Category Archives: Weekly Newsletters

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 4 March 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We are very aware of the multiple challenges that are presented to us daily, particularly through the media, with COVID, the Wellington protest, and events unfolding in Ukraine. Protecting our children from some of this media and the adult discussions around it is a positive action that parents can take.

The welfare of our students is always at the top of our minds. With the deeply sad events unfolding in Ukraine, we are aware that this may be having an impact on some of our students, especially those who are from, and/or who have family and friends in Ukraine and Russia. This is also being heavily covered in the media, and the reporting and content has been very harrowing and may cause anxiety for our wider student community. 

Kindness and respect for our students who may have European connections is especially important in these very challenging times. Our school has supports in place for students who may be impacted, and we encourage anyone with concerns about the safety and wellbeing of a student to contact us.

Learning from Home

Over the next few weeks, we do expect that some children will need to begin periods of time where they are Learning At Home, especially if they are Household Contacts. We encourage you to have a look at the Learning At Home Website and familiarise yourself with how it will support your child’s learning if they are isolating/unwell at home. 

There are a range of learning options on the site, some that are digital and others that do not require access to a device to complete. This is particularly true for the NE - Year 4 students. If your child is in Years 5-8, they will be more digitally focused.

Please contact your child’s Homegroup teacher, or the school office, should you need any support with accessing Learning At Home.

It is important that you let us know if your child is at home sick, or if they are learning at home, as this will also determine how their absence is coded.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 14th Mar - School Photos
Wed 23rd Mar - PTA Meeting 7.30pm - 9.30pm (Green Room)
Wed 30th Mar - BOT Meeting 5.30pm - 7.30pm (Staff Room)

Term Dates

Click here to view 2022 term dates.

Click here to follow our school Facebook page.

Citizen of the Week

Bella Toledo-Riveros - Year 8

Bella, you are such a warm and inclusive member of the Kauri hub. Your honesty, compassion and tolerance are widely appreciated by your peers. Bella, you live our values 'We Care' and 'We Make a Difference' in the way that you lift other people up. Thank you for being such an awesome role model. Tu meke Bella!

Sristy Lasiyal - Year 4

Sristy, you have made an outstanding start to the year. You consistently focus on doing the right thing and are an extremely helpful member of the team. You and kind, caring and positive. You are a fantastic role model to others. Well done, Sristy!        

School Notices

Walk or Wheel to School Week - THIS COMING WEEK!

This coming week is "Walk or Wheel Week", which is a fun week that encourages school children and their families to walk, cycle, scoot or skate to school. We hope some of our whānau will take up the wero (challenge) and give it a go! 


If your child walks or wheels to school at least three days next week, they can go into the draw for some spot prizes that have been provided by Christchurch City Council.

COVID-19

As you will have seen in the messages sent out last night and this morning, we now have active cases in our immediate school community. A further case was confirmed after this morning's message went out, bringing our total cases so far to four.

As advised by the Ministry of Education, we are not spending time focussing on where each case is in our school, or who the close contacts might be. We are living with this virus in our community and we are all focussing on behaving in the safest way that we can, wearing masks, distancing, using good hygiene practices, and staying at home when we are not well. We are noticing that a number of people who have developed sore throats and headaches have tested negative for 2 or 3 days before eventually testing positive around day 4 or 5. Even though they had initially tested negative, they still had symptoms so had stayed at home, meaning that the risk of further spread has been minimised..

Kidshealth.org.nz is a great health and wellbeing information website and they have put out a useful video about caring for a child with COVID-19 which you may find helpful.

To help everyone at school, we need you all to:
  • advise us if your child has tested positive for Covid-19, as soon as you can. Call the office on 337 1404 or Sandy (after hours/weekend) on 021 899 429.
  • advise us if you are keeping your child at home for any reason, and what that reason is - e.g. the whole household is in isolation as someone in the household has tested positive; you are keeping your child at home as you believe they have had an exposure with a confirmed case and you are taking a cautious approach to see if your child develops symptoms.
  • if your child has ANY symptoms or is sick in ANY way, please keep them at home and let us know. If your child presents at school with any symptoms, we will call you to come and take them home.
  • send your child to school, if you are confident that they are well and symptom-free.
What we’re doing 
  • School will stay open
  • We will provide Learning At Home as much as we can whilst teachers are still teaching classes at school and staffing allows
  • We have appropriate public health measures and cleaning procedures in place
Symptoms of COVID-19 
  • A new or worsening cough
  • Sneezing and runny nose
  • A fever
  • Temporary loss of smell or altered sense of taste
  • Sore throat
  • Shortness of breath
  • Less common symptoms include diarrhoea, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, malaise, chest pain, abdominal pain, joint pain, or confusion/irritability. 

2022 Music Festival - Representative Group applications now open.



This is to let you know that talented singers and musicians from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto can now apply for an audition to join a Representative Group - Junior & Senior Choir, Concert Band, Orchestra - for the 2022 Music Festival.

