Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāpare (Thursday) 23 June 2022

Principal's Patch

Mānawatia a Matariki!

What a very special time we had at school last night for our Matariki Whānau Hui! Thank you to everyone who came along to join in the celebration. It really was very special to have you all back in the hubs and in the hall, sharing together in learning about and celebrating Matariki.


A huge thank you to our amazing PTA for taking on the challenge of preparing the hāngi on site for the first time. Whilst there were some challenges with the cooking, we appreciate so much the huge effort that went into this, and we look forward to future hāngi having learned a lot from this one.
Thanks also to Steve Cooke who co-ordinated last night's event, and to all of our staff and senior students who stayed and supported the activities to make this such a great community night.

To hear the beautiful song by Six60 called "Pepeha" that the children sang last night, that we tried to join in with, click here.


To continue learning about Matariki, and the meanings behind each of the stars, click here.

And to hear a Ngai Tahu perspective on Matariki from Ngai Tahu Astornomer, Victoria Campbell, click here

Wishing you all a very safe Matariki long weekend!

Ngā mahana nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed
Wednesday 29 June - BOT Meeting (5.30PM - 7.30PM in te Rūma Kaimahi)
Wednesday 29 June - PTA Meeting (7.30-8.30PM in the Green Room)
Monday 4 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Wednesday 6 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Citizen of the Week

Charlotte Ryder - Year 8

Charlotte, your integrity, focus and diligence as a learner makes you an absolute joy to have in Kauri hub. This year, it has been wonderful to watch you develop into an inspiring leader, one who is both inclusive and welcoming to all. In addition to this, you embody sportsmanship through your respectful interactions, coachability and your drive to be the best you can be. Thank you for all that you do for our kura. 

School Notices

Winter Conditions

The past two days we have experienced heavy frosts. Please be aware that this makes the footpaths around the school and road crossing very slippery. Please talk with your child about walking with care on frosty mornings when coming to school. Thank you.

Learning Conferences

Learning Conferences will be happening during the last week of Term 2, on Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th July, from 2:15pm - 6:30pm. To book your conference, go to http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/abad8 

Reports will be available the week prior to Learning Conferences. This will be an opportunity for you to meet with your child's home group teacher and discuss their progress and next steps.

BOT Update

School Board of Trustee Elections 2022

Nomination round

Our kura will be undertaking a parent election for 3 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022.

We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database.

Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates. 

Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12 noon.
Election day is Wednesday 7th September.

We look forward to your participation in this process.

Community Notices

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

Elements Nature Based Play 

Have your children active & imaginative amongst nature. Think huts, trees, tools, arts n crafts, plenty of time and space. Elements has a great mix of planned experiences and play throughout our programmes. For July School holidays Elements are offering themes such as ‘Robin Hood’, ‘Wild Adventures’, ‘Magic &; Spells’ & ‘Farm n Fire’, at Riccarton, Redcliffs and a Westmorland farm. Ages 5-13yrs or ‘stay n play Kidsfest’ for 2-7yrs.

See our website https://www.elementsnature.co.nz/  or facebook page https://www.facebook.com/elementsprogrammes/ to see what we get up to. Bookings are through https://elements.aimyplus.com 
For more info email elementsprogrammes@gmail.com

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 2 Week 8

In this post:

  • Cheese roll help is still needed
  • Ski trip helpers still needed
  • Netball
  • Famine
  • Maths at home video 3
  • Matariki
  • Writers workshops 

Cheese Roll: help needed!

Many thanks to all who placed orders. We have almost 500 dozen cheese rolls to make next Wednesday. At this stage we still need:

  • a parent or two to help with the Wednesday morning shift
  • a parent to help with the Wednesday afternoon shift
  • a parent to chop onions on Tuesday evening
  • large pots (jam-making sized)
  • long wooden spoons
  • electric knives
  • large chopping boards
If you can help with any of the above, please fill in this form.

Ski trip: Sept 1st

Many thanks to the 12 people who have offered to join us for our ski day. We need all of you and some more. If you are able to help and have yet to fill in the form, please do so now.

Winter Sport

Weekly winter sport is well underway and is a highlight of the week for many. We are really proud of the way the tamariki represent our kura at competitive games. We will be giving an update on one sport each week.

Netball

Our 7/8 netball teams have had an amazing start to the season! For many, this is the first time they have taken to the court and the improvement in ball skills, and communication has been outstanding. A huge thank you to all those involved who demonstrate our school values in everything they do both inside and outside of school! 



40 Hour Famine

It is fabulous to see so much interest in World Visions's 40-hour Famine this year. This link explains the different 'Famines' and how to get started. Children are discouraged from doing a food famine. Please remind your child to keep going with their sponsorship gathering. There is just one more week until the famine weekend. 

