Author Archives: Sandy Hastings, Principal, Beckenham School

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter, Rāmere, (Friday) 22 July

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

I hope that you have all managed to get some time with whānau for rest and relaxation. The weather has been particularly challenging, and there will be some for who the 'holiday' was anything but. If you can take a couple of minutes to read through the important information below, it will help to ensure that you and your child are well-prepared for school on Monday.


COVID-19 

Please remember to let me or the office know if your child has contracted Covid either during the holidays or going forward into Term 3. We are still advising the Ministry of Education of our case numbers. We continue to see both staff and students testing positive for Covid, and we know that other winter illnesses are still prevalent. Based on information to date, 61% of our staff have had Covid, along with 46% of our students. 

Reminder about our Mask-wearing policy

Public health advice clearly shows that mask-wearing is a strong tool in the defence against the transmission of COVID-19 and other airborne respiratory viruses. Masks are effective at preventing transmission of COVID-19 to a contact or preventing transmission of COVID-19 from a case. Masks work alongside other measures to protect students and staff.




The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education strongly recommend that all schools and kura require mask wearing indoors for students Year 4 and above, where it will not have a significant impact on teaching and learning. For us at Beckenham, this is simply a continuation of the policy that we have had in place all year.
All students from Year 5-8 need to wear masks when inside at school. Younger students are encouraged to wear masks if they are able to.

If your child is going to be absent from school...

As you will have seen from the attendance your child's report, we are required to categorise absences as either Justified or Unjustified. If you don't let us know why your child is absent from school, their attendance is automatically classified as Unjustified. 
Please ALWAYS let us know if your child is going to be absent by emailing, phoning or texting the school cellphone and also letting us know the reason why they are away. With high numbers of absences at the moment with both COVID and winter illness, this also saves Jacky and Reihana a lot of time that is spent having to contact families when children are not at school.
Phone: (03) 337-1404
Text Message: 021 027 94107
Email: office@beckenham.school.nz

Sandwich Road and ongoing Road Works

Unfortunately, SEIPP have still got another day of work to do on Sandwich Road next week, which means that Sandwich Road will be closed at the Norwood intersection on Monday. Please allow extra time, and we strongly urge you not to drive into Sandwich Road unless it is absolutely critical. Large volumes of vehicles trying to turn around will make the street very dangerous for our children. Please park away from Sandwich Road and walk if possible.

Emotional Literacy & Wellbeing 

Our word of the week for Week 1 is upstander. An upstander is a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied. As part of our Health education curriculum, we teach children how to practice being an upstander, showing that they can do something active to counteract negative behaviour or bullying, rather than being a bystander and doing nothing.
We will be exploring an excellent resource this week, particularly with our Year 1-4 students, called "Oat the Goat". This resource is available online for families too and includes good resources for families to use to address bullying in various forms. 



Fencing around the school

When you return to school on Monday you will notice that the last phase of our fencing project has begun and we are close to being 'securely fenced' for our younger and more vulnerable students. We expect that the gates and final panels will be going in over the coming week. Please ALWAYS leave gates shut behind you. If we all practice this ALL THE TIME, we will make sure that we build good habits and ensure that the fences do the job of keeping children safe.

Free Flu Jabs For Kids 

Tamariki are at risk of getting very sick from the flu, and of passing it on to their whānau. All children from 6 months of age can benefit from getting the flu vaccine every year. It is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Flu jabs are now free for tamariki (kids) aged 3-12 years, and with winter upon us, it is a good time to book in for your flu vaccination at your local GP, a covid vaccination centre, and some pharmacies.

For more information on influenza vaccinations, see the link below: 


Ngā mihi mahana
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

South Library Community Feedback Opportunity



If you would like to have your say on the future of the South Library and Service Centre building, you have until this Monday 25 July. 

Your feedback will help shape design, feel, and functionality, as we explore plans for a rebuild.


Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 1 July 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

One more week of school to go before the July holidays. Next week is a big week with school finishing at the early time of 2pm on Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th July, for Learning Conferences.

Please would EVERY family fill out this form before Monday, to let us know what the plans for your children are at 2pm on Monday and Wednesday. If you need your child to be supervised at school between 2 and 3pm, we need to know.

