Koru Team news, Term 4 Week 4

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Kia ora, e te whānau,

We've had another busy and brilliant fortnight in the Koru team, with our newbies settling in beautifully and our children who are having their visits before starting school, showing lovely confidence as they become familiar in their new setting. A very warm welcome to all of our new tamariki and their whānau, and thank you to our older children who are ensuring that the new children are feeling safe and secure at school! You are showing 'We Care' and 'We Get There Together'.

Athletics Day:

What a fun and fabulous time the children all had at our Beckenham te Kura Athletics Day on Thursday! The Koru team children participated in a range of games and activities, including throwing, running and jumping, incorporating a wide range of movement skills and using a variety of equipment. The children displayed the full range of our school values throughout their athletics activities, including: 'We Care', 'We Make a Difference' and 'We Get There Together' (our focus value last week) as they looked after their brand new friends who had only had a short time at school; 'We Love Challenge' as they took part in activities that really stretched them physically; and 'We Love Learning' throughout the lead up to their Athletics Day, as they practised and displayed new skills, in order to join in as best as they were able on the day itself. Well done, to our tamariki - we loved seeing you try your best and participating fully at our school Athletics Day! Tino pai tou mahi. Please scroll down for a selection of photos taken on the day.

Literacy:

Children are continuing to make great progress in their Literacy learning, and we know that you'll find it very exciting to witness this as your children share their resources and books with you at home. 

When children first start school, they will bring home a little letter and heart word pack in their Literacy folders. As they become confident with their sounds, their heart words, and they learn how to blend sounds together, they will begin to bring home their first reading books.

At all stages of the children's Literacy learning, your help at home is incredibly valuable. You can use both letter cards and heart word cards as flash cards and children can practise reading them at speed. Another great way to support your child's learning is to help them to practise writing the letters and their heart words. Being able to write the letter for each sound and spell the heart words, is important at all stages of your child's learning.

Here are some links to short videos which we hope you will find helpful. Some families of older children may have viewed some of these videos earlier in the year, however, we thought it valuable to share them again, not only for the parents/caregivers of new children, but also as a refresher for those of older students:

All the best to you all as you support your children at home, with their Literacy learning, and please do ask your child's Home Group teacher if you have any questions.

Photo Gallery:





































Hats
Another reminder about the importance of sending your child to school each day, with their hat, please. Children without hats are asked to remain in the shade on our hall veranda.

Entering school through the correct entrances
...and one more reminder: we ask parents to approah our Koru team learning spaces at the start of each day, through the Eastern Terrace gate, the gate down near the corner of Eastern Terrace and Sandwich Road, in through the gate near the crossing on Sandwich Road or in through Beckenham Park. Please ensure that you use these entrance points rather than walking your child in through the staff carpark. Many thanks for your support with this request.

All the best for a lovely weekend ahead, everyone (looking forward to some more warm weather), and congratulations once again to the Koru team tamariki for their excellent efforts and attitude during the Athletics yesterday. You showed We Love Challenge and We Get There Together!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Katie, Stacey, Niquita and Elizabeth

Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 4

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Kia ora e te Whānau, 

Welcome to the Week 4 Kōwhai blog.


Production 


We have been busy over the last few weeks, continuing to prepare for our upcoming production, 'Jukebox Journey: History's Greatest Hits'. A reminder that tamariki are in a group with one of the Kōwhai teachers doing either Ragtime, Disco, Rock 'n' Roll, Futuristic, Ancient Egypt, or Michael Jackson. Students have been working hard to learn choreography, design props, organise costumes, and rehearse lines. It has been very exciting watching this start to come together, and we are looking forward to having the opportunity to share this with whānau later in the term. 

The date and time for this will be: Thursday 4th December, 11:30am.




Athletics Day 


On Thursday, our students had an action-packed Athletics Day. Students rotated through 5 different events, which included sprints, shot put, long jump, high jump, and discus. It was fantastic to see students showing resilience, celebrating success, and demonstrating great sportsmanship throughout the day. What wonderful examples of embracing the ‘We Get There Together’ and ‘We Love Challenge’ kete values. A huge thank you to our staff, whānau, and awesome ākonga for helping make the day such a positive and successful event!









Dance and Ukulele 

Over the last 4 weeks, students have been attending weekly hip hop dance and ukulele sessions. It has been wonderful to see the way students have been engaging during these classes and subsequently developing confidence when learning the dance routine and playing the chords. We certainly have some very talented Kōwhai kids who are really making the most of this awesome learning opportunity!

