Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome back to a new term.  The promise of longer days, hopefully more sunshine and the sight of daffodils appearing in the garden always raises the spirits.  We are looking forward to catching up with many of you at the learning conferences next week.  As always, if you have any questions or things you would like to share with your child’s teacher, during the year, please make a time to meet with them before or after school  to have a chat.
Independence and the ability to manage our time are lifelong skills that we look to begin to develop in our children from an early age.  As caregivers, we are instrumental in coaching our children to manage increasing responsibility and sometimes, in our busy lives, this is a challenge.
How many things do we do for our children that they could do themselves?
Are we setting our children up for independence and success?
Habitually doing things for our children, that they are capable of doing themselves, can send an inadvertent message that we don’t have confidence in their abilities.  The outcome is a child who lacks independence, self-esteem and problem-solving skills and who can’t—or won’t—do age-appropriate tasks. This is sometimes called “learned helplessness.”
As caregivers we want the best for our children and often, we are just trying to keep all those balls in the air. There’s a huge payoff for encouraging our children’s independence: confident, capable kids, and some tasks removed from our plates.
We would like to encourage you, as caregivers, to choose at least one of the tasks below to encourage independence in your child(ren).  Ask them to ...

• Organise their own breakfast each day, older child can organise an evening meal each week
• Carry their own bag to the classroom and do their morning jobs.
• Pack their school bag the night before so it is ready in the morning.
• Remember to take all they will need for the day. (An idea here is to make a list of what is needed for school each day, so the child can check they have everything needed for the day ahead.)
• Make their own lunch or part of their lunch each day.
• Do specific jobs around the house - “Here is a list of jobs you could do to help around the house - how many do you think you are old / capable enough of doing?”

At school, if a child forgets some special piece of equipment for their day, staff will try to help in any way they can.  If this is not possible e.g. forgotten swimming togs, forgotten specialist sports gear, we will refrain from phoning home to ask parents to come to school (unless it is an emergency).  Hopefully that will help our children to remember for next time.

Nga mihi
Sue Leadbetter
Acting Deputy Principal.

Citizen of the Week

Tiffany Shannon - Year 4

Walter McLoughlin - Year 6

Walter, we love the way you involve yourself so fully in the daily life of our hub. You grab hold of challenges and make the most of opportunities to develop new skills. Your self-management skills enable you to make the most of all learning experiences. You show that you care by treating others with respect and working proactively within groups. You humour and positivity brighten our day. Tino pai.  

School Notices

Welcome assembly 

This will be taking place on Friday 28th July from 10:50-11:20am in the school hall. This is a special assembly to welcome all those who are new to the Beckenham Te Kura community. Morning tea hosted by the PTA will follow this assembly.

Year 7 & 8 information evening for Year 6 families:

Please mark Monday August 6th, 7pm, in your diaries. We will be opening the Intermediate Hub for Year 6 families to come along and get a taste of what happens in Year 7 & 8. When you arrive, there will be a table with post-its and pens for you to write questions. The first 20 minutes will be an opportunity to talk with students and staff and view digital displays. The last 40 minutes will be a sharing session, where your questions will drive the discussion. We firmly believe that the Intermediate Hub at Beckenham provides a fabulous middle school education. Come along and find out why.

Lunchtime activities

Keeping ourselves safe

We are aware that one of our children thought she was being followed by a car yesterday afternoon after school.  The child involved did all the right things, not stopping, heading straight home, keeping calm and telling her parents when she got home.

Whilst we always encourage our children to walk home with others, sometimes this is not possible.  As parents we can equip our children to deal with situations that may arise, that make them feel unsure.  It is a good time to sit down and have a chat with them about a safety plan that will help them if this situation occurs.  There may be a friends house along the way home that could be a safe house they can go to if they need and returning to school is also an option.  The police have been informed.

The Drop Off Zone

Thank you to everyone who is using the drop off zone outside the admin block on Sandwich Road the way it is intended.  We have noticed that mornings are working particularly well.  In the afternoons please ask your child to meet you on the footpath, beside the zone, or, park elsewhere on the streets around the school so you can leave your car and walk to meet your child.  No parked cars in the drop off zone please.
The car park on school grounds accessed off Sandwich Road, in behind the New Entrant hub is for staff and service vehicles.  Thank you for remembering this, and for not using the area as a drive through drop off zone.