If you haven't yet booked a Learning Conference, you can still do that by clicking here. (Year 7/8 whānau - please allow half an hour for your learning conference.) This will be an opportunity for you to meet with your child's home group teacher and discuss their progress and next steps.

Reports went live this afternoon on HERO. To view your child report, log into HERO on your smartphone, computer or tablet, and click on the 2022 report option. You will also see a summary of their attendance for 2022.

ShowQuest Success!

In Term 1, a group of tamariki from the Kauri team started work conceptualising and choreographing our ShowQuest performance. The group wanted to explore how gender stereotypes and societal expectations can impact our well-being. After many creative ideas were proposed and discussed, the group settled on telling the story of a young boy who opens the wrong present on Christmas morning. The present, that was meant for his sister, is a doll. It's the gift he's always wanted, but society tells us that boys play with trucks and super heros, not dolls. The boy hides the doll in his toy box and goes to sleep. Once he is fast asleep, the toys come to life...

The group have worked incredibly hard creating this performance and they have done everything from choreographing, designing costumes, creating the backdrop, editing the music and video wall, and making props. Two weeks ago, their hard work came to fruition as they performed their dance at the Town Hall. Two students received training so that they could work in the lighting booth. The dance was professionally filmed and a digital showing went live on 27th of June. 

They put on an outstanding performance that was full of energy and expression. We are very proud of them all. 

A huge thank you to Jenny Diggle for supporting our rangitahi with this performance and to the caregivers who provided transport, did hair and make up and supervised the children the day they went to perform.  




Hopefully, you will be able to watch our school's performance through this link (their segment starts at 1:11:40 into the two-and-a-half-hour show.) or through this link (just the Beckenham segment)

As you can see below - the results that they achieved were outstanding! Our huge congratulations go out to them all.



Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Monday 4 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Wednesday 6 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2
Monday 25 July - First day of Term 3

Citizen of the Week

Bryn Smithson  - Year 4

Bryn, you are a superstar in our team. You persistently demonstrate a positive and enthusiastic attitude in all areas of learning and you are a fantastic role model to other students. You are a self-motivated learner and constantly strive to improve yourself. You are very thoughtful, friendly and polite. Well done for always putting 100% into your learning. Keep up the outstanding work, Bryn!

School Notices

Road Works UPDATE -  starting on Monday 4th July

From SIEPP:
We have some upcoming changes to the areas where we are doing road works, which will have an impact on the school and community traffic. Currently, we have two work fronts in the area – one on Eastern Tce at the Fisher Ave intersection, and one on Norwood Street between Fisher Ave and Tennyson St. The next stage of these works require closures that will result in some longer detour routes for people travelling to and from the school form Tennyson Street direction. I have attached a copy of our start works notice that has been delivered to affected residents in the area. To summarise what is happening: 

  • Norwood St/Fisher Ave intersection will be closed from 04/07/22 for aprox. 2 weeks
  • Eastern Terrace will be closed between Fisher Ave and Tennyson St from 04/07/22 for aprox. 4 weeks.
  • While both of these areas are closed traffic that would usually travel down Norwood Street or Eastern Terrace will need to follow the detour route down Colombo Street
  • Once the Norwood St/Fisher Ave intersection is re-opened, traffic will be able to detour down Norwood Street

Please allow plenty of time for drop-off and pick up, and extra time to get to learning conferences. If it is at all possible, please walk or cycle with children.

Tuning Into Kids - Parenting programme

Mana Ake are offering a 6 session parenting programme during Term 3 called "Tuning into Kids - Emotionally Intelligent Parenting"
Details are shown below. To register, email the facilitator of the course that you wish to attend.
If you are interested in attending a "Tuning in to Kids" course, but these dates or locations don't suit please email: manaakefeedback@cdhb.health.nz. You will be emailed with the details of new courses as they are released. 

Congratulations to...

"Sustainable Ōtautahi Christchurch, Speakng 4 the Planet" finalist - Ashlyn Taffs 


Speaking 4 the Planet (S4P) is a public speaking, spoken word and visual arts competition. It provides opportunities for students to express their ideas for a better world. Today our very own Ashlyn Taffs took part as a finalist in Speaking 4 The Planet 2022.

