Category Archives: Weekly Newsletters

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter, Friday 30 September 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We wish you all a very safe holiday, and hope that you are all able to get some quality family time over the next two weeks.

Considerations for home group placement for 2023

As we start to put together home groups for 2023, we know that you may hold particular information or insight that you want to share that will support the placement of your child for next year.
Our teachers have a lot of understanding around the needs of our children, and we are keen to also know if there is something particular we should be aware of as we make these decisions.
As you will appreciate, putting home groups together is a hugely complex puzzle where the needs of all children need to be carefully considered. This means that we are not asking for 'requests' for teachers or for friendship groups as we would never be able to meet all of those. What we are wanting, is to be made aware of anything we need to consider. We will add your considerations to ours, and do the best we can to make sure that everyone's needs have been considered.
If you have anything you want us to know, please email it to me (not to the teachers) so that I have all the information in the one place. We will need this information by the end of Week 2 next term - Friday 28th October.
email: principal@beckenham.school.nz

Junior Playground Rebuild - Work is finally beginning!

We have had this plan on our radar for up to three years and it is extremely exciting to be able to confirm that work is actually beginning on the replacement of our Junior Playground!
The fencing went up this afternoon and demolition will begin on Monday. The new build is expected to begin in Week 2 of next term. 



Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki

Important Dates

Fri 30 Sep - Last day of Term 3
Mon 17 Oct - First day of Term 4
Mon 24 Oct - Labour Day - (School Closed)
Tue 25 Oct - Netsafe Workshop for all whānau - St Martins School, 7pm
Wed 26 Oct - School Athletics Day
Fri 11 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day - (School Closed)
Thu 15 Dec - Last day of Term 4 - School closes 12:30pm

Term Dates

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 23 September, 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

DISCO Fever is here! Great to hear the excitement around the hubs today as children prepare for their Disco later in the day. A huge thank-you to our PTA for the work and organisation that goes into this event for our tamariki.

Funding Changes

As you will have probably heard on the news over the past 24 hours, schools around the country have received their staffing and funding information for 2023. Whilst there have been no changes to the staffing formulas, there has been a major overhaul of parts of the operational funding formulas with the removal of the 'decile' system and the introduction of an Equity Index number (EQI). The EQI is designed to be more nuanced and to reflect better the actual needs of the children enrolled at a school. Whilst the news headlines you will read state that over 80% of schools will receive more funding as a result of this new formula, unfortunately, that is not the case for our school. This makes our need for your donation payment much more pressing, as we aim to provide quality learning experiences without adding additional requests for contribution for each activity.

Staffing for 2023 - Get your 3 or 4 year old enrolled now!



For us to get an accurate picture of our staffing needs for next year, we do need to know about EVERY child who intends to start at school during 2023 as soon as possible, so that we can inform the Ministry of Education of our actual enrolment numbers for next year. To ensure we are given the staffing we need from the Ministry of Education for the year ahead, we need to have accurate pre-enrolment numbers.

To enrol your child, please click on the link to our website enrolment page (linked here), and download the enrolment form. Alternatively, you can email office@beckenham.school.nz and request a form to be emailed out, or printed out and sent to you. We do need all 2023 enrolments in by the end of Week 2 next term, please.

It is never too early to enrol your child! We are happy to accept enrolment forms for ALL preschool children who live in zone.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Mon 26 Sep - Public holiday - Queen Elizabeth II memorial (School Closed)
Wed 28 Sep - PTA Meeting (7.30-9.30pm in the Green Room)
Thu 29 Sep - Parent Evening with Cashmere High School Principal (6-7.15pm Staffroom)
Fri 30 Sep - Last day of Term 3
Mon 17 Oct - First day of Term 4
Mon 24 Oct - Labour Day - (School Closed)
Tue 25 Oct - Netsafe Workshop for all whānau - St Martins School, 7pm
Fri 11 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day - (School Closed)
Thu 15 Dec - Last day of Term 4 - School closes 12:30pm

Term Dates

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 16 September, 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

A reminder to all that this Monday the 19th of September, the school will be CLOSED to all students, while our kaimahi (staff) participate in a Staff Only Day of professional learning and development. We will be continuing to develop our understanding of  "Trauma Informed Practice", as well as working on moderation of assessment, use of HERO and preparation for end-of-year reports.

