Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter 29 March 2018

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Beckenham Twilight Fair - What a blast!

This has to be the first item on the newsletter! What an amazing evening we had last Friday at the Beckenham Twilight Fair!


The energy and organisation from everyone involved was immeasurable and, in spite of the threatening weather, a huge crowd turned out and had a spectacular time. We owe a great deal of thanks to the PTA and all of the whānau, staff, students, entertainers, special guests and sponsors who each helped to make this evening such a success.


I know that the PTA will be keen to share the financial success of the fair with us all when they have finished working through their accounts and, the community success of the fair is an equally worthy concept to acknowledge. There is a report from the PTA further down this newsletter.

Teachers' Paid Union Meetings

You may be aware that the national union for teachers, NZEI Te Riu Roa, have been facilitating paid union meetings around the country over the past three weeks.

We hosted two of these meetings at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto last week, Thursday 22nd March, in our hall. We have 100% union membership among our permanent teaching staff at Beckenham which I think is fantastic. Our union, NZEI, are advocating for an education system that values, attracts and retains the amazing teachers who are entrusted with the education of our children. To support our members to attend the meetings, we engaged relievers for the day, so half our teachers could attend the morning meeting and half in the afternoon, without any disruption to the school day.  It is expected that there will be another union meeting in June, which will be a single meeting for the whole of Christchurch, held at the Horncastle Arena. When this meeting is confirmed, we will be asking if you would collect your children early that day, so that teachers can attend the meeting. 

The issues facing education, and the teaching profession, are very complex, and we value your support in helping get that message to our government and advocate for improvements in the system. 

Before the end of term I will be putting out a separate, special bulletin that outlines some of the current issues, and how you, as whānau, can contribute to the discussion.

Working Bee - Saturday 7th April 9am - 3pm

We are in serious preparation now for the Treemendous Makeover of our Eastern boundary area, thanks to the kickstart of a $10,000 contribution from the Mazda Foundation. Our 'Amazing Makeover' day will be on Saturday 16th June, however, before that, we need to do lots of preparation in this area.

If you can come and take part for an hour or more on Saturday 7th April, please register your intentions through this google form. Many hands will get the job done!

You can look at the Treemendous Makeover design here.

Reminder - all schools in New Zealand are closed this  Tuesday, 3rd April,  as part of the Easter weekend.

Best wishes to you all for the long weekend. I hope that you all manage to get some time for rest and relaxation with your children.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Tue 3 Apr - Easter Tuesday - School closed
Thu 5 Apr - BOT Meeting, 5:30 - 7:30pm
Saturday 7th April - Treemendous Working Bee - 9am-3pm - register here
Mon 9 - Fri 13 Apr - Yr 7/8 camp in Dunedin
Fri 13 Apr - Term 1 ends at 3:00pm
Mon 30 Apr - Term 2 begins 8:55am

Term Dates

Click here to view 2018 term dates.

Citizens of the Week

Isla Morgan - Year 6

Isla, you are a superstar in our hub. You are a self-motivated learner who can always be relied upon to lend a hand. You are a thoughtful and caring role model and are an excellent friend to others. Well done for always putting 100% into your learning. We are so proud of you! Tino pai!

Gemma York - Year 7

Gemma, you are a thoughtful and community minded member of our Kauri whanau. You act with integrity, demonstrate empathy and are solutions focused in the face of challenge. When collaborating, you draw in ideas from your group, ensuring that everyone’s ideas are heard and valued. You are a deep thinker and strive for excellence in all that you do. Tino pai, Gemma!

School Notices

Students have been given the paper booklet that has the Term 1 Issue 2 products available for purchase.

Please order online by clicking on this link.  We do not accept written orders at the office.
Please pay online.  Cash, eftpos or cheque payments are not accepted at the office for the Scholastic Book Club.

Anne Chin will be coordinating the orders when they arrive and they will be delivered to your student's hub, not to the office.


