News Filter:

Kauri Whānau weekly Update: Term 2 Week 1

Posted on 6 May, 20226 May, 2022 by Nicky Dunlop

In this post:

Outdoor Education
Getting active with Dave
Sports news
High School Info

Outdoor Education

We have booked two days to go to VelocityKarts for our outdoor ed experience this term. As well as experiencing the fun and challenge of blokarts, the children will also be involved with volleyball, human foosball, top team games and throwing games. Jenny and Caitlin's home-groups will be going on Wednesday, May 18th and Megan and Nicky's home-groups on Thursday, May 19th. The children will travel by bus, leaving school at 9:30 and returning by 3pm. We would love some parents to join us on this trip. Please fill in this form to indicate if you can help.

Getting active with Dave

Last term Dave ran spikeball as an after school session on Thursday afternoons. This will not be happening during term 2 and 3. He will now be taking a running club during Friday lunchtimes.

Sports News

This term we have four sporting opportunities for our Year 5 - 8 tamariki

Cross Country
Swimming Sports
Winter Sport
Basketball

Winter Sport

All children are involved in winter sport in some capacity. The winter sport opportunities available at our kura are netball, hockey and football. Weekly winter sport lasts for 10 weeks, (five weeks in Term 2 and 5 weeks in term 3) and takes place on Thursday afternoons.

Some children join a competitive team and play weekly games against other schools in our zone. Games are held at a range of locations.

Football - Hansen and Beckenham Park

Netball - School’s netball courts (Hillview, St Martins and so on)

Hockey - Ngā Puna Wai

Some children stay at school and form a development team, who focus on skill development in a non-competitive environment.

WE NEED MORE TEAM MANAGERS!

This programme heavily relies on having enough adult teachers and caregivers to have an adult with each team. At the moment, we are in desperate need of more team managers, especially for football. The role of team manager is to go with the team to their game. It would be awesome if the team manager felt comfortable refereeing the game and this may not be essential. Referring at this level is not usually too tricky and can be done with no prior experience. What is required is knowledge of the game, or willingness to learn and an ability to make fair decisions. The most important quality in a ref is the ability to be fair. There may be an older sibling in your whānau who could help out with coaching / reffing. If you think this could be you, please email Jenny at jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz.

Year 5 - 8 Cross Country

Our school cross country is Tuesday afternoon starting at 1:50 and is an event that all children participate in in some way. Please see the previous post for more information. The children have been practising during our PE sessions and we have been really proud in the way that they are giving their best effort in these sessions.

Year 5 -8 Swimming Sports

Swimming Sports is an optional event. It is usually in Term 1 but this year, due to COVID-19, it is being held on Monday 30th may at Wharenui Pool. Students who wish to take part and are confident swimmers can enter via a Google Form that is shared with them via Google Classroom. Student have until Thursday next week to make their entry. Some of our amazing Year 8 leaders have run information sessions with Year 5 and 6 to let them know details of this event.

Basketball

We have teams organised to start games at Pioneer after school, starting soon. There will also be opportunities to play in a Zone Tournament.

High School Info

Each year in term 2, high schools share information for us to pass on to you. Now is a good time to look on the website of the schools you are interested in for your Year 8 child next year. Check out if they have an Open Day / Evening, check the enrollment procedures and you may like to check out scholarship information. We have received the following from Hagley College.

Hagley College

Year 9 enrolments here at Hagley.

Applications for Year 9 2023 will open online from 16 May.
Please note that due to the continuing uncertainty around the pandemic, we have made the difficult decision not to hold an open evening this year.
We are still very happy to provide information about Hagley for 2023 to all interested parents, caregivers and students.
Our 2023 Junior College Lookbook is available on our website at https://www.hagley.school.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2023_Hagley-College-Junior_Lookbook.pdf.
Families are also welcome to contact Suzanne Waters (Director of Students) with any questions about learning in Year 9 at Hagley on suzanne.waters@staff.hagley.school.nz.
For any other queries, or for those unable to complete an application online, parents/caregivers should contact Lisa Amer on lisa.amer@staff.hagley.school.nz or (03) 364 5134.

