- $30

Frozen Cheese Rolls- $8 per dozen or 4 dozen for $30.

We would love to have buskers singing Christmas Carols at our next Beckenham Bootys- if this interests you, please email Email Rachel: rachelwiscombe@gmail.com

Twilight Fair Sponsorship

Our little helpers have been busy this week posting out the Twilight Fair Sponsorship letters. Cross fingers & toes they recoup lots of support from our amazing Beckenham community & beyond to make this the best Twilight Fair ever!



What are we fundraising for?

Funds raised will be used to update our school sports uniform collection for our children. Another major expense for the school is ensuring our digital technology is adequate for incoming curriculum changes set out by the MOE. We need to acquire equipment to enable our children to develop coding skills & utilise robotic tools.

What support are we seeking?

● Sponsorship of a major attraction on the day. (Rental fee costs approximately $300)

● Raffle Prizes

● Donation of services

● Silent Auction items

● Monetary Donations (to assist with set up costs, entertainment, food etc)

By donating upwards of $300, we will add your name to one of the major attractions where you can display your own signage. All of our sponsors’ names will be published on our PTA website, on our PTA Facebook page & at the Fair.

Can you help? email Belinda if you can help 


Mark this date: FRIDAY 20th MARCH 2020: 4:30pm-7:30pm for the PTA's Biennial Twilight Fair. Huge thanks to Gail Harris from Platform Design Ltd for her continued support, generosity & wonderful designs- we love our poster & hope you do too.

Community Notices

ReplaceWithCommunityNotices

Come along to the Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration located in the grounds of Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto on Thursday 12th December from 5.00-7.00pm

Free BBQ and/or bring a picnic.

Come and join the Choir, join in or just listen to some community carol singing.

Organised by Beckenham locals for the Beckenham community.

BBQ provided by Beckenham Neighbourhood Association.

Community Choir (aka anyone who wants to sing).

We will also have Christmas Markets-if you are interested in  booking a Christmas Market Stall, click on this link NOW No charge.

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

GRAB A CUPPA - THERE IS A LOT OF NEWS IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...

Gosh - November already! The year is flying by and, as you will see from the 'Upcoming Events' listed below, there is a LOT happening over the next seven weeks of the school year!
Please do take some time to add events to your diary, or to sync the Community Calendar with your personal digital calendar so you can keep up with what is happening.

Welcome to Sean Lake Ryan who is starting a five-week teacher training placement with Elizabeth Drummond in our Koru team on Monday.

Teams and staffing for 2020

We have been working hard over the past couple of months to try and confirm our full-time teaching staff for 2020.
We have reluctantly accepted the resignations of both Tracy Inwood, and Caitlyn Tinnelly from our permanent staff, effective from the end of 2019.
Tracy Inwood is planning to spend more time travelling to Auckland where her two adult children now live, with a view to eventually moving, with her husband Phil, to be nearer to whānau in the North Island some time over the next few years. Tracy has been part of our staff for over 7 years now, and has made many valuable contributions, particularly to our Year 7/8 team, and then to our Year 5/6 team as their team leader.
Caitlyn Tinnelly has been on maternity leave this year and has been fortunate to win a new permanent position at West Rolleston School, just minutes from where she lives. The Early Childhood Centre that her daughter Pene will attend, is adjacent to the West Rolleston School grounds, so this is a very positive move for her from the perspective of being a working mum. We are very grateful to Caitlyn for the energy and commitment she has given to Beckenham since she started here as a beginning teacher in 2015, and we wish her all the best in her new school.

