Team Kauri Blog Update

Kia ora e te whānau,

What an energetic and action-packed week we’ve had in Team Kauri! Our tamariki have been representing Beckenham Te Kura o Pūrotu with pride, creativity, and incredible determination across sport, the arts, and hands-on learning. Here are some of the fantastic highlights from around our team!

Year 5–8 Choir Performance

Our Year 5–8 Choir took to the stage on Friday, 6th November, delivering a wonderful performance. Their hard work, vocal harmony, and dedication during rehearsals truly paid off, and it was a joy to hear them share their musical talents with us. Ka mau te wehi!

Jump Jam Team Shines at Cashmere High

A huge shoutout to our dynamic Jump Jam Team, who recently competed at Cashmere High School! They brought absolute energy, sharp synchronization, and infectious enthusiasm to the stage. They represented Team Kauri and our school with brilliant sportsmanship and spirit. We are so proud of their effort! 

Zones Athletics at Hansen Park

On Monday of Week 4, our selected athletes headed to Hansen Park to represent Beckenham at the Zones Athletics competition. Facing strong competition from across the district, our students pushed themselves, cheered each other on, and truly embodied our "We Love Challenge" and "We Get There Together" school values. High fives to everyone who gave it their all!

Imagination Station in the Hall

On Thursday, 5th November, our school hall was transformed into a hive of innovation thanks to Imagination Station! Students got hands-on with creative design, engineering challenges, and interactive building tasks. It was fantastic to watch their problem-solving skills and teamwork in action.

Thank you to all our parents, whānau, and supporters who help make these rich opportunities possible for our learners. Have a fantastic weekend!

Nāku noa, nā,

The Team Kauri Teachers

What a busy start to Term 4 in the Kauri hub! We have been very active practising for Athletics Day and completed the long jump and mid-distance competitions on Wednesday. All have been a great success! Congratulations to the following Year 7 and 8 students for their placings in long jump:

Year 7 Girls - 1st Clara, 2nd Jayme, 3rd Hazel, 4th Beatrix, 5th Lily

Year 7 Open - 1st Haydn, 2nd Harvey, 3rd Walter, 4th Louis, 5th -

Year 8 Girls - 1st Laura, 2nd Mia, 3rd Zaria, 4th Jessica, 5th Misha

Year 8 Open - 1st Zach, 2nd Thomas O, 3rd Ben, 4th Samson, 5th Daniel

In writing, we have been discussing and experimenting with scriptwriting. We will then take the skills learnt and apply them to our home group production scripts. We are at the very beginning stages of our Kauri Production. More information and dates to follow as we get closer to the performance date.

We had our speech finals on Thursday. Wow, we have many talented writers and presenters on our team. Students chose to write a persuasive or storytelling speech. Our judges were very challenged in choosing the winners! Congratulations to the following students:

Year 8: Max Potter 1st Place, Minah Malak Runner-up

Year 8: Pippa Chapman 1st Place, Paige Cowan Runner-Up

Technology: The students are now in their last rotation at South Intermediate technology classes. Please ask your child what they are working on.

Upcoming Dates:  Term 4

Week 3: Monday: NO SCHOOL (LABOUR DAY)

   Tuesday: Tech at South (8:30 start)

Tuesday: Start of our Financial Literacy sessions with ASB

Friday: Celebration Assembly (start time 9:40)

Saturday: Jump Jam Competition (Y 5-8) at Cashmere High School

Week 4: Monday: Year 5-8 Zone Athletics at Hansens Park (9:00-3:00)

Friday: Celebration Assembly 

Friday: Choir Music Festival Rehearsal (9:00-1:00)

Ngā mihi,

Hugo, Kate McG, Sarah A, Megan C 

Speech Finals

Term 3, Week 6!

Tēnā koutou! This term has been a successful and busy term so far!

Learning this term

In Team Kauri, our tamariki have been immersed in a vibrant mix of creative art and rich literacy learning.

• Art & Design: Students are exploring diverse visual mediums, experimenting with texture and technique through mosaic work, layered art, mixed media creations, and anime-style drawing.

• Literacy & Storytelling: In writing, learners are developing their narrative voices and honing their storytelling skills, anchored by their reading and analysis of Whale Pot Bay.

This combination allows our students to express themselves visually while deepening their comprehension and creative writing abilities.

Cantamath & Beckamath

Our school’s mathematicians truly shone over two exciting weeks of competition, showcasing our core values of ‘We Love Learning’ and We Love Challenge’. In Week 5, students headed to the Horncastle Arena to take on the fast-paced Cantamath team competition alongside the impressive display competition, representing our school with outstanding focus and creativity. The momentum carried right into Week 6 with our very own Beckamath Team Kauri competition held in the school hall, where students tackled complex problem-solving with remarkable grit and teamwork. Both events were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone involved, highlighting the passion, perseverance, and sharp mathematical minds across our school!

