Category Archives: Weekly Newsletters

Beckenham School Newsletter Friday 14th October 2016

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

What a very busy start to the term it has been so far!

It has been the most different start to a school term that any of us have ever had! We did promise that we wouldn't start bussing our children to Champion St until we could guarantee that there would be building action starting at Beckenham and that promise has certainly been fulfilled.
Our senior students have begun working at the new site and they are loving the experience! They shared a video with the rest of the school this afternoon in assembly which I will arrange to put into next week's newsletter.


Some quotes from the Year 5-8 students about the new learning environment include:
  • I like the new, comfortable furniture.
  • I like the couches.
  • I like bus rides!
  • I like being with the whole of Pohutukawa in a hub instead of being in 2 separate hubs.
  • I like the big outside play spaces.
  • I like having new and different play equipment.
  • It's just awesome!

This week at our Beckenham site it has been extremely busy with the demolition of the Intermediate Hub happening from Monday. The building took two days to remove, and they are now finishing off the removal of the foundations.


All the the classes on that side of the school have grandstand views of the action which has been the catalyst for much oral language development and writing!

By Ashlyn: The noises are bang, crash, crrrr and it makes the ground shake!  The builders are taking the concrete so they can rebuild the classroom. I can see the digger making a lot of noise. I love the diggers because I get to watch them out the window. They are so clever. 
By Luka: The digger is making a crashing noise like it is raining concrete. The intermediate children are moving to Champion Street because the builders are making a new building.
By Archie: I see a digger eating a high verandah. Why are you smashing the classrooms down? It is raining concrete! The builders are smashing the buidings down to build a new school.
By Bailee: The digger is cool. It looks like a dinosaur and it sounds funny. It sounds like rocks flying from the sky and the builders are breaking some classrooms. They are building a new school.
By Aine: I am very excited about the construction going on. It all is, well I can’t really know everything but I do know that the big digger opens its mouth and then it lowers its mouth and closes it again. It also sounds like crash, bang, roar! The digger even works in the rain. It was raining concrete as it smashed the classroom! The builders are building another classroom. What is it going to look like?
By Keira R: The digger is a dinosaur and it makes a loud crack! Bang, arrr, smash! It is raining concrete! The builders are crashing the school they are working hard. What is it going to look like? Is it going to be red?

HRS have shared a plan (attached), which has been published as a a maildrop for local residents, outlining the arrangements that are being set up next week for access to the two building sites through the park entrance at Norwood St. The large green boxes on the plan are 'student crossings' with gates that will be able to be opened and closed to students at appropriate times, to ensure that vehicles travelling along the access are always kept separate from students who need to cross.


Recording the journey

We are looking for a parent who would like to be our official ‘rebuild photographer’ and document the rebuild over the next 18 months through pictures. We envisage this involving taking half a dozen photos from specific points around the school a couple of times a week. This will then allow us to display photos for our community, and capture the changing school environment for posterity. If this sounds like you, please contact me through principal@beckenham.school.nz or leave a message at the office.

Thank you all for your patience and willingness to go the extra distance, quite literally, as you walk further from cars and find new routes around the school to find your child's class and to access BOSCO in the new home in the old R8/9.
It's been a fairly exhausting week for staff, and very exciting at the same time, to see this journey finally started.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Wed 19 Oct
Special group photos plus hub 12 & 13.
Board of Trustees meeting 6-8:30pm
Thu 20 Oct
Yr 5-8 Athletics in Beckenham Park. 9am-3pm.
Whanau Hui at Beckenham School 6-8pm.
Wed 26 Oct
Yr 5 & 6 Summer Tournament, Teeball & Futsal. 9am-3pm
PTA Meeting 7:30-8:30pm in staffroom.
Thu 27 Oct
Music Festival Rehearsal at Horncastle Arena. 9am-12:30pm
Yr 5 & 6 Glee Club perform at Music Festival 5:30-7:30pm
Fri 28 Oct
PTA uniform room open 8:45-9:15am


Term Dates

Click here to view the 2016 and 2017 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Blake Grayburn - Year 2

Blake, you are a wonderful role model for our Hub. You consistently show the Beckenham way. We can always rely on you to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason, even when no-one is looking. That integrity shows in all areas of your learning. You focus hard to achieve your goals. You constantly strive to show your personal best. We are so very proud of how you have grown in confidence this year. What a true super hero! Ka pai to mahi!

Sharing our Learning

Kahikatea Team

Geometry

We had an exciting end to the term when we combined our Maths focus with Discovery Stations and explored directions and turns. We explored and created mazes, followed and gave directions and created pictures and buildings by following instructions.







Writing

We were focusing on writing about a character. Our goal was to make the writing as interesting as possible for the reader. We do this by writing an interesting ‘hook’ at the beginning, using adjectives and similes and writing an interesting ending. Here are some awesome examples of writing from our talented authors:

Greedy Cat

Greedy Cat is as hungry as a jawsome crocodile.
He is as scruffy as a kune kune pig.
He has black stripes and an orange background. 
And he is as greedy as a turkey! 

By Sophie Macdonald


Kung Fu Monkey

Kung Fu Monkey
Kung Fu Monkey
Kung Fu Monkey
He is fat
Kung Fu Monkey
He is chubby. 

By Luke Hancock


My Mum

She is nice, my Mum. She has very short black hair and long legs like a lizard. She is as beautiful as a butterfly. Her actions are very peculiar. She is never angry and doesn’t do yoga. She always has a very big smile. Do you think those are good reasons? I do too! 
I like her enormous smile. I like her soft hair. She looks small. 
I love my Mum. And do you know what? She loves me too. And she always will.

By William Pooch


Sandy

Sandy is like a bell bird. She sings beautiful waiata. 
She is sparkly. She is a princess.
Sandy is a blanket. She is warm and makes us feel better.

Written collaboratively by a Hub 3&4 writing group

School Notices

Gender Diversity

Our values of ‘We Care’ and We Get There Together’ underpin the way we treat one another and are the foundation of the inclusive approach that we aspire to always practice.
As part of our sexuality education programme, which the Year 5-8 students are about to continue, we will be including gender diversity in our discussions about diversity. Our staff are getting additional support and are learning about these topics too. This will enable us to ensure our learning environments are strongly inclusive and supportive of all children, and teach children to be supportive and inclusive of one another.