From Wednesday to Friday of this last week, I was at our new conference centre, Te Pai, attending the annual New Zealand Principals' Federation Conference with over 860 other primary principals from around New Zealand. It was a huge privilege to be able to host this event in Christchurch for the first time in over 12 years, and to be able to showcase our amazing new convention centre and increasingly re-built city. We were challenged by numerous speakers, including a youth panel that included past-student, Lucy Gray, to consider the impacts and reach of our leadership. Each speaker gave us a new 'wero' or challenge to strive for better outcomes in terms of equity, excellence, inclusion, sustainability and wellbeing.

We are delighted to welcome Megan Harris back onto our staff. Megan was a teacher in our Year 7/8 team a number of years ago, and has recently returned from a time in Dunedin. Megan is currently working in the Kahikatea team.


Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Mon 19 Sep - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Thu 22 Sep - BOT Meeting (5.30-7.30pm - te Rūma Kaimahi - Staffroom)
Fri 23 Sep - PTA Disco - Gold Coin entry
Mon 26 Sep - Public holiday - Queen Elizabeth II memorial (School Closed)
Wed 28 Sep - PTA Meeting (7.30-9.30pm in the Green Room)
Thu 29 Sep - Parent Evening with Cashmere High School Principal (6-7.15pm Staffroom)
Fri 30 Sep - Last day of Term 3
Mon 17 Oct - First day of Term 4
Mon 24 Oct - Labour Day - (School Closed)
Tue 25 Oct - Netsafe Workshop for all whānau - St Martins School, 7pm
Fri 11 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day - (School Closed)
Thu 15 Dec - Last day of Term 4 - School closes 12:30pm
Mon 

Term Dates

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 9 September, 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Next week is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori language week). This year is extra special as the 14th of September marks the 50th anniversary of the Māori Language Petition. This event led to many of the kaupapa we have today, including Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

E kore e mutu tēnei mea te ako — learning is always constant.

Road Works Update

I'm sure that many of you have already seen the most recent works notice... Yes - it is going to be a long haul again, and, the residents of the whole area, along with the school, will benefit in the long run.
They are installing a new water trunk main. The next stage of work will require the closure of Norwood St from Sandwich Road to Fisher Ave, from Monday next week, until mid-November.

This will mean that you will need to take into account that Norwood St will be closed and make alternative plans if you are driving to school. 

PLEASE avoid doing u-turns and three-point-turns in Sandwich Road at drop-off and pick-up times... it really makes for very dangerous situations at these high traffic times.



Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Mon 19 Sep - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Thu 22 Sep - BOT Meeting (5.30-7.30pm - te Rūma Kaimahi - Staffroom)
Fri 23 Sep - PTA Disco 
Wed 28 Sep - PTA Meeting (7.30-9.30pm in the Green Room)
Thu 29 Sep - Parent Evening with CHS Principal (6-7.15 in te Rūma Kaimahi)
Fri 30 Sep - Last day of Term 3
Mon 17 Oct - First day of Term 4
Tue 25 Oct - Netsafe Workshop for all whānau - St Martins School, 7pm

Term Dates

Citizen of the Week

Mathias Dougherty - Year 6

Mathias, thank you for being such a reliable and conscientious member of our team. You are quick to offer a hand to help others and are the epitome of how we can contribute to help our school community be a better place for everybody. You are a shining example of someone who can always be trusted to be in the right place, at the right time, and be doing the right thing.  Tino pai rawa atu kia koe.

