Kauri Whānau: End of Term 3

 In this post:

  • Celebrating our Year 8s
  • Sexuality and relationships education 
  • Zone speech competition
  • Athletics

Celebrating our Year 8s

Some years ago, we changed the name of our Year 8 end-of-year formal event from 'Year 8 Prizegiving' to "Year 8 Graduation'. The intent behind that was to make more of a celebration of every Year 8 student who was leaving the school. To some extent, we have achieved this and we would like to make some further changes to support this graduation being about all of our Year 8s and the end of their primary schooling.
Another factor in the change is that the graduation ceremony has grown in size, as our numbers in Years 7/8 have increased over the past few years, leading to a ceremony that seems to be getting longer with each passing year.
To that end, we are going to remove the 'prizegiving' part of the programme from the Year 8 Graduation, and, for this year, spread the acknowledgment of Year 8 prizes through a series of whole-school Celebration Assemblies that we plan to hold weekly through Term 4. The prizes and awards that are given out will be the same, it will just be the timing that changes. 

If your child is going to be getting a prize or award, you will be notified in advance, so that you will be able to attend if you would like to (subject to us being at Alert Level 1).

Sexuality and Relationships Education

Next term, starting in week 3 we will be teaching our health unit on sexuality and relationships education. On Thursday October 21st, we will be having a parent information evening, starting at 7pm in our hub. 

Zone Speech Competition

Zoe and Lola represented our kura extremely well at South Zone Speech Competition on Monday evening. They both spoke superbly and their speeches were very well received. Congratulations to Zoe who was placed second.

Athletics

Our athletic sports will be held on Thursday October 28th, from 9 until 3. If you are able to help, even for part of the day, please email Jenny. 


Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 9

 In this post: 

  • Literacy
  • Health
  • Ski trip
  • Cantamath
  • Athletics
  • Speeches

Literacy: Novel Studies

We have recently started novel studies with our literacy classes. Megan, Caitlin and Jenny's groups are reading 'The Boy in Stripped Pyjamas', by John Boyne. Themes of innocence, friendship and human nature are explored as the story of the relationship between the son of a German officer and a Jewish boy unfold. Nicky's group is reading 'Two Weeks with the Queen', by Morris Gleitzman. This book, while told with lots of humour, deals with heavier topics of cancer, aids and issues faced by people who are gay. The children are very engaged in discussions and activities unpacking the stories. Please let us know if you have any questions about these novel studies.

Health: Choice

When lockdown sent us home, we were just getting into our Choice health unit which explores making good choices around drugs and alcohol. While we have been unable to have lessons with the police constable, we are continuing this unit ourselves. 

Ski Trip

Sadly, we were unable to rebook another date for this year's ski trip. We look forward to offering this opportunity again next year.

Cantamath

The organisers of Cantamath are determined for this event to go ahead and have yet again rescheduled the competition to October 27th in term 4. This involves our problem-solving teams and we will also be sending a number of projects into the display competition. 

Athletics

We have started athletics training in preparation for our athletic sports which is scheduled for week 2 next term. The children will be doing athletics 4 afternoons a week for the next two weeks.

Speeches

We were treated to listening to a fabulous selection of persuasive and informative speeches on Friday. Topics were varied, including speeches encouraging us to not eat meat, respond to climate change, address gender inequities in sport, be inclusive, consider the needs of chickens, care for our oceans and avoid the dangers of sport. As you can see we were wowed by some very important topics. The judges had an extremely tough job. 

Year 7: First, Lola; second, Billy; and third equal, Stella and Fergus Macd

Year 8: First, Zoe C; second, Andi; and third equal, Thomas and Fergus McM

We wish Lola and Zoe the best of luck when they compete at the South Zone competition in week 10. The media team is putting together a video with snippets of each speech. We hope to have this ready to share with you next week. 



Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 8

 In this post:

  • Technology
  • Choir
  • Speech finals
  • Cashmere High Testing
It was fabulous to welcome the children back to our hub last week. After the initial excitement of reuniting with everyone, the children have quickly settled back into learning.

Technology

Technology classes at Christchurch South Intermediate continue in level 2. The key difference is that the canteen is not running. 

Choir

Choir also continues in level 2. The choir meets at 8:15 am on Mondays.

Speech Finals

We were impressed with how adaptable the children were to presenting their speeches via Zoom or videoing themselves. Finalists were named at the end of last week. Our team speech competition will take place this coming Friday, September 17, between 11:00 and 12:40. 
Year 7 finalists are Lola, Tahere, Fergus, Quinn, Freya, Billy, Richelle, Lachy, Stella and Oliver.
Year 8 finalists are Fergus, Mila, Tabea, Mahli, Thomas, Marcellus, Zoe C, Rory, Lane and Andi.
Unfortunately, parents cannot be part of the audience while we are at level 2.

