Wainui Camp 2025

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 Wainui Camp 2025: A Journey of Growth and Adventure

Our recent Wainui Camp was more than just a fun getaway—it was an experience that brought our school's core values to life. Throughout our adventures, we discovered what it means to care for one another, work as a team, embrace challenges, pursue learning and make a real difference.

From the moment we arrived, the spirit of care was evident. Whether it was encouraging a friend to take a leap off the wharf, supporting teammates during coasteering or respecting the natural world while hunting for pāua and crabs, our tamariki showed kindness and responsibility in action.

Teamwork was at the heart of our experience. Success in activities like kayaking, shelter building, and orienteering relied on collaboration rather than individual effort. Using UHF radios during our search and rescue mission to locate Bob reinforced the power of clear communication and working together. Every challenge reminded us that we get there together.

Stepping outside our comfort zones became a common theme. The giant swing and high ropes tested our limits, while coasteering and wharf jumping pushed us to be bold. These moments weren’t just about adrenaline—they were about discovering resilience, trust, and courage.

Learning at Wainui extended far beyond the classroom. Each activity offered hands-on lessons, from navigation skills in orienteering to problem-solving in search and rescue. Even exploring the coastline became an opportunity to deepen our understanding of nature and resourcefulness.

As we return to school, we carry with us not just memories of an incredible camp but a stronger sense of confidence, teamwork, and adventure. Wainui Camp 2025 has set the tone for an exciting year ahead, and we can’t wait to see how these experiences continue to shape us as individuals and as a team.












Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 5

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Kia ora whānau!

Over the past two weeks, we have been very busy establishing routines, engaging in learning activities and having lots of fun along the way. We have also started going to kapa haka with whaea Cath. Every homegroup will be given the opportunity to try kapa haka this term. Anna R, Rowe and Hazel's homegroups are going to kapa haka from weeks 3-5 and  and Anna M's and Georgia's homegroups are going in weeks 7-9.

Home Learning

Our literacy groups are well under way now. If your child is on the Structured Literacy programme, they will be taking home one book every week to practise reading at home. Once your child has completed the Structured Literacy programme, home learning will consist of reading a chapter book or non-fiction book of their own choice each night. Some students will bring home a journal story or article that they have read in class. All students visit the library once a week. 

Reading/Library Folders

We would just like to remind you that in order to take reading books and library books home, your child will need to have a reading folder OR a library folder. This does mean that your child will need to keep their folder in their bag so they are able to take reading books home during the week, if needed.

Our library days are as follows:

Monday = Rowe's and Hazel's literacy groups

Tuesday =Georgia and Anna M's literacy groups

Wednesday = Anna Reid's literacy group

Maths 

We will shortly begin our focus on teaching addition and subtraction strategies for the rest of the term. All groups will be working on place value, number knowledge and basic facts. Each week, students will complete exercise and application tasks, open-ended and unfamiliar problem-solving tasks, games and teacher focus groups. The akōnga especially love our introductory 'Rapid Routines'. These are fun maths thinking tasks, such as Which One Doesn't Belong

Geometry

Currently, our students are enjoying lessons and activities based on the geometry strand of mathematics. These activities are based on learning 2D and 3D shapes and their properties. The students are being introduced to vocabulary associated with these properties, e.g., faces, edges and vertices.

There is a Geometry section in Mathematics Games on the intranet which they can use as well. Try getting the children to identify the names of common household shapes or send them on a scavenger hunt to locate shapes.

Staying Safe Online

All You Need to Know About TikTok
Tiktok is one of the fastest growing social media apps. It’s a platform for creating, sharing and discovering short
videos – and many young people love it! From new dance crazes to funny clips to animal videos, Tiktok can
inspire creativity and bring joy.
But it’s important that parents and whānau help their tamariki navigate Tiktok safely. Today we’re sharing the Netsafe Tiktok Family Safety Toolkit so you can help guide your whānau to a fun and safe digital experience.

Toys

We have noticed a large number of toys being brought to school lately. This includes keyrings, Pokemon cards, special notebooks etc. Please could you ensure these stay at home. It might help to check the backpack in the mornings. Thank you for your support with this.