PB4L - Word of the Week

This term, as part of our PB4L School-Wide programme, we have introduced 'Word of the Week'. The word of the week is shared in the daily notices across all teams and explored in home groups. Our word of the week this week has been COOPERATION. 

In Kahikatea, we spent our Friday morning home group time discussing what cooperation looks like, sounds like, and feels like. We did a spider web activity, in which each person had a chance to speak, and then pass the yarn to someone else. We saw how when we worked together, we created a strong web. This showed us that cooperation makes us stronger, and helps us to achieve a common goal.

Community Dental Service - July 2022 Holiday Clinics

The Community Dental Service will be providing limited appointments during the school break at;
  • Woolston Community Dental Clinic, 11, Hopkins Street, Christchurch
  • Hornby Community Dental Clinic, 2 Hei Hei Road, Christchurch
You can access these appointments by calling our Contact Centre on 0800 846 983, noting that priority is given to children with immediate dental needs.

For any dental advice please call the Contact Centre on 0800 846 983 or email commdental@cdhb.health.nz

BOT Update

School Board of Trustee Elections 2022

Nomination round

Our kura will be undertaking a parent election for 3 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022.

We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database.

Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates. 

Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12 noon.
Election day is Wednesday 7th September.

We look forward to your participation in this process.

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

St Peters School - part-time cleaner needed



2 hours per day, Mon-Fri after 3pm (start time negotiable) during school term time
1 week each school holiday.
Call Denise at Total Property Sevices on 228 99033 or 027 455 3218
Immediate start - full training given.

Hagley Year 9 Enrolments for 2023 Closing Soon

Enrolment applications for Hagley College Year 9 2023 close next week (Friday 8th July - the last day of Term 2).

Our close-off date is firm and we will not be able to receive any new applications after this date. We are aware that our closing date is a little earlier than for some of the other high schools, so I am just hoping to avoid anyone missing out.

If any of you are keen but haven't put an application in yet, you need to go to https://www.hagley.school.nz/enrolment/year-9-enrolment/ and click the button to start a new enrolment application as soon as possible.

Paper copies of the enrolment form are here for families who are unable to apply online.


Huntsbury Community Preschool has an enviable natural outdoor play area and is currently offering FREE FEES for two-year-olds. Conditions apply, phone 03 332 6001 or email: info@huntsbury-preschool.org.nz for more details if you'd like to secure a place in this limited-availability promotion!

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 17 June 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora e te whānau

We are well into the cold, winter weather now and noticing that a number of our tamariki are coming to school without a sweatshirt or polar fleece. The PTA has a good supply of second-hand uniform items at very affordable prices. The second-hand clothing shop is open every Monday and Friday from 2:50 - 3:15pm, in the old dental clinic building on the corner of Sandwich Road and Eastern Tce

Learning Conferences

Learning Conferences will be happening during the last week of Term 2, on Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th July, from 2:15pm - 6:30pm. To book your conference, go to http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/abad8 

Reports will be available the week prior to Learning Conferences. This will be an opportunity for you to meet with your child's home group teacher and discuss their progress and next steps.

Matariki Whānau Rōpū Hui

We are very excited about the upcoming Matariki themed whānau hui this coming Wednesday, 22nd June, from 5-6:30pm. Te Whānau Mahi Tahi and the Pōhutukawa and Kōwhai kapa haka groups  are looking forward to performing for you all for the first time this year!
The PTA Hāngi will follow immediately after the hui, for those who have ordered kai.

COVID Update

Only two new cases of COVID have been reported in our student/staff population this week which is really great news. You can see from the graph below that our 7-day rolling average is less than 1 and tracking down. 