Cashmere High School Testing

Year 8 testing at Cashmere High has been rescheduled to take place on Thursday, September 30th. Those who have children enrolled will receive details from Cashmere High. The children make their own way to and from testing and are expected back at Beckenham by 1:20pm. 

Kauri Whānau – getting prepared for level 4

 Kia ora everyone,

I am back at school gathering resources for learning at home - however long that may be?? There are 5 BYOD devices still at school. Two are out of charge and are not named and the others belong to Tahere, Jonty and Rory. School will be open until 10pm tonight. Let me know what you need from kids' buckets - books to read, pencil cases - anything else. If I am not in the hub, I will leave things in the office where Sandy will be until 10pm.  Please email with what you need - nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz

Ngā mihi

Nicky


Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 4

 In this post:

  • Cantamath
  • Beckamath
  • Congratulations
  • Ski Trip
  • Sports news
  • Year 8 girls' self defence
  • Photo Gallery

Cantamath

It was so exciting to see all of the fabulous Cantamath projects arrive at school on Friday. We are hoping to see some last-minute arrivals on Monday. Well done to the 90 children who completed their projects on time. On Friday after school, the teachers marked each project and identified those that will be going through to the Cantamath competition at the Christchurch Arena on Wednesday, August 25th. 

We would love to give whānau the opportunity to view these projects. A display has been set up in East Pukaki, the old new entrant hub that is across the courtyard from our hub. This will be open before school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and after school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All work that is not going through to Cantamath will need to be taken home on Friday. 

Cantamath problem-solving teams will be announced early next week. These teams will compete at the Christchurch Arena on August 25th, at 4pm for Year 7 and 5pm for Year 8. 

Beckamath

On Wednesday afternoon last week, we held our annual Beckamath competition. Children competed in homegroup teams to solve tricky maths problems. The hall was filled with excitement, focused energy and the heat of competition. Below is the top part of the results table. See photos at the end of this post.


Congratulations

A special congratulations to Zoë Clarke, who has been awarded a leadership scholarship for Cashmere High School in 2022. 

Ski Trip

Many thanks to everyone who has completed our ski trip form. We nearly have all of these completed. As part of the preparation for our day on the mountain, we will be going over a ski safety contract with the children and viewing a slideshow to give them an idea of what to expect. We will also be having lessons looking at the snow safety code, dressing for a mountain environment and familiarisation with equipment for first-time skiers. 

A reminder that our ski day is on September 2nd. The buses will be leaving from Sandwich Rd at 6am and will return at 6pm.

Gear

For those of you who indicated on the ski form that you would like help to get clothing for your child, we will start matching children up with gear and sending this home next week. If you offered to loan clothing - I will contact you if we need it. If you are looking for a good place to hire clothing and goggles, Snowmania rents gear at very reasonable prices: 4 Dalgety Street, Riccarton Phone: 03 961 6747. Remember that we arrange the skis, boots and helmets through Mt Hutt; you don't need to sort this equipment. 

Being dressed for the mountain conditions makes such a difference to the enjoyment of the day. Below is a reminder of what your child will need. 

  • Several thin layers are much better for keeping warm and comfortable than a bulky layer. Cotton is not great for the mountains; thermal clothing is what’s needed.
  • Polypro or woollen thermal top
  • Thermal ‘long-johns’ or tights
  • Fleece or woollen top / jersey
  • Waterproof pants
  • A warm weatherproof jacket
  • Woollen or thermal socks, not too thick. Socks need to come up to mid-calf at least.
  • Weatherproof gloves or mittens
  • Either sun glasses or ski goggles
  • A scarf is optional, but must be tucked into their jacket, to avoid dangling ends.
  • Hats are not needed as all children will be given a helmet
  • Sunscreen, for the face
  • A substantial lunch, including a drink. The mountain cafe is very expensive. Children may bring some money for a hot drink or snack, but please also pack a lunch. They are responsible for looking after any money they bring.
  • Long hair needs to be tied up. Children who get asthma should have their inhalers with them.

Sports news


Our fingers are crossed for a fine day on Tuesday so that we can go ahead with our Year 5-8 duathlon. For those who have entered, bikes need to be placed in the stands which will be by the Norwood entrance to the park before 8:30am. Remember to lock the bike to the stands as this area will not be supervised in the morning.

Our final winter sport session is this Thursday.

Self-Defence


This coming week we welcome back Lynda Maindonald from the Girls’ Self Defence Project. This project has been set up to equip girls with the skills and strategies to keep safe. Our Year 8 girls will have 8 hours of tuition with Lynda over 3 sessions. We are organising this in two groups with the first group starting on Wednesday. 

Photo Gallery


Speaker boxes under construction at hard materials technology.


Wednesday's Beckamath Competition





A selection of photos from the many fabulous Cantamath projects.