Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

The term is now well underway and we are all settling into the school routines again. We have had a busy start to the term with the Life Education classroom visiting - unfortunately there was a miscommunication between the educator and the trucking company and it was removed two days early - we are expecting to have it back to finish those two days later in the term!

Teachers as Learners

Our teachers have all been focusing on their teaching of maths with coaching happening this last week as part of the professional development focus we have in mathematics this year. Our children were wonderfully supportive as the teachers became the students and were 'coached' during the lesson they were teaching by our mentor, Liana from Massey University. I have joined the teachers in this learning as I am teaching a maths group in Year 7/8 this year! It is exciting for me to be spending regular time in the classroom again as a teacher, and great to be learning alongside the other teachers in our school.

Children being dropped at school prior to 8:30am

I have been aware of many instances over the past couple of weeks of children being dropped at school well before 8:30am - sometimes as early as 7:50am.
Please remember that school is not open until 8:30am. If teachers are here before 8:30am it is because they are trying to do planning and preparation for the day ahead. We are not a childminding service and cannot take responsibility for looking after children until we open at 8:30am. Please make alternative arrangements for your child's care prior to 8:30am if you need to be elsewhere.

School Twilight Fair

Our PTA are working so enthusiastically towards making our upcoming Twilight Fair a huge success. Please make sure you have the date in your calendar - Friday 23rd March - and do read the regular Fair updates (including the one further below in this newsletter) to find out how you can get involved.

Our new Library reopens, 6 years after the Fire...

What an exciting week it has been for our school this week as our new, refurbished library finally opened in what used to be the Room 1 junior classroom.


That we have had a library for the past 6 years is completely due to the passion and tenacity of our Librarian - Anne Chin. She has almost single-handedly packed the library into banana boxes at the end of each year and, without complaint, moved it to another space in the school. This week, without any great fanfare, she let the children know that the library would be open, for classes to visit during learning time, and also, at both morning tea and lunch breaks. From the first day, it has been buzzing! Every break time it is full of children who are enjoying having space to enjoy the nearly 10,000 books that it holds!



Thank you Anne, for your determination and commitment to our children and for sharing your love of books with us all!

Ngā mihi
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Citizen of the Week

Ben Newton - Year 6

Ben, you are such a kind and thoughtful student. You are always willing to lend a hand to anyone. You show a lot of empathy when relating to others. Continue to be a stunning role model in Pōhutukawa!

Congratulations to...

Tracy and Phil Inwood (Tracy is the Team Leader of the Pōhutukawa Team)

For 18 years, Tracy and Phil Inwood have been fostering children through what was Child, Youth and Family Services and is now Ministry of Children, Oranga Tamariki, in Christchurch.
During this time, they have cared for over 200 children in a variety of ways: short term, long term, emergency care and for respite. Tracy and Phil believe that if their family can help these children in need, then they should. Their whole family usually becomes involved, with their own children being called upon for babysitting and big brother/sister duties. Phil is a fabulous male role model, being very active outside with the children and always there for support. Tracy sets the routines, making sure that all teeth are brushed after breakfast, and before bed!
On March 9 Tracy and Phil will travel to Wellington, where they have been invited to the Beehive to receive an "Excellence in Foster Care" award from the Minister of Children, Hon. Tracey Martin.
Tracy and Phil are delighted to be recognised for their contribution to the community, and are very grateful for all of the support they receive from their colleagues, friends and family.

School Notices

Kauri Hub - Smoothie Fundraiser this coming week

Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival -  Auditions for 2018 Representative Groups

Our best musicians need to be part of this!

Applications for individual singers and instrumentalists to audition for one of the Festival’s Representative Groups – Junior or Senior Choir, Concert Band, Orchestra – are now open.  This is the opportunity for singers and instrumentalists to achieve at the highest level of performance and to excel in their chosen area of artistic endeavour.

We want to make sure that our talented singers and instrumentalists put in an application.