We are excited to announce the appointment of an existing teacher to a permanent leadership position, two existing fixed-term teachers to permanent positions and the appointment of two new teachers to our staff:
Amber Donovan has been appointed to the permanent leadership position of Team Leader of the Kahikatea Team. Amber has been acting in this role since the beginning of 2018 when she willingly stepped up for what she initially thought would be just 6 months, and it grew into 2 years! Amber brings a wealth of experience to this role, both as a team leader in a previous school and as a member of the Beckenham staff for many years.
Jo Smith has been appointed to our newly created role of Assistant Principal, and Team Leader of our New Entrant/Year 1 team, Koru. Jo has worked in a variety of fixed-term capacities in our school for 4 years now, and we are very excited to have secured her leadership and teaching expertise on a permanent basis.
Jules May was appointed to a fixed-term position at the start of this year when she moved to Christchurch from Wellington. We are delighted Jules has accepted our offer of a permanent position. She brings much experience of teaching junior students, with a particular interest and strength in Māori and Pasifika education, and teaching ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages.
Anne Batchelor will be returning to her roots when she starts as our new Year 5/6 Team Leader in 2020 as she was originally a Beckenham student herself! Anne has been teaching at Alexandra School for the past few years and is very excited about returning to the Beckenham community.
Laura Williamson will be joining our permanent staff in the new year after teaching this term in Tauranga and, prior to that, a number of years teaching at an International School in Hong Kong. Laura is originally from Canterbury and is looking forward to returning home and joining us at Beckenham.

So..... with those appointments made, we can now look at our teaching teams for 2020. The caveat on this information is that we never know what is going to happen between now and the end of January! Whilst I would love to think this is completely set in concrete, we all have lives that change, and I am aware that our teachers' plans can and do change, and sometimes at short notice.

Koru
Jo Smith (Team leader)
Elizabeth Drummond

Kahikatea 
Amber Donovan (Team Leader)
Charlotte Verity
Jules May
Katie McFarlane

Kōwhai
Paulette Newton (Team Leader)
Nick Bruce
Rowena Barker
Laura Williamson

Pōhutukawa
Anne Batchelor (Team Leader)
Steve Cooke
Rae Marsh
Gayle McNaughton
Anna Reid

Kauri 
Nicky Dunlop (Team Leader)
Hannah Elliott
Jenny Diggle
Megan Culver

We will be looking at putting together the homegroups for our tamariki for 2020 over the next few weeks. If you have any considerations you want us to consider when putting your child in a homegroup (remembering that we do not take 'requests' for specific teachers!), please email me directly at principal@beckenham.school.nz.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings

Principal - Tumuaki

Citizen of the Week

Kacey Pedersen - Year 4

Kacey, you are a wonderful role model in the Kowhai Hub. You are an incredibly kind and caring friend to others. You are extremely helpful and always willing to give a helping hand. Your positive attitude to learning is evident in everything you do. Tino pai mahi!

Olivia Hurford - Year 4

Olivia, you are an absolutely stunning role model in Kōwhai hub. You demonstrate all our school values on a daily basis, especially "We Love Learning", by consistently giving your best to every task you undertake. You are a kind and considerate friend to everyone in our team. Tino pai Olivia.

School Notices

BYOD - Bring Your Own Device - How does this work at Beckenham???

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…
A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on alternate Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:10am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is ku2j6. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Parent Seminar on Digital Safety - Tuesday 19 Nov 7 - 8:30pm, Staffroom

Mana Ake will be offering the following important Parent Seminar in November - please put this in your diaries now. The digital world is here to stay. Come along and find out how to keep your children safe in the digital world. Learn how the digital world can affect children's well-being and how to support them in this environment.

Whānau Rōpū Hui this coming Friday, 8th November, 5 pm - 7:30 pm

Kia ora, e te whānau,

For our Whānau Rōpū Hui this term we are excited to be having a shared kai/ potluck picnic at school from 5:00pm to 7:30pm on Friday 8th November.  We are looking forward to getting together again to celebrate Te Ao Māori, share some kai and enjoy some games - including the exciting sport of Ki o Rahi. (Click on this link for a quick introduction to this fun and fast-paced game



Nau mai haere mai, welcome. These hui, get-togethers, are a great opportunity to get to know other tamariki, children and whānau, families in the school community. More information will be sent home next week, we hope to see you there. Hei konei rā!

Steve Cooke and Sampson Karst

Senior Jackets

Our school in the news...

