Principal's Patch
Kia ora e te whānau
We'll start with a reminder about the Staff Only Day on Monday which has been in every newsletter since 31st August. School is CLOSED on Monday and we will be working with staff on our planning for 2019.
It's been three weeks since the last newsletter, and there has been a lot happening at school. The weather is certainly keeping us all on our toes at the moment with its extreme fluctuations and changability. Our Pōhutukawa team struck it extremely well for their camp at Living Springs last week. A huge 'thank you' to the teachers and the parents who helped to make that camp such a success.
Our New Entrants had two wonderful days of trips to a farm belonging to the whānau of one of our children. The exploration and discovery of life on a farm and the experience of just being in the outdoors in a different environment was amazing. Every child had their own personal highlights including going on the bus, climbing on the tractor, feeding out hay to the cows, toasting marshmallows, eating sausages cooked over the firepit, playing on the trampoline or the flying fox, collecting treasures like wool from the fence as we walked around the farm, or simply being at the farm with friends.
A group of Year 7/8 students, with the blessing of the local authorities, are working on beautifying the Eastern Terrace ponds toilet block with a fabulous mural. Special thanks to Ira Kirk, a local artist and past parent of the school, for giving her expert assistance with this project.
The Koru Year 1/2 team had a big trip on Friday to the Art Gallery. We will try and include a couple of photos from that in next week's newsletter.
Staff News
Rebekah Stoop and her partner have made the decision to return to their home province of West Otago and are relocating to Tapanui at the end of the year. Rebekah has won a position at Tapanui Primary School and we wish her all the best with her new role. Rebekah started at Beckenham in 2015 and has made a wonderful contribution to our school and the teams she has taught in.After seven years at Beckenham, Mike Matulewicz has decided to give himself the challenge of moving to another school to further develop his professional capacity and direction in different ways. He has won a position at Heathcote Valley School and will start there in the new year. This school is in the same cluster of schools as Redcliffs School, where Mike's two boys are enrolled, so this move will also give him the opportunity to be a dad on the sideline at local zone sports events. Mike has been teaching at Beckenham since the start of 2011 and has also made a wonderful contribution to the school and the teams he has taught in. We wish him all the best in his new role.
Our school roll is growing and we are on the cusp of having the biggest roll the school has ever had with 488 students at the moment. We have made the decision to grow our Leadership Team next year and to have two Deputy Principals, rather than just one. We currently have an advertisement out for this position, and hope to be able to appoint before the end of the school year.
There will be another newsletter next Friday, which will outline the teaching teams for 2019.
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki
Important Dates
Upcoming Events
Sat 25 Nov - PTA Top Team Family picnicWed 28 Nov - CSM Blow Test at school, 9am
Wed 28 Nov - BOT Meeting 5:30 7:30pm
Wed 28 Nov - PTA Meeting 7:30 - 9:30pm
Mon 3 Dec - Yr 7/8 Debating final
Wed 5 Dec - Canterbury Athletics, Nga Puna Wai Park, Wigram.
Fri 14 Dec - Final Celebration Assembly. 9:30 - 10:30am in the school hall
Thu 20 Dec - last day of term 4. School finishes at 12:30pm
Mon 26 Nov - School closed - Staff Only Day
Term Dates
Click here to view 2018 term dates.Citizen of the Week
James Stoney - Year 4
James, you are a creative and inquisitive learner. You love the environment and are the expert in the hub on native bird life and all the treasures of the Port Hills. You demonstrate amazing problem solving skills during Discovery and persevere with your learning until you achieve success. You are a loyal friend and always treat others with respect and kindness.Abigael Cockfield - Year 6
Abby, you are a very kind and caring member of the Pōhutukawa team. You volunteer to help when you see a need and you are always looking out for others. Your quirky sense of humour entertains us, as does your love of drama and performing. Abby, you are articulate and hard working. You are a fabulous role model in our hub.Family Support
We are very proud to bring you a webinar series we've produced about reducing stress in children. There are 6 short episodes helping to explain stress in children and how to deal with it. The episodes will be released over the next few weeks. The work is based on the research of Kathleen Liberty from the University of Canterbury and her team. We thank Dai Henwood for his time, and the many others who have helped bring this project to you.Presented by Neighbourhood Trust & Papanui Youth Development Trust.
