Here are the important things to know for next week...

Circle Time

Our Circle time focus this week has been about kindness. We discussed the ways that we show kindness at school, home or in our wider community. Next week, the children will be actively doing acts of kindness for others. Each child has been given a secret buddy. This is to give the children the chance to be kind to people they’re not already close friends with. We discussed ways that we can show kindness, e.g., be friendly, smile, share, give them a note or drawing, encourage them, tell them something they’re good at, give compliments, doing things without being asked etc. 

Stationery At School

At the beginning of the year, everyone purchased the required stationery for the year ahead. These items are the only stationery the children need to have at school. Special stationery is best to stay at home so it does not get damaged or lost. We want the children to have a happy time at school and sometimes these treasured items can end up getting broken, damaged or lost which can make our tamariki feel sad. We will be sending any special items home this week for safe keeping. 

Inquiry- Top Team Event

As part of our Identity Inquiry, we have decided to celebrate the way in which we live our school values. This coming week, the children will begin to plan a 'Top Team' event. We will be investigating what makes a good game, the value(s) it helps us to grow and how we can modify a game to make it original, challenging and fun. In the last week of the term, the children will run their own, 'Top Team' event with a class from Koru team. We know this will be fun for everyone involved!

Term 2 Parent Help - We Need YOU!

We would love to hear from anyone who would like to offer their services each Friday as part of our Make a Difference (M.A.D) Time. 

THORRINGTON RESTHOME
We have a close relationship with Thorrington Resthome and would love to continue this again this year. We need one parent who would be willing to take 10 children to Thorrington Resthome as a M.A.D Time option.

PIZZA MAKING
Each Friday next term, we would love to provide the children with the opportunity to bake pizzas at school. This would involve helping the children in the kitchen to make the pizza bases, create their pizzas and clean up. If this sounds like you, please contact: paulette.newton@beckenham.school.nz


That's all for now. Have a great weekend ahead!

This week started off with a a highly engaging show by Elgregoe, using magic and ventriloquism to entertain and teach us how to be caring citizens. He discussed ways that we can each be a HERO at Beckenham School.

Being a HERO

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

You might like to reinforce these concepts at home with your child. We will be revisiting these key ideas and relating them to our School Values here at school.

Future Ferns Netball Coach(s)
We would love to provide the opportunity for children in our team to play netball at Hagley Park in Term 2 and 3. To enable us to do this, we require the willing assistance of some FANTASTIC parents who would like to coach the team. This would involve taking a practise at school during the week (lunchtime or before/after school) and attend games and attend a pre game skill session. If this sounds like you, please contact Anna Reid as soon as possible.  anna.reid@beckenham.school.nz

Head lice
We have had a few cases of head lice being reported across our team. This is a timely reminder to take a moment you check your child's head to ensure there are no unwelcome visitors!

PTA Lego Movie Fundraiser











What 3-7 year old needs to learn
A fantastic parent evening has been organised for parents to learn more about child development for children aged of 3-7 years. It will be a worthwhile event to attend.

Elgregoe Show 
On Monday 20th March, the children will be treated to an anti bullying show presented by Elgregoe. The focus of this show if to provide the children to 'Have the Power' to say no to bullying. Please remember come in and see your child's point of contact teacher if your child ever experiences difficulties at school, especially if there are issues in the playground. It is essential for all children to feel happy and safe at school as without them, learning cannot be maximised!


Student Librarians
Anne Chin has trained four students from our team to be student librarians. These librarians assist with issuing, returning books, repairing books and helping children to choose books. Next term we will train other children to help assist Anne.

Celebrating Kowhai Learning

In Hub 6, we have been focusing on writing detailed descriptions of a setting. For our writing to be successful we thought carefully about our word choice to describe what the setting: looks, feels, smells, tastes and sounds like. Our aim is to transport the reader to that moment in time. Here are some snippets of our writing...

I look out to the deep blue watery mass once again. I see dolphins leaping in front of the boat like they want to guide us to land.  They have heard the creaking floor boards of my old boat moaning for help.  Ilia

The water laps over the side of the railings and soaks into my shoes as it tries to lure me into the deep, dark ocean depths. I feel scared. Caitlin

Out of nowhere the sea suddenly became a wild animal. Justine

I feel scared as my old wooden boat creaks like an old woman's bones after working hard for eighty years. My boat starts to creak and I feel cold and hungry. "When are we going to get to land?" I ask. Laya

I am by myself on a pirate ship. I hear the loud sound of music playing  telling me we are finally near land. Sophie

Self Portraits
These incredible self portraits will be up on display in the school foyer next week. Make sure you check them out!
Baby Photos
Throughout the team we have been collecting some incredibly cute baby photos and we have put them up in our hubs. We are holding a 'Guess Who The Baby Is?' competition to find out if we really do know each other that well. It is not too late to join the competition so please do keep those baby photos coming in. The more there are, the trickier it's going to be for us to guess and we do love a challenge in the Kowhai team!


Have a great week ahead.
Kowhai Teaching Team

Kia ora,

We hope this sees you all well. Across the team in each of our learning hubs, we have been working very hard to establish our daily routines for the core areas of reading, writing and maths. It has been wonderful to see the children focusing on becoming effective self managers during this time.

HOME LEARNING
This week your child will have three components to complete for their home learning.
1. Nightly reading- 10-15 minutes of either a book from school or a book of their personal choice
2. Nightly spelling (4-8 words)
3. MMM (Mad Maths Minute) - 1minute nightly timed test

If your child has completed any of the 'pick in mix' activities, please let your point of contact teacher know so they can share it with the learning hub.

KOWHAI TOP TEAM EVENT
Next Thursday, Sport Canterbury are coming to school to run a selection of highly interactive team games and challenges for the children to participate in. We need ten parents to support us with this by taking a activity stations for the children. Firstly, thank you to the parents who have already offered their time. We do need another 4-5 parents. If you are able to help, please let your point of contact teacher know.

BABY and WHANAU PICTURES
Thanks to all the parents who have either emailed or sent their child's baby photos in. We need all the children to have a baby photo by Friday. Next week we are going to be using these for a 'Guess the Baby' competition. The family/whanau photos are needed for us to use during inquiry as part of our investigation into our whakapapa (ancestry).

MUFTI DAY
Next Thursday the 9th of March, the Student School Council have organised a school mufti day to raise money for the emergency services who supported the Port Hills Fires. Your child will need to bring a gold coin donation on this day.

That;s all the important information for now. Have a great week ahead!
Kowhai Teaching Team