Kia ora everyone,

Year 7 & 8 are heading down to Dunedin for an exiting week of learning at the end of this term. We are kicking our fundraising off with our annual cheese roll business.

We have had fabulous feedback on the quality of our cheese rolls in the past, so you can be guaranteed a tasty product! They do well in the freezer, so this is a good opportunity to stock up for the winter months. Details are in the link below.

Please click on this link to order.  There will also be paper order forms available at the school office.

This week we are full on into our regular programme, having spent the first two weeks running workshops to set up for the year ahead. We were so impressed to see that so many of the children are keeping up to date with timeframes for completing tasks.

Life Education

You will have noticed the Life Education trailer in our car park. Year 7 & 8 home-groups will have four sessions each at Life Ed over this week and next, learning about the impacts of the things that we put into our bodies, with a focus on food, drugs and alcohol.

Maths Whizz

This year we will continue using the online programme Maths Whizz to help students consolidate their maths skills. This is an excellent tutorial programme that will enable students fill any gaps and progress further in their maths learning. As this is new to Year 7's, we want to share the following information so that you can understand how Maths Whizz works. On the link below, you will find several important resources to help you support your child with the curriculum when used at home. Students will get time to use Maths Whizz at school and will most likely earn the required 4 progressions, but some students may choose to continue their progress at home. Please see Megan if you have any queries. Thank you in advance for your support with this.
Maths Whizz Parent Resources

Leadership Week

Our leadership week is just around the corner.

For Year 7 this is a full day of leadership activities on the Monday (March 2) and a day leading in a junior hub on the Thursday or Friday. Year 7 can wear mufti on the Monday.

For Year 8 this is a two day leadership camp on the Thursday and Friday (March 5 and 6). The children sleep over at school on the Thursday night. We will send out a gear list next week. On the Thursday evening we head into town on the public bus. Each child needs to have $2.40 in coins for their bus fare (we will add this to the gear list). We also ask for a food donation:
Te Maunga (Nicky's home-group): a packet of breakfast cereal
Te Awa (Megan's home-group): a bag of fruit
Te Tai and Te Ngahere (Jenny and Hannah's home-groups) some baking

Dunedin Camp

Many thanks to those who indicated they could help out on camp if we were short on numbers. Turns out we have just the right number. The following parents will be joining us on camp: Karen M, Nicola R, Damion T, Miranda K, Belinda M, Juliet L, Katey G, Ewan C and one more to confirm.

Writing

Our current writing topic is to write a description about someone in your Whakapapa. Most children are well underway with this assignment. Over the weekend we will be checking their progress and emailing children (parents will be copied in) who need to catch up. A conversation at home about what to include in their description could be helpful for some.

We are so impressed with how well our Year 7 & 8s have settled into the new year. Leadership positions have been established and a number of groups are up and running.

Bike raffle for camp

Huge thanks to Liz May, one of our parents, who won a mountain bike and has selected a model / size suitable for Year 5-8 to donate for our camp fundraising. We will be raffling the bike off this term. We would love one parent to volunteer to manage this raffle, with the support of a few senior students to sell tickets before school. Please send me an email if you are happy to take this on. 

Parent help on camp and with fundraising

So far we have 5 parents who care keen to join us on camp. If you would like to come along and have yet to fill in the form, please click on this link.

Kete Blogging

It has been fantastic to see our students starting their kete blogging for the year - we've had quite a few blog posts already and some students are already well on the way to earning a kete badge.

This year, we are trialling making the blogs slightly more public. While the blogs are set as being public, they have also been set so that they do not appear in search engine results (e.g. Google searches) or blogger listings. This will mean that students can email their blog posts to others and parents will be able to more easily see their child's blog. If you have any concerns or wish to discuss this further please email Hannah (hannah.elliott@beckenham.school.nz).

Genius Hour 

This week the children have been formulating ideas for their first Genius Hour project. Some are choosing to work independently, while others are working in a collaborative pair. There is a wide range of interesting projects being developed. We strongly recommend asking your child about their project. Next Tuesday afternoon, the children will pitch their ideas to their homeroom teacher.

Sport

Please, follow this link to indicate if you are able to help out with sport this term. 

The aim of our sports programme is to provide exposure to a range of different sporting pursuits. This allows the children to develop movement skills and sequences in a range of contexts while broadening their horizons and discovering their passions. There are a range of events throughout the year. Some of these involve all the children and there are many additional optional opportunities for those who want to extend themselves. Children who enjoy the competitive element of sport can strive to qualify for zone and Canterbury level competition through Primary School Sport Canterbury. If your child is not able to compete for any reason, there are a myriad of alternative ways to be involved. Inclusive practise is always at the heart of what we do. If there is anything that we can do to make an event more accessible for your child, please get in contact with Jenny or your child’s homeroom teacher.

For some optional events, children interested in competing should enter using a Google form, which is accessed through Google Classroom. We aim for the children to develop independence in entering events and we acknowledge that some children may need support with this. Conversations at home about upcoming optional events that may be of interest, and checking in to ensure that they have entered events you would expect them to, is advisable. I have attached the link to entry forms for both swimming and duathlon so that you can go through the process together if needed.