Here is the link to the audio that students are dancing to!





Hats

We are now well into term four and as we get closer to summer, it is important that we stay sun smart. Could you please support your tamariki to make sure they are wearing their hat when they are outside. If they have forgotten their hat, they need to go under the hall verandah at break times. Duty teachers will be supporting with reminders. 

Headlice

Unfortunately, we have had more cases of headlice reported in Kōwhai Hub. Can you please check your child's head for eggs and live lice regularly and treat accordingly if detected. The link below has very helpful information about headlice and how to treat it.

https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/head-lice#main-content


Pōhutukawa News Term 4 Week 4 2025

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Ngā mihi e te whānau, welcome all to whats been happening in the Pōhutukawa Team for Weeks 3 and 4 of Term 4 2025, kia pai ngā rā whakata.

Learning in the hub: Mathematics in the Parenga Learning Space









Citizen of the Week: Jake Ussher


Congratulations Jake! We are super proud of you!



Navigating the Journey

We will be participating in the Navigating the Journey programme over the next 4 weeks. The Navigating the journey Te takahi i te ara resources use the metaphor of navigation to describe a person’s lifetime journey of  physical, social, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of hauora (wellbeing). 

Navigating the Journey is a comprehensive age-appropriate programme about relationships and sexuality developed by Family planning for delivery in primary and secondary schools. This programme is aligned with the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for relationship education and sexuality education. This programme is also aligned with the health and physical education learning area of The New Zealand Curriculum. 

The key concepts that will be covered for 2025 can be found on Hero. If you wish to find out more detail about any specific lessons please get in touch with your home group teacher.




Sporting Achievements

Following on from his invitation to the West Ham Foundation Australia National Camp earlier this year, Hamish has been selected to attend the West Ham United Development Tour in the United Kingdom. What an amazing opportunity - we wish him all the best as he takes the next steps in his football journey.

A big thank you also to all the community members who supported Hamish’s fundraising efforts by purchasing bacon - your generosity is greatly appreciated.







Hub Visit from "Bear" Chris' Golden Retriever






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.



Ngā mihi nui.

The Pōhutukawa Teaching Team

Chris, Gayle, Nick, Megan, Rae, Georgie, Viv, Stacey and Laura


Kahikatea News Week 4 Term 4

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Kia ora e te whānau,

What a wonderfully busy week we've had in Team Kahikatea. We have had several events and have more coming up. Here is the latest news from the Kahikatea team.
Thank you for coming along to support your child/ren during our school athletics day yesterday. We have some photos from the day in our blog this week. 

PTA - Colour Run 

Fri 21 Nov - PTA Colour Run (1:30pm-3:00pm Fundraiser Event)

Information for this will come home with your oldest or only child. 

Team Kauri Raffle 

Team Kauri are excited to announce our Luxury Hamper Raffle Fundraiser! 

Our generous Team Kauri families have donated some amazing treats, beautifully packaged into 7 stunning hampers — each filled with luxury goodies perfect for a picnic, a romantic weekend getaway, or simply indulging yourself during a busy week. 

Grab your raffle tickets from our awesome parent volunteers outside the hall this Friday morning and afternoon!

$3.00 per ticket, 2 tickets for $5 or 5 tickets for $10!!!

The draw for these awesome prizes will take place at the Kauri Quiz Night on 1st November. You do not have to attend this evening to be a winner of the draw, so get in a buy your tickets!!!

Don’t miss your chance to win something special while supporting Team Kauri!

✨ Good luck and thank you for your support! ✨


Tuesday Dance Sessions

Our tamariki are really enjoying our dance session being held in our school hall every Tuesday. This is the music that we've been using to learn our dance. Your child may want to show you the dance they are learning, and you may want to join in!

Music HERE 


Athletics Photos 

The tamariki from the Kahikatea team did so well at athletics on Thursday. What an awesome bunch! We saw a lot of demonstrations of our values 'We Love Challenge' and 'We Get There Together' during our practice sessions AND the actual event, ka mau te wehi - how amazing! Below are some photos.






















Have a safe and happy weekend! Feel free to contact any of the team if you have any questions, queries or clarifications about what's happening at kura. 

Ngā mihi nui,

Team Kahikatea 




























Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Schoolwide Newsletter, Rāmere (Friday) 24th October 2025

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Principal's Update

Kia ora koutou

We are moving quickly through the final term of 2025. With the warmer weather, it’s been great to see students actively engaged in athletics through the Health and Physical Education curriculum - developing their skills and applying them across a range of events.


