Monthly Archives: May 2026

Kahikatea News: Term 2, Week 5

Posted on by

Kia ora e te whānau,

It has been a very busy and exciting couple of weeks in our classroom! We have enjoyed lots of awesome learning experiences and finished the week on a high with our trip to Hansons Park.

Reading Success

Following the Readathon, we have noticed some fantastic progress with our readers. It has been wonderful to see growing confidence, a love of reading, and improving fluency across the class. Events like these remind us just how important daily reading is, even just 5-10 minutes each day makes a huge difference!

Thank you for all your support and encouragement with your tamariki and their reading at home. We are incredibly impressed with the progress everyone is making.

Across all literacy groups, students take part in a mixture of explicit small-group teaching, whole-class learning, and independent activities. We have loved seeing the engagement and enthusiasm during our small-group sessions. We even used some “silly fingers” to help with tracking while reading!







Book Character Day

Book Character Day was a lot of fun! It was great to see the effort students put into their costumes and the wide range of book characters that came to life around the school. Thank you to all our whanau for helping make the day such a success.













Hansen Park Trip

Our trip to Hansen Park was an absolute blast! The walk there was lovely and much quicker than we expected. Although the weather was a little windy and cold, it certainly did not stop our tamariki from having an awesome time.

We spent most of the day enjoying the playground and playing games with the sports equipment from school. Paul organised some fantastic activities, including tennis, football, and races. It was wonderful to see students playing, collaborating, and making connections with different friends throughout the day.

A huge thank you to all of our parent helpers. We could not have done it without your help.


























Calling All Lego and Small Boxes!

As the weather gets colder, we are planning more crafts and creative learning activities for Learning Through Play and wet lunchtime sessions.

If you have any small boxes at home that you no longer need, we would love to take them off your hands! A collection box will be available in the makerspace over the next week.

Lego Donations

A big thank you to Sarah S, who kindly donated a large box of Lego for our students. It has been an absolute hit! The creativity and imagination our tamariki show during play is amazing to see.

If you have any spare Lego or loose pieces at home that are no longer being used, we would greatly appreciate adding them to our collection.

Thank you in advance!

Kapahaka performance!

Exciting news! Our tamariki will be performing Kapa Haka at Assembly in Week 8 on Friday, 12th June. The assembly will run from 10:00–10:30am, and whānau are warmly welcome to come along and watch.

We will send out another reminder closer to the time. We are looking forward to sharing all of the hard work and practice our students have been putting in!

Here is a sneak peek of us practicing!




We hope everyone had a safe and relaxing weekend. We look forward to another fun week of learning ahead😊


Ngā mihi nui


Sarah S, Amber, Sarah J and Talia


Kauri- Term Two, Week 5

Posted on by

Congratulations !

Leadership badges, Kete Certificates, Science Badge, Cross Country, NFL competitions! It is wonderful to see so many opportunities offered and taken up by our ākonga this term. Congratulations to you all, we are very proud. 

We also know that sometimes we miss something, so feel free to discuss this with your homeroom teacher. 

 Cashmere High School Trip 14 May

Here is a photo gallery of our trip on Thursday, along with some student voice of the experience. 

CHS "its scary as you feel like you have to get everything right", "they are a great bunch and they know their stuff ", "they are lucky having a trip like this". 

BKTOP " this was sooo much fun", "the haka was so loud, they knew how to use their voices", "I saw Jacob's sister", " the students were really friendly".

















Being Part of Something Bigger- Cashmere High School and Beckenham te kura o Pūroto

Planting in the Cashmere Stream.

This initiative was started through the sustainability club at CHS and some our students have been working with this group too! A big thank you to Vinnie, John, Max, Alex P, Tom, Alex S and Dylan who volunteered their time and Justine Vandenberg for giving our students the opportunity to be sustainable citizens. Ace!


The grasses will help to cool the stream for the eels, absorb run off and the draping leaves provide some habitat for small aquatic life. 










40 Hour Famine -Be part of Something Bigger


19–21 June | Be Part of Something Bigger

This year, World Vision are again inviting young people across Aotearoa to make a real impact through the 40 Hour Challenge — raising life-changing funds for children and communities in the Solomon Islands.

Why?
Because right now, many children and families in the Solomon Islands are facing significant challenges due to poverty and the impacts of climate change. Communities rely heavily on farming and fishing, making them especially vulnerable to changing weather patterns and natural disasters. Funds raised through the 40 Hour Challenge help provide practical support and create stronger, more sustainable futures.