Attendance is still sitting between 76-84%. We know that every day at school is important for our children's progress so please ONLY keep your child at home if they are sick, symptomatic or isolating. Otherwise - send them to school!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Wednesday 22 June - Whānau Hui & Hāngī
Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed
Wednesday 29 June - PTA Meeting (7.30-8.30PM in the Green Room)
Monday 4 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Wednesday 6 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Citizen of the Week

Olivia Yeates - Year 6

Olivia, your love of learning is reflected in the way you grasp all learning opportunities on offer at school. Your focus and diligence, along with the high self-expectations that you set yourself, mean that not only is your work completed in a timely manner, it is also completed to an excellent standard. You are a role model in our hub and are a driver of your own education. Tino pai, Olivia.

School Notices

Matariki Evening (Whānau Hui) and Kapa Haka Performance


We would like to invite you to our first Whānau Rōpū hui of 2022. Matariki is the start of the Māori New Year and a time of reflection, connection, and planning for the year ahead. We would like to celebrate with you and your whānau on the 22nd of June from 5pm.

5:00 pm - Welcome & Performance - Te Whānau Mahi Tahi

5:20 pm Move to hubs - Matariki activities

6:20 pm Return to hall - performance by Pōhutukawa and Kōwhai joint kapa haka rōpū

6:45 pm Hāngi (for those who have pre-ordered hāngi)

Nau mai, haere mai.

Absences

Please let us know if your child is going to be away BEFORE 8.55am on the day of their absence.
When you do this, it saves an enormous amount of time in the Office.

Just a reminder of the ways you can contact us:
BY TEXT - 02102794107
BY PHONE - 03 337 1404
BY EMAIL - office@beckenham.school.nz

Please note that the voicemail function does not work for the text line, you cannot leave messages on the cellphone number.
If you are emailing teachers, please ensure you copy in the office too.

Headlice

We have a had a number of cases of head lice reported in the school, so please check your student's hair and head and treat as necessary before sending them back to kura. You can find out more about head lice and treatment on the attachment (HERO).

Have you got your cheese roll order in yet?

Many thanks to those who have their cheese roll orders in already. If this is still on your 'to do' list, here is the link to place your order. Orders close this Sunday. 

ShowQuest 2022

Today a group of 26 students went with Jenny and a group of amazing parents to the Town Hall where they spent the day performing and filming their ShowQuest Entry. Due to COVID, this event is being filmed and critiqued virtually, and we expect that the children involved will have access to the professional recording when it is done.
It was an amazing day and a great culmination of weeks of planning, rehearsal and hard work. Congratulations!




Sports News

Junior Cross Country


On Tuesday this week, the junior school cross country was held on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Thank you to all whānau members who were able to come along and support their tamariki during this event.

Congratulations to all those who have participated and put so much effort into completing the course. We are very proud of you indeed!

The following children are our 2022 cross country champions:

New Entrants: Florence Wood & Xavier Duncan

Year 1: Amelia Olykan & Hunter Olykan

Year 2: Ruby Grice & Alexander Pauley

Year 3: Jayme Scott & Max Olykan

Year 4: Laura Stoney & Ben Stoney

PTA News

Matariki Hāngī


Tēnā koe, thanks so much, for your support for our Matariki hāngī. 
The preordered kai will be available at the end of the Whānau Rōpū Hui, around about 6.30pm. 
We are so excited to be able to celebrate this special time of year as a community!!!
Orders are now closed as we have reached capacity. Sorry if you missed out on ordering, if it all goes well we may be able to go bigger next year! 

If anyone is keen to help by chopping up some veggies on a Tuesday evening (21st June)  please let us know by emailing pta@beckenham.school.nz

Peanut Butter Update

Thanks for everyone that ordered peanut butter, we sold 380 jars!! That is over $1000 dollars we can give straight back to school to support the children's learning.

Seeking a Parent Helper for Disco Night

The PTA would absolutely love the support of a school parent who would be keen to volunteer their evening to help us with playing the music for the school disco, on Friday 5th August.

Sound system & play-lists will be provided- we just need the support of an enthusiastic & knowledgeable parent to make this disco happen!

If you think you might be able to help us out please let us know asap. We would be very grateful for the help. Thanks!

Please email PTA@beckenham.school.nz

BOT Update

School Board of Trustee Elections 2022

Nomination round

Our kura will be undertaking a parent election for 3 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022.

We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database.

Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates. 

Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12 noon.
Election day is Wednesday 7th September.

