Monthly Archives: October 2021

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 29 October 2021

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

The discovery of COVID cases in Christchurch this week has been an important reminder to all of us of the importance of us all following health & safety guidelines, scanning wherever we go, and getting vaccinated if eligible.

Please remember that face masks are required to be worn if adults need to come onto the school site for any reason. This includes coming into the office, or  when meeting after school with staff (who will also wear a face mask).
Please only come on-site if you are going to the office or to an after school meeting. We continue to request that you do not come into the hubs during the school day whilst children are around at Alert Level 2.

Staffing Update

Laura Williamson has decided to step down as Team Leader from the start of 2022, and we are delighted to announce that Anna Reid has been appointed as the new Team Leader of the Kōwhai (Year 3/4) team. We are still looking to appoint two more teaching staff for 2022 and once those appointments are confirmed, we will be able to confirm teaching teams.

Anna Reid - newly appointed Team Leader of Year 3/4 for 2022

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Week 3:
Wed 3 Nov -  Board of Trustee's Meeting (5.30 - 7.30)
Sat 6 Nov - Theatre Sports Competition (@Rangi Ruru Girls)

Week 4:
Wed 10 Nov - New Entrant (Chelsea and Tracey's Home Groups)  & Year 8 School Photos 
Fri 12 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day (School Closed)

Term Dates
Click here to view 2021 & 2022 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Sarah Ashworth - Year 6

Sarah, you are an awesome role model on Pōhutukawa. You quietly go about the business of learning and always give 100% effort. Any responsibility you are given or seek, you undertake diligently and with good humour. Ka pai to mahi, Sarah.

School Notices

Logging on to HERO

Your child's reports will be being published through HERO this year, so it is important that you are able to access this information. 
It is difficult for us to get a clear picture of how many of you have successfully logged into HERO so far, or to know who are the people who might need a bit of extra help. If you have not yet managed to log onto HERO, PLEASE call the office, or come into the office, and one of the staff will be very happy to walk you through the process. There is also a 'how to log onto HERO' guide here. You can use HERO on multiple devices: a smartphone, a tablet or a computer.

School Donations and Fees

A huge thank you to everyone who has already paid any outstanding fees, camp contributions and contributed towards the school donation. 
To access your account, you need to log onto HERO. 



A small number of items are fees and are required to be paid. These include stationery and uniform items, and payments for optional activities such as miniball.
Camp contributions support us to cover the cost of running camps. At the moment, we are taking quite a loss on running camps so every contribution is important - even if it is only a partial contribution to the camp cost.
Our Board have decided not to charge and itemise for each individual activity, but to ask instead for a once-a-year donation of $150 per child. This equates to $2.88 per week. This school donation covers a wide range of costs. We use this donation to support a wide range of curriculum activities including Swimming and Gymnastics costs (Years 1-4), Kapa Haka tutor, trips, visiting speakers, performers, coaches and educational supports (e.g.Life Education, drama groups etc) who come into the school. 

To set up an automatic payment, or to make a one-off payment, please copy the school’s bank account number: 12-3148-0131641-00 into your internet banking and use your child’s name as the reference.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful Clean-Up Week

This week is 'Keep New Zealand Beautiful Clean Up Week'. Because this week is a short week, the goal will be to get our school cleaned up, looking amazing, and rubbish-free during Week 3.

Sports News

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the Year 5-8 Athletic Sports yesterday. More photos and full results will be coming out next week. A huge thanks to Jenny Diggle, staff and parent helpers for making sure that this event was so successful.



PTA News

We have two final fundraisers for 2021! Order forms for both should be in bags, or on your bench by now!

CALENDAR ART

Our annual calendar art fundraiser is now open!  Order forms will be home by now.
Simply log in to https://www.kidsartworks.com/ - and enter your child’s unique code that is on their order form, then follow the order and payment process. It’s very easy. You can order calendars, diaries, sketch books and heaps more. You can choose between the gorgeous work they have done in class, or submit your own image. Orders MUST be in by Monday 8th of November, at 9am in the morning. There will be no extensions this year – so if you want a copy of your child’s unique art work do it now!

CURED SALAMI

Thinking of those summer BBQ platters with cheese, salami and crackers?  Or do you want a new Christmas present for a family member?  Well, we have the perfect idea for you.


We have teamed up with Cured to offer salami for sale for $20 per salami (450 – 460g size) in four flavours: Venison, Pepperoni, Garlic and Spicy.  They are naturally manuka smoked, are gluten free, dairy free and have no MSG. Meat is locally sourced, and the salamis are produced locally.

