Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Treemendous Makeover Saturday 16 June - only two weeks to go!

The excitement is really building now as we are on the final countdown to our Treemendous Makeover Day on Saturday 16th June.
The day before the Treemendous Makover Working Bee, we are looking forward to having Ruud Kleinpaste - the Bug Man, and Riley Elliott - The Shark Man visit the school. They will be speaking to all of the children, and the teachers, on that Friday.


Please make sure that you have Saturday 16th June (9am-midday) in your diary!

We will have over 800 plants to plant in our Treemendous Makeover area, and there will be a sausage sizzle at the end of the planting - around midday.

What Now TV Crew at Beckenham today

Home Learning Survey

We have had a fabulous response (147 so far) to the Home Learning Survey sent out two weeks ago. This survey will close on Tuesday, so if you haven't had a chance to give your feedback yet, please click on this link and have your say.

Reminder: Tuesday 26th June - School will close for formal instruction at 12:30pm

Due to the Paid Union Meeting for teachers in Christchurch that will be happening on the afternoon of Tuesday 26th June, we will be skeleton staff (Principal and Teacher aides only) from 12:30pm due to our teachers all needing to attend the union meeting. We are requesting that you pick up your children at 12:30pm that day, or contact the office to let us know they will be staying at school so we can arrange supervision.

I hope you all have a relaxing and safe long weekend.
Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Citizen of the Week

James Coleman - Year 6

James, you are an outstanding role model in our hub. You are a highly motivated learner and consistently put your best effort into your learning. You are extremely enthusiastic, inquisitive, caring, and helpful. Thank you for the magnificent contribution you make to our team. You are a superstar!

Ashlyn Taffs - Year 3

Ashlyn, you are such a superstar in the Kōwhai Whānau. You demonstrate of all our school values in all that you do. You approach all learning challenges with a fantastic attitude and a massive smile. Everyone in the hub knows that they can rely on you to be a good friend as well as an amazing role model. Thank you for being awesome Ashlyn! Tino pai.

School Notices

Impetigo (school sores)

We have had cases of Impetigo reported at Beckenham.  Please read the following information provided by the Ministry of Health.

What to do

• Go to the doctor.
• Check and clean every day.
• Gently wash the sores with warm water and a soft cloth. Wash the sores until the crust comes off and wash away the pus and blood.
• Check other children for impetigo. Use any cream from the doctor on the sores.
• Cover sores with a cloth or plaster to help stop the infection from spreading.
• Keep your child’s nails short and clean.
• Wash your hands before and after touching the skin or sores.
• Make sure your child washes their hands often, especially if they touch the sores.

What to do if impetigo gets worseYou need to go back to the doctor if any of these things happen:

• sores last more than a week
• sores become red or swollen
• sores have pus in them
• your child has a fever.

The infection may have spread to other parts of the body or blood. Your child may need blood tests and antibiotics.
It is important to take the antibiotics every day until they are finished, even if the impetigo seems to have cleared up earlier. The antibiotics need to keep killing the infection in the body after the skin has healed.

Time off from kura or school
Until sores have dried up or 24 hours after antibiotic treatment has started.

Drop off zone on Sandwich Road

This seems to be working really well in the mornings, but not in the afternoons. This afternoon every space was taken up with cars that were parked there, all but one without a driver in it, for over 10 mins from 3pm. This completely defeats the purpose of there being a drop off/pick up zone. Caregivers who should have been able to just drive in, pick up their waiting child and drive away again were not able to do this.

There was an article on STUFF just yesterday about the challenges that many schools face with pick up and drop off times. Let's not be one of those schools!

We believe that everyone in our school community has the wellbeing and safety of all of our children as a top priority. To achieve this, we need every person to support the strategies that the school, the council and the road rules provide for our children's safety.

We have been putting 'friendly reminders' on vehicle windscreens since the start of term. If the situation doesn't improve next week, we will be asking the Council to send a traffic warden out to help support this strategy.

Our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA "WE CARE" products are still available for purchasing. We are so excited to share our NEW ‘We Care’ range with you.


Products that help us care for our environment & provide practical assistance in our daily lives- the Jute Bag & Coffee cups are a must for those on the go & will have all the other shoppers in the supermarket green with envy!

We are still also offering an old favourite, the Beckenham Tea Towel, along with a NEW affordable black stylish Beckenham Apron & an A2 Canvas.

Check out ALL these amazing products on our website

ORDER these products throughout the rest of the year & at your convenience.

