Logging into our new system: Hero and accessing student accounts

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Introducing: Hero

A new, web-based school / home communication system with an app for your convenience.


Kia ora whānau

We have been setting up a new computer system at school called "Hero". 

This new system is designed to hold all of our student information and to be a communication system between school and families. Ultimately, it will be a one-stop place for most of our communication. 

During Term 1, we have initially been using it for taking attendance and collecting other in-school data whilst we develop our understanding of how other aspects of it work. 

Today were are able to share this new system with you.


It has taken us a lot longer than expected to get it up and running in other areas, including our accounts, which is why you haven't yet had any personalised request for school donations or camp costs yet this year. 

So to begin with, we would like you to log in to HERO, and access your student accounts.






Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Invitation to Whānau Rōpū Hui

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Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

We would like to welcome you to our first Whānau Rōpū hui of 2021. The hui will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 30th  June, in the Kōwhai Hub. 

The hui will coincide with Matariki, a time of renewal and celebration in Aotearoa New Zealand. We are going to come together to connect, celebrate and learn. 

A hangi option will be available on the night. The kai will be pre-order only and available for collection part way through the evening. There will be a vegetarian option as well.  Ordering information will come out shortly. 

Our Whānau Rōpū hui aims to:

  • welcome both Māori and non-Māori parents and whānau

  • establish and strengthen whānau connections

  • support and encourage Te Ao Māori at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto

  • promote student awareness and pride in culture, heritage and identity

  • encourage collaboration and sharing of ideas between home and school

Nau mai haere mai! Come along, get to know other tamariki and whānau, enjoy some kai, and get involved in this important aspect of our kura. Come to the staff room first and get a cup of tea to bring over to the Kōwhai hub if you would like. 

Ngā manaakitanga noho ora mai,

The Te Ao Māori Curriculum Team 

(Elizabeth, Meagan, Steve, Lisa, Megan, Sampson)


Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 11th June

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

What an amazing PTA we have! Three back-to-back Discos tonight with smiles all around from our amazing team who continue to ensure that our children get to have these amazing experiences! Thank you to all of the parents who helped the PTA on various rosters like door duty, selling crisps, sweeping the floor between events! Thank you to all the staff who came along and joined in with their cool dance moves!And a huge thank you to Max and Lou van Tongeren who organised the sounds! What a great innovation to have teams of awesome students doing the DJ-ing! 



Staffing Update

We are delighted to welcome Tracey Maloney back to our staff as she starts on Monday in our New Entrant team, taking our fourth home group.



Have a great weekend everyone!

Ngā mhi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Week 7:
Wed 16 Jun - South Zone Basketball Tournament Yr 7/8
Wed 16 Jun - Strum, Strike, Blow - Christchurch Arena 
Thu 17 Jun - 9am-10am Structured Literacy - Parent Seminar
Thu 17 Jun - South Zone Winter Sport
Fri 18 Jun - PTA Mid-Winter Breakfast (8am-9am)

Week 8:
Tue 22 Jun - 7pm - 8pm Structured Literacy Parent Seminar
Wed 23 Jun - Canterbury Cross Country (Halswell Quarry 9am-2pm)
Wed 23 Jun - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm)
Thu 24 Jun - South Zone Winter Sport
Thu 24 Jun - 9am-10am Structured Literacy - Parent Seminar
Thu 24 Jun - Board of Trustee's meeting (5.30pm - 7.30pm)
Fri 25 Jun - Celebration Assembly (12.00noon-12.30pm)
Fri 25 Jun - PTA Sausage Sizzle (1:20pm)

Week 9:
Mon 28 Jun - Winter Tournament (Hagley Park North)
Tue 29 Jun - Year 0-4 Cross Country Challenge (Hillview Christian School, 12noon-3pm)
Wed 30 Jun - Whānau Rōpū Hui and Hangi (more info next week!)
Thu 1 Jul - Postponement date for 0-4 Cross Country Challenge

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Kobe Freeman - Year 4

Kobe - your kind and thoughtful nature shines in all that you do. You have an enthusiastic attitude towards all areas of learning and love sharing your learning and understanding around different topics.  You show a lot of empathy when relating to others and show "We Care" in the hub often. Thank you for being a superstar in the Kōwhai whanau!  Ka rawe tō mahi Kobe! 

School Notices

Structured Literacy Parent Seminars are back!

