Author Archives: Sandy Hastings, Principal, Beckenham School

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 13 May 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

This week is New Zealand Sign Language Week. Sign language is one of our three official languages in Aotearoa, along with Te Reo Māori and English. 
Whilst none of us at Beckenham are yet proficient in Sign Language, we do take opportunities where we can to increase our knowledge and understanding of the important place that it has in our society and to understand more about it. 
Below is the video of the New Zealand National Anthem that we use at school, and that we all try to follow along. Even our newest New Entrants can follow along with parts of this already! 


This week we have had our first assemblies in the hall, recognising that the weather is getting cooler! To stay within our COVID guidelines, we have split the school for assemblies and will be having separate Junior and Senior Assemblies this term. This allows us to spread out a bit more, and with the doors open, even get some singing going!

It was great to see our Year 5-8 students out in force on Tuesday participating in the Year 5-8 Cross-Country. The weather held out, and we will be sending students to zone competitions again for the first time in a while.

This term we have welcomed four Speech-Language Therapy students from the University of Canterbury to our school. They will be working for two afternoons a week for 5 weeks in our Year 1/2 
team with groups of students on developing specific literacy skills. 

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Term 2 Dates

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

August Bolling - Year 6

August, you do a fantastic job at displaying our kete values on a daily basis. Your positive, can-do attitude demonstrates your love of learning. This, along with your kindness and great sense of humour is appreciated by everyone in the Pōhutukawa hub. Tau kē koe!

School Notices

Reminder on School Hours

A reminder that tamariki (children) should not be at school before 8.30am. If you are needing childcare before this time, please look to our onsite before and after school care facilities run by BOSCO.

Request for corflute - Real Estate Agents, Printers & Sign Makers alike look here!

Our amazing Kapa Haka teacher - Whaea Cath is all out of corflute, the white corrugated plastic sheets our kapa haka words are on. In the past, recycled corflute from printers or real estate agents has been used (think House For Sale, and advertising signs). We are hoping we might have some people with access to these amongst our Beckenham families. One clear side is all we need for our words. About ten sheets would be good. If you are able to source these please drop anything you may have to the Office. We get there together! Thanks for your help whānau.

Example of corflute in use

Naming Items - Lost Property

Please ensure all of your child's uniform and other items are clearly named. First and last name is preferable as we often have multiple children with the same first name. This helps us ensure any of their lost property is returned to them via their Home Group teacher. If any items are not named, they stay in the Lost Property - which is located on the steps of the Library during the school day. Lost property items are mentioned to ākonga (students) in the Daily Notices.

If unnamed items are still unclaimed by the end of the term, school items are donated to the 2nd Hand Uniform shop, and all other items are donated to the Salvation Army.

Please take the time to name your child's items, and encourage them to have a look in the lost property if needed.

Sports News

Year 5 - 8 Cross Country

So great to see everybody out on the field doing their best for the Year 5-8 Cross Country this week. It was great to have parents on site again to cheer tamariki on in a social distanced manner!  

Congratulations to Heathcoate for winning the house cup for team spirit.
Results will be out in the next Newsletter.


PTA News

Your trusty PTA have a few things in the pipeline that we would like to share with you. 

Do you like peanut butter? We will be taking orders from next week for a Fix and Fogg peanut butter fundraiser. Buy your family's nutty goodness from us!


Save the date: we are planning a fun whānau event to celebrate Matariki - Wednesday 22nd June. Look out for more news soon.


Lastly don't forget the PTA uniform room is open every Monday and Friday 2:50-3:15 after school. We have a good range of second-hand uniform items at very reasonable prices. We always welcome clean, good quality donations.

Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date! Click the link here.

Community Notices

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

Aotearoa TrailBlazers 



The Trailblazers’ Programme for term 2, is a fee-free initiative that utilises the power of running and the magic of nature to help rangatahi (young people) develop self confidence, social and emotional skills, leadership, determination and resilience to stress. 
They will actively participate and challenge themselves to complete events. They will gain a strong sense of belonging, develop positive relationships and experience great achievement. 
It will be running on Tuesdays (Beckenham Park) and Thursdays (Victoria Park).

You can find out more about it on this facebook page:

Read ALL about it through this link.

