Pōhutukawa News, Term 3, Week 2

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

We are off and racing! Pōhutukawa has gotten Term 3 off to a fast start. We are into the second leg of 10, going strong and looking good for a podium finish! Yes, well, as you may be able to tell, the Olympics is at the forefront for us at the moment. It has been great to listen to the students chatting amongst themselves about the Games, and seeing them embrace the rich learning experiences that are accompanying the event. Here is an update for you on the term so far.

School Duathlon Next Week

Our school duathlon will be held next Tuesday, August 10th (postponement day for rain will be the following Tuesday on August 17th). This is an optional event and the students have been invited to fill in a Google Form on 2021 Pōhutukawa Google Classroom to register. The duathlon requires each student to have a bicycle in working condition, a helmet, and a lock. Please take a moment to go over the course with your tamariki and decide whether they would be up for this challenge, nau mai te wero!

Code Club

This term we are lucky to have a member of our Pōhutukawa whānau Kate Allen visiting us on Friday afternoons to run Code Club. Kate, alongside Rae, will be teaching students who have elected to be part of this club about coding (extending what the children learn during our programme), robotics, and using circuit boards to make programmes. The interest in this club was so high that there will be 2 groups this term. Our first group had their first session on Friday, and our second group will start from Week 6.




Trading Cards

We have noticed an increase in students bringing trading cards at school - particularly Pokemon Cards. Unfortunately, due to the tendency of these cards to go missing, or trades to be regretted, we have asked all students to not bring trading cards to school. This includes trading cards before and after school. It is much easier for everyone if cards are kept at home. 


Thank you for your support, have a great week, kia pai tō wiki!


The Pōhutukawa Team.

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 30 July 2021

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome back to Term 3!

Monday was a very special day, and a wonderful way to begin the term, with the opening of our new 'Hangere' building. This new, double learning space replaces the old, earthquake-damaged building with 1.5 learning spaces that were there previously.
Thank you to the Ministry of Education, Logic Group, and HRS for getting our building delivered, and two weeks ahead of schedule! Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, our senior kapa haka group, performed and led us in a waiata.

Thank you to Marcel Frei for speaking, to Sampson Karst for blessing our building, and to our two students, Jayda Taylor (Student Council Chair) and Felix (newest student) for officially opening the building and cutting the ribbon! 


Ngtā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events


Term 3, Week 2:

Thu 5 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (1200 - 3:00pm)
Thu 5 Aug - Parent Info session on 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' and 'CHOICEs' programmes (2:15 - 3:00pm)
Thu 5 Aug - Year 6 Whānau - Introduction to the Intermediate Hub - Open Night (7:00 - 8:00pm)
Fri 6 Aug - Celebration Assembly (12:00 - 12:30pm)
Sun 8 Aug - Working Bee (10am-12noon)

Term 3, Week 3:

Tue 10 Aug - School Duathlon (12:00 - 3.15pm)
Thu 12 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)
Thu 12 Aug - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30 - 7:30pm) All welcome

Term 3, Week 4:

Tue 17 Aug - School Duathlon Postponement date (12:00 - 3.15pm)
Thu 19 Aug - South Zone Winter Sport (12:00 - 3:00pm)

Click here to view 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Layla Jenkins - Year 8

Layla, you are a kind and dedicated member of our Kauri whānau. You strive for excellence in all that you do whether it is embracing challenge on the sports field or giving 100% to your academic learning. Your friends appreciate your fun loving and respectful personality. When leading, younger children adore your approachable and nurturing nature.

School Notices

Food Allergy Guidelines

Across our school, we have a number of children with different food allergies.
To support the wellbeing of these students we have the following guidelines in place which we ask you to follow:
Whenever children bring food to school for shared kai occasions, please follow the guidelines provided by the teachers for that event. 
We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change.  Our full allergy policy and guidelines in this booklet, are also available on the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto website under “Information - Policies - SchoolDocs” then search ‘allergy’.  If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s point of contact teacher.