Thanks to all those that competed the PTA Survey.
Results, with regards to the 2nd Hand UNIFORM SHOP HOURS, highlighted that people prefer afternoon sessions during the week.
Therefore the UNIFORM SHOP (located at the PTA Hub /old dental clinic on the corner of Sandwich Road and Eastern Terrace) will be OPEN Monday, Thursday & Friday 3-3:30pm for the rest of this term starting on Thursday next week.
Want to join the "PTA SUPPORT CREW"? - complete our PTA SURVEY & indicate how/when/where you can support your school - PTA SURVEY 2018

Wellbeing News

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

This week saw the start of the Winter Sport programme at Hagley Park for Year 5-8 students. Huge thanks to Jenny Diggle for the amazing organisation that goes into to setting this up and the smooth weekly running of our participation in this. Thanks also to the other teachers and many parents and caregivers who are giving up their time to support this. We have 125 children participating in 14 teams across the disciplines of Rugby, Football, Hockey and Netball. Each team requires a coach, has had trials and needs weekly training and organisation.
With 125 children going to Hagley each week, there are 71 children remaining at school who will be participating in an alternate sport programme. One of the rotations available as part of this programme is table tennis. The students who took part in this today were very enthusiastic about learning to control a very bouncy, small ball with a mind of its own!

Bullying Free NZ week

This week was the national Bully-Free New Zealand Week. At Beckenham we have decided not to focus so much attention on the 'week' but to focus attention all the time on being conscious of how we can be caring and make a difference in our relationships with one another.
The Ministry of Education published a very useful digital book that we will be sharing with our children at school about how to support someone who you see being bullied rather than joining in, or walking away and doing nothing.


The resource is called "Oat the Goat" and you can read and discuss it with your children by clicking on the link.

Safer streets around Beckenham

This week we have been approached by the Beckenham Neighbourhood Association (BNA) about the wider community concerns for the safety of our community, especially our children, when crossing Beckenham streets. Particular concern has been raised about Tennyson St, along with Centaurus Road, Birdwood Ave and the corner of Sandwich and Norwood Streets.
At the same time, on Thursday evening, one of our school families had a very close brush with tragedy when their four year old was hit by a car on Tennyson St. He is safe at home now with a broken leg, but was extremely lucky not to have suffered much more serious injuries.
Beckenham parents, Liz O'Connor and Ester Vallero, have previously lobbied the Community Board on this issue and our Board of Trustees are committed to supporting the BNA on this issue. 

Treemendous Makeover - Saturday 16 June 9-12noon

The excitement is really building for the big Tremendous Makeover Day on Sat June 16th. The Mazda Foundation have selected this day and time for them to come and work with us on this big makeover.
Teams of children, parents and supporters have been working now since early in the year on the preparations for the big, final makeover day when we will be doing mass planting of this area and there will be lots of special publicity, a sausage sizzle and celebrity guests including Ruud Kleinpaste - the Bugman who works with the Mazda Foundation and Project Crimson to help promote and make the Treemendous Makeovers such exciting events.


To ensure that we are ready for the big day on the 16th June, we need to have another small working bee this coming Saturday 26th May from 1pm - 3pm to build the second wooden nest, and some other preparations. If you are able to help, please contact Matthew Macdonald at matthew@odab.co.nz

Home Learning Review

Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Citizen of the Week

Savanna Groom - Year 6

Savanna, you have really come into your own this year showing what a positive role model you are. You consistently work hard at whatever task you do and do your best to complete it to a high standard. You also show great caring for your friends, always looking out for others and showing a great maturity. You should be very proud of yourself. Tino pai, Savanna.

Bonnie Brookland - Year

Bonnie, you embrace our kete, we love learning, in your fabulous focus and your determination to give of your best in all that that you do. You are respectful, interested and engaging when working with others. Being a loyal and caring friend is something that you value, and something that others value in you. Thank you for the responsible and thoughtful contributions you make to our whānau on a daily basis. Tu meke Bonnie!

School Notices

Allergies

During Term 4 last year, and in Term 1 this year we carried out an extensive review of our Allergies Policy and Guidelines. Many thanks to Michelle Maule, Sue Leadbetter and parent, Lisa Taylor for the work that they did to pull all of this information together.

Across our school we have a number of children with different food allergies.

To support the wellbeing of these students we have the following guidelines in place which we ask you to follow:

For 2018, we ask that there are no peanuts in the Kauri (Year 7/8) or Kowhai (Year 3/4) teams please, due to the extreme anaphylaxis risk for one of our students who learns in that building -  Parenga.