Soup Soup Soup

Remember to bring your bowl or cup for soup on Monday and Tuesday next week when Kauri Hub students will be selling tomato soup and a cheese roll for lunch. $3 will buy a cup of soup and one cheese roll, or two cheese rolls. Koru and Kowhai's day is Monday and Pohutukawa and Kauri are on Tuesday.

Children purchase their tickets by the flagpole before school.
To give us an idea of quantities to prepare, please fill in this very quick form.

Many thanks for supporting Kauri fundraising.

Allergy information

Across our school we have a number of children with different food allergies.
To support the wellbeing of these students we have the following guidelines in place which we ask you to follow:
For 2018, there are to be no peanuts in the Kauri (Year 7/8) or Kowhai (Year 3/4) teams please, due to the extreme anaphylaxis risk for one of our students who learns in Parenga.
Whenever children bring food to school for shared kai occasions, please follow the guidelines provided by the teachers for that event.
We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change.  Our full allergy policy and guidelines in this booklet, are also available on the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto website under “Information - Policies - SchoolDocs” then search ‘allergy’, or alternatively use this link to go directly to the allergy page: https://bit.ly/2LCfQ3N  .  If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s point of contact teacher.

Sleep inquiry

 Last term, a school-wide focus was on sleep, with the students learning the benefits of  sleep and finding ways to improve their own sleep. Research has shown that as little as 10 minutes of lost sleep a night can lead to symptoms similar to ADHD. The purpose of the inquiry, which was run in partnership with the University of Canterbury, was to equip the children with the knowledge and skills required to make positive changes to their own sleep.

Initially the students learnt about the benefits of sleep and positive sleep hygiene. Then they were given the opportunity to monitor both the duration and quality of their sleep. Once the children had gathered that data they chose a goal to focus on. These goals ranged from establishing a set routine for bedtime, to ensuring their room temperature was comfortable, to not watching any screens before bedtime. Once a week these goals were assessed, and if they had been achieved, new goals were set. The overall process was very empowering for the children, as they felt equipped to make a difference to either the quality or duration of their sleep, They also understood the importance of having a good sleep, providing the motivation needed to make a difference.

When reflecting upon the programme, it was fabulous to hear from the children and some of their parents about the success the children had experienced with changing their sleeping habits.
‘I used to have trouble sleeping at night, but now I have been having a much better sleep.’
‘It was a really good idea focusing on improving your sleep because you get more sleep and it is good for your health.’
‘I now have a good sleep routine so I get to sleep quicker.’
‘It was a good idea to learn what stops you from having a good night’s sleep so that you can change some things.’
‘It’s really good to focus on things that you can improve on.’
‘The sleep inquiry provided rich learning for my daughter. She enjoyed researching and sharing interesting facts with us. She developed a good awareness of the importance of a healthy sleep routine and how it impacts on wellbeing.’
‘Before the sleep programme my child would try to stay up as long as he could each night and then, in the middle of the night, come through and crawl into bed with me.  A dreadful sleep for us both.  As the sleep programme has progressed he has asked for darker curtains in his bedroom so he can sleep more soundly, he takes himself off to bed at the same time each night so he is getting what he now knows is enough sleep and he stays in his own bed all night.  Thank you very much for this amazing programme it has really made the world of difference to our whole family.’
‘I was so impressed with the latest sleep study learning in Pōhutukawa. Not only did my son learn about the importance of sleep and the benefits for the body, but he also started to manage his sleep more effectively. I was impressed with his motivation to meet his sleep goals each night and this saw him putting himself to bed earlier to ensure he got the required sleep hours. As a family, we now talk about sleep and we have all started to make small changes to ensure that we all get a good rest each night.’

Sports News

Small Sticks - Physical Education utilising professional coaches.

From Weeks 1 - 5 this term our whole school will be involved in the small sticks programme run by Hockey New Zealand coaches.  The Small Sticks In-School programme includes teacher training, five coaching sessions in school time with an accredited coach, a resource kit for the school to use after the programme is finished, a festival day at the completion of the programme, recruitment material to help engage children and their parents.
The children will develop
Hand eye coordination skills,
Fitness
Understanding of the rules of hockey
Skills to play a team sport.
Sportsmanship skills.

Jennian Homes Canterbury North 

12 Main South Road, Sockburn P 03 741 1436 E canterburynorth@jennian.co.nz
Thinking of building?
Building a new home is an exciting adventure and Jennian Homes has been building the homes New Zealanders love for more than 35 years.
Sign up to build your new home with Jennian Homes Canterbury North and we will donate $1000.00 to a school of your choice.*
*Terms and conditions apply, speak to Canterbury North New Home Consultant for more information.

