Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

A slightly belated newsletter for last Friday...

Please remember that school will finish at 12:30pm on THURSDAY 19th December

You are invited to our "Thank you..."

There are many people within our school community who go the extra mile to help others and make our school the caring community that it is.  Many thanks to all those who recently made meals and baking for a school family who needed a bit of extra support, your kindness was truly appreciated. Thank you to the whānau who accompanied our children on the Farm trips this week! Thank you to the people who help on with trips, being on the PTA, serving on the Board, baking days, book sorting, junior playground duty, and many, many more varied activities around our school, that keep the school running and support our tamariki and our staff.

As a small token of our appreciation as a staff, for the work that parents, grandmas, grandads, aunties, uncles, neighbours, friends and others in our community do to support us, we will be hosting  Croissant and coffee on Tuesday December 10th in the staffroom from 8:30 - 9:15am.  We would love to see as many people as possible there.

Farewell for Sherrilee Herangi-Harrison - Wed 11 Dec 9:30am

We have sadly received the resignation of Sherrilee as our Kaiako Te Reo Maori. Sherrilee has been on our staff for 25 years, and has made a huge contribution to our school through her teaching of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and Kapa Haka. Sherrilee has been offered work in secondary schools which she is excited about taking up and we wish her all the very best for that.
We will be holding a farewell assembly next Wednesday morning, from 9:30am. We are inviting past students of Te Whānau Mahi Tahi to attend, along with our current whānau.
We would appreciate if parents of current students could bring along a small plate of food to contribute to the morning tea, as a way of contributing to the 'thank you'

Special visitors in town...

We were invited to send a group of eight senior writers to a writing workshop at Tūranga last week, where they learned from some professional writers and industry experts, and then had the opportunity to meet HRH The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. A very memorable day for those students!

Important Dates

Citizen of the Week

Lexi Penter - Year 7

Lexi, you have grown so much as a learner. You show initiative in all areas and you put forth great effort in reaching your learning expectations. You show the value "We Care" everyday by being such a kind and caring friend. You have developed confidence in yourself and it shows by how happy you are during class time. You love to learn new things, which is great to see. You are such an asset to the Kauri hub. Ka pai Lexi!

Alyssa Gilmour - Year 4

Alyssa, you are a star in our hub. You consistently demonstrate a positive and caring attitude and are a great friend to others. You are very responsible and are always willing to help out around the hub. You have excellent self-management skills and are a positive role model to others. Tino pai, Alyssa.

Henry Hood - Year 7

Henry, you are a larger than life character in our Kauri whānau, bringing enthusiasm and humour into all that you do, and you are so much more than this. Henry, you are an intelligent and perceptive young man. You intuitively step up and act to meet a need. You're inclusive and kind to those who need a friend, you are resilient and encouraging on the sports field, and you naturally step up to lead at appropriate moments. Thank you for all you do to make a positive difference to our team.

School Notices

Parking on Sandwich Road

Congratulations to...

Grace for winning the Queen's Essay Competition (Junior division). She was presented with her certificate last week at Tūranga by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.


To Malachy for completing his Paleontology Science Badge - following a passion and focussing on getting this finished to a high level.

Jack Kelly recently sat the London School of Music guitar exam and scored 92.5%, an outstanding result as it is rare to score above 90. Tino pai Jack!

Roxy Murfin recently competed in a Canterbury Under 13 Fencing Tournament. She earned a bronze medal for the individual competition and was the only female medalist. For the team event she led her team to Gold medals. Tu meke Roxy!

Beckenham Booty

Spots are filling up fast for the last Beckenham Booty of 2019.

Bookings are now open for Sunday 15th December 9-11am

Click on this link to secure your spot.

For those shoppers looking to lessen the stress at Xmas- why not grab one of these amazing Xmas Cakes from  Beckenham Booty 


One of our many talented vendors will be there selling these amazing cakes- be quick as they won't last!

And for those wanting to host a ‘Sustainable Christmas’ by purchasing second hand & taking advantage of some of the affordable sustainable products on offer. The PTA’s ‘We Care’ stock is very low but we do still have the following available for those family & friends who are hard to buy for at Christmas :

Assorted Beeswax Wraps- from $5- $20

String Vege Bags- $10

Jute Shopping Bags- $10

Recyclable Coffee Cups -$17

Flow Designed Beckenham Tea Towels- $10

Grid Designed Beckenham A2 Canvas- $30

Frozen Cheese Rolls- $8 per dozen or 4 dozen for $30.

