Covid related disruptions and extra challenges meant that communication and relationship-building were a little trickier this year. We would like to express our thanks to you all for navigating these challenges with us. We are so proud of how the tamariki rose to new challenges in 2022 with determination, resilience, and perseverance.

Last week we capped our year off with a trip to MASH Tough Kid 2022. The excitement of being able to jump on a bus and head to a fun-filled event was a joy to see, and the tamariki represented our kura with pride and were terrific ambassadors for Beckenham on the day. Once again, we faced a challenge, and every one of the students embraced it. They once again needed to call on all of their determination, resilience, and perseverance in order to meet their point of challenge and finish the course, through obstacles, mud, gunge, and even fire hoses! A fitting finale to our year of challenge.

When we reflect on this year, we celebrate the resilience and adaptability that your tamariki showed in the face of challenges. We wish our Year 6 students all the best as they head into their intermediate years, and we are looking forward to seeing our Year 5 cohort flourishing in their role as tuakana in Pōhutukawa next year. We hope you all enjoy a lovely holiday season with your tamariki, and we look forward to the fresh and exciting challenges of 2023. Nau mai te wero!

We wish you all a safe and happy festive season, ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te tau hau

The Pōhutukawa Team

 Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all. We hope you are well.

Here we are again! Fortunately, we are familiar with what teaching and learning look like during Level 4, we have systems already set up, and our team has been in communication this morning. Today we are having staff Zoom meetings and getting our online learning programmes ready to go live tomorrow. If you are keen to have your child engaged in learning today - encourage them to do some of the regular online mahi that we engage with on a daily basis. This includes: Epic Reading, Xtra Math, Solve-Me Puzzles, Free Writing Docs, or our Olympic Inquiry Site. Our Learning at Home Site will be live tomorrow and you will receive a notification of this.

Hopefully, we can all make the most of this situation and use it to spend some extra unexpected time with the people in our bubbles. Our wellbeing, as always, takes precedence and our message to you is to do as little or as much as is suitable for your situation. Ahakoa he iti he pounamu - although it is small, it is precious. Noho ora mai, stay well.

Finally, we are using this as a chance to initiate whānau communication through our new management system HERO. Moving forward, Hero will be our primary way of making contact with you. We would like to ask you to please log on to HERO and open this communication there as well. We will call those who haven't been able to connect with HERO later in the week to get everyone on board. 

School Duathlon Next Week

Our school duathlon will be held next Tuesday, August 10th (postponement day for rain will be the following Tuesday on August 17th). This is an optional event and the students have been invited to fill in a Google Form on 2021 Pōhutukawa Google Classroom to register. The duathlon requires each student to have a bicycle in working condition, a helmet, and a lock. Please take a moment to go over the course with your tamariki and decide whether they would be up for this challenge, nau mai te wero!

Code Club

This term we are lucky to have a member of our Pōhutukawa whānau Kate Allen visiting us on Friday afternoons to run Code Club. Kate, alongside Rae, will be teaching students who have elected to be part of this club about coding (extending what the children learn during our programme), robotics, and using circuit boards to make programmes. The interest in this club was so high that there will be 2 groups this term. Our first group had their first session on Friday, and our second group will start from Week 6.

Trading Cards

We have noticed an increase in students bringing trading cards at school - particularly Pokemon Cards. Unfortunately, due to the tendency of these cards to go missing, or trades to be regretted, we have asked all students to not bring trading cards to school. This includes trading cards before and after school. It is much easier for everyone if cards are kept at home. 

Thank you for your support, have a great week, kia pai tō wiki!

The Pōhutukawa Team.

 Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all.