Principal's Patch
Ngā mihi e te whānau,
It has been truly wonderful to welcome our students to the 2025 school year. There's been a positive energy around the school, and it’s been a pleasure to see new connections form and learning getting underway. A huge thank you to all our staff who have worked tirelessly to prepare our environment for the community. I also want to acknowledge the Mihi Whakatau (welcome) on Tuesday morning, which officially welcomed me to Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto. It was a truly humbling experience. A big thank you to Sampson, Marcel, for your words of support, Te Whānau Mahitahi for their performance and to Whaea Cath, Sue, and Jo for your organisation.
Welcome to Our New Staff Members for 2025!
We are excited to introduce the newest members of our team for the upcoming year:
Talia - Kahikatea Team
Kendall - Kōwhai Team
Hazel - Kōwhai Team
Chris - Pōhutukawa Team
Chloe - Kauri Team
Hugo - Kauri Team
Each of our new staff members has shared a brief bio in this newsletter, so you can get to know them a little better.
Welcome Assembly
This morning, we had the pleasure of welcoming our new students and their whānau to our school. It was inspiring to see the diverse cultures and countries represented in our flag ceremony. We are thrilled to have you all join us and become part of the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto community.
Staff Only Days
Leading up to the start of the school year, the staff spent four days engaged in professional learning and preparations. One of these days was spent with colleagues from schools within the Te Mana Raupo Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning), receiving professional development from Kathryn Burkett, an expert in the intersection of education and neuroscience. Her key message was: “Young people simply can’t perform in a classroom unless their basic needs have been met.” The remaining three days our staff spent together focused on ‘Setting up for Success,’ with key themes around setting up for student success through consistency, building relationships, and maintaining high expectations.
Learning Conferences
Thank you for taking the time to meet with your child’s homeroom teacher, either last Friday or Monday of this week. We see these conferences as a fundamental step in developing strong learning partnerships that will support your child to thrive throughout the year. If, for any reason, you were unable to attend, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher so that an opportunity to connect can be arranged.
Attendance
As you may know, one of the government’s key education targets is for 80% of students to attend school for more than 90% of the term. This is a goal we are committed to achieving as we start the school year, and we are committed to supporting all of our students in maintaining regular attendance.
In 2023, the Education Review Office (ERO) published Attendance: Getting Back to School - A Guide for Parents and Whānau. Overall ERO reported that ‘We found lots of evidence that regular attendance has a big impact: the more often children attend school, the better they do at school, the happier they are, and the better they are set up for life.’
This guide also offers practical tips for whānau to help support their child’s regular attendance, many of which you may find useful to implement at home:
- Talk to your child about how school is important for their future, and how it is important to go every day. Be positive about school!
- Make sure your child knows that you care if they are going to school.
- Only take your child out of school when there is a really good reason, like if they are sick.
- Have a consistent morning routine, not too rushed.
- Help your child to be prepared for school, like making sure they have done their homework the night before.
Morning Drop-Offs
To help your child start the school day positively, we encourage parents to leave once they have dropped their child off at the classroom, ideally before the bell rings at 8:55 a.m. This supports a smooth transition from being in your care to settling with their homeroom teacher, ensuring they are ready for learning.
Have a restful weekend.
