Principal's Patch
Kia ora e te whānau
A huge thank you to everyone who turned out to the Whānau Rōpū picnic and 'Ki o Rahi' event last Friday evening on Beckenham Park. It was a beautiful evening, and really great to see so many children and their whānau out to learn a new game together.
Education News this week...
This week the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins has announced
Supporting all schools to succeed, the government’s response to the
final report of the Tomorrow's Schools Taskforce. Both reports were released at the same time.
Whilst some of the original proposals of the first draft of the Tomorrow's Schools Taskforce report have been changed, there are definitely some positive changes signalled in the government's response. The three key features of the changes being proposed are stated as being:
- More responsive, accessible and integrated local support to schools and early learning services
- Stronger arrangements to underpin principal leadership of the schooling system
- A better balance between local and national responsibilities for school property and network
- provision.
This is still a very aspirational document and the real change and detail of what that will look like is still to be drafted, negotiated and legislated over the coming years.
Final Reports for the year will be out next Friday, 22 November.
This year we have pulled back the date that we publish the final student progress and achievement reports for the year, from the final day of the term to the end of Week 6. There are many reasons why we think this will be a better way of doing this, two big ones being:
a) you get the opportunity to talk to teachers about anything in the report you aren't sure about before the end of the school year, and
b) teachers are not trying to write reports in the final 4 weeks of the year, on top of all of the other end of year activities that are going on.
We have made some changes to the report format, based both on feedback from families and from the move away from National Standards over the past 18 months. We look forward to getting your feedback on the new format. You can expect your child to bring home their report next Friday, 22nd November. Some of our children need two copies of their reports for parents who live in different homes. If we are aware of this need, we will accommodate it. If you need a second report and don't get one, please do let Jacky in the office know, and we will rectify that and make a note for future reports.
Students will still bring home stationery lists, and information about learning groups for 2020 and 2020 Learning Conference bookings, in the final week of this term
I hope that you all have an enjoyable and safe Anniversary Weekend
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the team
Important Dates
Upcoming Events
Mon 18 Nov - Zone Athletics at Hansen Park (all day)
Tue 19 Nov - Parent information evening - "Supporting Your Child in a Digital World" - Mana Ake
Wed 20 Nov - End of year concert for Jazz Band, Concert Band and Training Band, Hall, 9:15-9:45am
Sun 24 Nov - Outdoor Spaces Working Bee 8am - 1pm
Sun 24 Nov - Beckenham Booty (PTA) Car Boot Sale 9am - 11am
Wed 27 Nov - PTA meeting, 7:30 - 9:30pm
Tue 3 Dec - Year 7/8 Zone Debate Competition Round 2, Karui Hub, 5:30-7:00pm
Tue 3 Dec - Board of Trustees Meeting, staffroom.
Wed 4 Dec - Canterbury Athletics - Ngā Puna Wai Park
Thu 5 Dec - Kapa Haka Concert (Years 3-8)
Fri 6 Dec - Celebration Assembly 10:50am - 11:30am
Mon 9 Dec - Kauri Production - School hall, 7pm
Wed 11 Dec - Kauri Production - School hall, 7pm
Tue 16 Dec - House Games and School Picnic, 12noon, Beckenham Park
Wed 18 Dec - Year 8 Leavers' Graduation (invitation only), 11am - 12:30pm
Thu 19 Dec - School finishes for the year at 12:30pm
Sun 22 Dec - Final Beckenham Booty (PTA) Car Boot Sale for the year, 9am - 11am
Term Dates
Click here to view 2019 & 2020 term dates.
School Notices
Learning more about our Diverse Learners
This year our staff has been working alongside the RTLB (Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour) service on a special project around 'diverse learners'. This project has seen Lynne Hazeldine (RTLB) based at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto for half a day a week providing “just in time” professional development and mentoring for us all. Lynne has worked with us to develop deeper professional knowledge and empower staff with effective strategies and understanding when engaging and working with diverse learners (including children on the autistic spectrum) in an inclusive and sustainable way which will make a difference to all learners.
Lynne has been involved in
- observations of children and groups of children,
- team meetings to share successful practice and next steps,
- staff meetings providing professional development to our whole team
- Feedback on across school trends and patterns
- Working with our Leadership team
- Developing a set of successful strategies that all our staff will utilise when planning for our diverse learners.
It has been exciting, and no surprise, to see that what works for our diverse learners also works for all our students.
Over the next few newsletters, we will be sharing information on the characteristics of some of our diverse learners to help everyone become aware of the wonderful and diverse learners we have at Beckenham.
Tourette Syndrome...
Tourette Syndrome is a genetic, neurological disorder that causes children to have both motor and vocal tics, ranging from mild to severe in nature. Contrary to pop culture references, it is actually extremely rare for a person with TS to have coprolalia (uncontrollable swearing) and tics can be very subtle or more pronounced.
