Nau mai, Haere Mai

Welcome to 2020 at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto!

Kia ora koutou

I trust that you all have had some time to relax over the summer with your whānau.

Important Dates

Learning Conferences - Thursday 30 and Friday 31 January
Classes begin, Monday 3 February, 8:55am
School Closed - Thursday 6 February - Waitangi Day

Learning Conferences next Thursday and Friday, 30/31 January

All of our staff are looking forward to seeing you and your children next Thursday and Friday during our start of year Learning Conferences.

If you have not yet booked your learning conference for next Thursday or Friday, NOW is the time to still do this.
To book, go to https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/

Click on "Make a Booking" and enter the event code "sa3zp"

Then you will be asked to enter your details, and after that you will be able to select the teacher who you need to make a Learning Conference time with.

If you have any trouble making a booking, please phone the office on Monday (337 1404) and Jacky will be able to help you.

Questions to think about before the Learning Conference:

 At the learning conference, your child's teacher will go through the following questions with you and your child. It would be great if you have thought about these questions, and discussed them with your child before the meeting.

Parents:

What are your child’s strengths?
What specific goals you would like your child to achieve this year?
Do you see any challenges for your child this year? 

Is there anything about your culture/religion/family that would be useful for us to know as we get to know your child?

Do you have any other questions?

I am good at…

I would like to get better at…

I like to play ...

You are encouraged to take some time before the Learning Conferences to read through our Cybersafety Agreements so that you can bring any questions you might have about them to the Learning Conference. At the Learning Conference, you will be given a copy of these agreements to sign. 

You should have received a stationery list with your child's class placement letter at the end of last year. If you need to access another copy, you can do that from the school website.

We would prefer that you DO NOT cover exercise books as the additional plastic is not necessary for the environment. You are welcome to bring your child's stationery to the Learning Conference.

Please make sure that you have all the uniform items that you require before classes begin on Monday 3rd February. Hats are still available from the school office ($10). House Shirts are also available from the office ($25)

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy and the team

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

What a fabulous send-off we had today for our Year 8 Leavers! With 62 graduates, this is the biggest cohort we think the school has ever had in Year 8. There was laughter, singing, sharing of memories and tears on many faces, along with broad smiles. We are, as always, very proud of these young people who have grown up in our school, many for the past eight years. Our Year 8 Leavers' Graduation is one of my favourite days of the year. It is a huge celebration of the growth and achievements of these fine young people.

A huge thank you today to the PTA and 24/7 team for supporting the prizegivers by providing the Leavers' Lunch for our leavers and their whānau.

Please remember that school finishes today at 12:30pm.

Home Groups for 2020

Today the children will get told about their home groups for 2020. They will then spend some time in their hub for next year, with next year's teachers and their new home groups. EVERY child who is returning to Beckenham next year will be given a paper copy of the letter explaining who their teacher is, AND how to book a Learning Conference for the start of the year.

Please note that we are only sending home one paper copy of the above information. If you do not get the paper copy today, Jacky will be in the office until midday on Friday 20th so you can contact her there to find out who your child's teacher is. The office will open again on Monday 27 January.
The information about how to book the learning conference is copied below, for your reference. You just need to know the name of the teacher your child will be with before you can book.

As we have done for the past two years, we will spend the first two days of Term 1 2020 (Thursday 30th and Friday 31st January) holding Individual Learning Conferences. You need to book a 30 minute time slot where you, your child, and their home group teacher, can meet to get to know one another and to talk about your child's learning. This is your chance to share any particular information you have about your child and the way that they learn. You can share your aspirations, your worries and the challenges and successes they have experienced so far in their learning. It will also be an opportunity for their home group teacher, and the rest of the teachers in the team, to talk with you about how the team will operate.
You need to book a time for this learning conference that will work for you and your child. To do this, you need to go online to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and enter the password sa3zp. Remember to book your learning conference with next year’s teacher.

