Category Archives: Weekly Newsletters

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter, Friday 21 October 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome back to Term 4! 

We have another exciting term of learning planned. With the weather warming up, we are looking forward to Athletic Sports next Wednesday.

A reminder that school is closed this Monday the 24th as it is a public holiday.

Welcome to the team to Stacey Hart, who will be joining us as a Teaching Assistant. If you see Stacey around our kura please make her feel welcome!

Dogs in and around school grounds

A reminder that no dogs should be on the grounds during school hours, unless by prior arrangement. Please ensure ALL dogs are on a leash when dropping off and picking up children as some people are not comfortable around dogs, and this keeps everyone safe.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki (Principal)

Important Dates

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 (details below)
Fri 11 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day - (School Closed)
Thu 15 Dec - Last day of Term 4 - School closes at 12:30pm

Term Dates

Citizen of the Week

Vivienne Cross - Year 3

Vivienne, you are such a vibrant and bubbly personality in our hub. You tackle any situation with great positivity and you have a wonderful sense of humour. You are a role model learner, showing great focus on your learning tasks and you put every effort into doing the best that you can. You are also very inclusive, ready to welcome anyone into your fold. You are a star!

School Notices

Sunhats and Drink Bottle Reminder

This a reminder that Term 4 is a Sunsafe term. Time to find the sunhat!

Please ensure that you send your child to school with a named red or black sunhat (bucket or wide-brimmed) and a drink bottle every day during Term 4. 

Sports Uniforms

All sports uniforms that have been issued to students need to be returned, clean, as soon as possible. There is a labelled box "Returned Sports Uniforms" between the Office and Library that is accessible all day.

Do you, or your neighbours, have someone turning 5 next year?

We need to get all enrolments for 2023 in, ideally by the end of next week, so that we can ensure that we have been given enough staffing for the year from the Ministry of Education. We have the opportunity to apply for a review in early November, if we think we have been under-staffed.
PLEASE contact Jacky or Reihana in the office for an enrolment form, or download one from our website.

Keeping Young People Safe Online - Tuesday 25 October, 7pm

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.

Comedy Quiz Night 2022

Come and join us for a night of fun on Saturday, October 29th, while supporting Kauri Camp fundraising for 2023. 

Tickets are $10 per person. Form a team of  4-7 people. Delicious supper provided. Bring money for bar and raffle tickets. Doors open at 7pm with quiz starting at 7:30. This quiz will be hosted Jarred Skelton, our local and much loved comedian.

Grab a team and click here to book $10 tickets: (click this link to sign up - fill in this form only once per team)

Scholastic Lucky Book Club


Issue 7 is out now. Please click here to view the catalogue, or here to sign up and learn how to order.
In this Bumpre edition you will find:
  • Christmas and Holiday Gift Ideas
  • The Best Books of 2022
  • Halloween Reads
  • Big Savings on Packs
  • $7 and Under Books, $3.50 Value Books and much more!
To make it easy to give the gift of reading this year, the LOOP Gift Function has automatically been turned on for this issue. Gift orders are intended to be given directly to the parents, not the child. 

Lunch Online

END-OF-YEAR DATES / TERM DATES FOR 2022 – 2023 LUNCH ORDERS

Term 4
Monday 17th October – Friday 9th December

2022

Term 1
Monday 30th January – Thursday 6th April

Sports News

Congratulations to...

Levi Bunting, who in June of this year was selected to represent Canterbury in the South Island Halberg games. He attended training sessions from June through to September before competing in a 3 day sports festival against athletes representing Tasman, Canterbury, South Canterbury, Otago, Southland and West Coast.

Halberg Games is a three-day national sports festival open to young people aged 8-21 with a physical or visual impairment.


Bella Day and Lola Harris, who are pictured wearing their championship medals and holding the trophy. They represented Canterbury in the South Island Regional Basketball under 13 tournament last week where they won 7 from 7 games and beat a tough Otago team in the final to win the tournament.
Both girls had strong performances and it was an amazing way for them to finish their season off in style.

Luca Arthur, who competed in the Secondary Schools National Mountain Bike Championships over the holidays. This involved racing in three events: downhill, enduro, and cross country. Luca placed first in the downhill and enduro and sixth in the cross country, an outstanding achievement that resulted in Luca also taking the overall win. Tino pai, Luca!

Athletics Day

We are looking forward to our Whole School Athletics Celebration on Wednesday the 26th of October.  Years 5 to 8 will be out on Beckenham Park competing in field and track rotations all day. Years 0 - 4 will start the day with their usual school routine and join us on the park for their run, jump, and throw rotations throughout the day. 