Childhood tics are, in fact, very common. It is not unusual for a child to develop one tic that can hang around for years. The Tourettes diagnosis comes in when there are both motor and vocal tics that last longer than a year and that come and go and change over time. Many adults with Tourettes experience a remission in tics, and many others go on to learn to control and suppress theirs.
It can be exhausting for our children to manage their tics and attempt to either suppress them or feel confident to tic without anxiety at school. Often when children are relaxed and less focused the tics appear to increase momentarily, although if there has been significant stress or change (like the start of term) they generally increase in frequency for a few days/weeks and then die down again. It is common for children to spend a lot of energy coping with their tics at school and then feel overwhelmed and tired when they get home. There are times they don’t notice them, and times they are extremely frustrating for them (and their parents!)
The best thing we can do as a supportive community is to ignore when they happen (as pointing them our often makes them worse) and teach all of our children that it is just another version of normal. Families often start a tic specific therapy which involves helping children to learn to redirect their tics but this takes time and requires a lot of our children mentally. Very young children need to know they aren’t annoying their classmates or teachers and to feel like they are supported just as they are.
Positive Behaviour 4 Learning - PB4L
Reward System
From the beginning of this term, we have been trialling a new reward system linked to our PB4L journey. Instead of giving out house points, we are handing out Kete tokens to those children we see displaying expected behaviour both in the playground and during learning time in the hub. We are collecting these Kete tokens in house group boxes which we have in each hub (1 for each house) and these tokens are then counted up every second week to see which house has the most tokens. This is announced in assembly on a Friday and, that very afternoon, the children in that house receive a reward which is decided by each team so it is age-appropriate. Every other week on a Friday, we then pull out five names from each house group box and those individuals receive a reward that very afternoon, which is also decided by each team so that it is age-appropriate. In this way, we hope to get the children working towards an individual goal as well as a group goal. As mentioned before, this is a work in progress but up till now, it has been working really well across the school. We will be refining this new system as we go, and we are all really positive about the outcome so far!
PB4L Lessons
This term we have been introducing new PB4L lessons every fortnight. These each involve teaching an expected behaviour. In weeks one and two, we revisited how we move through doorways and look after our personal belongings, which we had a big focus last term. Over weeks 3 and 4, we focused on respecting others, both peers and adults, and currently (over weeks 5 and 6), we are focusing on respecting the environment, which includes both the outside environment and looking after property and equipment. We would love your support with this if you could take the time to talk to your child at home about these aspects of school life and how they could carry on these goals at home too! It really does make a difference! The idea is to keep teaching these skills and eventually, it will become second nature to the children.
Mana Ake News
Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…
A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on alternate Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:10am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking The code to use is
ku2j6. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.
Parent Seminar on Digital Safety - Tuesday 19 Nov 7 - 8:30pm, Staffroom
Mana Ake will be offering the following important Parent Seminar in November - please put this in your diaries now. The digital world is here to stay. Come along and find out how to keep your children safe in the digital world. Learn how the digital world can affect children's well-being and how to support them in this environment.
Writing Utensils Recycling Programme
A huge thanks to all who have contributed to the writing utensils collection boxes around the school. I am about to send off the first box to our nearest collection point in Woolston. The box weighs just over 3kg.....so the landfill is 3kg lighter thanks to your efforts!
If you would like to contribute to this programme please drop any plastic writing utensil off at the admin desk.
The bread tags collection is continuing. So far I have taken approx 3 photocopy boxes full of bread tags to the collection box...that's quite a lot of bread!!
Again, if you want to contribute to this programme please bring your plastic bread tags to the admin desk and pop them into the container.
Ferndale Drop Off Zone
Please respect the need for this area to be just for Ferndale students. Please do not drive into the staff car parking area and use this area to drop off your student, even if it is a wet day! The car park is for staff car parking and for caregivers of Ferndale students to drop their students off.
Lunchonline
The last Lunchonline orders for 2019 will be taken on Friday 13th December. Orders restart on February 10th 2020.
You are invited to our "Thank you..."
There are many people within our school community who go the extra mile to help others and make our school the caring community that it is. Many thanks to all those who recently made meals and baking for a school family who needed a bit of extra support, your kindness was truly appreciated. Thank you to the whānau who accompanied our children to the CSO concert this week! Thank you to the people who help on with trips, being on the PTA, serving on the Board, baking days, book sorting, junior playground duty, and many, many more varied activities around our school, that keep the school running and support our tamariki and our staff.
As a small token of our appreciation as a staff, for the work that parents, grandmas, grandads, aunties, uncles, neighbours, friends and others in our community do to support us, we will be hosting a croissant and coffee breakfast on December 10th in the staffroom from 8:30 - 9:15am. We would love to see as many people as possible there.