If you missed out in Term 1, we have three more sessions coming up that you can choose from:
Join us in the staffroom on 
Thursday 17th June 9am-10am
Tuesday 22nd June 7pm-8pm
Thursday 24th June 9am-10am


Caroline Morritt, our Resource Teacher of Literacy will explain our new approach to teaching reading and writing. Based on the science of reading, Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto uses an explicit, systematic structured literacy approach to build a strong literacy foundation.

Come along and learn about the programme and see the decodable books we are using to support targeted classroom teaching of phonological awareness and blending and segmenting skills for accurate, automatic reading and spelling. 

Road Safety

We were reminded recently of how quickly an accident can happen when we heard of a student from a neighbouring school who stepped out onto the 'quiet street' going home from school and was hit by a car, luckily living to tell the tale. Please do remind your children about using the crossing outside school as the safest crossing point for that part of their journey, and make sure they are well-practiced in looking 'right, left, and right again' before they cross the road. 

Missing Uniform

We have a number of children at the moment with missing items i.e. school polar fleeces. It is an easy mistake for uniform items to land in the wrong bag, so would you please take a moment to check your child's uniform/s and ensure they have the right name on the tag! If you have the wrong one you can drop it to the office, and take a look at our uniform rack filled with lost property that lives under the verandah by the library, during school hours. A great reminder to label your items so they can return to you!

ESOL Update

ESOL students have continued to focus on weather. This week, Kōwhai students looked at how the wind comes from different directions and made and tested their own weather vane.


Last week, we discussed the rain and floods in Canterbury. The students listened to a short story about the different types of clouds and created their own cloud in a bottle.


Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins” that are available on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 – 9:30am. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is 88t39. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Pride Week

Next week is National Schools Pride Week. Anne has created an awesome display of books in the library and invited the children to create rainbow art to enhance the display. Today, at lunchtime, the Diversity Group hosted an art session in the Kauri hub where children could create rainbow art with a positive message.  


Strum, Strike, Blow - see our Ukulele players in action...

Best wishes to our Strum, Strike Blow ukulele players who will be performing in this combined schools Recorder, Ukulele and Marimba Festival this week.


Tips for Parents

Every weekend all over the world millions of parents, children and coaches set off for their weekly sporting ritual ‘Match Day’. Many will follow the same process each week and will never question their routine or behaviour… With winter sport beginning, parents and coaches may find this article interesting: The “Unknown Damage” caused from the touchline

Sports News


Teams from Year 5 to 8 enjoyed an afternoon of sport in the sun on Thursday. There was a lovely community feel when walking to our games as we passed teams from other schools heading to different venues. There was strong competition from other teams in our zones and there were lots of close and exciting games. We commend the children on representing our school values on the sports field. 

PTA News - Midwinter Breakfast - this Friday 18 June

Get your PJs on for our annual midwinter breakfast! 
Come to school from 8am for warm porridge and gluten-free weetbix.



Bring a can of food to donate to the City Mission and bring your own bowl and spoon! 

Community Notices

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



Kōwhai Team News Term 2 Week 6

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 Kia ora Kōwhai whānau, 

We hope you all had a lovely long weekend last week. The teachers had a very productive staff only day on Tuesday, learning about many different things. This week the students have been learning more about Changes during our science lessons. They have also been exploring how to code during inquiry as well. We have some future master coders in our hub! 

Literacy Classes

With our structured literacy approach the teachers are constantly monitoring and checking students understanding of letters and sounds. Throughout the year, as we look at where the students are at in their learning, we may reshuffle of our literacy groups to best meet student needs. Your child may not necessarily bring a reader or journal home each night. On these nights, they can choose a book from home to read. 

Small containers

If you are a family that uses My Food Bag or something similar and have many of those little sauce containers around, we would love to have these in the hub. These are great for some of our science experiments and storing paint (with the lids on). If you have any spare please send them in! 

Four Square 

Some of our students have recently started playing four square during Discovery and play breaks. We are still learning the rules, and how to manage ourselves when playing. 

We are focusing on the following:

  • Being a good sport.
  • Playing according to the rules.
  • Cheering for each other - even when someone is out we can say "good try", "you had a great run!"

    • Here is a video of the rules, so you can try and practise these at home! 


    Many of the Kōwhai kids are very excited about the Disco on Friday the 11th of June in the hall and have been practising their dance moves!

    This a gold coin entry event. The students will need to bring a named drink bottle and can bring some money for snacks. The timings are as follows:
    Year 3 - 5:00-6:00 
    Year 4 - 6:30-7:30

    We hope you have a great time! 

    Have a lovely weekend! 
    The Kōwhai team - Laura, Rowe, Quynh, Nick and Meagan