Maths

Here is our third video on how to learn and practice basic facts at home. When we asked maths teachers from Cashmere High what their one wish was for children to have mastered by the end of Year 8, they said it was the instant recall of multiplication and division facts to 10x. This is worked on at school and for many, a regular work-on at home would be beneficial.


Preparing the Hangi

Ten of our seniors helped to prepare the food trays for the hangi on Wednesday night. They did a fabulous job and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A big thanks to all of the performers, demonstrators and helpers at our Matariki evening. This was a great opportunity for our Year 7 & 8s to step up as leaders.











Write On School for Young Writers

The School for Young Writers have the following opportunities coming up in terms 3 and 4.  All info here.

Friday  August 5th AND 19th at Kaiapoi Library:  Write On Speak Out: Podcasting with Plains FM   
* Please note this is a two day workshop

Friday August 26th at Rangiora Town Hall : Poetry Takes You Places * plus optional evening open mic at Rangiora Library

Friday September 16th at Rangiora Town Hall:  It's Only Natural : Creative NonfictionTues Oct 18th, or Weds Oct 19th, or Friday Oct 21st at Tūranga Heritage Festival 2022: Moments and Milestones
* pick one day

Friday October 28th at Kaiapoi Library: Oh, Horror! Horror Writing for Halloween

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 17 June 2022

Principal's Patch

Kia ora e te whānau

We are well into the cold, winter weather now and noticing that a number of our tamariki are coming to school without a sweatshirt or polar fleece. The PTA has a good supply of second-hand uniform items at very affordable prices. The second-hand clothing shop is open every Monday and Friday from 2:50 - 3:15pm, in the old dental clinic building on the corner of Sandwich Road and Eastern Tce

Learning Conferences

Learning Conferences will be happening during the last week of Term 2, on Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th July, from 2:15pm - 6:30pm. To book your conference, go to http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/abad8 

Reports will be available the week prior to Learning Conferences. This will be an opportunity for you to meet with your child's home group teacher and discuss their progress and next steps.

Matariki Whānau Rōpū Hui

We are very excited about the upcoming Matariki themed whānau hui this coming Wednesday, 22nd June, from 5-6:30pm. Te Whānau Mahi Tahi and the Pōhutukawa and Kōwhai kapa haka groups  are looking forward to performing for you all for the first time this year!
The PTA Hāngi will follow immediately after the hui, for those who have ordered kai.

COVID Update

Only two new cases of COVID have been reported in our student/staff population this week which is really great news. You can see from the graph below that our 7-day rolling average is less than 1 and tracking down. 


Attendance is still sitting between 76-84%. We know that every day at school is important for our children's progress so please ONLY keep your child at home if they are sick, symptomatic or isolating. Otherwise - send them to school!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Wednesday 22 June - Whānau Hui & Hāngī
Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed
Wednesday 29 June - PTA Meeting (7.30-8.30PM in the Green Room)
Monday 4 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Wednesday 6 July - school closes at 2pm for Learning Conferences
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Citizen of the Week

Olivia Yeates - Year 6

Olivia, your love of learning is reflected in the way you grasp all learning opportunities on offer at school. Your focus and diligence, along with the high self-expectations that you set yourself, mean that not only is your work completed in a timely manner, it is also completed to an excellent standard. You are a role model in our hub and are a driver of your own education. Tino pai, Olivia.

School Notices

Matariki Evening (Whānau Hui) and Kapa Haka Performance


We would like to invite you to our first Whānau Rōpū hui of 2022. Matariki is the start of the Māori New Year and a time of reflection, connection, and planning for the year ahead. We would like to celebrate with you and your whānau on the 22nd of June from 5pm.

5:00 pm - Welcome & Performance - Te Whānau Mahi Tahi

5:20 pm Move to hubs - Matariki activities

6:20 pm Return to hall - performance by Pōhutukawa and Kōwhai joint kapa haka rōpū

6:45 pm Hāngi (for those who have pre-ordered hāngi)

Nau mai, haere mai.

Absences

Please let us know if your child is going to be away BEFORE 8.55am on the day of their absence.
When you do this, it saves an enormous amount of time in the Office.

Just a reminder of the ways you can contact us:
BY TEXT - 02102794107
BY PHONE - 03 337 1404
BY EMAIL - office@beckenham.school.nz

Please note that the voicemail function does not work for the text line, you cannot leave messages on the cellphone number.
If you are emailing teachers, please ensure you copy in the office too.

Headlice

We have a had a number of cases of head lice reported in the school, so please check your student's hair and head and treat as necessary before sending them back to kura. You can find out more about head lice and treatment on the attachment (HERO).

Have you got your cheese roll order in yet?

Many thanks to those who have their cheese roll orders in already. If this is still on your 'to do' list, here is the link to place your order. Orders close this Sunday. 