We currently have a student at the school who is gender diverse and is in the process of transitioning (changing their expression of gender from their birth sex to the gender they identify with). We are committed to supporting this student, as we do all students. There will no doubt be discussions and questions about this from time to time in the classrooms and among students. We encourage you to talk about diversity with your child(ren). Please do come and talk to your child’s teacher or to Michelle or I if you have any questions we can assist with, or if you would like any information to support your discussions with your child at home.

#TheFairestOfThemAll       

An original children's play, presented by New Zealand Playhouse.

We are pleased to welcome back to Beckenham School, New Zealand Playhouse for their current show #TheFairestOfThemAll.  Snow White and the mirror compete for social media popularity. Viruses and rumours create mayhem while the princess learns about the value of true friendship, putting electronic devices down to enjoy life and the importance of staying safe online.

The Magic Mirror’s cracking up. Now Snow White’s a princess everybody knows she’s ‘the fairest of them all’ and he’s out of a job. After some bitter reflection he decides it’s time for Princess White to be sent back to the forest so he can once again be the mirror-to-the-stars.


With the help of a gruff goat-deprived internet troll, the Mirror launches a very 21st century poisoned ‘Apple’ attack to hijack her computer and cause social media mayhem.

When everyone turns against her, including her beloved prince, she turns to the only friends she has left, the seven dwarfs. Will they be willing to help her one more time and what shocking secret are they hiding?

New Zealand Playhouse will be coming to Beckenham on Monday 17th October, from 1:50pm until 2:50pm. The cost of this to the school is $5 per child. A request for a contribution to this will be on your Term 4 account.  All of our students will be seeing this as the Champion St buses will drop children back to Beckenham for the 1:50pm start.

English ICAS: 

Congratulations to all the children who participated in the English ICAS test. The following students achieved outstanding results: 

Year 5: Kate Cornfoot-Merit, Florence Gerard-Credit. 

Year 6: Adam Barton-Credit, Georgina Cockfield-Credit. 

Year 7: Isaac Macdonald-Credit, Juliette Gray-Credit, Alex Braun-Distinction, Amelia Cannon-Distinction, Kaia Joergensen-Distinction, Sadie McLoughlin-Distinction, Daisy York-Distinction, Rosie Zinzan-Dickie-Distinction. 

Year 8: William Hanlon-Credit.

Community Notices

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

Bring the whole family down to the Bowls Canterbury Have a Go sessions held at local bowling Clubs this November.
These are FREE family friendly events and are perfect for anyone from 2 years to 102.
Find Bowls Canterbury on Facebook or follow the link below for more event information.
http://www.bowlscanterbury.co.nz/Category?Action=View&Category_id=4584

Touch Canterbury Junior Trials
Sunday 16 October, Sheldon Park, Belfast
The Touch Canterbury junior trails for the under 12 and under 14 grades are taking place very soon on the 16th of October and we would love to get as many kids there as we can.
Important things  to remember are that the participant has to be playing at an affiliated module to be eligible. The participants also must be younger than the age they are trialing for by the 31st of December, (i.e. For under 12 the participant must not turn 12 until the following year).  The under 12's registration time starts at 9:30am and trial beginning at 10am. The under 14's registration starting 11:30am and trials at 12pm. If anyone wishes to seek more information about the trials, we have all information needed online at  our website http://www.touchcanterbury.co.nz/touch-canterbury/.
Logan Forrester
Junior Development Officer
Touch Canterbury
0278702633
03-323-6102

St Martin's School Fiesta

Saturday, October 29th, 10am-2pm
Come along and enjoy our bouncy castles, home baking, Devonshire teas, face painting, stage entertainment .... not to mention all our glorious food including gourmet burgers (meat and vege), sushi, bacon butties, salads, waffles, snow cones and of course, candy floss and popcorn.
There will be a live auction of some great sporting memorabilia, some exiting gift packs for silent auction and the final opportunity to buy a raffle ticket and be in the draw to win some great prizes from local businesses. You can pick up a Christmas gift or three, plants for your garden, browse through our pre-loved books, white elephant and clothes, and external stalls or check out your skills in side-show alley - we have it all!
The Fiesta is our major fundraising event of the year and the money raised will be used to support redevelopment of our school hall.
We look forward to seeing you there!


Important Update for the beginning of Term 4, 2016

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Important Update for the beginning of Term 4, 2016

Kia ora koutou

As you will be aware, we are now officially building and all of the planning and organisation that has been going on is now a reality.

The safety and wellbeing of everyone is our priority for tomorrow, over everything else. If we can have a clear understanding of plans and expectations for moving safely around both sites, and for the bussing back and forth to Champion St, we will set the term up for safety and success.

This is a lengthy email as there is a lot of very important information that we need you to have. Please do read it carefully.

Getting in and out of the Beckenham site

Below is a map of the school, showing access points into the school (Beckenham flags) and access routes around the school (in green).


We will have the four new school flags flying at the four access points to the school tomorrow morning. These points are:

Sandwich Road - the main entrance at the crossing/flagpole
Sandwich Road - at the Dental Clinic
Eastern Tce - via the driveway by Hub8/9 (old R21/22)
Norwood St Park entrance (or any entrance via park) - through into the junior playground or behind Hub 8/9



Fences and Building Site

The fences that are up today (Sunday) are not quite what will be up once the building gets going. We are expecting the demolition of the old Intermediate Hub to happen one day this coming week, and then the 'normal' fencing and access routes will be in place at that time. In the interim, we will be working closely with the Site Manager to ensure that safety and access are prioritised.

Moving around the Beckenham site

Yes - this is going to take a little bit of getting used to as routes are very specific and have changed since last term.
Hub 1/2/3/4 and Hub 10/11 students should have no major changes.
Hub 12/13 children will need to access their rooms through the staff car park fenced off access path.
For Hub 8/9 and Hub 7, the best access in the morning and afternoon (if you are coming in the main Sandwich Road entrance) will be to go through the junior playground, onto the park and then down to your classrooms.

