Category Archives: Weekly Newsletters

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 30 July 2021

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome back to Term 3!

Monday was a very special day, and a wonderful way to begin the term, with the opening of our new 'Hangere' building. This new, double learning space replaces the old, earthquake-damaged building with 1.5 learning spaces that were there previously.
Thank you to the Ministry of Education, Logic Group, and HRS for getting our building delivered, and two weeks ahead of schedule! Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, our senior kapa haka group, performed and led us in a waiata.

Thank you to Marcel Frei for speaking, to Sampson Karst for blessing our building, and to our two students, Jayda Taylor (Student Council Chair) and Felix (newest student) for officially opening the building and cutting the ribbon! 


Ngtā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events


Term 3, Week 2:

Thu 5 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (1200 - 3:00pm)
Thu 5 Aug - Parent Info session on 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' and 'CHOICEs' programmes (2:15 - 3:00pm)
Thu 5 Aug - Year 6 Whānau - Introduction to the Intermediate Hub - Open Night (7:00 - 8:00pm)
Fri 6 Aug - Celebration Assembly (12:00 - 12:30pm)
Sun 8 Aug - Working Bee (10am-12noon)

Term 3, Week 3:

Tue 10 Aug - School Duathlon (12:00 - 3.15pm)
Thu 12 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)
Thu 12 Aug - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30 - 7:30pm) All welcome

Term 3, Week 4:

Tue 17 Aug - School Duathlon Postponement date (12:00 - 3.15pm)
Thu 19 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)

Click here to view 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Layla Jenkins - Year 8

Layla, you are a kind and dedicated member of our Kauri whānau. You strive for excellence in all that you do whether it is embracing challenge on the sports field or giving 100% to your academic learning. Your friends appreciate your fun loving and respectful personality. When leading, younger children adore your approachable and nurturing nature.

School Notices

Food Allergy Guidelines

Across our school, we have a number of children with different food allergies.
To support the wellbeing of these students we have the following guidelines in place which we ask you to follow:
Whenever children bring food to school for shared kai occasions, please follow the guidelines provided by the teachers for that event. 
We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change.  Our full allergy policy and guidelines in this booklet, are also available on the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto website under “Information - Policies - SchoolDocs” then search ‘allergy’.  If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s point of contact teacher.

Year 6 whānau evening - Introduction to the Kauri Hub


Dental Care





Sports News

Term 2 Wrap Up:

The hall was full of energy on the last day of Term 2 as the staff versed the students in a game of basketball in front of a bunch of very enthusiastic supporters. With both our Year 7/8 basketball teams qualifying for Canterbury Winter Tournament, the staff drafted support from Jamie Day, who has been coaching our Beckenham Warriors. This proved to be a wise move as the children certainly brought their A game. The game was a close one, but in the end the staff took the win. It was a fun game played in good spirit by all. Thank you to all those who took part and to Quinn for stepping up to ref. 


Winter Sport

The children have been super enthusiastic about their winter sport games each Thursday. There has been really great feedback about the sportsmanship shown from our tamariki in their games. A mammoth thank you to all the adults who have been supporting us with this programme. We couldn’t do it without you. 

Winter sport continues in Term 3.

Primary and Intermediate Ski Race at Mount Cheeseman

This is an opportunity for children who are competent skiers to have an experience of ski racing. Children should be competent on blue groomed runs and be able to use a T-bar. Helmets must be worn. Racing suits are not permitted. 

This is an event where your child can compete and represent our kura and transport and supervision of the children is organised by whānau. Whānau are responsible for entering children on the link below. 

Friday 6 August 2021: Race Registrations Closes
Sunday 8 August 2021: All Schools Practice Race Day
Sunday 15 August 2021: P&I RACE DAY!
Sunday 22 August 2021: Postponement Day

Please email Jenny, if you have any questions about this event.

PTA News

Read-a-thon 2021

Welcome to Read-a-thon 2021 where the PTA support and encourage all learners on their literacy journey and hope to encourage a lifelong love of words, books and knowledge - and raise a little bit of money along the way.  Hopefully, your child's Read-a-Thon sponsorship card came home this week - check those bags for the sponsorship cards and if your child still has not received their card, please contact their teacher.

The Read-a-thon timeline is as follows;

Friday 30th July - cards sent home to families and the 14 days of reading begin.  Seek any sponsorship and support for your child's reading journey during this time.

Monday 16th -Thursday 19th Aug - Please return money and sponsorship forms to a PTA Member.  We will have a table set up before school near the hall with a selection of bookmarks so when your child returns their card they can select a bookmark of their choice.  We encourage all cards to be returned so the children can go in the draw to win one of 9 Whitcoulls Book Vouchers.