Twilight Fair Sponsorship.

What are we fundraising for?

Funds raised will be used to update our school sports uniform collection for our children. Another major expense for the school is ensuring our digital technology is adequate for incoming curriculum changes set out by the MOE. We need to acquire equipment to enable our children to develop coding skills & utilise robotic tools.

What support are we seeking?

● Sponsorship of a major attraction on the day. (Rental fee costs approximately $300)

● Raffle Prizes

● Donation of services

● Silent Auction items

● Monetary Donations (to assist with set up costs, entertainment, food etc)

By donating upwards of $300, we will add your name to one of the major attractions where you can display your own signage. All of our sponsors’ names will be published on our PTA website, on our PTA Facebook page & at the Fair.

Can you help? email Belinda if you can help: julianandbelinda@gmail.com

BOT Update

ReplaceWithBOTinfo

Community Notices

Child car seat recycling in Christchurch

Recycling isn't limited to the paper, glass, tins and plastic you put in your recycling bin each week.

In the Christchurch parents and caregivers can recycle their damaged, expired or unwanted child car seats through the SeatSmart programme, thus preventing highly recyclable metal and plastic from going to landfill.

The cost to recycle a seat in Christchurch is $25 RRP as some of the dismantling of the seats is done by social enterprises, which provide employment for people who have a disability or are disadvantaged or marginalised.

Christchurch has two collection sites where one can take a seat - Baby on the Move Christchurch North and Baby on the Move Christchurch Central. For more information please visit www.seatsmart.co.nz 

Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration

Come along to the Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration located in the grounds of Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto on Thursday 12th December from 5.00-7.00pm

Free BBQ sausages, Christmas sing-a-longs & a spot of Xmas shopping- just TWO WEEKS away!!!

Still spots available for those wanting to book a market stall -No charge

 Book a Christmas Market Stall, click on this link NOW

Organised by Beckenham locals for the Beckenham community.

BBQ provided by Beckenham Neighbourhood Association.

PIANO & FLUTE LESSONS

Hi my name is Aimee. I am a piano and flute teacher with 14 years experience. I have a few spaces next year on Wednesday afternoons (for children) and Friday mornings (for adults). My studio is in Cashmere. Please contact me on 021 136 2865 or aimeeaiken@gmail.com

Principal's Patch

Kia ora e te whānau

A huge thank you to everyone who turned out to the Whānau Rōpū picnic and 'Ki o Rahi' event last Friday evening on Beckenham Park. It was a beautiful evening, and really great to see so many children and their whānau out to learn a new game together.

Education News this week...

This week the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins has announced Supporting all schools to succeed, the government’s response to the final report of the Tomorrow's Schools Taskforce. Both reports were released at the same time.
Whilst some of the original proposals of the first draft of the Tomorrow's Schools Taskforce report have been changed, there are definitely some positive changes signalled in the government's response. The three key features of the changes being proposed are stated as being:

• More responsive, accessible and integrated local support to schools and early learning services
• Stronger arrangements to underpin principal leadership of the schooling system
• A better balance between local and national responsibilities for school property and network
• provision.

This is still a very aspirational document and the real change and detail of what that will look like is still to be drafted, negotiated and legislated over the coming years.

Final Reports for the year will be out next Friday, 22 November.

This year we have pulled back the date that we publish the final student progress and achievement reports for the year, from the final day of the term to the end of Week 6. There are many reasons why we think this will be a better way of doing this, two big ones being:
a) you get the opportunity to talk to teachers about anything in the report you aren't sure about before the end of the school year, and
b) teachers are not trying to write reports in the final 4 weeks of the year, on top of all of the other end of year activities that are going on.

We have made some changes to the report format, based both on feedback from families and from the move away from National Standards over the past 18 months. We look forward to getting your feedback on the new format. You can expect your child to bring home their report next Friday, 22nd November. Some of our children need two copies of their reports for parents who live in different homes. If we are aware of this need, we will accommodate it. If you need a second report and don't get one, please do let Jacky in the office know, and we will rectify that and make a note for future reports.

