Category Archives: Kowhai

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 8

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 Kia ora e te Whānau, 


Welcome to the Week 8 Kōwhai blog.


Matariki 


Mānawatia a Matariki! Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades, which rises in mid-winter and marks the beginning of the Māori New Year. It is a time of remembrance, celebration, and renewal. Over the last two weeks, children have been learning about the different stars that make up the cluster. The nine stars of Matariki are Waitī, Waitā, Waipuna-ā-Rangi, Tupuānuku, Tupuārangi, Ururangi, Pōhutukawa, Hiwa-i-te-Rangi and Matariki. In te ao Māori, each star has a special job to do to look after our wellbeing and environment. Please see this slideshow for more information. 


On Tuesday evening, we held a Matariki evening at school. It was wonderful to see so many parents coming to see the kapa haka group perform and share in our Matariki activities. The Kōwhai students did a fantastic job performing, and we were very impressed by their effort. 



Reports and Learning Conferences 


Last week, we celebrated the Kōwhai students' progress and success during learning conferences. Thank you to everyone who came to a conference. It was great to have the opportunity to reflect on the first two terms of 2025 and discuss the amazing learning students have been doing. 


PB4L 


This term, the Kōwhai students have been engaging in Positive Behaviour For Learning lessons (PB4L) on Tuesday mornings. The objective of these sessions has been to support students to develop social/emotional skills and develop strategies to manage challenges and improve their wellbeing. Over the term, there have been several topics that we have covered. These have included: 


  • Understanding our emotions in relation to cross country

  • Appreciating our differences 

  • How to be a good friend


It has been wonderful to see students contributing and participating during these sessions and applying what they have learnt.  Here is an example of an activity students did around celebrating diversity.


For information about Wellbeing at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto please follow this link.

Instructional Writing 


Over the past few weeks, Kōwhai students have been learning how to write an instructional text. An instruction text is a type of non-fiction text that provides step-by-step instructions on how to complete a task. The text may include organisational devices. As part of the writing process, students have been learning how to follow a set of sequenced instructions and then write about their experiences. For some classes, this has involved doing some baking and creating!


For more information about instructional texts, have a look at this slideshow.







Ferrymead 


The Kōwhai Ferrymead Trip is coming up next week, Tuesday 24th June and Wednesday 25th June (Week 9).


A reminder that on the day your child is attending the trip, they need to be at school before 8:45 am. They will also need to bring: 

  • A lunch box with enough morning tea and lunch for the day

  • A full water bottle 

  • A polar fleece or jersey 

  • A light waterproof coat if it appears overcast

  • Comfortable walking shoes

If you have any questions or concerns, please email your child's homegroup teacher or Georgia (georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz).


Head Lice

Unfortunately, we have had a growing number of cases of headlice reported across the school. Can you please check your child's head for eggs and live lice regularly and treat accordingly if detected. The following link has very helpful information about headlice and how to treat it.

https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/head-lice#main-content


Staying Safe Online: Scams

People in New Zealand are losing millions of dollars to scammers each year – and this is just the figures reported to Netsafe so the actual figure is likely much higher!


It’s important that you and your tamariki know what to look out for to avoid scams. Netsafe have put their best advice together to help you stay safe online and stay away from scams.


Read their scam tips here. 


 


Lost Property

If your child/children are missing any of the lost property items in the photo below, please contact the office to retrieve them. Thank you!


We hope you have a wonderful Matariki weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai team

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 6

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Kia ora e te whānau,

We have really been in the swing of things over the last 2 weeks, focusing on literacy and maths, doing our Inquiry on technology and creating our Miro scupltures. Here is an update on what has been happening.

Inquiry: Technology

Over the past weeks, we have been looking at what technology was like in the past and comparing it to the technology we have today, specifically looking at communication, gaming and entertainment, toys and transport among other things. Technology has advanced so much over the last 50 years! 

Can you order the communication technologies below from oldest to most recent?

Ferrymead Trip


As part of our technology inquiry, we are also very much looking forward to our trip to Ferrymead in week 9 to celebrate our learning. There will be some more information coming soon around the details of this. 

Just a reminder that Anna R's and Anna M's homegroups are going on Tuesday 24th June along with half of Hazel's homegroup. Rowe's and Georgia's homegroups and the other half of Hazel's homegroups will be going on Wednesday 25th June. If anyone in Anna R's and Anna M's homegroups is taking part in the Cross Country Challenge at Hillview on Tuesday, they will going on the Wednesday.