We look forward to your participation in this process.

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

Public Meeting 27th June - South Library and Service Centre building

The Council is exploring a rebuild for the library and you are welcome to find out more in person, watch the meeting live, or catch up later on YouTube.

What's happening to the South Library and service centre building?

We're engaging with the community as we explore plans for rebuilding the quake-damaged South Library and customer services building, Te Kete Wānanga o wai Mōkihi.

The building was badly damaged in the 2010/2011 earthquakes. Temporary strengthening has made it useable, but the community deserves a permanent solution that will future-proof the facility for decades to come.

Even setting aside the earthquake damage, the South Library and Service Centre building opened in 2003, and is due for an upgrade to modern standards – it could be much greener and more energy efficient, and the space inside could be improved to better suit customers and staff.

What happens next?

We’re beginning the design process for a rebuild and will be in touch soon for your input to help develop a concept design for the Council to consider in the first half of 2023. The Council will then make a decision about whether to rebuild or repair. The building will keep the same floor area and remain on its riverside site.

They’ll also need to secure additional funding in a future Annual or Long-Term Plan, because at the moment there’s only $13.6 million set aside for the project, and we know that the cost of the work will be higher.

In the meantime, we’re staying open and you can keep using the building as normal.

There's no start date yet. We expect construction work to take about 18 months, and we're scheduling it for after the new Hornby Centre opens in late 2023.

While the work is underway, we’ll set up a temporary library in a suitable premises.

For more information coming up, keep an eye on christchurchcitylibraries.com

Cashmere High School


Unfortunately due staff absences we had to cancel our Open Day, however as an alternative we will be hosting three information afternoons, if you are considering attending Cashmere High School in 2023 we invite you to attend one of these sessions. Please click on the link to confirm your place, numbers are limited.

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 10 June 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We understand that winter illness, a city-wide vomiting bug and COVID-19 are adding up to very challenging times for most families. If children have been vomiting, please keep them at home for 48 hours after the last event. These bugs are highly transmissible, and we do want to keep everyone as well as we can. Thank you for supporting your child to continue to wear a mask at school. 

As you can see from the graph below, we have a low, but steady number of COVID cases in the school, with our 7 day rolling average currently sitting just under 2. We also know, that for every case, that is an entire household that needs to isolate for 7 days, which is extremely disruptive for everyone.

Not sure who needs to isolate when someone in your household tests positive for COVID? 

Go to this link on the covid-19.health.nz site to find out...

We DO love our Support Staff!


This week was Support Staff Week! What a great job our support staff do to support our tamariki, our teachers and our wider community! The daily interactions and support that they give to our students is so valuable and we know that they make a huge difference every day in the success of these students.

Ngā mihi mahana
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Tuesday 14 June - Junior Cross-Country
Wednesday 22 June - Whānau Hui & Hāngī
Wednesday 22 June - PTA Meeting (7.30-8.30PM in the Green Room)
Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed
Monday 4 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Wednesday 6 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Term Dates

Citizen of the Week

Jensen Spence - Year 4

Jensen, you show a passion for learning every day at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto. You put every effort into producing quality work and show great focus when completing any task. You are an extremely respectful and caring student and you are also a fantastic team player, able to work with others to get there together. Thank you for all the hard work you put in!

School Notices

Family Holidays during the school term

All children are legally required to attend school every day that school is open, unless there is a justified reason for their absence. Student absence for holidays within New Zealand or overseas during term-time is understood to be the prerogative of whānau to choose and, in those circumstances, whānau should advise the principal in writing/via email. 
We also understand that COVID has prevented some families from travelling to visit family overseas for a long time and we do understand that some families need to plan trips to reconnect with loved ones. 
Please note that the school is legally required to record this absence as an 'unjustified' absence. Teachers will not provide learning activities for children who are taken out of school for holidays or trips away.

Scholastic Lucky Book Club

Lucky Book Club issue number 4 is out now.
Thinking about our environment and the amount of paper waste that occurs we are no longer issuing Scholastic Book Club brochures to students. You can however view the Scholastic Book Club brochure online and place your order as usual.

You can access the brochure via the link below.