Students will still bring home stationery lists,  and information about learning groups for 2020 and 2020 Learning Conference bookings, in the final week of this term

I hope that you all have an enjoyable and safe Anniversary Weekend

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the team

Important Dates

Learning more about our Diverse Learners

Positive Behaviour 4 Learning - PB4L

Mana Ake News

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 alternate 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 ku2j6. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Parent Seminar on Digital Safety - Tuesday 19 Nov 7 - 8:30pm, Staffroom

Mana Ake will be offering the following important Parent Seminar in November - please put this in your diaries now. The digital world is here to stay. Come along and find out how to keep your children safe in the digital world. Learn how the digital world can affect children's well-being and how to support them in this environment.

Writing Utensils Recycling Programme

Te Mana Raupō Kahui Ako Update

The Te Mana Raupō Kahui Ako is our local cluster of schools who work together for the improved achievement of our children. The schools in our Kahui Ako are Cashmere High, St Martins, Waltham, Thorrington, Ōpāwa, Beckenham, St Mark's School and Diamond Harbour, along with over 30 Early Childhood Education centres.

In the past two weeks, the maths teachers from Cashmere High, along with most of the teachers from the primary schools, got together at St Mark's School for an after school hui on Maths teaching. It was really worthwhile to connect with the other teachers and to begin conversations sharing the good practice we each have in our maths programmes and teaching. We expect this to be the first of many conversations like this, going forward.

Another change that has come about from our strengthening relationships within the Kahui Ako, is closer conversations with the staff at Cashmere High about transitions from our various primary schools into the high school environment. This has resulted in Cashmere High making some significant changes to the way that it gathers information from both teachers and whānau about incoming Year 9 students and we have been very impressed by these changes. The greater depth of knowledge and understanding of the diverse needs of our students that Cashmere High is getting should enable them to better support students with a positive transition from Year 8 through to Year 9.

Congratulations to...

During the school holidays Katy Agar took part in the Christchurch Gang Show. This was a fantastic, highly entertaining variety show put on by the Scouts and Guides of Christchurch. The show had singing, dancing and some very funny skits. There was 6 months of hard work put into rehearsals and 5 full-on performances which were held in the auditorium of Christs College. The cast gave it their all to entertain and Katy was delighted to see some of her friends in the enthusiastic audience. Katy was a little nervous at first with having a big solo but shone like the rainbow in the song she was performing. Well done, we are very proud of you!

PTA News

Beckenham Booty

Spots are filling up fast for the last two Beckenham Bootys of 2019.

Bookings are now open for Sunday 24th November & Sunday 15th December 9-11am

Click on this link Beckenham Booty to book for either or both of these events.

For the shoppers, we are offering the opportunity to host a ‘Sustainable Christmas’ by purchasing second hand & taking advantage of some of the affordable sustainable products on offer. The PTA’s ‘We Care’ stock is very low but we do still have the following available for those family & friends who are hard to buy for at Christmas :

Assorted Beeswax Wraps- from $5- $20

String Vege Bags- $10

Jute Shopping Bags- $10

Recyclable Coffee Cups -$17

Flow Designed Beckenham Tea Towels- $10

Grid Designed Beckenham A2 Canvas- $30

Frozen Cheese Rolls- $8 per dozen or 4 dozen for $30.

We would love to have buskers singing Christmas Carols at our next Beckenham Bootys- if this interests you, please email Email Rachel: rachelwiscombe@gmail.com

Twilight Fair Sponsorship

Our little helpers have been busy this week posting out the Twilight Fair Sponsorship letters. Cross fingers & toes they recoup lots of support from our amazing Beckenham community & beyond to make this the best Twilight Fair ever!



What are we fundraising for?

Funds raised will be used to update our school sports uniform collection for our children. Another major expense for the school is ensuring our digital technology is adequate for incoming curriculum changes set out by the MOE. We need to acquire equipment to enable our children to develop coding skills & utilise robotic tools.

What support are we seeking?