Ngā mihi nui
Cade
Tumuaki (Principal)
Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto
Important Dates
Upcoming Events
Tue 11 Feb - Try an Instrument (CSM) 3pm-4pm in the Hall. All 8+ welcome
Mon 24 Feb - Fri 28 Feb - Wainui Camp - Kauri (Y7/8)
Wed 26 Feb - PTA Meeting (7:30-9:30pm)
Mon 3 Mar - Fri 7 Mar - Walk or Wheel to school week
Wed 5 Mar - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30-7:30pm, Staff Room)
Wed 5 Mar - School Swimming Sports
Fri 7 Mar - Kōwhai Top Team Challenge
Fri 13 Mar - Zone Swimming Sports Y5-8
Wed 19 Mar - School Photos TBC
Wed 26 Mar - PTA Meeting (7:30-9:30pm)
Wed 2 Apr - Fri 4 Apr - Living Springs Camp - Pōhutukawa (Y5/6)
Thu 3 Apr - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30-7:30pm, Staff Room)
Fri 11 Apr - Last Day of Term 1
Mon 28 Apr - First Day of Term 2
School Notices
Staff Profiles
Hugo Weaver - Kauri (Year 7/8) Team Leader
My name is Hugo Weaver and I am excited to be joining Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto this year. The staff and my team have been very welcoming and I am looking forward to getting to know everyone better as the year progresses. A few things about me: I am a father of four, live locally in St Martins and love running, cricket, rugby league, and football. When not at school I love tinkering away in my garage on projects for my house or going on runs in the hills.
Chris Gaut - Pōhutukawa (Year 5/6) Team Leader
Kō Chris Gaut tōku ingoa, I am really looking forward to working with our Yr 5/6 students in the Pōhutukawa Team this year and getting to know both the students and the community. I enjoy being active and joining in all things that the students are doing and being a part of their world, I'm excited to be a part of the Beckenham Team.
Hazel Ritchie - Kōwhai Teacher (Year 3/4)
Kia Ora koutou, I am a new teacher joining the Kōwhai team. I highly value emotional intelligence in my teaching and strive to uplift and inspire all tamariki. I enjoy getting out into nature and finding new walking tracks. I have a passion for crafting and turning my living room into a creative whirlwind. I look forward to building relationships within our incredible community.
Chloe Wilson - Kauri Teacher (Year 7/8)
I am originally from Australia and have recently moved from Melbourne to Christchurch, following four years of teaching in London. My experience has primarily been in senior schools, and I am passionate about fostering student voice and agency within the Kura.
Talia Garrick - Kahikatea Teacher (Year 1/2)
Kia ora koutou, I’m Talia. Last year, I completed my Bachelor of Teaching and Learning, and I’m thrilled to begin my teaching journey at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto this year. I was lucky enough to grow up in this neighbourhood so I am super excited to give back to the community. I am part of the awesome Kahikatea team. I love the arts and sports, particularly netball and volleyball. If you see me around school please come and say hello!
Kendall Skelton - Release Teacher
Kia Ora, I’m Kendall Skelton. I have been a parent of Beckenham for nearly a year now and I am very excited to now join as a teacher in the Kōwhai team on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
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. Hats are compulsory in Term 1 and Term 4.
Stationery
If you have not yet purchased your child's stationery, you can download the stationery list from the
school website.
Pencil Cases: if your child brings a pencil case to school, please keep these small - the storage spaces are not big enough for large pencil cases!
Before School
Please remember that classrooms are open to children from 8.30am. This is to allow teachers time to prepare for the day.
Prior to 8.30am there is no supervision of children.
If you need to drop your child/ren off before 8.30am BOSCO provides before-school care.
Please contact them for more details
Phone 027 645 6632
Email office@bosco.org.nz
Staff Carpark
To keep everyone safe when arriving and leaving school, please do not walk through the staff carpark. This area is for staff cars, taxis and accessibility parking only. Thanks to everyone who is using the pedestrian gates; onto Beckenham park, near the flagpole, on Sandwich Road by the PTA uniform room, or onto Eastern Terrace. Our school gates are to keep children in, gates are to remain closed during school hours.
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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:
- All students should only eat lunches and snacks that have been provided by their caregivers.
- Bottles, other drinks, and lunch boxes provided by caregivers should be clearly labelled with the name of their child. Home group teachers and caregivers will decide where the children’s bottles and lunch boxes will be kept during the day to ensure no cross contamination occurs.