If you and your child have been through this process before, you know the drill, so check out the details for this years' festival and commitments and apply.

If this is new to you and your child, read the information on the festival website first. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me to have a chat about the suitability of this opportunity for your child. 

Applications are made online on the Festival website here.

It is important that all of our talented singers and musicians get a chance to not only participate in a life-changing learning opportunity but also to represent Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto while doing it.

Being selected for a Representative Group for the Music Festival is the artistic equivalent of being selected for a Canterbury level sports team; let's make sure the opportunity is not overlooked.

Kindest regards

Sandy Hastings

Mana Ake

Lunch Orders


To see more details on all of our lunch order options, please click here to see the link.

Kauri Leadership Week

Last Friday, as a conclusion to our Kauri Leadership Week, Year 7 & 8 headed for the hills, walking up to Victoria Park and embracing a love of challenge. Our leadership learning has included an inspiring talk from Mark Inglis and two separate leadership days for Year 7 & 8 where the '7 habits of highly effective people' that we have been learning about were put into action. The children had a blast, embraced the challenge of the climb and supported their peers when the going got tough. 

Immediate online positive parenting support offered to all families in Aotearoa

To support mental health, resilience and emotional wellbeing for our tamariki and rangatahi, Ministry of Health are partnering with Whāraurau to offer free online versions of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program® across the country.

Triple P is an evidence-based programme with a long history of successful use in New Zealand. More than 10,000 New Zealand whānau have accessed some type of Triple P support in the areas where it has been available free for the past 10 years, with many turning to online programmes throughout the Covid 19 pandemic. 

There are three free Triple P Online programmes available throughout Aotearoa to help parents and caregivers positively support children to reduce anxiety, build emotional resilience and life skills, and cope with life’s challenges. These programs also help whānau stay calm and optimistic, guide behaviour positively, and encourage children’s learning.

  • FEAR-LESS TRIPLE P ONLINE – for parents and caregivers of children and teenagers (6-14 years) who have significant anxiety.
    This 6-module online course gives parents and caregivers a better understanding of anxiety, gives them skills and strategies to improve children’s coping capacity, and helps parents develop safe, gradual ways for children and teens to face anxiety-provoking situations and overcome their fears. It also helps boost children’s and teenagers’ confidence and problem-solving skills.

  • TRIPLE P ONLINE – positive parenting for those who have toddlers to 12-year-olds.
    This 8-module online course helps parents and caregivers develop a range of positive ways to address child behaviours, promote new skills and help emotional self-regulation, to help them improve family relationships and raise happier, more confident and capable tamariki.
  • TEEN TRIPLE P ONLINE – positive parenting for those who have ‘tweens’ or teenagers – 10-16 years.
    This 6-module online course helps parents and caregivers understand more about pre-teen and teenage development and behaviour, so they can provide the best environment for raising responsible, resilient rangatahi while maintaining close relationships and minimising conflict.
Caregivers can immediately register and begin their free online programmes by visiting www.triplep-parenting.net.nz

Community Notices

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




NEXT CHAPTER PARENTING 

Offering Individual, or group, PARENTING SESSIONS via Zoom. Ten one hourly sessions, weekly at a time convenient to you, available evenings. 

Topics covered include; Communication, Empathy, Setting Limits, Quality Time, Consequences, Choices, Redirection, Pick your battles with your child, Problem Behavior, Praise vs Acknowledgement, Time In vs Time Out, The Pause, Sibling Rivalry, Teenage Boundaries Erickson’s Stages of Growth, Personality Types and how it affects your children.  

WINZ funding assistance where eligible.


Craft Competition for Children's Day

We are pleased to announce that TOCK.earth is co-hosting Christchurch's ONLINE Children's Day. To celebrate this important day we are running a fun activity/competition which your tamariki may like to get involved in at home. The competition is craft based and runs from now until the end of Monday 7th with prizes for the winning entries. 
Here is the link to the post with details on how to enter on our facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/tock.earth or check out the Children's Day page on our website https://tock.earth/childrens-day-2022/

Happy Children's Day.🙂

Ngā mihi nui.

The TOCK Team
www.tock.earth

Cashmere Tech

As a part of Girls and Women’s Month Cashmere Tech are running a Girls Fiesta at Somerfield Park on Friday March 11th!!

We will be celebrating all things Female Football on the day with loads of prizes to be given away. 

Our Women’s Premier League and Reserves players will be there on the day to join in with the fun! 

Details for the Day: 

Date: Friday 11th March 

Times: 4:00pm - 5:15pm - 5th to 12th Grade 
     5:30pm - 6:45pm - 13th to 16th Grade

Where: Somerfield Park 

All players welcome - no registration needed - come have fun and play some football!