● Sponsorship of a major attraction on the day. (Rental fee costs approximately $300)

● Raffle Prizes

● Donation of services

● Silent Auction items

● Monetary Donations (to assist with set up costs, entertainment, food etc)

By donating upwards of $300, we will add your name to one of the major attractions where you can display your own signage. All of our sponsors’ names will be published on our PTA website, on our PTA Facebook page & at the Fair.

Can you help? email Belinda if you can help 


Mark this date: FRIDAY 20th MARCH 2020: 4:30pm-7:30pm for the PTA's Biennial Twilight Fair. Huge thanks to Gail Harris from Platform Design Ltd for her continued support, generosity & wonderful designs- we love our poster & hope you do too.

Community Notices

ReplaceWithCommunityNotices

Come along to the Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration located in the grounds of Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto on Thursday 12th December from 5.00-7.00pm

Free BBQ and/or bring a picnic.

Come and join the Choir, join in or just listen to some community carol singing.

Organised by Beckenham locals for the Beckenham community.

BBQ provided by Beckenham Neighbourhood Association.

Community Choir (aka anyone who wants to sing).

We will also have Christmas Markets-if you are interested in  booking a Christmas Market Stall, click on this link NOW No charge.

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

GRAB A CUPPA - THERE IS A LOT OF NEWS IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...

Gosh - November already! The year is flying by and, as you will see from the 'Upcoming Events' listed below, there is a LOT happening over the next seven weeks of the school year!
Please do take some time to add events to your diary, or to sync the Community Calendar with your personal digital calendar so you can keep up with what is happening.

Welcome to Sean Lake Ryan who is starting a five-week teacher training placement with Elizabeth Drummond in our Koru team on Monday.

Teams and staffing for 2020

We have been working hard over the past couple of months to try and confirm our full-time teaching staff for 2020.
We have reluctantly accepted the resignations of both Tracy Inwood, and Caitlyn Tinnelly from our permanent staff, effective from the end of 2019.
Tracy Inwood is planning to spend more time travelling to Auckland where her two adult children now live, with a view to eventually moving, with her husband Phil, to be nearer to whānau in the North Island some time over the next few years. Tracy has been part of our staff for over 7 years now, and has made many valuable contributions, particularly to our Year 7/8 team, and then to our Year 5/6 team as their team leader.
Caitlyn Tinnelly has been on maternity leave this year and has been fortunate to win a new permanent position at West Rolleston School, just minutes from where she lives. The Early Childhood Centre that her daughter Pene will attend, is adjacent to the West Rolleston School grounds, so this is a very positive move for her from the perspective of being a working mum. We are very grateful to Caitlyn for the energy and commitment she has given to Beckenham since she started here as a beginning teacher in 2015, and we wish her all the best in her new school.

We are excited to announce the appointment of an existing teacher to a permanent leadership position, two existing fixed-term teachers to permanent positions and the appointment of two new teachers to our staff:
Amber Donovan has been appointed to the permanent leadership position of Team Leader of the Kahikatea Team. Amber has been acting in this role since the beginning of 2018 when she willingly stepped up for what she initially thought would be just 6 months, and it grew into 2 years! Amber brings a wealth of experience to this role, both as a team leader in a previous school and as a member of the Beckenham staff for many years.
Jo Smith has been appointed to our newly created role of Assistant Principal, and Team Leader of our New Entrant/Year 1 team, Koru. Jo has worked in a variety of fixed-term capacities in our school for 4 years now, and we are very excited to have secured her leadership and teaching expertise on a permanent basis.
Jules May was appointed to a fixed-term position at the start of this year when she moved to Christchurch from Wellington. We are delighted Jules has accepted our offer of a permanent position. She brings much experience of teaching junior students, with a particular interest and strength in Māori and Pasifika education, and teaching ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages.
Anne Batchelor will be returning to her roots when she starts as our new Year 5/6 Team Leader in 2020 as she was originally a Beckenham student herself! Anne has been teaching at Alexandra School for the past few years and is very excited about returning to the Beckenham community.
Laura Williamson will be joining our permanent staff in the new year after teaching this term in Tauranga and, prior to that, a number of years teaching at an International School in Hong Kong. Laura is originally from Canterbury and is looking forward to returning home and joining us at Beckenham.

