Monthly Archives: August 2026

2026 Koru Team News Term 3 Week 6 (28/08/2026)

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Kia Ora e te Whānau, 

A very warm welcome to all the new children and their whānau who have recently joined the koru team. We love seeing how our 'golden oldies' are welcoming the newbies into the hub and into their play! 

We had such a fun time at the disco last Friday. It was lovely to see children dressed up and having a boogie on the dance floor. Giving the limbo a go was a very popular addition to the disco! Thanks to our wonderful PTA for all the organising that went into the fun event!














Science Topic
For the second part of this term we are learning about different living organisms and what they need to grow. We had a robust conversation last week about how we defined a living thing.  We found out that not all living things have eyes and mouths. Last week we planted a bean seed each and are now waiting for it to pop through the soil. We will be tracking its growth over the next few weeks. We also planted a bean seed to keep out of sunlight (in a cupboard) and one that we are not going to water. Do you think they will grow? As part of this topic we will be having a couple of lessons with the Life Education Educator and we'll get to meet Harold the Giraffe, how exciting!

Beckenham's Got Talent
Does your child love to sing, dance, play music or like to entertain in any way? If so, then Beckenham's Got Talent is for them! This is a school wide show where children will audition in their hubs and, if selected, perform in front of the school on the last day of term. If your child is interested in giving this a go then get practising at home and let your child's homegroup teacher know they are keen.

Up coming dates:
  • 4th September school will be closed due to a Staff Only Day
  • Life Education Van (Harold the Giraffe) will be at school in weeks 8 and 9
  • End of Term 3 - Friday 25th September

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Stacey, Kendall, Elizabeth and Nicola.



Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 6

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Kia ora e te whānau,

It’s hard to believe we are already in Week 6 of Term 3! Life in the Kōwhai hub continues to be busy, with plenty happening each week. There is never a dull moment, but all of the exciting opportunities are certainly keeping us on our toes!

Life Education

We are excited to welcome Harold and the Life Education bus to Beckenham in Weeks 8 and 9! Each homegroup will have two sessions, with the overall theme focusing on relationships with others.

The first session will explore peer pressure and strategies for managing it, while the second session will focus on understanding and coping with change. We are looking forward to some valuable learning and discussions with Harold!



Kapa Haka Performance


In Week 10, Kōwhai will be performing at assembly and we are currently putting in lots of practise to perfect our songs. If you would like to come and see the children perform, Celebration Assembly will be in the hall at 10am. We look forward to seeing you there to support our tamariki.

Dance

Since the beginning of the term, we have been enjoying weekly dance lessons, with each homegroup learning a different dance to a different song. We are hoping to showcase our dances in Week 10, although we are still finalising exactly what this will look like and when the performance will take place. As soon as we have more details confirmed, we will let you know. The children have been loving their dance sessions and are very excited to show off their moves!

Large Ball Skills


Following on from our focus on small ball skills last term, we have now started developing our large ball skills. The children are working on their passing, catching and dribbling, building their control and confidence with a large ball. They are also learning the basic techniques and rules of invasion games, including how to work as a team, maintain possession and move into space to score. We have had one session so far, and the children are loving it!

Beckenham's Got Talent


It’s that time of year again when we get to brush up on our skills and showcase our talents! The children are currently busy practising their acts in preparation for auditions in Week 8, which will take place during Discovery time. Three acts will then be selected to perform in the finals on the last day of term. We are all very excited to see the wonderful talents our children have to share!

Discovery


Our Discovery Time sessions have continued to be a favourite part of the week, giving the children the opportunity to explore, create, problem-solve and learn through a range of hands-on activities. The children have enjoyed getting stuck into activities such as playdough, chess, pom-pom making, drawing, building and creating. These sessions encourage children to follow their interests, develop their creativity and perseverance, and work collaboratively with others. It has been wonderful to see the children using their imaginations, trying new things and proudly sharing what they have created!











Have a great weekend!

From the Kōwhai team






















Kahikatea News: Term 3, Week 6.

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Tēnā koutou whānau!

We are already over halfway through the term, wow! It is so exciting to be heading towards spring and warmer weather. We are looking forward to seeing more sunshine, getting outside and making the most of the longer days! 

It has been a super busy couple of weeks in Kahikatea, filled with lots of exciting learning, special events and plenty of fun. Take a look at what we have been up to!

A Visit from Dr Dan

As part of our Inquiry learning about body systems, we were very lucky to have Dr Dan, Elsie’s dad, come in to chat to us about his amazing job as a neonatologist in the Christchurch Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

The tamariki were super engaged and loved learning about what Dr Dan does to care of babies. He brought along life-size dolls, real medical equipment, photos and videos, which gave us a fantastic insight into his important work.

A huge thank you to Dr Dan for taking the time to come and share his knowledge with us!





Shapes!

