Category Archives: Weekly Newsletters

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Thursday 12 November 2020

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

It's been a short week this week so this newsletter is mostly to keep you up to date with upcoming events!

The weather for the long weekend is looking amazing... keep the hats and sunblock on and I hope you all get some time to relax and slow down just a little, before the Christmas rush is completely upon us!

Sadly, no Kapa Haka concert this year

Due to the limitations of COVID lockdowns and restrictions on assemblies, our new Kapa Haka tutor, Whaea Cath has had quite a challenging time getting regular sessions with all of our groups this year.  and in the latter few weeks we made the call to focus her time on preparations with Te Whānau Mahi Tahi for the recent Cultural Festival performance. On top of that, there have been extra events this term for most team, due to postponements from lockdowns. For that reason, we have made the decision not to try and hold a kapa haka concert this year. We do expect to return to holding some sort of end of year celebration of Kapa Haka next year.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the Team

Important Dates

Upcoming Events - lots and lots!

Tue 17 Nov: Homegroup photos for Sari and Sophie's groups. 
Wed 18 Nov: Rāpaki Marae visit Koru Team
Wed 18 Nov: 7-8pm BYOD Information Evening, Kōwhai Hub, Y4-7 whānau
Wed 19 Nov: Board of Trustees Meeting, 5:30 - 7:30pm
Fri 20 Nov: Celebration Assembly 12:10pm - All Welcome
Wed 25 Nov: Canterbury Schools Triathlon
Wed 25 - Fri 27 Nov: Pohutukawa Camp at Living Springs 
Wed 25 Nov: PTA meeting - Green Room, 7:30pm
Sat 29 Nov: PTA Top Team Event - Beckenham Park 
Mon 30 Nov & Tue 1 Dec: Kōwhai Rapaki Marae visit                                                            
Wed 2 Dec: Canterbury Primary School's athletics, Nga Puna Wai Park
Thu 3 Dec - Board of Trustees Meeting, 5:30 - 7:30pm
Fri 4 Dec: Year 3/4 Noho Kura (sleepover at school!)
Wed 9 Dec: Junior Athletic Sports from 1:30pm (NE - Year 4)
Thu 10 Dec: Kahikatea Pool and Picnic day at Waltham Pool
Fri 11 Dec: Final Celebration Assembly 09:15am
Fri 11 Dec: Y7/8 trip to Corsair Bay 11-3pm
Mon14 Dec: Y7/8 Walk to Victoria Park
Tue 15 Dec: Year 8 Leavers Graduation 11am - Invited whānau only
Wed 16 Dec: - 12:30pm - School finishes for the year.
BYOD Information Evening for Year 4-7 whānau
Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto has an optional Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme for students in Years 5-8. This programme is very popular and has been in operation since 2014. If you want to find out more about our BYOD programme including the rationale, digital citizenship practices and device responsibilities, please visit our BYOD website and come along to our information evening on Wednesday, 18 November from 7-8 pm, in the Kōwhai Hub. If you plan to attend this meeting, please RSVP here.
 
The evening is optional and is aimed particularly at parents of current Year 4-7 students who are considering taking up BYOD next year but have not yet made the decision. The information evening will give you a chance to hear about our BYOD programme and ask questions about how it works. 

We generally recommend that families who want to participate in the BYOD programme purchase a Chromebook for their child to bring school. We are currently changing our BYOD provider and will send out a Chromebook offer, with prices, closer to the end of the year.

With the introduction of the new Digital Technologies strand of the Technology Curriculum this year, ensuring that every child has access to a device becomes more important than ever before.




Timepieces wanted!

If you have any timepieces that you could donate to school eg clocks, watches, pocket watches, digital or analog, working or not, we would love to have them at school for a special interest area in one of our rooms.  Please bring them to the office.
Many thanks in anticipation.



Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:30am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is 88t39. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Sports News

Athletics Day

The weather didn’t make it easy for us this year. And we got there in the end! Our athletics events for Years 5 to 8 took place over three days as weather permitted. We were so impressed by the way the children adapted to the changes as they were made. We get there together! 

Something else that impressed us during the week was the way that the children supported and encouraged each other. On Tuesday loud eruptions of cheering could be heard from the hall as the children celebrated every person’s high jump effort. Many times over the three days, we saw children sharing advice and words of encouragement. During Thursday’s mid-distance, friends ran alongside some of the runners with words and sometimes even songs of encouragement. 