- Parents are asked not to bring food into school to be shared with other children. Whilst we understand that there are times you want to celebrate special events for your children with their friends at school, e.g. birthdays or being awarded prizes, by bringing food and treats for them to share, we have a policy of children only eating the food that their whānau have prepared and sent with them. We have a number of students with food allergies and also need to respect the wishes of some families who want to monitor what their children are eating and prefer their children just to eat food they have prepared. From time to time, there may be an event that teachers have organised that will involve food (cultural or learning activities) and they will have advised families in advance that this will be happening.
- At the beginning of each year caregivers will need to check the expiry dates on any medication to be held at school.
- On the first day of school, caregivers will need to bring their child’s medication to the school office. Caregivers will need to sign a medicine authority form (School Docs). The responsibility of monitoring the expiry dates of medications rests with the parent.
- Caregivers may be asked to come and talk to staff about their child’s specific health needs and ways we can support them at school.
We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change.
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If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s home group teacher.
Children's Health Needs
If your child has medication that needs to be kept at school, on a long or short-term basis, it is very important that you come into the office and set up a new plan with Chloe or 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. All parents/caregivers need to complete a medicine authority form and procedures will be followed to ensure that it is kept securely, and administered appropriately.
If your child has an emergency medical plan for asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes, seizure, 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.
Communicating Absences
Our Text Line for reporting absences is currently not working. Please contact the school office if your child will be absent from school via the below methods instead:
(Press 1 to leave an absence message)
Email: office@beckenham.school.nz
When contacting us please remember to include; your name, your child's name, the reason for their absence, and how long you expect your child will be away from school.
Thank you for your patience and understanding while we sort this matter.
Waitangi Day
Acknowledging Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Waitangi Day is an opportunity to take notice and to be mindful of the small, everyday actions we can all take to make a positive difference. The weight of history can often feel overwhelming. We all have a positive part to play in building connection, understanding and unity within our tamariki as our future leaders.
Waitangi Day is an important part of Aotearoa / New Zealand’s past, present, and future... but often we don't know how it really affects us, except for a public holiday!
Here is a fantastic resource made for both adults and young people which gives a rich insight into Waitangi Day, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and The Treaty of Waitangi in a very friendly yet informative way.
We invite you, and your whānau to take a look at this comic-style storybook or listen to the audiobook together. This is a great way to engage in more learning and create space for curiosity to grow.
Link to the storybook resource here
"Ka mua, ka muri" is a whakataukī that many will know means "walking backwards into the future" - the idea of this is that we should look to the past to inform the future.
Once you have looked through this resource, if you have any pātai (questions), please feel free to share these with us. We are all on our own journey, but as our school values state, "We Get There Together", and "We Love Challenge". We know that reflecting on our history is a chance for us to sit with and live these values, to help us as individuals on our own journey, but also to strengthen the communities that we live in. Your questions and curiosity are welcome! Kōrero mai.
Kupu Māori o te wīki
We are continuing to embrace our reo Māori (Māori language), and tamariki (children) will be learning a new Whakataukī (phrase/proverb), Kīwaha (saying), and Kupu (word) each week. In line with our school value: “We Love Learning” He taonga te ako”, have a go at saying these every day, throughout the week and learning alongside your tamariki.
Whakataukī: Whakarite ngā kete mō te haerenga! - This means filling our kete for the journey.
Kīwaha: Paia! - this means Awesome!
Kupu: Āe - this means yes.
If you are unsure on the pronunciation of a word, have a look on
Te Aka (the Māori dictionary) where you can hear how the word is spoken correctly.
Christchurch School of Music (CSM)
CSM Band programme try-an-instrument
Is your child 8 years or older and loves music?
Beckenham Te Kura O Puoroto has music lessons for many instruments and is one of only a small number of primary schools with its own Concert Band and String Orchestra.
If your child would like to try a blowing instrument, the CSM Outreach Band team will be at school on Tuesday 11 February in the hall foyer from 3-4pm.
Instruments on offer are flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, percussion and electric bass guitar.
Fliers with information about both the CSM Outreach Concert Band and the CSM Outreach Strings programme are available at the school office. Check us out on
What Now!
Community Notices
(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
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