Top Team

We have organised a Top Team event for our Kōwhai children this term which is very exciting! Weather permitting, the event will take place on Friday 7th March in the afternoon and the children will be taking part in all sorts of fun activities. Just a heads up that there will be some water activities involved so please make sure your child has a change of clothes (including shoes) in their bag and a towel to dry off after the event.  They will have the opportunity to demonstrate their amazing co-operative skills and really embrace the school value 'We Get There Together'. Below are some photos of tasks that will challenge our students.


 Art

The focus this week for Art has been creating a self-portrait. The children have been following the rules of facial proportion and have achieved some outstanding results.



Have a lovely weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team - Anna R, Anna M, Hazel, Georgia, Rowe and Megan.


 

Pōhutukawa News Term 1 Week 5 2025

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

Week 5 was another busy week in the Pōhutukawa Team, here are some of the highlights!

Groups and Adjustment/Program
After having had two full weeks of our learning rotations, it has been fantastic and all students have picked this up very quickly and settled well. We will face a different problem when the wet weather sets in later in Term 2. We have really appreciated the flexibility of students while implementing these routines. Ka Pai! 

Inquiry Learning
For our inquiry in week 4, we have looked at STEAM. This integrates Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. 

Classes looked at Rube Goldberg for inspiration for one of the tasks. A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction–type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices; the action of each triggers the initiation of the next, eventually resulting in achieving a stated goal.

This involved creating our own machines and tracks to run marbles through. We had a blast, chewing through biscuit boxes and sellotape making some marvelous contraptions. Watching students experiment with these materials was very rewarding and made for some very funny moments! Attached are some photos of some of the groups and their creations.

Other stations involved matchstick towers with Blu-Tac, newspaper bridge building, paper plane designs and popsicle stick catapults. 





Music/STOMP
This week we have been looking into music for our inquiry. This has involved creating our own rhythms by using everyday items, forming a beat and focusing on timing. Your child may ask to bring items to school to assist with this. This unit is based on STOMP. We look forward to sharing the finished product with you very soon! 

Swimming Sports
Our annual school swimming sports is on Wednesday 5th March at the Wharenui Swimming Complex. We Love Challenge at Beckenham, and look forward to a fantastic event and seeing the tamariki literally leap out of their comfort zones with a splash. Nau mai te wero! 

Camp
The first notice went out on HERO this week with information about the Pōhutukawa team camp to Living Springs. Please check HERO for details. A reminder that the medical Google form and if applicable, the parent help Google form are past due. These are needed for our planning. If you have not done this could you please log into HERO and complete this as soon as possible. More information regarding parent help will come out next week. 


Have a great weekend everybody, kia pai ngā rā whakatā!

The Pōhutukawa Team

Chris, Gayle, Nick, Megan, Rae, Georgie and Laura.


Kahikatea Team News

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Term 1 Week 5 

Nga mihi kia  koutou, 

Our little Kahikatea team is settling in nicely and we have maths and literacy programs underway. We have welcomed one of the Kowhai homegroups into the atrium space so you and your child need to use our East-side entry doors in the mornings. Bags can continue to be placed in either the green or blue cubbies.  

Professional Development Days 

Sarah and Amber are attending a two-day Literacy PD on Monday and Tuesday next week. 

Michelle Bradley will be relieving for Amber. 

Ellie Galletly will be relieving for Sarah. 


Walk and Wheel Week 

Next week our annual walk and wheel week is happening! Check out the Daily themes and Walk or Wheel website. 

Literacy 

Each child has their own literacy folder and if their teacher gives them a decodable book to read it must be placed inside their folder and then put into their school bag. If you can't see it please come into the hub and look in one of the three blue literacy boxes in the pathway. 

Please return the literacy folder each Friday. Thank you! If you have any questions, please ask your child's literacy teacher. 

Naming Items 

Thank you for clearly naming all your child's personal belongings, these include uniform items (hats, jerseys, shirts, school bag), and their drink bottle and lunchbox. 

Maths

Dear family and whānau, at school this week we are completing a maths unit on native frogs in ponds. This unit is all about how numbers are made up of other, smaller numbers, an essential concept underlying addition and subtraction. The unit helps develop two ideas: 

  • there are a finite number of number pairs for a given number (for example 5 can be thought of as 0 and 5, 1 and 4, 2 and 3 and no other pairs can be found) 
  •  numbers are uniquely paired (if 2 is one of the parts of 5, the other part must be 3). 