Ngā mihi, 
Jo Ryder - Program Director
022 4665488
aotearoa.trailblazers@gmail.com


School Holiday Activity

Book your troupes in to watch the Kidsfest musical theatre production of Monty Python’s Spamalot Young@Part! The Kid-Friendly Version.  Monty Python hits the local stage with their quest for the Holy Grail in an excitingly ridiculous musical specifically adapted to be performed BY children FOR children.  Luminaires Charitable Trust presents an incredibly talented cast of 8-18 year olds who bring you this uproarious show. There’s audience participation, fart jokes, and remarkable singing and dancing to incredibly well known Monty Python show tunes. Afterwards your tamariki will all be singing about the Bright Side of Life - in fact we will provide you with the lyrics and tune beforehand so if you want to learn it before the show they can join in with the cast for the final song! 

● Suitable for all primary aged children 
This version has been adapted from the original broadway version specifically for children 
● Venue Nasda Performing Arts, E-Block, Ara Institute of Technology (we will send you a map when you book) 
● Pricing $15 per head, or a flat fee of $1200 if you would like to book the entire show for your group only. Our seating capacity is 85, but with the entire theatre booked for your group we may be able to accommodate 100 by arrangement. NB bookings for the public go live on 30 May, so if you would like the entire venue, please contact us before then. 
● Run Time 60-70 minutes 
● Contact us directly to arrange your booking (therefore no booking fees!) luminairescharitabletrust@gmail.com 021666921 

Shows: 
Wednesday 13 July 11am & 1pm 
Thursday 14 July 11am & 1pm 
Friday 15 July 11am & 1pm & 7pm 
Saturday 16 July 7pm 
Wednesday 20 July 11am & 1pm 
Thursday 21 July 11am & 1pm & 7pm 
Friday 22 July 11am & 1pm & 7pm 
Saturday 23 July 7pm 

Based directly on the film comedy MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, SPAMALOT YOUNG@PART retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, with singing and dancing to tunes that you’ll never get out of your head! Re-worked especially for children.

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto newsletter Monday 2 May, 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou



We are looking forward to seeing all of our tamariki back at school tomorrow. We are also very pleased to be able to welcome whānau back into the school grounds, for the first time properly since August last year! No more dropping and collecting at the gate (unless, of course, that is still working for you!) Masks won't be required when outside, although you are welcome to wear them if you choose to. 

At Orange, we ask you to wait outside learning spaces, well away from the hub entrances when dropping and picking up children. A teacher from each hub will be available to greet you outside the hub in the mornings, and teachers will walk out with children in the afternoons. 

All children will finish school at 3pm again!

Whilst the mandate for mask-wearing in schools has been lifted, schools are being encouraged to consider the needs of their community and put appropriate local guidelines in place.

At Beckenham, we believe that masks have been one of the best tools available to us for limiting the spread of Covid-19 at school, and keeping our staff and our children as safe as we can. We are also aware that further waves of Covid-19 are expected, and that NZ is going into its first influenza winter in three years. We know that many families are also now travelling both within NZ and even outside NZ.



For these reasons, we have decided to continue with our status quo on mask-wearing inside our buildings. This means that children in Year 3/4 are strongly encouraged to wear a mask inside, and that our Year 5-8 children should continue wearing masks inside, as they did so capably during Term 1. Our staff will also continue to wear masks inside. 

We know that this cautious approach has served us well so far, and we will review this during Term 2, as we get a better picture of case numbers in our school community.

Ongoing Roadworks around the school - please walk if you can this week!

As most of you will be aware, the burst pipe on Colombo Street last week has significantly added to the challenges of navigating safely around our streets. This morning Colombo St was still closed and we are working on the possibility that it will still be closed tomorrow.

The section of Norwood St between Fisher Ave and Tennyson is also closed. 

Sandwich Road is also currently closed at the Eastern Tce end and will be so for the rest of this week.

So there is no vehicle access to the school from Eastern Terrace.

SIEPP will install additional signs on Eastern Tce at the Fisher Ave intersections saying ‘NO SCHOOL ACCESS FROM EASTERN TCE’. They will already have ‘ROAD CLOSED AHEAD’ signs in place.

Please avoid bringing vehicles down Sandwich Road for drop-off and pick-up this week unless you need to access the accessible parking. There will be significant challenge for everyone's safety if we have large numbers of cars trying to do 3-point-turns all week on Sandwich Road.


COVID-19 - Please continue to notify us of positive tests.

Please continue to let school know if your child has contracted COVID-19. We are still sending numbers through to the Ministry of Education on a daily basis. 
We currently have three staff at home this week in isolation and we know that we still have a number of families across the school who have been, or are currently, in isolation due to COVID.