Environment Canterbury

Environment Canterbury is consulting on its draft Annual Plan 2022/23 from today Wednesday 2 March to Sunday 3 April 2022.

You may be interested in the proposal for changing bus fare structure. We’re looking at options of either fare-free travel, flat fares or a tertiary student concession. 

We’re also keen to hear views on how we fund flood protection and recovery, and a future rate to accelerate action on climate change.

All information about the proposals and how to have your say can be found at ecan.govt.nz/annualplan22

haveyoursay@ecan.govt.nz


Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 18 February 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora e te whānau

Covid-19 Information - your questions answered

In today's newsletter, we would like to draw your attention to our planning for Covid-19 and the steps that will be put into place when we get active cases within our school community.

To help you with the process, we have put some key information, in the form of Questions and Answers, onto our school website. You can find it here under Covid-19 Questions & Answers 


On this page we hope you will find all of the immediate information you need if you, your child, or someone in your household either tests positive for Covid-19, or is a close contact of someone who has tested positive.
The page has questions that you can find the answers for by clicking on the arrow on the left of each question...


Please keep Sick Children at home...

As you will know, we take the health and safety of our school and wider community very seriously. We are therefore being extremely cautious when children present at school with any Covid-19 symptoms. Unless we have heard from you e.g. 'My son Johnny has hayfever which is the cause of his runny nose at the moment', we will be calling you to come and pick Johnny and his runny nose up and take him home!
While your child has any Covid-19 symptoms, we are strongly encouraging you to take them for a Covid test. This helps to reassure everyone that they are OK to come back to school. Even if you haven't had a test, please keep anyone who is unwell at home.

Learning At Home

As we see more cases in the community, we know that the number of people needing to isolate at home is going to increase. We know that most of these people will not be symptomatic and that the children will need to keep learning if possible. For that reason, we have once again reactivated our "Learnng at Home" website. Teachers will be working through the website with the children next week, so that they are very familiar with it, and it is set out in a similar way to last year.



All of our teachers' contact email addresses are on the site, so that you can contact them if you have any questions. We are currently working on developing hard packs for those children for whom digital learning is not so easily accessible. Please let your child's teacher know if you need a hard pack.
Now is a good time to think about getting a few basic stationery supplies at home.

We expect to keep going as normally as possible at school, as we can with good staffing levels. If our staffing situation changes, we will let you know about any adaptations that we might have to make to our teaching and learning programmes.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Wed 23rd Feb - BOT Meeting (5.30 - 7.30pm, Staff Room)
Wed 23rd Feb - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm, Green Room, Vaccine pass required)
Mon 14th Mar - School Photos

Term Dates

Click here to view 2022 term dates.

Click here to follow our school Facebook page.

Citizen of the Week

Harshit Rana - Year 6

Harshit, you are a marvellous example of how to live our kete values every day. You shine in your learning, have a cool, calm, and collected personality and are a wonderful friend. Keep shining, Harshit! He tino pai rawa atu tō mahi.

School Notices

Broadband for those who don't have it

If you have a Year 5 to 13 student who currently does not have broadband at home, or is on a prepaid Skinny Jump internet connection, and/or the cost of in-home internet access is a barrier, they could be eligible for the free broadband for learning. Ciena Jump for Student Fund provides a free wireless modem and free 150GB monthly broadband data for their home until the end of 2022. Please contact Sandy at school if you would like to know more. principal@beckenham.school.nz

Call to our community

Kōwhai team need help with re-creating our garden space, so that we can grow edibles and flowers! We want to make several raised garden beds, measuring 700 wide by 700 high and 1100mm long. Can any one kindly donate wood and / or help us construct these? If so, please email charlotte@beckenham.school.nz

PTA News

Keep in touch with the PTA

To stay up to date with the PTA, please check out our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook page, linked here. Or come along to one of our meetings - all welcome (with a Vaccine pass or by Zoom at request - (please email PTA@beckenham.school.nz).
 
Meeting dates can be found in the weekly school Newsletter, or on the school calendar - linked here.
These meetings are usually held on a Wednesday night 7.30-9.30pm.

You can email the PTA at pta@beckenham.school.nz

Community Notices

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

NZ Modern School of Music - Christchurch Music Teacher Information and Enrolment Form

Erin Grigson has been playing various instruments for 25 years and teaching for 12 years. She has a degree in music education and taught in primary school in the USA for 2 years before moving to New Zealand. She can play and teach piano, voice, ukulele, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, tenor horn, trombone, and euphonium.
Erin’s instruments: piano, voice, ukulele, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, tenor horn, trombone, and euphonium
Erin’s prices: $20 for each 20-minute lesson and $30 for each 30-minute lesson.

Sam Jones teaches drums. He has been playing and teaching for almost 20 years and has travelled all over the world making and teaching music. He uses popular songs from current hits to rock classics to teach all the techniques students need to know to be successful on drum set.
Sam’s instrument: drumset
Sam’s prices: $30 for each 30-minute lesson.