Congratulations to our Athletics Champions for 2020
These champions are based on a scoring system that takes into account placings across all the events.
Year 5 Champions: Jayde Inglis and Archie Arnott
Year 6 Champions: Billy Murfin, Caitlyn McIntosh and Petra Cooper
Year 7 Champions: Zoe Clarke and Jonty Mitchell
Year 8 Champions: Thomas Lyall and Grace Monk

Zone Athletics

We had a fantastic day at Hansen’s Park on Monday where just over 60 tamariki represented our kura at Zone Athletics. As usual, the children did us all proud, putting our school values at the fore as they competed in track and field events. I noticed many of our children helping out at events that their friends were competing in, which was great to see. Tino pai! 

Congratulations to all our competitors.

The following children have qualified to represent our zone and kura at Canterbury Athletics at Ngā Puna Wai on Wednesday the 2nd of December.

Ava Howard - 1st long jump
Billy Murfin- 1st 60 m and 2nd long jump
Caitlin McIntosh - 2nd 60 m
Grace Monk - 1st high jump
Jonty Mitchell - 1st long jump and 1st 60 m
JJ Mathias - 2nd 60 m
Lucky Lasiyal - 2nd 1200 m
Zoe Clarke - 2nd high jump

Canterbury Swimming

Congratulations to Abby, Fergus, Emma, Cooper, Zoe and Thomas who competed in Canterbury Swimming Championships. This event was a postponement date from Term 1. 

Swimming at Canterbury level is a huge achievement and the children all did amazingly well against very tough competition. 

Special mention goes to Thomas Lyall who placed 3rd in the 50 m Backstroke. 

Mountain Biking

Congratulations to Morgan Lee who has been making a name for himself in Gravity Canterbury’s downhill events. Morgan placed third in his first competitive outing at the Novice Downhill and then returned a couple of weeks later to take third again in the first race of the Summer Series in the under 13 category. Wananae!

Thank you to 'The Perfect Line' for the photo. 


Sports Uniforms need to be returned, please.

If your child does not have another upcoming sports event, please return their washed uniform to the office foyer. Thank you.

Community Notices

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

Studio One Performing Arts

Studio One Performing Arts, your local dance school, is currently giving Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary 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




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Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter 9th November 2020

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award for 2020

Sir Peter Blake believed in the incredible potential of young people to achieve great things.

The BLAKE Young Leader Awards aim to recognise our young New Zealanders who show commitment to leading positive change in their community that leads to a sustainable future for Aotearoa.
Each year, one senior student from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto is nominated to receive this prestigious award. At our Celebration Assembly today, we welcomed Hinewai and Hiria from the Westpac Bank, to present this award to Ruby McNiven. Congratulations, Ruby. This is a wonderful acknowledgement of your quietly confident and reliable leadership that has grown and developed throughout your time in the school.

Hinewai (Wespac),, Ruby, Heria (Westpac) and Sandy


SwimSafe Programme 

Our Kahikatea and Kōwhai students have been travelling by bus to Pioneer Pool most days (8 sessions) over the past two weeks, to participate in quite a different type of aquatic programme to anything we have done before. In the past, our aquatic programmes have tried to focus on developing swimming skills. After the swimming programme last year, we consulted with whānau and staff, and the general agreement was that this focus was no longer meeting the needs of our children. We are required, under the New Zealand curriculum, to provide aquatic education for children, so we spent the first half of this year working with staff from the council to make sure that what we did this year would provide better outcomes for all of our children. This year, all of our Kahkiatea and Kōwhai students (Y1-4) participated in an 8 session SwimSafe programme.
The focus of this programme was all about water safety and staying alive in the water.

As you can see from the photos below, all children were able to participate fully, regardless of their swimming ability. 

Being SwimSafe @ Pioneer Pool!





The organisation for this programme was significant, and wouldn't have been possible without the generous help of many parents and caregivers who supported at the pool, and from the extra work put in by the staff, in particular the team leaders, Laura Williamson and Amber Donovan.
Below is an email received yesterday from one of the parents who were helping supervise at the pool... 