Whenever children bring food to school for shared kai occasions, please follow the guidelines provided by the teachers for that event.

We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change.  Our full allergy policy and guidelines are available on the Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto website and search the Policies portal for ‘allergy’.  If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s point of contact teacher.

13 Reasons Why

You may recall the public discussion generated by last year’s Netflix series "13 Reasons Why".

Season two will be released worldwide on Friday 18 May (today). This show was widely watched by teenagers last year. Themes of suicide, sexual assault, consent, bullying and other issues made some viewers feel distressed and in need of support. Similar and equally confronting themes will be present in season two. In the lead-up to the release, some young people may re-watch the first season, or watch it for the first time.

Many young people say they feel the show represents the issues they face. Banning or recommending a ban on viewing it can be harmful, as young people will still watch it but feel they have to hide that from adults. The issues raised in the series are significant and offer a good opportunity to talk to our young people about these difficult life events – but it is important that those conversations are safe ones. We are working with other agencies to ensure information is available to support and encourage safe conversations between young people and their parents, or another trusted adult, if they view this series.

Some of this information is already available on the resource hub on the Mental Health Foundation website. Additional support material will be added to this hub prior to 18 May.

13 Reasons Why is not the only challenging series young people are watching but it is one of the most talked about. The Office of Film and Literature Classification has released a guide for parents: Talking with young people about what they’re watching.

If you or other members of your whānau, are concerned about a young person, please reach out for help. The Mental Health Foundation have a list of contacts, or phone your local DHBs Mental Health Crisis Team. Support is also available from a trained counsellor anytime by calling or texting 1737.

Ministry of Health - Measles Alert

As students return from the Term 1 holidays, the Ministry of Health is reminding schools to be
aware of the risks of measles.

Over the past month, measles cases have been reported in Canterbury, the Southern District
Health Board region, Nelson-Marlborough, Hamilton and Auckland.
Immunisation – the best protection against measles and it is free!
To be effective, people need to have two measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations.
Anyone who is unsure if they are fully immunised against measles can be vaccinated for free at
their GP.
What can you do?
As a precautionary measure, school leaders are encouraged to confirm the immunisation status
of staff and students. Anyone who is not immunised and gets exposed to a confirmed case of
measles will need to stay home for at least 14 days to ensure the virus doesn’t spread.
General advice
Anyone who suspects they may have measles should avoid contact with other people, especially
those who aren’t fully immunised, and should phone their GP before visiting. It is important to call
first because measles is highly infectious, and people with measles can infect others in the waiting
room.
Further information and advice is available from:

• your local public health unit
• Healthline on 0800 611 116
• 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466 863)
• the Ministry of Health website. 

Thanks to JMW Electrical

PTA News

Hi to all our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Families,

We have an extraordinary community at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto.
Because of this amazing community the PTA can do a really great job to support our school through a variety of events, activities, practical support and fundraising.
Please take a moment to complete our annual survey
https://bit.ly/2KZgpSf

LAST CHANCE

We have had an opportunity open up for a lucky business out there.

Looking to advertise your business/service to an audience of over 450+ on a daily basis over two years for a mere $750?
Well Beckenham School PTA have an opportunity for you that would be silly to miss! We are offering a “cog space” on our new bike/scooter fence which faces Sandwich Road.


A BIG thanks to all those local businesses that have already come on board. Payment can be split over several payments for your convenience.

Your business/service will not only be viewed by the school families but will also be viewed by other community groups that use the school facilities before, after school & in the weekends.
Promote your business/service’s BRAND for TWO years & support Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto children to bike/scooter to their school. As a parent I know I will be supporting those businesses that give back to their community & encourage healthy habits in our children.

For further detailed information on this opportunity click on this link.

To discuss further contact Rachel at pta@beckenham.school.nz OR ph 027 246 3511 if you have any queries.

DEADLINE for purchasing a COG is Friday 25th May. LAST CHANCE before the COGS are off to the printer!

We would like to get feedback from our parent community, on the direction we take with home learning.

Families need to carefully consider what they value when it comes to home learning. Our home learning options need to fit with your values and the time your family wants to put towards this compared with the other valuable family activities you may be involved in.

We know that parents have a diverse range of views on home learning. We also know that each family context is very different and many families already have competing priorities on their time after school.