Lessons will be held at St. Marks Methodist Church in Somerfield (5 Somerfield St.).

NZ Modern School of Music - Christchurch has other teachers as well who teach a variety of other instruments.

For more information or to enrol, contact Erin Grigson at nzmsmchristchurch@gmail.com or fill out the Google enrolment form at the link below:


We look forward to hearing from you! 

Torpedo7 Friends & Family Offer begins Wednesday 16th of February! 


The Deal: Save up to 50% off 
Valid Dates: 16 February – 1 March 2022 

How to redeem:  
In store – I have attached your event flyer. Our store staff will scan the unique barcode. 
Online - See the promo code on flyer to use at the online checkout – F1D4A3A36 

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. Variations in the regional COVID-19 alert levels may cause a delay in non-essential orders being shipped. 

Not available in conjunction with any other offer.  Excludes Bikes and Frames, Electronics, Freight, Gift Cards and Workshop Services. 

Valid from 16/02/2022 to 01/03/2022. 

Tutoring

Burwood Education Centre (15 Parnwell St., Burwood, ph 027-460-3765) is accepting new enrolments for after school tutoring for students struggling, or needing extension, with their maths/spelling/reading etc. Sessions throughout the school year are Monday - Thursday in either 3.30 - 4.50 pm or 5.00 - 6.20pm classes with maximum four students per group. See the website - www.nztutoring.org - for further details or contact Paul on ph. 027-460-3765

St Andrew's College



Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 11 February 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou


With six days at school now under their belts, it is impressive to see how well our children are adapting both being back at school in school routines, and the 'red traffic light' requirements of mask wearing. This is a result of the positive messaging and preparation that you and our staff have done. Thank you!

With the Omicron wave still expected to cause us further disruption to the school year, we ask you to consider how you will plan to support learning from home again, in the event that your child needs to isolate for a period of time. We have preparations under-way at school for these events too. Keeping the school open is our primary goal, and, if we do have groups of students and staff needing to isolate, learning from home for short periods of time is very likely.

Ngā mihi nui - Sandy

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Wed 23rd Feb - BOT Meeting (5.30 - 7.30pm, Staff Room)
Wed 23rd Feb - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm, Green Room)
Mon 14th Mar - School Photos

Term Dates

Click here to view 2022 term dates.

Click here to follow our school Facebook page.

Citizen of the Week

Penelope Yeoman - Year 4

Penelope, you are such a focused learner in our hub. You are also an amazing helper, taking time to help others with their learning and doing what needs to be done without being asked. You are a role model student, living our values every day. Ka pai!

School Notices

School Hours & Bell Times

Time Activity
8:30 AM – 8:55 AM Students arrive at school and prepare for the day
8:55 AM – 9:00 AM Morning Roll Taken
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM Learning time
10:30 AM – 10:50 AM Break time
10:50 AM – 11:00 AM Children eat morning tea whilst learning (e.g. listening to a story)
11:00 AM – 12:40 PM Learning time
12:40 PM – 1:20 PM Break time
1:20 PM – 1:40 PM Lunch eating
1:40 PM – 3:00 PM Learning time
2:45 PM – 3:00 PM Home time



Band Programme Music Lessons 

Does your child want to learn a musical instrument?  Did you know they can learn at school? 
 
The CSM Outreach Band Programme combines individual lessons with ensemble playing right from the first note.  Being part of a band can provide students with skills that will last a lifetime.  As well as the wonderful musical benefits students will gain valuable social, physical and academic skills.  And most importantly, it’s fun!

Students must be 9 years or older and can choose from the following instruments: Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Trumpet, Trombone, Bass Guitar, Percussion, French Horn.

Band Programme Fees

The Christchurch School of Music provides the Outreach Band Programme at your school. We work hard to keep the fees as affordable as possible. The fee for a standard 15 minute lesson per student in the band programme is $157.50/term or $630/year. Band is free to all students learning in the Outreach Band Programme. If you have a Community Services Card you may be eligible for a 50% discount on the base year’s fees. 

Students start in the Training Band, then move onto Concert Band and can then be invited to join Youth Band or Jazz Band.  Click to check out some of our level 2 performances. To enrol go to the enrolment form

For more information contact Jody at outreachband@csm.org.nz

CHRISTCHURCH SCHOOL OF MUSIC
60 Ferry Road, Christchurch 8011
P (03) 366 1711

PTA News

Keep in touch with the PTA

To stay up to date with the PTA, please check out our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook page, linked here. Or come along to one of our meetings - all welcome.
 
Meeting dates can be found in the weekly school Newsletter, or on the school calendar - linked here.
These meetings are usually held on a Wednesday night 7.30-9.30pm.