"I just wanted to say a huge thanks for the past two weeks of swimming. It is obviously quite a huge undertaking to get it all organised and a lot of planning clearly took place to get all the kids there.
I thought you must be all quite exhausted after the two weeks!
It was a really fun and useful programme and watching from the side of the pool was useful for me to revise some key things about water safety.
Other parents I talked to also felt the teachers had done an amazing effort getting the nearly 200 kids to the pool each day, and that it was a really valuable opportunity for them."

Te Whānau Mahi Tahi at the Christchurch Schools' Cultural Festival

Last week saw our senior kapa haka group, Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, perform at the very final Christchurch Schools Cultural Festival. The Festival has been wound up, after the organising committee had been unable, for the past 7 years, to get any new members onto the committee.

We were immensly proud of our tamariki. Huge thanks to our (new this year) kapa haka tutor - Whaea Cath Milio for her commitment to getting our children to the festival and writing a special waiata for them to sing (to the tune of 'Peace Train'). Thanks also to Hannah Elliott for her support of Te Whānau throughout the year.
You can watch their performance on the YouTube clip below:


Staffing Update

It is that time of the year, when staff changes through schools across the country are announced in preparation for the new school year. As schools appoint teachers, new vacancies are created and a domino effect sometimes happens! 
Therefore, we have reluctantly accepted the resignation of Hannah Elliott, who has won a new position at Lemonwood Grove School in Rolleston. This is a great move for Hannah, who lives in the Selwyn district so will now be living much closer to her workplace. We acknowledge and thank Hannah for the contribution that she has made to our school, and in particular to the Kauri Team, over the past three years.

Hannah Elliott

We have been very busy this past week with interviewing for new teachers for 2021, and should be able to have those appointments in the newsletter next week.

We have also been pleased to welcome Rachel Higginson to our staff this week. Rachel has taken over the accounts and payroll position that Sandra Rauch has been in for the past 19months. Rachel was in this last week for handover from Sandra, who finished today. Rachel officially starts on Monday. For any queries regarding accounts or donations, you can contact her on the same email address: accounts@beckenham.school.nz

Rachel Higginson

New vacancy in the Office

We will shortly be advertising a third, administration position for the school. This new position will be a combination of support for Jacky in the office, and a PA to the leadership team and Board. The person specifications will include needing a high level of general organisation, familiarity and confidence with technology, and minute-taking experience. The role will be between 20-25 hours a week, mostly within school hours, and term-time only. We will post the vacancy on the school website by Monday 9 November and will advertise it through the school and neighbourhood Facebook pages.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 9th Nov: Zone Athletics, Hansen Park. 9am - 3pm
Thu 12 Nov: Celebration Assembly, 12:10pm
Fri 13th Nov: Canterbury Anniversary Day - school closed.                                                            Wed 18 Nov: Rāpaki Marae visit Koru, Year 0 and 1.                                                                    Wed 25th Nov: Pohutukawa Camp at Living Springs                                                                        Mon 30th Nov & Tue 1st Dec: Kōwhai Rapaki Marae visit                                                              Wed 2nd Dec: Canterbury Primary School's athletics, Nga Puna Wai Park           

Term Dates

Click here to view 2020 & 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Holly Rogers - Year 8

Holly, you have certainly come out of your shell this year! You demonstrated "We Get There Together" by performing beautifully at the Cultural Festival and helping the group shine. You are kind, caring and lend a helping hand when needed. You have shown an increase in confidence which has enabled you to share your ideas more during your learning. You listen attentively and can always be relied on to make positive choices throughout the school day. 

School Notices

Kauri Theatre Sports

The Kauri Hub Theatre Sports team aka ‘Mission Improvable’ competed last Sunday 1st November at Rangi Ruru Ruru Girls School. There were 4 teams in the heat and even though they didn’t place for the finals, they did an awesome job entertaining the audience with their clever and humorous improv skills.  The team has worked hard all year with weekly practices and workshops at the Court Theatre in town. Well done team! 

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:30am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is 88t39. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

PTA News

Art Auction

After discussions last week, the PTA has decided to bring the SALE of the CLASSROOM ART from the NON EVENT FAIR forward.
The Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Art Auction will be starting soon. It started on November 06, 2020 at 09:00 AM  and will end on November 19, 2020 at 09:00PM. 
You can come and view the art in the school reception area from 2.45pm till 3.30pm on 11th November.
Here's your auction link to start bidding on your child's classes art work:

Top Team and Community Picnic

Just over 3 weeks to go for Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto TOP TEAM and community picnic. We have had an odd Year so far so let's end it with a fun afternoon with the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Whanau. 
Top Team competition from 2 till 3.30, come along and support the teams.
For those not participating we will have fair games, a bouncy castle, sausage sizzle, cake stall, coffee cart and ice creams!
 
