End of Year Activities



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
.
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.  







Kauri Whanau: Update Term 4 Week 9

Important reminders for this week:

Tuesday Dec 6th: A Very Kauri Christmas

We are very excited to be bringing you our original Christmas show tomorrow evening. Please make sure that your child is at the school hall by 6:45pm. They need to be in costume and ready to go. We ask audience members to bring a gold coin donation. The PTA will have ice-creams for sale at the show: Fru Jus for $2.50 and Kapiti vanilla bean ice cream tubs for $1. The show will finish by 8pm.  No child can leave the hall without a parent or caregiver.

The children will not be at Champion Street tomorrow, Tuesday, as they are coming directly to Beckenham after technology for a final rehearsal.


Wednesday December 7th: Top Team and Canterbury Athletics

We are crossing our fingers for a fine afternoon on Wednesday for our top team event. All children will need a change of clothes (we recommend a thermal top, e.g. polypro) and a small towel, in a plastic bag. Many thanks to Jo, Elise, Huriana and Rebecca who will be helping out with this fun filled activity; please be here by 12:30. We still need two more parent helpers. Please email one of us if you can help out.
We will be at Champion St all day on Wednesday.

Canterbury athletics. We wish Henry, Vita, Lauren, William, Amelia, Shakira, Joe and Dominic all the best for the Canterbury athletics competition in Ashburton. 


Thursday December 8th: Final celebration assembly and helpers afternoon tea

The assembly starts at 2pm. This will be preceded by a helpers thank you afternoon tea which starts at 1:30 in the hall. 


Friday December 9th: Victoria Park walk

Children are to be at Beckenham by 8:50am. We will not be going to Champion Street this day. Children will need a daypack with a large (or 2) water bottle, a substantial lunch, sunblock, sunhat and a warm top. They are to wear mufti suitable for hiking in. Many thanks to Mike, Suu and Katherine who will be joining us. We need just two more parent volunteers. Please email one of us if you can help.


Week 10

Monday December 12th: Year 8 pool and pizza party

A normal day at Champion Street. Year 8 children are invited to a pool and pizza party at Tracy's place, 101 Studholme St, just off Somerfield St. Please drop children off at 4pm, with togs, and collect them by 6pm. 


Tuesday December 13th: Corsair Bay trip 

Children are to be at Beckenham by 8:50. We will not be at Champion St this day. Thanks to Tanya, Kate, Desiree and Jill who will be accompanying us to Corsair Bay. We will be leaving Beckenham at 10:30am and returning by 3pm. We still need two more parent helpers for this trip. Please email one of us if you can help. Children will need a daypack with a water bottle, a substantial lunch, sunblock, sunhat, togs and a towel and a warm top. 


Wednesday December 14th: A normal day at Champion Street.



Thursday December 15th: Year 8 leavers' graduation assembly and lunch

Year 8s may arrive at Beckenham by 10:45, dressed in their best clothes. Everyone else catches the bus at 8:30 as usual. Year 8s finish the year after the leavers' lunch, which will wind up by 1:15pm. Year 7s will be back at Champion St for the afternoon. If you have yet to respond to the leavers' lunch invitation, please click here and fill out the form. If you have yet to send Nicky a photo of your Year 8 when they started school, please email that to Nicky ASAP, or send in a photo for scanning.


Friday December 16th: Last day (morning) for Year 1-7

Normal morning at Champion St. School will finish at the end of the morning, with children arriving back at Beckenham by 12:30.


Saturday December 17th: Phew we made it!

Any Year 7 parents who would like to join us for our Wainui camp next year, from Monday Feb 27th  until Friday March 3rd, need to click here and fill in this form. 

Here is a wee glimpse of  'A Very Kauri Christmas'.






















West Hub Concrete Slab ready to be poured…

We are looking forward to getting to school on Monday to see the slab on the West Hub which should have just been poured. HRS have advised that they will be in at 4am to ensure that the pour happens with little impact on school and without people and vehicles around. By 8am, they are hoping to have the pour complete, and to just be working on finishing the surface.

Beckenham School Newsletter, Friday 2 Dec

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

You may recall that last week I shared that our children had written cards and letters to be sent to the children at Kaikoura Primary School. I had a call this week from Nigel Easson, the principal, expressing his thanks to our community for this support. He said that the letters and cards had been spread around the tables at school and, when the children and their parents and grandparents had arrived at school this Wednesday, there had been lots of reading, tears, laughing and appreciation as the letters were read and reread. For those of you who didn't catch the segment on TVNZ One News on Wednesday evening, we have managed to capture it below for you to view.


Mandarin learning continues

Our Kahikatea team have been enjoying working with Felicia from the Confucius Institute, having an introduction to Mandarin.
The teachers were asked to nominate 5 children for excellence awards which were given out at a special ceremony in mid November.


We are grateful to Felicia who has offered to continue working with two small extension groups of Year 1/2 students on Friday afternoons to the end of the term.

Ngā mihi
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Tue 6 Dec
7-8:30pm A Very Kauri Christmas in the Beckenham School hall.

Wed 7 Dec
7am - 5pm Canterbury Athletics at Ashburton Domain

Thu 8 Dec
1:30-2:00pm "Thank you" afternoon tea for school helpers
2-3pm Final Celebration Assembly of 2016 at Beckenham School
5:30-6:45pm Kahikatea Team Wearable Arts Performance in the School hall

Tues 13 Dec
Kauri Team Corsair Bay trip

Thu 15 Dec
11am-12pm Year 8 Graduation Assembly followed by Leavers' Lunch

Fri 16 Dec
Junior School Athletics 11am - 12:30pm
Term 4 ends.  School finishes at 12:30pm

Term Dates

Click here to view the 2016 and 2017 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Adam Barton - Year 6

Adam you are a diligent and self-motivated learner. You embrace all learning opportunities with enthusiasm and creativity. You reflect carefully on your learning and regularly seek and respond to feedback. You have a great sense of humour and we have all enjoyed your ready wit and unique view on events and ideas. You are very responsible and have  undertaken leadership roles to the best of your ability. You are also a very sensitive and supportive friend. We can always rely on you to focus on your learning and be a great role model for other children. Thank you for making Beckenham School a better place!

Sharing our Learning

Pohutukawa Camp at Living Springs

Last week the Pohutukawa Whanau spent three days and two nights at Living Springs. Over the three days we experienced three very different seasons but this did not slow us down one bit. The children (and adults!) had a fantastic time on the first day; orienteering around the site, going on the monorail, bouncing on the tramps, racing around the track on the balance bikes, and taking a refreshing dip in the pool. To add to all the excitement, two of our children, Declan and Ruby, were also celebrating their birthdays on this day!



On the second day we enjoyed walking up to Don’s Shed to complete Initiatives, a series of team building exercises that challenged the children both mentally and physically. We also walked down to the outdoor camping area and played Animal Survival, a very complex game that has elements of both tag and a treasure hunt. One of the highlights of this game was watching the adults join in, especially Katie as the huntress! During the night we had an epic dance party where our jump jammers took the stage and motivated all the children to get their groove on.

On the third day we packed up all our gear and headed down to the farm. There we were split into two groups. In the first group we went on a tractor ride around the farm and learned how to communicate with horses and ride them. In the second group we learned about cows and how to milk them. After a sausage sizzle lunch and feeding the animals we all hopped back on the bus and headed back to Beckenham to reunite with our loved ones.


It was a fantastic trip where all the children did our school proud by demonstrating our school values ‘We get there together’. A huge thank you to all the parents who supported us on camp and an even bigger thank you to Nick Bruce who organised and led the camp. We are now counting down the days to our next camp in 2018!




Pohutukawa Speech Competition 

Earthquakes and weather didn’t stop Team Pohutukawa from holding their annual speech competition. Congratulations to our winners.
First Place: Ben Evans
Second Place: Hannah Winchester
Third Place: Meg Macdonald and Lucy Gray (3rd equal)

School Notices

Term Four Accounts and EFTPOS in the office

The final accounts for the year will be sent out early next week. We will be sending these out by email this time, rather than by post. We are also bringing in EFTPOS at the office to try and make paying for items as school easier for you.
We expect this to be up and running by Tuesday. It will be for payments using Debit Cards and EFTPOS cards only. We will not be able to take Credit Card payments or give Cash out.
If you have any queries about your account, please contact our interim accounts officer - Tracy Dunn by emailing accounts@beckenham.school.nz or by phoning the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays.

Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival

Video of Music Festival now available
A video of any/all of the three nights of the 2016 Music Festival is now available.  The video has been compiled by Armedia NZ Ltd, the good people who provided the live feed of video to the screens in the venue each night of the festival.
For details and orders, just go to http://www.armedianz.co.nz/csmf

PTA News

PTA Co-Chairperson

We are looking for someone to assist with leading a supportive group of PTA members for 2017. If you are interested please contact us at pta@beckenham.school.nz
We are also wanting new members to join our friendly team. If you are interested and have any questions please contact the PTA.

Bingo Night Update

The Bingo profit is in & we have raised $3435.85!!!
Thanks to all the people who attended & the businesses that donated prizes, we couldn’t have done it without your support.
The PTA has pledged $3500 to the school towards restoring the sound board that is currently not working.
Here’s looking forward to being able to hear better in the Hall!

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)

Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration

Beckenham School Grounds
Tuesday 13th December 2016 5.00-7.00pm
FREE FAMILY EVENT
Free BBQ and/or bring a picnic
Come and join the Choir
Community carol singing
Come in Christmas dress-ups.

Organised by Beckenham locals for the Beckenham community. BBQ provided by Beckenham Neighbourhood Association and cooked and served by local Cub Scouts. Music provided by local choirs and other keen folk.

HELP SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE COASTLINES

MOBILE PHONE APPEAL IN OUR SCHOOL
It would be great if you could rummage around in your drawers and toy boxes and bring into School any unwanted mobile phones you may have.  Phones collected help our School gain valuable rewards and the environment benefits too by keeping our landfills free of mobile phones and their array of hazardous toxic substances.  
Please drop any unwanted mobile phones you may have in the collection box in the reception area at School.

Aquagym

459 Cashel St, Ph: 3810299.  Learn to swim & Coaching.  Aquagym & Sumner Pool. Book now for January holidays and Term1

Mainland Football Outdoor Holiday Programmes

DECEMBER:-
Age:        7-14 year olds.
Dates:    20th, 21st and 22nd December 2016
Times:    9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue:  English Park
Cost:     $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days) 10% discount of second child when registering two or more siblings.
JANUARY:-
Age:        7-14 year olds.
Dates:    25th, 26th and 27th January 2017
Times:    9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue:  English Park
Cost:     $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days)

Mainland Futsal Indoor Holiday Programmes

JANUARY:
Age:        6-12 year olds.
Dates:    23rd, 24th and 25th January 2017
Times:    9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue:  Pioneer Stadium
Cost:     $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days)

Canterbury Ballet 

Canterbury Ballet is holding its end of year production ‘Sleeping Beauty’ on 8 and 9 December 7pm at the Isaac Theatre Royal. The performance includes the school’s full-time professional programme students, with two students (including the male lead) already having secured professional contracts overseas for next year. Friday performance includes ex-Beckenham School students Ayiana and Chumani Lo-Fo-Wong in the lead female role of Aurora and Bluebird pas de deux/solo respectively. For tickets please contact Jaimita de Jongh on 021 0592328 or jaimita.dejongh@gmail.com.

Science Alive Summer Holiday Programmes

For information and bookings please go to:  Tinkerlab



Orana Park Trip Final Information

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Re: Kowhai Team Orana Park Trip Monday 5 December, 2016

Just a reminder that we are heading to Orana Park on Monday 5th of December, from 9.30am-2.45pm to tie in with our inquiry focus this term. Our students will be learning about how animals adapt to their habitats as they tour the park with a guide.

In order for your child to be able to go on this trip, they must bring the following as this is part of our safety action plan:

  • School sunhat
  • School uniform
  • Sunscreen applied
  • Water bottle (Named)
  • A litter-free morning tea and lunch
  • A warm layer of clothing
  • Raincoat

Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email  message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled.

We look forward to an amazing trip.  

Best wishes,

Paulette, Mike, Anna, Rebekah and Gayle