These are seriously delicious!

Order forms should have come home in your bag. Please feel free to collect orders from your workmates, friends and family. The order forms should be returned with either cash or online payment before Thursday 11th November at 3pm. We will be at school from Wednesday next week to collect orders. Pick up will be from school on the 10th and 11th of December.

If you prefer to order online, please click this link: CURED Salami Order Form

(The PTA account number for salami payment is : 12-3148-0244558-00. Please use your surname and SALAMI as reference).

Thanks everyone for your support!

Weetbix Kids TRYathlon


The Weetbix TRYathlon is on (fingers crossed!) next year, Sunday 6th of March in the morning at Jellie Park. If you have a child aged 6 or older who is keen to get involved you can easily register them online at https://tryathlon.co.nz/locations/christchurch/ and join our school group by searching “Beckenham”.

There will be a gazebo for the kids to hang out in and a bbq cooking well deserved sausages on the day.
It’ll be a great day family day out and something to look forward to for next year!

Community Notices

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

Waimairi Surf Life Saving Club

Spaces available for 7-9 year old's this summer!

Teaching surf awareness and safety each Sunday morning. While surf life saving is not a learn to swim facility, it is a great compliment to regular pool training.

Contact Brad John, Junior Surf Coordinator
waimairi.juniors@gmail.com

Beckenham Pallet Project

Have you seen the benches around Beckenham? Are you interested in constructing or decorating one? As part of the Better Beckenham project, we will be constructing and decorating benches on Sunday 7th November from 10am to 12 noon at the back of Cashmere New Life church (St. Saviours Church on Colombo St opposite Countdown). Even if you don’t want to build or paint, feel free to pop in, have a look and a chat.  

For more information head to http://www.betterbeckenham.org.nz/benches or get in touch with dave@cnl.org.nz 













Kauri Whānau: Celebration Assembly

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 Kia ora everyone,

As it was wet today, we held our celebration assembly inside with just our Year 7 & 8 team.  We acknowledged our bronze, silver and gold leadership recipients and presented sports cups. Below are photos taken from the presentations.

Bronze Leadership Recipients


Silver Leadership Recipients



Gold Leadership Recipients














Swimming Cups


Athletics Cups


Cross Country Cups

Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 2

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 Kia ora whānau, 

We have had a lovely start back into our final term of school for this year. It has been great to see all these smiley faces again. This week many of the home groups have been using clay to create sculptures. We have seen some amazingly artistic creations. 

Athletics 

Next week we will start practising our athletics sports in the afternoons. The Junior School Athletics Day is being held on Thursday the 11th of November.  

Unfortunately due to Level 2, we are not able to have parents come and watch the sports day this year. 

Reminders

  • During Term 4 the children are expected to wear a hat whenever we are outside, so please help them remember to bring it to school. 
  • Please help remind your child to bring their drink bottle every day. The drinking fountains are closed during Level 2 and the days are starting to warm up! 
  • Please remember that when you come on campus in Level 2, you need to sign into the office and wear a mask while on campus. 

Here are some photos of what we have been up to for the last few weeks. 















Have a lovely weekend! 

The Kōwhai Team - Laura, Nick, Rowe, Quynh and Meagan


Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 22 October 2021

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Remember that this is a four-day weekend with Labour Day on Monday and a Staff Only Day on Tuesday. We look forward to seeing all the children back on WEDNESDAY.

Welcome Assembly today
We had a welcome assembly with a difference today - outside and sadly, without all of our new families and whānau there to share in the welcome.

We welcomed 29 children, 25 of whom were new to Beckenham since Week 2 of last term, and four children who have recently returned to Beckenham after having some time away.

We celebrated their 12 different nationalities and cultural backgrounds with a parade of flags and got a lovely photo of them all together at the end!



It was great to have Te Whānau Mahi Tahi performing again for us and leading from the front of the assembly, welcoming us all in.





Thank you!

...to one of our wonderful parents who built this beautiful 'fairy garden' in one of the planter boxes over the school holidays. It has been played with constantly since school started again this week!


Please be aware of Netflix's new streamed show "Squid Game"

This programme has a rating of 16+ for a very good reason - extreme violence, strong language, and regular, very frightening scenes depicting death that are not suitable for primary aged children.