It is very important to remember that none of us have ANY permission to cross fences into the building site - we should consider that this is NO LONGER part of our school. We have no authority over the building site areas - they are now the responsibility of HRS, as is the Health and Safety of anyone who is inside the fenced area.
There will be an Assembly at 9:30am on Monday morning for EVERYONE at the Beckenham Site, to talk about Health and Safety and access around our site. Following this, teachers will be walking their classes around the site and reminding them where they are/are not allowed to go, and which routes they need to take to get there.

Y5-8 students at Beckenham site

In the mornings we need the Y5-8 students to access the buses on Eastern Tce by staying out of the school site, except for those children who come in the Norwood St park entrance, who will then go across to Hub 8/9 (old 21/22), around the back new path and down the driveway to the buses.
Children who arrive at school via Sandwich Rd will be asked to stay on the footpath and walk down to Eastern Tce that way.
The same will apply in the afternoons when Y5-8 students disembark their buses. If they need to go to BOSCO, they should go onto the park, then in to BOSCO via the entrance by the junior playground. If they need to meet a sibling, they should either go through the park to the Junior playground, or around the road, up Sandwich Road and meet them at the flagpole or bike area.
Y5-8 students who bike or scooter to school need to lock their bikes/scooters in the bike stand area, then walk back out onto Sandwich Road and around to the bus on Eastern Tce, and use the same route in the afternoon.

Morning tea and Lunchtime at Beckenham

To ensure safety of all of the children we are planning to keep all the children in two spaces at break times - the park (for Year 3/4 only), and the junior playground for all children. There will be teachers on duty during morning tea and lunchtime in both those spaces.

BOSCO

We are not certain that the access to the new BOSCO rooms (the old Room 8/9) will be ready by 7am tomorrow, so please take your morning BOSCO children to the Hall (via the junior playground doors). If their rooms are accessible, staff will escort them over. If not, they will meet in the hall for the morning session.
At 3pm BOSCO staff will collect children from Hubs 10,11,12 & 13, and will meet Y1-4 children BOSCO children outside Hub 1-4 and escorting them to the BOSCO rooms. We expect the access to BOSCO to be ready for the afternoon session.
Please do not park in the staff car park when dropping or collecting children from BOSCO.

Assembly this Thursday

For logistical reasons, we have changed the time of Assemblies to be on Thursday afternoons. Children from Champion St will bus over earlier and come in directly to assembly and children at the Beckenham site will pack up before coming over to assembly, so that they are ready to pick up their bags when assembly ends at 3pm, and go home. This coming Thursday we will start with our traditional Welcome Assembly (2:15pm) and this will be immediately followed by our normal Celebration Assembly which will be led by the Kauri (Y7/8) team.
Prior to the assembly, the PTA are holding a Welcome afternoon tea in the hall foyer at 1:30pm - new families are particularly encouraged to attend.

Emergency Evacuations

We will have a trial evacuation at both sites on Monday 17th October.

Contacting Champion St

The phone number for Champion St is an extension of the phones at Beckenham. That means that you still call the Beckenham number 337 1404 and ask to be put through to someone at Champion St. Teachers' email addresses have not changed.

Buses to Champion St

A reminder that these will be leaving at 8:30am sharp. We expect the buses to be arriving at 8:15am, so students need to check in with one of the teachers on duty, then get onto their appropriate bus, checking in with their particular bus monitor as they get on. (They should get to know this drill pretty quickly).

Vehicles at Champion St

During school time, no vehicles should come onto the school site. A small number of vehicles will be able to park in the driveway and the rest will need to park on the OPPOSITE side of Champion Street to the school entrance (to leave the school side for the afternoon buses.)

Parent Drop-Off/Pick-up at Champion St

If you are dropping your child off, or picking them up early at Champion St, the same digital sign-in/out process applies at the Champion St reception area. Please ensure that this is always followed.

Ferndale Taxi bus

The Ferndale taxi bus will be parking on Sandwich Road, near the dental clinic and students will enter and exit the site via the Dental Clinic steps. Tony Lee will be putting cones out for the van each day so please ensure that you do not park in this spot - Thank you.

Traffic and Parking at Beckenham

As you will see on the access plan, the staff car park has become a primary access route for students and staff, and now only has 5 staff parks remaining in it. Please DO NOT walk through the staff car park at any time as this creates significant risk for children who will copy this behaviour.
Staff have been asked to park on the south side of Sandwich Road, leaving the north (school) side of Sandwich Road available for parents to drop off children. WE STRONGLY URGE those of you who can, to walk to school or to plan your journey earlier and park in adjacent streets including Birdwood Ave and Martin Ave. If you are using Sandwich Road, we would encourage you to pull up - kiss goodbye, drop off - and drive away, so that we can minimise the traffic build up.
Please note that parking on Eastern Tce (from Sandwich Road to the Ponds) will be restricted to buses only on the school side, and there are NO PARKING signs on the river side. It is critical that these restrictions are followed, to ensure that children are not crossing between cars and buses, and to allow for safe movement of traffic on Eastern Tce when the buses are there.

Tomorrow morning, Michelle Maule will be on Eastern Tce helping with the Champion St buses, Cath Barrie will be on Sandwich Rd at the flagpole entrance assisting foot traffic and I will be on the park access point. Our job is to check that all of the access points are working for everyone, and to help anyone who might be unsure about where to go.

Finally I would like to acknowledge the very hard work of staff, the Board of Trustees, and our Project Team, both at the end of last term and, for many, during the holidays, preparing at both sites to ensure that this coming term goes smoothly.

Thank you for reading to the end of this important newsletter!

We are VERY excited about the fact that the builders are on site and our building programme is underway and we want to ensure that they can get on with their jobs, and we can get on with learning, each without interruption.
Your help and support through this period is very much appreciated. If you have any questions, please email me in the first instance and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.
principal@beckenham.school.nz

Regards
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Beckenham School Newsletter 23 September 2016

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Building and moving update

The building project finally has the GREEN LIGHT and it is all about to begin. What a busy and exciting week it has been - with today being spectacular from start to finish. The moving trucks arrived at 8am, and by midday all of the items being moved to Champion Street for our Year 5-8 classes had been safely delivered. Our Year 5-8 students took part in a might Quiz in the hall whilst the packers were doing their work.