Please checl out the festival website www.musicfestival.school.nz where all the information, and an application form, is available.  There is information on the website that will answer every question of a parent or potential participant.

Audition applications close on the last day of Term 1.

Our Pōhutukawa Choir, under the direction of Katie McFarlane, are already registered to participate at this awesome festival!



The Community Dental Service approached Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto regarding visiting during 2017. After discussion with your school, it was agreed that we will delay our visit due to building work on school grounds

We will be visiting your School during the 2018 school year where we will see all students who are due for their examination.

If there are urgent concerns about your child’s oral health prior to our 2018 visit, please call for an appointment at a clinic convenient to you.

To make an appointment you can contact our Call Centre:

Phone – 0800 846 983 or email – commdental@cdhb.health.nz

Wellbeing

Wellbeing Team: parent representatives needed

The Wellbeing team involves staff, BOT, parent and student representatives from Years 3-8. The team work together to develop wellbeing initiatives for the whole school, such as student movies and our ‘We Care’ day. Each year we look for a couple of parents or whānau members to join us for the year. Meetings are once or twice per term, during lunch time (skyping or facetiming your presence in would be fine if you can’t attend in person). If you would like to volunteer or know more, please email charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz by Sunday 25th February.   

Walk and Wheel Wednesday - 28th Feb

Sports News

Swimming Sports

Our Year 5 to 8 tamariki demonstrated their love of challenge this week during our school swimming sports. Wharenui pool was a hive of excitement as children cheered on their peers in a variety of events. A huge congratulations to all the children who chose to compete. We love to see you challenging yourself and taking advantage of the opportunities available to you. Thank you to the parents who helped out with the running of the event.

Our swimming sports champions are:
Year 5 boy: Cooper Reddecliffe
Year 5 girl: Zoe Clarke
Year 6 boy: Thomas Lyall
Year 6 girl: Abigale Cockfield
Year 7 boy: Ben Evans
Year 7 girl: Charlotte O’Connor
Year 8 boy: Joel Kingham
Year 8 girl: Tily Harris

The Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike event

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto would like to promote an upcoming mountain biking event in Hanmer Springs that may be of interest to you.

The Hanmer 4 Hour, run by Hanmer Events, is a super fun event, suitable for children looking to get into competitive mountain biking. Competitors work as part of a team with the aim of completing as many laps of a set course as they can over four hours. The course this year is a mixture of forest trail and non technical single track. 12 year olds may compete as an individual in the under 17 category. There is a separate course for Super Junior Teams (aged 8 - 11 years) that uses tracks in the Heritage Forest. These children need their own Tail End Charlie (an adult to keep up with them) for each lap they do. While these tracks are suitable for children, competitors should be confident riders, who are capable of controlling their speed and direction on single track.

Hanmer Events are welcoming entries from school teams with a category for school teams. More information can be found on the Hanmer Events website (www.hanmerevents.co.nz).

While Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto encourages participation in this event, children will remain the responsibility of their parents for the entire duration of the event. Please let me know if you plan to enter an individual or team or if you would like support in connecting with possible team members.

Jenny Diggle jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz

Compost Area needed - Can you help us? 

We would love to build or create a new compost system for our school. Can you help with this? Please contact Charlotte at charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz. Thanks

PTA News

Weetbix Tryathlon

Only 3 more sleeps till your Weetbix Tryathlon 2018 event. We hope you are all looking forward to a fabulous day. We have had a huge number of entries this year which means we qualify for a group school photo! This will be taken at 7.30 am before the event so keeping in mind transition closes at 8.15 am this’ll give you plenty of time to set up your gear before or after the photo. Keep an eye out for the Beckenham Flags where we’ll create a base for everyone for the day. The weather looks fantastic, pack a picnic, get your support crew ready for a fun fun day. Any questions about the event don’t hesitate to make contact with Nicola - 021532996

Twilight Fair

FAIR HQ will be OPEN from Fri 23rd FEB till the day of the Twilight Fair, Fri 23rd MARCH
Come over to Hub 22 (next to the NEW Basketball Hoop, Eastern Tce end of the school) & check what will be happening on the day. OPEN every day BEFORE & AFTER school.