Have any details for your whānau changed recently?

The information we hold for each student includes:
  • home address
  • cellphone numbers for each Primary Carer(s)
  • emergency contacts - phone number and their relationship to the child, e.g. Grandparent 
  • email address for each Primary Carer(s)
  • home circumstances/custody arrangements
  • medical information for your child
If any of these details have changed for your child, please phone the school or come into the office to speak with Jacky or Reihana to update the details for your child.

If you are unsure what information we currently have for your child, please contact the school office and we can let you know what we hold.

Cheese Roll Fundraiser

The Year 7/8 Kauri whānau are fundraising for their outdoor education trips this year. They are selling delicious cheese rolls (one dozen per pack). 1 pack costs $10, or 4 packs for $35. Please fill out and submit the form linked here to order. This form must be submitted or the paper form completed and handed into the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto office, by Sunday 19th of June. Orders will be made up on Thursday June 29th and will be ready for collection after school. If you would like to supply your own container, please clearly name it and drop it off into the collection box outside the hall from Tuesday June 21st. 

 Unfortunately our cheese rolls are not dairy free or gluten free. 


 Thank you for supporting the Kauri Whānau. Enjoy your cheese rolls.

Te kupu Māori o te wiki

pukapuka: book

Sports News

Junior School Cross Country (Y0-4) - Tuesday 14th June

Some important points to remember:
  • Parents/Caregivers are welcome to join us at this event on June 14th.
  • The afternoon will start at 1:00 p.m., with the oldest year group levels running first, on through to the New Entrants towards the end of the afternoon.
  • Practices will be taking place regularly between now and the Cross Country event: if you wish your child to be exempt from practices due to health reasons, please email your child's HG teacher as soon as possible to let them know.
  • Please send your child to school in appropriate footwear for daily running practices.
  • Please ensure that your child has their water bottle at school each day, including on the day of the event.
  • Children will be able to wear their house T-shirts on the day of the Cross Country
  • The postponement date for our Cross Country is Monday, June 20th.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you on the day of the Junior School Cross Country.

Swimming Sports

Wharenui Pool was a hive of excitement, anticipation, and very loud house chants for our school swimming sports. We appreciated being able to hold this event after it was postponed in Term 1 due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

We are proud of all the tamariki who chose to participate in this event. We know many children will have had butterflies in their tummies leading up to this event and they showed great courage in stepping up to this challenge. Tino pai! 

Swimming Champions
Year 5 - Kawa and Lily
Year 6 - Olivia and Jack
Year 7 -  Alfie and Emma V
Year 8 - Stella G and Tahere

The house relay that concludes our swimming sports is always a highlight. This year Tennyson took a convincing win for the second year in a row with Heathcote coming in second.

We wish our qualifying swimmers the best of luck for South Zone Swimming on Monday the 20th of June at Wharenui.

PTA News

Peanut Butter Update

We anticipate delivery of the Peanut Butter anytime now.  It will be available outside the hall from 2.45 to 3.15 as soon as we have it, hopefully, this will be Monday to Wednesday as originally planned.  If it doesn't arrive additional days will be available on Thursday and possibly Friday.

Hāngī Fundraiser


The PTA is having a hāngī immediately following the whānau hui at kura (school) on the 22nd of June at 6.30pm. Matariki is the start of the Māori new year and a time of reflection, connection and planning for the year ahead.
We would like to celebrate with you and your whānau with a hāngī and sharing kai (food) together. 

YOU NEED TO PRE-ORDER HĀNGĪ ($15 each). Be quick as portions sold fast last year. We only have 120 servings available.
 Please order through the link below:

Our traditional hāngī will come in their own individually wrapped trays and will all be cooked together in a big kai cooker. We will have the traditional hāngī which includes meat, vegetables, and stuffing. We are also offering a gluten-free option and a vegetarian option. These portions can usually feed an adult and a child.

Thank you for your support!

PTA Survey

Please find below our 2022 Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA survey. It's a great chance to hear what we have planned for the year, to share your ideas for future fundraisers, and to find out how you can support us. It will only take a couple of minutes to complete.

Many thanks for your time.