Policy Review
We are reviewing two policies this term: Education Outside the Classroom and Sun Protection. Your feedback is appreciated. See the instructions below:
Instructions for reviewing:
- Follow the link to each policy above.
- Enter the username (beckenham) and password (pride)
- Read the policy
- Click the red Policy Review icon at the right-hand top corner of the page. A new screen will appear.
- Select your role (board member, staff member, or parent/caregiver) from the drop-down list.
- Enter your name (optional).
- Submit your ratings and comments.
If you don't have internet access, school office staff can easily provide you with printed copies of the policy and the review form.
Te Mana Raupō Kahui Ako Update
The Te Mana Raupō Kahui Ako is our local cluster of schools who work together for the improved achievement of our children. The schools in our Kahui Ako are Cashmere High, St Martins, Waltham, Thorrington, Ōpāwa, Beckenham, St Mark's School and Diamond Harbour, along with over 30 Early Childhood Education centres.
In the past two weeks, the maths teachers from Cashmere High, along with most of the teachers from the primary schools, got together at St Mark's School for an after school hui on Maths teaching. It was really worthwhile to connect with the other teachers and to begin conversations sharing the good practice we each have in our maths programmes and teaching. We expect this to be the first of many conversations like this, going forward.
Another change that has come about from our strengthening relationships within the Kahui Ako, is closer conversations with the staff at Cashmere High about transitions from our various primary schools into the high school environment. This has resulted in Cashmere High making some significant changes to the way that it gathers information from both teachers and whānau about incoming Year 9 students and we have been very impressed by these changes. The greater depth of knowledge and understanding of the diverse needs of our students that Cashmere High is getting should enable them to better support students with a positive transition from Year 8 through to Year 9.
Congratulations to...
During the school holidays Katy Agar took part in the Christchurch Gang Show. This was a fantastic, highly entertaining variety show put on by the Scouts and Guides of Christchurch. The show had singing, dancing and some very funny skits. There was 6 months of hard work put into rehearsals and 5 full-on performances which were held in the auditorium of Christs College. The cast gave it their all to entertain and Katy was delighted to see some of her friends in the enthusiastic audience. Katy was a little nervous at first with having a big solo but shone like the rainbow in the song she was performing. Well done, we are very proud of you!
PTA News
Beckenham Booty
Spots are filling up fast for the last two Beckenham Bootys of 2019.
Bookings are now open for
Sunday 24th November & Sunday 15th December 9-11amClick on this link
Beckenham Booty to book for either or both of these events.
For the shoppers, we are offering the opportunity to host a ‘Sustainable Christmas’ by purchasing second hand & taking advantage of some of the affordable sustainable products on offer. The PTA’s
‘We Care’ stock is very low but we do still have the following available for those family & friends who are hard to buy for at Christmas :
Assorted Beeswax Wraps- from $5- $20
String Vege Bags- $10
Jute Shopping Bags- $10
Recyclable Coffee Cups -$17
Flow Designed Beckenham Tea Towels- $10
Grid Designed Beckenham A2 Canvas- $30
Frozen Cheese Rolls- $8 per dozen or 4 dozen for $30.
We would love to have buskers singing Christmas Carols at our next Beckenham Bootys- if this interests you, please email
Email Rachel: rachelwiscombe@gmail.com
Twilight Fair Sponsorship
Our little helpers have been busy this week posting out the Twilight Fair Sponsorship letters. Cross fingers & toes they recoup lots of support from our amazing Beckenham community & beyond to make this the best Twilight Fair ever!
What are we fundraising for?Funds raised will be used to update our school sports uniform collection for our children. Another major expense for the school is ensuring our digital technology is adequate for incoming curriculum changes set out by the MOE. We need to acquire equipment to enable our children to develop coding skills & utilise robotic tools.
What support are we seeking?● Sponsorship of a major attraction on the day. (Rental fee costs approximately $300)
● Raffle Prizes
● Donation of services
● Silent Auction items
● Monetary Donations (to assist with set up costs, entertainment, food etc)
By donating upwards of $300, we will add your name to one of the major attractions where you can display your own signage. All of our sponsors’ names will be published on our PTA website, on our PTA Facebook page & at the Fair.
Can you help?
email Belinda if you can help
Mark this date:
FRIDAY 20th MARCH 2020: 4:30pm-7:30pm for the PTA's Biennial Twilight Fair. Huge thanks to Gail Harris from
Platform Design Ltd for her continued support, generosity & wonderful designs- we love our poster & hope you do too.
Community Notices
(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
ReplaceWithCommunityNotices
Come along to the Beckenham Community Christmas Celebration located in the grounds of Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto on Thursday 12th December from 5.00-7.00pm
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).
We will also have Christmas Markets-if you are interested in booking a Christmas Market Stall,
click on this link NOW No charge.