You can email the PTA at pta@beckenham.school.nz

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
NZ Modern School of Music - Christchurch

Music Teacher Information and

Enrolment Form

Erin Grigson has been playing various instruments for 25 years and teaching for 12 years.
She has a degree in music education and taught in primary school in the USA for 2 years before
moving to New Zealand. She can play and teach piano, voice, ukulele, flute, clarinet, saxophone,
trumpet, French horn, tenor horn, trombone, and euphonium.
Erin’s instruments: piano, voice, ukulele, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, tenor
horn, trombone, and euphonium
Erin’s prices: $20 for each 20-minute lesson and $30 for each 30-minute lesson.

Sam Jones teaches drums. He has been playing and teaching for almost 20 years and has
travelled all over the world making and teaching music. He uses popular songs from current hits to
rock classics to teach all the techniques students need to know to be successful on drum set.
Sam’s instrument: drumset
Sam’s prices: $30 for each 30-minute lesson.
Lessons will be held at St. Marks Methodist Church in Somerfield (5 Somerfield St.).
NZ Modern School of Music - Christchurch has other teachers as well who teach a variety of other
instruments.
For more information or to enrol, contact Erin Grigson at nzmsmchristchurch@gmail.com or fill out
the Google enrolment form at the link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefWl6w15xlXcjQsJNzqreLUpJqCFgC-
GYHMaUViCu1gh9LMg/viewform?usp=sf_link

We look forward to hearing from you!

Delta Rhythmic Gymnastics

Do you love music and dance? Do you want to learn tricks with hoops, balls, ribbons and more? Then Delta Rhythmic Gymnastics might be the sport for you! Come along and try a free trial class to see if you love it! Email membership@delta.org.nz for more information and to register for a trial.




Studio One Performing Arts, your local dance school, is currently giving Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary and Acro 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 372-9191 or email info@studioone.co.nz

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 04 February 2022

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Please remember Waitangi Day is on Monday - and school will be CLOSED as it is a public holiday.

It was great to see each of our Y3/4, Y5/6 and Y7/8 teams having an introductory session to Kapa Haka for 2022 on Friday. We are grateful for all the fine weather we get, as activities such as PE, haka and singing can only happen outside at the moment. Go Whaea Cath for being so adaptable! 

Welcome back to school for 2022! Usually, in this first newsletter after school has begun, I comment on how lovely it was to see all the smiley faces on the first day back. This year, it was mostly the smiley eyes I could see, with faces partially covered with masks, but the 'eyes' had it! With a starting roll of 468 students, we had 97% at school on Thursday making it a really stunning first day back!

Thank you all for your support of the range of strategies we have put in place to keep our staff and children safe this term. There was definitely a strong novelty factor in the mask-wearing for many children, and our goal now will be to maintain this as the novelty wears off.

Our staff have been and will continue to work really hard with all the children to support them in understanding that they need to focus on doing the best that they can individually, within our new way of working. Whilst the majority of our children in the senior part of the school are wearing masks, we do have a small number for whom wearing masks may not be a good option for a range of reasons. Whilst health advice is to get all school-aged children vaccinated, the choice to vaccinate is still an individual choice being made by parents and no children should be ostracised or bullied because of this choice. Some children react to hand sanitizer, and others have hay fever symptoms which can cause their peers to fear that they might be 'spreading Covid'. We are all unique and we are all doing our best.

No single strategy will eliminate the risk of Covid being transmitted. We have a range of strategies to lower the risk and each family/individuals' role is to do the best that they are able to. You can support your child by encouraging them to focus on the healthy strategies that you want them to follow, and to remind them to support their peers, whatever each person's actions might be. You can be assured that our teachers are fully aware of each child's individual situation, and our job is to ensure that ALL of our children can come to school and access education without fear of being ridiculed or made to feel excluded. 

Ngā mihi mahana
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 7th Feb - Waitangi Day (Public Holiday - School Closed)
Wed 23rd Feb - BOT Meeting (5.30 - 7.30pm, Staff Room)
Wed 23rd Feb - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm, Green Room)

Term Dates

Click here to view 2022 term dates.

Click here to follow our school Facebook page.

School Notices

Kupu Māori (Māori Word)

Phonetic prompts are not for everyone, but here is a really great image that helps ensure we are getting our pronunciation of "Waitangi" Day, correct. Using the proper pronunciation of te reo Māori, helps us be good Te Tiriti (Treaty) partners, and ensures the integrity of the language is upheld!

Have an amazing long weekend & Waitangi Day with your whānau!

How to pronounce 'Waitangi'

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:
  • If children are asked to bring food to school for a shared kai occasion, 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 (Home Group) teacher.

Medication at School

If a child requires medication at school on a long or short term basis, parents/caregivers need to complete a medicine authority form with Jacky or Reihana in the office. Procedures are followed to ensure that it is kept securely and administered appropriately.

