Monthly Archives: November 2019

Koru team news

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Kia ora koutou,

What a busy couple of weeks we have had!

We Love Reading

Reading is a great way to relax, use your imagination, learn something new and explore new worlds. It's fun to read with a buddy.






Reading 'Inside the Maize Maze' inspired some children to create marble mazes and draw a maze outside.





We Love Digital Technologies

Over the past couple of weeks we have had a chance to start coding using Beebots. We learnt a lot about inputting commands, testing, adapting the code and retesting. We had great fun working with a buddy.















We Love Watching Hail Storms

What a lot of interesting questions and discussions were generated by the hail, thunder and lightning last week.





We are excited about the our trip to a farm this week. We will make sure to take lots of photos.

Ngā mihi,
Stacey, Jo, Elizabeth and Kristika

Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 6

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It's hard to believe that we are now halfway through the term! Here is the latest from the Kōwhai Team.


Athletics Day

We were treated to spectacular weather at our recent School Athletics Day. The children all did their best at each of the events despite the soaring temperatures. We were really impressed with the skills they have developed over the past few weeks and the way they all showed the school values 'We Get There Together' by working collaboratively and 'We Love Learning' in the way they did their personal best.
Thank you to all the parents who were able to come down and support on the day. We know the children appreciated having you all there.





Electricity and Circuits

Over the past few weeks, the children have been learning about electricity and circuits. They have learnt how electricity moves and how to make a series and parallel circuit. Over the next couple of weeks, the children will be applying this knowledge along with their creativity to create something innovative that uses a series circuit. Your child is currently in the 'Hunting and Gathering' design phase of this process. They might want to bring items to school to help them with the construction of their innovative design. Please do not go out and purchase special things for this. We hope to share these amazing creations with you as they are finished.

CSO Big Bang Concert

We were so lucky to have the opportunity to see the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (CSO) play at the Christchurch Town Hall last week. The children were 'blown away' with the beauty of the Town Hall and even more impressed with the performance by the CSO. We would like to express our thanks to the parents who were able to accompany us on the trip. Without your support, these events are just not possible.




Itinerant Music Tuition in 2020


2020 Registration of Interest for CSM Itinerant Music lessons, including Band, Strings and Recorder, at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto
At Beckenham, we are very fortunate to have a very close relationship with the Christchurch School of Music. For over 10 years, we have had their Outreach Band programme operating at school, along with tuition in Strings and Recorder.
If you are interested in your child learning the Strings or Recorder (Years 2-8), in 2020, please fill out this form and then diary the evening of Wed 27 November to attend a whānau information evening at Beckenham to find out more...
(If you have more than one child interested, please fill out a separate form for each child)
Please note that we are not planning to hold a 'Blow Test' this year - using this registration of interest form is the way to find out about what is available for your child.


Learning Through Play- Discovery Time

Our Discovery Time is seeing the children really taking ownership of their learning. Children are currently learning how to code Bee-Bots and Sphero robots  (Digital Curriculum), writing books either individually or collaboratively, learning how to prepare food. This coming week the children will learn how to make and prepare sandwiches. This will be a great help at home, no doubt! There are many children really keen on exploring the arts with 'flipping' the learning and teaching themselves how to draw or sketch. We really value this component of our programme as it provides the children with the opportunity to be deep thinkers, problem solve, collaborate and create. Here are the children in action!


Collaborative Writing
Learning To Draw



Programming the Bee-Bots

Kahikatea News Term 4 Week 6

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Christchurch Sympathy Orchestra (CSO)


Last Wednesday we had a fantastic trip to the newly opened Christchurch Town Hall to watch the CSO. Highlights for many tamariki were the inclusion of songs from Harry Potter, Star Wars and Frozen. Thank you to all the parent helpers who helped make the trip a successful one.







Ben the Bunny

Some of our Kahikatea team had a visit from a rather large bunny named Ben. Ben lives at home with one of our lovely support team members. 





Writing Journals at Home

We have noticed lots of our tamariki at school are using their own writing journals at home. Does your child have one?

A writing journal can be a place to draw, practice writing spelling words or even a place to write your thoughts down.

Image result for writing journal

Toys to stay at Home

More and more toys seem to be making their way to school. Just a timely reminder that no toys are allowed at school. This includes trading cards, fidget toys, figurines, toy cars, dolls or games. Toys are expensive for parents and we would hate for them to get lost or broken. We have lots of fun things at school to play with so students do not need to bring anything themselves!






T4 W6 in Pōhutukawa

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Speech Competition

And what a competition it was! The teachers struggled to choose only two candidates from each homegroup, with so many children presenting their speech clearly and confidently. A lot of the content of the speeches showed a passion for looking after our environment and animals. We believe our future is in good hands!

Congratulations to these children who were in the finals: Quinn Clarke, Fergus Macdonald, Zoe Winsor, George Smith, Freya Braun, Vida Gerard, Olive Morel, Zoe Clarke, Layla Wallbanks, Frances Daniels-Maxwell. Thanks to Mahli who did a terrific job of being the presenter.

Special congratulations to the top four placegetters:
Zoe Winsor
Freya Braun
Zoe Clarke
Layla Wallbanks




Music Concerts

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to hear the training band concert. What a talented bunch of musicians we have at our kura. Along with playing some popular Christmas tunes, Maree Parr introduced us to the instruments the children were playing. We were also privileged to hear several impressive solo performances. Congratulations to George Smith who received a trophy for having shown the most progress over the year.
Today we will be attending a string and ukelele concert at 12pm.






Sports news

Congratulations to the large number of Pōhutukawa students who attended the South Zone Athletics Day on Monday at Hansens Park. It's always a big day, and the teachers were very proud of the way our students managed themselves in a positive and respectful way. We were very glad to hear that they kept safe and dry when the inclement weather rolled in!
Good luck to these students who have qualified for the Canterbury Athletics, being held on Wednesday 4 December:
Lola Harris: 50m, long jump
Billy Murfin: 50m
Jonty Mitchell: long jump and 80m
Keanna Hakeagaiki 80m
Mahli Boreham: high jump
Josh Breitmeyer: long jump
Year 5 relay team: Anna, Keanna, Bella, Lola


Navigating the Journey

Yesterday we began the sexuality programme of Navigating the Journey. The students are separated into Year 6 and Year 5 groups. Katie and Steve are working with the Year 6 students and Tracy, Gayle and Rae are working with the Year 5 students. The first lesson was about the visual images of Navigating the Journey, setting guidelines and establishing a positive environment. The use of a question box was also discussed. Next week the topics will be under the theme of 'Who am I?' Topics may include describing unique personal qualities, promoting a positive and inclusive body image,  self-worth: identifying gender and social strengths,  identifying and affirming the feelings and
beliefs of self and others, equity issues: recognising and challenging bullying,
stereotypes, and body image messages and recognising media, social media and consumer
influences.
When we teach sexuality as a Health topic, we are always guided by how the group of students reacts and the feeling we get from them as we introduce the lessons.
We strongly encourage the students to discuss at home content covered at school, and to ask further questions or for clarification from their whānau.
If you have any queries about this programme, please feel free to contact any teacher.