BOT Update

School Board of Trustee Elections 2022

Nomination round

Our kura will be undertaking a parent election for 3 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022.

We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database.

Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates. 

Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12 noon.
Election day is Wednesday 7th September.

We look forward to your participation in this process.

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

Kea Kids

Kea Kids News is a NZ On Air-funded news programme where kiwi kids get to present the news, and we're back on the air for a fourth season!

You can catch new episodes Wednesdays and Fridays at 12 noon, at www.keakids.news, YouTube, TVNZ On Demand, or at stuff.co.nz.

 'Swing for the Fences' 

A jazz night featuring swing, samba, funk and jazzy pop with award winning Big bands and special guests, 7pm Thursday 16th June in the McCombs Performing Arts Centre, Cashmere High School.

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 27 May, 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

What a frosty start it was today, and what a lovely day it turned into!


We are getting back into a routine of having regular assemblies again each week. It is really great to be able to be rebuilding our sense of family and community, after having spent so long working just within individual hubs.

Whānau Hui and Hāngi - Wed 22 June from 5pm

Please make sure you get this date into your diaries! At 5pm on Wednesday 22nd June we will be having a Whānau Hui. We will meet with a welcome in the hall from Te Whānau Mahi Tahi (masks on please) and then families will be invited to go to a hub and participate in some learning activities about Matariki. At 6:15pm, you are invited to come back to the hall and we will finish the hui with a performance from our Pōhutukawa and Kōwhai kapa haka rōpū. 
Those who are not staying for hāngi will be able to go home around 6:30pm, whilst those who have ordered hāngi will stay on. 

Hāngi order forms will be available next week. There will only be 120 serves of Hāngi available, so if you want to order hāngi you will need to get your order in quickly.

New Entrant Enrolments

Enrolments for the rest of the year - Do you, or one of your neighbours, have a pre-schooler who is turning 5 and wanting to start school this year? If you haven't yet enrolled them, please pop into the office and get an enrolment form, or download one from our website and fill it out and send it into the office, as soon as possible. We need to be able to accurately predict enrolment numbers to ensure we have the appropriate staffing ready.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Term 2 Dates

Wednesday 25 May - Zone Cross Country at Hansen's Park
Wednesday 25 May - BOT Meeting - 5.30-7.30PM in te Rūma Kaimahi (the Staff Room)
Wednesday 25 May - PTA Meeting - 7.30-9.30PM in the Green Room
Monday 6 June - Queen's Birthday - School closed
Wednesday 22 June - Whānau Hui & Hangi
Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Citizen of the Week

Mitch Welch - Year 6

Mitch, you make a difference through your actions. You are a great communicator and show that we can all work together to be successful. Your kind and caring nature shines through in your compassion for others and in how you take care of our environment at Beckenham. "Nā koe he rereke te Ao", the world is different because of you!

School Notices

Winter Bugs

As we head into Winter, and in a Covid environment, we see an increase in sickness, including Head colds. If your child is unwell please keep them at home to recover. If a child becomes unwell at school during the day, we will contact whānau to arrange for the child to be collected. The Covid-19  practices we have in place will also support our school community with remaining as well as possible over winter.

Long COVID in children

Long COVID describes the symptoms that continue or develop after the initial COVID-19 symptoms.
 
This is usually longer than 12 weeks after a person is first infected.
 
Most people with COVID-19 recover completely and return to normal health. People usually recover from COVID-19 after two to six weeks and many make a full recovery within 12 weeks.
 
KidsHealth has provided some useful information about COVID-19 symptoms in children which you can see summarised here (and read more in the links below):
  • for most children with mild COVID-19, they will be back to normal within a week. A small number of children might take up to two weeks to feel back to normal
  • most children with COVID-19 will have a mild illness and get better quickly
  • for a child or young person to have a diagnosis of a post-COVID-19 condition (long COVID) their symptoms need to be having an impact on their everyday functioning and cannot be explained by another condition
  • nearly all children will fully recover and return to normal health
  • scientists and health professionals are still learning about long COVID, but studies so far have found:
    • children are much less likely to have long COVID than adults
    • children recover faster than adults
    • it mostly affects children over the age of 10 – it's very rare in younger children.
Further information is also available on the KidsHealth website, including caring for a child with COVID-19.