ShowQuest 2022

Today a group of 26 students went with Jenny and a group of amazing parents to the Town Hall where they spent the day performing and filming their ShowQuest Entry. Due to COVID, this event is being filmed and critiqued virtually, and we expect that the children involved will have access to the professional recording when it is done.
It was an amazing day and a great culmination of weeks of planning, rehearsal and hard work. Congratulations!




Sports News

Junior Cross Country


On Tuesday this week, the junior school cross country was held on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Thank you to all whānau members who were able to come along and support their tamariki during this event.

Congratulations to all those who have participated and put so much effort into completing the course. We are very proud of you indeed!

The following children are our 2022 cross country champions:

New Entrants: Florence Wood & Xavier Duncan

Year 1: Amelia Olykan & Hunter Olykan

Year 2: Ruby Grice & Alexander Pauley

Year 3: Jayme Scott & Max Olykan

Year 4: Laura Stoney & Ben Stoney

PTA News

Matariki Hāngī


Tēnā koe, thanks so much, for your support for our Matariki hāngī. 
The preordered kai will be available at the end of the Whānau Rōpū Hui, around about 6.30pm
We are so excited to be able to celebrate this special time of year as a community!!!
Orders are now closed as we have reached capacity. Sorry if you missed out on ordering, if it all goes well we may be able to go bigger next year! 

If anyone is keen to help by chopping up some veggies on a Tuesday evening (21st June)  please let us know by emailing pta@beckenham.school.nz

Peanut Butter Update

Thanks for everyone that ordered peanut butter, we sold 380 jars!! That is over $1000 dollars we can give straight back to school to support the children's learning.

Seeking a Parent Helper for Disco Night

The PTA would absolutely love the support of a school parent who would be keen to volunteer their evening to help us with playing the music for the school disco, on Friday 5th August.

Sound system & play-lists will be provided- we just need the support of an enthusiastic & knowledgeable parent to make this disco happen!

If you think you might be able to help us out please let us know asap. We would be very grateful for the help. Thanks!

Please email PTA@beckenham.school.nz

BOT Update

School Board of Trustee Elections 2022

Nomination round

Our kura will be undertaking a parent election for 3 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022.

We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database.

Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates. 

Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12 noon.
Election day is Wednesday 7th September.

We look forward to your participation in this process.

Community Notices

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

Public Meeting 27th June - South Library and Service Centre building

The Council is exploring a rebuild for the library and you are welcome to find out more in person, watch the meeting live, or catch up later on YouTube.

What's happening to the South Library and service centre building?

We're engaging with the community as we explore plans for rebuilding the quake-damaged South Library and customer services building, Te Kete Wānanga o wai Mōkihi.

The building was badly damaged in the 2010/2011 earthquakes. Temporary strengthening has made it useable, but the community deserves a permanent solution that will future-proof the facility for decades to come.

Even setting aside the earthquake damage, the South Library and Service Centre building opened in 2003, and is due for an upgrade to modern standards – it could be much greener and more energy efficient, and the space inside could be improved to better suit customers and staff.

What happens next?

We’re beginning the design process for a rebuild and will be in touch soon for your input to help develop a concept design for the Council to consider in the first half of 2023. The Council will then make a decision about whether to rebuild or repair. The building will keep the same floor area and remain on its riverside site.

They’ll also need to secure additional funding in a future Annual or Long-Term Plan, because at the moment there’s only $13.6 million set aside for the project, and we know that the cost of the work will be higher.

In the meantime, we’re staying open and you can keep using the building as normal.

There's no start date yet. We expect construction work to take about 18 months, and we're scheduling it for after the new Hornby Centre opens in late 2023.

While the work is underway, we’ll set up a temporary library in a suitable premises.

For more information coming up, keep an eye on christchurchcitylibraries.com

Cashmere High School


Unfortunately due staff absences we had to cancel our Open Day, however as an alternative we will be hosting three information afternoons, if you are considering attending Cashmere High School in 2023 we invite you to attend one of these sessions. Please click on the link to confirm your place, numbers are limited.

Kahikatea News Week 7 Term 2

Kia ora e te whānau, 

Term 2 seems to be speeding by! We have been having a busy and wonderful time in the Kahikatea Hub, and we hope that you are all been keeping well.

Cross Country

The kids had an amazing time at the Cross Country on Tuesday this week! They should all be very proud of themselves for giving it a go and trying their best. Thank you to the whānau that were able to come out and support the kids and to everybody for supporting your kids.


Positive Behaviour for Learning

As part of our school-wide Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L) program, our focus this week has been learning about and using EMPATHY. Kahikatea learners have spent time discussing what empathy looks like, sounds mean tand feels like.

Dress Ups

As the weather is becoming colder we are finding ourselves taking part in a lot more indoor activities. One of our beloved activities is the dress ups. If you have any dress up costumes that you are no longer using please consider sending them our way. The kids would love some more options!

