Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 1 Week 7

Posted on by

 In this post:

  • Cheese rolls fundraiser
  • School-Based Vaccination Programme
  • Science fun
  • Passion Friday
Good luck to our zone swimming competitors who are racing at Jellie Park on Thursday.

Cheese Rolls

We are underway with our first fundraiser to help fund the fabulous week we experienced in Wainui. All the details about our cheese roll fundraiser are on this order form. We would love it if you could collect orders beyond your family. These tasty treats usually sell very easily, so please ask your work colleagues, extended family, friends and neighbours if they would like some. We will also send home a paper order form with space to collect multiple orders on the back if that works better for your family. 

If you can help with providing equipment or a little time, please complete this form.

School-Based Vaccination Programme (SBVP)

Earlier this term Year 8 children brought home a pack about the School Based Vaccination Programme (SBVP). If you are yet to return your form, please get this in on Monday.

Science Fun

On Thursday last week, each home-group enjoyed a session at the Science Roadshow. We learnt about the molecular structure of carbon, including constructing a clever model, and were wowed by the science of forces. 











Passions on Friday

A highlight of each week in the Kauri Hub is Friday afternoon's when we have our 'passion' time. It is fabulous having Lara as part of our passion teaching team this term. If you have a particular passion that you would like to share with a small group of children on a Friday afternoon next term, please email us. The children gain so much from small group experiences with a knowledgeable person. 

Testing 'blood' samples.

Making ice-cream.

Being a leader. 





Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 12 March 2021

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Today you might have noticed the Pride flag flying from our flagpole. In the same way that we fly flags of different nationalities to celebrate and welcome the wide range of diverse cultures we have within our school community, we also fly the Pride flag to celebrate and welcome all of those families who identify in any way as part of the rainbow community. 



Today you may also see a number of our staff wearing a new NZEI rainbow badge. Being an inclusive school for everyone is a foundational belief for our school. 

On Monday we will be flying the New Zealand flag at half mast to remember those who lost their lives in Christchurch on March 15th 2019.

Enrolment reminder

If you (or someone you know in the neighbourhood) have a preschooler who is 4 years old and you are planning on having them start school within the next 12 months, please complete an enrolment form for them and bring/email it in to the office as soon as you can. Whilst their 5th birthday may seem a long way off for you, it is extremely important that we know well in advance exactly how many new entrant students we have arriving over the year, so that we can ensure we have enough staffing in place.
You can find all the enrolment information on our website, including an enrolment form that you can download.


Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumauki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Week 7:
Wed 17 Mar - 4.15 - 5.45 Kiwi Volleyball at Hillview Christian School
Thu 18 Mar - 9.00 - 1.15 Zone Swimming Sports at Jellie Park

Week 8:
Tue 23 Mar - 9.00 - 2.00 Canterbury Triathlon at Eyrewell Forest, South Eyre Road.
Wed 24 Mar - 7.30 - 9.30pm PTA Meeting
Fri 26 Mar - 12.00 - 12.30 Celebration Assembly

Week 9:
Wed 31 Mar - 4:15-5:45pm Kiwi Volleyball at Hillview Christian School
Thu 1 Apr - 3:15 - 6:00pm Miniball Grade C at Pioneer Stadium
Fri 2 Apr - Good Friday - School Closed

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Freyja Scholer - Year 5

Freyja, you are showing yourself to be an excellent role model in Pōhutukawa. You settle to tasks very quickly and complete them to the best of your ability. You are willing to share your thoughts and are prepared to take on board new ones. This is a great attribute to have.

School Notices

School Donations

We wanted to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for all of the donations we have received this year! Your generous contributions enable us to offer a rich and broad curriculum to our tamariki. Also a reminder that we are still happy to receive payments online or by eftpos or cash in the Office and you can pay either in full, by regular instalments, or set up a regular automatic payment. If you require further details you can find the Annual Donation information on our website

During the next two weeks we will be sending out details of your accounts, including a request for the annual donation of $150 per student. You are welcome to pay before you get this!

