Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

With just over two weeks until the end of the 2017 school year left, we are in our busiest time of the year with reports being proofread, class lists being confirmed and end and start of year organisation being finalised. 

Building update

Gift giving at the end of the year.

We are aware that gift giving is one way that people often choose to show appreciation and that this is especially common at Christmas.
This year at school we have talked about the value of showing that 'We Care' through words and actions. Our teachers are talking with the children about the value of making and writing cards, and of doing or making something special to show appreciation or goodwill that doesn't involve buying 'presents' and where the focus is on the joy of giving and the kind thoughts that are being shared.
In line with this thinking, staff very much value a card or email of appreciation from parents and students and they do not expect gifts.

Ngā mihi
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Fergus, it has been a pleasure watching you grow as a leader over the past year. You confidently lead house games and have a strong presence on stage. Fergus, you are a talented young man and this year, we have seen you strive to maximise your natural talents, go the extra mile and enjoy the successes that follow. You are insightful and perceptive; your contributions to learning discussions prove you to be a deep and critical thinker. You demonstrate a love of challenge on the sports field and show dedication to bettering your skill level over a range of sports. Fergus, we love your sense of humour and full throttle approach to life. Thank you for making our hub a fun place to be.   

Olivia, you are a diligent, deep thinker who consistently displays the school value, 'We Love Challenge'.  You give everything a go and always put in 100%. You are an incredible role model for others at school, especially in the way that you respect others and act with kindness. You are an active learner who is always willing to take on extra responsibilities, and fulfill these roles with honesty and reliability. You constantly 'make a difference' by supporting those around you, both in and out of the hub. You have a huge heart and 'care' about everyone's wellbeing. We just love having you in Pōhutukawa Whānau! Ka pai!

Sharing our Learning

Kowhai Team 

Marae Trip

On Thursday 16 November we had a wonderful visit to Rehua Marae. We were welcomed onto the marae with a formal pōwhiri. This was followed by morning tea and an opportunity to explore the wharenui and sketch the beautiful carvings and kowhaiwhai.

We were so impressed with the wonderful behaviour of the children. They showed immense respect at all times. Thank you to Sherrilee who taught us about the marae and supported us during the pōwhiri. Thank you also to the lovely parents who supported us on the trip. We hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did.

Athletics Day

Wednesday 22nd was our annual athletics day. It was wonderful to see all the parents at school supporting their children. The Kowhai children competed in five events: High jump, Long jump, Shot Put, Discus and Sprints.

We finished off the afternoon by joining up with Koru to run house relays. Congratulations to Heathcote House for their win. It was great hearing your enthusiastic house chant.

Mandarin

A big congratulations to our star Lauren Maule, who was awarded a certificate of excellence for learning Mandarin. This was awarded at a special prize giving at St Margaret's college. Well done Lauren, you can be so proud of your achievement!

Amazing writers! 

Once upon a time there was a man called Maui, he asked his four brothers for some help to go fishing. They hopped into their waka. Maui was paddling the boat when the four brothers were plaiting some ropes for Maui. Maui stopped paddling the boat and he said “I think this is the spot to fish”. The four brothers handed over the ropes to Maui. He put some bait on and threw it into the ocean. Then a big black fish came up, Maui struggled and struggled to get the fish up. Maui’s face went so red and his hands began to slip. He almost had the big fish but it sunk back down into the ocean. He shook with fear. He said “I will never give up!”. So Maui threw the ropes back into the ocean and finally Maui got the big fish up and to his surprise it stayed there. So Maui and the four brothers got out of the boat and started cutting up the big fish. Then the fish turned into the North Island. - By Zara.

Splish splash went the paddles. Plop! Went Beckenham’s hook. Deeper and deeper the hook plunged, dodging any fish that came near until it struck the top of a whare. This wasn’t any ordinary whare, it was the whare attached to the Island under the sea. Beckenham tugged and pulled but the island knew where it’s home was so it started to fight. The island was strong but Beckenham had something it didn’t...courage! Finally the island ballooned to the surface, and what an island it was! It was one of the longest islands Beckenham had ever seen before. Beckenham couldn’t get back to her people. The birds came looking for her. They found her and Kiwi. Beckenham was the first Maori person to ever live. I don’t know what happened to Beckenham. Some say her soul didn’t go to heaven or hell but went to a place where some springs were bubbling, dug a hole and planted herself into the heart of that place. Now it is a school where I wrote this story. - By Kate

School Notices

Guitar, Bass and Ukulele Tuition 2018 with Roger Hamilton

Beginner Guitar, Bass and ukulele lessons, both group and some individual are available during school time beginning February 2018.
Roger Hamilton has been teaching these instruments for 11, 3 and 5 years respectively at our school and in 2 other South West Christchurch schools as well.
NB: Children can learn Ukulele from Year 3 onwards. To learn Guitar, you need to be at least Year 5. And bass learning is from Year 6 up. The reason for these limits is the physicality of learning the instruments. Many of my students start on Ukulele and go onto Guitar, they learn a lot of the skills for the guitar on the ukulele by that, plus they know how to play 2 instruments. The ukulele is becoming more and more popular amongst adults as well as children. I recently saw a virtuoso player from Canada on Ukulele play the ‘Jumping Flea’, which is the English translation of ‘Ukulele’. He is known as one of the best players in the world. If you are curious, go to YouTube and search “James Hill. Ukulele”.
If you would like your child to enroll in learning any of these instruments, either call or email Roger Hamilton directly on the contacts below or get a full form from the office and return the tear off section to the school office before the end of the year.
email: rbhamilt@gmail.com
cell: 027 3070466 / 9424619

School Bells

Some of you may have heard the new bell/PA system in action over the past week. The bell sound clearly has some tweeking that needs to happen as it is pretty jangly, and we are grateful to have a bell again after all this time!
We currently have the following bells happening each day:
8:30am (to let everyone know that learning spaces are able to be entered)
8:55am (to signal the start of classes)
10:50am (end of morning break)
1:20pm (end of afternoon break)
3:15pm (time for children to come to the office if they haven't been collected. Only children who are actively being supervised by their caregivers or by BOSCO should be in the school grounds after this time.)