The afternoon saw the whole school disappear into the hall for an AMAZING Talent Quest. Congratulations to all of the finalists - Tamsin, Ailie and I were the judges and we had the very toughest job of the whole day!

At the same time, Paulette and Michelle were directing the moving team once again, moving all of the Year 3/4 classes into their new learning spaces.
The staff have all put in very long hours this week - it was always going to be needed - and we are really looking forward to our first day in our new learning spaces, at Champion St and at Beckenham, tomorrow, before everyone takes a well-deserved break for the holidays.

Year 7/8 students start the day tomorrow by going to South Intermediate for technology - the bus will be leaving at 8:55am.
Year 5/6 students need to be at school at the normal time, and to meet in Hub 14/15.
Assembly will be in the hall for everyone at 9:15am.
At 10am, the Year 5/6 students will make their way to Champion St by bus.
Parents and whānau of our Year 5-8 students are invited to join us at Champion St from 12:30-1:30pm for a barbeque lunch. (Please park on the street, being aware of residents' driveway access)
The Year 5-8 students will all bus back to school to be ready to go home at 3pm.

To make life easier (we hope) we have decided to stick with the learning hub names that children and teachers have been using all year, even though the rooms themselves might be different.
This is particularly important if you are ordering lunch through LunchOnline - if you have the wrong room number in their system - your lunch might get delivered to the wrong site!

So - parents please double check your LunchOnline account and make sure that you have the correct room down for your child - especially in Year 3/4 - as follows:

Mike/Paulette/Gayle - Hub 5/6 (working in the staffroom)
Gayle - Hub 7 (working in Room 19)
Anna/Rebekah - Hub 8/9 (working in Rooms 21/22)

Thank you all for your patience and support with the building process so far. It has been a very slow journey to date, but now that we are actually underway, we are very hopeful that it will be a more streamlined process.

I expect to have pre-site meetings with the building team very early next week, and will then be able to put out information before school starts about what to expect when you return.
I know that there is much interest in the community about seeing the classrooms that are being relocated leave - so I will email out a schedule for that when it is confirmed.

Best wishes to all for a restful holiday. We are very excited about seeing you all again, to what will look like quite a different school for everyone, on Monday 10th October.

Ka kite anō
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Fri 23 Sept
Assembly - 9:15am - All welcome
School finishes at 3:00pm

Mon 10 Oct
Term 4 commences.
Yrs 5-8 be on Eastern Tce between 8:15and 8:25am for 8:30am for buses to Champion Street
Years 1-4 classes start at 8:55am

Term Dates

Click here to view the 2016 and 2017 term dates.




Citizen of the Week

Name - Emma Kneale Year - 4

Emma, you are a shining example of an independent and self-motivated learner. You always strive to do your personal best and you set and achieve your learning goals. We love how you lead by example by consistently making great choices and 'doing the right thing' in our hub. You have a creative imagination and kind and caring nature that sees you having many friends and we feel very fortunate to have you in our team. Tino pai!

Sharing our Learning

Pohutukawa Team



Last Thursday the sun rose with a smile on its face as it saw the awesome event at Beckenham School. It was the culmination of hours of innovation, enterprise and hard work - the Pōhutukawa market day.


All term we had been learning about different countries in Asia. Many of our families come from Asian families and they were able to share their culture with us. Groups of children formed small businesses. They researched the food and culture of their chosen country to create a product. They worked together to design packaging, create advertisements, conduct surveys and make prototypes. Shopping lists were written. Ingredients were purchased. Then began the hard work of making amazing products to sell.

Thank you everyone for the support you gave to us. It was wonderful to see you lining up before school to buy market day tickets. It was even more wonderful to see you at the market, buying our products and enjoying the wonderful market atmosphere. Thank you also to our lovely parents who supported us by helping with making products and by donating extra ingredients.

The market was a financial success. Once we had deducted the ingredients we made a profit which will be used to reduce the cost of our camp at Living Springs next term.

YEAR 5 -8 SEXUALITY EDUCATION

As part of our health curriculum, Teams Pōhutukawa and Kauri will be teaching sexuality education in Term 4.
We are holding a parent evening on Thursday 13 October at 6.30pm in the hall foyer.  Paul Scammell from Family Planning will explain the programme based on the resource THE SEXUALITY ROADSHOW.
If you have any questions or concerns about the programme this will be an excellent opportunity to find out more.
This is a parent only evening, however we can organise a separate room for your child to watch a DVD if you are unable to organise a babysitter. Please let the office know if you would like to take us up on this offer.

Staff News:

We are thrilled for Amanda McLean and her partner who are expecting their first baby in the new year. Amanda is one of the NE teachers in Hub 10/11. Amanda will be taking next year off as she takes on the new challenge and joy of motherhood.

Community Notices

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

Malthouse Theatre: BACKBEARD - the hairiest pirate who ever lived!. 

24th Sept - 9th Oct, Sat & Sun at 11am and 1pm.
All tickets $8 book online at www.malthouse.co.nz

Beckenham School Newsletter, Friday 16th September 2016

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Update on the Building Programme, and the move to Champion St

A big 'Thank you' to all of the Y5-8 parents who attended the meeting on Wednesday evening to find out about the logistics of the move to Champion St. We are feeling very excited about the changes ahead, and confident that we have the plans in place to make this move to Champion St a very successful and positive learning experience for everyone. This weekend I will be updating the slideshow that I shared on Wednesday, and will then post it up on the website for everyone to view by Monday.

At this stage, next Friday (23 September) will be our Y5-8's first day at Champion St. We would like to invite all of the Y5-8 parents and caregivers to join us at 102 Champion St from 12:30-1:30pm on that Friday for a sausage sizzle and to have a look around the site. The children will then spend from 1:30-2:30pm in class, and bus back to school for the 3pm finish.

