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

In the past two weeks, the Pōhutukawa team has had: planting at ngā pūroto, the ponds with the Christchurch City Council, our Speech Competition and finals, amazing Talent show auditions, and our Beckenham's Got Talent Show, as well as our 'Create a Culture' Inquiry projects and exhibition... that's not to mention our usual end of term assessments. Whew!

Needless to say, the tamariki have had an incredibly busy end to the term, and are very deserving of a well-earned rest! We hope you enjoy the photos we are sharing today of all of the above, and that you all enjoy a wonderful term break with your tamariki.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone in 2 weeks refreshed, revitalised, and ready for the final term.

Ngā manaakitanga,

The Pōhutukawa team

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

Last week we finished our Keeping Ourselves Safe programme with a look at "Why should I tell?", where students learn to stop inappropriate touch or behaviour, say “no” confidently, move away, and report what has happened.

Overall, we have been really impressed with the thoughtfulness and maturity of the students during this programme. Children need abuse prevention education throughout their schooling, as their needs and experiences change. They need to have the opportunity to practise skills and to have the learning reinforced. Thank you for continuing these conversations and discussions at home. The final homework activity to do with your tamariki is below.

Coming up in the next 3 weeks we have a planting day (this Wednesday), a speech competition, Inquiry presentations, and a talent show to finish another busy term. There is some important information about all of this below, so please thank you for taking the time to read on.

Planting Day with the Christchurch City Council

We have some more planting to do! As part of our ongoing kaitiakitanga/guardianship of our Beckenham Ponds, the Pōhutukawa students will again have the opportunity to work alongside Christchurch City Council and plant some native trees and shrubs down at the ponds. This is our 4th year of planting down at ngā pūroto, and it is a tangible opportunity to show our school kete value We Care - Arohaina te tangata me te taiao, we care for people and the environment they live in which is inclusive of community.

We plan to do the planting this Wednesday 6 September from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm. We'd like to request that the tamariki bring their gumboots, or a pair of old shoes that they don't mind getting muddy. If the weather is wet, we will postpone.

Create a Culture - Resources from Home

This term as part of our inquiry into the concept of  'Innovation', we are investigating how to create a unique culture by naming and designing the following: physical features of their country, flag, food, language, clothing, holidays, government, Laws and Consequences, sport, school, and artworks. Our next step is to display their 'Create a Culture' project. Students have been given the task of choosing a non-digital form of presentation, such as (but not limited to) a poster, diorama, mobile, or brochure. This week we are inviting students to bring in whatever resources they may need from home in order to work on their presentations. Thank you for your support with this.

Pōhutukawa Speech Competition and 'Beckenham's Got Talent'

As some of you will no doubt be aware, the students have been working very hard on their speeches over the past 3 weeks. The students have been able to choose whether they would like to present their speech to the home group, or a smaller group if they would prefer. It's been wonderful to see the students diligently planning and crafting their speeches,  with many also putting in some extra mahi, work at home too.

Next week they will be presenting their speeches, and we will conduct a Speech Final to award the Megan McLachlan Year 5 - 6 Speech Cup. Nau mai te wero, embrace the challenge!

Also, there are a number of students ready to show us their hidden (or not-so-hidden) talents at the end-of-term talent show. We are holding auditions this week for the illustrious privilege of representing our team at the whole-school 'Beckenham's Got Talent' extravaganza which will be held on the last day of term.

Thank you for supporting our budding performers in their preparations for both of these competitions.

Keeping Ourselves Safe Homework Activity

In Keeping Ourselves Safe we have been talking about who children can go to for help if they feel
unsafe or worried. Reinforce the following messages with your child.

● You must tell someone if other people make you feel unsafe, worried or scared.
● If the first person doesn’t help, go on telling until someone listens and takes action.
● You can always come to me and I will listen and help you.

Work with your child to complete a drawing similar to the harakeke drawing attached. Give
specific names and contact details where you can.

Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all

We hope you all had a lovely weekend. Please read on for more very important information regarding our Keeping Ourselves Safe Programme, and some updates from the Pōhutukawa team. Have a great week, everyone, kia pai te wiki.

Keeping Ourselves Safe

Thank you for the feedback about the Keeping Ourselves Safe activities that we sent home last week. These are such important topics to be discussed at home, too. We are continuing with the programme at kura this week, having our final session with Constable Meg today and having further lessons throughout the week.

One of the main messages of the programme is to encourage children to first identify and then take action in unsafe situations. The more conversations that the tamariki can have with trusted adults about this, the more confident they can be if they do find themselves in an unsafe or uncomfortable situation. Please find below 2 more 'homework activities' from the Keeping Ourselves Programme to do at home as a family. The first is a checklist from the 'Confident Me' lesson, and the second is a list of situations in which they could use the 'stop, walk, talk', strategy. 

Homework Activity: Confident Me

As part of Keeping Ourselves Safe, your child has been learning to value themselves and to be
confident. We have also talked about our feelings and how we can express these safely.
These skills help to keep children safe because:
● people who want to harm children are less likely to target a confident, assertive child
● being able to identify their feelings and tell people how they feel can help children to keep
safe and ask for help.

Please help your child to complete the following checklist. Ask them questions about what they have learned. 

Confident Me Checklist:

I feel confident talking to my teacher

I feel confident answering the phone

I can say how I'm feeling

I can say 2 positive things about myself

I know how to make safe decisions

I know who to ring in an emergency

Create a Culture Inquiry

As part of this year's concept of Innovation, students have been investigating how to create a unique culture by naming and designing the following: physical features of their country, flag, food, language, clothing, holidays, government, Laws and Consequences, sport, school, and artworks. It's proving to be a very popular project, with students even asking to work on their 'Create a Culture' booklets during wet break times. The next step will be for them to choose a way to display their 'Create a Culture' project. They have been given the task of choosing a non-digital form of presentation, such as (but not limited to) a poster, diorama, mobile, or brochure. Students are more than welcome to bring in any resources from home that may help them with their projects. Thank you for your support with this.