You may have seen this article on Stuff about the impact that viewing this programme is having on children in Australia.
We urge you to closely monitor your child's viewing, and be aware that they may be able to watch this through Youtube or other platforms, so extremely close parental guidance is encouraged.

Athletic Sports next week - no spectators please

After carefully considering the guidance from the Ministries of Health and Education, we will be running the Year 5-8 Athletic Sports next week as a 'no spectator event'. Whilst we operate with staff and students, we are able to have events like this outside, but as soon as we add spectators into the mix, we would be operating outside of those guidelines.
Thank you for your understanding of this. We will do our best to take lots of photos and will post these to our school Facebook page.

We wish you all a very relaxing and safe long weekend.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Week 2:
Mon 25 Oct - Labour Day (School Closed)
Tue 26 Oct - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Wed 27 Oct - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm)  Dessert Evening - All Welcome
Thur 28 Oct - Year 5 - 8 Athletics
Fri 29 Oct - Celebration Assembly (12 - 12.30)
Sun 31 Oct - PTA Halloween Picnic in the Park Cancelled

Week 3:
Wed 3 Nov -  Board of Trustee's Meeting (5.30 - 7.30)
Sat 6 Nov - Theatre Sports Competition (@Rangi Ruru Girls)

Week 4:
Wed 10 Nov - New Entrant (Chelsea and Tracey's Home Groups)  & Year 8 School Photos 
Thur 11 Nov - Year 0 - 4 Athletics (TBC)
Fri 12 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day (School Closed)

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 & 2022 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Misha Lee - Year 3

Misha, you are an absolutely awesome member of the Kōwhai whanau! You have an fantastic 'can do' attitude and set a wonderful example to others as you cheerfully work hard in all areas of school life.  Misha, you are a considerate, caring and enthusiastic friend, who naturally incorporates our key values in everything you do. Thank you for being such a superstar! Tino Pai! 

School Notices

Food Allergy Guidelines

Across our school, we have a number of children with different food allergies.
To support the wellbeing of these students we have the following guidelines in place which we ask you to follow:
  • Whenever children bring food to school for shared kai occasions, please follow the guidelines provided by the teachers for that event. 

  • We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change.  Our full allergy policy and guidelines in this booklet, are also available on the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto website under “Information - Policies - SchoolDocs” then search ‘allergy’. 
Username: beckenham
Password: pride

If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s point of contact teacher.

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins”. Sessions are now on Tuesdays from 9:30 - 10:30 for parents, starting on November 2nd. 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 yj2ed. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Sunscreen, Hats and Drink Bottles

Please remember to send your child to school each day with sunscreen applied, and with a named school hat and their named drink bottle.



Medication At School

If a child requires medication at school on a long or short term basis, parents/caregivers need to complete a medicine authority form with Jacky or Reihana in the office. Procedures are followed to ensure that it is kept securely, and administered appropriately.

Any medication that is required to be kept at school on an ongoing basis, expiry dates need to be checked regularly by parents/caregivers. If the school notices an expiry date is due parents/caregivers will be advised.

Parents/caregivers are asked to please update the school on any medical/health information about their child by contacting the school office.

ESOL News

This week...

Koru children enjoyed talking and playing a shopping game. They learnt about healthy food, too.



Kahikatea and Kowhai did likewise, and also played some memory and team building games.




Canterbury Schools Orienteering Festival 6th and 7th November


Orienteering is a fun sport, using a map to navigate around checkpoints. While the aim is to finish the course as fast as possible, one of the great aspects of orienteering is that everyone is free to go at their own pace which suits their fitness and desire! For those interested in adventure racing, navigation is an essential skill and most teams have at least one member with orienteering experience.

The schools orienteering festival events are at the Groynes on the 6th November and Bottle Lake forest on the 7th November. The courses are set to be suitable for aged 9 and older and can be done individually or in pairs (many younger children also compete as well but would need to feel confident without an adult). Participants are able to enter one or both days. More information is available on the webpage
https://papo.org.nz/series/view/21/canterbury-schools-orienteering-festival-2021 or from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto parent and orienteering club member, Jenni Adams jennia.home@gmail.com  Entries for the festival close Friday 29th October and should be made individually using the link from the webpage.

After school training opportunities are available over the next two weeks:

Tuesday 26 October | Halswell Quarry | Finlay’s Picnic Area at the end of the main road into the park

Wednesday 27 October |  Barnett Park | End of the car park near the field 

Monday 1 November |  Heathcote Domain | Meet by Cricket pavilion  

Tuesday 2 November  | Hansen Park / Rudolf Steiner School |  Playground in Hansen Park 

For the trainings bring: Comfortable shoes, a compass if you have one, and $2 for a map.  