We are still waiting for final confirmation from the Ministry of Education that they have signed off the contract with the builder. As soon as we have this we will be able to confirm all of the plans that are currently pending. We are very hopeful that this will be confirmed this coming Tuesday.

As the contract hasn't yet been confirmed, we haven't yet had a chance to meet with the builder and the site foreman to confirm all of their site plans, and agree on the final details of the health and safety plans for our building site. This will be our first priority as soon as the contract is signed.

Once we have had this meeting, we will be able to let you all know what these details will be. There will be areas that will be fenced off and limitations on the access points into and out of the school grounds. Ensuring that our junior students can move safely and easily around the school will be a priority.

Changes in the office:

The Board of Trustees have recently accepted the resignation of Audrey Cooper as our Executive Officer. Audrey has served the school tirelessly for over 32 years, first as a Teacher Aide and then moving into the office. She has seen several principals and many hundreds of children and families come through the school. Her own granddaughters still attend Beckenham School. Audrey is will finish her full-time role next Friday, however, she has agreed to stay on in a part-time role (completing payroll activities to ensure our staff get paid via the beast that is NOVOPAY) until the end of the year. We will farewell and thank her properly at that time.

Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Wed 21 Sep
9:15-9:45am Concert in the hall - Training & Concert Bands performing. All welcome
7:30pm - PTA Meeting

Thu 22 Sep
1:30-3:00pm. Beckenham School Annual Talent Quest - All welcome

Fri 23 Sep
PTA Uniform room open 8:45-9:15am
Celebration Assembly - 9:15-9:45am.  All Welcome.
Y7/8 technology at South Int (instead of Tuesday this week)
Y5-8 students to Champion St after assembly
Y7/8 students to Champion St after technology
all Y5-8 parents invited to 102 Champion St from 12:30-1:30pm for a sausage sizzle

School finishes at 3:00pm

Mon 10 Oct
Term 4 commences.
Yrs 5-8 be at sch before 8:30 for bus to Champion Street, leaving from Eastern Tce
Years 1-4 classes start at 8:55am

Click here to view the 2016 and 2017 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Name - Rekha Thony Year 6

Rekha, you are such a conscientious, hardworking student. You diligently complete every learning task to the best of your ability. You embrace leadership opportunities and help others in your own quiet and thoughtful way. We know that we can rely on you whenever there is a job to be done and we enjoy your ready smile and your generous personality. Thank you for making our hub a better place.

Sharing our Learning

Kauri Team


One of the key skills that workers of the future will need is flexibility: the ability to cope with change. Our Year 5 - 8 students are on the cusp of embracing change as our building project is about to begin.  Over the past week, both Pōhutukawa and Kauri have visited Beckenham @ Champion Street. The classrooms look different, the playground looks different, how we get to school will be different, however what we do in our classrooms will be essentially the same. There is definitely a buzz of excitement and there are lots of questions. We love it when students ask questions. Questions show that they are using their deep thinking skills. Kauri whānau had a great time exploring the Champion Street site. Great trees, lots of court space, a new configuration of classrooms and new opportunities to embrace. Our passion choices for next term will include a gardening club, to make the most of the garden beds right beside our hub.

One of our current passion groups are enthusiastically painting their kiwiana murals. We hope to have these finished and up on the exterior walls of the Champion St buildings before the end of term. There is lots of change to embrace and we are doing this with enthusiasm and a ‘glass half full’ attitude. Bring on term four, we can’t wait!

Celebrating recent successes in Year 7 & 8:

As usual, we have been very busy in and out of the classroom in Year 7 & 8.
Te Whānau Mahi Tahi were awe-inspiring at last week’s Cultural Festival.
Oskar and Jordan did a fabulous job of representing Beckenham at the south zone speech finals last week.
Two weeks ago our Year 7 and our Year 8 Cantamath teams were placed in the top 10% of schools in Canterbury, both scoring 100%.
Dom, Isaac, Kaia, Hannah, Oakley and Alex displayed their science projects at the Canterbury Science Fair last weekend. Special congratulations to Kaia for receiving the prize for excellent use of statistics in a science project.



School Notices

A lovely sample of writing from one of our Year 2 students.....

My Mum
She’s helpful my mum.
My Mum is good at discoing and dancing. 
My mum is good at baking pancakes.  
My mum is good.
My mum helps me do arts and crafts.  
She’s nice my mum.  
She’s really helpful.
My Mum helps me to make Lego models.
My Mum is really, REALLY helpful.
I love my Mum.
I love her to the moon and back.
And she loves me.


By Flynn (Hub3/4)


Canterbury Rugby - free rugby tickets for Fri 7 Oct:
We have been very lucky to have some tickets for the Canterbury versus North Harbour Rugby game donated to the school. The game is on Friday October 7th at 7:35pm at AMI Stadium.  If you would like some tickets, please email me at office@beckenham.school.nz with the number of tickets you would like and the names of the people who would be attending.  We will do our best to distribute the tickets as fairly as possible amongst our school community.

ChCh School’s Music Festival (Yr5/6 Glee Club)
Tickets ordered and paid for are available to be collected from the Office.
Thank you

Lost Property
The lost property bin in the office foyer is overflowing.  Please check to see if there are any items that belong to your child.  Any unclaimed items which are still in the bin on Wednesday of next week, will be donated to the PTA Uniform room or, to a charity bin, if they are not school uniform items.

Mobile Phone Recycling Appeal
This week is Conservation week in New Zealand - the overarching theme for Conservation Week is 'Healthy Nature Healthy People'.  It encourages people to become aware of the link between a healthy natural environment and their own health. By providing environmentally responsible recycling we are all helping to divert phones and accessories away from our landfills, keeping our environment healthy and protecting our future. Please support this great cause and bring any old mobile phones to the school office.