End of Year accounts

You should have received your final end of year account and request for contributions to school activities by email at the end of October. If you didn't receive this, or are not able to locate it. please do contact Vicki in the office accounts@beckenham.school.nz and she will be happy to print or resend this out to you. Thank you to everyone who has made contributions so far. We would not be able to offer the activities that we do, without this contribution.

BOSCO Gate

This has been repaired today and will be unlocked again as normal at 3:30pm today for BOSCO access.

Canterbury District Health Board Community Dental Service - Dental Visit 2018

The Community Dental Service approached your school regarding visiting during 2017.  After discussion with your school, it was agreed that we will delay our visit due to building work on school grounds. We will be visiting Beckenham School during the 2018 school year where we will see all students who are due for their examination.
Year 8 students will receive a letter posted home to arrange their enrolment for dental care under the adolescent dental scheme. If there are urgent concerns about your child's oral health prior to our visit 2018 visit, please call for an appointment at a clinic convenient to you.
To make an appointment you can contact our call centre: 0800846983 or email commdental@cdhb.health.nz

Dental Care over the School Holidays 

The Community Dental Service will be providing emergency dental appointments on the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd December available at the following clinics:

Hornby Community Dental Clinic
Northcote Community Dental Clinic
Woolston Community Dental Clinic
Aranui Community Dental Clinic
and from Hillmorton Community Dental Clinic: Tuesday, 9th January – Friday, 12th January 2018 (inclusive)

This service will operate by appointment only and if we are unable to see your child, alternative options will be given. If your child has dental pain as a result of an accident please contact your dentist in the first instance.

New Year Clinic Openings

An emergency dental service will also be offered from Hillmorton Community Dental Clinic and Northcote Community Dental Clinic on the following dates:

Monday, 15th January 2018 – 19th January 2018 (inclusive) and
Monday, 22nd January 2018 – 26th January 2018 (inclusive)

You can phone and make an appointment for these clinics by ringing 0800 846 983.
Yours sincerely

Julie Denton
Service Manager
COMMUNITY DENTAL SERVICE

Lunchonline

At the start of term 1 2018 all existing account holders for Lunchonline will need to log on – click Add / Edit Members – Choose Beckenham School and relevant Year Group.  This will update your settings for 2018.
Until the end of 2017 school year you do not need to change anything

Sports News

Canterbury Schools Triathlon

The triathlon course at Pegasus is not for the faint of heart. The race begins with a rather chaotic dash into the lake for a 75 or 100 metre swim. Then the real challenge of transitioning into your bike gear while dripping wet begins. If you’ve ever tried to get soaking wet feet into shoes in a hurry, then you’ll understand how hard this is. The bike leg takes you on a 5 or 10 km trip towards the forest. Once off your bike, a 2.5 km lap of the lake brings you across the finish line, tired and happy.



Kaia Joergenson, Rosie Zinzan Dickie, Alex Braun, Ben Evans, Boyd Goldsbury, Jack Barton and Jain Copper courageously took on this challenging event and all ran a race to be proud of.

Registrations are now open for the 2017/2018 Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kid TRYathlon Series!

The world’s largest kids TRYathlon series is back.  Open to kiwi kids aged 7-15 years of all sporting abilities, the Sanitarium Weet-Bix kids TRYathlon is a fun day out for the whole family.  Swim, bike and run your way to the finish line as an individual or in a team of two, and receive your very own gold medal from top Kiwi sporting stars.  Go on give it a TRY!

Register NOW to receive the Early Bird Discount price of only $38.00 per participant.  Be sure to link your entry to Beckenham School - the school with the most entries can win LOADS of prizes!!

Congratulations to...

Juliette Gray who has been accepted into the Associates Program at the NZ School of Dance.  This is a National Program that caters for students from the age of 13 years.  Juliette will travel to Wellington once a term for a weekend and also spend time training in Wellington during the school holidays.

Congratulations also to the following students who sat music exams last term.
I am sure lots of practice has gone into the following results!

Felix Morgan - Initial grade, drums.  Merit
Charlotte O'Connor - Grade 1, Flute.  Merit
Olivia Kneale - Grade 1, Flute.  Pass
Luke Menzies - Grade 2, Drums.  Merit
Gemma York - Grade 3, Alto Sax.  Pass
Meg Macdonald - Grade 3, Flute.  Merit
Georgina Cockfield - Grade 3, Clarinet.  Merit
Lucy Gray - Grade 3, Clarinet.  Pass
Daisy York - Grade 5, Clarinet.  Merit
Jamie Bennett - Grade 6, Bass Guitar.  Merit
Sadie McLoughlin - Grade 6, Bass Guitar.  Pass

...and congratulations to these three boys who so ably demonstrated 'We Get There Together' this week when very carefully working as a well-oiled team to create a fort with the big blocks in the new courtyard!