Category Archives: Pohutukawa

End of Year Activities

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Walking Trip to the Margaret Mahy Playground

As a special end of year celebration we plan to walk from Champion Street to The Margaret Mahy playground in Armagh Street on Tuesday, 13 December. We will leave Champion Street at 12pm and walk to the playground, alongside the Avon River. When we get there we will have lunch and an afternoon of fun and adventure. We will walk back to Champion Street at 2pm ready for the buses back to Beckenham at 2.30
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We will need parent help for the walk. If you are able to support us please let us know. 


End of Year Shared Lunch


Early this term all the children visited a local supermarket to learn about healthy eating. We received some vouchers to buy food for a healthy lunch. This week a team of children will survey all the children and plan a delicious lunch. This will replace our usual end of year celebrations and we will not be asking parents to provide a plate of food to share.

The shared lunch will take place on Wednesday 14 December. Parents are very welcome to join us at this time.


Team Challenges

To celebrate the end of a successful year, the Pohutukawa students will be involved in some team challenges. The children will need to bring their togs, two towels, some old clothes (which may get dirty) and a plastic bag to school each day from Wednesday, 7 December to Wednesday, 14 December.

2017 Road Patrol Training

This took place last Friday at Beckenham. Constable Ross Mitchell was very impressed with the focus and commitment shown by the children. They will receive their roster for Term 1&2 early next week.
We extend a huge thank you to the wonderful parents who provided transport back to Champion Street at the end of training.  







Medication for Pohutukawa’s Camp

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If your child requires medication on camp, please complete the Medicine Authority Form and put it and your child’s medicine in a small, clearly named zip lock bag or plastic container. Please hand the bag/container to your child’s home group teacher on Wednesday morning when you drop your child off at the Beckenham School Hall. A paper copy of the form will be sent home on Monday for your convenience.

If your child requires an inhaler for the walk into camp, please put this in your child’s day pack and let your child’s home group teacher know where it is. If your child has other medication that you would like to be taken on the walk into camp rather than being kept with the other medical supplies, please discuss this with your child's home group teacher.

Please also remember that camp is strictly peanut free.

Camp Information and Gear List

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Planning is well underway for the Year 5 and 6 camp at Living Springs. As you already know, we will be leaving from Beckenham School on November 23. The children need to meet us in the school hall at 9:00am on this day. After the camp, we will return to Beckenham School between 2:30 and 3:00pm on November 25. We will wait in the hall for you to pick your child up.

The children will be sleeping in carpeted bunk rooms, which can be heated if required. As well as regular meals, there are three snack times during the day.

The programme is challenging, stimulating and safe. The activities include: swimming (heated pool), farm park visit, group initiative challenges, orienteering, walking and recreational activities.

All children will be well supervised and all risks well managed in accordance with our Camp Safety Action Plan and the Living Springs Risk Management Strategies. It will be an exciting learning opportunity for your child.

Thank you very much for the many offers of parental assistance. We were overwhelmed and we’re sorry that we can’t take everyone who volunteered. These are the parents who will accompany us:

  • Chris Flynn
  • Matt Cowie
  • Phill Coxon
  • Matthew Reid
  • Brent Craig
  • Corey Archer
  • Rod Gray
  • Ashley Tough
  • Matthew Cornfoot
  • Simon Kingham
  • Nicole Haines
  • George York
  • Sarah Freeman
  • Jane Brittenden
  • Jane Parrett
  • Brett Sutherland

The list of gear the children will need to bring can be found here. It is not necessary to buy the items listed. For such a short time, it is better to borrow.

Please contact your child’s home group teacher if you have any questions.

Hub 21/22 Rapaki Marae Reminder

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This is a reminder that Hub 21/22 will be going to Rapaki Marae tomorrow. We will meet in the Beckenham School Hall at 8:45 AM before we board the bus. We will return to Beckenham School around 1:00 and will finish the afternoon there. Your child will need a hat, packed lunch, drink bottle, warm clothing and a raincoat.

Pohutukawa News Week 2 2016

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Trip to Rapaki Marae

This year one of our strategic goals was that every child from Year 5 to 8 should visit a marae. We are very pleased to let you know that we have arranged visits to Rapaki Marae on Tuesday 1 November (Hub 14/15) and Thursday 3 November (Hub 21/22).

Outline of the Day:

We will travel to Rapaki by bus and be dropped off at the top of the road. We will walk down and be formally welcomed onto the marae. After the powhiri we will have morning tea and then be taken on a tour of the wharenui where we will learn the history of the marae.

We will have lunch and some free time down at Rapaki beach. After that we will make our way back to the marae for a formal poroporoaki (farewell) before meeting the buses.

We will leave from Beckenham at 9am and will return to Beckenham at 3pm.

We need your help:

This is a very new experience for us and we would be very grateful for your support. Each group will need a male who is prepared to speak for us at the powhiri. This is very important for Hub 14/15 as the teachers are both female. This person does not need to speak Maori - English is fine!

As part of the powhiri we will need a woman to reply to the karanga. Sherrilee will be with Hub 21/22 on Thursday and will do this for us. She is unable to come on the Tuesday so we would be extremely grateful if any parent is able to help us with this.

We also need parent help to support us with supervision during the trip and at the beach.

If you can help with this please email your child’s home group teacher.

Parent Donation for the Trip

The cost of the trip is $7.50. This includes the cost of the buses. This amount will be added to your school account.

This will be a valuable and authentic experience for all our children and we are very excited that they will have this opportunity.

School Camp

As you are aware Team Pohutukawa will be going on camp to Living Springs from 23 to 25 November.

Today your child brought home two forms that need to be completed as soon as possible. One is a consent form and the other is a health form. Even if we already have this information we need it updated for camp. Please also include any dietary requirements as Living Springs will shortly be asking us for this information.

Year 5&6 Choir (Glee Club)

The choir will be performing at the Christchurch School’s Music Festival on Thursday October 27. If you have not yet purchased tickets for the festival they are now available at Ticketek.

On the morning of the 27th we will be travelling to the Horncastle Arena for a final massed rehearsal. The bus will leave Beckenham School at 8.30am and return to Champion Street at lunchtime.

Sexuality Education

Thank you to everyone who attended our parent evening last Thursday. If you have any questions about this topic please email your child’s home group teacher.

Peanut Free Hub

A reminder that we are peanut free in Team Pohutukawa. We ask our children to monitor the ingredients in their lunches. If an item with peanuts is inadvertently sent to school we will ask the child to take the item back home and eat it after school.

A&P Tip Top Ice Cream Sales

The PTA are working hard to try and fill all the shifts for the Tip Top Ice Cream sales fundraiser at the A&P show in November.  At this stage we have lots of gaps that we need to fill to be able to run the fundraiser effectively. If you can help please let us know by emailing office@beckenham.school.nz



Ngā mihi kia koutou   

Nick Bruce             nick.bruce@beckenham.school.nz
Susan Walsh          susan.walsh@beckenham.school.nz
Kat Cotter               kat.cotter@beckenham.school.nz