Dental Care over the School Holidays
The Community Dental Service will operate an emergency service over the school holidays.
This service is to provide relief of pain only and will not undertake ‘routine’ treatment. The
service will be available each working day from 8:30am until 12:30pm from the Hillmorton
Hospital site.
Monday, 26 th September to Friday, 30 th September 2016 (excluding weekends)
and Monday, 3 rd October to Thursday, 6 th October 2016 (excluding weekends)
This service will operate by appointment only and if we are unable to see your child,
alternative options will be given. If your child has dental pain as a result of an accident please
contact your dentist in the first instance.
You can phone and make an appointment for the emergency clinic by ringing 0800 846 983.

Sports News

Four of our yr 5/6 girls took up the opportunity to attend a workshop organised by Mainland
Football as part of the FIFA 'Live your Goals Week' which is promoting girls football in New Zealand during September.  The session involved various football skills and games as well as the opportunity to chat with some of our Football Ferns and get autographs!

PTA News

The PTA needs YOU!

For the last FOUR years we have been lucky enough to sell Tip Top packaged ice creams at the A & P Show across the three days it is open. We provide the labour & in exchange we keep the profit on every ice cream sold. Over one hot Show Week we have managed to raise $13,000 profit. Last year the weather gods were unkind but we still managed to raise a profit of $7,500. This is the MAJOR fundraiser for the PTA in 2016. All funds raised will go into the growing 'Outdoor Spaces' fund. This fund will be used to landscape & create outdoor spaces for the children to play in after the school has been rebuilt. Currently the MOE have allocated NO budget towards this. If you can help with this fundraiser in any way please click on this link. We need 80+ helpers across the three days. Extended family, friends & ex-students are welcome to help.
Thanks for your support & you will enjoy FREE entry to the Show the day you help with a chance to shop, connect with the school community & have lots of FUN!!!
Tip Top A & P Show Fundraiser offer to help



Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
The Mother Earth Little Garden Task Force: One lucky school is going to win all the equipment they need to turn their New world Little Garden into a big garden.  The prize is worth $5000 and includes plants, gardening equipment, soil and vegetable beds. Any school in NZ can be nominated for this prize.  Plus, everyone who enters the competition by nominating their school will be in with a chance to win one of 10 goody baskets from Mother Earth $100
How to enter:
1. Purchase any Mother earth product from New World between 12 Sept & 14 October.
2. Photograph the store receipt.
3. Email your photo of the receipt along with the name of the school and town and your contact details to: littlegarden@mothereath.co.nz

JUNIOR SATURDAY CRICKET - register now!!!!!
Last summer the number of teams competing in Junior Cricket in Christchurch rocketed up by 37 teams, in addition to playing in teams, many of the Clubs around Christchurch run development programmes pre-competition for children to learn Cricket skills before they are included in teams.  To find out details of you local club go to this webpage for all the contact details you are after.
The playing season starts on the 15th of October with team entries from clubs due from clubs by the 28th of September so the clock is ticking - get involved.
ChCh Junior Cricket Association
The Christchurch Junior Cricket Association is affiliated the Canterbury Cricket and works for its members - the Cricket Clubs of Christchurch - to promote and organise Junior Cricket up until Year 8 at School.

Kore School holiday Sailing Programme:
KORE are running sailing programmes throughout the holidays at Lake Pegasus and Roto Kohatu reserve.
Join one of our groups or get a group together for even more fun.
Our courses are over 5 sessions of 2 hours running Monday to Friday each week of the holidays.
Contact us for details info@kore.co.nz, www.kore.co.nz or KORE sailing on Facebook.
Book online on our Coachseek page.After school programmes start on October 11th.

SUMMER FOOTBALL - HALSWELL UNITED AFC
Football continues through the Summer all at Halswell Domain.
We have programmes for First Kicks / Fun Football (4-8 year olds), Halswell Skill Centres (8-12 year olds), Halswell GIRLS ONLY HUB (5-12 year olds)
& we have kick arounds for 13 years + to Senior players play every Wednesday too.
Information and Registration: http:/
/www.hawkfootball.org.nz/summer
QUESTIONS?: Email: Sam Bunn (General Manager)  huafcGM@gmail.com  (ph: 0277 748 232)

The New Zealand Ice Figure Skating Championships 2016 will be held in Christchurch from 11-14 October between 3pm-7pm each day.
The two figure skating clubs in Christchurch, Centarus Ice Skating Club and the Canterbury Masters Figure Skating Club, will be co-hosting this event at the Alpine Sports Ice Centre on Brougham Street.
The championships will include the same ice skating events that you are used to seeing as part of the Olympic Winter Games with ladies and men’s singles, pairs and ice dance.  It will also include synchronised skating with teams of up to 16 skaters on the ice at one time.
Entry is $2 per adult $5 per family per day.
Hope to see you there!

The Christchurch Boys' Choir is an auditioned choir made up of boys with treble (unbroken) voice from all schools around the city. We provide boys with opportunities to perform in a choir of a high standard and also to tour around the country, performing in many remarkable venues.
We are auditioning for the choir on Wednesday 28th September from 2:30pm at STAC and are reaching out to all schools in the Christchurch community to provide boys with the opportunity to audition. Any boys who want to audition need to email me at musicaldirector@christchurchboyschoir.co.nz to book an audition time.

IMAGINATION YOGA
Yoga Classes for Kids are commencing Term 4.
TUESDAYS 3:45-4:45pm at the Huntsbury Community Centre, 30H Huntsbury Ave. Imagination Yoga is a wonderful way to introduce your Child to the world of Yoga and Meditation, in a super-fun & creative way. Great compliment to all extra-curricular pursuits, chance to stretch out,  relax & rewind. Especially for 6-12 year olds. Book with Louise on 0226 250 321 or hello@siouxiesolar.com. More info at: siouxiesolar.com/classes


Beckenham School Newsletter September 8th 2016

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We were very proud of all of the members of Te Whānau Mahi Tahi who performed at the Horncastle Arena last Friday evening at the Christchurch Primary Schools Cultural Festival.
The level of complexity of the waiata and te reo Māori that they perform is very high. The songs are carefully chosen to share stories and messages that are relevant to our children and their place in the world.
You can see their performance here:



Building Update

At this stage, the Unconfirmed start date for demolition is the first week of the school holidays. It isn't yet confirmed as we are still waiting on two key items - the building consent and the acceptance of the builder's price by the Ministry. We have always said that we won't be moving children off-site until the start date had been finalised, and this is still the case. At the same time, we are hopeful that this start date will be confirmed and all of the plans below are working towards it and assume that it will be so.