So..... with those appointments made, we can now look at our teaching teams for 2020. The caveat on this information is that we never know what is going to happen between now and the end of January! Whilst I would love to think this is completely set in concrete, we all have lives that change, and I am aware that our teachers' plans can and do change, and sometimes at short notice.

Koru
Jo Smith (Team leader)
Elizabeth Drummond

Kahikatea 
Amber Donovan (Team Leader)
Charlotte Verity
Jules May
Katie McFarlane

Kōwhai
Paulette Newton (Team Leader)
Nick Bruce
Rowena Barker
Laura Williamson

Pōhutukawa
Anne Batchelor (Team Leader)
Steve Cooke
Rae Marsh
Gayle McNaughton
Anna Reid

Kauri 
Nicky Dunlop (Team Leader)
Hannah Elliott
Jenny Diggle
Megan Culver

We will be looking at putting together the homegroups for our tamariki for 2020 over the next few weeks. If you have any considerations you want us to consider when putting your child in a homegroup (remembering that we do not take 'requests' for specific teachers!), please email me directly at principal@beckenham.school.nz.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings

Principal - Tumuaki

Citizen of the Week

Kacey Pedersen - Year 4

Kacey, you are a wonderful role model in the Kowhai Hub. You are an incredibly kind and caring friend to others. You are extremely helpful and always willing to give a helping hand. Your positive attitude to learning is evident in everything you do. Tino pai mahi!

Olivia Hurford - Year 4

Olivia, you are an absolutely stunning role model in Kōwhai hub. You demonstrate all our school values on a daily basis, especially "We Love Learning", by consistently giving your best to every task you undertake. You are a kind and considerate friend to everyone in our team. Tino pai Olivia.

School Notices

BYOD - Bring Your Own Device - How does this work at Beckenham???

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 alternate 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 ku2j6. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Parent Seminar on Digital Safety - Tuesday 19 Nov 7 - 8:30pm, Staffroom

Mana Ake will be offering the following important Parent Seminar in November - please put this in your diaries now. The digital world is here to stay. Come along and find out how to keep your children safe in the digital world. Learn how the digital world can affect children's well-being and how to support them in this environment.

Whānau Rōpū Hui this coming Friday, 8th November, 5 pm - 7:30 pm

Kia ora, e te whānau,

For our Whānau Rōpū Hui this term we are excited to be having a shared kai/ potluck picnic at school from 5:00pm to 7:30pm on Friday 8th November.  We are looking forward to getting together again to celebrate Te Ao Māori, share some kai and enjoy some games - including the exciting sport of Ki o Rahi. (Click on this link for a quick introduction to this fun and fast-paced game



Nau mai haere mai, welcome. These hui, get-togethers, are a great opportunity to get to know other tamariki, children and whānau, families in the school community. More information will be sent home next week, we hope to see you there. Hei konei rā!

Steve Cooke and Sampson Karst

Senior Jackets

Our school in the news...

There have been two articles on Stuff and in The Press in the past 10 days about the University of Canterbury research on "Juniors Settling Into School" by Dr KAthleen Liberty. Our school was one of the original five schools that participated in this 5-year study of the effects of post-traumatic-stress on our young children who were starting school. As a result of being part of the study, we have, over time, introduced a number of the recommended strategies that came out of the study, to support all of our children with wellbeing and emotional regulation. These include:

• flipping our lunchtimes from Eat-Play-Learn to Play-Eat-Learn, with instant benefit.
• ensuring that our new buildings and refurbishments were fitted out with neutral or calming colours (pale blues and greens) rather than 'pops' of bright colours (reds, oranges, bright blues) that interior designers often suggest for 'effect'  
• removing hanging items from learning spaces, that may catch a child's peripheral vision as they move and flutter and cause increase anxiety (this was particularly important after the earthquakes when we couldn't rely on our world to stay still the way we had previously expected it to)
• educating children about hydration - 'Drink to Think'
• educating children about the importance of sleep - in 2018 we ran a 'Be a Sleep Detective' programme with children from Year 3-8. We will continue to run this at Year 5/6 every alternate year going forward.

Lunchonline

Last Lunchonline orders on Friday 13th December 2019. Orders restart on Feb 10th 2020.

Congratulations to...

