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

We are now racing towards the end of the school year with 3 and a half weeks to go until the finish line! In keeping with that analogy we are just one week away from our trip to the  MASH Tough Kid Challenge fun run on Wednesday, December 6. Thank you very much to those parents who have offered to join us on the trip. We will be speaking to the tamariki more about the trip this week, and also sending out more information in a separate post. Please read on for some very important updates for you to discuss with your tamariki. We hope you also enjoy some photos, and a link to a news article featuring some of our akonga that is just awesome, tau ke!

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 was great to have our Year 5 patrollers out completing their training with Constable Meg last week, and they are 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.

We would also like to take this chance to acknowledge our Year 6 Road Patrol members for their service this year in keeping everyone safe at the crossing. Ngā mihi ki a koutou mo tō mahi, thank you all for your hard work.

Cycle Safe and Homelink Road Safety

It's been rawe, awesome to see our Year 6 tamariki out there on their bikes and embracing challenges with the Cycle Safe team from the CCC. Nau mai te wero!

It's always such a beneficial programme for our Year 6's to learn the benefits of cycling and how to ride with confidence and be road-wise. This year they were lucky to have the additional opportunity to sit in the cab of a large truck to get a front-seat view of a driver's blind spots when driving a large vehicle, and thinking about the implications of that when they are on a bike; a very cool experience!

In addition to Cycle Safe, all students have also been working through a Homelink Road Safety book in class. Home Link Road Safety introduced this programme for teachers to use in schools. The major emphasis of the programme is the pedestrian area, which accounts for approximately 50% of injuries to children on our roads. The following is a message to whānau from Homelink:

"It is unfortunately still true that road crashes are the number one killer of children in New Zealand. The Traffic environment was designed by and for adults. It is an adult responsibility to keep children safe. For that reason, Homesafe Educational Resources Ltd. and local sponsors are enabling the message to be taken from the schools into homes. Homelink will assist parents and caregivers in the development of safe road practices. Together we make a difference."

It would be a great idea to follow up on these important lessons with your tamariki at home as well to ask them what they learned and what they might need to remember about road safety.

Transition Visits

As busy as it is at the end of the year, we are also preparing our students for next year with 'Transition Visits'. For the past few weeks, we have been giving our incoming 2024 Year 5's a chance to be with the 2024 Year 6's as a cohort and have some Learning Through Play sessions together. This week our outgoing Year 6's will be spending the afternoon with next year's Year 8 students to get a taste of life in the intermediate Hub. These visits are a really valuable chance for the tamariki to get a feel for the learning environment, reconnect with some of their friends, and also get answers to some questions they may have about 2024. We encourage you to talk with your tamariki about these visits and start the conversations about 2024 if you feel they're ready. Any momentum we can build now to set everyone up for a successful start to next year is valuable indeed. Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe, we are all rowing the waka together.

Kaitiaki Crew News Article

How wonderful, miharo to see the members of our hardworking and passionate Kaitiaki Crew given their 'moment in the sun' this week with the publication of an online news article on Newsline. The article, titled 'Beckenham Students Nurturing Nature' is about our ongoing partnership with the Council Community Partnerships Rangers and Community Waterways Partnership.  It's a wonderful way to promote and celebrate the taonga of our spring-fed ponds for which our school is named, and recognise the mahi of some of our dedicated 'kaitiaki'. Nā mātou he rereke te ao, the world is different because of us! You can read the article here.

Kia pai te wīki,

The Pōhutukawa Team

Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all

The first half of the term has sailed past us, and this week you will receive the end-of-year school report for your tamariki. We encourage you to take the time to sit down and read through this with them and celebrate the successes they have had. The General Comment and Learning Posts are from the homegroup teacher and are written directly to your child as a celebration of their work. The report is a wonderful opportunity to read and reflect on 2023 as well as look ahead to next year, be they staying in Pōhutukawa or moving on, and start to think about and discuss together some goals and aspirations they may have for 2024. If you have anything you'd like to discuss please send your home group teacher an email to arrange a time for a call, or to come in for a kōrero, a chat. We have a lot of fantastic things to look forward to as we approach the end of the school year. Please read on for some very important information regarding some education outside of the classroom that requires your attention.

Polynesian Navigators Inquiry and Minecraft Education 

This term for our Inquiry topic we have been learning about how Polynesian navigators used (and still use) mātauranga, knowledge passed down through generations, such as the movement of stars, tide and wind patterns, and of bird migrations to help them safely sail the vast Moana Nui a Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean.

In keeping with our concept of Innovation, we are also taking a deep dive into the amazing boat-building technology of the Polynesians, specifically the waka hourua, the great double-hulled waka that brought the first people to Aotearoa. Students have been exploring how to use Minecraft Education as a tool for designing and building a waka hourua. We look forward to sharing some of the end-results of the learning, soon

There has been so much learning happening for everyone around this fascinating topic already, and we encourage you to ask the students what they now understand about the technology and navigation of the early Polynesian people, He taonga te ako - the treasure is learning.

Kōtuitui Football Update

Over the past 3 weeks the students have been enjoying the Kōtuitui football programme coordinated by New Zealand Football. It's been wonderful to see all the students participating in the sport and developing their skills under the guidance of a coach from Mainland Football. We hope you enjoy some photos of the sessions.