Moving of the Library

Some of you may have noticed that the library has been closed for the last couple of weeks as Anne has been busy boxing up the books for 'yet another' move! As we are going to be needing every classroom space, Tony and Anne have been very busy re-purposing the dental clinic and this is currently being turned into a fabulous 'Junior Library' for our Year 1-4 students.
The 'Senior Library' is sitting in banana boxes, waiting to be shifted over to Champion Street where a cosy room there is being prepared for it to be reinstated.

Moving of Year 3/4 Classes

Assuming that the start date is confirmed for the holidays, we need to move the Year 3/4 classes into new spaces so that the demolition and building programme will be able to move ahead. These moves are currently planned for the last two days of this term, ready to start properly on the first day of Term 4 in the new spaces.

Hub 8/9 

(Anna and Rebekah's building) is not being demolished. However, it is going to be quite cut off from the rest of the school during the building process, and was originally down for demolition. We have managed to negotiate with the Ministry a sensible and positive community outcome where the Ministry signs over these buildings to BOSCO, finally providing BOSCO with a permanent home that will be much better suited to their size and operation than the hall foyer!
Anna, Rebekah and the children from Hub 8/9 will move into Rooms 21/22 which they are looking forward to very much as the rooms are bigger and lighter.

Hubs 5/6/7 

Rather than being demolished, it has been decided by the Ministry that Hubs 5/6/7 can be relocated to Hornby High School and this is pencilled in to happen on Wed 28 September.
Gayle and the children of Hub 7 will be moving to Room 19 which has been the home of the library this year.
Paulette and Mike, and the children of Hub 5/6 are moving into the staffroom! This space has great potential as a learning environment, with three quite distinct spaces that can be opened up or closed off and, of course, includes a kitchen! Michelle and I are very excited about being so close and involved in the learning in Hub 5/6.

Staffroom - moving to the Hall Foyer

"But where are the staff going" I hear you ask! As we will only have half the number of staff on site, we are moving the comfy chairs to the hall foyer for morning tea and lunches and we will hold meetings as needed in a classroom space after school. The staff workroom will move into Michelle's old office and these spaces should work well for us.

Year 5-8's move to Champion Street

Every day there is some further work being done at Champion Street as we prepare to move there with our Year 5-8 students next term.
This week we welcomed James Beauchamp to our staff - James is going to be working part-time at Champion St (and sometimes at Beckenham) assisting with maintenance and grounds work and helping in other ways where he is needed.
Some other very exciting news this week was that Class* Furniture Solutions have offered to put brand new furniture into the learning spaces at Champion St for us! They would like the opportunity to be able to show prospective buyers (other principals usually) what the furniture looks like in a real school setting, and the Ministry suggested that Beckenham School @ Champion St would be a great place to do that in! Nicky, Susan and the teams are busy selecting furniture at the moment so that it will be delivered ready for when we start in Term 4.
We have invited all the parents of our Year 5-8 students to attend a meeting in the hall next Wednesday, 14 September, from 7:30pm, to learn more about the logistics and details of the move to Champion St.
We are taking the Year 5/6 students over for a short visit this Friday afternoon, and the Year 7/8 students will visit on Tuesday afternoon next week. At this stage, all going well we will have all of the Year 5-8 students at Champion St on the last day of term - ready to begin in earnest on the first day of Term 4.

So... as you can see, there is a LOT going on at the moment and its very exciting to think that, after nearly three years of talking about it and planning, the building project might actually begin!

That's it from me for the moment, keep looking out for school emails and communications as there will be regular updates as this exciting phase progresses.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy



Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Fri 9 Sep
9:15-9:45am Celebration Assembly - everyone welcome.
Y5/6 students to visit Champion St - pm

Tues 13 Sep
Y7/8 students to visit Champion St (immediately after Technology)
Y5/6 Glee Club - Massed Choir rehearsal for Music Festival (am)

Wed 14 Sep
6-7:00pm.  Kowhai Performance - Celebration of Learning - School Hall
7:30pm - Meeting for Year 5-8 parents re Champion St move - School Hall

Thu 15 Sep
11am-12pm.  Pohutukawa Market Day
6-8:20pm.  Board of Trustees Meeting.

Wed 21 Sep
9:15-9:45am Concert in the hall - Training & Concert Bands performing

Thu 22 Sep
1:30-3:00pm. Talent quest

Fri 22 Sep
Y7/8 technology at South Int (instead of Tuesday this week)
Y5-8 students at Champion St
End of Term 3.  School finishes at 3:00pm

Term Dates

Click here to view the 2016 and 2017 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Name: Conor Price - Year 8

Conor, it has been a pleasure to witness the growth of your confidence and progression as a Year 8 student. You happily contribute your ideas and thoughts when working in small groups and you entertain us all within the realms of drama and acting. You are a kind and caring friend, who is always there to lend a hand. You are always organised with your belongings and ready to learn. Your self-management skills have improved greatly and it is awesome to see you meeting set deadlines. We are very proud of the fine young man you are! Tino pai Conor.

Sharing our Learning

Koru Team

Our Koru children have had wonderful support from parents helping in school. The better the engagement between parents, families, and schools, the greater the positive impact on student learning.

Examples of home-school partnership includes:
Parents supporting learning in class, e.g. parent help in reading or sharing their cultural customs.
Supporting learning by reading with children at home .
Discussions between students, teachers, and parents/whānau e.g. learning conferences.
Further information on home-school partnerships from the Ministry of Education.
In Team Koru, recent home-school connections have included:
Rohini (Abhay’s Mum) sharing information about the Indian festival of Diwali with us, in line  with our current Inquiry into cultures. Students loved hearing the Diwali story, and colouring rongoli patterns like this:

Other Diwali customs include lighting candles, wearing traditional sari (for girls) and special treats. We enjoyed eating semolina cake as part of this.