Your homes present opportunities for your children to develop oral language skills, social skills and values that will enable them to contribute positively to their own future learning, and to the society that they are growing up in. To that end, we prefer to 'offer' home learning opportunities that are flexible and give each student and their family agency to select an approach that will meet the needs of your child. For some families, that selection may be "We are already doing so much - we don't need any more home learning." For others, there will be the ability to choose to engage with the activities that you believe are valuable. 

We would like to hear your views on this topic.

Please click on this link, to give us your feedback on this topic.

The link will close for accepting feedback on Monday 4th June

The Board of Trustees has set up a new Property Working Party to specifically address the outdoor areas of the school, now that the building project has virtually finished.

As was anticipated, there is no money left in the Ministry of Education building project funds for any landscaping or outdoor improvements. 

We have three major areas that we want to focus on this year. These are:

This area is on the Eastern boundary of the school on Eastern Tce by the river (click on this link to see the proposal that was successful in winning a $10,000 makeover from Mazda Foundation). This proposal is now a plan and we are actively working on this for the next two and a half months. We will be having a number of working bees to support this project, beginnning next Saturday, 7th April from 9am to 3pm  Click here to register your willingness to participate, and the time you think you could be there for. We will be needing people with garden tools including pruning saws, gardens forks and spades for relocation and planting of natives, wheelbarrows and energy! We also have a fence to remove, so need a couple of grinders as well.

The Bike Stand area

We are acutely aware of the need to expand this area to make it functional. We have a plan ready to go that will involve the development of a second bike stand area at the top of the Eastern Tce entrance, behind Kōmanawa (R21/22) and this will hopefully be resolved by the start of Term 2. Thank you all for your patience in this.

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Big celebrations - today the builders have departed from Beckenham and our building renewal is officially complete.  We will be in the 'defects' period for a number of months, and there are some of still some landscaping issues to be sorted out, and final work to be finished off, but, to all intents and purposes, we are done!


This project began on Friday 23rd September 2016, when the first team arrived on site to prepare Rooms 5,6,7,14 & 15 for relocation to Hornby High School.


On Monday October 10th 2016 (Term 4) HRS moved on site.



For the next four terms we were operating from two sites, with our Year 5-8 students and staff busing to Champion Street every day.


Finally, October 16th 2017 (Term 4 last year) we returned to having all of our children and staff back on the same site.



We have been a building site for 18 months, which included 65 school weeks! It certainly was very challenging at times, and our staff, students, whānau and community have made accommodations and put up with noise, vehicles, dust, ground shaking and traffic congestion, knowing that the long goal of a rebuilt school needed their support and patience.


Today what makes me feel really proud about our school, our staff and our students is that, during that time, we didn't just survive, we thrived! Thank you all for the way that you have each, in your own way, supported our staff, our children and our school over these past months.

Our Board have been a constant support and strength, showing their commitment to ensuring our rebuild would be the best possible one that we could achieve for our school.

Our PTA have been incredible throughout, always supporting the teachers, and the admin team, with practical help when it was needed. They are currently planning the first School Fair for four years, so it was really disappointing to see that six of their Fair posters were all stolen from around Beckenham earlier this week. It would be a great help to the PTA if each one of our parents on Facebook would offer your help through the Ways You can Help at the Beckenham School Twilight Fair link, and 'share' the Fair event with all of your friends and family, so that we have the most amazing fair ever and the PTA can reach the fundraising target of $115,000 they have set for our outdoor spaces.


Whilst today mostly felt like any other Friday, I will be driving home today with a very warm feeling of satisfaction in knowing that we are (largely) through the building process. It is an honour and a privilege to be the principal of Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto, and I thank each and every one of you for your support of me and our staff, as we work together each day to make this school amazing for our children.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Citizen of the Week

Meg Macdonald - Year 7

Meg, you live and breath citizenship in our Kauri Whānau. You enthusiastically embrace leadership opportunities, using your initiative to go above and beyond expectations. Your positive, considerate attitude makes a difference to those around you. You have a growth mindset in the face of learning and challenge, making you an outstanding role model in our kura.

William Pooch - Year 4

Will, you are an highly engaged learner that embraces any challenge. You have an inquisitive mind, where you have the self confidence  and persistence to make anything possible. You constantly make connections to your learning and help to teach others. Thank you for always being an outstanding role model in our team!

School Notices

Scholastic Book Club

This year Scholastic Book Club brochures will be sent home with students. Parents and Caregivers can order their chosen books online with Scholastic. http://www.scholastic.co.nz/
 No orders or sales are able to be made at the School Office. The books will be delivered to Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto and sent to your child’s classroom for pickup.
There will be a two week cut off for orders. Orders received by Scholastic after that period will incur extra cost for postage and it will be a delivered to your home not Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto.
The school earns reward points from the sales made to our students which is then used by staff to purchase resources from scholastic. 