Winter Sports

Finally, we just wanted to once again express our sincere gratitude to all the parents who have helped make our Winter Sports Programme a success again this year - it simply couldn't happen without your support! We were fortunate to have some lovely weather over the past 2 Thursday afternoons, and the smiles on the faces of the tamariki at the end were ka rawe, awesome. 

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

It's been great to see us starting to get back to our usual numbers here at kura after a few weeks of unwellness throughout the team. Thank you again, whānau, for keeping tamariki at home who are unwell during this season of coughs and colds. It was just wonderful to see the sun out last Thursday and have everyone outside being active and playing sports. We have our final round of hockey, netball, and football this week both for the South Zone competition, as well as for the non-competitive teams. Let's hope for some more sunshine! We also have the Duathlon coming up this Wednesday. You can read the Hero Community post: School Duathlon for all the information regarding this exciting, optional event.

Please read on for some updates from the team, as well as some very important information regarding Keeping Ourselves Safe a comprehensive child abuse prevention programme for schools, which we begin teaching this week. There is a homework activity from the programme below that we would strongly encourage you to complete with your tamariki.

Our Amazing Teaching Assistants

Last week the Pōhutukawa team bid a fond farewell to Charmaine Pedersen, who has won a full-time position and finished up her time here at Beckenham. All the very best, Charmaine - we will all miss the care and devotion you gave our tamariki every day. In Charmaine's place, we welcome Matt Hastings to the team in a Learning Support role, nau mai haere mai, Matt!

Calendar Art

The students have been working diligently on their Calendar Art over the past month or so, and it has been wonderful guiding them through the creative process from preparation to production. Our concept this year was for akonga to use Van Gogh's Starry Night as inspiration to incorporate what we have learned about the Matariki cluster of stars (te iwa o Matariki) in a landscape that was significant to them. We hope you enjoy the end product as much as the students have enjoyed creating them. Keep an eye out for order forms, which will be available soon!

Keeping Ourselves Safe

Keeping Ourselves Safe is a comprehensive child abuse prevention programme for schools, which is delivered collaboratively with Constable Meg Moynihan, our Police Education Officer.

We had our first lessons with Constable Meg today, in which students learned: to understand what abuse is and know that any abuse is wrong, should be reported, and is not their fault. This week we will also be covering how to verbalise feelings confidently and practise a decision-making process that will help them to make safe decisions for themselves and others.

Homework activity: About abuse

In Keeping Ourselves Safe we have been talking about abuse. We worked with the following
definition:
Abuse is when anybody uses power over another person and causes them harm. This could include:
● hurting them physically
● ill-treating them
● not taking care of their everyday needs
● touching them in sexual ways
● showing them sexual materials
● hurting their feelings and their sense of wellbeing.
It also includes violence that happens in families.
Abuse can harm a child’s health, their dignity and may make it hard for them to learn and develop. 
● No one deserves to be abused.
● All abuse is against the law and should be reported.
● Abuse is never the victim’s fault.
Work with your child to come up with one example of each of the following types of abuse. Then for
each example, discuss how the child could use Stop, Walk, Talk – Who could they talk to? What could
they say?

Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Emotional abuse
Family harm
Neglect
Cyber abuse

Over the next two weeks, we will be sharing the focus areas that we cover here at school with you, so that you can also continue these very important conversations at home, as well. Mā tātou kātoa, te waka a e hoe - we get there together.

Have a great week, everyone, kia pai te wiki.

The Pōhutukawa Team

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

We hope that you are all keeping warm and well. We've been having a lot of students experiencing illness this week; it's certainly the season of coughs and colds. Thank you for continuing to keep tamariki at home who are feeling unwell. We can't wait to see everyone back again fit and healthy. Please read on for some updates from the team from the past 2 weeks. Enjoy your weekend, everyone, kia pai ngā rāwhakatā.

Road Patrol

For our Year 6's, being a member of the Road Patrol is one of the key ways they can show leadership in our senior school. It is also a wonderful way to hone time-management skills, and perform a valuable service for both our kura and the community; rain, hail or shine! It's great to have our new squad now on patrol before and after school until the end of the year. Thank you for your support in ensuring they are aware of their days on patrol. "Nā matou he rereke te ao, the world is different because of us."

Winter Sports

Disappointingly, due to the inclement weather Winter Sports was cancelled... again! Winter Sports will now continue until Week 6, instead of Week 5. Luckily on Wednesday the sun was out, and all of our students practiced netball, football, and hockey as you can see from the photos. They are getting some amazing coaching and tautoko, support from our Year 8 student leaders on Wednesday afternoons. A huge mihi, thanks to the parents who are helping out on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. We simply couldn't do it without your help and support.

Four Square

It's been great to have some new playground markings in our Courtyard and to see many of our students having a ball playing an old favourite: four square. There is also a painted chess board, which will be good to have up and running when we have chess pieces that are fitting for a life-size game! Constructive playground games like these never get old, and it would be fantastic to have a conversation with the tamariki at home about some games they could play at break times.

Readathon and Calendar Art

We trust the students have shared their Readathon sheets and goals they have set with the PTA Readathon and making the most of the impetus to do some more reading at home. We're looking forward to the Readathon culminating next Friday with Book Character Day; always a colourful and creative day. Also, students have been excited to start their Calendar Art by getting started with some sketches and ideas. More to come!