Friday 20th August - Lets celebrate the end of this reading journey and fundraiser with a ‘Book Character Day’- come dressed to school in your favourite book character.

Thank you for supporting your PTA, and your children, in this fundraiser.


Community Notices

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

Tiwerawera Youth Music Competition

An exciting opportunity has come up for young musicians to perform on stage at the popular and well known venue Fat Eddies. We are looking for students ages 5-18 years old who have a musical talent and are either in a solo/duo act or in a band. All genres of music are welcome from Pop, Rock, R&B, Hip-Hop and more!

Our event “Tiwerawera” is exclusively for Ōtautahi that focuses on our tamariki and can help build their confidence when it comes to performing on stage and enrich their love for music. There are two heats and one final event with prizes up for grabs.




For more info and registrations, check out our website:

Sign up closes on the 11th of August 2021 and have limited spaces so get in quick!

Huntsbury Community Preschool, is having a Parent information evening; All Welcome. 

Our Speaker, Rachel McFedries, is an Occupational Therapist, Play & Screen Time Coach.  She will provide practical, realistic strategies and encouragement to manage or reduce kids’ screen time in your home - without tired and busy parents losing sanity time! Rachel’s advice will be aimed at preschoolers’ screen use, with tips that apply to older children also, plus a Q&A session at the end.


Tuesday 3rd August at Woolston Community Library, 689 Ferry Road, Woolston. $2 entry, limited seats available – RSVP essential to:  https://fb.me/e/4tFMzaEW7


Pre-Term 3 newsletter, Sunday 25 July 2021

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Our staff are all looking forward to welcoming everyone back to school tomorrow.

We understand that there has continued to be quite a high level of illness across the community during the holidays, particularly heavy colds and respiratory infections, and viruses. Please do keep sick children at home for their own well-being and the well-being of others. 

Tomorrow (Monday) 9:15am - new building opening

We are very excited to be opening our new double learning block 'Hangere' tomorrow morning at 9:15am. If you are able to stay and join us, please feel welcome to do that. Children need to be at school before the bell at 8:55am so that they can be in their hub when the roll is taken. Teachers will bring children over to the courts in front of the new building at 9:10am, ready for the opening at 9:15am.

Year 7/8 Choir will happen as usual at 8:15am in the Kauri theatre tomorrow.

Year 6 whānau evening - Introduction to the Kauri Hub



Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Term 3, Week 1:
Mon 26 Jul - First day back at School
Mon 26 Jul - New Building Opening (9:10am)
Wed 28 Jul - PTA AGM and regular meeting (7:00 - 9:30pm)
Thu 29 Jul - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)
Fri 30 Jul - Welcome Assembly (9.15 - 9.30am)
Term 3, Week 2:
Thu 5 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (1200 - 3:00pm)
Thu 5 Aug - Parent Info session on 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' and 'CHOICEs' programmes (2:15 - 3:00pm)
Thu 5 Aug - Year 6 Whānau - Introduction to the Intermediate Hub - Open Night (7:00 - 8:00pm)
Fri 6 Aug - Celebration Assembly (12:00 - 12:30pm)
Sun 8 Aug - Working Bee (10am-12noon)
Term 3, Week 3
Tue 10 Aug - School Duathlon (pm)
Thu 12 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)
Thu 12 Aug - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30 - 7:30pm) All welcome

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 term dates.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto newsletter, Friday 9 July, 2021

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

HERO for notices and information

If you haven't yet downloaded the HERO app onto your phone, we strongly encourage you to do this ready for Term 3 when we will begin pushing out notices via this app, in advance of the Friday newsletter. The app will be particularly useful for pushing information out to specific groups within the school, e.g. a homegroup, team, or a particular activity group such as a choir. 

New Building Opening

We officially took possession of our new building yesterday, two weeks ahead of schedule! 

We will be holding the official opening of the new 'Hangere' building at 9:10am on Monday 26th July, the first day of Term 3. Please ensure that your children are at school before the 8:55am bell, and that they go to their hubs first so that they can be marked present on the roll. Teachers will bring everyone over to the new building as soon as their rolls are done. All whānau are most welcome to join us for this special celebration!

Working Bee


We are planning a working bee for Sunday 8th August from 10am -12noon to replant around the new building and do some other gardening work.
Our PTA has funded 6 new picnic tables for our children to use. These have been delivered flatpack and need to be assembled. 
Please put this date in your diary and come along to help. Bring a spade if you have one.

Four-Square Festival

We have seen a huge interest in four square this term. Toby, Isla, Eadie and Nikoda from Kōwhai hub organised a fabulous Four Square Festival which ran very successfully this week.  There were approximately 45 - 55 children playing each day.  The skill level, sportsmanship and the way the children were cheering for each other increased each day.  The school values were alive and shown all the way through the Festival.

