Principal's Patch
Kia ora koutou
We are very aware of the multiple challenges that are presented to us daily, particularly through the media, with COVID, the Wellington protest, and events unfolding in Ukraine. Protecting our children from some of this media and the adult discussions around it is a positive action that parents can take.
The welfare of our students is always at the top of our minds. With the deeply sad events unfolding in Ukraine, we are aware that this may be having an impact on some of our students, especially those who are from, and/or who have family and friends in Ukraine and Russia. This is also being heavily covered in the media, and the reporting and content has been very harrowing and may cause anxiety for our wider student community.
Kindness and respect for our students who may have European connections is especially important in these very challenging times. Our school has supports in place for students who may be impacted, and we encourage anyone with concerns about the safety and wellbeing of a student to contact us.
Learning from Home
Over the next few weeks, we do expect that some children will need to begin periods of time where they are Learning At Home, especially if they are Household Contacts. We encourage you to have a look at the
Learning At Home Website and familiarise yourself with how it will support your child’s le
arning if they are isolating/unwell at home.
There are a range of learning options on the site, some that are digital and others that do not require access to a device to complete. This is particularly true for the NE - Year 4 students. If your child is in Years 5-8, they will be more digitally focused.
Please contact your child’s Homegroup teacher, or the school office, should you need any support with accessing Learning At Home.
It is important that you let us know if your child is at home sick, or if they are learning at home, as this will also determine how their absence is coded.
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal
Citizen of the Week
Bella Toledo-Riveros - Year 8
Bella, you are such a warm and inclusive member of the Kauri hub. Your honesty, compassion and tolerance are widely appreciated by your peers. Bella, you live our values 'We Care' and 'We Make a Difference' in the way that you lift other people up. Thank you for being such an awesome role model. Tu meke Bella!Sristy Lasiyal - Year 4
Sristy, you have made an outstanding start to the year. You consistently focus on doing the right thing and are an extremely helpful member of the team. You and kind, caring and positive. You are a fantastic role model to others. Well done, Sristy! School Notices
Walk or Wheel to School Week - THIS COMING WEEK!
This coming week is "Walk or Wheel Week", which is a fun week that encourages school children and their families to walk, cycle, scoot or skate to school. We hope some of our whānau will take up the wero (challenge) and give it a go!
If your child walks or wheels to school at least three days next week, they can go into the draw for some spot prizes that have been provided by Christchurch City Council.
COVID-19
As you will have seen in the messages sent out last night and this morning, we now have active cases in our immediate school community. A further case was confirmed after this morning's message went out, bringing our total cases so far to four.
As advised by the Ministry of Education, we are not spending time focussing on where each case is in our school, or who the close contacts might be. We are living with this virus in our community and we are all focussing on behaving in the safest way that we can, wearing masks, distancing, using good hygiene practices, and staying at home when we are not well. We are noticing that a number of people who have developed sore throats and headaches have tested negative for 2 or 3 days before eventually testing positive around day 4 or 5. Even though they had initially tested negative, they still had symptoms so had stayed at home, meaning that the risk of further spread has been minimised..
To help everyone at school, we need you all to:
- advise us if your child has tested positive for Covid-19, as soon as you can. Call the office on 337 1404 or Sandy (after hours/weekend) on 021 899 429.
- advise us if you are keeping your child at home for any reason, and what that reason is - e.g. the whole household is in isolation as someone in the household has tested positive; you are keeping your child at home as you believe they have had an exposure with a confirmed case and you are taking a cautious approach to see if your child develops symptoms.
- if your child has ANY symptoms or is sick in ANY way, please keep them at home and let us know. If your child presents at school with any symptoms, we will call you to come and take them home.
- send your child to school, if you are confident that they are well and symptom-free.
What we’re doing
- School will stay open
- We will provide Learning At Home as much as we can whilst teachers are still teaching classes at school and staffing allows
- We have appropriate public health measures and cleaning procedures in place
Symptoms of COVID-19
- A new or worsening cough
- Sneezing and runny nose
- A fever
- Temporary loss of smell or altered sense of taste
- Sore throat
- Shortness of breath
- Less common symptoms include diarrhoea, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, malaise, chest pain, abdominal pain, joint pain, or confusion/irritability.
2022 Music Festival - Representative Group applications now open.
This is to let you know that talented singers and musicians from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto can now apply for an audition to join a Representative Group - Junior & Senior Choir, Concert Band, Orchestra - for the 2022 Music Festival.
If this is new to you and your child, read the information on the festival website first. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me to have a chat about the suitability of this opportunity for your child.
