We very much hope you enjoyed seeing the 'Trials of Alice in Wonderland' this week. We know the children have loved sharing the show with you. We are trying to secure one more audience for next week.  See the end of this post for photos.

Year 8 Pool and Pizza Party

All Year 8s are invited to Jarred's place, 244 Opawa Rd, on Monday afternoon (December 11th). The party will get underway at 4pm. Please arrange to collect your child by 6pm. They are welcome to bring their togs for a swim if they would like to.

Waltham Pool Trip

We have our fingers crossed that the current weather forecast for Wednesday, December 12th, will shift and that we will get a fine day to enjoy at the pool. We will be walking down at Waltham Pool late morning and returning by 3pm. Please make sure your child has a packed lunch and bottle of water. They will also need sunscreen, togs and towel and sunhat. If the rain does come, we will look at some alternative school based fun.

Victoria Park Walk

Rain is also forecast for Thursday December 13th, so more finger and toe crossing! We will be heading off on our tramp up to Victoria Park at 10:30. That day children will need the following:

• day pack
• hearty lunch
• large bottle filled with water
• sunhat
• sunscreen
• rain coat
• mufti suitable for walking, including sturdy shoes

Helpers' Morning Tea and Final School Assembly

Graduation Assembly

Another busy week in the Intermediate Hub is drawing to an end. 

This morning we played three very close games against Carisbrook School. As the team from Carisbook arrived, there was some sharp intaking of breath, when we saw the size and athleticism of a number of their players. The basketball was neck and neck until they drew away from us in the closing minutes of the game. We were comfortably winning the football, until Carisbook came back with two quick goals near the end. Not enough though, and we won that game. The touch was another close game. We were up against a team who play in a weekly Dunedin competition. Our team really stepped up and gave their best effort, however were narrowly defeated. So the trophy makes its way down to Dunedin this year, but we'll be out to win it back at the end of the first term next year. A huge thank you to the PTA who put on a delicious lunch for our visitors. Also a big thank you to Aaron for refereeing the touch and our Cashmere High referees for football and basketball. 

Week 9 Outings

Last week I asked for helpers for two outings on December 13th and 14th. So far one parent has signed up for each trip. As a result we have rethought these trips and altered our plan. Instead of going to Corsair Bay, we will walk down to Waltham pool for lunch and pool time on Wednesday December 13th. With lifeguards at the pool, we will not require parent support for this trip. We have moved the Victoria Park walk to Thursday, December 14th. We will head off at 10:30am and will be back at school by 3pm. Now, this trip we cannot do without your help, so please fill in this form if you can join us. For many of you, this could be the last opportunity to help out on a school trip.  We really don't want to have to cancel this trip.

The Trials of Alice in Wonderland

Today we performed in front of an audience for the first time, in costume with most of the props. The show is coming together well and we are excited to be sharing it with you next week. All children need to be at school by 6:45pm on Monday evening, for a 7pm start. Some will need to be here earlier for makeup. We will let those children know tomorrow. Bring your family and friends and a gold coin, for an entertaining evening. We will be performing again on Thursday evening.

Canterbury Triathlon

Theatre Sports Finals:

• St Thomas of Canterbury
• St Andrew’s College
• Beckenham School
• Christchurch South (A)
• Burnside High School (A)
• Motueka High School (Nelson Winners)

We have had a twintastic day at school today! Thanks to the parents who supported their children to get their matching outfits together. Check out the photos at the end of this blog.

Between now and the end of term there is lots happening for our students. The events are listed below, along with details and requests for parent help. Please click each link to record if you can help.

Thursday November 30: Carisbrook School sports exchange (morning)

20 children and a crew of parents / teachers will be arriving from Carisbrook School in Dunedin, at 9am, for a morning of sport. The children will play basketball, football and touch. At the end of the morning we will provide them with lunch, before they make their way back to Dunedin. If you are able to help with lunch preparation, please click on this link.

Monday December 4: The Trials of Alice in Wonderland (7pm start for everyone)

Our show is getting to the exciting stage now, with wonderful singing and a hive of creative activity in our hub this afternoon. Opening night is just over a week away! All children are required at both shows. Bring your whānau along for a highly entertaining evening, all for the cost of a mere gold coin. Come along and enjoy the opening night.

Wednesday December 6: Canterbury Athletics

We have a team of eight from Year 7 & 8 travelling to Ashburton for this event. Jenny will be contacting you directly with details.

Thursday December 7: The Trials of Alice in Wonderland (7pm start for everyone)

Our final show will be preceded by a whole school picnic. Families are invited to come to the picnic and carry on to the show afterwards. We could end up with a bumper audience for our final show.

Year 8 Pool and Pizza Party

This is a special afternoon for the Year 8s to have fun together. Jarred will be hosting this party at his place. Start time is 4pm and collection time is 6pm. Children are welcome to bring their togs if they would like to swim.

Wednesday December 13: Walk to Victoria Park

We will be leaving school at 10:15am to walk up the hill to Victoria Park. Once there we will have lunch and play, before heading back down. We will be back at school by 3pm. Children wear mufti on this day. We need a small team of parent helpers to accompany us. Please click on this link if you can help.