Congratulations to Thomas who placed third in the National Judo Championships in Rotorua last weekend. The points he earned during this competition place him as the second-highest-ranking judo player for under 14-year-olds in NZ.


Over the holidays, Winni and Boyd competed in the National Mountain Bike Championships in Dunedin. Over three days, they competed in enduro, cross country and downhill events. Rain on the Saturday increased the challenge of an already very technical course in the downhill section. Congratulations to Winni who placed 2nd in the under 14 grade. 

...our school Theatre Sports Team of Max, Ben, Meg, Archie, Dom and Maia, who competed today (Saturday 2 November) at the Christchurch Schools Theatre Sports Competition. They were amazing.  They came 1st in the blind round (where they were given a game pulled out of a hat) and were awarded 3rd place overall. Fantastic result, especially considering all the other teams were high schools. Their team name was "New and Improv'd"

'New and Improv'd' who won 3rd place at the Theatre Sports Competition today at the Court Theatre.

PTA News

Have you got your free Giant Atlantic Pumpkin Seed yet?

We are so excited that many of you have taken up the challenge to grow a Giant Atlantic Pumpkin for the Twilight Fair in March 2020

Now that you have your seed here are some tips for starting your seed off, it’s not quite as simple as just planting your seed in a pot...Click on the following link to get some great ideas:  Giant Pumpkins NZ . Their video is also very informative & helpful- we strongly encourage you to watch it.



 King Seeds also have some valuable tips.



And remember if your pumpkin doesn’t quite grow to plan there will be other categories to enter your pumpkin into, such as the Best Decorated Pumpkin....or even the Smallest!!

Please keep us updated with how your little pumpkin is growing, we love to see progress pics - send us your images via the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook Page

If you haven’t already grab your seed, don’t delay as stock is running out. Grab your seed, one free seed per family, from the Office before or after school.

Good luck and happy growing.

Beckenham Booty: Sunday 24th November, 9-11am

Everyone needs to be pro-active with recycling nowadays. Things that one person no longer needs are just what somebody else is looking for.
Pop on down to our next Beckenham Booty car boot sale, grab a coffee, be environmentally friendly & start shopping for a sustainable Christmas. Or better still book a space for $20 & declutter.
Beckenham Booty - Car boot Sale, located in the Beckenham Te Kura o Puroto staff Car Park at 71 Sandwich Rd - we'll be there, we would love to see you! 

Summer Flags art competition. 

Open to all ages, your students may be interested in participating. This competition is seeking designs for summer-themed street flags using a specially crafted colour palette. Six winning designs will be selected to display on 125 street flags around our central city from January to end of March 2020.
Winning entries will receive a voucher worth $150 to spend in the central city!
Competition entry criteria and the submission template can be downloaded on our webpage: https://ccc.govt.nz/culture-and-community/enliven-places-programme/how-the-council-is-enlivening-places/design-a-summer-flag/

SURFKIDS

Childrens Surfing  Programme.
Learn the skills of Surfing in a fun, safe environment. All equipment provided and professional instruction from Aaron Lock and team. For kids 8 - 14 years.
Sundays 10am to 12pm.
Dec / Jan Holidays : from 16th Dec, 10am -12pm
Cost $35 per day or $145 for five or $270 for ten lessons. Bookings essential.
Venue :Sumner.

Call Aaron on 0800 80 SURF (7873) or register online at surfcoach.co.nz

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome back to Term 4! There is no doubt that Term 4 always seems to fly by faster than any other term, and that there is always a lot happening in the school at this time of the year.

We had a fabulous turnout at our Welcome Assembly on Friday, with a record number of new whānau present for our termly welcome to new families and children.

On Wednesday this week we welcomed Year 7/8 students from Carisbrook School in Dunedin to compete with our students in our annual inter-school sports challenge. We were extremely fortnuate with the weather, and this year, we managed to win the trophy back! Congratulations to everyone who participated and showed such great sportsmanship and manaakitanga to our visitors.

Enrolling your four year old...

If you have a four-year-old who you are intending to enrol at Beckenham, we would really appreciate you getting your enrolment form in as soon as possible. You can download an enrolment form from the school website and email it in to Jacky in the office. This helps us with our planning for next year, and helps us with providing evidence to the Ministry of Education that we need more staffing than they have so far allocated to us for 2020.