We have been learning all about 2D shapes in maths and will be moving on to 3D shapes next week.

We have been exploring the different parts that make up shapes, learning about polygons and non-polygons, and investigating what makes different shapes unique.

We also got to have a go with the geoboards, which were a huge hit! It was so cool to see how many different shapes we could create and how many sides we could give our shapes. We definitely got creative!

Here are some photos of our shape investigations!









Disco Time!

Last Friday, we had our school Disco and what a fun afternoon it was! We loved seeing all the colourful outfits, impressive dance moves and, of course, popcorn all over the floor!

There was lots of dancing, music, a limbo competition and even an outfit parade. Everyone had a fantastic time!














Fairytales!

Lots of our literacy classes have been exploring fairytales, and it has been a super engaging focus.

Talia and Sarah J’s classes even performed their very own role-play of The Three Little Pigs! We were so impressed by how quickly they worked together to put their performance together.

The tamariki did an amazing job showing ‘We Love Challenge’ and being brave enough to perform in front of the class. We didn’t realise we had so many talented actors and actresses in our hub!









Big Buddies

We try to catch up with our Big Buddies every few weeks for some fun activities and a chance to practise tuakana-teina, learning from and supporting one another.

Last Friday, which was also Disco day (hence all the colourful outfits!), we teamed up with our Big Buddies for a scavenger hunt around the school. We had to work together to find lots of different things, such as:

🔎 Something with the letter B
🔎 Something smaller than your hand
🔎 Something older than your Year 2 buddy
🔎 And lots of other tricky challenges!

It was so cool to see everyone working together, thinking carefully and helping each other along the way. There were some very creative answers and lots of great teamwork!






Life Education Van

We are very excited to welcome Harold the Giraffe and our Life Education teacher back to Beckenham from Monday 7 September – Thursday 17 September.

Each home group will have two sessions in the mobile classroom, with both lessons supporting our current Science and Inquiry learning about our bodies and body systems.

Session 1: Why is physical activity good for our bodies?
Session 2: What are body systems and how do they work?

We are looking forward to some fun and interactive learning with Harold!



We hope everyone has a lovely weekend, and fingers crossed we get some more sunshine to enjoy! ☀️

Ngā mihi,
Talia, Sarah S, Amber and Sarah J


Pōhutukawa Team News Term 3 Week 6 2026

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Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all,

It's been great to see us starting to get back to our usual numbers here at kura after a few weeks of sickness throughout the team. Thank you again, whānau, for keeping tamariki at home who are unwell during this season of coughs and colds. It was just wonderful to see the sun out last! and have everyone outside being active and playing sports. Let's hope for some more sunshine! We also have the Duathlon coming up this Wednesday.Term 3 continues to be a busy and exciting term!

Christchurch City Council Cycle Safe Programme

Our Year 6 students recently completed the popular Cycle Safe programme, and what a success it was! Despite battling some challenging Christchurch winds, our tamariki showed fantastic resilience and determination as they mastered essential riding skills.

After practicing their control and signaling on site, the students put their training to the test by cycling out on the live roads around the Beckenham neighbourhood. A massive thank you to the awesome instructors from the Christchurch City Council team for their expert guidance, patience, and high energy. Our kids learned so much and had an absolute blast! ka rawe, Year 6!


Some feedback from the students:

L said - "They were very good at explaining what we were doing and very clear. They led by example. They showed us how to turn."

E said - " I know how to indicate when I turn right and it was a lot of fun!"

M said - "I learned road rules I never knew, especially the give way one off a side road."







Volley Ball Tournament: Selwyn Sport Centre, Rolleston

What an incredible day of volleyball! Our Year 5/6 Beckenham teams served up an absolute masterclass at the recent tournament, showing outstanding grit, growth, and team spirit.

As the tournament progressed, the kids adapted brilliantly, learning new skills on the fly, sharpening their rotation, and working seamlessly as a team. Their hard work paid off in the ultimate showcase: an all-Beckenham final battling it out for both 1st and 2nd place!

A massive thank you to our amazing coaches and parents, whose guidance and energy kept the players inspired all day long. Congratulations to all of our fantastic tamariki for representing Beckenham with so much enthusiasm and heart!


The bus may have been late and it was trying to rain but that didn't dampen our spirits! 






Food for thought Programme

Our first sessions in the Food for Thought programme got under way today for four of five of our home groups. We looked at different types of vegetables, fruits, grains, proteins and milk products and what they are good for for our bodies. We had a good time working through an interactive quiz and learnt the colours of different foods and how they help different areas of health for the body. 

It was great to see students engaging in the topic and comparing liked foods with their peers. Lots of conversation around healthy foods and fast foods as well! We look forward to continuing these sessions throughout the week and having our supermarket visits on Thursday and Friday!