Impetigo (school sores)

We have had cases of school sores reported at school.
Impetigo (you say, im-pa-ty-go), also known as school sores, causes blisters on exposed parts of body, such as hands, legs and face. The blisters burst and turn into a sore with a yellow crust that gets bigger each day. The sores are itchy. The sores spread easily to other parts of the skin. Impetigo is easily spread to other children and adults if they touch the sores.

What to do

  • Go to the doctor.
  • Check and clean every day.
  • Gently wash the sores with warm water and a soft cloth. Wash the sores until the crust comes off and wash away the pus and blood.
  • Check other children for impetigo. Use any cream from the doctor on the sores.
  • Cover sores with a cloth or plaster to help stop the infection from spreading.
  • Keep your child’s nails short and clean.
  • Wash your hands before and after touching the skin or sores.
  • Make sure your child washes their hands often, especially if they touch the sores.

Time off from kura or school
Please keep your child at home until sores have dried up or 24 hours after antibiotic treatment has started.
Visit: the Ministry of Health website for more information.

Lunchonline


From the beginning of term 2 2018 lunch orders options will change.

On Wednesdays orders for Subway will be taken.
On Thursday Pita Pit will continue as our lunch supplier.
On Friday orders for Sushi Factory will be taken.

Sydenham Bakery is no longer operating as a school lunch provider and we are trialling these new options.  You do not need to adjust your account in any way.  Orders still need to be made by 8:30am on the day of ordering and lunches will be delivered to school and distributed by our senior students.  Please remember to ensure your student has the correct hub name to make the delivery process as smooth as possible.
In term 2 lunches will be delivered by 12pm, to accommodate the senior students who will be participating in winter sport.

Christchurch Schools Music Festival - Special Groups Audition Applications - close Fri 13 April

Audition for a place in one of the Representative Groups in the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival.
Are you a singer or an instrumentalist?  Are you reasonably good at it…or even better?
If you are then we would love for you to audition for us and be part of this amazing experience. The Music Festival is a huge extravaganza featuring over 4000 students that takes place over 3 nights at the Horncastle Arena in late October.   Students in the Representative Groups perform every night.
In our Music Festival we have four Representative Groups which are the Junior Choir, Senior Choir, the Concert Band and the Symphony Orchestra.  These groups play a very important role in the Festival and the experience of being on stage with thousands of people watching you and a thousand massed choir students singing along with you is truly amazing.
As with Canterbury representative sports teams, you are chosen because you are good and have real potential.  For the choir, you need to be able to sing in tune and being able to read music is an advantage. If you play an instrument, you probably need to have been playing for several years and, if exams apply to your instrument, a rough guide would be around Grade 5 for strings and Grade 4 for woodwind, brass and percussion. Obviously, many of you will be above this standard but this allows for people who may not have taken exams but are actually good players. If in doubt, ask your teachers - they know the standard that we are looking for.
We only select between 80 to 100 students per group.  This is done through an Audition process.
If you do get in you need to be aware that you must attend rehearsals in August and September and then attend a three-day Holiday Course in the first week of the Term 3 holidays.   You will learn so much and make lots of new friends.  Details are on our website.
This is the pinnacle of musical achievement in Christchurch Primary and Intermediate school music.  For more details see the Festival website www.musicfestival.school.nz.
You can only apply for an audition through the website, and applications close on the last day of Term 1.
We hope to meet you soon.

Sports News

Hanmer 4 Hour


Beckenham dominated at the Hanmer 4 Hour on Saturday 27the March. All the children and parents had a great time. We had 6 teams there and you should have heard the roar as our kids reentered camp after their lap. The Beckenham Falcons came second in the mixed team category, 39 seconds behind the winning team. The Beckenham Blazers came third in the mixed and the Beckenham Bikies came third in the girls teams category. Alex and Henry (2017 Year 8s) were also there and they came third in their category. An amazing achievement as there were only the two of them. Most teams had three or four members.