House Activities in Term 4

In Term Four, on alternate Fridays, we have House Games instead of Waiata. These games provide an opportunity for children to mix with other children of different year levels and ages from across the school and provides leadership opportunities for our senior students.
Children can wear their 'House Shirts' every Friday- if you haven't purchased one yet, these are available from the school office.

Parent Seminar on Digital Safety

We are very pleased to be able to announce that Mana Ake will be offering the following important Parent Seminar in November - please put this in your diaries now.

Our next Whānau Rōpū Hui - whānau picnic and chance to learn a new game together!

Save the date of our next whānau rōpū hui in your diary - Friday 8th November from 5:00pm. We will have the opportunity to learn a game called "Ki o Rahi" which is a Māori ball game, described in Wikipaedia below:
"Kī-o-rahi is a ball sport played in New Zealand with a small round ball called a 'kī'. It is a fast-paced game incorporating skills similar to rugby union, netball, and touch.[1] Two teams of seven players play on a circular field divided into zones, and score points by touching the 'pou' (boundary markers) and hitting a central 'tupu' or target. The game is played with varying rules (e.g. number of people, size of field, tag ripping rules etc.) depending on the geographic area it is played in. A process called Tatu, before the game, determines which rules the two teams will use."

The evening will be a chance for families to learn the game together, and to play in mixed teams. It should be a lot of fun!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumaki

Important Dates

Citizen of the Week

Samantha Maule - Year 8

Sam, you are a thoughtful and empathetic member of Kauri whānau. You consistently show initiative, identifying what needs to be done and seeing the task through to completion. Your learning is always completed to the best of your ability and you will often go the extra distance to make sure tasks are completed on time. Keep up the fantastic work!

School Notices

Please do not send food to school to be shared

Please do not bring food into school to be shared with other children. (The only exception to this would be fresh fruit). Whilst we understand that there are times you want to celebrate special events for your children with their friends at school, e.g. birthdays or being awarded prizes, by bringing food and treats for them to share, we have a policy of children only eating the food that their whānau have prepared and sent with them.  We have a number of students with food allergies and also need to respect the wishes of some families who want to monitor what their children are eating and prefer their children just to eat food they have prepared. From time to time, there may be an event that teachers have organised that will involve food (cultural or learning activities) and they will have advised families in advance that this will be happening.

Sunhats

Looking at the weather last week you might wonder if the sun will shine again, but I'm sure sunny days are not that far away.  During term 4 it is compulsory for all students to wear a hat.  These are available for purchase from the school office, the PTA second hand uniform shop and from Mainland Uniforms at 189 Peterborough Street.  Caps are not an acceptable form of sun protection for wearing at school.  Please name your child's hat on the inside with their own name (particularly important if they have a hand-me-down hat from someone else).

Parking outside the School

The 3 minute drop off zone has generally been working well since its instigation.  Please remember that it is a 3 minute drop off zone, and is designed so that students are dropped off. Please do not park here if you intend walking your students into class.

When dropping off or picking up your child from school, please also ensure you stay off the painted yellow lines. These are there to ensure drivers and our road patrollers have a clear view of the road. There is a lot of parking on Eastern Tce and on Norwood Street if the drop off zone is busy or alternatively, you might need to make a circle of the block.  Please respect the purpose of these lines especially on wet days to maintain the safety of all our children and their whānau.

Lost Property

We have a collection of drink bottles (Metal and plastic), beautiful knitted hats, a variety of socks and mittens and unnamed bottoms and tops, along with many un-named uniform items etc. The lost property is on display on the library veranda throughout the day.

Jewellery at school

One piece of jewellery/taonga of cultural significance may be worn under clothing. This may be displayed on formal school occasions.
Plain ear studs can be worn.
Sleepers or dangly earrings are not appropriate for school as they can catch and tear.

Congratulations to...

Congratulations also to Meara who competed at the Canterbury Classic Karate Competition and won a gold medal in her age group for Kumite (combat). A lot of hard training went into the preparation for this competition so it was well deserved.



