Over the past week, we have been interviewing Year 7 students who have applied for House Captain and Student Council Exec positions for 2019. We had 30 people applying and the group interviews saw fabulous attitudes and ideas. Actually, the whole year has been a bit of an 'extended interview', as we have watched how the children responded in a wide range of situations.

Our current Year 7 cohort has an interesting gender distribution, with 18 boys and 41 girls. 3/4 of the people applying for positions were girls. This year we have decided to move away from our traditional approach of having one boy and one girl as captains/deputies of each house. Our appointments reflect the gender distribution of this year group.

Being selected as a House Captain means that you may need to change house for your Year 8 year. As yet we have not looked at houses and will sort this later.

House Captains for 2019:

Freddie
Ben
Emily E
Vienna
Maddi M
Gemma
Sophia B
Meg

Deputy House Captains for 2019:

Jack
Arran
Dom
Ella C
Roxy
Morvern
Samantha
Matilda

Student Council Exec:

Chairperson: Lucy
Secretary: Paolo
Treasurer: Helena

Te Reo Champion (new role): 

Maia Davis
One area our school will be giving more attention to in 2019 is the use of Te Reo Māori in a simple and integrated way, so that whānau, staff and students can learn and use it together.  Our Te reo Champion will play a pivotal role in supporting us all to make this happen.


Part of the interview asked the children to reflect on our Year 8s: who they had been impressed by and for what reasons. It was heartening to hear such positive reflections about a wide range of our Year 8 students. We realise that being a house captain or on the council exec has been a long time ambition for many students. Those who have not been appointed will feel disappointed. Disappointments can be an opportunity to develop resilience and set new goals. There will be many more leadership opportunities available at the start of next year. Listening to the children at their interviews, we could see lots of potential School Ambassadors.

The house captains, council exec and Te Reo champion will attend 'Be Inspired', a leadership afternoon at Christ College on Wednesday, Nov 14. This is the proposed strike day. We will need parent support with transport and accompanying the children during the afternoon.

Key reminders for our trip to Ōtākaro Orchard and Tūranga (library) on Monday Nov 5th:

• Leaving school at 11am and returning by 3pm
• Bring lunch and water bottle
• All children must have a sunhat and sunscreen
• School uniform is to be worn, including a jacket
• Children are encouraged to bring a trowel and gardening gloves if they have these
• Children may bring their library card if they would like to issue a book from Tūranga

It continues to be all go in the Intermediate Hub! Remember sports day has been moved to Friday this week. Jenny will be emailing out details, including a programme of events. Read on for important messages...

Ōtakāro Orchard Trip

The weather forecast is looking good and we have Simon, Peter and Anne signed up to help, so it is all looking good for Monday's trip to town (Nov 5). Children need to bring gardening gloves and a trowel (in a bag) if they have these at home. Packed lunch, drink bottle, sunhat and sunscreen are musts. We leave school at 11am and return by 3pm.

The Sexuality Road Parent Information Evening

This Thursday in the staffroom. Please fill in this form if you are planning on coming.

Top Team Competition

Our Top Team competition is coming up in week 5 on Tuesday Nov 13th. So far we have Mary,  Sonja, Leigh and Kate signed up to help. Rory, Philippa and Peter are maybes. We still need more adults to help supervise events. This is a great opportunity to see your child interacting in a group situation.  If you can help, please fill in this form.

Parent helpers for Victoria Park and Corsair Bay

May thanks to those who have offered to help with these two trips at the end of the term. We would need you all.
Corsair Bay: Simon, Peter, Kate, Jane and Kathryn (with possibly Mary and Rory)
Victoria Park: Rory, Philippa, Kate, George, Peter, Simon, Nicole and Rebecca. We still need a couple more for this trip. Details on the link above.

Creativity Abound!

There are lots of creative juices flowing in the Intermediate Hub this term. Work is underway with props, costumes and performances for our production in December. If you would like to join your props and costume crew, who work on a Thursday morning between 11 and 12:40, we would love to have your help. All skill levels welcome. Please email if you are available.
On a Thursday during passion time, one group are designing a mural to be painted on the toilet block by the Beckenham ponds. We are excited to have local artist, Ira Kirk, guiding us through this process.