As indicated at the end of last term we are happy to announce a new uniform supplier for Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto.  This is effective immediately. 

Thanks to everyone who completed the recent ‘Uniform Survey’.

Some trends became very clear and we learned that the new format of children directing the learning conferences and a fluid approach to meeting with all of the teachers working with your child (particularly from Years 1-6) had mixed responses from whānau.

This is seen by the results of the graph below (where 1 = not beneficial and 5 = extremely beneficial)

There was also a mixed response to the statement: "There was enough time to talk with the teacher about the learning." seen on the graph below:

We were heartened by the response to the following question about whether the purpose of the learning conference had been met (where 1=not met and 5= completely met):

We were also heartened by the response to the statement "The teacher(s) really knew my child and his/her next steps" 

The next Learning Conferences will be taking place in Week 2 of the new term, on Tuesday 31st July and Thursday 2nd August. Note that school will finish at the earlier time of 2pm on both days to allow for Learning Conferences to happen.

If you want your child to stay at school between 2pm and 3pm on one or both of those days, please remember to let Jacky in the office know (office@beckenham.school.nz) so we can arrange supervision.

To book, please go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz or click on this link and use the code z8vr4

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

...and another term comes to an end! I'm not sure that the weeks fly by for the children as fast as they seem to for all of the adults at school, but this term really has felt like a full and fast one!

This is a short newsletter this week, just to put some final end of term notices in, and to wish you all a safe and restful break.

You should have received your child's report today. They were handed out to children in the afternoon. If you have not received a report, please email Jacky in the office, and she will chase that up for you at the start of the new term. Some children have brought home a second copy for parents who live separately, and others have had a second copy emailed or posted out by Jacky today, according to the instructions we have on our system. If you need to update your family information, contact details or your child's health details at any stage, please do so by contacting Jacky in the office - preferably in writing/email, so that she can update this.

There will be an email coming out during the holidays about booking Learning Conferences for Week 2 of next term. The dates are on the calendar info below.

A huge thank you to the PTA who organised and ran three fabulous Discos, back to back, last Friday. What a lot of fun was had by our children!

As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, I have been fortunate to have been awarded a Ministry of Education scholarship to travel to Adelaide for the first four weeks of Term 3 to shadow a principal there. I am very grateful for the opportunity and will be there with another Canterbury principal, Jo Earl, from St Francis of Assisi School in Mairehau. We will return in Week 5 of next term, and the two principals who we have been shadowing then come to Christchurch to shadow us for the last four weeks of Term 3. A great opportunity to understand how other schools and leaders operate and to learn from one another.

During my absence, Sue Leadbetter will be Acting Principal and Nicky Dunlop and Paulette Newton will be sharing the Deputy Principal role supporting Sue.

A highlight of the last day of term for me today, was participating in the staff vs students volleyball match in the hall at lunchtime! I never did find out who actually won, but we all, including the 100 or so spectators, had a huge amount of fun!

Best wishes to you all for the holidays

Ngā mihi
Sandy Hastings
Principal / Tumuaki  

NEWS FLASH

Following the responses in our uniform survey we are in the final stages of confirming a new uniform provider.  Rest assured that any items of clothing that are currently listed as uniform items for Beckenham will remain so - we are not changing the items of clothing, just the provider.  Full details at the beginning of Term 3.  

Congratulations to...

Sir Peter Blake Award winners...

This year we could not separate two young leaders. Both are strongly admired and respected by their peers. Over the past two years, one has consistently displayed outstanding leadership skills, while the other has evolved into an outstanding leader.

Tilly

From your first day in the Kauri Whānau, you shone as a natural and capable leader. Your peers respect your calm, proactive and reliable attitude.  You are naturally reflective, displaying empathy towards others and offering kind, genuine encouragement to all. You are community minded, able to identify the bigger picture and put others’ needs ahead of your own. You lead with a quiet confidence: your peers recognise you as approachable, patient and supportive. You excel in the face of challenge, readily stepping out of your comfort zone and encouraging others to do the same. 