Our Year 5–8 students had the opportunity to sign up this week. We would love your support in helping them sign up, choose a challenge, and begin their fundraising journey. Click the link here to join our school's fundraising page. 

Whether students choose to go completely offline for 40 hours or create a challenge of their own, every effort helps make a difference.

Child not taking part in the challenge but would still like to contribute? You can access our school fundraising page here.

Cyber Safety

The HDCA for Parents and Whānau

The Harmful Digital Communications Act (or HDCA for short) is an act passed by the Government back in 2015 to help people dealing with serious or repeated harmful digital communications. It covers anything digital like text, emails or social media content.


The most useful thing for parents to understand about the HDCA is the way the 10 communication principles define what is good or bad behaviour online.


If you’re ever concerned about your young person (or you just want to brush up on your knowledge!) visit Netsafe’s Guide to the HDCA

Staying Safe Online: Bullying

One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.


Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.



Koru Team News Term 2 Week 5

Posted on by

 

Koru Team News 2026

Term 2, Week 5


Kia Ora e te Whānau, 

This week we welcomed 3 new children, and their whānau, to our hub. It's great to have you part of our team! 

Thank you so much for helping your learner bring back their literacy folder each day! We have been loving hearing about all the practice they are doing at home with their soundpack, practising their heart words, and sounds, and then blending them to make little words!! Ka pai!!

Kinetic Letters

Kinetic Letters is the name of the handwriting programme we follow here at Te Kura o Pūroto. Each letter of the alphabet is grouped according to how we form the letter. We then practise the letters as a group. We start with the Jumper family where each of the letters, m, n, h, b, r, p,  start with a down, bump back up, push over. Our focus for the next few weeks is the abracadabra family of letters, c, o, a, d, g, q, s. These letters all begin with a magic c, pull around and push along the ground. Bounce and Skip are part of this programme and they help us to focus on our handwriting and remind us where the letters start. Are they a Bounce letter (start at Bounce's branch, top of the line) or are they a Skip letter (start at Skip's branch, half way up)? Bounce and Skip love watching the children practise their handwriting and often find it difficult to choose someone to have a sleepover with. We love seeing what adventures they get up to when they come to your house for a sleepover!!





We had fun dressing up for our Book Character Dress Up Day to mark the end of our Readathon!







Staying Safe Online: Bullying
One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying - it can
happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham
Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your
tamariki's teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.

Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.


Friendship List

This is a good way to make connections with other whānau and organise playdates. If you'd like to be included in the Koru Friendship List, let Kendall know, along with your phone number, and she will update the list and email it out. If you're on the existing list, no need to request again, you'll stay on :).

Reminders:

Friday 29th May - Staff Only Day - School closed

Monday 1st June - King's Birthday Holiday - School closed


We hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Ngā mihi,

Kendall, Elizabeth, Nicola and Stacey

Pōhutukawa Team Blog 2026-05-22 14:30:54

Posted on by

 

Phōhutukawa Team News Term 2 Week 5 2026

Kia ora e te whānau,

Almost halfway through the term already — unbelievable how fast it’s going! That’s always a great sign that we have happy, engaged kids enjoying their learning.

Angklung Interactive Session (Indonesian instrument)

Last Friday, we were incredibly privileged to host a demonstration and interactive session of the angklung instrument presented by the Indonesian Embassy. The angklung is a traditional musical instrument from West Java, Indonesia. It was a wonderful opportunity for cultural exchange and learning. Have a chat at home about this experience. Huge thanks to Lucky for sharing this experience with us! 












Basketball Skills Session: Girls Got Game!


Our girls were very fortunate to have a basketball skills session from the Pioneer Basketball Club. They played some dribbling and passing games. A good time was had by all.




Upcoming Kapa Haka performance

Here we are practising hard for our upcoming Kapa Haka performance. We will proudly perform our waiata at the Celebration Assembly on Friday 5 June, we would love for you to come and support your tamariki if you are available. 







Inquiry Topic

This term, our inquiry topic continues to centre around the school-wide focus of sustainability. Students are working in small collaborative groups to identify a local or global issue and develop innovative, sustainable solutions. It is awesome to see our “We Get There Together,” “We Make a Difference,” and “We Love Challenge” values being brought to life so beautifully. 




"We Love Challenge" The Pōhutukawa Kids trying new things! 











Franklin receiving his "We Love Challenge" award for completing this years Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Cross Country for the first time! 

Well done Franklin! We are super Proud of you! 

