Principal's Patch
Kia ora koutou
Welcome back to what is nearly the start of the 2021 school year. Whilst we don't complain about having warm weather, let's hope that it isn't quite this hot when school starts back next week! I hope that you have all managed to get some time to relax with your whānau at some stage over the summer break.
This newsletter is designed to give you a heads up on lots of important, need-to-know information to ensure that you and your children have as smooth a start to the school year as possible.
Staff have been heading back into school this week, with all teams having met in the last day or two. Our five new teachers have also been participating in an induction programme over the past two days, led by our senior leadership team. All of our staff will be onsite from tomorrow as we have three staff only days on Thursday, Friday and Monday, preparing for the year ahead!
We will be starting with an exciting morning of sustainability and science, utilising the outdoor environment to understand the links with our cultural narrative. All staff will be involved in this, so the office will be closed in the morning and will open officially at 1pm.
Over the three days we will also be spending time learning how to utilise our new Student Management System. We have a major session planned for our teachers to learn more about the Science of Reading / Structured Literacy approach that we are continuing to understand and utilise to support our teaching of literacy this year. Our staff will also be engaging with some Kapa Haka and increasing their personal commitment to learning more Te Reo Māori.
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New teachers induction 'How we do things at Beckenham'!
from left: Quynh Nguyen, Caitlin Worfold, Meagan Mathers, Sue Leadbetter, Nicola Reddecliffe & Lisa Collier |
Learning Conferences - next week on Tuesday 1st & Wednesday 2nd Feb
It's not too late to book a learning conference for next week. Every team in the school is slightly different this year, so this is an important opportunity to meet the teachers in your child's team and talk about the upcoming year of learning, even if your child has the same teacher as they had last year.
Please log onto
www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and, using the code
4ga7w, log in to the site and book a 30min conference with your child's new teacher.
We only have a limited number of booking slots, so we do ask that separated parents do work together to book a single learning conference for their child so that all families are able to book a time.
Before you attend the learning conference, you might want to think about these questions and discuss them with your child:
Getting ready for your start of year Learning Conference:
- Talk with your child about what they enjoy learning at school – what they feel they are good at.
- Are there any barriers/challenges that get in the way of them learning?
- What would they like to get better at?
- What kinds of things help them to learn best? (e.g. where they sit, people they do/don’t work with, need for breaks/food/exercise, etc.)
- Is there anything about your culture, religion, family situation etc that would be helpful for us to know to be able to support your child?
- Any wonderings, questions?
Stationery
If you have not yet purchased your child's stationery, you can download the stationery list from the
school website.
When you come to the learning conference, please bring $5 with you to pay for two maths books ($2.50 for each book) if your child is in Years 3-8, or for special handwriting whiteboard pens if your child is in NE or Year 1/2 You can also pay for these items at the school office using eftpos before or after your conference.
Pencil Cases: if your child brings a pencil case to school, please keep these small - the storage spaces are not big enough for large, fluffy pencil cases!
Classes begin on Thursday 3rd February
Please ensure that children are dropped at school between 8:30 and 8:55am. There is no supervision before this time. Hubs will be open each day from 8:30am.
As always, we encourage you to foster your child's independence by letting them take their own bag and belongings into the hub to get sorted for the day.
There will be a teacher outside the hub each morning (NE, Y1/2 & Y3/4) if caregivers need to talk with a teacher. The other teachers will be in the hub greeting the children and helping them get set up for the day.
Transition support
Our staff have created a transition slideshow which is shared
here for you to look at with your child(ren). We know that some children will be new to Beckenham and others will benefit from knowing about people and routines in advance. We hope that this will provide a sense of some of the things that are staying the same, and what might be changing or new.
Health & Safety
Sunscreen, Hats and Drink Bottles -
Please remember to send your child to school each day with sunscreen applied, and with a school hat and their drink bottle.
COVID-19 Precautions
Please remember that ALL adults who come on site need to use the QR code to sign in using the school's COVID-19 QR code. These are on hub doors and the office door and there is one outside the library and Pūkaki for when you come onto the school site to pick up children.
We will be using hand sanitiser daily at school - if your child can't tolerate the variety we use at school, please supply your own, and email the teacher to let them know.
Children with Health needs, Emergency Plans and/or medications
If your child has medication that needs to be kept at school it is very impportant that you come into the office and set up a new plan with Jacky for the administration of this. All medication held on site should have been sent back home to you at the end of last year. Please check expiry dates on medications before you bring it in.
If your child has an emergency medical plan for asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes, siezure, allergies or any other critical medical emergency, and you have had that plan and or medication updated over the holidays, please also bring that into the office.
Uniform
Please ensure that your child has appropriate uniform ready for the start of school. You can check our
uniform guide on the website.
The PTA run a second hand uniform shop from the PTA building behind the caretaker's garage on the corner of Sandwich Road and Eastern Tce.
The Uniform shop will be open on
Tuesday 2nd Feb from 10-11am,11:30am-12:30pm and 1:30-2:30pm
Wednesday 3rd Feb from 10-11am and 1:30-2:30pm
Normal term time opening hours will be Mondays & Fridays from 2:50pm - 3:15pm
Building Update
As some of you will have noticed if you have walked past the Eastern Tce end of the school, the old Room 19/20 - Hangere Block has been demolished over the holidays, to make way for a new New Entrant double room hub that will be being built this year for our growing roll, by the Ministry of Education. Whilst this building work is ongoing, the normal Eastern Tce access to school will be closed off. You will still be able to access school from Eastern Tce by using the public path that comes up between the school and the Adventure Playground. The bike shed behind Kōmanawa will still be available.
The Kōmanawa block (New Entrants) has had a much needed toilet refurbish over the holidays as well!
The Treemendous play area will be out of bounds for the duration of the building work.
Welcome Assembly - Friday 5 February 9:15am - 9:30am
At 9:15am on Friday 5th Feb we will hold our first 'Welcome Assembly' for 2021. At this assembly, we will formally welcome all of the children, families and staff who have joined our school since the last welcome assembly was held on Fri 16th October 2020. We encourage whānau to stay and join us, particularly if you are new to the school - this assembly is to welcome you! The PTA will provide morning tea and an opportunity to meet other families immediately after the assembly.
Combined School, PTA & BOSCO Family Picnic: Friday 12 Feb from 5-7pm
Bring along your picnic or your fish and chips and meet other families, along with our PTA, Staff and BOSCO teams. There will be a bouncy castle and some other games too.
Help needed - simple sewing job.
We are looking for someone who could make some very simple curtains to cover the front of some cupboards in a classroom, please. Nothing fancy - they will be hung on a curtain wire.
We also need some slip covers to be made for some quarter round seats that are starting to look a bit shabby. We can provide an example to cut a simple pattern from. We will provide the material that are required. If you think you could help with one or both of these jobs, please contact Jacky by emailing
office@beckenham.school.nz
Important Dates
Upcoming Events
Tue 2 Feb Learning Conferences. Please check you have booked a time for each child
Wed 3 Feb Learning Conferences. Please check you have booked a time for each child
Wed 3 Feb PTA Mtg - Green Room 7:30pm - all welcome
Thu 4 Feb Classes begin
Fri 5 Feb Welcome Assembly
Mon 8 Feb School Closed Waitangi Day
Fri 12 Feb Combined School, PTA & BOSCO Picnic - Everyone welcome
Term Dates
Click here to view 2021 term dates.
Looking forward to seeing you all next week, from Tuesday.
Sandy and the refreshed and ready-to-get-going team at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto!