If you need supervision for your child on the Learning Conference days, please book this with BOSCO by Wed 22 Jan at the very latest. You can contact BOSCO by emailing Yvette at manager@bosco.org.nz

Stationery for 2020

Your child will also bring home a stationery list tomorrow for next year. If you plan to use the OfficeMax online ordering, do get your order in by mid-January, so that it arrives in time for the start of term. The stationery lists are also available on our school website.

Office Hours

The office will be closed from 1pm today, then will be open again tomorrow (Friday 20th) from 8:30am - midday. It will then be closed until Monday 27 Jan.

There will be staff around school from Monday 20th -24th January, however, the office will not be staffed.

Thank you all for the support you have given to our staff and our children this year. I wish you all a very safe and relaxing holiday season and we look forward to seeing our 2020 students and whānau back in the new year!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

HELP Mini Ball Coach Needed

We are in the need of some wonderful parents who would be interested in coaching a Year 3-4 mini ball team in Term 1. There would only be 8-9 children in a team and practises could take place with before school, lunchtime or after school. We have 26 keen and enthusiastic players, however only one coach. It would be a shame to only provide this opportunity to one team.

If you are able to coach a team in Term 1, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Paulette Newton at paulette.newton@beckenham.school.nz

Outdoor Spaces Celebration!

This week, we have met with Greenscapes who have successfully won the tender to redevelop the main play space. At this stage, the landscaping of stage 1 is likely to begin early January. This will involve the creation of the river, the hill with slide and the pathways in the main play space.
As this is a large area being redeveloped, it will be fenced off while construction takes place. Feel free to pop in to take a look.

We are really thankful to the PTA for the fundraising they have done to make this happen and are aware that this has been a long time in the making.  Here is the play space plan.

Keeping it cool for our Tamariki!!

Over the holidays we will have a large group of workers installing air cooling units into Tahaki and Parenga ready for the summer heatwave. If you are playing at school, please be aware there may be several areas closed off.
SUPPORTING YOU OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD

Please be aware of the following organisations who can provide support over the holiday period if required:

Parent Helpline 0800 568 856

Healthline Call 0800 611 116

1737 Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor.

Kapa Haka Uniforms

Please return these to the office by Thursday.

PTA News

Uniform Shop hours - January

The uniform shop will be open on Thurs 30th Jan between 10am - 11:30am & 5pm - 6:30pm (the first day of the Learning Conferences).

Congratulations to...

Well done to the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto students who took part in Southern Cross Irish Dance's Christmas show - Sean Pettigrew, Alex Pettigrew, Liv Wilson, Sophie Redmile, and Jayme Scott. You all put on an amazing show!

Community Notices

Huntsbury Hill Celebrations

Fri 14th – Sun 16th February 2020
In January 1920, the first sections were sold on Huntsbury Hill. Now, 100 years later, we are celebrating our unique Huntsbury Hill community with a weekend of events for young and old, past and present residents. Come and join us!

* Wine and cheese evening at Community Centre
Friday 14th 6.30-9.30pm
Meet your neighbours, Entertainment, history & photo displays

* Garden party at the Reservoir
Saturday 15th 1pm – 5pm
Market stalls, Performances, food trucks, bouncy castle, zorb balls & mini jeeps.

* Devonshire Teas at Community Centre
Saturday 15th Feb 11am – 4pm
Photo & History displays

* Walking History tour, hosted by Mike Yardley
Saturday 15th Feb 4-6pm & Sunday 16th Feb 10am–12pm
Learn the fascinating history of development on the hill

Huntsbury Residents we need your help!
Can you assist us with Donations, sponsorship/prizes, volunteering your time, ideas or historical knowledge, & contacting past residents?

Registrations for market stalls, performers or walking tours please email Anna: huntsburyevents@gmail.com<mailto:huntsburyevents@gmail.com>
Event details: www.facebook.com/groups/HuntsburyNeighbourhood<http://www.facebook.com/groups/HuntsburyNeighbourhood/>

Play Football throughout 2020 at Halswell United AFC.