Class Placements for 2026


This week, we have begun transition conversations to support students as they take their next steps within our school. Our focus is on ensuring these conversations identify and build on each student’s strengths as they move to their next teacher and learning environment.

As part of this work we will begin the development of homeroom classes for 2026. If you have any considerations you would like to share as part of this process please email me at principal@beckenham.school.nz 


End of Year reporting 

As you may be aware, we have been working hard throughout 2025 to implement the refreshed New Zealand Curriculums in Mathematics and English. I would like to acknowledge the work of all our teaching staff for their enthusiasm and professionalism in refining their practice to align with this new direction.

This week we received confirmation from the Ministry of Education about how we should report students’ end-of-year achievement against the year level they are in.

We will be using these new common descriptors in our end-of-year reporting. The descriptors we will be using are:

Emerging - The child requires support to meet curriculum expectations for their year level and/or goals as described in their personalised learning plan.


Developing - The child is making some progress towards curriculum expectations for their year level.


Consolidating - The child is meeting many curriculum expectations for their year level and are steadily strengthening their understanding across learning areas.


Proficient - The child is meeting curriculum expectations for their year level.


Exceeding - The child is exceeding curriculum expectations for their year level.


Judgments will be made in your child’s report for Reading, Writing and Mathematics. As with previous reporting structures, it is important to remember that all children develop at different rates, and our reporting processes will continue to focus primarily on progress and the celebration of learning.


Chickens have arrived!


As you may be aware, eggcitement has been building across the school about the arrival of our chickens! On Wednesday, our first delivery of eggs arrived, and the incubator has now been set up ready for the hatching of our very first chicks.


We are working closely with Cook Brothers Construction, who have generously offered their labour free of charge to help build our chicken coop. We’re currently on the hunt for materials - if you have any contacts or are able to help with this, please get in touch with Sue. She would be most grateful to hear from you!


We really appreciate the community we work with to make our school the best it can be. Have a great weekend.


Ngā mihi

Cade

Principal / Tumuaki

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto

Important Dates

Upcoming Events - Term 4

WEEK 4

Mon 27 Oct - Labour Day - School Closed

Wed 29 Oct - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30-7:30pm)

Thu 30 Oct - Athletics Day

Fri 31 Oct - Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am)


WEEK 5

Fri 7 Nov - Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am)


WEEK 6

Thu 13 Nov - Staff Only Day 

Fri 14 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day - School Closed


WEEK 7 

Fri 21 Nov - Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am)

Fri 21 Nov - PTA Colour Run (1:30pm-3:00pm Fundraiser Event)


WEEK 8 

Wed 26 Nov - PTA Meeting (7:30-9:30pm)

Thu 27 Nov - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30-7:30pm)

Fri 28 Nov - Whānau and Volunteers Thank you (8:00-8:30am)

Fri 28 Nov - Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am)


WEEK 9

Wed 3 Dec - Kauri Production (1:30-3:00pm Matinee & 6:30-8:30pm First Night)

Thu 4 Dec - Kōwhai Production (11:30-12:30pm) & Kauri Production (6:30-8:30pm Final Night)

Fri 5 Dec - Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am)


WEEK 10

Fri 12 Dec - Final Celebration Assembly (9:45am-10:30am)


WEEK 11

Wed 17 Dec - Last Day of the Year, School finishes at 12:30pm


2026 Term Dates

Citizen of the Week

Devin - Year 7

Devin, you consistently demonstrate our school values by being courteous and conscientious both in and outside the classroom. You further strengthen the Kauri team with your kindness, thoughtfulness, and great sense of humour. Your mahi and leadership are recognised and valued by the whole school community - thank you for the positive impact you make every day.


Kit - Year 4

Kit, you are an exemplary role model in our hub who strives to uphold our kete values everyday. You do this through being a willing helper, a kind friend, and a motivated learner. No matter the task, you always approach it with enthusiasm, curiosity, and a genuine desire to grow from it. Kia kaha tō mahi, Kit!

School Notices

Kiwi Competitions 

Congratulations to the students below who achieved outstanding results in the Kiwi Competitions this year. This was our first time taking part in these competitions, and we’re excited to continue building on our success in future years.

Parking and Driver care on Sandwich Road

We know that everyone is keen to keep our children safe as they travel to and from school. To support this, please can drivers not try to undertake U-turns on Sandwich Road during the pick-up and drop-off times. 