Term 1
Swimming Sports Thursday 27th February

This is an optional event, which takes place at Wharenui Pool. Children may enter one distance per stroke and as many different strokes as they wish. For example, they may enter 25m freestyle and 50m backstroke, but may not enter the 25m and 50m backstroke. The children enter this event via a Google form. This form has been made available to them through Google Classroom. Follow this link to get to the entry form. 

Duathlon

Participating in the school duathlon is a fantastic way of showing our school value, ‘We love challenge’. It involves a run around the block, a bike around the park (2 slalom laps for Year 7/8), followed by a second lap of running around the block. The sense of achievement when crossing the finish line makes the hard work worth while. Children need to provide their own bike for this event. Here is the link to the Google form for entries.

Extra-Curricular Sports - Mountain Biking

There are two mountain biking relays that have been very popular in previous years. While these events are promoted by Beckenham te Kura O Pūroto and we are proud for the children to represent our kura, the responsibility of the transport and supervision of children at both events is with the caregiver. Entry for both of these events is done by the caregiver on the event’s website. Follow the link below. Please contact Jenny if you have any questions about either of these events. Email confirmation of your entry to Jenny.

Huxster Mountain Bike Relay - 4th March

Held at Mclean’s Island, this event is a super fun event where children strive to complete as many laps of the course as they can in the time, (1.5 hours for Year 5/6 and 3 hours for Year 7/8). Year 5/6 children must compete in a team of two, while Year 7/8 have the option of doing the event as an individual or in a pair. Children should be confident controlling the speed and direction of their bike on beginner level single track.

Note: This event is much earlier in the term than it previously has been.
Due to its popularity, this event is now being held over two days. Children from Beckenham should enter the South and Mid Canterbury zoned event on the 4th of March.

Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike Relay - 21st March

This event features a variety of options for many age groups. The Super Juniors (6 to 11 years) do a very friendly course through the Heritage Forest. This incorporates a green level single track. Every child must have their own tail end charlie, (an adult riding with them) on every lap. This is a fantastic entry into mountain bike racing for those children who are comfortable controlling their speed and direction on trails similar to those at McLean’s Island and Bottle Lake. Children aged 11 years plus ride the same course as the adults, (and at the same time). This course has more climbing and more technical riding, (think Loess Rider or an easy blue level trail). Children should be confident mountain bikers on easy blue trails. Children compete in a team of up to 4 children.

It was lovely to welcome everyone to our Intermediate Hub for 2020 yesterday. There was plenty of enthusiasm, lots of smiles and eager anticipation for the learning journey ahead. We were also very appreciative of the new air conditioning - very!

Camp: 

As we mentioned at learning conferences, we have camp coming up in week 9 of this term, March 30th - April 3rd. We are seeking offers of parent / caregiver help for joining us on camp and also for help with two fundraising projects. Please click this link to indicate how you can get involved.

Swimming Sports:

Our school swimming sports, an optional event, will be held on Thursday February 27th. Jenny has shared a google form with the children via google classroom for them to submit their entries.

Forms and Devices:

We are excited to see the large number of children who have indicated they will bring a device to school for learning this year. This morning we got a number of children set up on the school network. We really want to get this all sorted by Friday, so if your child is yet to do so please encourage them to bring their device tomorrow, Wednesday, and see Hannah before school to get it linked to our school network. Once their device is set up, it needs to come to school every day.

A reminder to get all forms signed and returned to school this week: Cyber-safety, Bus permission and BYOD. Many thanks to the large number of people who got this sorted at learning conferences.

If you missed out on a copy of our start of year newsletter (paper copy), please let me know and I will make sure one is sent home to you.

Remember to be at school before 8:30 on Tuesdays in time to catch the bus for Technology.

Lots of fun was had at Corsair Bay yesterday. No doubt your children came home with stories of sharks in the bay! Yes, two small sand sharks did come to visit, something we didn't have on our safety plan! Luckily there were only a handful of children on or by the pontoon at the time and we were able to ferry them back to the beach on kayaks. Everyone was buzzing on the way home.

On Tuesday, the children will be bringing school books and stationery home. Please make sure they have plenty of room in their bags.

Victoria Park Walk on Monday:

On Monday we will be leaving school soon after 10am, on our way to Victoria Park on foot. Children may wear mufti, suitable for walking, to school. The must have a sunhat, sunscreen, waterproof layer, water bottle, good sized lunch and any medication they may need, all packed in a backpack.

Year 8 Party:

 On Monday we are having a pool and pizza party for the Year 8s at the Cockfield's house (79 Dyers Pass Rd), which is up by Cashmere Primary School. Please check the map below for how to get there, via walking through the school grounds. It would be good to come with togs on under clothes.  We are hoping the rain will hold off until evening. We will also have access to the basketball court and playground at the school. Pizza and a drink will be provided. Please arrive at 4pm and arrange pick-up at 6pm. If plans need to change due to weather, we will send you an updated message.