Thom

Kauri Whānau has watched you evolve into a very confident, self-assured and enthusiastic leader over the past 18 months. Your charismatic personality makes others feel welcomed, safe and willing to take risks. You are non-judgmental in the way that you accept others and make every person in a group feel valued. You walk beside those who you lead, regularly stepping outside your comfort zone and in the process encouraging others to do so too. Your peers recognise the 150% that you consistently give and the perseverance with which you approach all that you do. 

PTA News

McMillan's Aquatic Centre

McMillan's Aquatic Centre is 7km & only 12 mins drive from Beckenham.
We are offering free assessments now for Term 3 bookings.

Location:                                    54 Wickham St, Bromley (off Dyers Rd)
Lesson Times:                            3.25 - 6pm
Adult lessons/Lane Hire:           1pm - 3pm & 6pm - 8pm
Cost:                                           $150 for 10 x 30 minute lessons.

Call Louise on 332 4617 or email bees.swim@xtra.co.nz to book in now.

www.macswimming.co.nz

Virtuoso Strings Orchestra

Transforming lives through music.
Months of hard work and practise will come to fruition for members of the Virtuoso Strings Orchestra (VSO), who are touring the South Island in July.
Forty-two talented school students will entertain audiences with a fun mix of classical, popular and traditional tunes, in what is the highlight of the year for the young musicians.
The students, ranging in age from 8 years to 17 years, form a tightly knit group who practise incredibly hard together to perfect their ensemble skills, VSO Co-founder Dr Elizabeth (Liz) Sneyd says.
“Their love of music is infectious and their performances shatter every stereotype of classical music that is out there.”
In 2012, Liz along with Craig Utting formed VSO and today the popular youth orchestra is based in Cannons Creek, Porirua, and run by the Virtuoso Strings Charitable Trust.
The VSO South Island Tour kicks off on July 13 in Christchurch, and wraps up in
Mosgiel on July 19. All concerts are free and all are welcome.

Court Theatre

We have afterschool drama classes for ages 7- 9 Drama 1 and ages 10- 12 Drama 2 as well as Junior Improv Classes for ages 12- 15.

Nathan Wallis Talk:

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kereru PTA is very fortunate to have Nathan Wallis, X-Factor Education come to our school and speaking about brain development for children aged 5-12 years.   Nathan is a specialist in brain research, an educator and a very inspiring speaker.  We would like to open this evening up to Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto. 

The presentation will take place on Thursday 2 August 2018, 7.30pm to 9.00pm in our School Hall.  Tickets are limited and will be available for purchase from 15 July 2018. Tickets cost $25.00 per person. 

Parents/Whānau can purchase a ticket via our KINDO online PTA shop.  Here is the link https://bit.ly/2z33zAd. 

Please note if you already have a Kindo account you will be prompted to add details to the Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kereru Fundraiser account.  If you are new to Kindo then you will be directed to the Join Up / Create an account section.  For any assistance please do not hesitate to contact theKindo Helpdesk on freephone 0508 KINDO (0508 454 636).

If you have any questions about the evening, please feel free to contact Nic Falloon, PTA Secretary at pta@cashmereprimary.school.nz

We look forward to your parents and whānau joining us for this evening.

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We have lots happening in the school as the term draws to an end with the Breakfast and PJ day last week to celebrate the shortest day of the year. Huge thanks to the PTA for the great breakfast, and for getting up so early to feed us all! Thank you to everyone who donated cans for the Foodbanks too. So good to be able to show 'We Care' and 'We Make a Difference'.


Please remember that school is CLOSED this coming Monday for a staff ONLY professional development day.

Reports are written and are in the process of being proofread and printed so that they will be ready for children to bring home next Friday, 6th July.

Citizen of the Week

Charlie Edens-Griffiths - Year 6

Charlie, you delight our hub with your witty sense of humour and quick comebacks. You are a great self-manager, always doing the right thing at the right time in the right place. Your writing is inspirational and a pleasure to read! You are always on task and show focus when working independently. Thank you Charlie for being a fabulous role model in Pōhutukawa.

Lily Cummins-Newton - Year 8

Lily, you are an empathetic and considerate individual in our Kauri Whānau. You are acutely aware of those around you, noticing and responding when a kind word is needed to lift the spirits. You are a loyal friend and you encourage others in the face of challenge. You have a positive outlook on life and your humour always brightens our day. 

School Notices

Our neighbours are trying to keep our kids safe - please help them...!

