Thank you to the people who replied to our last newsletter offering help with our special lunchtime programmes.  We appreciate all your support.

This term we have started utilising our exciting, new Treemendous area.


The children are able to utilise the area in class time with their teacher or an adult, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at break times when we have duty teachers monitoring the area.


It has been exciting watching our Treemendous wardens take care of the area and the children who play there, offering information about the plants and how we can play in this wonderful area.  The large “nests” have become pirate ships, balance beams in a circus, a dance arena and a place for fairies to rest.


The area is also rich with intriguing creatures which the children can observe and discuss.



Kindest regards













Sue Leadbetter
Acting Principal

Kia ora whānau

I’m writing this from Adelaide where I’m currently shadowing the principal of Lockleys North Primary School. I am feeling very privileged to have this opportunity to meet so many dedicated Australian educators, teachers, support staff and principals, who have all been welcoming, generous with their time and keen to share with me their practice and passion for teaching and learning. It's exciting to see so many similarities between our schools, the beliefs that we share about how children learn, and what authentic, 21st Century teaching and learning needs to look like to successfully equip our learners for the future.

What has surprised me is the difference in the resourcing that schools here get, compared to what we are expected to work with in New Zealand. All teachers here get an hour of classroom release for planning EVERY DAY and they get additional release each term to carry out assessment tasks. Like our teachers, they still take their work home to finish in the evenings and weekends. Children who are English as second language learners are put into classes with a ratio of one teacher to 15 children, that are dedicated to teaching them English for the first three years of their schooling, regardless of their starting year level, before they are transitioned to their local school into a mainstream class. Schools here have dedicated learning support teachers who are able to work individually and with groups of children with diverse learning needs. Students with high behaviour and/or learning needs have access to significantly more teacher aide and specialist teacher support. Teachers are expected to go to training workshops that are run and funded by their Department of Education, during school hours (as opposed to after school or in the holidays). After 10 years, a teacher is entitled to take nearly 10 weeks of long-service leave, and the pay scales here for teachers are at least 30% higher than ours in NZ.

In voting to go on strike on August 15th, our primary teaching profession is asking to be properly resourced and funded to do the work that they are expected to do. This is not simply about pay - it is about the quality of education that we want to be able to provide for our children.

The OECD has warned that our teachers are paid ten percent less than other New Zealanders with similar levels of skills and experience, and we're paid much less than many of our peers overseas. NZ teachers have got some of the highest workloads, biggest classes, and lowest pay of any teachers in the developed world (OECD Education at a Glance, 2017).

In New Zealand we have a serious crisis occurring. We have young teachers leaving the profession in droves and a large percentage of our aging profession heading towards retirement. We have fewer numbers entering teacher training and many of those who graduate are not staying in the profession beyond their first two to four years. In parts of New Zealand, schools cannot get experienced, quality teachers when they advertise positions. Even in Christchurch, where a teaching advertisement 10 years ago would have typically attracted over 50 quality, experienced applicants, we would now be lucky now to get five.

Our students with diverse and complex learning needs are not getting the in-class support and access to expert professionals (resource teachers of literacy, psychologists, behaviour therapists, speech language therapists, etc.) that they need and deserve. Teacher aide funding to schools has always been insufficient and has been continuously eroded over the years.

The wellbeing of our profession has been being eroded and undermined for years and we cannot sustain this any longer. The ones who ultimately suffer are our children who are expected to thrive in  a system that is not being resourced to meet their diverse and complex needs. By taking industrial action, we are asking for more resourcing for our education system:

• by resourcing schools to support diverse learners through more targetted funding for learning support staffing (teachers and teacher aides), 
• by paying teachers more to attract and retain brilliant teachers, and 
• by giving teachers better release time to manage their workloads and to have time for professional development, planning and assessment.

You can read more about the campaign here, on the NZEI website.

Primary teachers in New Zealand have not taken the decision to strike lightly - this hasn’t happened in New Zealand since the 1990s. Please show your support for our teachers in whatever way you can.

Tiffany, you are an outstanding role model and a leading light in our Kōwhai whānau. You always show our school values by being an active learner and striving to do your absolute best. You are a wonderfully caring, positive and supportive friend, Tiffany, and we are very proud of you. Ka Pai!

Wellbeing

Reduce food waste and your food budget, with great tips from LOVE FOOD HATE WASTE.

Learning Conferences

School will be closing at 2pm on Tuesday 31 July & Thursday 2 August.  Please pick your children up at 2pm.  If you require supervision for your child(ren) from 2-3pm please contact Jacky at the office, Ph:  3371404, or email: office@beckenham.school.nz.

The responses were reviewed & consequently a new supplier was sought.

We are pleased to announce that Mainland Uniforms​ will be the NEW supplier of the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto uniform.

Mainland Uniforms are a local company that have been supplying Christchurch schools uniform for over 100 years. They have recently opened a city store, conveniently located at 189 Peterborough St (next to Knitwear) with ample off-street parking.

Opening hours are as follows: Monday - Friday 9am-5pm & Sat 10am-1pm.

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto uniform will be stocked at this store & available for purchasing from the beginning of Term Three.

Generic items of the uniform (plain red polos, plain black track pants, culottes & shorts) can still be sourced from other stores but Mainland Uniform will be the only supplier of our logo items (red polar fleece zipped jacket, red polycotton sweatshirt & the senior jacket)

They can also supply these generic items & are at comparable prices to the previous supplier, conveniently providing a one stop shop.

Mainland Uniforms also offer an online service for those unable to make it to the shop. A direct link can be found on the school website OR via http://www.mainlanduniforms.co.nz/ -click on Beckenham ​Te Kura o Pūroto​ link & the relevant uniform menu will drop down for selection.

The uniform will remain the same and logoed items will display the NEW school logo. Your current uniform stock can be continued to be worn even if it displays the “old” logo.

Responses from the survey also indicated a “natural fibre” item would be appreciated.

Mainland Uniform will be supplying a thick red plain merino top, to be worn as a jersey.

A plain black skort has also been added to the uniform list along with double-kneed plain black fleece track pants.

Layby will be a service that can NOW be offered over the whole year. A 10% deposit will be required & direct debit can be set up. From September, every year, Mainland Uniforms also offer a 10% discount on layby items in preparation for the new school year. On completion of the layby, if the child has outgrown the item it can be easily swapped for the correct size.

Mainland Uniforms have assured the school that stock levels will be kept high & if there isn’t a particular size, it will be sourced & available within 1-2 weeks (including logo items).

We are very excited to be working with Mainland Uniforms & encourage you to visit the City Store or check out their online store.

Mainland Uniforms @ City

Opening Hours

Mon-Fri: 9:00am - 5:00pm

Sat: 10:00am - 1:00pm

Address: 189 Peterborough Street 

Phone: 03 377 6771

Email: city@mainlanduniforms.co.nz

Web: http://www.mainlanduniforms.co.nz/

Next Thursday (21st June), the Student Council will be holding a Pyjama Day to ring in the shortest day of the year. Students are invited to wear their pyjamas to school and eat a hot porridge breakfast, kindly provided by the PTA. The breakfast will be served in the hall from 8:00-9:00 am. In order to minimise waste, we are asking that students bring their own named bowl; these will be rinsed and returned to the students before the end of the day. Spoons will be provided. In return for breakfast and/or mufti, we are asking students to bring a can of food to donate to the Christchurch Methodist Mission, so that those in need can have a hot dinner.