Kia ora!
What an action packed fortnight we have had! Enjoy reading about the highlights below:

Reminders/Notices
* If your child needs more stationery, we will send a note home regarding what and how to purchase this.

Gallery & Botanic Gardens
We enjoyed a trip to the gallery and botanic gardens, many thanks to Elizabeth (Gail) and fabulous parent helpers...many thanks to each of you.

At the gallery, we had a personal tour in small groups, and looked closely at some of the art on display. An animal themed exhibition was a hit with the children, particularly one stuffed sloth! The children each thought about what is important to them and completed our own Waka drawing.


















 Arts Programme
The teachers have created a collaborative movement/sound arts programme for Monday afternoons. Children get to enjoy a different activity each week, from Zumba with Caitlyn, to percussion with Charlotte and mindful movement with Amber. Choir with Dorinda is also on offer for our eager singers - the children are learning vocal exercises and an entertaining selection of songs.

Kapa haka:
Our children spend time with our kaiako Maori, Sherrilee, each week, and participate in these lessons with impressive energy and enthusiasm! These photos tell the story beautifully, and include children who have had only very little time at school yet, as well as one who is yet to start, but was visiting school last Thursday. Thank you, Sherrilee, for all you give to the youngest of our Beckenham School students.

Working with poi ...

Just visiting, but so beautifully confident!

Adding actions to the waiata

Sherrilee loved these kapa haka moves

Love this poi work

Day 3 at school at look at this confidence!

Beautiful!

Also beautiful!

...and again ... beautiful!

Discovery Stations:
Discovery Station continue to be a highly motivating time of each day. The children practise their Key Competency skills: Thinking; Relating to Others; Understanding Language, Symbols and Texts; Managing Self; and Participating and Contributing. They also show amazing skill at being able to intertwine their learning in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy, as the following photos demonstrate.

Forwards and backwards counting: 1 - 20

A dinosaur expert draws and labels ...

Another dinosaur drawing

Two older children work with a 'newbie' on skip counting to 100 in 2s!

Playing the Apple Tree game

Playing the Feed the Elephants game

Cuddling Peter Rabbit

At the writing table

Working with the hundreds board

Playing 'schools' with one of the big books

Learning about dinosaurs

'In the time of the dinosaurs...'

Kia ora whanau,

What a busy start we have had to Term 2!

Learning Conferences
Heartfelt thanks to those of you who were able to participate in Learning Conferences last week. This is a very special time for children as they share their learning with their families. Your feedback written on the Celebration Stars is very much appreciated, and will mean a great deal to the children.

Talking about my Maths learning in Hub 3

Sharing my learning with Dad!

Rhythm Interactive experience
Last week our children were treated to an outing to the local Methodist church hall, where John and Lucy (Rhythm Interactive) taught everyone how to drum, keeping time as one!
In 2002, Rhythm Interactive was born in a garage in Queenstown. The interactive drum shows are such that each student is given an African-styled hand drum to play along during the show. Rhythm Interactive shares its unique teaching methods, such as "If you can say it, you can play it" to demonstrate how children can learn rhythm, music, singing and dance in a fun way.






Small Stix
On Tuesdays over the next few weeks, the children will all be involved in junior hockey lessons, which are led by specialist hockey teachers. Please ensure that your child is wearing sensible shoes and warm clothes, as these lessons will be outside (weather permitting).

Self Portraits
Some of the children have been working on making their own self portraits, and have modelled their work on Picasso. We're sure you'll agree they're fantastic!


Book Review

Numeracy Links:

• Let's Count up to 10 (and Back)
• Counting down from 20
• Skip counting forwards and back in 10s
• Skip counting in twos to 100

Reminders:

• Please ensure that children arrive at school any time from 8:30 a.m. onwards, as prior to this time, teachers may be involved in meetings and/or will be setting up Discovery Stations for the morning. BOSCO is open from 7:30 a.m. for families who need to have children at school before 8:30 a.m.
• It is very important that children bring their reading folders back to school every morning. Reading folders are a crucial part of hub reading routines.
• As the weather cools, please ensure that your child has a school polar fleece (named!) each day.

Toy Donations:
Many thanks to those of you who have been able to donate toys and games to Te Whanau Koru. We appreciate your generosity enormously! If, by chance, any of you have any of the following items, they would also be gratefully received:

• jigsaw puzzles
• matchbox toys
• sandpit vehicles (diggers, tractors, cranes, fire engines, trucks, concrete mixers!!)
• lengths of plastic piping (left over from plumbing jobs)

Learning Is A Magical Experience
In hub 3&4 we had our very own Harry Potter visiting to show us his wide-range of magical skills including pulling a bunny rabbit out of a hat. The audience was captivated by this sophisticated techniques and even supported by saying the words abracadabra.














Circle Time

Circle Time is one of the many things we do to promote well being amongst the students at Beckenham School. This practice involves the children and teacher sitting in a circle, creating a safe zone for children to share and problem solve together. Some of the topics we have already explored in our hubs are; self-regulation and breathing, compliment giving and kindness, self-management and sharing what's on top.
Any allergies to cats? 
Next week, Charlotte would like to bring her kitten in to share with the children. If this causes any problems (e.g. allergies), please email charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz.

This week started off with a WHIZZ and a BANG! We were joined by Elgregoe, a magician and ventriloquist, who had a special message to share with us about how to stop bullying and be a HERO at Beckenham School.




H - Honesty
E - Empathy
R - Resilient
O - Opportunities






Here are some helpful tips to ensure your child has a successful day at school:

• Make sure they arrive at school between 8:30am and 8:45am. This ensures they have time to do their morning jobs and say goodbye to you so that they are settled before the bell goes. It is also important that no children are being dropped off at school before 8:30am, unless they have an older sibling who catches the bus to Champion Street.

• Reading folders need to come to school everyday. Sometimes we need to send important information home and this is the best place to put it to keep it safe on its journey home to you. Having your reading folder at school everyday also ensures children can read their books both at school and home. Increasing your child's reading mileage has a proven positive effect on their reading ability. You can record what books your child is reading at home in the back of their home learning books.

• Check your child's school bag regularly. Quite often books can mysteriously come out of folders and end up squashed in the bottom of bags or in the more extreme cases, rotten fruit! It's important to check that no nasty surprises are taking up residence in your child's bag for too long.

• Library folders and library books only need to come to school on a Monday and Friday. This saves you having to remember to pack it each day and ensures you and your child have exciting new books to read together each week.

Koru Whānau will be presenting Beckenham's Celebration Assembly in week 10 - Thursday 6th April 2:15pm





Can you read? Do people often tell you that you're a natural with a pair of scissors? Then this could be the job for you!
We love having parents and caregivers in the classroom to support the children with their learning. This may include reading a book of your choice with a group of children or gluing poems into books. All these jobs make a huge difference and are an excellent way to show the children how we really do get there together! If you have some free time on a Monday to Thursday between 9:00am and 12:30pm, and would love to get involved, please let your child's point of contact teacher know by either sending us an email or coming in and having a chat. 
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Upcoming Events / Happenings

Celebrating our Learning