Congratulations 

Cheese Rolls

Please Vote for our School

Uniform

Lost Property

Sports News

Duathlon

In preparation for the Year 5 to 8 duathlon next Monday (12th of March), the bike stands will be moved from their usual place to the transition area on the Western side of the park. Children participating in the duathlon should lock their bike to a stand in the transition area. Children who scooter or bike to school and are not in the duathlon can lean their bike against the building or the fence in the fenced biked area.

PTA News

A big thanks to the 33 people who have volunteered to be on a Fair/Food Stall

To avoid huge cues & stalls not being able to open- we need a lot MORE helpers. We currently have 25% of the number of helpers we require.

Please sign up & work on a stall if you can. The shifts are 2 hours only, enabling you to still enjoy 90 minutes of the fair. Parents often share the role- one parent does the early shift while the other does the late shift. Shift times are 4pm-6pm & 6pm-8pm

CLICK on this LINK: FAIR HELPER ROSTER  OR drop in to Fair HQ open every morning BEFORE & AFTER school, Hub 22 (next to the NEW Basketball Hoop) & sign up to the rosters on display

If you have a specific stall or person you would like to be with, we will endeavour to accommodate your requests. Put requests under the ‘comments’ section

JOIN the FAIR TEAM NOW: "Teamwork, makes the Dream work"

 Let’s make this the best Fair ever for our children.

For ALL information about the TWILIGHT FAIR: FRIDAY 23rd MARCH: 4:30pm-7:30pm- LIKE the Beckenham PTA Facebook Page.

See you in TWO WEEKS.

Fun French Beginners’ Classes Years 2-8: 

A 4 session taster French course is being offered at Beckenham this term, and beyond. The major emphasis is on communicating orally through the interactive use of fun games, song, role-play and ‘real life’ activities. For more information, please email admin@Lpa.co.nz or contact us on 022 358 2211. C’est si bon!

Starfish Swim School

Bookings for the April Holiday Programare now open!
Week one:
16 th – 20 th April - $65
Week two:
23 rd - 27 th April - $52 (Closed Anzac Day)
$110 for both weeks.
Email: info@starfishswimschool.co.nz
Or phone us at: 03 3381795
2 Nash Road, Aidenfield

Health School Lunches in 60 seconds

School lunches. Trying to be healthy, quick, and creative can all be a bit much at times. This free public seminar hosted by St Saviour's and St Nicholas Anglican Church will give you fresh ideas and a confidence boost in your preparation of school lunches.
Charlene Smith is a NZ Registered Dietitian with years of experience. She has specialised in paediatrics, diabetes, and more recently children with epilepsy. She is also a mother of two busy kids. She isn't the food police and has a practical and refreshing approach to eating well!
Friday 16th March, 7.30pm at St Saviour's, 200 Colombo St.
Let us know you are coming here, or just turn up on the night!

Halswell United Football Club

Online registrations are CLOSING SOON for ages 4 years to 50+.
The season starts 7th April to end of August (early bird fees before
end of March).
Games for 4-8 year olds are held at Halswell Domain on Saturdays
with optional trainings available on Mondays for 4-6 year olds and
Fridays for 7-8 year olds.
5th/6th Grades from $70, 7th/8th Grades from $110 for the whole
season.
Teams for 9-19 years have been formed—limited spaces available
For more information please visit our website at:
www.HawkFootball.org.nz
Any questions regarding 4-8 year olds, email Trudy Murdoch:
huafcFKFF@gmail.com
All other queries email Sam Bunn: huafcGM@gmail.com

Sea2Sky Challenge on Sunday 18th March.

Held at the beautiful Scarborough Beach we have both Duathlon and Triathlon events for all ages and abilities.  We encourage children from 9 years to have a go and to bring Mum, Dad and the rest of the family to race too or to share in the day.
Please go on to our website and have a look at the different races available: www.sea2skychallenge.com
We hope to see many of Canterbury's children and families there.

Highland Dancing classes for Boys and Girls

Chch South Community Gardens Market Day 

188 STRICKLAND STREET SATURDAY 31st MARCH 10AM – 1PM
~ PLANTS & PRODUCE ~ PICKLES AND PRESERVES ~ DELICIOUS BAKING ~ SOUP & SAUSAGE SIZZLE ~ BOOKS & FREE LUCKY VISITOR RAFFLE DRAW