School Notices

Kete Values

We have been celebrating our values for the past few weeks and are getting ready to celebrate 'We make a Difference'. Where students will work together to make a difference in the school environment and strive to create a cleaner and hopefully greener environment. 

If your child is away from school...

Please ALWAYS let the office know, rather than just the teacher. Teachers do not always have time to check their emails or text messages in the morning before they take the roll. You can do this by emailing office@beckenham.school.nz or by texting the school cellphone 021 027 94107
Please ALWAYS give a reason why your child is away. If you tell us they are away but don't give any reason, we are required to mark their absence as 'explained, but unjustified'.

Thank you all for your continued support. Getting clear and timely information from you when your child is away saves our office staff a lot of time.

Mental Health Education & Resource Centre Free Webinars

BOSCO is OPEN for the Staff Only Day

Our BOSCO theme for the Staff Only Day on Monday the 19th of September is Earth Day.
We will be making birdfeeders, leaf mobiles and cute grass head people

BOT Update

Voting for the Parent Election has now closed. The votes will be counted by next Tuesday the 13th, and the new Board will take office on Wednesday the 14th.

Thank you to everyone who contributed by way of candidates, and those who took the opportunity to vote. Results will be shared in the next Newsletter.

PTA News


Get the kids dancing shoes out, 23rd of September is disco time!!!
To keep Covid safe we are running 4 discos and keeping the hubs separate this year.

Year 3&4: 4:00- 4:45pm

Year 5&6: 5:10-6:10pm

Year 7&8: 6:30-7:30pm

New Entrants and Year 1&2 timing is still to be finalised but will be in the afternoon during school time, so the children can be supported by their teachers.

Bring a Gold coin for a donation at the door. Chips and popcorn will be for sale on the night.
Send the kids with their drink bottles so they can keep hydrated!

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

Kelly Sports October Holiday Programmes

Bookings for our upcoming Kelly Sports Holiday Programmes at Hillview Christian School and Hillmorton High School are now available online. 

The focus of our Programmes is to ensure kids are active throughout, with a great mixture of games and activities to suit everyone. WINZ Subsidies are available for families that qualify and we have options of Half Day sessions, School Day sessions and Full Day sessions available.

To register and for more information please visit www.kellysports.co.nz or contact Adelma on chch@kellysports.co.nz for more information.

  

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 2 September, 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

The first two days of September have definitely been warm and Spring-like! Long may that continue!

There was great excitement in our Junior playground today as our long-awaited whare arrived and was eagerly unwrapped by a group of Kahikatea students! This new piece of equipment will be enjoyed by many children!

If you come visiting outside of school hours, please remind your children that the whare and the two teepees are not for climbing on.




A special thank you to Bruce Aldridge for answering our call for help in the Newsletter last week and giving his skills and time to help repair our seat. Much appreciated!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Wed 7 Sep - School Photos
Wed 7 Sep - Board Election Day
Mon 19 Sep - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Thu 22 Sep - BOT Meeting (5.30-7.30pm - te Rūma Kaimahi - Staffroom)
Fri 23 Sep - PTA Disco 
Wed 28 Sep - PTA Meeting (7.30-9.30pm in the Green Room)
Fri 30 Sep - Last day of Term 3
Mon 17 Oct - First day of Term 4
Tue 25 Oct - Netsafe Workshop for all whānau - St Martins School, 7pm

Term Dates

Citizen of the Week

Louis English - Year 3

Louis, you are a shining example of all our school values. The positivity and interest you bring to all learning is wonderful, and you persistently continue until your tasks are complete. Your inclusive nature has helped you make strong friendships quickly, and you continually encourage and build up all those you interact with. You bring fun, joy and light to all you do. Ka pai Louis!