Visual Arts: Miro Scilptures

We have been busy making our Miro sculptures with recyclable materials and the outcome has been amazing. Everyone has been enjoying making their creations and are very proud of them!







Learning Conferences


Our learning conferences are coming up next week. Thank you so those who have booked their conferences already. If you haven't booked a learning conference yet, there are still available slots. You can contact your child's homegroup teacher if you need help with this or go to the office. We look forward to catching up with you next Tuesday and Wednesday and to share you child's/children's learning.

Matariki Celebrations

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

We would like to invite you to our Matariki Whānau Rōpū hui.

Matariki is the start of the Māori new year and a time of reflection, connection and planning for the year ahead. We would like to celebrate with you and your whānau on Tuesday the 17th of June from 5:00 pm. The PTA will be having a Sausage Sizzle on the night for a small koha (donation). We will also be having performances form our Year 3-8 Kapa Haka groups, and each hub will be providing different activities to do with Matariki. There will be more details to come soon. 

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Staying Safe Online: Bullying


One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.

Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 4

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Kia ora e te whānau,

What an awesome and busy first 4 weeks of the term it has been! We have celebrated Book Character Day and our Whole School Cross Country, and we also had an awesome performance from the Strike Percussion group. Our tamariki have been doing an excellent job in their Literacy and Maths groups, and we have really been enjoying our Miro Art and our Technology unit. 

Book Character Day

Last Friday, 16th May, we celebrated the end of our Readathon through our Book Character Day. We loved seeing the children embrace the theme, and come in some amazing costumes! We managed to get a whole hub photo with our wonderful Principal Cade. I wonder if you can spot "Where's Wally?"

Cross Country

Today, our tamariki competed in our Whole School Cross Country. Our tamariki have been practising for this day for the last few weeks. It was absolutely fabulous to see our tamariki showing our school kete value 'We Love Challenge' by giving the race a go, trying their best, and accomplishing their running goals!







Pizza Friday

We have begun our Pizza Friday afternoons. These have been going really well, and our tamariki who have been chosen have really enjoyed spending time with our teaching assistants to celebrate their amazing work of showing our school kete values each and every day. Just a reminder that if your child is chosen, they will be sent home with a letter on the Wednesday which will give some extra information about the day. The school will provide the ingredients for the dough, and then we ask each child to bring their own topping or toppings of their choice. These will be kept in the staff fridge until they are ready to be used. This has been a fun and educational way to celebrate success in our hub, and we can't wait for this to continue!






Strike Percussion Performance

On Thursday, 15th May, we had the wonderful Strike Performance Group come in and share some amazing percussion music with us. The performances were exceptional, and showed a wide range of ways that percussion can be performed. Below is a video of one of the amazing performances!




Ferrymead Trip - Parent Help

On Tuesday 24th June and Wednesday 25th June, the Kōwhai team will be heading to Ferrymead Heritage Park for a school outing. This expedition relates to our school-wide curriculum focus of "Change". We will be looking at how different things have changed over the last 100 years. More information will be coming out at the end of Week 5 (next week). 

We can confirm which day each homegroup will be going, if you are able to be a parent help on these days.

Tuesday 24th June: Anna M, Anna R, and half of Hazel's Home Groups

Wednesday 25th June: Rowe, Georgia and half of Hazel's Home Groups

Please note: If your child is in Hazel's Home Group, a letter will come home to let you know what day your child will be attending our outing. 

If you are able to be a parent help, please email Georgia (georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz) to let her know you are able to attend. Thanks for all your support!

Reminders

  • Winter bugs: We are encouraging our tamariki to cough and sneeze into their arms, and washing their hands constantly. This will help stop the spread of winter bugs that might arise. 
  • Head lice: Just a heads up that we have a case of head lice in the hub so please be vigilant of scratchy heads! If your child has long hair, we recommend that they have their hair tied up to prevent the spread of head lice. Thank you!
  • Lunchboxes: We love seeing the delicious lunch boxes that our tamariki are provided with! We have had a few students who finish their food early, leaving them still a little hungry at lunch time. We are asking if you could have a chat with your child, and see if they need an extra snack in their lunches, to help sustain those growing bodies!

Cyber Safety

The HDCA for Parents and Whānau

The Harmful Digital Communications Act (or HDCA for short) is an act passed by the Government back in 2015 to help people dealing with serious or repeated harmful digital communications. It covers anything digital like text, emails or social media content.


The most useful thing for parents to understand about the HDCA is the way the 10 communication principles define what is good or bad behaviour online.