Thinking about Hagley for Year 9 2023? 10 key points about us:

We're a Designated Character School. To join us, you must agree to engage with our culture and our values of Whakamarumaru (Responsibility), Mana (Respect), Whakawhirinaki (Trust) and Tika (Integrity). We also need to be confident that Hagley has the resources to support you in your learning, that there is a programme that will meet your needs, and that there is a place for you in that programme.
We are a restorative school.
We have an inclusive and diverse learning environment.
We offer a connected curriculum.
All Year 9 students have two hours of Te Reo Māori, two hours of Health and three hours of PE each week. They also all take English, Maths, Social Sciences and Science. Students also choose from a wide range of Kete Wana courses to complete their programmes.
Social action and student leadership are actively promoted and celebrated.
Our Targeted Learning class is very small. Only 2-3 places will be available for new students in 2023 due to returning students.
GATE students are able to excel in their specialty fields.
Enrolment for Year 9 2023 opens online on 16 May 2022 and closes on 8 July 2022 at midday. It is essential to apply during this time.
There are only 125 places available in Year 9 for 2023. A ballot is usually required and will occur on 1 August 2022. Notifications re places will occur by 5 August 2022. Criteria for priority enrolment for those with family/whānau links to Hagley is on our website.

Kauri Whānau Update: Term 1 Week 11

Posted on 13 April, 202213 April, 2022 by Nicky Dunlop

In this post:

Smart watches
Arrival time at school
Tech at South - first day
PB4L
40 Hour Famine
Sport

Term 1 2022, has certainly been different to what usually happens in our Year 7 & 8 hub. We have been so impressed with how your children have responded to these differences and cancellations, that have been caused by the pandemic. It has also been a tiring term with the wearing of masks and lots of illness. The holiday has been well earned by everyone. We wish your whānau a safe and happy two weeks and look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday, May 3rd. Please note that Monday is a staff only day.

Smartwatches

As smartwatches are communication devices, they are not something that our tamariki can have on them during the school day. If a smartwatch comes to school, it will be treated as a phone and need to be handed into the phone box for safekeeping at the start of each day. This is in line with our school ICT agreement.

Arrival time at school

We have noticed a number of children arriving at school very early. This can cause some issues before school. Children should not be at school before 8:30. There are two exceptions for this: on Tuesdays, children can arrive at 8:25 for technology, and on Thursdays, Maths Club children arrive at 8:20.

Technology at South

We are looking forward to travelling to South Intermediate for technology classes from the first day of term two. Unless we contact you to say otherwise, children need to be at school by 8:30 on the first day of term two, Tuesday, May 3rd.

Positive Behaviour For Learning

We use our PB4L lessons to address any current happenings, concerns or work-ons within our hub. In the past few weeks we have been noticing a trend of students leaving the hub to eat during learning time so we have highlighted the importance of eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet, largely focusing on the food pyramid and what impact each type of macronutrient has on our brain. In addition to this, we have been learning about Ramadan and what this looks like for learners within our kura over the next month. It has been a fantastic way to celebrate our cultural diversity and to reinforce global citizenship.

Sport

Our sports leaders, Billy and Zoe, have put hours of time into planning a sports event for our hub this term. Despite the weather causing a change of timeframe, our tamariki thoroughly enjoyed playing korfball, spikeball, Kiorahi, Ultimate and T-ball. The encouragement of others and positive sportsmanship have been fabulous to see.

Please click this link to find out about sport in term 2 and indicate if you can help out.

Cross Country: Week 2 Term 2

We are really excited to get back into sports again in term 2.

In term 2 we have cross country on the Tuesday of week 2 for year 5 - 8 children. Inclusion is always a priority as we plan this event and COVID 19 provides another consideration.

We know that many children will be thrilled about sporting activities resuming. We are also conscious that for people who have had Covid-19, the return to physical activities needs to be done carefully. Taking time to fully recover from Covid-19 and the effect of Long Covidare at the forefront of our minds as we plan our school cross country.

Participating in our cross country sees many children embracing challenge and pushing the boundaries of their physical endurance. For a healthy, prepared body, this is a great thing. For a body that is recovering from illness, this can impact recovery.

If your child has returned to school after being absent with Covid 19, we advise that they do not participate in a competitive manner. Instead, our recommendation is that your child walks the course or participates as an event helper. We know that this will be disappointing for some. The final decision on your child’s readiness for cross country at this time is ultimately one for you to make together as a whānau. If you decide your child should not participate in running the cross country for a medical reason (including recovering from having Covid-19), please email their homeroom teacher. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that your child is running/walking cross country on the Tuesday of week 2.

If your child is well and healthy and intends to participate competitively in cross country, some running practice over the holidays would be a great idea.