Gyaltsen (Lilian’s Father) came in to share aspects of Tibetan culture. Students loved hearing about how Gyaltsen rode his pony when he was young as there were no cars.We found out where Tibet is and discussed how many plane  rides it takes to get there and who the Dalai Lama is. Another highlight was trying  on and talking about costumes worn during times of celebrations.


During discovery time on Friday afternoon we were very lucky to have Annabel’s mother (Olivia) and Grandmother, Scarlett’s mother (Carolyn) and Frankie’s mother (Aileen) come in to help hub 10 and 11 bake gingerbread. The process of measuring, mixing, cutting, baking and tasting was enjoyed by all. This experience would not have been possible if we did not have these amazing helpers!




Room 13 is up and running. Welcome to the new children and families. We are looking forward to working together to help the children settle into school.




Writing from Koru

Flynn
I found a big cat eating Little Cat’s food.

Felix
I saw a dragon in my bed.It breathes fire and it roars.It flies fast.
I hid under my bed .It is fun because I like to hide where no-one can see me.
My Mum likes making chocolate chippie cookies.They are delicious !

Alex
I am hiding and my dad is too.
“1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Mum! Mum! Mum!
I know where you are ! “

Keira
I wish I can be a hippopotamus in China. I love hippopotamuses. They are so cute. I wish I could see a real hippopotamus. 

 Abhay
One weekend I had a competition and I won. My Dad lost.



Team Pōhutukawa's Market Day

Recently the students in Team Pōhutukawa have been working hard to develop products and stalls for our Asian-inspired market day.  The market will be open on Thursday, 15 September from 11:00 to 12:00. The students will sell lots of interesting (and delicious) items such as Asian food, baking, confectionery, drinks, games, challenges and more.

Market day tickets will be sold before school near the flagpole. The tickets will be used as currency to purchase goods at the market. Most items at the market will cost between one and three dollars.

The money raised will be used to reduce the cost of Team Pōhutukawa's camp in Term 4 and to offset the market day's expenses.

Sports News

Sports uniforms

Now that winter sports is over, all sports uniforms and borrowed equipment should be returned to school to Tracy please.

PTA News

The PTA would like to extend a HUGE thanks to all our children, who put in so much effort, and to their families and friends who have given so generously. The Spellathon has been a huge success, and we have collected an amazing $10, 395 sponsorship money so far !! If anyone still has sponsorship forms and money lurking around at home, please drop it in to the office. Room 14 won the prize for handing in their sponsorship money first, and scoffed an enormous morning tea this week. The lucky children who have won tickets to Hoyts Riccarton Cinema will be announced in School Assembly on Friday....

Community Notices

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

NEW MEMBERS & COACHING OPPORTUNITIES BECKENHAM TENNIS CLUB

Beckenham Tennis Club Motto is to be family friendly our goal is for families to play tennis together
We are open for NEW members to play tennis.
Registration interest on our new web site: beckenhamtennis club
Pee Wee Junior First Day Saturday 3 September 8.30am (already had some coaching), 9.30am class for beginners.
Junior/Intermediate TEAMS (children can serve a ball) free coaching for three weeks in September.
ADULT – EASY TENNIS COACHING for beginner adults coming back into tennis or learning. Tuesday morning group or Saturday afternoon (after 4pm).
Contact: Leanne Dunbar cell 0275 316 026 landline ph 9606021

Holiday Programmes

Mainland Futsal Holiday Programme
Age:        6-12 year olds.
Dates:    28th, 29th and 30th September 2016
Times:    9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue:  CHCH Boys High School, Straven Road
Cost:     $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days) 10% discount of second child when registering two or more siblings.
Mainland Football Outdoors
Age:        7-14 year olds.
Dates:   5th, 6th and 7th October 2016
Times:    9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue:  English Park
Cost:     $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days
All information on Mainland football website: www.mainlandfootball.co.nz


rockitCHCH

My name is Danial Neale and I'm a local music tutor, operating a music school called rockitCHCH, situated in the heart of Sydenham.
I provide guitar, drums, and bass lessons to aspiring musicians, with a contemporary focus and an emphasis on providing performance opportunities for my students. I am a professional, friendly teacher with a modern approach to learning and a focus on the student as an individual.
One on one lessons are available as well as lower-cost group lessons. I can teach all levels, beginners to advanced. All ages welcome.
If you would like to find out more please feel free to contact me​ via the contact details below
Danial Neale - Guitar and Drum tutor
www.rockitchch.com
027 8211 544
lessons@rockitchch.com
www.facebook.com/rockitchch​


School Holiday Golf Coaching Programmes

Have fun learning golf these school holidays, programmes running 26-30 September, venues include Hagley, Rangiora, Harewood, Hororata, and Waimairi Beach.  Contact rachel@canterburygolf.co.nz or 359 4000 ext 2 to find out the details of a programme running near you.  Cost is $10 per session.


Inspired by the Rio Olympics?

PRT HILLS ATHLETICS will help your child discover skills and determination they didn’t know they had. Above all though, it’s about friends, meeting personal goals and setting new ones.
Clubnights-weekly Interclub-Colgate Games-Cant Championships
Prepare for school athletics! Want to know more?
Come to Registration;
Sunday 18th September 2.30-4 pm
Wednesday 21th September 5.30- 7 pm
Based at; Hansen Park, Opawa.
Info; T&F Junior Club Captain Megan Allan
021 02737136 yal@xtra.co.nz
WWW.PORTHILLS.ORG.NZ


Christchurch Football Academy holiday camps: Registration is now open to footballers of all abilities.  Please register at: holiday camp registration

Southern Districts Cricket Club:
Come join our Southern family!
Registrations open now on our website or call into the pavilion on any of the following open days, we would love to meet you.
Adult and Junior players welcome in all grades.
Open Days Beckenham Park:
September 3rd 10am-12pm
September 10th 10am-12pm
September 17th 10am-12pm
Cat: 0272981031
info@southerndistrictscricket.co.nz
southerndistrictscricket.co.nz
facebook.com/Southerndistrictscricket


Willowbank Holiday Programmes: for details and bookings please visit: info@willowbank.co.nz