Please also remember that the 3 min "Kiss and Go" area on the school side of Sandwich Road is MAX 3 minutes - not enough time for you to get out of your car and go into school to drop off or collect your child(ren). If everyone can please use this area as a drop-off/pick-up point, then all of the traffic will flow smoothly. We get there together!

Staff Carpark

For safety reasons, we please ask that the staff carpark, fence line and entrance way are kept clear at all times for staff, Ferndale and taxi access.

This area is not for pedestrian access or parent & caregiver parking at school pickup or drop off time.
Please use the main school entrance and the surrounding street parking spaces.

Reminder - Sunhat and Drink Bottles

As we enter Term 4 and warmer weather, every child must attend school with a named sunhat and water bottle. Sunhats are compulsory when outside during Terms 1 and 4. Please remember to send your child to school each day with sunscreen applied as well.

Welcome - New Staff Member

Carmen Lund

"Kia Ora koutou,
Ko Carmen ahau,
No Tūranganui-a-Kiwa ahau.

My name is Carmen and my hometown is Gisborne. I am excited to be at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto this term as a learning assistant in Kahikatea. I love reading, music and travel - I have visited 34 amazing countries so far! I can’t wait to work alongside the tamariki and get to know everyone."

The Sports Corner

Kia ora koutou,

This section of our newsletter is dedicated to highlighting the successes and challenges our students are experiencing in sports outside of school. It’s fantastic to already have three Kauri students sharing how they are embracing We Love Challenge - Nau Mai Te Wero beyond the classroom and pursuing their passions. If your child has had a sporting success that you’d like to share with our community, please email me with a short blurb and photo to: kate.mcgregor@beckenham.school.nz - We’d love to feature it in our next newsletter!


Ngā mihi nui,

Kate McGregor

Sports Coordinator


Matthew Blackman - Tennis

A huge congratulations to Matthew, who won the 10 and under Boys Singles at the Talley’s Spring Junior Open in Nelson! Matthew also achieved an impressive runner-up placing in the 10 and under Boys Doubles at the Tennis Canterbury Junior Spring Open. Ka mau te wehi, Matthew!

BOT Update

Welcome New Board Members

A warm welcome to our new Board Members: Kate Stallworthy, Annabel Ramsey & Emma Jenkins!

We would like to thank all of our community members who stood for election, as well as those of you who cast your votes in this important process.

Term 4 Policy Review - SchoolDocs

  1. Visit the website https://beckenham.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm
  2. Enter the username (beckenham) and password (pride).
  3. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
  4. Read the policy.
  5. Click the Start your review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
  6. Select the reviewer type.
  7. Enter your name (optional).
  8. Follow the prompts to show that you've read the topic and enter your feedback if you'd like to comment.
  9. Agree to the privacy statement and click “Submit review”.
If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.

PTA News

Save the date for our next big fundraiser - a Colour Run Friday 21st November! We are currently looking for local businesses or corporate sponsors who would like to support this exciting and fun event, taking place in Beckenham Park.
If you can help, please complete this form. 

Entertainment books are still for sale and available to buy here. There are heaps of savings and 20% of the book cost comes straight back to school.

There's still time to register for the Weetbix TRYathlon which is happening in February. Click here to register with our school group!

Keep in touch with the PTA!
To stay up to date with the PTA, please check out our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook page, linked here. Or come along to one of our meetings - all welcome.
 
Meeting dates can be found in the school newsletter, or on the school calendar - linked here.

Community Notices

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

Dyspraxia Support Group

The Dyspraxia Support Group is a charitable, non-profit organisation, committed to providing support, practical advice, and educational programmes for those who support and care for children, youth and adults affected with Developmental Dyspraxia/DCD. This neurological disorder affects at least 6% of the population. 
 
If you wish to learn more regarding our child and youth programmes we hold in Christchurch or just learn about dyspraxia/DCD, please feel free to contact us.
Email: dyspraxai.centre@xtra.co.nz
Website: www.dyspraxia.org.nz

Corson Avenue Renewal - Open for Feedback

The council has advised it is currently open for early engagement for a street renewal on Corson Avenue. 
The main goal of this street renewal is to enhance the road, footpath, kerb, and gutter but we have room to include some other enhancements. They will be using community feedback to develop a street renewal plan so they can provide something that aligns with the needs of local residents.

You can find more information about the street renewal here – https://letstalk.ccc.govt.nz/corsonrenewal