Meet the Pōhutukawa Team - 2026

Nau mai, haere mai

A warm welcome to 2025 with the Pōhutukawa Team. We have a fun year of learning ahead, and we are looking forward to working with you and your children. Our first two weeks will be focused on establishing positive relationships for the year to come. This newsletter will provide you with the information you need to know about the Pōhutukawa Team.

The Pōhutukawa Team

BYOD

As part of our BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programme we STRONGLY RECOMMEND that every child has their own Chromebook for learning. Our BYOD provider this year is PB Tech. If you would like to purchase a Chromebook through their web portal, please go to https://www.pbtech.co.nz/education/byod. You are also welcome to source a Chromebook from an alternative supplier if you prefer.

Our Programme

The children are given daily opportunities to develop reading, writing, and spelling skills. They are encouraged to become independent readers through a range of activities designed to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Writing lessons focus on inspiring and engaging children to write enthusiastically, confidently and correctly. 

In Mathematics, we offer a balanced programme of knowledge and strategy acquisition. Students  practice place-value knowledge and basic facts, and track their own progress. Problem-solving also enables children to work collaboratively using strategies to solve problems with real-life contexts.

All children will be involved in daily fitness activities. The children are encouraged to wear appropriate shoes for exercising every day. All the other areas of the curriculum are covered during inquiry, CCC or ‘cross curricula classes’ and are often integrated into literacy and mathematics.

Litter-free Lunches

We encourage whānau to support their children to have a litter-free lunch box; this greatly reduces the litter around the school environment and educates the children about how to take care of our environment. We suggest the use of an ice pack or similar in terms one and four to keep your child’s lunch cool. 

Hero - communication to whānau

Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto uses Hero as our student management system. Hero is the place where you can access a lot of information regarding our programme and your tamariki’s learning. We will update Hero regularly to keep you informed, so whānau can stay involved in school life.

Absences

If your child is going to be away from school, please email Jacky in the office at office@beckenham.school.nz in the first instance. (You are welcome to copy us in, but Jacky is the one who absolutely needs to know.)

First Week: Water Play

All students please bring a towel, togs and T- shirt for sun safety as we will be holding some team building events in the afternoons involving water. Students are welcome to bring NAMED water pistols to school for this, kept in the think tank for the day until needed. Togs, a tee shirt for sun protection and a towel is required. 

Swimming Sports

A reminder that The School Swimming Sports will be held Thursday 26 February from 12-3pm. This will be held at Wharenui. Participation is optional and these are competitive events. 

We are looking forward to working with you and your child(ren) this year.

Below are our email addresses. If you have a question about your child’s learning, well-being, or anything else to do with their school life, then we encourage you to email us at any time and we will endeavour to get back to you in a timely manner.