The registrations for the Winter Season 2020 are now OPEN for all members
Club Trials dates for Juniors and Youths are also set (starting January/February)

Just head to our website for more information and to register: http://www.hawkfootball.org.nz/Register

Skills Centre+ Registrations (for kids aged 8-12) & First Kicks/Fun Football Registrations (for kids aged 4-8) are open for Summer Term 1
http://www.hawkfootball.org.nz/Programmes/Summer-Programmes

Starfish Swim School Bookings for the January Holiday Program are now open!

Week One: Monday 20 th January to Friday 24th January
Email: info@starfishswimschool.co.nz
Or phone us at: 03 3381795
2 Nash Road, Aidanfield

Come swim in our intensive week to refresh your skills!

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

The end of the school year is very rapidly approaching and end-of-year activities have definitely begun!
We have a big week and a half coming up... please check the calendar below to make sure you have all of the events noted on your calendar!

Kauri Whānau Musical Mashup

What talent we have in our Year 7 & 8 team! Come along on Monday or Wednesday night this coming week to see this talent in action on the stage. Our 45 min (ish) show starts at 7pm. A great night's entertainment for the whole family, all for a gold coin donation.

Farewell to Sherrilee - Wed 11th at 9:30am

On Wednesday morning (11th Dec) at 9:30am we are holding a very special hui to farewell Sherrilee Herangi-Harrison who has been our Te Reo Māori and Kapa Haka tutor for the past 25 years. All of our families are very welcome to attend. This will be followed by a morning tea. Current families, PLEASE BRING A PLATE, to contribute towards morning tea, as a way of to showing our thanks to Sherrilee, and our hospitality to all of the past students and whānau who will be returning to help us farewell her.

Important Dates

Citizen of the Week

Zoe Lewis - Year 6

Zoe, you display a positive attitude towards your learning, and quietly go about doing the right thing whilst trying your best. You enjoy working cooperatively in a group and happily work independently. You display beautiful manners and can be relied upon to be responsible and reliable. Tino pai mahi Zoe.

Bonnie Hopkinson - Year 3

Bonnie, your kind, caring and thoughtful nature shines in all that you do. You have a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards all areas of learning and you are a fantastic role model to other students. You are a self-motivated  and you constantly strive to be the best you can be. Thank you for living our school values each and every day!

Ilia Henderson - Year 6

Ilia, the kindness that you show to others and the environment is truly a wonderful way to show 'We Care'. You always demonstrate empathy to your team mates, give awhi to your friends and show respect to us all. Thank you for leading the way in showing how to truly show our kete values on a daily basis. Tino pai, Ilia.

School Notices

Outdoor spaces Update...

Members of the Outdoor Spaces Team will be on the library verandah every afternoon next week from 2:50-3:15pm, and before the Senior production on Monday evening from 5pm - 6pm,  to share about the next steps for the development of the main play space. They will share the plans and design for the new main play space, the timeline and working bees for 2020.               

The Community Dental Service

The Community Dental Service will be providing dental care for children enrolled with our service during the upcoming school holidays.  The clinics will offer treatment and relief of pain sessions by appointment only.   To make an appointment please call/email our Contact Centre which operates between the hours of 8am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday throughout the year (closed from 25th December to 6th January).
The following Dental Clinics will be open during these school holidays:

·       Woolston Clinic, 11 Hopkins Street, Woolston

·       Hillmorton Clinic, Hillmorton Hospital, Sylvan Street,

·       Ashburton Clinic, 38 Elizabeth Street, Ashburton

The clinics will offer appointments between 8.45am and 3.00pm for school-age and preschool children requiring treatment.
If your child has dental pain as a result of an accident please contact your dentist in the first instance.
To book an appointment at one of our clinics please:  call 0800 846 983
Or email commdental@cdhb.health.nz\

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

We are excited to be undertaking a review of the delivery of our health curriculum.

Thank you in advance for helping us with this.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy, Charlotte and Sue.

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

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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