School Notices
Year 7/8 Debate Competition
Three teams from Year 7 and 8 participated in a debate competition against St Martins School on Monday evening. The topic was: Social media’s ability to replace face to face communication is of great benefit to society. Beckenham had two affirmative teams and one negative team. Many fantastic arguments were built and rebutted. St Martins were well prepared with well-written speeches that were convincingly delivered. Senior students from Cashmere High’s debate teams were our adjudicators and gave the children great feedback to work on. In the end, it was Beckenham’s day with each team ultimately winning each debate. For now, it is back to the drawing board as the teams prepare for a new topic, ready to meet St Martins again in three weeks time.Special Group and New Entrant Photos
Order forms for these were distributed this week. Please bring the completed order forms to the officeCSM Beckenham Band Programme
Every year, children from Year 4 - Year 7 are invited to join the CSM Beckenham Band programme for the following year. Parents of Year 4-7 children were sent a separate email about this opportunity early this week.
Maree Parr, who runs the band programme, will be organising the process slightly differently this year. The Blowtest on Wednesday this week, will only involve the children who have been pre-registered. You can find out more about the programme, and how to pre-register through this link.
Congratulations
Congratulations to the following students who recently passed their music exams:
Clarinet:
Georgina Cockfield grade 4 (Merit),
Charlotte Grey grade 3 (Distinction),
Emily Rowe grade 3
Trumpet:
Tom Woodhouse grade 4 (Merit)
Flute:
Charlotte O Connor grade 3,
Mia Aramowicz grade 2 ( Merit),
Eva Cameron grade 2 (Merit)
Alto Jazz sax:
Hannah Winchester grade 3 (Merit),
Joel Kingham grade 2 (Merit)
Sports News
Athletics
We recently held our senior school athletics day. This is an event where our school values are out in force as children put their PE learning to the test and encourage each other to go higher, further and faster. One of many examples of this was the Year 7 girls whose cheers filled the park as each competitor took on the challenge of the ever-increasing high jump bar. The sprint finals were the concluding part of the day with the House Relay providing an exciting and nail-biting finale. In the end, it was Fisher who brought it home with the staff and parents managing a respectable 2nd place, (a vast improvement on last year).This year, we invited Year 4s who wanted to embrace the challenge of competitive sport to participate in the day. Like the year 5 to 8s, they had been out in the park learning technique and developing their fitness on many afternoons in the lead up to the event. This dedicated practice paid off and there was lots of fantastic technique on display and school records being broken. Above all else, there were lots of smiles; I’m a firm believer that if you look like your having a good time, you’re doing it right.
On Monday last week, over 50 children from Year 5 - 8 represented Beckenham at our zone athletics. The children all did their school proud, demonstrating great sportsmanship and holding their own among the best athletes from our zone. Eleven of our students have qualified from that event, to represent our school at the Canterbury Athletics competition which will be held on Wednesday, December 5th at the new Nga Puna Wai Park in Wigram. This is the first year since 2011 that we have been able to have the Canterbury Athletics in Christchurch rather than having to travel to Ashburton Domain for the day.
Summer Tournament
Last Wednesday teams from Year 7/8 competed in a fast and furious round robin tournament in the sports of slow pitch, orienteering, tennis and kiwi tag (touch). We met some really polished competition, which tested the children’s perseverance. The orienteering team, which comprised of Gemma York, Santi Montejo, Lucy Gray and Ella Clarke, came second in both the rogaine and orienteering. Many thanks to George York and Simon Scott, who managed teams during the day and to all the parents who helped with transport.Congratulations
Congratulations to Winni Goldsbury, who came second in the Girls On Dirt Advanced Downhill Race in the under 15 years category. It is impressive enough that she can ride such an advanced track, let alone tackle such terrain at race speed!Congratulations to Harper Ford who has been selected to represent NZ in baseball.
