Kia ora, e te whānau,

A very warm welcome to Fin and Greyson who have both joined our team recently. You've made a wonderful start to school, tamariki - well done!

It's been a very busy time for Koru team members, as we spread out to include our new learning space, Kōmanawa. Elizabeth's Home Group is starting and finishing the day there, and some Literacy groups are also being taught in Kōmanawa. The tamariki have fully embraced our new space, and are treating it with great care and respect. Welcome to Finlay and Greyson, who have started school and joined our Koru team.

• Boxes, please - a request from us to, please, save any boxes you might normally put out in your recycling bin and send them into school instead - the children are loving creating and decorating in the Maker Space in Hangere and we find that we're always in need of boxes, generally small to medium in size, although shoe boxes and even those slightly bigger can also be turned into homes for fairies, dioramas and so on. We'd also love any little bits and bobs such as ribbon, lace, buttons, small pieces of fabric, feathers, etc., for decorative purposes. Many thanks if you're able to help out with any of these items.
• Beckenham's Got Talent - your children may have been talking with you about the Beckenham Talent Show which is traditionally held at the end of Term 3. A member of our School Council will be coming to the Koru team soon to explain what is involved. There will be more information coming out shortly however, in the meantime, if your child has a particular 'talent' (for example, it might involve singing, dancing, gymnastics, hula hooping, telling jokes, performing magic tricks, etc.) they could be practising at home, in readiness for the Koru team show which will take place prior to the whole school Talent Show. One 'performance' from the Koru team will be selected to be performed at the whole school show. Children are welcome to join up with some friends and enter the Talent Show as a team. Please note, there will be more information to come very soon.

Staying Safe Online: Bullying

One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.

Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.

Maths Whānau Evening:

What a fabulous and enlightening evening this was. Rob Profitt-White has been working with kaiako (teachers) here at Beckenham Te Kura over several years now and how fortunate we were to have been able to have him presenting to whānau last night! It was great to see so many of our Koru team families present and we do hope that you found the evening enormously valuable.

An update on Maths in the Koru Team:

In the Koru team, as you know, we just LOVE Maths! Here is a reminder about aspects of Maths and the different forms Maths takes in our programme:

• a weekly problem-solving session
• Hot Spot warm ups, with a focus throughout each week on developing number knowledge, Move and Prove and Notice, Think, Wonder (see below for descriptions of these activities)
• small group lessons, during which the children are taught to use their number knowledge in order to strategise to solve number problems
• at times throughout each term, a focus on other Maths strands (aspects of Algebra, Geometry and Measurement and Statistics)
• a Maths game lesson
• and once a week on Fridays our handwriting lesson is devoted to specifically learning and practising the correct numeral formation.

     

Kia ora e te whānau,

The time really seems to be flying by with just a fortnight now until the school holidays, the last day of term being on Friday, July 5th. We have some exciting events planned for the final part of the term, including our Art Gallery trip on Monday, the Matariki evening on Tuesday next week and some Matariki baking on Thursday of next week just before the long Matariki weekend. Please see below for reminders about the dates on which these events and some others will be taking place.

We warmly welcome Aylah who has had her first full week at school (what a wonderful first week you've had, Aylah!), and we're also excited to be welcoming Millie who is going to be starting school on Tuesday next week. We're so glad to have you both in the Koru team, tamariki!

Important dates to remember:

• Monday, June 24th, 9:00 - 12:00 Koru team Art Gallery outing
• Tuesday, June 25th, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. our whole school Matariki evening
• Thursday, June 27th, Koru team Matariki baking (we'll be baking plain scones with jam on them - please do let us know if you'd prefer that your child doesn't have a scone)
• Friday, June 28th, school is closed for the long Matariki weekend
• Friday, July 5th is the last day of Term 2

Cyber Safety at Beckenham Te Kura ō Pūroto:

In this Blog post, we have a focus on being Aware of Online Harm.

Many parents didn't grow up with the internet, so it can be hard to imagine how tamariki may use it. But these days, digital technology is a key part of our young people's lives. They use it for learning, communicating and entertainment.

Netsafe has released research that looked into parental awareness of children's experiences of online risks and harm. The research found a mismatch between parents' awareness and their children's experiences of upsetting online content.

To check out the research, and other Netsafe resources, visit this link.

Maths in the Koru Team:

In the Koru team, we just LOVE Maths! Our Maths takes the form of:

• a weekly problem-solving session
• Hot Spot warm ups, with a focus throughout each week on developing number knowledge, Move and Prove and Notice, Think, Wonder (see below for descriptions)
• small group lessons, during which the children are taught to use their number knowledge in order to strategise to solve number problems
• at times throughout each term, a focus on other Maths strands (aspects of Algebra, Geometry and Measurement and Statistics)
• and once a week on Fridays our handwriting lesson is devoted to specifically learning and practising the correct numeral formation.

 Kia ora e te whānau,

We hope this finds you all well and managing to stay clear of the winter bugs which are starting to circulate. We'd like to officially welcome Callia and her family to Beckenham to Kura o Pūroto. Callia started school with us on Monday this week. A warm welcome also goes out to Ehsan who is going to be starting with us on Monday next week. Ehsan has a big sister in the Kōwhai team, so we welcome Ehsan's family back to the Koru team!

We've had a very busy couple of weeks since our last Blog post. Activities have included:

• Pink Shirt Day last Friday (emphasising the value of 'kindness')
• the school Cross Country on Tuesday last week
• learning how to play charades
• learning some new waiata and playing Te Reo (emotions) Bingo
• Book Character Dress Up Day today...
• ... and of course lots of lovely Learning Through Play, with 'Inclusion' and 'Kindness' being our Words of the Week, and therefore a big area of focus for us all.

How can you help your child at home?

The emphasis in teaching spelling is to focus on the sound, as opposed to the letter name. Making the phoneme (sound) - grapheme (letter shape) connection is the first step in literacy learning.

Ensure that both you and your child are saying the ‘pure’ sound without an ‘uh’ sound on the end, for example, ‘lllll’ rather than ‘luh’. Please refer to this Youtube clip, The Sounds of New Zealand English, for more information on the sound that matches each of the letters.

Here are some ideas about ways you might use the letter cards at home with your child: 

Speed Sounds: use the cards as flash cards - your child can look at each letter card and say the sound it represents. See if your child can do this at speed.

‘I Spy’: You can play games such as ‘I Spy’, using the letter sound (not the name).

Stepping Stones: Place the cards on the floor with the letter facing up, as if they are stepping stones across the river. Explain to your child that they have to cross the ‘river’ without falling in the water. Your child steps on each card and says the corresponding sound.

Fish or Memory: You could make up a matching set of letter cards, and use both sets to play Fish or Memory together, by placing both sets of cards face down on the table or floor. Each player has to be able to say the sound, if they are to keep a matching pair of cards.

Writing the graphemes: you might make the letter sound and ask your child to write the matching grapheme (support your child as much as is needed with this activity)

Some of the above ideas can also be used with the heart words that your child either is, or will be, bringing home in their literacy folder.

Look out for more information about our Structured Literacy programme in future Blog posts.

...and now just a few more fun photos from the past fortnight!

Cyber Safety Information for Whānau:

Staying Safe Online...

As our tamariki spend more time online, it’s important parents and whānau help them stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital technology.

Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit so parents, families and whānau have all the information they need to talk about online safety.

If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.

All You Need to Know About TikTok:

Tiktok is one of the fastest growing social media apps. It’s a platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos – and many young people love it! From new dance crazes to funny clips to animal videos, Tiktok can inspire creativity and bring joy.

But it’s important that parents and whānau help their tamariki navigate Tiktok safely. Today we’re sharing the Netsafe Tiktok Family Safety Toolkit so you can help guide your whānau to a fun and safe digital experience.

We wish you all the best for a lovely weekend, everyone, and we look forward to seeing all of those beautiful, wide smiles at school again on Monday.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

Elizabeth, Stacey and Georgia

 Kia ora e te whānau,

It feels very hard to believe that here we all are, at the very end of the 2023 school year. Your children have all settled so beautifully into life at school this year, and their learning has been impressive, to say the least. 

It's been very exciting for us as teachers, and you too, we're sure, to witness the social, emotional and physical progress, as well as the progress in academic learning that the children have all made since starting at school. What a wonderful group of tamariki they are! We're going to miss them terribly over the long summer holiday, and will be looking forward to seeing them back again (mostly as members of the Kahikatea team), with their beautiful smiles at the start of next year.

Thank you all so much for the unstinting support you have given both your children and the teachers this year. Their progress would not have been such as it is, without your backup on the home front. You can be absolutely certain that we have appreciated this enormously!

Final two days:

Please do ensure that you check that you have all of your child's belongings, before leaving on Tuesday:

• all clothing, including sunhat, polar fleece and socks 
• their lunchbox and drink bottle (there are often drink bottles left behind on the last day!)
• and any other personal items belonging to your child.

Kia ora e te whānau,

How is the holiday break going for you all? We do trust that everyone is having a wonderful, relaxing time, and finding plenty of opportunities to recharge and re-energise for the final term of the year!

We wanted to be in touch in advance of next week, with a few reminders and notices for the term ahead:

• Hats - firstly, a very important reminder for all, that sunhats are to be worn every day throughout Term 4, whenever the children are outside at school, so now is the time to ensure that your child's named sunhat is packed in their school bag, ready to go on Monday.
• Library books - we realise that there are a great many overdue library books at homes around the Beckenham area, and would like to urge you to hunt out any library books which might be at your place and pack them into your child's schoolbag now, ready to be returned to school on Monday (we'll be asking children to put their library folders into the library container first thing on Monday morning, if they're not there already!)
• Friendship List - once again, our Friendship List will be updated at the start of this term, so if you would like your name and contact details added to this list, please email Georgia (georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz) by the end of the first week and she will send the new list out in Week 2; if your name is already on the Friendship List, please don't worry about emailing again.
• Stacey and Elizabeth's days in Term 4 - throughout Term 4, Stacey will be teaching on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and Elizabeth will be teaching on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; occasionally there may be an adjustment made, and if you do need to double check to know for sure on any particular day, a good idea is to look at the whiteboard when you arrive at school, as the photos of the adults who are going to be at school that day will always appear there!
• Sarah's Home Group: throughout Term 4, the children in Sarah's Home Group are going to be starting and finishing the school day in Kōmanawa which is the building facing the courtyard and closer to the park; these children will still leave their bags in the blue cubbies, and will need to unpack their Literacy folders and leave them in the usual Literacy folder containers, and take their lunchboxes and drink bottles over to the set of shelves just to the left inside the door into Kōmanawa; these children will be leaving from Kōmanawa at 3:00 p.m. each day
• Junior Park Explorers: you will have received information through Hero about this outing which is taking place on the Friday of the first week back (Friday, October 13th), and thank you so much to those parents who have already emailed to say that they can parent help with this; we still need several more helpers (some for each of the 3 Home Groups) so please do email your child's Home Group teacher if you're able to come along and support on this day (a reminder that the times are as follows: Elizabeth and Stacey's HG - 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.; Sarah's HG - 10:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.; and Georgia's HG - 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.)