You can email the school office: office@beckenham.school.nz or leave a message on the answerphone 03 337 1404

Term 2 Dates

Tuesday 3 May - Term 2 begins
Monday 6 June - Queen's Birthday - School closed
Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Student-Led Inclusion

Due to Covid challenges and being in restricted settings, our colleagues and students in the Ferndale satellite have been operating in their own bubble since August last year. Our senior students were missing the connection with the Ferndale students that they had previously been able to enjoy, so Saxon, one of our Year 8 students, suggested an activity where they could communicate through chalk-painting on the windows! 
Such a lot of fun was had by both groups of students! Lots of great comments and conversations came from people noticing the great artwork in the days after too.
We are looking forward to having much more natural interactions with our Ferndale colleagues and akonga this term, now that we are working in the Orange Covid setting.



Ngā mihi nui

Sandy & the Team

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter, Rāmere (Friday) 11 March

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Hooray for warm and sunny weather! Doesn't life always feel that much better when the weather is great? It certainly makes life at school feel more 'normal' in these strange times, as we keep all the windows and doors open to support ventilation, kapa haka happens outside, and a variety of music and sport activities are able to be undertaken outside too.

COVID Numbers Update

We have had a further two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our student/staff population since we reported to you yesterday. This brings our total number of school cases to 14. We are also seeing some  people returning to school having completed their isolation periods. Our staff continue to work hard to keep the school programme happening as normally as possible, whilst we make adjustments for the fact that the number of children and staff at school decreases a little bit more each day. Today we had 100 children out of 476 away from school, and four staff isolating at home as either cases or household contacts. The particular staff who are away can change on a daily basis and we don't always know if they will be away for a day or two, or a more extended time. We are fortunate to have a reliable group of relievers we can draw from who know our children and staff and do their best to keep learning going as per the plan. Thank you for keeping children at home when they are not 100% well. 

Upcoming closure of Sandwich Road next week

We have been informed by SIEPP Construction that they will be closing Sandwich Road from Tuesday 15th March for up to a week. This is to undertake work related to the ongoing main water pipeline replacement project that is happening at a variety of locations across the local area.

From Tuesday 15th March, Sandwich Road will be closed to traffic at the Norwood St end, and open ONLY TO RESIDENTS, STAFF and ACCESSIBILITY VEHICLES from the Eastern Tce end.


We understand that this may cause some disruption and change to your normal travel times in the mornings so please do plan ahead and allow extra time. We understand that this work is important to our local community and that it will ensure strong infrastructure going forward.

This is stage one of three upcoming stages of work around the school that will impact on our usual traffic access. All footpath access to school should be available as usual.

Welcomes and a farewell

Staff and tamariki in our Koru New Entrant team were very excited to have Amy Bell join them this week from the University of Canterbury. Amy is studying to become a teacher and has been here for a week of placement and observation as part of her studies. 

Amy Bell

We also welcome Kal Walker to our school staff. Kal joins our teaching assistant team and comes from a background in Early Childhood Education. 

Kal Walker

We will be farewelling Elizabeth Mahy from our staff next week. Elizabeth joined our staff early last year as a teaching assistant and has provided wonderful learning and personal development support for a number of our children over the time she has been here. Elizabeth is leaving us to begin her tertiary study and we wish her all the very best for that journey!

Elizabeth Mahy

Noho ora e te whānau! Stay well!
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 14th Mar - School Photos (Postponed)
Wed 23rd Mar - PTA Meeting 7.30pm - 9.30pm (Green Room)
Wed 30th Mar - BOT Meeting 5.30pm - 7.30pm (Staff Room)
Thu 14th Apr - Last day of Term 1

Term Dates

Click here to view 2022 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Xavier Kelly - Year 6

Xavier, you have had a great start to the year. You persist when things are tricky and your effort and positive attitude to learning has been noticed. You are clearly showing our kete value 'We Love Challenge', and you should be very proud of yourself. Teno pai, Xavier.

School Notices

Postponement of school wide photos

Due to the current high levels of covid cases in the community we have decided to postpone the school photos day planned for the 14th of March.  We will look to rebook this later in the year - potentially Wed 7 Sept 2022, but this will be confirmed at a later date.

Community Dental Service Suspended

The Community Dental Service is suspending some of its services from 5pm Wednesday 9th March 2022 to provide support to the Canterbury health sector in response to Omicron.