At FAIR HQ -we will be accepting donations of Quality Clothes, Toys & Books. NO White Elephant please. There will be competitions for ALL to enter. Rosters to sign up on, posters advertising the Fair to distribute & Fair Team helpers to answer any questions & discuss any Fair Ideas you may have.
We would love for YOU to pop in & help in whatever way you can manage- be part of the FAIR TEAM.  For this Fair to be the best ever Fair we need YOU to help.
To keep up to date on all things "Fair" make sure you LIKE the  https://www.facebook.com/ptabeckenhamschool/
For those unable to get to school, & keen to HELP click on this link:
https://goo.gl/forms/0FKQ45Gojlc53dyC2

FAIR FUN FACT:

In the PC world of “participation certificates” the Beckenham School PTA are offering all the ‘BECKENHAM BLOKES’ out there an opportunity to COMPETE & WIN!
For the first time ever the Twilight Fair is having a ‘Beckenham Blokes Cake Decorating Competition’
Theme “Anything starting with the letter B”
No cost to enter. Cakes are delivered to the Fair already decorated ready to be judged. Cakes must be edible as they will be auctioned off at the end of judging. Bought PLAIN sponges can be used to decorate. NO Female involvement allowed. Open to all ages. Register your interest NOW: https://goo.gl/forms/8BDiFF8WtPBRcdxk2
Please note this is a family friendly event, any “B” body parts must be dressed!

Community Notices

Cashmere Netball Club

Future Ferns (Year 3-5) : No trials
Juniors (Year 6-13) : We will be running two trial dates (morning and afternoon). Please try and attend both trials.

Sunday March 4th

Year 6 & 7 : 9am -10.30am
Year 8 : 10.40am -12noon
Year 9 - 13 : 10am - 11am

Sunday March 11th

Year 6 & 7 : 2pm - 3.30pm
Year 8 : 3.40pm - 5pm
Year 9 - 13 : 2pm - 3pm

Halswell United AFC

Latino Market Carnival

Bring your colours!!! Enjoy our Carnaval at the S​quare!
Latino Market Carnaval - Cathedral Square -
Saturday 24th of February -  from 4pm to 8pm -
Enjoy our popular event, full of colour and fun, with Latin Street food, Live music, workshops, dance floor and performances with Latin rhythms. (including capoeira and samba do Brasil)

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome back to the start of 2018! I hope you have all managed to have some holiday time with your whānau and caught some of the wonderful weather along the way.

Welcome to our 16 New Entrants who have started school this year, along with the 19 other new students from Years 1-8 who have also joined us. Welcome also to the 6 new students in the Ferndale unit, bringing their total numbers now to 12.

We also welcome new staff to the school: Hannah Elliott in the Year 7/8 team, and Jess McColl, Margaret Billett, and Sumiko Pollock in the Ferndale Unit.

Start of Year Learning Conferences

It was wonderful to see whānau and tamariki at Learning Conferences last week. We held 413 Learning Conferences over the two days for the 428 children on our start of year roll. That's over 96% - thank you all for your commitment and presence. We listened to the feedback that you shared with us from the mid-year learning conferences and, whilst the purpose of the start of year conferences is different, we used that feedback to inform and modify these latest conferences. We hope you found them informative and worthwhile.
We would appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to give us your feedback on your learning conference experience, by clicking on this link.

Mathematics - a problem-solving focused approach

During our three staff only days at the end of January, we were fortunate to have a day with Dr Bobbie Hunter from Massey University. The focus of the day was on "Developing a Community of Mathematical Inquiry"
Dr Hunter's research and approach was originally targeted at low decile schools with high Māori and Pasifika populations and the short introductory video below was produced two years ago. The results of this methodology  have been so successful, that the Ministry of Education are now supporting schools around New Zealand to work with Dr Hunter, and to use this approach in their teaching of mathematics. As a Community of Learning, Beckenham, along with St Martins and Cashmere High School, will be working with Bobbie this year, funded by the Ministry of Education, to develop our understanding of this approach. We are very excited to be working with Bobbie and her team and introducing this mathematical inquiry approach to our teaching and learning.

