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

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.