They will continue to provide relief of pain clinics by appointment only from Thursday 10th March.  You can access these appointments by calling the Contact Centre on 0800 846 983.

For any dental advice please call the Contact Centre on 0800 846 983.

PTA News

Keep in touch with the PTA

To stay up to date with the PTA, please check out our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook page, linked here. Or come along to one of our meetings - all welcome.
 
Meeting dates can be found in the weekly school Newsletter, or on the school calendar - linked here.
These meetings are usually held on a Wednesday night 7.30-9.30pm.

You can email the PTA at pta@beckenham.school.nz

Community Notices

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

Please find the facebook links for these events:
Seaweek: https://fb.me/e/2NIggZW1g 
Global Recycling Day: https://fb.me/e/l7SRroQxN
"2040" Movie Screening: https://fb.me/e/1FC9TKe1x

Community Service Awards & Youth Service Awards

Nominations close 5pm, Thursday 14 April



On behalf of the Spreydon-Cashmere Community Board we wish to advise that nominations are open for the 2022 Community Service and Youth Service Awards.

Community Service Awards are a way of giving well-deserved recognition to people who make our communities better places to live.  They are a way of thanking and honouring volunteers who without pay and little recognition demonstrate dedication and passion, inspiring others to make service a central part of their lives. 

These awards are given to local community members and are intended to give public recognition to those who have contributed significant voluntary service in one or more of the following areas:
  • Physical well-being, eg recreation/sport
  • Children, youth and education
  • Older adults
  • Disability
  • Physical environment
  • Social and economic well-being
  • Cultural, church and community service
Youth Service Awards

Youth Awards are presented in recognition of significant voluntary service by residents aged 25 or under, living in the Spreydon-Cashmere area.  These awards recognize individual effort rather than that of a whole group or organisation.

For more information on the Awards:  ccc.govt.nz/csa

For enquiries: phone Wendy Gunther on 941 5113.

To make a nomination: Complete an online nomination form at:  ccc.govt.nz/csa
Or click on the link to download a printable copy of our nomination guidelines and nomination form.

Nominate now!

Junior rugby registrations are now open for this season - Sydenham Rugby Club


Start of Year Newsletter, 2022

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Start of Year Newsletter, 2022

Kia ora koutou

Our primary focus at the moment is doing everything we can to keep our staff safe and healthy so that school can stay open for your children. We need to maintain high staffing levels on site to be able to deliver the best teaching and learning experiences that we can. If and when it is needed, we will re-instate our online learning website, however we do expect all children to be attending school unless they are sick or self-isolating.

We are being deliberate about taking a conservative approach to the guidelines that we are getting from the Ministry of Education and erring on the side of caution to mitigate potential risk where possible.

You can help us with this by:
  • attending your child's online learning conference (with your child there too, please!)
  • providing your child with a mask every day
  • getting your child vaccinated
  • contacting your child's teacher via email if you want to communicate with them (and asking them to call you if needed)
  • staying off the school site unless you need to come into the office for something, when you will need to wear a mask and scan in using the COVID Tracer QR code or sign in manually.
  • keeping your child at home if they have ANY symptoms that are COVID symptoms, and getting them tested.

Learning Conferences - now online - Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd February

Due to the changing Omicron situation, we have made the decision today to hold our Learning Conferences next week as online rather than face-to-face meetings. No change will be needed to your existing bookings, and new bookings can still be made!

On Monday, your child's home-group teacher will be sending you an email with a link to the online meeting. This will be a ZOOM link. (To access this link, you may need to to download Zoom onto your phone /tablet/computer.) If you would prefer a Google Meet link (gmail address required for this), please let your teacher know. The link will be sent to the email of the caregiver who has made the booking. You are able to share that link with another caregiver if they wish to join from another device/place.

Remember that your child needs to be part of the conference too!

Please think about what you would like to share with the teacher about your child, and use these questions as prompts.

Getting ready for your start of year Learning Conference:
  • Talk with your child about what they enjoy learning at school – what they feel they are good at:
  • Are there any barriers/challenges that get in the way of them learning?
  • What would they like to get better at?
  • What kinds of things help them to learn best? (e.g. where they sit, people they do/don’t work with, need for breaks/food/exercise, etc.)
  • Is there anything about your culture, religion, family dynamic that would be helpful for us to know to be able to support your child?
  • Have there been any changes in your family situation that would be helpful for the teacher to know about in order to support your child?
  • Any wonderings, questions?