If you’re ever concerned about your young person (or you just want to brush up on your knowledge!) visit Netsafe’s Guide to the HDCA. 




Kia pai ngā rā whakatā! Have a great weekend!


Ngā mihi nui,

The Kōwhai Team 




Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 2

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Kia ora whānau, 

A big welcome back to school for Term 2! We have begun the term in full force with the extreme weather last week. Our students managed very well being indoors for a longer period of time. Here is an update on what has been happening in the last two weeks.

Technology Inquiry


This term, we have begun our inquiry learning on how technology has changed over time. We have been exploring the types of technology that we see in our classrooms and this has produced some exciting conversations. Our students have been working on using their imaginations to create illustrations and labeled diagrams of what a classroom might look like in the future with new technology.



Cross Country

In Week 4, we will be hosting our whole school cross country event on Friday 23rd May from 9am until 12pm. In preparation for this, we have been going for regular runs every day, building up our stamina for the actual event. We would really appreciate if you could make sure your child wears appropriate shoes to school for running. Thank you!


Jean Miro Art Project


We are currently learning about the Jean Miro style of art and will complete this unit by creating a sculpture in the style of Miro using recyclable items from Creative Junk. If you have any popsicle sticks, disposable spoons and forks, or any other smaller items such as buttons and bottle tops that we might be able to use, please bring them in!


Library

Just a reminder about library times:

Monday: Hazel and Rowe's Literacy groups

Tuesday: Georgia and Anna M's Literacy groups

Wednesday : Anna R’s Literacy group


New Zealand Sounds Video

Below is a link to a short video about the sounds in our spoken English language which we wanted to share with you as it relates to the structured literacy that we teach. This video discusses: 

1) What all the consonant and vowel phonemes (sounds) of NZ English are; and 

2) How to say them clearly when you are supporting beginning or struggling learners to hear and use the sounds during phonological awareness, reading and spelling.

Please click on the image below to watch.



Book Character Day

We are now one week into our Readathon fundraiser. We hope you have all been busy reading! Next Friday, we are celebrating our Readathon by having a Book Character Day when everyone can come to school dressed as their favourite book character if they want. If not, can you ensure that your child comes to school in their school uniform as it is not a day for casual dress.


Headlice

Just a heads up that we have a case of headlice in the hub so please be vigilant of any scratchy heads! If your child has long hair, we recommend that they have their hair tied up to prevent the spread of headlice. Thank you!


Random Chat Online

How do random chat websites work? And what are the risks for tamariki using them?


Random chat websites, like Chatroulette, pair users randomly through text or webcam conversations. The appeal is getting to talk to someone new that the user would nev
er meet. But these websites are designed for adults and often allow nudity and other inappropriate content from users.


If you’re concerned that your young person might be exposed to these sites or you want to introduce parental controls, you can find out more on Netsafe’s Random Chat Websites page. 



Have a great weekend!

From the Kōwhai team

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 11

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Kia ora whānau,

Wow! It is hard to believe that we have got to the end of an 11-week term with lots of highlights to look back on. We started the year with Slip 'n' Slide afternoons and then we also had Top Team come and visit with lots of fun team activities to particpate in. We have been doing lots of amazing chemistry experiments, looking at chemical change and how different substances react in different conditions. We have also been enjoying Discovery, with lots of different activities to get stuck into, such as making your own board game, deconstructing electronic equipment and learning how to play French Cricket. On top of all that, we have been making good progress with our learning in literacy and mathematics and have really got into the swing of things. Your tamariki have been working really hard and I'm sure they all looking forward to a holiday break.

Kōwhai Services Club

Megan has started up a Kōwhai Services Club with volunteers who do good deeds around the school and particularly in the Kōwhai hub. They have special lanyards which they have made and they wear these when they are taking on different responsibilites and carrying out jobs around the school. Their first job has been to sort and tidy all the games and activities in the hub and have done a great job of making everything look neat and tidy. They really have been showing how they care and how they make a difference at the school. Thank you!

Pizza Friday 

Next term, we are going to start up 'Pizza Friday' which will involve one child from each homegroup being chosen to make pizza on a Friday afternoon with our wonderful teaching assistants. This is a special reward for the children we see showing the school values each and every day. The school will provide the ingredients for the dough and then we will ask each child to bring in a topping or toppings of their choice. We think it will be a fun and educational way to celebrate success in our hub.


Finally, the Kōwhai team would like to thank you all for your ongoing support this term. We hope you have a wonderful holiday break and look forward to seeing you all in term 2. Happy holidays!