Athletics learning is a key part of our PE curriculum across all teams. The children are being taught safe and effective techniques as well as perseverance, resilience and sportsmanship. Our whole school athletics day is a celebration of this learning. 
 
Koru and Ferndale - 9:00 to 10:30 
Kahikatea and Kōwhai - 11:00 to 12:30
Our athletics day concludes with sprint finals, starting at 2:00. Our whole school will come together to cheer on the runners. The final event is a House Relay, which doubles up as an adults versus children race. With years 0 - 8 participating in this relay, we are going to need your support to make up an adult team. Bring your running shoes!

Community Notices

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

Fair Go - Consumer Heroes competition

We’re looking for tamariki who have a vision to change something in Aotearoa – it could be a big idea for the whole planet or the whole country, or a little change making a difference to their local community.

They come up with the idea, write a couple of sentences about what the vision/change is and what they need help with, and send it off to us.

If we choose it, the Fair Go team will leap into action, visiting with our camera and reporter teams, and helping them make a video pitching their amazing idea which will of course, then feature on Fair Go.

And – the lucky creatives will score amazing prizes provided by Canon, to help them continue with their creative journeys.  

The website link below provides the relevant information (along with a helpful video).


Entries close on the 26th of October so they’ll only have a few days, and we don’t mind if the entries are a bit rough – as long as the key vision is there.

What we’re looking for is great ideas, a willingness to be on camera, and – of course – parental permission.

Port Hills Athletics Have a Go sessions

Have a Go is a community-based athletics programme for 4-11 year olds based on Run, Jump, Throw from Athletics New Zealand.

The sessions go from 5pm to 6.30pm starting Monday 31st October, and will run for 8 weeks in Term 4, 7 weeks in Term 1. 

Families are welcome to have a two-week trial before registering with the club. Registration is approx $80 for those under 6 years and $100 for those over 6 years.  No uniform is needed.

Please email amandalanders1974@gmail.com if you have any questions

Looking forward to meeting you and your tamariki!

Biketober Event


St Martins Scout Spring Fair

The St Martins Scouts are holding a Spring Fair on Sunday 30 October 12-4pm.
This includes rock climbing, river crossing, kayaking and a car boot sale.

Support your local Athletics Club

Want to learn how to run, jump or throw? The skills you learn in athletics are the perfect foundation
for almost any sport.

Every student can give athletics a go. Your local athletics club is welcoming new members now and we encourage students to get involved and get active.

Contact details for all athletics clubs nationwide are available here athletics.org.nz/clubs/find-a-club/ and become a member.


Go Crew Events presents... Go Chef!

AKA: The Great Cupcake Challenge!

We’ve got a cool new brand called Go Crew Events and this is our first event!

The Great Cupcake Challenge will see teams of four rangatahi bake their own cupcakes, and then decorate them however they want. And then comes the fun part... eating them! 

All ingredients are supplied. And all teams will have the help and super-fun support of a ‘chief chef’ from the Go Crew.

Whether you like to bake alone or prefer to decorate with your mates, come along for an afternoon of fun with our Go Crew team!

Numbers are strictly limited.

This event is ideal for ages 10-13yrs. 

When: Saturday 29th October 
Where: Majestic House, 189 Durham Street South, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch 8011 (plenty of parking onsite from Wilmer Street)
Time: 10am-1pm
Cost: $30 per ticket per person
Sign up now: www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/432296178507

NOTE: All our Go Crew team members are police checked
Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements.

We'd love to see you there!

If you have any questions, please feel free to message us directly:

Email: gocrewevents@ggnz.org.nz
Phone: 021 919427 or 021 915039

Applications NOW open for MindPlus in 2023!

One in 20 students are gifted, and they need specialist education support to unlock their talents and passions and to thrive as learners.

Applications are now open for MindPlus OurSchool in 2023.

MindPlus OurSchool brings Y2 - 8 gifted kids together one day a week at one of our 13 units across New Zealand. The application closing date is 28 October.

Apply now

Check out our 13 units here

Applications are always open for MindPlus Online which Y2 - 10 students can access online from anywhere in New Zealand, at school or home.

Attend our webinar

Term 4 is a great time to talk with parents about options for their gifted kids in 2023. We have a webinar on 18 October from 7 to 8pm so parents and teachers can find out more about MindPlus in 2023.

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

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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.