Masks



As mentioned in the earlier email today, the new government requirement is that all children from Year 4, and all staff wear masks inside at school. 

This is slightly trickier for us with a Year 3/4 team. We are going to be taking a pragmatic approach at Year 3/4 and encouraging all of the Year 3/4 children to wear a mask, but not being insistent on that. 

In Koru (New Entrants) and Kahikatea (Year 1/2) children are not required to wear a mask, and they are most welcome to if you/they would prefer that they do. 

Our staff from NE through to Year 4 are being encouraged to wear masks, and may choose, from time to time not to if the mask is a significant barrier to communication.

Please provide your child with a clean, named mask every day, with a spare named mask in their bag if possible.

Any meetings at school will be held with masks on and caregivers will be expected to comply with this request for the wellbeing of all.

Pick up and Drop Off

To minimise risk for everyone, we are going to continue with the drop-off and pick up at the gate system that we had running successfully last year.

Drop-off in the mornings:
  • When you bring your child to school in the morning, you will need to bring them to one of the entrances and say goodbye to them there.
  • For everyone’s safety, and to manage contact tracing, we cannot have lots of parents coming onto our site each day.
  • In the morning, from 8:30am - 9am, we will have staff at the front entrance of the school, and at the 3 min drop off zone on Sandwich Road.
  • If you want to handover your child to a staff member, you can do that at the flagpole, or from your car at the 3min drop-off zone.
  • If your child is more independent, you can ‘kiss and drop’ your child at any entrance to the school.
  • Children coming to school on their own can use any entrance to the school.
  • If there is a very particular reason that you need to come onto the school site, such as going to the office to hand in medication, you will need to scan your QR code and ONLY go to the office.
  • As you will appreciate, we cannot manage large numbers of caregivers going through this process in the morning, and still manage physical distancing without congestion. 
  • Caregivers are asked not to go into learning spaces at Red level.
  • If you can prepare your child with a positive message about how the handover at the gate will work, it will set them up for success.
Pickup at the end of the day:
  • Our New Entrants and Kahikatea (Year 1&2) children will finish school at 2:45pm each day, and their teachers will walk them to the Sandwich Road entrance by the flagpole and hand them over to their caregivers. HOWEVER, if they have an older brother or sister, they will wait in their hub with a teacher, and they will be walked out to the Sandwich Road entrance at 3pm.
  • If children are going to BOSCO, they will wait until 3pm in their hub and then they will be collected by the BOSCO staff.
  • All Year 3-8 children will finish at 3pm each day as usual.
Please look at the attached pdf with diagrams that show how this system will works.

Stationery


Please make sure that your child comes to school next Thursday with their stationery so that they are ready to start the new school year straight away. Please name all exercise books.
Stationery lists were sent home at the end of last year, and can be found here on the school website.

Chromebooks (BYOD)


All students from Years 5-8 are encouraged to have their own Chromebook to bring to school each day. Whilst this is not a requirement, with the increased likelihood that there may be periods of time during this year that individuals or groups may have to self-isolate, we are strongly recommending this if you are able to manage it.
You can find out more about our BYOD programme here. If you have specific questions about BYOD and your child, please email their teacher.

Sunhats & Drink Bottles

As always, please ensure that you send your child to school next week with a named red or black sunhat (bucket or wide-brimmed) and a named drink bottle.

 

Changes of Address, phone, email and family living situations

If you have changed your address, telephone number, email and/or family living situation (e.g. parents are now living in separate households) PLEASE email Jacky at office@beckenham.school.nz as soon as possible with this information.

Sick Children

As always, and especially at this time, please keep children at home if they are unwell.
Anyone with any cold or flu symptoms that could be Covid-19 is asked to get a test and isolate at home until a negative result is returned.
The most common early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose – if you or your child have these symptoms, get tested.
If children present at school with any of the above symptoms, we will be isolating them and calling you to come and collect them.

Individual Medication for children

If your child requires medication to be kept at school, and/or administered through the school day or because of a medical event, please bring the medication (clearly named) to the school office. You will also be required to complete a  Medicine Authority Form, which provides the school with information on how the medicine is to be administered, when and how much.

Individual Health Action Plan

If your child has an Individual Health Action Plan, e.g. Action Plan for Anaphylaxis, that has been updated, please bring that to the school office for a copy to be made.