Claiming back 33% of your School Donations from the IRD

A reminder that you can find out about claiming 33.33 cents for every dollar you donate to the school from the Inland Revenue Department. This includes both the main school donation, and donations towards activities and camps. This makes the real cost of the main donation only $100 per child once you claim this back. Please note there is a 4 year limit for making claims. See https://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax/income-tax-for-individuals/individual-tax-credits/tax-credits-for-donations for more information.

Please contact Rachel Higginson by emailing accounts@beckenham.school.nz if you would like a donation receipt confirmation letter for previous years or the current year after 31st March. Please note any payments you make for this years' donations, which are received prior to 31st March this year, can be included in your claim for the Tax year ending 31st March 2021.

Alternative Weetbix Tryathlon - Beckenham Style


Last Sunday, the change to Alert Level 2 caused the Weetbix Tryathlon to be cancelled. A small (COVID regulation size) group of whānau quickly arranged an alternative event at Beckenham Park. What awesome initiative!

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. We have witnessed some near misses recently and, ultimately, it is our children who are being put at risk.
Please also remember that the 3 min zone on the school side of Sandwich Road is MAX 3mins - not time enough for you to get out of your car and go into school to drop off or collect your child. If everyone can use this area as a drop-off/pick-up point, then all of the traffic will flow more smoothly.

Te Mana Raupo Kahui Ako

Parent Workshop - Parenting to Establish Safety, Connection and Engagement

The workshop will provide an overview of children’s challenging behaviours and how parents/caregivers can better understand the causes and possible ways to prevent and respond.
The overview covers:
  • Understanding challenging behaviours
  • Understanding Window of Tolerance and Arousal and how this contributes to challenging behaviours
  • Understanding how co-regulation & attunement can enhance moments of shared joy
  • Learn a number of useful activities to respond to various behaviours.
This presentation is grounded in relational attachment based principles and philosophies.
This presentation is open to all families in our wider community and is free of charge.

Presented by: 
Dr Petria Thoresen, PhD, a fully certified Theraplay® Therapist and Theraplay®
Maria Lui, SWRB & MNZAC, a fully certified Group Theraplay® Practitioner and Theraplay®

St Martins School Hall
Tuesday 30th March
5:30-6:30pm

To attend, please RSVP to - reihana.dougherty@beckenham.schoool.nz

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.

Parenting Tips

The Parenting Place has an excellent article on What using cellphones before bedtime does to our kids – according to science. I encourage you to read it.


Staff Profiles

The admin team were thrilled to get their photos taken to introduce themselves to you all!


(Left to right: Reihana Dougherty- Leadership PA & Board Secretary, Rachel Higginson- Accounts and Payroll Administrator, Anne Chin- Librarian, Jacky Sargent- Executive Office Administrator)

Reihana will be working in the back office Monday - Thursday and on Fridays she will be the new face in reception, as Jacky enjoys her new working week, from Monday - Thursday.

Across the way you will find Rachel managing our accounts and payroll systems in the front office, from Monday - Friday during the school day. In the library you will find Anne on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

The library is open for students to access every lunch time.

Community Notices

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

Cashmere Technical Football Club

Have a go girls football fiesta! No experience needed.
March 12th 4.15-5.15pm Somerfield Park. All ages - Free!
Register here - https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/156407
Or, email: lisay@ctfc.co.nz

Landsdowne Terrace Playcentre

We are a parent run Early Childhood Education Centre with a friendly and diverse group of local parents.  We believe that child led play is central to development, and recognize the value of parents as first educators.  We run sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday mornings 9-12, and explorer outings on Thursdays. 

Come and check out our Community Mural Fun Day on Saturday 27th March 9am-3pm: bouncy castle, cake stall, sausage sizzle and more. Updates on our Facebook page.
Phone 3322140 | landsdowneterrace@playcentre.org.nz   

Te Whanau Koru Blog 2021-03-12 10:39:00

Posted on by

Koru Team News - Term 1 Week 6 

Kia ora e te Whanau,

The weeks are flying by in the Koru Team with such busy days!