The video below has been shared with the children at school to help them learn the rules and to ensure that everyone is playing by the same rules! If your child is keen to learn how to play four-square, you might want to look at this as a family.


We have had a very kind offer from a parent to paint some permanent four-square lines around the school so we are looking forward to having those in place soon.

CCC & Opawaho River Network Matariki Celebration

Our senior kapa haka students, Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, were invited to perform last Friday at the CCC & Ōpāwaho River Network Matariki Celebration at the Christchurch South Library. The email below was received from the Deputy Chair of the Ōpāwaho River Network:
Please pass on a huge thanks to your Kapa Haka group, and all their supporters that came to the opening of the OHRN Matariki Celebration last Friday.
I had a lot of feedback about how well rehearsed and beautifully dressed they were. They were focused, and put so much heart into their performance. A real highlight of the Matariki Celebration!


Huge thanks to our tamariki for being such great performers and ambassadors for our school. Special thanks to Cath Milio and Megan Culver for their support and organisation, and all of the whānau who came along and supported them.

We have been very aware of a lot of throat, tummy and flu-like bugs circulating over the past two weeks. I hope that you all manage to get/stay well and have some family time to recharge over the next two weeks. 

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Term 3, Week 1:
Mon 26 Jul - First day back at School
Mon 26 Jul - New Building Opening (9:10am)
Wed 28 Jul - PTA AGM and regular meeting (7:00 - 9:30pm)
Thu 29 Jul - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)
Fri 30 Jul - Welcome Assembly (9.15 - 9.30am)
Thu 5 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (1200 - 3:00pm)
Thu 5 Aug - Parent Info session on 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' and 'CHOICEs' programmes (2:15 - 3:00pm)
Fri 6 Aug - Celebration Assembly (12:00 - 12:30pm)
Sun 8 Aug - Working Bee (10am-12noon)
Tue 10 Aug - School Duathlon (pm)
Thu 12 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)
Thu 12 Aug - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30 - 7:30pm) All welcome

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Ally Penter, Year 6

Ally, you are such a positive and hard-working learner and you show huge persistence even when learning is difficult. This is such a fantastic attitude to have. You are also a kind and caring friend and you always bring a smile and a can-do attitude with you to school every day. You are amazing!

School Notices

Hand trowels and forks needed

Our  Enviro / compost students are getting involved in garden activities and we are short on hand trowels and forks. If you have any spare that you would like to donate, please send into the office or email: charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz

'Sushi Meets Dumplings' - lunch orders

We will be trialing an additional lunch supplier from the start of term 3.  It is Sushi Meets Dumplings which is located at Beckenham Central on Colombo Street.
You will need to order online using a link that will be on the website under the information tab and then lunch orders  The lunch ordering link for Sushi Meets Dumplings will be added to the website over the holiday break.
You will be able to order from Sushi Meets Dumplings on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Orders need to be placed by 9am.
Lunchonline orders (our other lunch provider) need to be placed by 8:30am on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Any feedback you may have, once you have used the new lunch provider would be great!

Safety around the area

One of our students was approached when out for a run last weekend by a man who wanted directions to Beckenham Park and who then asked her to get into his vehicle. She ran home and the police were contacted. This is a good reminder to regularly talk with your children about being safe when out and about without an adult.

HERO - School Accounts & Donations




Thank you to all of you who have logged onto our new app "HERO" and have paid, or part-paid your accounts and donations. We really do appreciate every bit that you are able to contribute towards enriching the experiences that we are able to offer the children.

(Click here if you haven’t yet set up HERO on your phone, and download the app)

To see your current statement, log onto HERO and click on Finance.

If you need more detailed information on how to log in, click here.

'Keeping Ourselves Safe' & 'DARE' Parent/Whānau Meeting

2:15-3pm on Thursday 5th August
Parents and Whānau are invited to an information afternoon with Constable Ross who will be supporting the teaching of Keeping Ourselves Safe (Year 0 to 6) and the DARE program (Year 7/8). 

Student Council - KidsCan FunRun

A huge thank you to everyone who sent in their sponsorship money this week. So far you have raised over $3000 for KidsCan! If you are still collecting your sponsorship money, please gather it all over the holidays and drop it in the purple box in the office at the start of the first week of Term 3.

PTA AGM Wednesday 28th July, 7 pm

Every year the PTA are looking for new ideas, energy and whānau to join the team and look at different ways that the PTA can support our school, our families and our children. If you would like to get to know some other school caregivers, have a little bit of time to share, or have some ideas about how the PTA might support the school, please come along to the AGM on Wednesday 28th July in the Green Room (adjacent to the hall foyer) at 7pm.

Community Notices

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