I had a call from one of our neighbours on Sandwich Road this week letting me know that she, and a number of other Sandwich Road residents, always try to reverse into their driveways so that when they leave their properties, they can see children coming along the footpath.
They do sometimes get negative feedback from parent vehicles parked on Sandwich Road when they do this. They asked that our parents understand that they are doing this to try and keep our children safe.

Teacher Only Day

Just a reminder that Monday 2nd July is a teacher only day.  There will be no classes on this day.  BOSCO is open on this day if you wish to book in for care here.  There is a charge for this service.

Lost Property

Once again the lost property bin is overflowing.  Please come and check if any of the items belong to your children.
As usual at the end of this term we will be removing any unnamed items from the lost property bin and donating them to the PTA second hand store for them to sell.

Mud, Sweat & Tears

Kete Badges: 

We have a new scheme in the Intermediate Hub this year, that encourages the children to put our kete values into action. The children have a selection of actions they can undertake that show they are living our school values. By completing these actions and reflecting on what they have done in their kete blog, they are awarded points, which will earn them a kete badge to sew on the sleeve of their school jackets. Badges are very motivating. Actions include, being part of a sports team, contributing to the Treemendous makeover, taking part in the 40 Hour Famine, completing a science badge ... there are at least 30 actions to choose from, as well as the ability to design one’s own challenge. The blogging encourages the children to be reflective about how each action displays a school value; we have been most impressed with the quality of blog posts.



Morvern, a Year 7 student, has designed her own action for ‘We Make a Difference’. You can support her to make a difference by purchasing her reusable bags...

Hello! I'm Morvern from the Kauri Hub and I am making some bags for Plastic Free July. Plastic Free July is trying to not use plastic for all of July, so it would be awesome if you could play your part and not use plastic bags, but reusable fabric ones. I have made these handy bags in two sizes. You can purchase bags for a gold coin, either one large bag or a bundle of 5 snack bags. Pay your money and select your bags from the honesty box in the school office. 100% of the money will go to Christchurch Bull Breed Rescue, who are saving bull breed dogs lives. Thank you for supporting them!

Congratulations 

Four students from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto participated in a belt grading with Cardinals Taekwondo on Sunday 24th June.  These students needed to demonstrate  perseverance and courage as well as a combination of kicks, punches, blocks and stances, at a demanding 4 hour grading.

The following belts have been awarded:
Paolo Reid - yellow belt with green tip
Luigi Reid - yellow belt with green tip
Amelia Reid  - yellow belt with green tip
Weaver McDaid - white belt with yellow tip

This is a significant personal achievement and we are very proud of them.

Congratulations also to the students from Beckenham who auditioned for the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival . Over 550 students applied for the 330 available places so there was plenty of competition.

The following students were successful:
Bonnie Brookland - flute
Eva Cameron - Junior choir
Charlotte Grey - clarinet
Walter McLoughlin - junior choir
Bella Reddecliffe - viola
Emily Rowe - clarinet
Tom Woodhouse - trumpet

Sport News

Canterbury Cross Country

The postponed Canterbury Cross Country event was held at Halswell Quarry last Wednesday on an extremely muddy and slippery course. Five children from Beckenham attended the event after finishing within the top six placegetters at zone level competition. We had some top 20 finishers, an incredible achievement. At this level, the children are racing against the best of the best from all over Canterbury.  All children put up a fantastic effort against the tough competition. We are incredibly proud of the dedication and love of challenge shown by these five children.

Netball Trials

A special mention to Tilly Harris, who has successfully made it through three rounds of trials towards earning a place in the Canterbury Primary Schools Netball Representative Team. Tilly is an exceptionally dedicated sports person and this achievement is testament to hours dedicated to training. We wish her the very best of luck for the final trial being held this Sunday.

Staff Versus Students Basketball

Youth and agility met age and experience last week in a very tense and exceptionally close basketball game between our Year 8 student and a team of staff. In the end, there was only one hoop it with with the final score at 22:20 to the teachers. Thank you students for a fun game!

PTA News

The PTA are holding their annual disco on Friday June 29th.

Come along prepared to dance to DJ Don.

Year 0 - 3, 4:30-5:30 pm

Year 4 - 6, 6:00-7:00 pm

Year 7 - 8, 7:30-8:30 pm

Entry will be by gold coin donation.

Community Notices

Helen O'Grady Drama Academy

3 reasons to join...communication, presentation, confidence.
Join our after school drama classes.
To enrol please contact us by phone or via our website.
0800161131.  www.helenogrady.co.nz

Matariki Mākete