Thursday December 14: Trip to Corsair Bay

We have our fingers and toes crossed for a warm and sunny day on the 14th for our trip to Corsair Bay.  Children again come in mufti and bring their togs and towel. We will have supervised swimming in the bay, games on the beach, a walk around to Cass Bay and chilling with friends. We are looking for parent helpers, both for on the beach and in the water. Please indicate on the form how you would prefer to help. We will be departing from school at 10:30 and will be back by 3pm.

Monday December 18: Leavers' Graduation Assembly

There will be an invitation sent out to Year 8 families next week for this event. Children come to school at the usual time, dressed in their best clothes. The assembly starts at 11am and generally runs for around 80 - 90 minutes. After the assembly there will be a luncheon provided by the PTA for Year 8 children and their parents. After the lunch, primary/intermediate school is all done and dusted for the Year 8s. Year 7 continue until 12:30 on the following day.

Home Learning

A reminder that home learning this week is finishing off information reports and presenting these. All instructions are on google classroom. Children are welcome to come to school early, or stay after school if they need access to the internet. Work is due to be completed by Friday.

Fun at our multiples day...

Week 5! My goodness we are half way through the term. Life is busy in the Intermediate Hub. Please check the important messages below.

Top Team:

We are looking forward to Top Team on Thursday this week. Many thanks to the parents who responded to our plea for help. Parent helpers, we will see you at 1:10, with your sunhats and sunscreen as the weather forecast is for a warm and sunny day. This is great news as water is a key feature of this event. With that in mind, please make sure your child comes to school on Thursday with the following:

• Sunhat (this should already be at school)
• Towel
• A set of clothes to change into for the event, as they will get wet. They can wear togs under shorts and a t-shirt. 
• A plastic bag to carry damp clothes home in. 

Production:

Congratulations:

Our improv team team did a brilliant job in their South Island Junior Theatre Sports heat last Sunday. They were selected as the team to progress through to the finals on Sunday December 3rd. More details about that event will be coming soon. It would be great to have a big support crew. I'm sure the clapping and cheering makes a difference.



Well done to all of the children who competed at zone athletics on Monday. Special congratulations to Olivia, Vita, Shakira, Millie, Rosie, Kaia, Alex and Tilly who have qualified for the Canterbury athletics event on Wednesday December 6th in Ashburton.

2018 Leaders:

Tomorrow our house captains and student council exec for 2018 are off to Christ's College for an afternoon of learning about leadership. We selected these children after an application and interview process earlier this term. Congratulations to:

• Chairperson of the Student Council: Fynn Skelton
• Secretary of the Student Council: Tom Woodhouse
• Treasurer of the Student Council: Adam Barton
• House Captains Waimea: Bella Reddecliffe and Gabriel Lyall. Deputy: Murphy McCabe
• House Captains Tennyson: Hannah Winchester and Thom Bell. Deputy: Constantin Gorny
• House Captains Heathcote: Georgina Cockfield and Felix Morgan. Deputies: Jess Hancock and Santiago Montejo
• House Captains Fisher: Tilly Harris and Kaden Pedersen. Deputies: Portia Pasco and Christopher Reynolds

Home Learning:

Maths home learning is due this week. As Friday is a holiday, please remind your child to have their completed work at school by Thursday.

Year 8 Pool and Pizza Party:

It has become a tradition for our Year 8s to get together for an afternoon of outdoor activity and pizza eating.  This year we will be doing this at Jarred's place. There will be swimming, trampolining, basketball and other outdoor games, as well as chilling with friends. This will happen on Monday December 11th.

Year 8 families:

Many thanks to the Year 8 parents who have sent in photos of their lovely young person as a five year old. If you have yet to do this, please email a photo to nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz or send in a photo for scanning. We would love to use these in our Leavers' Year Book, but would not want to miss any children out. We need your photos by the end of this week.

Top Team might be cancelled:

We need your help! Next week we have booked in with Top Team to run this awesome event on Beckenham Park in the afternoon for our Year 7 & 8 team. We need five parent helpers for this event to go ahead. At the moment we have no offers of help. If we don't get five offers by this Thursday, I will need to cancel this event. This is an awesome opportunity to observe your child working in a team. Please click this link to let us know if you can help.

Carisbrook School exchange:

We are looking forward to spending the morning of November 30th playing sport against Carisbrook School, from Dunedin. Today sign up sheets went up for football, basketball and touch teams. Part of our hospitality will involve providing lunch and morning tea for our visitors. If you are able to help us with the making and serving of lunch, please email nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz

Old curtains needed:

For one of our props for 'Alice' we need to paint on some old curtains to create a mini backdrop. I was thinking of the plain white thermal backing as a good painting surface. If you have some curtains lying around that we could use, please email Nicky (see above address). Many thanks in anticipation.

Zone Athletics: 

The south zone athletics takes place this coming Monday, Nov 13th, at Hansen Park. Jenny and Gail will send out a separate notice to families of children involved. If you are able to help out on this day, please email Jenny at jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz

Theatre Sports:

Last week we mentioned that our theatre sports team would be competing this Sunday, November 12th. There was an error with the venue; they are competing at St Bede's (access via the Momorangi Crs entrance). The competitors need to be there at 3pm for warm up and briefing. The show begins at 4pm and we would love to have lots of Beckenham supporters in the audience. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. These can be purchased at the door.