Year 6 whānau evening - Introduction to the Kauri Hub


Dental Care





Sports News

Term 2 Wrap Up:

The hall was full of energy on the last day of Term 2 as the staff versed the students in a game of basketball in front of a bunch of very enthusiastic supporters. With both our Year 7/8 basketball teams qualifying for Canterbury Winter Tournament, the staff drafted support from Jamie Day, who has been coaching our Beckenham Warriors. This proved to be a wise move as the children certainly brought their A game. The game was a close one, but in the end the staff took the win. It was a fun game played in good spirit by all. Thank you to all those who took part and to Quinn for stepping up to ref. 


Winter Sport

The children have been super enthusiastic about their winter sport games each Thursday. There has been really great feedback about the sportsmanship shown from our tamariki in their games. A mammoth thank you to all the adults who have been supporting us with this programme. We couldn’t do it without you. 

Winter sport continues in Term 3.

Primary and Intermediate Ski Race at Mount Cheeseman

This is an opportunity for children who are competent skiers to have an experience of ski racing. Children should be competent on blue groomed runs and be able to use a T-bar. Helmets must be worn. Racing suits are not permitted. 

This is an event where your child can compete and represent our kura and transport and supervision of the children is organised by whānau. Whānau are responsible for entering children on the link below. 

Friday 6 August 2021: Race Registrations Closes
Sunday 8 August 2021: All Schools Practice Race Day
Sunday 15 August 2021: P&I RACE DAY!
Sunday 22 August 2021: Postponement Day

Please email Jenny, if you have any questions about this event.

PTA News

Read-a-thon 2021

Welcome to Read-a-thon 2021 where the PTA support and encourage all learners on their literacy journey and hope to encourage a lifelong love of words, books and knowledge - and raise a little bit of money along the way.  Hopefully, your child's Read-a-Thon sponsorship card came home this week - check those bags for the sponsorship cards and if your child still has not received their card, please contact their teacher.

The Read-a-thon timeline is as follows;

Friday 30th July - cards sent home to families and the 14 days of reading begin.  Seek any sponsorship and support for your child's reading journey during this time.

Monday 16th -Thursday 19th Aug - Please return money and sponsorship forms to a PTA Member.  We will have a table set up before school near the hall with a selection of bookmarks so when your child returns their card they can select a bookmark of their choice.  We encourage all cards to be returned so the children can go in the draw to win one of 9 Whitcoulls Book Vouchers.

Friday 20th August - Lets celebrate the end of this reading journey and fundraiser with a ‘Book Character Day’- come dressed to school in your favourite book character.

Thank you for supporting your PTA, and your children, in this fundraiser.


Community Notices

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

Tiwerawera Youth Music Competition

An exciting opportunity has come up for young musicians to perform on stage at the popular and well known venue Fat Eddies. We are looking for students ages 5-18 years old who have a musical talent and are either in a solo/duo act or in a band. All genres of music are welcome from Pop, Rock, R&B, Hip-Hop and more!

Our event “Tiwerawera” is exclusively for Ōtautahi that focuses on our tamariki and can help build their confidence when it comes to performing on stage and enrich their love for music. There are two heats and one final event with prizes up for grabs.




For more info and registrations, check out our website:

Sign up closes on the 11th of August 2021 and have limited spaces so get in quick!

Huntsbury Community Preschool, is having a Parent information evening; All Welcome. 

Our Speaker, Rachel McFedries, is an Occupational Therapist, Play & Screen Time Coach.  She will provide practical, realistic strategies and encouragement to manage or reduce kids’ screen time in your home - without tired and busy parents losing sanity time! Rachel’s advice will be aimed at preschoolers’ screen use, with tips that apply to older children also, plus a Q&A session at the end.


Tuesday 3rd August at Woolston Community Library, 689 Ferry Road, Woolston. $2 entry, limited seats available – RSVP essential to:  https://fb.me/e/4tFMzaEW7


A Golden Moment!

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

We wanted to share with you all a 'golden' moment that we shared with the tamariki today in Pōhutukawa. We are loving the Olympics!

Enjoy your weekend, kia pai tō rā whakatā.