There have been two articles on Stuff and in The Press in the past 10 days about the University of Canterbury research on "Juniors Settling Into School" by Dr KAthleen Liberty. Our school was one of the original five schools that participated in this 5-year study of the effects of post-traumatic-stress on our young children who were starting school. As a result of being part of the study, we have, over time, introduced a number of the recommended strategies that came out of the study, to support all of our children with wellbeing and emotional regulation. These include:

• flipping our lunchtimes from Eat-Play-Learn to Play-Eat-Learn, with instant benefit.
• ensuring that our new buildings and refurbishments were fitted out with neutral or calming colours (pale blues and greens) rather than 'pops' of bright colours (reds, oranges, bright blues) that interior designers often suggest for 'effect'  
• removing hanging items from learning spaces, that may catch a child's peripheral vision as they move and flutter and cause increase anxiety (this was particularly important after the earthquakes when we couldn't rely on our world to stay still the way we had previously expected it to)
• educating children about hydration - 'Drink to Think'
• educating children about the importance of sleep - in 2018 we ran a 'Be a Sleep Detective' programme with children from Year 3-8. We will continue to run this at Year 5/6 every alternate year going forward.

Lunchonline

Last Lunchonline orders on Friday 13th December 2019. Orders restart on Feb 10th 2020.

Congratulations to...

Congratulations to Thomas who placed third in the National Judo Championships in Rotorua last weekend. The points he earned during this competition place him as the second-highest-ranking judo player for under 14-year-olds in NZ.


Over the holidays, Winni and Boyd competed in the National Mountain Bike Championships in Dunedin. Over three days, they competed in enduro, cross country and downhill events. Rain on the Saturday increased the challenge of an already very technical course in the downhill section. Congratulations to Winni who placed 2nd in the under 14 grade. 

...our school Theatre Sports Team of Max, Ben, Meg, Archie, Dom and Maia, who competed today (Saturday 2 November) at the Christchurch Schools Theatre Sports Competition. They were amazing.  They came 1st in the blind round (where they were given a game pulled out of a hat) and were awarded 3rd place overall. Fantastic result, especially considering all the other teams were high schools. Their team name was "New and Improv'd"

'New and Improv'd' who won 3rd place at the Theatre Sports Competition today at the Court Theatre.

PTA News

Have you got your free Giant Atlantic Pumpkin Seed yet?

We are so excited that many of you have taken up the challenge to grow a Giant Atlantic Pumpkin for the Twilight Fair in March 2020

Now that you have your seed here are some tips for starting your seed off, it’s not quite as simple as just planting your seed in a pot...Click on the following link to get some great ideas:  Giant Pumpkins NZ . Their video is also very informative & helpful- we strongly encourage you to watch it.



 King Seeds also have some valuable tips.



And remember if your pumpkin doesn’t quite grow to plan there will be other categories to enter your pumpkin into, such as the Best Decorated Pumpkin....or even the Smallest!!

Please keep us updated with how your little pumpkin is growing, we love to see progress pics - send us your images via the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook Page

If you haven’t already grab your seed, don’t delay as stock is running out. Grab your seed, one free seed per family, from the Office before or after school.

Good luck and happy growing.

Beckenham Booty: Sunday 24th November, 9-11am

Everyone needs to be pro-active with recycling nowadays. Things that one person no longer needs are just what somebody else is looking for.
Pop on down to our next Beckenham Booty car boot sale, grab a coffee, be environmentally friendly & start shopping for a sustainable Christmas. Or better still book a space for $20 & declutter.
Beckenham Booty - Car boot Sale, located in the Beckenham Te Kura o Puroto staff Car Park at 71 Sandwich Rd - we'll be there, we would love to see you! 

Summer Flags art competition. 

Open to all ages, your students may be interested in participating. This competition is seeking designs for summer-themed street flags using a specially crafted colour palette. Six winning designs will be selected to display on 125 street flags around our central city from January to end of March 2020.
Winning entries will receive a voucher worth $150 to spend in the central city!
Competition entry criteria and the submission template can be downloaded on our webpage: https://ccc.govt.nz/culture-and-community/enliven-places-programme/how-the-council-is-enlivening-places/design-a-summer-flag/

SURFKIDS

Childrens Surfing  Programme.
Learn the skills of Surfing in a fun, safe environment. All equipment provided and professional instruction from Aaron Lock and team. For kids 8 - 14 years.
Sundays 10am to 12pm.
Dec / Jan Holidays : from 16th Dec, 10am -12pm
Cost $35 per day or $145 for five or $270 for ten lessons. Bookings essential.
Venue :Sumner.

Call Aaron on 0800 80 SURF (7873) or register online at surfcoach.co.nz