South Zone Swimming Competition

Twenty children from Pōhutukawa and Kauri attended the South Zone Swimming event at Jellie Park last week. As usual the standard of competition from our neighbouring schools was very high. Our tamariki rose to the challenge, digging deep to complete a swim to be proud of. Congratulations to all our swimmers!

Relays
Year 8 mixed relay: Beckenham, 3rd place
Year 7 mixed relay: Beckenham, 3rd place
Year 5 mixed relay: Beckenham, 3rd place

Freestyle
Year 8 girls: Georgina Cockfield, 1st place
Year 7 girls: Charlotte O’Connor. 1st place
Year 6 girls: Abigail Cockfield, 2nd Place
Year 5 girls: Zoe Clarke, 2nd place
Year 5 boys: Cooper Reddecliffe, 3rd place

Backstroke
Year 8 girls: Tilly Harris, 1st place & Georgina Cockfield, 3rd place
Year 7 girls: Gemma York, 3rd place
Year 7 boys: Ben Evans, 3rd place
Year 6 boys: Thomas Lyall, 1st place

Breaststroke
Year 8 girls: Bella Reddecliffe, 2nd place
Year 8 boys: Joel Kingham, 3rd place
Year 5 boys: Connor Ingram, 2nd place

First and second place getters have qualified for the Canterbury Swimming event next Thursday. Good luck to these children. We know you will do our school proud.

PTA News

Twilight Fair......

A HUGE THANK YOU to you all.

The Twilight Fair could not have proceeded without your input.
Whether you donated clothes, books, toys, baking, worked on a stall, got dunked for the cause, lent a cooker, entered a competition or donated services & prizes, please know that your input was valued & truly appreciated.

Thank you for being part of the FAIR TEAM- you did a great job
Profit will be released once all the bills & auctions have been paid up

Please check out the number of 'Fair Albums" added on the Beckenham PTA Fb page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ptabeckenhamschool/photos/?tab=albums - you may see yourself in action!

Please also check out ALL the LOCAL businesses that contributed to the Fair
They are either helped to keep down the running costs of the Fair, by donating services & products at a reduced rate OR for FREE. Some also donated prizes so that our families could enjoy a fun night out with the possibility of winning a treat or two.

They have helped this Fair be the best possible Fair it can be.

https://sites.google.com/view/beckenham-school-pta-nz/twilight-fair-sponsors?authuser=0

BOT Update

Kia ora e te whānau,
Want to know about Mental Health in schools?
Read on for an update from your friendly BOT :-)

Have you heard about the new Government funded Mental health program in schools?
It’s a new program to support our tamariki, whānau and communities to recover from the impact of the Canterbury quakes.
I went to hear the District Health Board and the Ministry of Education present about this new initiative last week to find out more about it.
This is what I’ve learned:
Many of us still feel the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes, and so do many of our tamariki.
We’ve all been resilient and bounced back but disasters can have an impact for a very long time.
This can cause anxiety or challenging behaviours, and affect the wellbeing of tamariki and their learning.
This new program will support our schools and tamariki to be well, learn and thrive.
The program will be rolled out to all Canterbury schools from Yr 1 to Yr 8 in the next year and a half.
Schools will receive more information, training, resources and access to community based mental health professionals over the next few months
There will be easier communication and referral to health and support services, if needed.
We don’t know yet when our school will take part in the program but we’ll keep you updated.
If you have questions or ideas for this program, come and talk to one of us from the Board of Trustees!

Ka kite, See you soon!

Ester Vallero, for the Board of Trustees

Community Notices

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

MAC's HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

An intensive 5 day swim programme is being offered at McMillan's Aquatic Centre in the April School Holidays.
When:  Monday 16th - Friday 20th April
Where:  54 Wickham St, Bromley
Times:   1.30pm - 5pm
Cost:   $70.00 for 5 x 30 minute lessons
Levels:  All levels including minisquad available.