2019 Leaders

We are currently interviewing the 34 Year 7s who applied for house captain and student council executive positions. As you can imagine, this will be a tricky task. We hope to be able to announce these positions by Friday this week. The 11 children who are selected will attend a leadership training afternoon, 'Be Inspired', on Wednesday, November 14th. This is the day of the proposed teacher strike. We will need at least two parents to accompany this group.

Theatre Sports

Our Theatre Sports team hit the stage at the Court Theatre this coming Sunday at 11am, for their first heat. They would love to have a crew of supporters watching. Here is the link if you would like to book tickets. Best of luck team. We think you are very clever and very funny!!

Summer Tournament

Next Wednesday a group of children from Kauri are competing in the Summer Tournament. We have teams entered for orienteering, kiwi tag (touch), slow pitch (all at Hagley Park) and tennis (Wilding Park). Children participating in Summer Tournament will need to be at school for 8:30 next Wednesday. All children will need the following:

• Beckenham sports uniform
• Suitable shoes for their sport (tennis players should have shoes that will not mark the courts)
• A water bottle
• Warm Layer
• Sun Hat 
• Packed lunch

A donation to cover associated costs (transport and entry fees) will be added to your child’s account.

Hi everyone,

This Thursday evening, starting at 7pm in the staffroom, we will be holding an information evening about our upcoming health topic in Kauri and Pohutukawa: The Sexuality Road. Please fill in this form to indicate if you will be attending this meeting.

Many thanks
Nicky and Tracy

Many thanks to the parents who have signed up to help with events we have planned for this term. If you have yet to do this, please click on this link.  30 of our Year 7s have expressed an interest in being a House Captian or on the Student Council Exec in 2019! If your child would like to apply for a position and has yet to complete the form, here is the link. They have until this Friday to apply. Please read on for important messages.

Sexuality Road: Parent Meeting

In week 4 we will be starting our health unit: The Sexuality Road. This topic addresses, changes that happen at puberty (physical and emotional), communication and decision making, reproduction and where to go to for support. We will teach the Year 7 programme and the Year 8 programme separately. If you would like to find out more about what the programme involves, we will be holding are parent information evening for Year 5 - 8 families in the staffroom on Thursday November 2nd, starting at 7pm.

Long jump this Friday

Unfortunately, we do not have a long jump pit at Beckenham, and therefore need to hold our long jump event at Hillview. This Friday afternoon, we would like to give the children the opportunity to practise at Hillview. We are looking for two parents to accompany this group, with Jenny. Please email Jenny if you can help out between 1:20 and 3pm.

Year 8 Pool Party

As has become tradition, we will be holding a Year 8 pizza and pool party on Monday December 17, from 4pm until 6pm. This year Georgie's family have offered to host the party at their property. More details, including address, will be provided closer to the time.

Basketball singlets and other sports tops to return

If your child played in a basketball team, or for a winter sport team, please make sure that their uniforms are returned to school this week.

Year 8 photos when I was 5

The Year 8s have until next Friday to write their memories for the Graduation Year Book. We like to include photos of when they started school, as 5 year olds, in this book. It doesn't matter if their first school wasn't Beckenham. Parents please locate and email me a photo file, or send a photo for scanning (I promise to return it the same day). We need to get these photos in by next Friday too. Many thanks for your help with this. nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz

Ōtakāro Orchard visit

Last term, Peter from Ōtākaro Orchard visited our hub to talk about their project to create an urban food forest in the centre of Christchurch. At the end of his visit, Peter invited us to come for a working bee to see what the project is all about. On Monday 5th of November, we will be heading into town to do just that. The hub will be split into two groups, with one at the Ōtākaro Orchard site while the other group learns some research skills at Tūranga, Christchurch's brand new central library. The groups will meet at Margaret Mahy Playground for lunch and then swap so that both groups get to do both activities.

In order to make this trip a possibility, we need three parent helpers. If you are able to help, please email hannah.elliott@beckenham.school.nz.

Donations to cover expenses

The following requests for donations will come out on your next school account:

• Ōtakāro Orchard: $5.50
• Corsair Bay: $7