Make sure you book your team in soon as we have limited spots, click on the link and sign up ASAP
 
Cost is $10 per team, this has been kindly subsidised by Smyth & Co Barristers and Solicitors 
  • The ideal team size is 6, but you can have more or less  
  • Teams must include at least 1 adult with a maximum of 2 adults
  • It is recommended that participants are Year 4 or above (but if you have someone younger who wants to have a go then that's fine, just be aware they may not be able to complete every station) 
  • Teams need to arrive at 1PM for registration / warm up / team briefing
To run a successful event we will need helpers, please complete the link below if you can help for a short period of time or for the whole event.
If you are able to help in any way, run a stall, help out on a top team station, make a cake or slice, or if you have a musical talent please complete the link below. Top Team helpers
The more people that can help the more time everyone has to enjoy the event.

Board of Trustees - Election Update

Nominations for the three Parent Trustee Vacancies closed on Sunday 1st November at midday. Only two nominations were received meaning no election was required and those nominees have been declared duly elected by our Returning Officer.
Our thanks, and congratulations go to Suran Dickson and Richard Scott (bios below) for their willingness to contribute to the governance of our school through this process. The Board will now meet to determine a process for dealing with the vacancy that will remain on the board, through the third position not being filled through the election.

Suran Dickson

I am interested in serving on the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Board of Trustees. Currently I am the Director of Flipside Consulting, a Diversity and Inclusion consultancy which works with leaders and organisations to ensure their culture is one which enables happy, innovative staff who bring their whole selves to work. Recent clients include the Crusaders, Christ’s College, Meridian, Orion, Connetics, Hohepa Homes and the Police. The work is a great privilege as we are able to challenge some of the innate structural and personal biases which prevent Māori and Pasifika having equitable opportunities in life, as well as overcoming the social barriers which can hold restrict both young men and women from achieving happiness and success. 
Having trained as a teacher and taught at Lincoln High School, I then moved to the UK in 2002 and taught there for a number of years across secondary, primary and special educational needs schools. I was deeply moved by a number of suicides of young people and left my teaching job to set up the anti-bullying charity, Diversity Role Models (DRM), which became a national leader in tackling bullying by encouraging empathy and critical thinking in young people. As CEO of this organisation I was heavily involved in building corporate relationships, fundraising, scaling the charity up at rapid pace and providing thought leadership around inclusion and diversity issues to the Department of Education, media, businesses and wider political arenas. After leading DRM for 6 years, I had my son, Sonny, and moved back to New Zealand in 2016 to absorb cleaner air, more space and to give him a taste of the Kiwi childhood I was lucky enough to have. Sonny has now happily joined Koru class and we are loving being part of the Beckenham community. 
I also sit on the South Canterbury District Health Board to offer an inclusion and equity lens to the health landscape; a less than dull role in the era of Covid. My spare time (surely a paradox as a working parent!) is spent training for half-ironman, marathons and anything else time-consuming to escape doing the housework.

Richard Scott

My name is Richard Scott and I am standing for the Beckenham Te Kura O Pūroto School Board. I am a father of three with two children currently at Beckenham in years 1 and 3. My youngest will start at Beckenham mid-2021.  Along with my wife, Christy, we have lived locally for five years, and prior to that not far away in Hillsborough, Christchurch.  I am a keen runner, skier and mountain biker. Professionally I am a Principal Mechanical Engineer employed part-time by AECOM NZ Ltd.  In this role, I provide design, analysis, technical leadership, project management and construction contract management in the power and utility industries mainly across New Zealand and Australia. I have not been nominated or held a board position previously, however, I consider myself to have useful skills to offer the board in order to further develop strong values and leadership.  I am particularly interested in academic performance, cultural activities and sporting opportunities.



Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto newsletter, Friday 30 October, 2020

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We urgently need three new Parent Trustees for our Board of Trustees... 

You should all have received, via email today, the information about how to nominate yourself or someone else for the position of Parent Trustee on the Board.

Nominations close this Sunday, 1st November at noon.