Inquiry Unit

Our current inquiry focus is on body systems. We have looked at flowers, mushrooms and now we are moving into the human body.

We were extremely fortunate to have Ross, Kate's dad, come and visit us with his torso skeleton and fully articulated skeleton to help in the understanding of body systems.

He focused on the following:

  • The human respiratory system includes the trachea, lungs, diaphragm, ribs, and intercostal muscles. The structure of each part supports its role in breathing (e.g. the ribs form a protective cage, while the diaphragm and intercostal muscles draw air into the chest cavity).

  • The human circulatory system moves blood around the body and includes the heart, blood, and blood vessels. The structure of these parts relates to their function.

  • The digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems work together to supply oxygen, water, and nutrients to the human body.




Duathlon

Concentration, stickability, grit and a desire to do their best! All words that describe the supreme effort our duathletes showed on Wednesday afternoon.







Kapa Haka

Finishing on a high note! It was absolutley fabulous to see Franklin having a super time at Kapa Haka. 



Have a fabulous fortnight, until next time

The Pōhutukawa Teaching Team

Rae, Chris, Chloe, Nick, and Kate

Term 3, Week 6 – Kauri Blog

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Term 3, Week 6!

Tēnā koutou! This term has been a successful and busy term so far!

Learning this term

In Team Kauri, our tamariki have been immersed in a vibrant mix of creative art and rich literacy learning.

  • Art & Design: Students are exploring diverse visual mediums, experimenting with texture and technique through mosaic work, layered art, mixed media creations, and anime-style drawing.

  • Literacy & Storytelling: In writing, learners are developing their narrative voices and honing their storytelling skills, anchored by their reading and analysis of Whale Pot Bay.

This combination allows our students to express themselves visually while deepening their comprehension and creative writing abilities.


Cantamath & Beckamath

Our school’s mathematicians truly shone over two exciting weeks of competition, showcasing our core values of ‘We Love Learning’ and We Love Challenge’. In Week 5, students headed to the Horncastle Arena to take on the fast-paced Cantamath team competition alongside the impressive display competition, representing our school with outstanding focus and creativity. The momentum carried right into Week 6 with our very own Beckamath Team Kauri competition held in the school hall, where students tackled complex problem-solving with remarkable grit and teamwork. Both events were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone involved, highlighting the passion, perseverance, and sharp mathematical minds across our school!


Duathlon & Winter Sport

Our school athletes demonstrated outstanding grit and school spirit during our recent school duathlon event, representing themselves with pride and showcasing exceptional sportsmanship from start to finish. A huge thank you goes out to our incredible parents and whānau—we truly appreciate everyone who pitched in as track helpers and cheered our competitors on with so much enthusiasm!

As we reach the end of our Thursday Winter Sport program, we would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the season such a success. A special thanks goes to our school sports coordinator, Kate McG, alongside all of the dedicated staff, student leaders, and parent helpers whose time, energy, and organization kept our teams thriving week after week.

Life Education Bus

During Weeks 8 and 9, our students will be visiting the Life Education bus to engage in an important learning sequence focused on Decision Making and Digital Citizenship.

As tamariki grow and navigate both face-to-face and online spaces, developing a strong sense of personal agency and self-awareness is critical. This programme will support students to explore two core inquiry questions:

  • Why are my reputation and identity important? (Understanding how personal values, self-image, and public perception shape who we are and how others see us.)

  • How do the decisions I make online and/or offline affect me and others? (Recognising the ripple effects of our choices, practicing empathy, and understanding accountability in a digital world.)

Life Education’s interactive sessions provide a safe, engaging environment for students to discuss real-world scenarios, build critical thinking skills, and practice making positive choices that protect their well-being and respect those around them.

How you can support at home: You can reinforce this learning by having open kōrero (conversations) with your child about their experiences online and offline. Ask them what apps or games they enjoy, discuss how they decide what is safe or kind to share, and talk about times they’ve made a great decision.

If you have any questions about the upcoming Life Education sessions, please feel free to get in touch.

Ski Trip Week 7
Team Kauri is hitting the slopes! We are planning an exciting day trip to Mt Hutt on Thursday 3rd September 2026. We are taking a bus and private transport up to Mt Hutt. Please ensure your child is appropriately dressed and present by 5:45am so we can leave on time at 6am.

Upcoming Events: Term 3

Week 7

  • Monday: He Hura Kōrero: Court Theatre Performance

  • Wednesday: Relationships & Sexuality Education Parent Evening - 6pm.

  • Thursday: Ski trip

  • Friday: Staff Only Day (No school)

Week 8 - We Care Week

  • Monday: Life Ed Bus Arrives & PSC Duathlon

  • Tuesday: Cashmere High school testing day

  • Wednesday: Cheese Roll - fundraiser

  • Thursday: Canterbury cricket sessions

  • Friday: Celebration assembly