Senior Leadership

As most of you will know, Michelle Maule is on secondment to the Ministry of Education for the first half of this year. I am delighted to have the leadership support of Sue Leadbetter in the Acting Deputy Principal position during this time. Sue and I look forward to supporting all of our students and staff through the year ahead.


2018 looks set to be an exciting year, and we are all looking forward to working together with you and your children.

Ngā mihi
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Citizen of the Week

Nika Turner-Germon - Year 3

Nika, you are an outstanding role-model in our team. The way you have started the year in Kōwhai has been incredibly impressive. You are kind and thoughtful and always on task. Tino Pai Nika!

We are sooooooo EXCITED!!!!
Mark your calendars- Friday 23rd March 2018 will be our first TWILIGHT FAIR since 2014. Let's showcase our NEW school & celebrate with the best fair ever!!! Thanks to wonderful Gail Harris from Platform Design Ltd for another stylish poster design

Calling all Artists, Musicians, business owners & generous soles…..We are on the hunt for donations of prizes, vouchers, cash, food, services & acts to help us to create an amazing Twilight Fair

If you are a business/person that can help, please click on the link for more detailed information: https://goo.gl/forms/UXBCuV3Z4iURxLhB3

All funds raised from the Twilight Fair will be added to the PTA ‘OUTDOOR SPACES’ FUND

CHRISTCHURCH UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB OPEN DAYS 

Sunday 25th February & Sunday 11th March at Spreydon Domain.
11am -1pm  Spreydon Domain - Domain Terrace.  A welcome back to our club members and welcome to all new players.
Inflatable Pitch, Target Shooting, Fun Games, Sausage Sizzle and Coffee
Fun for all the family!

Guitar Tuition

Want to learn to play guitar? Want to play your favourite songs? Want to be able to play in a band? Joe Jutha, a qualified musician would love to teach you! Have you tried to learn before but it seemed too hard? Joe has developed many different and exciting ways to teach students so don’t give up! Give it a try! $30/Half hour (Monthly deals are available).  Contact Joe for available times or to have a chat about what he can offer you!Guitar tutor Joe: 0221932976

Aquagym

459 Cashel St
Ph:381- 0299
Learn to Swim
& Coaching
AquaGym and Sumner Pool
Bookings still open for Term 1
Leaders in Aquatic Education

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

This is definitely the FINAL newsletter of the year!

Did you get your child's report today?
Today your child(ren) should have brought home their report, stationery list and a letter about their teacher and team for 2018 and a request to book a learning conference for the start of the year.  We encourage you to order your stationery online through OfficeMax - the stationery lists are there also, and on our website.

BYOD for Year 5-8 students in 2018
Year 5-8 students are strongly encouraged to bring their own device to school in 2018. Any tablet, chromebook or laptop will work, however, if you are considering buying something new, then we would recommend a Chromebook. OfficeMax do a very reasonably priced bundle, again - this can be purchased online using the Office Max Back to School website.

Learning Conferences - 1 & 2 Feb
PLEASE book the learning conference now, before you go on holiday or forget, so you can tick that off your list and put your time in your diary!
The Booking link is www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and the code is pdfwh. Learning Conferences will be on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd February.

Year 8 Graduation
We had a fabulous celebration yesterday with the graduation of our 40 Year 8 students. Each and every one of them has made their own unique contributions to our school, and we wish them all the very best as they head to their various high schools in 2018.

Finally, I would like to share a huge THANK YOU to you all from all of the staff here at Beckenham for your support and encouragement through this challenging building year.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas a Happy New Year, and a very safe summer.

Ka kite koutou

Sandy and the team.