Our Board of Trustees are critical for the successful governance of our school and we have a very strong history of having boards that are effective and very engaged in monitoring and supporting the strategic direction of the school. 

There are no particular set of skills required for the Board - other than being a caregiver who cares about the success of all of the children in our school. 

Please do consider if this is something you could do to contribute to the success of your child's school - for three years.

COVID-19 Tracing update

Whilst we have low numbers of active COVID-19 across New Zealand, we have been reminded by the Ministry of Education of the importance of maintaining high contact tracing in the event that a confirmed case of COVID-19 should be linked to our school. Please ALWAYS sign in at the office when you come on site (other than to drop-off or collect children at the end of the day). Please do not go into hubs unless it is absolutely necessary. You can ALSO use our contact tracing app QR code to keep your own tracing diary.



Athletics Update

Due to the inclement weather this morning, the decision was made to postpone the Athletic Sports for Years 5-8 until Tuesday next week, weather permitting

The weather forecast is currently not that flash for Tuesday, so if we can't do this on Tuesday, the Athletic Sports as an event will be cancelled, and teachers will do their best to run events over the following three days, as the weather permits, so that we can identify students to go through to the Zone Athletics on Monday 9th November.

As the Year 1-4 students will be swimming every day next week, we have decided that they, and the New Entrants, will have their own Junior Athletic Sports on a new date, which we will advise next week.

More Maths learning... in Years 5/6

The Põhutakawa learners found themselves working in groups today to solve 12 problems that had been scattered across the hub. Grit and tenacity to get there together was order of the day with some groups spending 20 minutes or more determined to seek a solution. Next week our learners will discuss and defend their solutions and strategies as they delve into mathematical reasoning.



Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 2 Nov: Year 7/8 Technology (bus leaves at 8:30am) Note change of date for this week!
Tue 3 Nov: Year 5-8 Athletic Sports
Mon 9th Nov: Zone Athletics, Hansen Park. 9am - 3pm
Thu 12 Nov: Celebration Assembly (our first for this term!)
Fri 13th Nov: Canterbury Anniversary Day - school closed.                                                              Wed 18 Nov: Rāpaki Marae visit Koru, Year 0 and 1.                                                                      Wed 25th Nov: Pohutukawa Camp at Living Springs
 

Term Dates

Click here to view 2020 and 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Selwyn-Jack Bayliss - Year 6

Selwyn-Jack what a year you are having!  You are demonstrating 'We Love Challenge' each day, by the way you focus beautifully on your learning and put in your very best effort.  You are acting on feedback from your teachers to improve your work, demonstrating responsibility for, and pride in, your achievements!  Keep up the brilliant effort Selwyn-Jack, you are a superstar!

School Notices

Mana Ake "Drop-Ins" are continuing...

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:30am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is 88t39. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

BOT Update

BOT Mid-Term Elections 2020

Nominations for Mid Term positions for our Board of Trustees are closing very soon. You will have received an email with nomination details and how you nominate. Please note nominations close on Sunday 1st November. We look forward to your interest.

Wayne Jamieson
Returning Officer

Community Notices

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




Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter 2020-10-23 14:43:00

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Staffing Update

Our congratulations go out to Jules May who has won a leadership position (Junior Team Leader) at Te Kōmanawa Rowley School, starting at the beginning of next year. Whilst we will miss Jules' energy and commitment to our tamariki, we certainly wish her well in her new position and celebrate that, once again, the success of our staff in winning new positions of leadership and furthering their careers.



The Year 5/6 Team Leader position which will be vacated by Anne Batchelor at the end of the year has been won by Steve Cooke. We are very excited to be welcoming Steve into our Leadership Team for 2021. 




Both of the above staffing changes result in us needing two more permanent teachers for our staff for 2021. We have these positions advertised and will let you know as soon as we have confirmed them. 

Cycle Safety Pōhutukawa

Our Year 6 students have been very busy this week (with one more group to participate next week), with the Christchurch City Council Cycle Safety programme. Many children, who already considered themselves to be road confident cyclists, have been very surprised about the number of important road rules that they didn't know about, and have been learning over this two day programme. 
As caregivers, please remember that, whilst this will have improved their confidence, nothing beats being out on bikes with your child and demonstrating good cycle safety with them.