Any medication that is required to be kept at school on an ongoing basis, needs to have expiry dates checked regularly by parents/caregivers. If the school notices an expiry date is due parents/caregivers will be advised.

Parents/caregivers are asked to please update the school on any medical/health information about their child by contacting the school office.

Sunscreen, Hats and Drink Bottles

Please remember to send your child to school each day with sunscreen applied, and with a named school hat and their named drink bottle. 
Please also NAME everything else that your child brings to school that you want to see returned home again! This includes lunch boxes, face masks, bags and ALL clothing items.
Un-named masks that are found lying around the school will be thrown out, for health and safety reasons.

Absences

Please contact the school office if your child will be absent from school. When contacting us please remember to include; your name, your child’s name, the reason for their absence and how long you expect your child will be away from school.

If you do not provide a reason for your child’s absence, we are required to mark this as an unjustified absence on their attendance report.

Phone: (03) 337-1404 (Press 1 to leave an absence message)
Text Message: 021 027 94107
Email: office@beckenham.school.nz

Lunch Orders

Lunch orders for Lunchonline will commence again from the 8th of February.
Lunch orders for Sushi meets Dumpling have commenced, on the 2nd February.


Please see more information about lunch ordering on our website, linked here.

Updating Classroom Details with Lunch Online

At the beginning of every year your students will usually change classrooms and / or schools - please remind your parents to update their child’s details by clicking "members" and changing their classroom name and school (otherwise their lunches will end up in the wrong location). 
If the child no longer attends a school with Lunchonline then they can make the child "inactive" by unticking the box next to their name.  Many schools make a note about this in their first school newsletter. 

Safe and legal driving around school

With the start of the school year, the traffic on Sandwich Road has again become extremely busy. Please remember that residents have a right to be able to access their driveways and that it is illegal to park within 1m of a driveway. We have had three instances of neighbours not being able to safely access their own homes on the first day of school. Please also remember that it is illegal to pull up or park on any broken yellow lines, including those on either side of the crossing. All of these practices put the safety of our children and our wider community at risk.

With the lovely weather we are currently having, we encourage you to park at bit further away and walk, or just walk to school if you live close enough.

Scholastic Updates


The latest Scholastic Book Club brochures should be in your child's bag this week. This should be the last time we will receive hard copies.
In an effort to reduce our paper waste we have asked Scholastic to advise us of future offerings via emails that we can share with whānau and you will be able to access the brochure and order online
Students/Staff and Whanau will be advised of the new offerings from Scholastic via school newsletter and/or an email from Scholastic. Families will be able to access the brochure and order online.

Low Sensory Covid-19 Vaccination Clinics

We are very pleased to announce that bookings can now be made for the Low Sensory Covid-19 Vaccination Clinics which are supported by Autism NZ.

There are two options available:
  • Nurse Maude Ballroom, 24 McDougall Ave, Christchurch
    Friday 11 February 2022                        9.00am – 12.30pm
    Monday 21nd February 2022                 1.00pm – 4.30pm
    Friday 11 March 2022                            9.00am – 12.30pm
    Wednesday 23 March 2022                    9.00am – 12.30pm

  • Ascot Hub, 12 Ascot Avenue, Parklands, Christchurch
    Wednesday 16 February                         1.00pm – 4.30pm
    Monday 28 February                              1.00pm – 4.30pm
Both clinics offer a quiet location and longer appointment times to make the vaccination experience as relaxed as possible. 

You can book your Booster Pfizer dose through this invitation.  Booster doses are available for the 18 and over age group from three months after the second vaccine dose.

Children 5-11 year olds are able to attend the Low Sensory Covid-19 Vaccination Clinics and can also book through this invite.

 We would like to highlight that family members from the same household, and any carers, are also eligible to be vaccinated – you just need separate bookings for each person at the same or adjacent times.

 If you have any questions, contact Debra at Autism NZ.

(Please do not use Internet Explorer)

When asked, enter access code - B7W7T5BB1E
When asked for location, enter CHRISTCHURCH

We look forward to welcoming you.
From the team organising Low Sensory @ Nurse Maude and the Ascot Hub

Band Programme Music Lessons 

Does your child want to learn a musical instrument?  Did you know they can learn at school? 
 
The CSM Outreach Band Programme combines individual lessons with ensemble playing right from the first note.  Being part of a band can provide students with skills that will last a lifetime.  As well as the wonderful musical benefits students will gain valuable social, physical and academic skills.  And most importantly, it’s fun!

Students must be 9 years or older and can choose from the following instruments: Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Trumpet, Trombone, Bass Guitar, Percussion, French Horn.

Band Programme Fees

The Christchurch School of Music provides the Outreach Band Programme at your school. We work hard to keep the fees as affordable as possible. The fee for a standard 15 minute lesson per student in the band programme is $157.50/term or $630/year. Band is free to all students learning in the Outreach Band Programme. If you have a Community Services Card you may be eligible for a 50% discount on the base year’s fees. 