Citizen of the Week

Torun Joergensen - Year 3

Torun, you are a friendly, polite, curious and motivated learner. You display a positive attitude towards your school work and learning tasks - you get to work on your tasks, settling quickly, focussing well and seeing activities through to completion.  These excellent self management skills make you a wonderful role model to others in large groups, small groups and in individual learning situations. You are a kind, caring friend to others and you show that you love learning and that you love a challenge by the way you give all new learning your best effort. Your growing confidence is letting these attributes shine.  We love your positive attitude and reliability in the Kowhai team. Well done Torun!

The school office will close for the summer holidays on Thursday 21st December at 3pm and will re-open on Monday 29th January.

School Working Bee

Year 8 2018 School Based Vaccination Programme

We are pleased to inform you the Canterbury DHB will continue to offer a School Based Vaccination
Programme to Year 8 boys and girls, who have not completed their eleven year old vaccinations in
General Practice.
The School Based Vaccination programme will offer the two dose HPV vaccinations to protect
against genital warts, cervical cancer, throat and mouth cancers, and other types of cancers later in
life. In 2018 the programme has been extended to include a one dose Boostrix vaccination to
provide protection against Tetanus, Diphtheria and Whooping Cough.
To enable students to receive the vaccinations at school, a vaccination pack will be sent home in
Term one, Parent/Caregivers will need to complete and return the consent form to school.

Sports News

Canterbury Athletics
We were gifted with a respite from the intense heat of recent days to provide great conditions for Canterbury Athletics at Ashburton last Wednesday. Twelve children from Pohutukawa and Kauri represented our school and zone as they competed against the best of the best from our region. It is such an achievement to get through to this level of competition. We are very proud of all our athletes’ determination, character and preparation.

Kaia Joergenson 2nd 1200m
Tilly Harris 2nd 100m


13 year old girl’s 1200m)

Community Notices

Play Football during the warm months of the Summer at Halswell Domain

First Kicks / Fun Football for 4-8 year olds
Fridays: 4:30-5:30pm
Skill Centres for 9-12 year olds & 13+ years
Tuesdays/Thursdays: 4.30-5.30pm (9th/10th), 5.45pm-6.45pm (11th/12th)
Wednesdays: 5.45pm-6.45pm (13+ years)
Girls Only HUB for 9-12 year olds
Wednesdays: 4.30pm-5.30pm
Visit website for information and registration links

For TERM 1, 2018
www.hawkfootball.org.nz
HALSWELL UNITED AFC

Our Senior Players get together every Wednesday 6.30pm for a friendly kick around (registration not necessary for this)
Email: huafcGM@gmail.com or
phone: 0277 748 232 for more information

Kiwivolley Holiday Fun
Three sessions of fun-filled volleyball and games.  Includes a mini tournament.  Suitable for any level - complete beginners welcome!
Learn all the basic skills, meet other volleyball players and have a ton of fun.
Dates: 23,24,25 January.
Time: 9am-12pm.  where: St Margaret's College.
Cost $60 per person.  Register at www.canterburyvolleyball.org

The Christchurch City Libraries Summertime Reading Club

The Christchurch City Libraries annual Summertime Reading Club programme is for kids between 0 and 13 years old inclusive. The competition starts on Friday 1 December 2017 and finishes on Friday 19 January 2018 at 5pm. Try an eBook, read an eMagazine or read to someone – tell us your reading experiences and be in to WIN great prizes.

Children and families with children aged 0 to 13 years inclusive are encouraged to share their reading experiences this summer. All kinds of reading are to be celebrated! Pick up a challenge sheet from any Christchurch City Libraries or download a copy from the library website: https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/summertime-reading-club/

The emphasis this year is on encouraging shared family experiences – have fun together as you celebrate the joy of reading!  Children will be asked to get a teacher, librarian, or parent to ‘stamp, sticker, or tick’ the five experiences they have had.

Aquagym

459 Cashel St
Ph:381- 0299
Learn to Swim
& Coaching
AquaGym and Sumner Pool
Book now for January Holidays and
Term 1
Leaders in Aquatic Education