 

 

Upcoming Events:

Matariki Whānau Rōpū Hui

We would like to invite you to our first Whānau Rōpū hui of 2022. Matariki is the start of the Māori new year and a time of reflection, connection and planning for the year ahead. We would like to celebrate with you and your whānau on the 22nd of June from 5pm.

5:00pm - Welcome & Performance - Te Whānau Mahi Tahi

5:20pm - Move to hubs - Matariki activities

6:20pm - Return to hall - performance by Pōhutukawa and Kōwhai joint kapa haka rōpū

6:45pm - Hāngi (for those who have pre-ordered hāngi)

Nau mai, here mai. All Welcome!


The Christchurch Antarctic Centre

We are very excited to be visiting The Christchurch Antarctic Centre on Thursday, 23rd June.

 

Thank you to all those parent/whānau who have volunteered to assist. We now have sufficient numbers of parent/whānau helpers. Thanks everyone! 

 

Some important information:

  • Katie and Emma’s homegroups will be leaving school at 9am and will return by 12:15pm.

  • Please ensure that if your children are in Emma or Katie’s homegroups that they are at school on time on Thursday as we need to be boarding out buses at 9am.

  • Amber and Krystal’s home groups will be boarding their bus at 11.45am and returning to school by 3pm.

  • Please ensure that your child is dressed in their school uniform.

  • Please ensure that your child has a warm jacket/clothing.

  • Please ensure that your child has comfortable shoes.

 

Learning Conferences

Learning Conferences will be happening during the last week of Term 2, on Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th July, from 2:15pm - 6:30pm. To book your conference, go to http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/abad8

Reports will be available the week prior. Learning Conferences are an opportunity for you to meet with your child's home group teacher and discuss their progress and next steps.

 

Thank you for all of your support! That's all for now,

 

The Kahikatea Team

 

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz,  katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz, krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz, emma.hayes-smith@beckenham.school.nz

lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz,




 Take a look throught this important social story all about our upcoming trip : 


Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 7

It has been another action-packed week in team Kōwhai, as detailed below!

Reminders:  

  • Matariki whānau evening next Wednesday, 22nd June at school - please come and enjoy crafts and other Matariki learning from 5-6pm. There will be a short performance by the Kōwhai Kapa Haka Group at around 6:20pm, followed by an optional Hangi. Hangi food can be ordered from the PTA. If your child is in the Kōwhai Kapa Haka group and they are coming to perform, could you please make sure they are in Pūkaki by 6pm in order to get ready for the performance.
  • Learning Conferences - to be held in the last week of term, on Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th June. Please note school finishes at 2pm both days. If you haven't already, please book online.

Cross Country 

Thank you to all those parents and whānau who attended and supported our Cross Country event on Tuesday. We were delighted to have families back enjoying a beautiful sunny afternoon. Congratulations to all participants. We were so proud of the way you embraced the challenge of completing the course!






The top 6 placed children for each year (top 6 boys and top 6 girls) will be invited to run in the Cross Country Challenge at Hillview on Tuesday 5th July. There will be more information on this to follow.

Structured Literacy in the Kōwhai Hub

Structured Literacy happens from 11-12.40 in our hub, and includes the following:

Oral Language 

Oral language features throughout the sessions, with lots of shared discussion, peer discussion, teacher-led groups, games and play reading on occasion.

Reading

  • Phonics warm-up (using the Heggerty Phonics Programme) 
  • Speed sounds: flash card reading and/or writing of key spelling patterns and sounds
  • Small group reading with the teacher (using the Little Learners Love Literacy range), which includes dictated words and sentences to practise spelling patterns
  • Follow-up tasks focused on specific spelling patterns: games, worksheets, sentence work
  • Dragon word spelling 
  • Heart word spelling 
  • 'Must do' and 'can do' tasks, such as reading, free writing, wordfinds, targeted work sheets, word challenges, cartoon drawing, Chromebook or iPad literacy games and more
Writing
We focus on different genres or text types for a few weeks at a time. We have just completed a focus on descriptive writing, and were blown away by the student's progress with using adjectives, verbs, similes, metaphors! We are now moving into narrative writing, and some groups are starting this with fractured fairy tales (or fairy tales which are mixed up or slightly twisted from the original!). Each writing session includes some or all of: 
  • Teacher modelling or shared writing (teacher and students working together to write a text) 
  • Reading good examples of a genre or text 
  • Planning writing using varied templates or strategies (e.g. a mindmap, picture drawing etc)
  • Independent writing and editing time 
  • Teacher conferencing and feedback to students 
  • Small groups working with the teacher on specific elements of writing 
  • Publishing 
  • ICT research 
  • Handwriting 
  • Spelling or grammar tasks


Kete Awards: Week 6 (last week)







Discovery Fun!