Congratulations to Charlotte who gained 3 firsts in a recent ballet competition.  She was also the ballet champion for 'Under 15-year-olds'.


and... Congratulations to Lucy who spoke at the TedXYouth in September, here in Christchurch. You can see Lucy's talk here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WqIgh_bw0Q

Sports News

Athletic Sports

This year, we are excited to announce that we will be holding our athletics celebration as a whole school event. This will take place on Monday the 4th of November. Years 5 to 8 will be out on Beckenham Park competing in field and track rotations all day. Years 0 - 4 will start the day with their usual school routine and join us on the park for their run, jump, throw rotations from 11:50 am.
Athletics learning is a key part of our PE curriculum across all teams. The children are being taught safe and effective techniques as well as perseverance, resilience, and sportsmanship. Our whole school athletics day is a celebration of this learning.

This year, all children will compete alongside each other rather than in boy/girl events. This is one way that we are seeking to make the event inclusive to all. Sport Canterbury does have gender-based divisions for zone level competition and we will still be able to identify qualifying athletes from Years 5 - 8 to represent our kura at this event. To achieve this we will run our sprint finals for Years 5 - 8 by gender. Like previous years, we will be identifying a top girl and boy athlete from each year level from 5 - 8 who will be recognised at a Celebration Assembly following the event.

Our athletics day concludes with sprint finals, starting at 2:00. Our whole school will come together to cheer on the runners. The final event is a House Relay, which doubles up as an adults versus children race. With years 0 - 8 participating in this relay, we are going to need your support to make up an adult team. Bring your running shoes!

Long jump for years 5 - 8 will be held at Hillview Christian School, on a separate date, yet to be confirmed.

More detailed information about the day’s programme will be communicated to you before the event.

Sport Uniforms - Please Return

We are missing several Sport Uniform tops. Please hunt in bags, under beds etc for any that are  hiding and return items back to school. This clothing is expensive and it is preferable to have them returned rather than charge for replacing them.

PTA News

Your Free Giant Atlantic Pumpkin Seed is ready for collection now!

Every family at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto can collect their pumpkin seed from the Office before or after school.

At every Twilight Fair, next one is on Friday 20th March 2020, we host a Pumpkin Competition & invite all families to have a crack at growing their own Giant.

We will email out hints & tips to those that partake in this opportunity. To be ready for the end of March, get your seed sprouting now.

Fun Fact: The NZ record was set in 2016 at 789.5kg, grown by Tim Harris from Morrinsville- surely a Beckenham Pumpkin will grow bigger than that????

Calling all Green Fingers

We will need plants for our Plant Stall at the Twilight Fair. If you have seedlings starting to pop up in your garden & you are happy to transplant them & nurture them over the next 6 months we would love to have them for the Fair.

Clubbercise

Wednesday 23rd October at 7pm, $10 per session



Clubbercise classes are designed for everybody... It doesn’t matter what fitness level you’re at. It doesn’t matter what your coordination is like. All that matters is that you turn up. No fear. No judgement. Just music, fitness and fun

Book your spot now the LAST Clubbercise Christchurch with Chloé at Beckenham for 2019

Bring a friend- it's exercise in disguise!

Beckenham Booty

Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner.....If your family is considering a ‘Sustainable Christmas’ make sure you pop down to the next Beckenham Booty - Car boot Sale on Sunday 27th October 9 - 11am & start that Christmas shopping.



Recycle- Reuse- Re-wear at the next Beckenham Booty

Car Boot spaces are still available: book Beckenham Booty now 

Photography Mini Session Offer

One of our talented parents is kindly offering a 20-minute photography mini session including 5 images & for up to 5 people for $70.....AND 10% will be donated to the PTA!

Liane Helena Photography specialises in maternity, newborn & family photography. The first session sold out in minutes so another session has been offered on Saturday 16th Nov in the stunning Botanic Gardens.

Limited spaces available, click on this link Book Photography session to secure your spot.

Scorpio Books

NZ Bookshop Day is on Saturday, 26th October and we have some exciting events planned! Graphic novelist, Katie O’Neill will be hosting a drawing workshop, we’re throwing a Wundrous celebration of all things Nevermoor, we’ll have staff picks for only $15 each and most importantly – With each sale, customers are able to nominate a local school for us to donate 10% of their purchase to!