Please call Louise on 332 4617 or email bees.swim@xtra.co.nz to book in now.





Cashmere Netball Club – Year 6 Players

While we have already had the trials for year 6 players, we would still love a few more players.Games are held on Saturday morning.   Even if you haven’t played before, we are a fun family orientated club and would love to see new players for the 2018 season.
Please phone Carmen on 027 271 1104 if interested.

South Christchurch Children’s Community Orchestra

We are looking for keen and committed musicians – any orchestral instruments to join a new South Christchurch children’s community ensemble starting in term 2, conducted by the excellent Richard Oswin.  Suggested ability level equivalent approx. grade 2-6. We’ll be meeting  on Wednesdays after school, venue TBC.  If interested, or for more details, please contact Kathy on 021 0650 959, email kathycatton@me.com, or on facebook http://bit.ly/2tiU2lG.

Rangi Ruru Girls' School warmly invites students and parents to an Orchestral Extravaganza.

The Rangi Sinfonia is joining with the orchestras from Christ’s College and St Margaret’s College for a celebration of collaborative music making through orchestral music, on Wednesday evening April 4th, 7.30pm, at Christ’s College Assembly Hall.  Free admission, no bookings required.

Triple Threat Academy NZ 

Returning to Christchurch following overwhelming response from their previous workshops in 2017.
Founded in 2016 by one of NZ’s leading Musical Theatre practitioners, Nick Purdie (http://www.triplethreatacademynz.co.nz/our-tutors), TTANZ has been developed to provide intensive three day musical theatre workshops for young performers.
With the help of other leading industry professionals from around the country the young performers talents and skills will be challenged, nurtured and built upon and they will also be encouraged to unlock and discover even more along the way.
The next Christchurch Workshop will be:

APRIL 18th -20th
Showbiz Christchurch
Asaph Street

The workshops are suitable for all ages from 7-18.

For more information please visit www.triplethreatacademynz.co.nz  or email the team at triplethreatacademynz@gmail.com

OSCAR Holiday Programme

We here at PYDT are stoked to announce that registrations for our April OSCAR Holiday Programmes, Papanui Pirates and Casebrook Cruisers are now open!

The programmes will be running from Monday the 16th to Friday the 20th of April, with Drop Off open from 8:30am and and Pick Up open from 3pm each day.

Papanui Pirates is designed for those in Years 1-6, or ages 5-10
Casebrook Cruisers is designed for those in Years 7-8

The pricing of the programmes will be as follows:

$35 per child, per day
$140 one child, all 5 days
$120 per child for all 5 days when 3 or more children from the same family are registered in either programme.

If you have young people who are High School students and would like to be involved, we would be very interested in looking at the prospect of having them involved as a helper. Their involvement in the programme will be down to our discretion. There will only be an expenses charge associated with this arrangement.

We are also WINZ approved, which means there may be an opportunity for you to seek financial assistance from Work and Income if money is a barrier for you.

We have some absolutely fantastic activities lined up for the week. These include Pizza Making, a Treasure Hunt, trips to Spencer Park and Ferrymead for our Papanui Pirates to embark on, and our Casebrook Cruisers will be getting busy with Capture the Flag, Laser Tag, Bumperball and swimming along with loads of other great activities!

For the first time ever, all of our registrations are able to be completed online, from any device which can access the internet!
Head over to pydt.org to get your family signed up today.

Or if you would prefer to register in person, then feel free to head down to the centre (1a Harewood Rd, Papanui) and one of our team will help you out!

We think we run the best value Holiday Programmes in town, not only do we provide you with a great, safe place in which you can be confident in the care of your young people while you work, but we make a concerted effort to engage with your young people and get to know what makes them tick.

If you are seeking child-care for the upcoming holidays and haven't previously had the chance to try one of our programmes, there could not be a better time to get involved and see what we're all about!