School Notices

Y7/8 Ski Trip

Yesterday life in Kauri hub began before the sun even came up! The year 7/8 team travelled to Mt Hutt for their annual trip to the ski slopes. We had a large number of beginning skiers as well as some seasoned pros, and some who had never seen snow before. After a focused morning of lessons with instructors, children had plenty of time to practice their skills and have fun with friends. We were amazed by how many beginners were given the green light by experienced skiers to use the chairlift and try out the more challenging tracks. A day of laughter, learning and many yawns on the bus trip home. A huge thank you to all the parents and staff who made this wonderful experience possible! 

Kete Values Week 

Starting from last week the Student Council are running activities to support and encourage our school values and use fun but challenging activities to instil this. Each week we will run a series of lunchtime and classroom activities. Last week we celebrated 'We Care' and it was a big success. This week we'll be celebrating 'We love Challenge' where students of all ages will be given an opportunity to participate in an obstacle course which will be set up for use on Friday lunchtime. We also have a series of classroom activities which the teachers will share with the students, further in the week. Following 'We love Challenge' we will celebrate 'We love Learning' where again there will be interactive tasks that teachers will later in the week share with the students.  

School Photos 

Photos will be taken on Wednesday the 7th of September, these will be done in home groups throughout the day.  Each child will have an individual and a home group photo, as well as any other school groups (Te Whānau Tahi, Student Council, etc.). There are no sibling photos being taken.

Lost Property - a lost taonga!


Please come to the Office to collect this, it appears to have been broken and left in the playground.

Returning Sports Uniform

Winter sport is coming to an end with the majority of students no longer participating. Can we please have sport uniforms that are no longer required returned to the Office.
Cross country and football have finished. Basketball finishes at the end of this term, and only one team each for hockey and netball is still playing. All other sports uniforms should be returned.
(Please see the image below of the various Sports Uniform)

Online Safety Workshop

Te Kura O Hato Matini - St Martins Primary School are hosting a free event for all local parents and whānau about keeping young people safe online. Netsafe's Relationship & Education Advisor, Paula Wistrand, will be talking about the risks, challenges and opportunities of digital technology, and the practical ways we can all help young people to be safe online. The session will look at how parents and whānau can support and enable children and young people to navigate online opportunities, challenges and complexities. 

This will be a great chance to get educated on how we can keep our tamariki safe, and we would encourage you to consider attending.

Tennyson St Safety Measures

Thanks to everyone who has lobbied the Community Board over a long period of time around the Tennyson St crossing area. Special thanks to Ester Vallero, who has driven this lobby for a number of years. Thanks to Cleo Hopkinson (Y8) and Matthew Macdonald (BOT Chair) who spoke at the recent submissions meeting.

Scholastic Lucky Book Club


Issue 6 is Out Now! As you know, we have opted to go digital for our lucky book club so you can see the latest issue online, by clicking here. Or, click on the link below for more information on how to order:

Congratulations to...

Cashmere High School Scholarship winners:

Lola Harris has been jointly awarded the Cashmere High School Sports Scholarship for 2023
Quinn Clarke and Zoe Winsor have been awarded a Cashmere High School Leadership Scholarship for 2023.

Cantamath participants and award recipients

On Wednesday, August 24th our problem-solving teams took part in the Cantamath competition. A big well done to Noah, Weaver, Rose and Frida (Year 7) and Quinn, Fergus, George and Ben S (Year 8) who took on the challenge of solving 20 very tricky problems in 30 minutes, amidst much noise and distraction that comes with the competition. Special congratulations to the Year 8s who scored 75 out of a possible 100 points. 

Another part of Cantamath is the project competition. Here our kura excelled, with a large number of highly commended and excellence awards. We were extremely proud of Noah Palmer who received an outstanding award (only two of these were awarded) for his dynamic model of a trebuchet.

As Cantamath has not gone ahead for several years due to Cantamath, some of our Year 8s entered two projects - as their Year 7 projects were selected to go into a competition that did not go ahead last year. 