Also congratulations to Thomas Lyall who, in September, achieved a bronze medal in the Senior boys (11-14 years) under 40kg category of the South Island Judo Championship held in Nelson.
Special Congratulations also go to the following past students of Beckenham who recently graduated from Cashmere High School with the following distinctions:
Thomas Flynn - Head of Sheppard House Award
James Hanlon - Student Representative on the Board of Trustees
Sabine Grey - Leaders of tomorrow Scholarship
Briana Steven - Emerging leaders Scholarship, Engineering high achievers Scholarship, Hugh McDougall Rankin Science Scholarship, The Foundation Pupils All Round Excellence Prize, Cartwright Prize for Academic Excellence in Year 13, Dux.
Sportsperson of the Year - Liliana Braun, also a past Beckenham student. Liliana is currently in Year 12 and this award is usually reserved for year 13 students.
We wish them all the very best for their futures.
PTA News
IT'S BACK!
Registrations are now open for the 2018/2019 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 $40.00 per participant. Be sure to link your entry to Beckenham School - the school with the most entries can win LOADS of prizes!! To register under the Beckenham School Group use the link below;
Sunday 24th February 2019
Jellie Park, Burnside
TOP TEAM CHALLENGE & FAMILY PICNIC THIS SUNDAY!
Time to Celebrate!.....We want to THANK everyone for helping us reach our targetPlease come along to the BeckenhamTe Kura o Pūroto TOP Team Challenge & Family Picnic - just ONE week away today for some well deserved FUN & GAMES.
Come in a team, $10 per team: https://goo.gl/forms/oPqxEmaeEyG7Ckbz2
OR Come & help: https://goo.gl/forms/6NH4CzeIf4m6Zhe63
OR come & be a SPECTATOR....however you want to participate, make sure you & your family are there.
So lock this date into your calendar NOW: Sunday 25th November from 2pm.
Let's celebrate reaching our OUTDOOR SPACES Target. We got there together & we deserve to have some FUN with a capital F!
The PTA are subsidising this event to ensure ALL can participate. If the $10 fee per TEAM is preventing your family from participating in this Challenge please email pta@beckenham.school.nz & we will assist.
BECKENHAM "We Care" XMAS DEAL:
JUST in time for Christmas & proudly brought to you by the PTA - the BECKENHAM “We Care” Products are available to ORDER NOW ready for Santa to deliver!All orders will be ready for collection before December 1st, making overseas posting an option.
AND with the XMAS DEAL-FREE Jute Bag for all orders over $30, how can you resist?
Help your school & the environment with these sustainable products. These affordable items will make fabulous gifts for family and friends.
HOW DO I ORDER-click on this link: https://goo.gl/forms/j0Kr9v0JWmSRHrAV2
Community Notices
(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
SURFKIDS
Childrens Surfing Programme.Learn the skills of Surfing in a fun, safe environment. All equipment provided and professional instruction from Aaron Lock and team. For kids 8 - 14 years.
Sundays 10am to 12pm.
Dec / Jan Holidays : from 17th Dec, 10am -12pm
Cost $30 per day or $135 for five. Bookings essential.
Venue :Sumner.
Call Aaron on 0800 80 SURF (7873) or register online at surfcoach.co.nz
Starfish Swim School
Bookings for the January Holiday Programme are now open!Mo 21 Jan - Fri 25 Jan, $65 for the week.
info@starfishswimschool.co.nz. Ph: 033381795.
2 Nash Road, Aidanfield.
Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration
In the grounds of Beckenham School.Wednesday 13th December 2018 5.00pm -7.00pm
Free BBQ and/or bring a picnic.
Come and join the Choir, join in or just listen to some community carol singing.
Organised by Beckenham locals for the Beckenham community. BBQ provided by Beckenham Neighbourhood Association.
Community Choir (aka anyone who wants to sing).
If interested in providing a stall complete this form https://goo.gl/forms/wOF708smpAtVSpuG2