Rangi Ruru Girls’ School 

is delighted to present Stellar Strings – Stephen Larsen@Rangi on Saturday April 7th 2018.
There are two events open to the public.  Limited seats are available for both events - click here to book your tickets
1.      Workshops with Stephen Larsen   https://www.facebook.com/events/161040847938502/
Saturday April 7th, 11am – 1pm, Merivale Lane Theatre, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School
                Workshop A                       11.00 – 11.55am               String playing techniques
                Workshop B                        12noon – 1pm                   Strategies for effective practicing
 Admission:  $10 per workshop, $15 for both workshops.

 Active participants and observers welcome.  Participants please bring your instruments.
Workshop A is tailored specifically for string players.
Workshop B is suited to all musicians who wish to fine-tune their practice techniques.

2.      Stellar Strings in Concert  https://www.facebook.com/events/2004930599771535/
Saturday April 7th, 4pm Merivale Lane Theatre, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School

Stephen Larsen’s students in concert, featuring Rangi music scholars/violinists, and Rangi alumni who are currently studying with Stephen at the University of Auckland.
Admission:  $20 adults, $15 students aged 18 years and under
Limited seats are available for both events - click here to book your tickets.

Antarctic Centre

‘Looking for something different for your child to do during the school holidays then have them join the holiday programmes at the International Antarctic Centre during the April Holidays.

They can join the Antarctic Explorers, Husky Musher or Penguin Keeper programmes.

All information and bookings are on their website www.iceberg.co.nz

Design-A-Jersey-Competition

Due to the success of last year’s Design-A-Jersey Competition, we have decided to host an even larger giveaway competition this year for students to design a fun and creative sports jersey.
The best designs will receive customised ZEAL SPORTS sportswear for their school!   Prizes are valued at $1,000, $500, and $250!!
We hope to inspire the young sport stars (and designers!) of tomorrow with this initiative.
To enter, visit www.zealsports.co.nz/competition to download the entry form.

 You are welcome to contact me at jason@zealsports.co.nz for any questions regarding this giveaway competition.

Barrington Tennis Club

EASTER FUN TENNIS!

THUR 19TH – FRI 20TH,
THUR 26TH – FRI 27TH APRIL 2018
9.30AM TO 12.30PM
FOR KIDS AGED 5 – 11 YEARS

All abilities welcome!
These fun holiday tennis camps are a perfect introduction to tennis for beginners, as well as great fun for experienced players.
Lots of fun games, coaching and match play!
Coaching from LTA qualified tennis coach
Fun Tennis prices 1 day 2 consecutive days All 4 days
Total price $20 $36 $64
Sibling discount daily price (for 2nd/3rd child etc) $18 $32 $56

*Players can turn up on the day without booking at an extra cost of $2 per player (subject to availability)
Limited numbers, so be in quick!
Wet weather: We always try to get outside, otherwise we will provide indoor entertainment.

Payment info: B J Wyatt, 0853-00084365-10 Barrington Tennis Club, Garnett Ave, Spreydon
To book fun tennis contact: Bronwyn Wyatt Ph: 022 4596 499
Games, fun and learn new tennis skills!

FAST FEET TENNIS COACHING
Ph: 022 4596 499
Facebook:
facebook.com/tennisbroni/
Email:
tennisbroni@hotmail.com

Christchurch United Football Club at Spreydon Domain

Registrations now open for the 2018 season - First Game 7th April. First Kicks (ages 4-6) $65 - Thursday Skills session & Saturday game Fun Football (ages 7 and 8) $90 -Thursday Skills session & Saturday game Mini & Youth Football (ages 9-12) $125 Training session & Saturday For more information on training times and registration visit www.cufc.co.nz or email spreydon@cufc.co.nz  


Free Bread Crusts

The Year 7 & 8 children are doing a fabulous job of producing cheese rolls this week. A by-product of our industry is bread crusts, lots of them! 

If you would like to take some to turn into breadcrumbs, or just to nibble on, you are most welcome. Just help yourself from the crate of bags that will be on the deck outside the hall kitchen.