Reminders

School Closed: Please remember Friday 29th May (Week 6) is a Staff Only Day, and the following Monday 1st June (Week 7) is King's Birthday. School will be closed on these days. 

Staying Safe Online: Bullying

One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.


Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.


40 Hour Famine

19–21 June | Be Part of Something Bigger

This year, World Vision are again inviting young people across Aotearoa to make a real impact through the 40 Hour Challenge — raising life-changing funds for children and communities in the Solomon Islands.

Why?
Because right now, many children and families in the Solomon Islands are facing significant challenges due to poverty and the impacts of climate change. Communities rely heavily on farming and fishing, making them especially vulnerable to changing weather patterns and natural disasters. Funds raised through the 40 Hour Challenge help provide practical support and create stronger, more sustainable futures.

Our Year 5–8 students had the opportunity to sign up this week. We would love your support in helping them sign up, choose a challenge, and begin their fundraising journey. Click the link here to join our school's fundraising page. 

Whether students choose to go completely offline for 40 hours or create a challenge of their own, every effort helps make a difference.

Child not taking part in the challenge but would still like to contribute? You can access our school fundraising page here.


That's it for this fortnight see you next time!

Warm regards
The Pōhutukawa Teaching Team
Rae, Chris, Nick, Kate, Chloe and Megan

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 5

Posted on by

Kia ora e te whānau,

We can't believe we are nearly halfway through Term 2! There has been lots happening over the last few weeks, and our tamariki have been doing some pretty cool things in the hub. This blog post will cover a few notices, our writing focus, our te ao Māori focus, and what we have been learning about in cyber safety. 

Notices

School Closed: Please remember Friday 29th May (Week 6) is a Staff Only Day, and the following Monday 1st June (Week 7) is King's Birthday. School will be closed on these days. 

Nut Reminder: A reminder we are a Nut Free Hub. This includes anything containing any sort of nut (e.g. nut muesli bars, nuts in slices, peanut butter, nutella, scroggin mixes etc.) We thank you for your understanding and help with this. 

Welcome to Kathryn

As you may be aware, Georgia will be leaving soon to go on maternity leave. Her last day of teaching will be on Friday 12th June (Week 8). We are very excited for this new chapter ahead for Georgia. 

We are also excited to share that Kathryn Sutherland will be taking over Georgia's homegroup, and will begin with the class on Monday 15th June. Kathryn is an experienced teacher, having taught both in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and has recently been working at Oaklands School. 

Kathryn will be coming in on Wednesday 27th May (Week 6) to spend the day with Georgia's homegroup as well as with everyone in the hub. We are looking forward to having Kathryn join the Kōwhai team!

Narrative Writing

This term, we have been working on writing narratives. Our tamariki are developing their skills in planning, organising, and editing their own narratives, while also using descriptive language to make their writing more detailed and engaging for their readers. It has been awesome to see our tamariki showing our school kete values 'We Love Challenge' and 'We Love Learning' in the hard work and effort they have put into their writing.

Te Ao Māori

Recently, we have been focusing on kōwhaiwhai patterns. We have learnt what different patterns there are, the colours of these patterns, where we might find these patterns, and we have also been having a go at drawing the kōwhaiwhai patterns. Below is some information about our kōwhaiwhai patterns:

  • Kōwhaiwhai patterns contain Māori history and can be used to tell stories. 
  • The patterns differ between tribes as they are derived from the environment where the tribe exists.
  • The kōwhaiwhai patterns are most often found on the tāhū (ridgepoles) and the heke (rafters), in a wharenui (meeting house).
  • The colours used are red, black and white, and each colour has a different mearning. Red represents warmth, blood, and life. Black represents the earth. White represents purity and promise for the future. 
  • Each symbol within a pattern has a different meaning, and each one is very special to Māori culture. 
Here are the patterns we are learning about about:



Cyber Safety


This week, we have started looking at cyber safety and how we can stay safe online. Our hub has been following a programme called Hector's World, where we follow a set of lessons that dive into the different risks and components about the offline and online digtial world, and how we can teach our tamariki to be safe both online and offline. As well as working on learning activites in class, we will also be sending home printed worksheets to discuss and/or work on at home with whānau. We thank you for your support with this! Any questions, please feel free to reach out to your child's/children's homegroup teacher.


Staying Safe Online: Bullying


One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.


Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.



We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Ngā mihi nui,
The Kōwhai Team

anna.reid@beckenham.school.nz
georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz
jordan.pollock@beckenham.school.nz
gayle.mcnaughton@beckenham.school.nz