Kia ora whānau,
This term during kapa haka we will be making rākau (sticks) in preparation for playing rākau (stick) games. To make these we are going to need magazines and newspapers.
If you have any spare magazines or newspapers at home can you please send them in with your child - we will be using them throughout the year, so the more the merrier.
Thank you in advance,
Kōwhai Team
Kia ora Kōwhai whānau,
Welcome to the 2021 school year. It was so lovely to touch base with most of you at our learning conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday.
We have had a great first two days settling into our routines and getting to know each other.
We are making sure we sanitise and wash our hands throughout the day, so if your child has sensitive skin, please give them their own sanitiser to use.
We will definitely be continuing water play next week, so please remember to bring your togs on Tuesday - it's looking like it will be a hot day!
We can't wait to continue to get to know the tamariki next week and start an exciting year ahead.
Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we have had over the past few days.
Have a lovely long Waitangi weekend.
Nga mihi,
The Kōwhai team - Laura, Meagan, Rowe, Nick and Quynh
Kia ora whanau,
We are all very excited about the upcoming events in the last week and a half of school.
Important dates:
Friday 4th - Noho Kura - overnight stay at school
Wednesday 9th - Junior Athletics - Kōwhai rotation 1:40-2:40, Whole School House Relay - 2:45-3:00
Friday 11th - Final Celebration Assembly of the year
Wednesday 16th - Last day of school - school ends at 12:30
Hats
It is getting hotter and sunnier every day. Hats are requirement for the students to be able to play outside. Please help remind your child to bring their named hat to school every day. This will be especially important next Monday and Tuesday when Canterbury Softball are coming in to do workshops with our students throughout the day. If they do not have a hat, they will not be able to take part in this great opportunity.
Noho Kura - School Sleepover
We are all very excited for our Noho Kura tomorrow night. We have shared this social story with the students. You may want to also read this at home with them.
Thanks again to all the parents who have volunteered to help. If you have not yet signed up for a job, please do so here. This link should be working now after a few false starts! We may also be assigning jobs as people arrive.
If you do need to pick your child up early please let their homeroom teacher know, if you have not already done so. See you at 5:30pm!
Athletics Afternoon
We have our Junior Athletics afternoon on Wednesday the 9th of December. We will be doing an Athletics Rotation of Shotput, Discus, High Jump and Relays from 1:40-2:40 and then the whole school house relays will be from 2:45-3:00.
Rapaki Marae Visit
Nick and Tracey's homegroups had a great time at Rapaki Marae on Tuesday. Laura and Rowe's homegroups were very sad to miss out due to weather. Have a look at some pictures from the day below.
Nga mihi,
The Kōwhai Team - Laura, Nick, Rowe and Tracey
Kia ora whānau,
Today we had our second house games of the year, which the students were very excited about! We will also have house games next week on Friday as well.
We have a very full last 3 1/2 week of school coming up.
Noho Kura
We are getting very excited for our upcoming Noho Kura.
If you have not already filled in the form, please do so now. EVERY parent needs to have filled in this form whether their child is going to attend the kura or not.
As this is an overnight stay, we will be asking for a contribution of $15.00 per child for the costs for the night.
Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to help during the evening and stay the night. We will have a limited number of parents who stay the night, and will let you know asap who these are. We will also send out a letter next week with jobs for the other parent helpers. Thank you again for your time!
Here are some details again of our Noho Kura:
Please collect your child after school, and bring them back to school at 5:30 p.m.
Children won’t need a change of clothes - when they get up on Saturday morning they can put their Friday clothes back on.
What to bring:
If any parents would like to offer some baking for the students for supper time, please let your child’s homeroom teacher know.
We understand that many children have sports on Saturday morning - so if your child needs to be picked up earlier than 9am please let your homeroom teacher know. If you have already written this in the comments section of the form that is fine.
Rāpaki Marae Trip
Rowe, Tracey and Nick’s homegroups still require parent volunteers for the trip to Rāpaki Marae on the 30th November/1st December. If you have never been on a marae, this is a unique opportunity to experience and gain some insight into our bi-cultural heritage. Please contact the teachers directly if you are able to assist.
Kia ora whānau,
There are a few things coming up so we are sending out an extra blog post with all the information about upcoming events.
Year 4 BYOD Parent Evening
Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto has an optional Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme for students in Years 5-8. This programme is very popular and has been in operation since 2014. If you want to find out more about our BYOD programme including the rationale, digital citizenship practices and device responsibilities, please visit our BYOD website or come along to our information evening on Wednesday, 18 November from 7-8 pm, in the Kōwhai Hub. If you plan to attend this meeting, please RSVP here.
The evening is optional and is aimed particularly at parents of current Year 4-7 students who are considering taking up BYOD next year but have not yet made the decision. The information evening will give you a chance to hear about our BYOD programme and ask questions about how it works.
We generally recommend that families who want to participate in the BYOD programme purchase a Chromebook for their child to bring school. We are currently changing our BYOD provider and will send out a Chromebook offer, with prices, closer to the end of the year.
With the introduction of the new Digital Technologies strand of the Technology Curriculum this year, ensuring that every child has access to a device becomes more important than ever before.
Rapaki Marae Visit and Noho Kura
Please remember to look at this blog post about the marae visit and fill in the form about your child's attendance for the Noho Kura - whether they will be attending or not.
If you are able to be a parent help with our marae visits on the 30th November and 1st of December please email your child's teacher.
laura.williamson@beckenham.school.nz tracey.maloney@beckenham.school.nz
nick.bruce@beckenham.school.nz rowena.barker@beckenham.school.nz
Athletics Day
Our new date for the Junior Athletics Day is Wednesday the 9th of December. We will start our athletic rotations at 1:40 and then the whole school house relay will be at 2:45.
We will also have Canterbury softball in school on the 7th and 8th of December to hold some workshops with our students focused on softball skills.