Sports News

Congratulations to Nevannah who is developing a passion for Netball Umpiring, and has been recognised for her commitment and dedication with these two awards. Nevannah's goal is to one day umpire a Silver Ferns test match.

Cousins Ollie and Lola represented Canterbury during the school holidays, in a 4 day basketball tournament held in Ashburton. Both played some exceptional basketball and had some great wins for their respective U13 teams. Congratulations!


PTA News

Event Cancellation

Regretfully due to COVID, the PTA has decided to err on the side of caution, and cancel the Halloween picnic at the park, that was to be held on the 31st.

Community Notices

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

Huntsbury Preschool is hosting an OPEN DAY


Tuesday 26 October from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Spaces available for 2-5 year olds, Monday-Friday
Come check out our special little preschool on the hill.

Art Competition

As part of our council consultations on coastal hazards, we are running an art competition on what Christchurch might look like in 50 years. We want people to get creative and show us how life in coastal Ōtautahi Christchurch will be. Floating houses? Water cars? Houses and schools on poles? Water bikes? You can show us in any way you like – a drawing or painting, short movie, a presentation, a sculpture, a poster, a photo – get creative!

 Drop off is at any of our Christchurch City Council libraries, or get in touch with Hannah.Ballantyne@ccc.govt.nzto arrange collection.


Koru News Term 4 Week 1

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 Kia ora whanau,

Welcome to the fourth term of the year, and what a busy one it looks as if it's going to be! It was such a treat to see all of those wide and happy smiles back at the school gate this week. We give an especially warm welcome to Hunter, Millie and James who all had their first day at school on Monday. What a wonderful job they're all doing of settling in beautifully at school. Mīharo, tamariki!

All children have returned to the school routines very happily, and are enthusiastically embracing their learning, including those crucial areas of learning like showing 'We Care', embracing challenge, helping each other out when the need arises and making a difference by keeping the learning spaces tidy and well-organised.

A huge thank you goes out to the parents who have created the absolutely gorgeous fairy houses for the Koru team's raised garden area. The children are loving the play in this area, and have been having some great ideas for the things that they could make or bring in from home to decorate the garden even further. Some of their ideas include:

  • little plants (flowers, little succulents and herbs)
  • tiny terracotta pots
  • little beds for the fairies to sleep in
  • decorations for the houses
  • stones, painted or plain
  • a little lake!
  • little hollows and tunnels
If you have any of the above items at home, or perhaps resources which could be put together to create any of the above, all contributions will be gratefully received. Next week, we're going to have a go at making our own little fairies out of old-fashioned wooden pegs. If you have any fabric which would be suitable for clothes or wings, any little buttons, tiny fake flowers, or any other items which you think might be useful, we'd love it if you were to send them along to school. Thank you so much, in anticipation!

Learning Through Play:
The children have jumped back into their Learning Through Play with energy and enthusiasm. They have had some special Koru time in Treemendous, and there are also several little schools in operation, both indoors and outdoors (see below).























We love the examples of our school kete values being evidenced in the children's play in the photos above. You could ask your children to describe the values they can see in action in these photos!

Structured Literacy:
Both teachers and children are loving getting back into Structured Literacy lessons! The children are showing wonderful focus and engagement, and are feeling very proud of the progress that they're making. Please ensure that your children are practising reading their heart words fluently and confidently, as well as writing them. Practising writing the heart words at home will help your child enormously with their confidence in Literacy groups at school. They can also be putting their letter cards together to form simple 2 or 3 letter words, or for those children who have been at school for a longer time, they can be putting their heart words and letter cards together to form sentences, which they can then read to you.






Great work, tamariki! What fantastic spelling and writing.

Handwashing:
We're back into the routine of washing our hands regularly at school, along with using hand sanitiser. We thought you might like to see an example of how diligent the children are when it comes to handwashing. They are experts!







Hats:
A reminder, please, to ensure that your child brings their named hat to school every day. 

We trust that you all have an absolutely wonderful long weekend, and please remember that Tuesday is a Staff Only Day, so we'll see the children back at school, bright-eyed and with wide smiles, on Wednesday next week!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

The Koru teachers: Elizabeth, Nicola, Chelsea, Tracey and Stacey