Parent Help Needed - MASH Tough Kid - (Delivered by Primary Sports Canterbury)

On Wednesday 6th December from 12 pm - 3 pm, the Pōhutukawa team will be traveling to South Brighton Domain to take part in a fun-filled obstacle course along with other schools from all around the Canterbury region. MASH Tough Kid is an urban-style obstacle course for primary & intermediate-aged students. Obstacles include tire runs, hurdle jumps, water slides, hay bale climbs, and more. This will be a fantastic way to celebrate the end of a wonderful year with the tamariki, which has indeed had its challenges.

 Our focus for the trip will be on participation and will be doing everything we can to support all the tamariki to partake in the course up to wherever their point of challenge lies. Here is a short introductory video that we watched with the tamariki today to whet their appetite.

For this trip to go ahead, we will need the support of whānau. If you can come along and help us on the day, please email your home group teacher. Thank you in advance for the tautoko, support to ensure this is an awesome end-of-year celebration for all. We look forward to hearing from you!

Year 6 whānau (only) - Cycle Safe begins next week

Next week all of our Year 6 students will be taking part in the Cycle Safe Programme at school, which entails them riding their bikes around Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto, and on local roads, whilst supervised.

Your child will be participating in this course during one of the following three sessions:

Session 1 - Monday 20th November & Tuesday 21st November

Session 2 - Wednesday 22nd November & Thursday 23rd November 

Session 3 - Friday 24th November & Monday 27th November

Your child/ren will be bringing a notice home this week outlining the session/dates that they will be participating.

On these days, students should bring the following to school:

• Their bicycle (in good working order)

• Their helmet (in good working order)

• A lock to secure these items to the school bike racks                                                                                                                                   

Please ensure that your child comes to school on these days wearing suitable clothing for the weather.

If it rains and it is unsuitable for the children to go out on their cycles, the remaining sessions will be classroom-based.  

For those who do not have their own, a number of bicycles and helmets are available through the programme.

Have a great week, kia pai te wiki.

The Pōhutukawa Team

In the Pōhutukawa team this year we are thrilled to have some budding journalists, Billy, Chester, Jensen, and Tom.

These keen reporters have created a news site, that they keep regularly updated with news articles about latest comings and goings at kura. We're really pleased to be able to share their mahi with you here.  https://sites.google.com/beckenham.nz/kuranews/home  

Well done, team, you are really living our Kete values with your contributions to school life. Tau ke, awesome!

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

It's been a wonderful start to the term as we settle back into our routines. Term 4 is a very busy term, and we have some exciting events coming up that require your attention, and parent help. Please read the information below. Thank you as always for your support, and for speaking with your tamariki about these events to prepare for, and look ahead to what will be a busy, active, and fun-filled end to the year!

Athletics Day Tomorrow

We have enjoyed the warm weather of the first 2 weeks and have been busy preparing for our school Athletics Day tomorrow. The students have been learning and practising 4 events: high jump, sprints, shotput, and discus. All the students have had 2 sessions of each discipline to ready them for the big day tomorrow.

It looks like it will be a very hot day, so thank you for remembering to prepare your child to be out in the sun for most of the day. We look forward to seeing many of you here to cheer them on. The schedule for tomorrow is as follows:

Cycle Safe (Year 6 Only)

During weeks 6 and 7 of this term our Year 6 students will be involved in the Cycle Safe Programme provided by the Christchurch City Council. Cycle Safe is a cycle skills education programme for schools. Students learn the benefits of cycling and how to ride with confidence and be road-wise. All Year 6 students will participate in this course and the instructors cater to all cycling abilities.

You can find out more information about the programme here https://ccc.govt.nz/transport/getting-around/getting-to-school/resources-for-schools/cyclesafe/

If your child is in Year 6, they will be coming home with a permission slip today to be returned to school by Monday 30th October.

If you have any questions about the programme, please get in touch with your homegroup teacher.

Kōtuitui Football Programme

Starting next week and running on Monday and Tuesday afternoons for the next 3 weeks we are excited to be offering the students a football programme coordinated by New Zealand Football. Kōtuitui is an integrated unit of work that supports ākonga (students) to use the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ as a context for connecting to others in our bicultural and multicultural society. The programme will provide ākonga with the skills and knowledge to connect to cultures other than their own, both in Aotearoa New Zealand and across the globe. There is no preparation needed for this, and the students will just have to wear their normal school uniform and running shoes. If students would like to bring along their football boots and shin pads, they are welcome to do so, however, the programme will be delivered as an introduction to the 'beautiful game' with no experience or special gear required.

MASH Tough Kid - Delivered by Primary Sports Canterbury

On Wednesday 6th December from 12 pm - 3 pm, the Pōhutukawa team will be traveling to South Brighton Domain to take part in a fun-filled obstacle course along with other schools from all around the Canterbury region. MASH Tough Kid is an urban-style obstacle course for primary & intermediate-aged students. Obstacles include tire runs, hurdle jumps, water slides, hay bale climbs, and more. This will be a fantastic way to celebrate the end of a wonderful year with the tamariki. Our focus for the trip will be on participation and will be doing everything we can to support all the tamariki to partake in the course up to wherever their point of challenge lies. Here is a short introductory video that we watched with the tamariki today to whet their appetite.

In order for this trip to go ahead, we will need the support of whānau. If you are able to come along and help us on the day, (or would even fancy taking part with your tamariki in the race itself!) please email your home group teacher. Thank you in advance for the tautoko, support to ensure this is an awesome end-of-year celebration for all. We look forward to hearing from you!

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