Outdoor Spaces Update – 28 March 2018

Kia ora koutou

The Board of Trustees has set up a new Property Working Party to specifically address the outdoor areas of the school, now that the building project has virtually finished.
As was anticipated, there is no money left in the Ministry of Education building project funds for any landscaping or outdoor improvements. 

We have three major areas that we want to focus on this year. These are:

The Treemendous Makeover area:

This area is on the Eastern boundary of the school on Eastern Tce by the river (click on this link to see the proposal that was successful in winning a $10,000 makeover from Mazda Foundation). This proposal is now a plan and we are actively working on this for the next two and a half months. We will be having a number of working bees to support this project, beginnning next Saturday, 7th April from 9am to 3pm  Click here to register your willingness to participate, and the time you think you could be there for. We will be needing people with garden tools including pruning saws, gardens forks and spades for relocation and planting of natives, wheelbarrows and energy! We also have a fence to remove, so need a couple of grinders as well.


The Bike Stand area

We are acutely aware of the need to expand this area to make it functional. We have a plan ready to go that will involve the development of a second bike stand area at the top of the Eastern Tce entrance, behind Kōmanawa (R21/22) and this will hopefully be resolved by the start of Term 2. Thank you all for your patience in this.


The junior play area

As you are aware, this area has been fenced off for nearly a year. We have been very disappointed about the length of time that it is taking for the building project team to resolve the numerous issues that have come up around this area. The biggest issue is drainage and each solution put forward to resolve the issue has in turn created a new, and often more challenging problem. The reality of the situation we now face is that this area cannot be turned back into a grass field as there are four concrete sumps within this area that would create a health and safety concern for children playing on the surface. The Ministry of 
Education have funded a concept plan for this area that explores natural and creative outdoor play options and this concept is attached here for your feedback. Within this concept design, we have also included the relocation of the Gap Filler Sound Garden which we have been very fortunate to acquire as Gap Filler were looking for a new home for it. 

We will have the concept plan on display in the hall foyer from next week, so please take the opportunity to have a look at it, and give some feedback.
    • To give feedback on this concept plan, you can put sticky notes on the display in the foyer, or you can email Matthew Macdonald: matthew@odab.co.nz

All of the above couldn't  be achieved without the fantastic support of the PTA. They have managed to fundraise an amazing amount of money so that all of our children can benefit from this. The BOT greatly appreciates their support.

Matthew Macdonald
Board of Trustees Property Working Party

Please read if you ordered cheese rolls.

Firstly, a huge thanks for supporting our Dunedin Camp fundraiser. On Wednesday and Thursday this week we will be making just under 400 dozen cheese rolls!

Payment

Thanks to those who have already paid.  If you have yet to pay, please do so by the end of Monday. $8 for one dozen, or $30 for 4 dozen.

  • Online transfer (12-3148-0131641-00, reference cheese rolls)
  • Cash  (Take money into the office at Beckenham in an envelope with child's name on it and place in Eeezy Cheezy Box)
  • Eftpos Payment At School Office
If you have forgotten how many dozen you ordered, please send an email to nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz

Packaging

We are wanting to cut down on the amount of plastic packaging we use. A sustainable option is to provide your own packaging. If you would like to do this please label your container with: child's name, child's team, number or cheese rolls ordered (by the dozen). We will place a tub for collecting containers outside the school hall foyer on Monday and Tuesday; please drop your labelled container off there, either before or after school.  

For those who don't provide their own container, we will use the same recyclable plastic containers we used last year, placing 2 dozen orders in each container. 

Delivery

Due to the distribution of orders received, there is a slight change to the pick up days:
  • Wednesday: Koru, Kowhai, Pōhutukawa, Staff
  • Thursday: Kauri
Orders will be delivered to hubs at the end of the day for children to take home. 

Enjoy your cheese rolls, best served toasted with a dob of butter ... yum!