Masks Reminder

At Beckenham we are still seeing the benefits of continued mask wearing and we are asking everyone  - staff, whānau and students (Year 3/4 and older) to continue to wear masks when indoors at school

We know that Cashmere High School has had another peak of cases in the past week, and with many families having children at both schools, we just want to continue to be as safe as we can.

We no longer have any child-sized masks available at school, so we do need you to send your child to school with a named mask each day, please.


Update from SIEPP about Roadworks on Eastern Tce

We received this email from SIEPP this week to share with you:
I want to update you on the works we are currently doing on Eastern Terrace with the water main renewal. Works have been taking longer than we had initially planned there due to having to deal with existing contaminated ground in the road where we are installing the pipe. Currently, we are up to the Fisher Ave end of Beckenham Park and are continuing to install the pipe towards Tennyson Ave. We are now coming up to a section of the road that has been identified as having traces of asbestos within it. Due to the health risks of asbestos, we need to follow strict precautions while excavating the material that has been identified as at risk. While completing these works we will need to set up an asbestos containment zone within our site. Anyone working within the at-risk area will be required to wear full hazmat suits with face masks and gloves. We will have decontamination zones to ensure that all of the material is contained within our work site.

I just wanted to let you know that this work is upcoming so that the school community understands what is happening when they see it commencing. The work we are doing is very low risk as there has only been a small amount of asbestos traces found in the ground and it can be easily contained. However, we must follow all of the required protocols for obvious reasons. We will put black polythene around our fences to make it harder for pedestrians to see in but will also have asbestos warning signs on the fences.

The asbestos area is from the end of Beckenham Park through to Fisher Ave and we plan on doing this work for aproximately 3 weeks.

Apologies from Nic in the Coffee Cart

She won't be available this coming Monday 30 May

PTA News

Last orders for peanut butter TODAY! 

There are 3 Products available:

750g Super Crunchy Peanut Butter
750g Smooth Peanut Butter
500g Everything Butter

Jars cost $11 each $11 a jar (we get $3). 

Please click the link (before midnight tonight) to get your jar!

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

FluTracking NZ

With the relaxing of COVID-19 control measures and the reopening of borders, we’re expecting a resurgence of flu in 2022.

We need more participants around New Zealand to help us track the impact of both flu and COVID-19 in our local community.

Please consider giving 20 seconds a week to reply to a survey and help NZ track flu and COVID-19. In return, you will receive a weekly report and a map of respiratory illness in our community!
Click on this link to find out more and sign up!
https://info.flutracking.net/

Thanks for your time and support.

Flutracking New Zealand
https://info.flutracking.net/
Public Health Group
Population Health and Prevention
Ministry of Health


Rhyme and Reason


Jemma and Nick Smithson, (parents of Bryn (Kowhai) and Elsie (Kahikatea)) are excited to share with the community the opening of their new preschool Rhyme and Reason in Opawa. Community open days are scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, so come on down to view their renovated and newly fitted our Early Childhood Centre.

Parliament and its grounds are a place for everyone to share and enjoy, and we are excited to share a creative way for our tamariki to connect to Parliament.

Tell any tamariki you know that Parliament is putting the call out for wild, fun, and creative ideas for how the Parliamentary grounds could be an even more welcoming place!

With this new activity, we want to know what tamariki would do if they were in charge! Would they add another playground? Or cover the lawn with pink flowers? Or maybe add in more statues of people or things that inspire them!

Bring a vision to life and encourage them to design their own Parliament grounds using either the template on the other side of this sheet or freestyle it completely with their own ideas! Your work will be displayed in Parliament and shared with all who work and visit here – and who knows you may even get a special shout out from the Speaker!

Encourage any tamariki you know to take part – it’s easy!

Just follow this link, and use the template provided or create their own design.  Please send their mahi by Thursday 23 June 2022 to the Education Team at: Education Team, Level 11, TSB Building, 147 Lambton Quay, or by emailing to DesignParliamentGrounds@parliament.govt.nz.

We look forward to seeing what they create!