Kōwhai Museum Visit

Our Kōwhai Team have had trips to the Canterbury Museum this week to explore and develop their understanding of both The Moon, and Māori traditional tools and living. When learning about the Moon, as part of the Science curriculum, they 
Part of their learning in the Te Ao Māori area was to learn about the legend of "Kupe and Te Wheke". You can click on the link and read this story for yourself - and talk with your children about it.
Thank you to the staff, and whānau, who made this trip possible with their support.


Pōhutukawa Marae visit

This week all tamariki and kaiako in the Pōhutukawa team experienced a wonderful day at Rāpaki Marae, over two days of visits. We all enjoyed taking part in a powhiri ceremony, sharing our pepeha and learning about the local history and tikanga, as well as exploring the surrounding environment. 
Noho ora mai

Outside the Rapaki marae

Matua Maui


Year 7/8 Camp Dunedin

This week our Year 7/8 team have been in Dunedin on camp. They have been having an amazing time with so many varied and challenging experiences. These include Moeraki boulders, Oamaru SteamPunk Playground, Baldwin Street climb, 'Hair-raiser' tour of Dunedin by night, campfire, Albatross colony visit, sports and learning exchange with Carisbrook School, Otago Early Settlers Museum, Otago Museum Butterfly Room, and a day of physical challenges at the Waihola Campground where they have been staying!
The bus is due back to school around 5:30pm tonight - we will email and put a message on FB when we have a more detailed ETA.
A huge thank you to the staff and whānau who have supported this camp, through fundraising, baking and attending, to make it possible.


We Get There Together

During the holidays, one of our wonderful New Entrant students and his dad spent half a day sweeping and tidying the court area outside Kōmanawa, all ready for his friends to enjoy when they returned at the start of Term 4. 
Thank-you Max and Gerard!

Have a wonderful weekend
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 26 Oct: LABOUR DAY School Closed
Tue 27, Wed 28, Thu 29 Oct: Kahikatea & Kōwhai SwimSafe programme - Pioneer Pool
Wed 28 Oct: 6:45pm Christchurch Arena, Christchurch Schools Cultural Festival - Te Whānau Mahi Tahi performing
Thu 29 Oct: BOT meeting POSTPONED
Fri 30 Oct: Whole School Athletics - Beckenham Park
Mon 2 Nov: Year 7/8 Technology (bus leaves at 8:30am) Note change of date for this week!
Mon 9th Nov: Zone Athletics, Hansen Park. 9am - 3pm
Thu 12 Nov: Celebration Assembly (our first for this term!)
Fri 13th Nov: Canterbury Anniversary Day - school closed.

Term Dates

Click here to view 2020 and 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Holly McIntosh - Year 4

Holly, you are a delightful member of the Kowhai hub.  You are kind, thoughtful and always strive to ensure others are included.  You consistently follow the school values "We Care" and "We Get There Together" by always being willing to take on extra responsibilities.   

School Notices

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:30am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is 88t39. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office (337 1404) and she will make a booking for you.

Head Lice are around... again!

We are noticing increasing numbers of children with head lice again. Anyone can get head lice, and it is important that they are treated before children return to school. You can find out more about head lice and their treatment here.
Children who have long hair should have it tied up. This is especially important for the prevention of the spread of head lice, and of course, a requirement for those children who are swimming next week.
Tight plaits, with some hairspray for more barrier, can sometimes help to raise the protection against headlice, as can a drop of tea tree oil on the hands and smoothed over hair.

Congratulations to...

Keanna Hakeagaiki who competed in the primary schools' competition for gymnastics. After some good routines in vault, uneven bars, floor and beam she ended up coming 4th overall. Well done Keanna!


BOT Mid-Term Elections 2020

Nominations for Mid Term positions for our Board of Trustees are now open. You will have received an email with nomination details and how you nominate. Nomination forms are available from the school office if you haven’t received them. Please note nominations close on Sunday 1st November. We look forward to your interest.

Wayne Jamieson

Returning Officer


Community Notices

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


Tell us what you want for 2050 - The Greater Christchurch Partnership

We want to hear from everyone that has an interest in Greater Christchurch as we develop this exciting plan for our sub-region’s future. Greater Christchurch 2050 will describe the kind of place we want for our future generations, and the actions we need to take over the next 30 years to make it happen. 