Duathlon & Winter Sport

Our school athletes demonstrated outstanding grit and school spirit during our recent school duathlon event, representing themselves with pride and showcasing exceptional sportsmanship from start to finish. A huge thank you goes out to our incredible parents and whānau—we truly appreciate everyone who pitched in as track helpers and cheered our competitors on with so much enthusiasm!

As we reach the end of our Thursday Winter Sport program, we would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the season such a success. A special thanks goes to our school sports coordinator, Kate McG, alongside all of the dedicated staff, student leaders, and parent helpers whose time, energy, and organization kept our teams thriving week after week.

Life Education Bus

During Weeks 8 and 9, our students will be visiting the Life Education bus to engage in an important learning sequence focused on Decision Making and Digital Citizenship.

As tamariki grow and navigate both face-to-face and online spaces, developing a strong sense of personal agency and self-awareness is critical. This programme will support students to explore two core inquiry questions:

• Why are my reputation and identity important? (Understanding how personal values, self-image, and public perception shape who we are and how others see us.)

• How do the decisions I make online and/or offline affect me and others? (Recognising the ripple effects of our choices, practicing empathy, and understanding accountability in a digital world.)

Life Education’s interactive sessions provide a safe, engaging environment for students to discuss real-world scenarios, build critical thinking skills, and practice making positive choices that protect their well-being and respect those around them.

How you can support at home: You can reinforce this learning by having open kōrero (conversations) with your child about their experiences online and offline. Ask them what apps or games they enjoy, discuss how they decide what is safe or kind to share, and talk about times they’ve made a great decision.

If you have any questions about the upcoming Life Education sessions, please feel free to get in touch.

Upcoming Events: Term 3

Week 7

• Monday: He Hura Kōrero: Court Theatre Performance

• Wednesday: Relationships & Sexuality Education Parent Evening - 6pm.

• Thursday: Ski trip

• Friday: Staff Only Day (No school)

Week 8 - We Care Week

• Monday: Life Ed Bus Arrives & PSC Duathlon

• Tuesday: Cashmere High school testing day

• Wednesday: Cheese Roll - fundraiser

• Thursday: Canterbury cricket sessions

• Friday: Celebration assembly

Kia ora koutou,

What a busy and productive couple of weeks it has been in the Kauri Hub! There has been plenty of learning, creativity and fun happening across the hub.

We have had our first session preparing for our ski trip in Week 7, with students getting organised and excited for the adventure ahead. Our Cantamath projects have been completed. The students certainly used brilliant minds, showing fantastic mathematical thinking and creativity.

In writing, we have been creating exciting narratives filled with suspense, action and interesting characters. It has been great to see students developing their ideas and bringing their stories to life.

Winter Sport continues to be a highlight each Thursday, with plenty of energy, teamwork and fun on the fields. A reminder that our last Winter Sport session will be in Week 6.

Our Passions sessions have also been a real highlight, with students getting stuck into cooking, movie-making, board games and buddy activities. There is so much enthusiasm and creativity being fostered, and it has been fantastic to see students sharing their interests, learning new skills and working together.

Art

We have been offering Art sessions twice a week in Term 3. The students were able to choose Mosaics - dry fit and gluing, Anime sketching, Mixed Media techniques, or Layered Art. We have some very talented artists on our team. Here are some pictures of the Mosaics being created.

Cantamaths Projects

Here are a few photos of Kauri’s maths projects. The projects chosen to go to Cantamaths will be delivered to their location on Tuesday. Well done team!

Te Mana Raupō Maths Challenge

Our maths team represented our kura with pride at the maths competition on Tuesday. The Year 8 children came second. They got all the questions correct. There was also a fun challenge after their break. They were given number/letter problems to solve. Ka pai to our mathematicians!

PSC Indoor Volleyball Tournament at Parakiore

Our volleyball team had a blast at the tournament on Monday. Although they didn’t place, they were energetic and proud of their achievements. 

Upcoming Dates:  

Term 3

Week 5: Wednesday: Cantamath Competition (4:00-7:00)

   Thursday: Winter Sport

Friday: School Disco 4:30-5:30 (Year 5-8)

Week 6: Wednesday: Year 5-8 School Duathlon (12:00-3:00) Beckenham Park

Friday: Celebration Assembly 

Ngā mihi,

Hugo, Kate McG, Sarah A, Megan C and Megan H