Kauri Whānau Update: Term 1 Week 9

Posted on 29 March, 202229 March, 2022 by Nicky Dunlop

In the post

If away
Kauri Learning
Supporting your child's maths learning
Basketball
Outdoor education
Technology photos

If away

Many thanks to those families who are letting the school know when you are isolating. We would also like to know if a child tests positive. Can you please keep us up to date with your situation by emailing or calling Jacky or Reihana in the office?

Kauri Learning

Learning in the Kauri hub is ticking along nicely, despite substantial numbers of children being away. A reminder that if your child is at home unwell, or isolating then learning can be accessed via Google Classroom (literacy and Kauri classrooms), Maths-Whizz and activities outlined on our learning at home page. It has been great to see children and parents emailing home-group or maths teachers when they have questions. It is also good to see children using their at-home learning time as an opportunity to get some blogging done for their kete badges.

Supporting your child's maths learning

We operate a basic facts programme at school which sees the children learning about and practising sets of basic facts each week. This looks different for each child, based on where they are at. In the early stages are addition and subtraction facts, through to multiplication and division facts, and on to finding factors of a number, converting between fractions, decimals and percentages and many other facts in between. We teach understanding of these facts in class and make connections between the facts and key maths concepts. For example, knowing the lowest common multiple is needed to add fractions with different demoninators.

The children have a basic facts tracker that indicates what they have achieved and four areas that they are working on. In the next week we will photocopy each child's tracker and send this home, so that you can see what they are working on. Practising these facts at home each week will greatly help their progress with acquiring mastery of basic facts. Below is a video of a strategy that is a great quick daily practice for learning times tables. A few children are using this at home each day and they are making great progress.
Children should also be spending 30 minutes at home working on Maths Whizz each week.

Basketball

In the anticipation of the basketball competition at Pioneer going ahead next term, we need to start putting teams together. If your child is interested in playing basketball, they need to fill in the form on Kauri Google Classroom. The competition runs after school on a Monday or Friday afternoon with 30 min games falling between 3:30 and 6pm.

Outdoor Education

With camp not happening this year, we are looking at having outdoor education opportunities each term. We are starting to look at options for a term 2 experience and will provide more details once we have something booked.

Looking ahead to term 3, we have booked in our ski day at Mt Hutt on Thursday September 1st. Now we just need to keep fingers and toes crossed that the Covid situation settles down enough so that the trip can go ahead. Early next term we will put out a form asking for parent help with this trip.

Technology Photos

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 1 Week 6

Posted on 7 March, 20227 March, 2022 by Nicky Dunlop

In this post:

Tuesday mornings
Learning at home
Guest speakers

Tuesday Mornings

We are now into a new rhythm on Tuesday mornings, while technology at South is on hold. We received great feedback from the children last week after their first Beckenham science and technology sessions. In science, the children are learning about body systems with links to first aid. In technology, the Year 8s are exploring electronics and robotics. It is great to have Kate join our teaching team for these sessions. The Year 7s are learning about wet felting.

Year 8s created a foot-operated controller.

Learning at Home

With the current Covid-19 outbreak, attendance numbers at school are down, as was excepted. Our 'learning at home' site is up and running and the children know how to access this via google classroom.

Their literacy work is accessed through their literacy google classroom.
Maths is via MathsWhizz.
There is also a selection of sustainability activities on the learning at home website.
On Kauri google classroom they will find the weekly quiz and a science activity, called 'organ systems'.

If your child has any questions about their learning from home, please get in touch with their home-group teacher.

Guest Speakers

This week the children will be listening to two highly motivating guest speakers. On Monday and Tuesday we have Attitude.inc coming in to deliver their 'Who am I?' presentation. On Thursday a speaker from 'I Am Hope' will talk with our team. Their presentation has the aim of normalising mental health, encouraging young people to reach out for help, and gives examples of tools to keep themselves well.

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 1 Week 5

Posted on 25 February, 202225 February, 2022 by Nicky Dunlop

In this post:

Technology on hold
A great week of challenge and leadership development

Technology at Christchurch South Intermediate

Due to the current impact of Covid, technology classes at Christchurch South Intermediate are currently not happening for both South and Beckenham students. We will be filling this space on our timetable with science and technology learning. Technology will resume at South once the impact of the pandemic on schools has reduced.

Leadership Week

We have had a great few days developing our understanding of the '7 habits of highly effective people' and how these impact us as leaders, both of ourselves and others. Many thanks to all of the parents who have helped out, either on our walk or supporting with activities on the Year 8 leadership day. Without your help, such opportunities cannot happen. Below are a few photos from the last few days.