Excellence Awards:

Dynamic Models:
  • Noah Palmer (Outstanding)
  • Rowan Hopwood
  • Fergus Macdonald
Maths Photography:
  • Stella Gillman
Publicity Motif:
  • Daniel Webster
  • Lilian Shelku
Static Models:
  • William Pooch
  • Caitlin McIntosh
  • Lillie Neame
Written Work:
  • Ella Coleman
  • George Smith (Year 7 and Year 8)
  • Quinn Clarke (Year 7 and Year 8)
  • Freya Braun

Highly Commended Awards:

Dynamic Models:
  • Weaver McDaid
  • Timon Spill
Maths Posters:
  • Lillie Neame
  • Emma Elphick
Overall Theme (Maths in entertainment):
  • Weaver McDaid
Publicity Motif:
  • Lola Harris
Static Models:
  • Harvey Graham
  • Katya Atlas
  • Keanna Hakeagaiki
  • Lola Harris
  • Oliver McLachlan
  • Stella Gillman
  • William Pooch
Written Work:
  • Alfie Moore
  • Ashlyn Taffs
  • Frida Corin
  • Jemma Sutherland
  • Ben Scalan

PTA News

BOT Update

Last chance to vote for your Board of Trustees members. There are 3 positions available. Please see below the candidates and their profiles again. Please check your spam for any missed emails from CES that include the voting link.

Voting closes this Wednesday the 7th of September at 4pm.

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

The Great Canterbury Duck Race 2022

On Sunday 6th of November, the Great Canterbury Duck Race will enter its 5th year. Entry to the event is free to the entire community, enabling everyone to have a fun time along with raising much-needed funds for Life Education Trust Canterbury.
There are 3 exciting races starting from the Bridge of Remembrance down the Avon River and past the Terrace Steps to the finish line at Hereford St Bridge.


Purchase a $10 community race duck and $5 will go towards your school's next Life Education visit. Ducks can be purchased at:

Hosting Cashmere High International Students

Performing Arts

Studio One Performing Arts, your local dance school, is currently giving Ballet (R.A.D.), Jazz, and Contemporary (APDA) lessons in your area. The school’s director is teacher, choreographer & ex-ballet dancer Patricia Paul A.R.A.D. (London). Ballet lessons from 3 years through to Advanced, and all levels in Jazz and Contemporary starting from age 7. For all enquiries please phone 03 372-9191 or email info@studioone.co.nz

Torpedo7 Friends & Family for Southern Schools

Offer begins Friday 16th of September!

Up to 60% off for everyone!

The Deal: Save up to 60% off
Valid Dates: 16th September – 2nd October 2022

How to redeem: 
In-store - Show the above flyer. Store staff will either scan the barcode or enter the 3 digit code below the barcode.
Online - See the promo code on the flyer to use at the online checkout: 94A92F91

Terms and Conditions: Discounts are off RRP. If the product is already on promotion customer will receive the lower offer or promo pricing. Not all products are eligible for a discount. Not available in conjunction with any other offer.  Excludes Burton, Electronics, Freight, Gift Cards and Workshop Services.

VALID FROM 16/09/2022 – 2nd October 2022

Climb a tree - get one free


Coming up on Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 September on behalf of NZArb, The Tree People is proud to support the South Island Tree Climbing Competition at Orton Bradley Park.

Throughout both days there will be a separate tree climb event set up, especially for children.
Under the guidance of qualified arborists, children can put on a harness and be supported to climb or swing in a tree.

The first 50 children to give it a go will receive a free native tree from Trees for Canterbury.

We invite your community to come along, give it a go, and feel what it's like. Everyone is welcome to stay a while and watch the professionals in action as they compete in 5 different technical challenges.

Please note that Park entry requirements mean no dogs are permitted, and a $5 entry fee applies.


See our website https://www.elementsnature.co.nz/  or Facebook page
Bookings are through https://elements.aimyplus.com
For more info email elementsprogrammes@gmail.com