Students start in the Training Band, then move onto Concert Band and can then be invited to join Youth Band or Jazz Band.  Click to check out some of our level 2 performances. To enrol go to the enrolment form

For more information contact Jody at outreachband@csm.org.nz

CHRISTCHURCH SCHOOL OF MUSIC
60 Ferry Road, Christchurch 8011
P (03) 366 1711

PTA News

An event update: The 2022 Weetbix Kids TRYathlon due to be held in March, has been cancelled by the organisers.

Keep in touch with the PTA

To stay up to date with the PTA, please check out our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook page, linked here. Or come along to one of our meetings - all welcome.
 
Meeting dates can be found in the weekly school Newsletter, or on the school calendar - linked here.
These meetings are usually held on a Wednesday night 7.30-9.30pm.

You can email the PTA at pta@beckenham.school.nz

Community Notices

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

Start of Year Newsletter, 2022

Posted on by

Start of Year Newsletter, 2022

Kia ora koutou

Our primary focus at the moment is doing everything we can to keep our staff safe and healthy so that school can stay open for your children. We need to maintain high staffing levels on site to be able to deliver the best teaching and learning experiences that we can. If and when it is needed, we will re-instate our online learning website, however we do expect all children to be attending school unless they are sick or self-isolating.

We are being deliberate about taking a conservative approach to the guidelines that we are getting from the Ministry of Education and erring on the side of caution to mitigate potential risk where possible.

You can help us with this by:
  • attending your child's online learning conference (with your child there too, please!)
  • providing your child with a mask every day
  • getting your child vaccinated
  • contacting your child's teacher via email if you want to communicate with them (and asking them to call you if needed)
  • staying off the school site unless you need to come into the office for something, when you will need to wear a mask and scan in using the COVID Tracer QR code or sign in manually.
  • keeping your child at home if they have ANY symptoms that are COVID symptoms, and getting them tested.

Learning Conferences - now online - Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd February

Due to the changing Omicron situation, we have made the decision today to hold our Learning Conferences next week as online rather than face-to-face meetings. No change will be needed to your existing bookings, and new bookings can still be made!

On Monday, your child's home-group teacher will be sending you an email with a link to the online meeting. This will be a ZOOM link. (To access this link, you may need to to download Zoom onto your phone /tablet/computer.) If you would prefer a Google Meet link (gmail address required for this), please let your teacher know. The link will be sent to the email of the caregiver who has made the booking. You are able to share that link with another caregiver if they wish to join from another device/place.

Remember that your child needs to be part of the conference too!

Please think about what you would like to share with the teacher about your child, and use these questions as prompts.

Getting ready for your start of year Learning Conference:
  • Talk with your child about what they enjoy learning at school – what they feel they are good at:
  • Are there any barriers/challenges that get in the way of them learning?
  • What would they like to get better at?
  • What kinds of things help them to learn best? (e.g. where they sit, people they do/don’t work with, need for breaks/food/exercise, etc.)
  • Is there anything about your culture, religion, family dynamic that would be helpful for us to know to be able to support your child?
  • Have there been any changes in your family situation that would be helpful for the teacher to know about in order to support your child?
  • Any wonderings, questions?

Masks



As mentioned in the earlier email today, the new government requirement is that all children from Year 4, and all staff wear masks inside at school. 

This is slightly trickier for us with a Year 3/4 team. We are going to be taking a pragmatic approach at Year 3/4 and encouraging all of the Year 3/4 children to wear a mask, but not being insistent on that. 

In Koru (New Entrants) and Kahikatea (Year 1/2) children are not required to wear a mask, and they are most welcome to if you/they would prefer that they do. 

Our staff from NE through to Year 4 are being encouraged to wear masks, and may choose, from time to time not to if the mask is a significant barrier to communication.

Please provide your child with a clean, named mask every day, with a spare named mask in their bag if possible.

Any meetings at school will be held with masks on and caregivers will be expected to comply with this request for the wellbeing of all.

Pick up and Drop Off

To minimise risk for everyone, we are going to continue with the drop-off and pick up at the gate system that we had running successfully last year.