It should take around 5 minutes to give us your feedback. You can give feedback until 8 November 2020. To find out more about the greater Christchurch Partnership and the plan visit greaterchristchurch.org.nz/greater-christchurch-2050



Hell Pizza Reading challenge

The HELL Reading Challenge is a well-established programme, now in its seventh year, which has been hugely successful in getting kids reading and enjoying the pleasures of stories — with the bonus of free pizza rewards.
We are very excited to be continuing our partnership with HELL Pizza. Their enthusiasm for children’s reading and generous ongoing commitment is awesome.
Teachers, librarians and parents have been telling us how the HELL Reading Challenge has hooked so many reluctant readers into books. In 2020 we want even more young readers to discover the thrill of a great book.
The HELL Reading Challenge is free, and it is so easy! Children receive a stamp on their pizza wheel for each book they read. Once they have read seven books, children can exchange their completed pizza wheel for a free 333 kids’ pizza at HELL.
To find out more use the following link:

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 16th October, 2020

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome to our final term for 2021. Term 4 is always a busy term, with spring providing better weather for outdoor activities, camps that were planned, athletics, end of year activities. This year, we also have some additional 'COVID-catch-up' activities, that had previously been postponed such as the Year 7/8 camp next week, and the Cultural Festival in Week 3. 

Learning in the Hubs - Mathematics 



Our staff believe that games that stimulate our learners to take a risk and invite them to compare their ideas are a great way to capture and connect their minds to mathematics. This photo shows Kōwhai learners contributing their ideas to a new game our Teaching Assistants learnt on our recent Staff only Day.

Big Shake Out

Yesterday, we participated, along with many other schools and workplaces around the country, in the 'Big Shakeout' - demonstrating and practising what we would do in the event of a major earthquake during the school day. We all practised 'making a turtle' after which the whole school evacuated out to our assembly point on Beckenham Park. The children should be able to talk to you about this, and it would be a good opportunity to talk about the plan that you have at home for the family in the event of an earthquake when at home.

Pop-Up Penguin

Harcouts and 'Wild in Art' are presenting a second 'pop-up-sculpture trail' around Christchurch this year - this time in the shape of penguins. Our school was invited to decorate a penguin, which we were very excited to have the opportunity to do. Our students chose the theme: ‘We need to take action in order to keep the beautiful creatures on our planet’ and then weeks of work went into gathering ideas from students around the school and incorporating them into a cohesive design that would reflect this theme. 
Year 7/8 students worked with Nicky and local artist and friend of our school, Ira Mitchell, to then get that design onto a fibre-glass bird!
We are incredibly proud of the result!


Yesterday our penguin was picked up from school and taken to be reunited with all the other penguins, where they will have their photos taken, and then will be placed on a trail around Christchurch. We will let you know more about that when we have the information. 
After the trail has been going for 10 weeks, our penguin will be returned to us, and we can display it somewhere appropriate within our school.

Considering home groups for 2021

Very shortly we will be working on building our home learning groups for 2021. Our staff spend a lot of time carefully considering the needs of each child, and take into account a range of emotional, social, behavioural and academic considerations. We do NOT ask parents to choose a home room teacher that they would like for their child. We do know, however, that you hold information about your child's wellbeing at school that may be relevant when we are putting these groups together. Therefore, if you have any considerations about your child for us to add to our home group placement discussions for 2021 - please email these to Sandy by Friday 30th October (the end of Week 3 of this term).

Demonstrating how we are inclusive

At Beckenham we are constantly considering the ways that we can ensure we are being inclusive of all people, both whānau and tamariki, in our daily interactions both at school and with our wider community.
When we communicate with people, using both their name and pronouns correctly is an important way of demonstrating that we respect and value them. We work hard to use children's names correctly, and urge you to please let us know if we are not pronouncing or spelling your child/family's names correctly. 
Using pronouns is also important. As our children move through the school, they get many opportunities to learn about ways that we can use language to be inclusive. You may have noticed that some of our staff and students have added their pronouns to their digital signatures. When cisgender people (those who identify with the sex/gender they were assigned at birth) do this, it normalises it for everyone and protects trans and gender diverse people when they include their pronouns. Having pronouns in an email signature also signals you as an LGBTQIA+ ally.