EOTC (Education Outside the Classroom)

Whilst we are at this Red Traffic Light setting and heading into the start of the Omicron outbreak, we have made the decision to keep our students at school and not engage in any non-essential 'out-of-school' activities. We are being encouraged by the Ministry of Education to not engage in activities that mix students from different schools. We know that contact tracing will be easier if we haven't done this, and we are going to review this on a term-by-term basis. This means that inter-school sports activities will not be happening this term, nor will there be camps, trips or visits that increase risks of transmission.

At this stage, our Year 7/8 students will continue to bus to Christchurch South Intermediate each Tuesday morning for Technology. They do not mix with the students at South whilst they are there.

Itinerant Music Lessons and CSM Outreach Strings and Band

There will still be the opportunity for individual music lessons at school this year, however teaching space is going to be at a premium so numbers may be limited. We have itinerant teachers who offer lessons in piano, guitar and ukulele.
Christchurch School of Music (CSM) run an Outreach Strings programme (Violin, viola and cello), and a Band programme (flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, bass guitar, tuned percussion and percussion.)
To find out more about theses opportunities click here.

Assemblies and Activities within the school

Following the Ministry of Education guidelines, we will be organising the school so that each team operates independently of other teams. At break times, when children will all be outside at the same time, we will be asking them to play with other children in their team, rather than mixing across teams.
During class time, we will not be engaging in activities that require children to mix across teams. This means that we will not be having whole school assemblies until further notice. 

BOSCO

BOSCO will continue to run as long as they are able to manage staffing at a safe level. All of their staff are wearing masks when working with the children. BOSCO will try to organise the children into separate groups at BOSCO - NE - Year 4 and Year 5-8. Again, this is to minimise the risk of infection crossing between groups, to support contact tracing.
If you have booked your child into BOSCO for Learning Conference days and now need to change that booking, please contact Juanita as soon as possible by emailing: office@bosco.org.nz

Click here to view 2022 term dates

We are all excited to be back and getting ready to start the new school year! Our teachers are looking forward to seeing you at the online learning conferences next week, and to seeing all of the children back at school on Thursday!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki



Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 22 October 2021

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Remember that this is a four-day weekend with Labour Day on Monday and a Staff Only Day on Tuesday. We look forward to seeing all the children back on WEDNESDAY.

Welcome Assembly today
We had a welcome assembly with a difference today - outside and sadly, without all of our new families and whānau there to share in the welcome.

We welcomed 29 children, 25 of whom were new to Beckenham since Week 2 of last term, and four children who have recently returned to Beckenham after having some time away.

We celebrated their 12 different nationalities and cultural backgrounds with a parade of flags and got a lovely photo of them all together at the end!



It was great to have Te Whānau Mahi Tahi performing again for us and leading from the front of the assembly, welcoming us all in.





Thank you!

...to one of our wonderful parents who built this beautiful 'fairy garden' in one of the planter boxes over the school holidays. It has been played with constantly since school started again this week!


Please be aware of Netflix's new streamed show "Squid Game"

This programme has a rating of 16+ for a very good reason - extreme violence, strong language, and regular, very frightening scenes depicting death that are not suitable for primary aged children.



You may have seen this article on Stuff about the impact that viewing this programme is having on children in Australia.
We urge you to closely monitor your child's viewing, and be aware that they may be able to watch this through Youtube or other platforms, so extremely close parental guidance is encouraged.

Athletic Sports next week - no spectators please

After carefully considering the guidance from the Ministries of Health and Education, we will be running the Year 5-8 Athletic Sports next week as a 'no spectator event'. Whilst we operate with staff and students, we are able to have events like this outside, but as soon as we add spectators into the mix, we would be operating outside of those guidelines.
Thank you for your understanding of this. We will do our best to take lots of photos and will post these to our school Facebook page.

We wish you all a very relaxing and safe long weekend.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Week 2:
Mon 25 Oct - Labour Day (School Closed)
Tue 26 Oct - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Wed 27 Oct - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm)  Dessert Evening - All Welcome
Thur 28 Oct - Year 5 - 8 Athletics
Fri 29 Oct - Celebration Assembly (12 - 12.30)
Sun 31 Oct - PTA Halloween Picnic in the Park Cancelled

Week 3:
Wed 3 Nov -  Board of Trustee's Meeting (5.30 - 7.30)
Sat 6 Nov - Theatre Sports Competition (@Rangi Ruru Girls)

Week 4:
Wed 10 Nov - New Entrant (Chelsea and Tracey's Home Groups)  & Year 8 School Photos 
Thur 11 Nov - Year 0 - 4 Athletics (TBC)
Fri 12 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day (School Closed)

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 & 2022 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Misha Lee - Year 3

Misha, you are an absolutely awesome member of the Kōwhai whanau! You have an fantastic 'can do' attitude and set a wonderful example to others as you cheerfully work hard in all areas of school life.  Misha, you are a considerate, caring and enthusiastic friend, who naturally incorporates our key values in everything you do. Thank you for being such a superstar! Tino Pai! 