It is important that all of our talented singers and musicians get a chance to not only participate in a life-changing learning opportunity but also to represent Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto while doing it.
Being selected for a Representative Group for the Music Festival is the artistic equivalent of being selected for a Canterbury level sports team; let's make sure the opportunity is not overlooked.
Kindest regards
Sandy Hastings
Mana Ake
Lunch Orders
Kauri Leadership Week
Last Friday, as a conclusion to our Kauri Leadership Week, Year 7 & 8 headed for the hills, walking up to Victoria Park and embracing a love of challenge. Our leadership learning has included an inspiring talk from Mark Inglis and two separate leadership days for Year 7 & 8 where the '7 habits of highly effective people' that we have been learning about were put into action. The children had a blast, embraced the challenge of the climb and supported their peers when the going got tough.
Immediate online positive parenting support offered to all families in Aotearoa
To support mental health, resilience and emotional wellbeing for our tamariki and rangatahi, Ministry of Health are partnering with Whāraurau to offer free online versions of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program® across the country.
Triple P is an evidence-based programme with a long history of successful use in New Zealand. More than 10,000 New Zealand whānau have accessed some type of Triple P support in the areas where it has been available free for the past 10 years, with many turning to online programmes throughout the Covid 19 pandemic.
There are three free Triple P Online programmes available throughout Aotearoa to help parents and caregivers positively support children to reduce anxiety, build emotional resilience and life skills, and cope with life’s challenges. These programs also help whānau stay calm and optimistic, guide behaviour positively, and encourage children’s learning.
- FEAR-LESS TRIPLE P ONLINE – for parents and caregivers of children and teenagers (6-14 years) who have significant anxiety.
This 6-module online course gives parents and caregivers a better understanding of anxiety, gives them skills and strategies to improve children’s coping capacity, and helps parents develop safe, gradual ways for children and teens to face anxiety-provoking situations and overcome their fears. It also helps boost children’s and teenagers’ confidence and problem-solving skills.
- TRIPLE P ONLINE – positive parenting for those who have toddlers to 12-year-olds.
This 8-module online course helps parents and caregivers develop a range of positive ways to address child behaviours, promote new skills and help emotional self-regulation, to help them improve family relationships and raise happier, more confident and capable tamariki.
- TEEN TRIPLE P ONLINE – positive parenting for those who have ‘tweens’ or teenagers – 10-16 years.
This 6-module online course helps parents and caregivers understand more about pre-teen and teenage development and behaviour, so they can provide the best environment for raising responsible, resilient rangatahi while maintaining close relationships and minimising conflict.
Community Notices
(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
NEXT CHAPTER PARENTING
Offering Individual, or group, PARENTING SESSIONS via Zoom. Ten one hourly sessions, weekly at a time convenient to you, available evenings.
Topics covered include; Communication, Empathy, Setting Limits, Quality Time, Consequences, Choices, Redirection, Pick your battles with your child, Problem Behavior, Praise vs Acknowledgement, Time In vs Time Out, The Pause, Sibling Rivalry, Teenage Boundaries Erickson’s Stages of Growth, Personality Types and how it affects your children.
WINZ funding assistance where eligible.
Craft Competition for Children's Day
We are pleased to announce that TOCK.earth is co-hosting Christchurch's ONLINE Children's Day. To celebrate this important day we are running a fun activity/competition which your tamariki may like to get involved in at home. The competition is craft based and runs from now until the end of Monday 7th with prizes for the winning entries.
Happy Children's Day.🙂
Ngā mihi nui.
The TOCK Team
Cashmere Tech
As a part of Girls and Women’s Month Cashmere Tech are running a Girls Fiesta at Somerfield Park on Friday March 11th!!
We will be celebrating all things Female Football on the day with loads of prizes to be given away.
Our Women’s Premier League and Reserves players will be there on the day to join in with the fun!
Details for the Day:
Date: Friday 11th March
Times: 4:00pm - 5:15pm - 5th to 12th Grade
5:30pm - 6:45pm - 13th to 16th Grade
Where: Somerfield Park
All players welcome - no registration needed - come have fun and play some football!
Environment Canterbury
Environment Canterbury is consulting on its draft Annual Plan 2022/23 from today Wednesday 2 March to Sunday 3 April 2022.
You may be interested in the proposal for changing bus fare structure. We’re looking at options of either fare-free travel, flat fares or a tertiary student concession.
We’re also keen to hear views on how we fund flood protection and recovery, and a future rate to accelerate action on climate change.