Children need to investigate these relationships many times. Once children believe that 2 and 3 is always 5 they see a real reason to remember it. 

At home this week please help your child to solve the inside and outside the house problem below. Encourage them to record the numbers and draw pictures to show people inside and outside. Toys could be used to show these number relationships. Discuss these in your home language also if you wish to. 

______________people live in my house. 

If there are 2 people inside my house then___________people are outside. 

If there are___________inside my house then__________people are outside. 

If there are____________inside my house then__________people are outside. 

If there are______inside my house then______________people are outside. 



Check out some very cool mathematicians!






























Kahikatea Change Health Unit 

We are learning about the concept of change and our focus this term is on the physical and emotional changes in ourselves. We would love for each child to please have a colour photo of them as babies sent to school for some learning we will be doing next week. You are welcome to email a copy to your child's teacher if that is easier for you.



Library Days 

Talia and Amber go to the library on Tuesday afternoon 

Sarah goes to the library on Thursday afternoon.





Thank you for your ongoing support and helpful feedback, we are really enjoying getting to know you and your children! 
If you have any queries or wondering, please email your child's homegroup teacher or pop in to speak to one of us. 

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz
talia.garrick@beckenham.school.nz
sarah.junghenn@beckenham.school.nz


Have a lovely weekend everyone! 
Team Kahikatea 





Koru Team Blog Term 1 Week 5 (27/02/2025)

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Kia ora e te whānau,

We are having a wonderful time in the Koru team and it's already our fifth week at school this year! 

Maths: Notice, Think, Wonder

We are starting to learn some Rich Routines to begin our maths lessons. This term, we have been learning about 'Notice, Think, Wonder' tasks. A photo is shown to the children and they are asked the questions: "What do you notice? What do you think? What do you wonder?" These tasks provide a visual stimulus for tamariki to discuss, notice, think and wonder about. This could include graphs, puzzles, pictures, signs or graphics. We are learning to think and act like a Mathematician, which means the children are learning to look for patterns; make connections; take risks and explain their thinking to others.

Here is the image we looked at, and some of the ideas the children thought about:

  • Joe: I can see some shapes. Some are triangles.
  • Ash: I notice some diamonds.
  • Piper: I notice the shadow. Maybe the shadow is a person.
  • Max H: There are six colours in the picture.
  • Luca: Maybe the dark blue is water.
  • Frankie: I think there is a pattern. Blue, blue, yellow, yellow.
  • Olena: I wonder if it is a floor and a chair?




What other ideas do you notice, think and wonder about at home when you look at this image? We would love to hear your ideas!!

What do you notice?

What do you think?

What do you wonder?

Can you take some photos and share them with us for some new 'Notice, Think, Wonder' sessions? 

Yoghurt pouches 

Please loosen your child's yoghurt pouch before school, so they can easily open these during eating time. Thanks!

Online Safety: Gaming

Eighty percent of tamariki in New Zealand aged 8-17 have played games online. Games can have many benefits: entertainment, social opportunities, coordination development, problem-solving and multitasking skills. But, most of all, gaming is popular because it's fun.

But games can be tough for parents and whānau to navigate. How much gaming is too much? How do I make sure my tamariki aren't seeing inappropriate content of chatting in-game with strangers?

Today we're sharing Netsafe's Online Gaming Whānau Toolkit so you have all the resources you need to keep your kids safe. 

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/rPN_ev1RSDQ

Community notice:

Sydenham Rippa and Footy Fun: This free and fun non-contact rugby program is open to all Year 1 and 2 tamariki in our local community, giving them a great introduction to the game in a safe and supportive environment. 

New Start Date: Friday, March 28th
Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Location: Sydenham Park

Reuben Harvey (Rugby Development Officer)

' 03-332-8875  * srfc@xtra.co.nz þ www.sydenhamrugby.co.nz

Facebook http://facebook.com/sydenhamrugby  Online Store  sydenhamrugby.gearstore.co.nz/



Ngā mihi nui,
Katie, Elizabeth and Stacey

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz
elizabeth.drummond@beckenham.school.nz
stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz