Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had some fun events over the last couple of weeks, including our wonderful Matariki evening, and our second group's trip to Clip and Climb. 

We also celebrated Sandy at her farewell on Wednesday. It was lovely to hear from educators, students and whānau about the impact Sandy has had at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto. We wish her all the best in her new role.

Matariki

We loved seeing so many of our tamariki bursting through the door with excitement after a busy day at school. We had lots of activities happening throughout the hubs, and it was wonderful to see learners and their whānau engaging in these. 

It is a special time to connect with our community and we appreciated seeing so many of you despite the cold weather.

Matariki Maths

 

Matariki Kai

Clip and Climb

Our second groups to attend Clip and Climb also had a blast! For some, this was a new activity which was a little scary, and for others new goals were met. We were really proud of all of our learners. 

Thanks to all of our Clip and Climb whānau helpers for your support.

Literacy Links

When we teach our learners to read and to spell, we focus on using the 'pure' sounds. For example when learning to read the word 'Sam' we sound the word out as "sssss-aaaaa-mmmm, Sam". See below for a great explanation by Emma Nahna (speech-language therapist) of the pure sounds of New Zealand English and their importance in learning to read and write.

Emma also has some other awesome videos on her YouTube channel, such as how to teach Heart Words and consonant blends, for those of you who would like some more in-depth information in these areas.

This was our final blog for Term 2! If you come across any library or reading books at home over the holidays we would love to have these back next term :). We hope you all have a safe and restful break, and we look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday 22nd July. 

Ngā mihi nui,

The Kahikatea Team

Amber- amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz

Sarah- sarah.angelo@beckenham.school.nz

Quynh- quynh.nguyen@beckenham.school.nz

Ella- ella.rainbow@beckenham.school.nz

Lisa- lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz

Baking 

Clip and Climb 

Cyber Safety 

PB4L

                               Have a great weekend everyone!

Discos! Discos! Discos!

Identity

You may have noticed a whole lot of waka going up in our homerooms. Tamariki (children) have been working on a hoe (oar) that expresses how they contribute to class. This shows our school value of Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe, 'We Get There Together'.

Salt painting

Sarah and Quynh’s homeroom explored salt painting. This process involves the pulling (osmosis) property of liquid on salt. It was challenging to get the picture you wanted as you were limited by the materials. Our tamariki showed patience working together and demonstrated our school value of Nau mai te wero, 'We Love Challenge'.

Arts- Music

Last Friday some of our tamariki (children) enjoyed a music session with Ferndale ākonga (students). Both parties had a brilliant time - we are so lucky to spend time with our Ferndale friends

Cyber Safety - Gaming

LiteracyEncourage your tamariki on their reading journey through reading and storytelling. Every child is given reading books to take home for home reading.

Mathematics

We are currently exploring and developing an understanding of time through a unit of work called How Long Now?

Dear parents and whānau,

This week we have been exploring time and learning to tell time to an hour and a half-hour. We have also been looking at different sorts of clocks. Please support your child in drawing pictures or taking photos of clocks in your home and community (for example, watches, appliance clocks, novelty clocks, clock radios). Another way you can support your child's learning is by talking about the time when certain things happen, especially if it is on the hour or half hour. For example: "Look! It's 8 o'clock, time for bed" or "It's 5:30, time for tea".

In addition to this, we always appr

Also, we are always helping our children to consolidate their number knowledge. Any card and board games are a fun way to reinforce this learning. For example memory, fish, old maid, snap, stop the bus. 

ResilienceThis week uur PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) focus has been on Resilience. Here are the links from our daily notices:

Resilience Song

Building Resilience: Character

Teaching Assistant 

We are fortunate to have a trainee Teaching Assistant joining our team. 

Sanduni

Hi everyone 

My name is Sanduni and I’m from Sri Lanka. We moved to 

New Zealand 8 years ago with my husband Harsha and my 6-month-old son Sedas. My son is now 9 years old and studies at Beckenham School in year 5. I have another daughter too. I love to dance and teach traditional dancing to Sri Lankan kids in Christchurch. 

I will start studying a teacher aide course this year 

because I love to help children like you improve their 

learning skills. I'm so excited to start my first day next week. Thank you very much to all the teachers who have allowed me to visit their classrooms. See you all on Monday morning. 

Sanduni 

 Tena Koutou Katoa, 

The cooler weather is now here and rainy days too! Thank you for naming rain jackets, coats, hats etc and checking in the hub to locate your child's belongings at the end of the day. Each home group has at least one large tub for school jerseys and jackets and we encourage children to check all of these if they have lost something. 

School Uniform 

Teachers have been reminding tamariki about the correct uniform items that they should be wearing to school. The following list is taken directly from our school website: 

Clothing

Plain black culottes

Black and white gingham culottes

Black and white gingham dress

Black track pants

Black drill shorts

Red polar fleece jacket

Red polo shirt (long or short sleeved)

Red fleece sweatshirt

Plain red zip Merino top

School Footwear

Black school shoes

Plain white or dark runners

Black school sandal, preferably with a closed in toes

Black or white socks

Hair Accessories

Plain black/red headbands, ties, ribbons or clips.

Cyber Safety 

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

Pink Shirt Day & Learning Through Play

Have a lovely weekend everyone! 
Team Kahikatea