The State Services Commission has recently published a page on their website that explains this particularly well, if you would like to read and learn more about it.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings (pronouns she/her)
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 19 - Fri 23 Oct: Kauri Team Camp in Dunedin
Mon 19 Oct: Canterbury Duathlon - Ruapuna Speedway
Wed 21 & Thu 22 Oct: Pōhutukawa trips to Rāpaki Marae
Thu 22 & Fri 23 Oct: Kōwhai trips to Canterbury Museum
Mon 26 Oct: LABOUR DAY School Closed
Tue 27, Wed 28, Thu 29 Oct: Kahikatea & Kōwhai SwimSafe programme - Pioneer Pool
Wed 28 Oct: 6:45pm Christchurch Arena, Christchurch Schools Cultural Festival - Te Whānau Mahi Tahi performing
Thu 29 Oct: BOT meeting 5:30 - 7:45pm, Staffroom, All welcome
Fri 30 Oct: Whole School Athletics - Beckenham Park
Mon 9th Oct: Zone Athletics, Hansen Park. 9am - 3pm
 

Term Dates

Click here to view 2020 and 2021 term dates.
If you are someone who uses a digital calendar, you may find syncing the school calendar with your calendar a worthwhile thing to do. You can find the link for this on the school website. 

Citizen of the Week

Sachit Rana - Year 7

Sachit, you are an exceptionally reliable member of the Kauri whānau. When given a job, you complete it without any reminders. You are kind and caring to all in our hub and we enjoy your wonderful sense of humour! Accha kam! 

School Notices

Our senior kapa haka group, Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, will be performing at the Christchurch Schools Cultural Festival at the Christchurch Arena on Wednesday, 28th October at 6:45pm.
Tickets are now available through Ticketek. (This is the only way to get tickets - schools are not selling tickets directly).

Term 4 - HATS

As is our usual practice, hats are compulsory in Term 4 for all outdoor play and exercise.  Please take a moment to ensure your child has a suitable red or black hat for use at school.  Caps do not provide adequate sun protection and are not part of the school uniform. Please name your child's hat clearly.
We no longer sell hats at the school office. Bucket style hats or wide brimmed hats are available from our uniform supplier, Mainland Uniforms at 189 Peterborough Street.  
Their website is: Mainland uniforms

New Finance Officer needed

We have regretfully accepted the resignation this week of Sandra Rauch, our Finance Officer. We are in the process of putting together an application package for this position which will likely be a part-time (around 25 hours, term time only) position, suitable for someone with bookkeeping and payroll experience. When the advertisement is completed we will circulate it, so keep your eye out for this if you think it might be the right job for someone you know who has the appropriate skills and is looking for this kind of role.

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:10am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is 88t39. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Lunchonline

Lunches can be ordered through the Lunchonline website on Wednesdays and Fridays
Refer a Friend Competition- $500 prize!!
Don't forget our refer a friend competition runs until 1st December.
Refer a new customer to Lunchonline, once the new member makes an order you go in the draw to win the $500 prize - just in time for Xmas !

Congratulations to...

 Zoë Clarke and Max Graham for participating in the South Speech Zone Competition on Monday evening. They did an amazing job presenting their wonderfully written speeches. Max Graham placed 2nd in the Year 8 section! Well done to the two of you!

PTA News

Calendar Art Orders Reopened 

Due to a number of you missing out on placing your orders we have arranged for the Calendar Art Orders to be reopened from 19 October, at 9am – 23 October at 11.59pm.
This will be your last chance to get your orders in this year.

PTA Bulletin Fourth Term

Please take a moment to read the latest news from the PTA.

BOT Elections

By now, all caregivers should have received an email containing information about the nomination process and nomination forms for the upcoming Board of Trustee Elections. You can also complete a nomination form online.


Nominations close on Sunday, 1st November at 12pm
If you have any questions about what might be involved in being a Trustee, do make contact with one of our current Trustees, or feel welcome to email our current Chair, Ester Vallero valleroester@gmail.com 

Community Notices

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

Election Day: Saturday 17 October

Voting will be open at the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Hall - 9am - 7pm




Loop the Loop

Monday 26th October start 4-6pm
A bicycle treasure hunt and neighbourhood exploration, followed by a community party.
Start at the Beckenham Ponds and end at the corner of Malcolm and Birdwood Avenues.
There will be a BBQ, outdoor games and a prize draw! 

Studio One Performing Arts

Studio One Performing Arts, your local dance school, is currently giving Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary 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