Over the last 3 weeks we have...

  • made delicious Gingerbread People
  • had lots of fun playing with Spheros in the hall
  • learnt how to play some courtyard games outside
  • built constructions using the big cardboard bricks
  • explored our outdoor play space
  • solved maths problems and explored maths equipment
  • created mud pies and pipe pathways from our new mud kitchen to the sandpit
  • begun our literacy programme in the mornings
  • made scrumptious porridge mini muffins.

Creating pathways for the water to travel down by joining up pipes in the outdoor play space.

Painting with the spheros using ipads to control them.

You can view our finished artworks on the wall in the hub.

Using tablets to control the sphero to travel up the ramp and fall into the pool of water.

Using the big cardboard bricks to construct.




Learning courtyard games outside with some of our Yr 7/8 helpers.

We had fun rolling out the dough to make our Gingerbread People...

carefully placing chocolate drops for eyes in the right spot...

and choosing 3 M&Ms for the buttons. 
Our Gingerbread People were delicious!

Learning about alphabet letter sounds at the jelly bean table.

Baking mini porridge muffins with Stacey. We think Goldilocks would love these!


Learning...
We have started our literacy programme in the mornings, working alongside our Learning Through Play time. The focus at this early stage is for all the children to learn the sounds for the alphabet letters.  There will be a letter coming home with your child to explain more about the programme and how you can support your child at home. We thought this video clip of a child saying the pure sounds may be useful for when you practice at home. 

Thankyou...
Many thanks for all the very kind donations for our outdoor playspace! The children have been enjoying exploring the water play by connecting pipes, from the new mud kitchen, to make pathways for the water to travel through. We love seeing their teamwork while they problem solve to navigate obstacles and fix leaky pipes.

Can you help?
We are getting low on our supply of construction materials, if you have any small boxes or interesting bits and pieces you think may be suitable we would really appreciate these in the hub. If you're unsure of suitability please check with one of the team to see if it would be useful.

Have a lovely relaxing weekend together with your tamariki.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou

Elizabeth, Jo, Stacey and Nicola



Kōwhai Trip to Ferrymead

Posted on by

Kia ora whānau,

We are very excited about our upcoming trip to Ferrymead Heritage Park on the 23rd and 24th of March. This trip links strongly to our theme of ‘Change’ and the main focus will be on heritage life and development/change over time. 

The following homegroups will be visiting on these days:

Tuesday 23rd March - Nick and Meagan’s homegroups

Wednesday 24th March - Laura, Rowe and Quynh’s homegroups

On each trip, our tamariki will be divided into four groups and participate in the following workshops:

  • Heritage school
  • Picnic games 
  • Bakery
  • Heritage accommodation 

We will also go on the tram, have a tour around the village and dress up in old fashioned clothing.

On the day of the trip, your child/children will need to:

  • Be at school by 8:45am
  • Bring a filling morning tea and lunch in their lunchbox
  • Bring a full water bottle
  • Have sunblock applied before arriving
  • Ensure their sunhat is at school (if unsure, send a spare)
  • Bring a light waterproof layer if it appears overcast
  • Wear comfortable shoes

We will need approximately 2-3 whānau helpers for each homegroup. This will involve helping to oversee small groups of learners, supporting food breaks and joining in with activities. 

Please make contact asap with your child’s home group teacher if you are able to help us on the day. 

Unfortunately, there are limited numbers of helpers, so if you miss out this time there will be more opportunities later in the year to help. For health and safety reasons we are unable to accommodate siblings/preschoolers. We do have some room for whānau who need to come with us on the bus, otherwise there is ample parking at Ferrymead. 

We will be in contact with those parents who will be coming along next week. 

The cost of this trip is covered by your school contribution. 


Ngā mihi nui,

Team Kōwhai

laura.williamson@beckenham.school.nz

rowena.barker@beckenham.school.nz

nick.brice@beckenham.school.nz

quynh.nyugen@beckenham.school.nz

meagan.mathers@beckenham.school.nz