School Notices

Food Allergy Guidelines

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:
  • 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 in this booklet, are also available on the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto website under “Information - Policies - SchoolDocs” then search ‘allergy’. 
Username: beckenham
Password: pride

If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s point of contact teacher.

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins”. Sessions are now on Tuesdays from 9:30 - 10:30 for parents, starting on November 2nd. 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 yj2ed. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Sunscreen, Hats and Drink Bottles

Please remember to send your child to school each day with sunscreen applied, and with a named school hat and their named drink bottle.



Medication At School

If a child requires medication at school on a long or short term basis, parents/caregivers need to complete a medicine authority form with Jacky or Reihana in the office. Procedures are followed to ensure that it is kept securely, and administered appropriately.

Any medication that is required to be kept at school on an ongoing basis, expiry dates need to be checked regularly by parents/caregivers. If the school notices an expiry date is due parents/caregivers will be advised.

Parents/caregivers are asked to please update the school on any medical/health information about their child by contacting the school office.

ESOL News

This week...

Koru children enjoyed talking and playing a shopping game. They learnt about healthy food, too.



Kahikatea and Kowhai did likewise, and also played some memory and team building games.




Canterbury Schools Orienteering Festival 6th and 7th November


Orienteering is a fun sport, using a map to navigate around checkpoints. While the aim is to finish the course as fast as possible, one of the great aspects of orienteering is that everyone is free to go at their own pace which suits their fitness and desire! For those interested in adventure racing, navigation is an essential skill and most teams have at least one member with orienteering experience.

The schools orienteering festival events are at the Groynes on the 6th November and Bottle Lake forest on the 7th November. The courses are set to be suitable for aged 9 and older and can be done individually or in pairs (many younger children also compete as well but would need to feel confident without an adult). Participants are able to enter one or both days. More information is available on the webpage
https://papo.org.nz/series/view/21/canterbury-schools-orienteering-festival-2021 or from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto parent and orienteering club member, Jenni Adams jennia.home@gmail.com  Entries for the festival close Friday 29th October and should be made individually using the link from the webpage.

After school training opportunities are available over the next two weeks:

Tuesday 26 October | Halswell Quarry | Finlay’s Picnic Area at the end of the main road into the park

Wednesday 27 October |  Barnett Park | End of the car park near the field 

Monday 1 November |  Heathcote Domain | Meet by Cricket pavilion  

Tuesday 2 November  | Hansen Park / Rudolf Steiner School |  Playground in Hansen Park 

For the trainings bring: Comfortable shoes, a compass if you have one, and $2 for a map.  

Sports News

Congratulations to Nevannah who is developing a passion for Netball Umpiring, and has been recognised for her commitment and dedication with these two awards. Nevannah's goal is to one day umpire a Silver Ferns test match.

Cousins Ollie and Lola represented Canterbury during the school holidays, in a 4 day basketball tournament held in Ashburton. Both played some exceptional basketball and had some great wins for their respective U13 teams. Congratulations!


PTA News

Event Cancellation

Regretfully due to COVID, the PTA has decided to err on the side of caution, and cancel the Halloween picnic at the park, that was to be held on the 31st.

Community Notices

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

Huntsbury Preschool is hosting an OPEN DAY


Tuesday 26 October from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Spaces available for 2-5 year olds, Monday-Friday
Come check out our special little preschool on the hill.

Art Competition

As part of our council consultations on coastal hazards, we are running an art competition on what Christchurch might look like in 50 years. We want people to get creative and show us how life in coastal Ōtautahi Christchurch will be. Floating houses? Water cars? Houses and schools on poles? Water bikes? You can show us in any way you like – a drawing or painting, short movie, a presentation, a sculpture, a poster, a photo – get creative!

 Drop off is at any of our Christchurch City Council libraries, or get in touch with Hannah.Ballantyne@ccc.govt.nzto arrange collection.