Drop-off in the mornings:
  • When you bring your child to school in the morning, you will need to bring them to one of the entrances and say goodbye to them there.
  • For everyone’s safety, and to manage contact tracing, we cannot have lots of parents coming onto our site each day.
  • In the morning, from 8:30am - 9am, we will have staff at the front entrance of the school, and at the 3 min drop off zone on Sandwich Road.
  • If you want to handover your child to a staff member, you can do that at the flagpole, or from your car at the 3min drop-off zone.
  • If your child is more independent, you can ‘kiss and drop’ your child at any entrance to the school.
  • Children coming to school on their own can use any entrance to the school.
  • If there is a very particular reason that you need to come onto the school site, such as going to the office to hand in medication, you will need to scan your QR code and ONLY go to the office.
  • As you will appreciate, we cannot manage large numbers of caregivers going through this process in the morning, and still manage physical distancing without congestion. 
  • Caregivers are asked not to go into learning spaces at Red level.
  • If you can prepare your child with a positive message about how the handover at the gate will work, it will set them up for success.
Pickup at the end of the day:
  • Our New Entrants and Kahikatea (Year 1&2) children will finish school at 2:45pm each day, and their teachers will walk them to the Sandwich Road entrance by the flagpole and hand them over to their caregivers. HOWEVER, if they have an older brother or sister, they will wait in their hub with a teacher, and they will be walked out to the Sandwich Road entrance at 3pm.
  • If children are going to BOSCO, they will wait until 3pm in their hub and then they will be collected by the BOSCO staff.
  • All Year 3-8 children will finish at 3pm each day as usual.
Please look at the attached pdf with diagrams that show how this system will works.

Stationery


Please make sure that your child comes to school next Thursday with their stationery so that they are ready to start the new school year straight away. Please name all exercise books.
Stationery lists were sent home at the end of last year, and can be found here on the school website.

Chromebooks (BYOD)


All students from Years 5-8 are encouraged to have their own Chromebook to bring to school each day. Whilst this is not a requirement, with the increased likelihood that there may be periods of time during this year that individuals or groups may have to self-isolate, we are strongly recommending this if you are able to manage it.
You can find out more about our BYOD programme here. If you have specific questions about BYOD and your child, please email their teacher.

Sunhats & Drink Bottles

As always, please ensure that you send your child to school next week with a named red or black sunhat (bucket or wide-brimmed) and a named drink bottle.

 

Changes of Address, phone, email and family living situations

If you have changed your address, telephone number, email and/or family living situation (e.g. parents are now living in separate households) PLEASE email Jacky at office@beckenham.school.nz as soon as possible with this information.

Sick Children

As always, and especially at this time, please keep children at home if they are unwell.
Anyone with any cold or flu symptoms that could be Covid-19 is asked to get a test and isolate at home until a negative result is returned.
The most common early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose – if you or your child have these symptoms, get tested.
If children present at school with any of the above symptoms, we will be isolating them and calling you to come and collect them.

Individual Medication for children

If your child requires medication to be kept at school, and/or administered through the school day or because of a medical event, please bring the medication (clearly named) to the school office. You will also be required to complete a  Medicine Authority Form, which provides the school with information on how the medicine is to be administered, when and how much.

Individual Health Action Plan

If your child has an Individual Health Action Plan, e.g. Action Plan for Anaphylaxis, that has been updated, please bring that to the school office for a copy to be made.

EOTC (Education Outside the Classroom)

Whilst we are at this Red Traffic Light setting and heading into the start of the Omicron outbreak, we have made the decision to keep our students at school and not engage in any non-essential 'out-of-school' activities. We are being encouraged by the Ministry of Education to not engage in activities that mix students from different schools. We know that contact tracing will be easier if we haven't done this, and we are going to review this on a term-by-term basis. This means that inter-school sports activities will not be happening this term, nor will there be camps, trips or visits that increase risks of transmission.

At this stage, our Year 7/8 students will continue to bus to Christchurch South Intermediate each Tuesday morning for Technology. They do not mix with the students at South whilst they are there.

Itinerant Music Lessons and CSM Outreach Strings and Band

There will still be the opportunity for individual music lessons at school this year, however teaching space is going to be at a premium so numbers may be limited. We have itinerant teachers who offer lessons in piano, guitar and ukulele.
Christchurch School of Music (CSM) run an Outreach Strings programme (Violin, viola and cello), and a Band programme (flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, bass guitar, tuned percussion and percussion.)
To find out more about theses opportunities click here.

Assemblies and Activities within the school

Following the Ministry of Education guidelines, we will be organising the school so that each team operates independently of other teams. At break times, when children will all be outside at the same time, we will be asking them to play with other children in their team, rather than mixing across teams.
During class time, we will not be engaging in activities that require children to mix across teams. This means that we will not be having whole school assemblies until further notice. 

BOSCO

BOSCO will continue to run as long as they are able to manage staffing at a safe level. All of their staff are wearing masks when working with the children. BOSCO will try to organise the children into separate groups at BOSCO - NE - Year 4 and Year 5-8. Again, this is to minimise the risk of infection crossing between groups, to support contact tracing.
If you have booked your child into BOSCO for Learning Conference days and now need to change that booking, please contact Juanita as soon as possible by emailing: office@bosco.org.nz

Click here to view 2022 term dates

We are all excited to be back and getting ready to start the new school year! Our teachers are looking forward to seeing you at the online learning conferences next week, and to seeing all of the children back at school on Thursday!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki