Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter 19 February 2021

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora e te whānau

We are thrilled to be back at Alert Level 1 again after a week where we were sharply reminded that we are not through this pandemic yet. Thank you to all of you for supporting the Alert Level 2 practices of staying off our school site during this time. Yet again, our children showed us that, with positive messaging and support from the adults around them, they are often ready to manage more independence than we give them credit for. I encourage you all to foster that independence, particularly around morning drop-offs. We particularly notice that the younger children come into the hubs and settle more easily without a lot of caregivers and pre-schoolers present. We will continue having a teacher outside the NE, Y1/2 and Y3/4 hubs in the morning so that you can touch base with a teacher if you need to.

I have had the honour of being in Wellington yesterday and today for the New Zealand Principals Federation Executive meeting. Among other topics, we have today been talking about the exciting new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum that was recently announced and is currently in draft form. 
Many young people leave school without being fully aware of Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories. They haven’t learned where we have come from or the way people have experienced our histories differently.
Our histories are important to us all because they have shaped our present-day lives. Understanding the past will help to shape the way we move forward into the future.


You can watch a short video about it here: Introduction to Aotearoa NZ Histories

The public can give feedback on the draft - to find out about how to do that, please follow this link.
Our staff will be giving feedback on the draft curriculum this term also.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Wed 24 Feb - Kahikatea trip to Ferrymead

Wed 24 Feb - PTA Meeting, Green Room, 7:30pm

Thu 25 Feb - School Swimming sports for Years 5 - 8 - Wharenui Pool 12:45pm

Thu 25 Feb - BOT Meeting, Staffroom 5:30pm

Fri 26 Feb - Celebration Assembly  12 - 12:30pm in the hall.  All Welcome.

Mon 1 - Fri 5 Mar - Kauri camp at Wainui YMCA

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Lily Mclachlan - Year 4

Lily, you are such a fantastic role model in the Kōwhai hub. You show 'We Get There Together' always by lending helping hand to both your peers and the teachers. Lily, your enthusiasm knows no bounds and you are always willing to show that you care by offering your help to others. You use initiative in your learning and you are a fantastic communicator. Tino pai Lily! 

Haile Harmer-Campbell - Year 6

Haile, you embrace our kete value, 'We Love Challenge'! We see you growing so much as a leader in our hub, always enthusiastically encouraging and supporting your peers in their learning. You demonstrate grit, team work and good sportsmanship on the field, showing the 'We Get There Together' kete beautifully. It is wonderful to see your passion! We appreciate that you make us laugh with your witty sense of humour each day. Tino pai Haile! 

School Notices

Christchurch Schools Music Festival - Applications for special groups now open


Talented singers and musicians from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto can now apply for an audition to join a Representative Group - Junior & Senior Choir, Concert Band, Orchestra - for the 2021 Music Festival.

We want to encourage and support any students in Years 5-8 who are confident singers, and/or instrumentalists to apply for an audition. This is particularly the case in 2021 given the cancellation of the 2020 Music Festival.

Applications are made online on the Festival website here.

This is a chance to not only participate in a life-changing learning opportunity but also to represent Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto while doing it.

Being selected for a Representative Group for the Music Festival is the artistic equivalent of being selected for a Canterbury level sports team; let's make sure the opportunity is not overlooked.
If you have any questions about this, please speak with Jody Keenan (CSM Band tutor), your music teacher, or email Sandy principal@beckenham.school.nz

Our Literacy Programme

Kia ora whānau,
We are very excited to be continuing the implementation of a structured literacy programme across the school this year. Structured literacy is based on the science and research behind how we learn to read and write. You may have seen information surrounding this, through the media and Ministry of Education over the last few months. This structured approach involves a stronger focus on the teaching of phonological awareness (identifying and manipulating units of spoken language), letter/sound knowledge and learning the spelling patterns of English. Please check out the following links for further information around the science of reading, and evidence for this:

During the first 3 full weeks of school the teachers and children will be sitting down together and going through some literacy assessments.  Assessing our tamariki’s phonological awareness, letter/sound knowledge and knowledge of spelling patterns gives our teachers solid data that informs our planning for the individual needs of each learner and helps monitor progress. It is also an opportunity to talk with the children about their learning and possible next steps. 

During the next few weeks you can help by reading to and with your child each night, enjoying and discussing texts / books from the library (both school and city council libraries have books for children to borrow) or that you have at home.  Older children may wish to read their own book and share the story line with you.  Remember also, no one is ever too old to be read to.

Teams will be in touch with information about how you can support your child with literacy learning at home, in the coming weeks.  
Lisa Collier, Literacy Lead Teacher.

Lunchonline


Lunchonline is a lunch delivery service that our families are able to access for their children, which is available on Wednesdays (Subway) and Fridays (Sushi Factory). Please ensure that you update your child's details on their database so lunches can be matched up with your child more easily when they are delivered.
To access this, you will need to set up an account with LunchOnline here.

Hats

We have a small number of children across the school who do not yet have sunhats at school each day. Please would you check that your child has a hat every day. Please also ensure that hats are named in an easily visible place INSIDE (not on the outside) of the hat. Named uniform items that are found are always returned to hubs, rather than being put into the lost property.

Sports News

Miniball for Year 3 - 4 starting in Week 3

We have four teams entered into this league. It was fantastic to see so many children interested in this opportunity. There will be another chance to play in Term 4 and if children missed out this term, they will have priority to play in Term 4. Thank you to all the whānau who have volunteered their time to support the children at games. 

Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike Relay

We would like to promote the above event to keen mountain bikers. Children compete as a team to complete as many laps of the course as they can in 4 hours. Children 11 years old and younger ride a mellow loop that goes through the Heritage Forest. Children 12 years and older ride an intermediate level track, (it’s worth noting that this course is the same one that adults compete on and so it is a little busier). Whānau are responsible for entries and for supervising children at the event. There are already a number of children entered and we will have a Beckenham Te Kura O Pūroto base area set up for all our teams to use. If you enter this event, please let Jenny know so that we can share information and coordinate plans for race day. 

BOT Update

The Board of Trustees have their first meeting of the year this Thursday 25th February, from 5:30pm in the staffroom. We welcome our new trustees to the Board: Richard Scott, Suran Dickson, Nicole Forster and Anna Reid (newly elected Staff Trustee). We welcome back returning Trustees: Matthew Macdonald, Jude Clarke, Sampson Karst, Lisa Taylor and Marcel Frie.
Board of Trustee meetings are 'Meetings held in Public', as opposed to 'Public Meetings'. This means that anyone is welcome to come and sit in on the meeting. It does not, however, give visitors the right to speak at a meeting, unless this has been pre-organised and agreed to by the Chair.

Community Notices

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



Christchurch Pride & Qtopia Pride Ball

March is Christchurch Pride month! We’re so excited to be supporting the youth programming, and to be throwing our very own ball! It’s all ages and pay what you can - celebrate your high school formal the way you always wanted to - wear what you feel most you in, bring the date you want, and celebrate with other beautiful rainbow folk.
For more information and to book your ticket, click here!
All the events below are suitable for young people to attend. We can’t wait to see you there!



St Andrew's College Open Day

St Andrew’s College are holding their Secondary School Open Day on Wednesday 17 March 9am - 12pm.  visit stac.school.nz for further information

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 3 2021

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Kia ora Kōwhai whānau, 

We have had a great Week 3 in the Kōwhai Hub - our first full five day week! The students have been enjoying continuing with the water play (when the weather has allowed!) and the students who chose not to participate in water play have had a fun time enjoying various art activities. 

Today was the last day of water play as we start our new inquiry unit topic next week. Our inquiry focus this year is Change and we are starting explore this by looking at historical changes around Canterbury - from the first waka to our shores, to today. 

To start off our inquiry learning journey about historical Canterbury… Next Thursday, Kōwhai children will be boarding the Kōwhai Hub Ship, recreating the 1800’s immigration from Europe to Aotearoa New Zealand. Please bring any blankets, pillows, pegs, and ropes that you have to help build the ship’s cabins. Please make sure everything is named. 

We have started our Kapa Haka lessons for the year with Whaea Cath. We have also been learning about rakau (stick) games in the hub. The students will be creating their own rakau over the coming weeks. We are still looking for newspapers and magazines to help create these - so if you have any spare at home, please send them in with your child. 



We have added a doll house into our learning through play activity. If you have any spare toys at home that you no longer use and that would suit imagination play in a doll house, please send them in with your child. 

Here are some pictures of our learning though play activities this week. 















Have a lovely weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team - Laura, Quynh, Nick, Meagan and Rowe

Kauri Whānau: Wainui Camp Info

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What you need to know:

  • We are off to Wainui on Monday, March 1st, until Friday, March 5th.
  • Children need to be at school by 8:15am on Monday. We will be back by 3pm on Friday.
  • Below is important information about camp cost, gear and food. Please read it carefully and let us know urgently if you need help with any gear for your child.
  • We will have a paper gear list for the children to take home on Friday.
  • On Monday and Tuesday, we will be sharing a camp social story with the children. This will have information about a wide range of things, including our programme and menu. We will share this with you early next week.
  • We are currently busy allocating activities to each child. We hope to be able to give the children their activity groups early next week. 

Camp Cost:

We have set an achievable target of $5000 for fundraising, which will take place after camp. Taking this into consideration, we are requesting your contribution of  $165 per child to cover the costs of camp.  This will be added to your next account. This can be paid on a small weekly payment basis if that better suits your family. Please contact Rachael in accounts if you want to arrange a drip payment.

Camp Gear List (supplied by Wainui)

Please ensure all of the items below are named. Gear needs to be packed into a sturdy bag.

 Warm Sleeping Bag or Bedding

 Fitted sheet

 Pillow

 Pyjamas

 Toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, soap,  deodorant (not spray), shampoo etc.

 3 towels

 Tea towel

 Raincoat

 Warm waterproof jacket

 2 warm jerseys

 6 T-shirts

 3 pairs of shorts

 3 pairs of trousers

 Socks and underwear

 Thermals longs and tops

 Swimming togs

 Warm hat / beanie

 Sunscreen

 Sun hat (and a spare if you have one)

 2 pairs of lace up shoes

 If doing coasteering - an old pair of lace-up shoes that can be worn in the water

 If doing raft building or kayaking - water shoes or old lace-ups that can be worn in water

 Gumboots or jandals

 Torch

 Small Backpack

 Water Bottle

 Any Required Medication

 Plastic bags for transporting wet clothes and shoes home

 Lunch for the first day

 A book


Optional Items

 extra clothes, bedding, toiletries, cards, diary, wetsuit, camera etc


Do not bring

 Money or valuables

 Spray deodorant

 Pocket knives

 Sweets or energy drinks (stipulated by Wainui)

 Electronic equipment*

* We would prefer that cell-phones are left at home. As the road is windy, we do not want devices for use on the bus. If you would like to make contact with your child, we can arrange for them to call you on a teacher's phone. If you really want your child to bring their cellphone, please email your child's teacher. We will look after their phone and they can use it in the evening to make contact with you. We will be taking plenty of photos and will aim to put together a photobook after camp.

Camp Food

We will be self-catering at Wainui to help keep costs down and would like your help with the following.

  • Jenny and Nicky's homegroup - a bag of fruit (10 -12 portions)
  • Caitlin and Megan's homegroup - some baking. We would love to get more nutritious and less sugary baking, lots of oats, etc would be great. We are going totally nut-free on camp, so please avoid putting any nuts in baking.
If you can help by preparing a cottage pie for our first night, please click this link.

We are also in need of freezer space to store food we are purchasing for camp. Please email Nicola if you can help. One more thing we need is a heavy duty camping chilly bin that would keep frozen goods frozen on the way to Wainui. Also contact Nic if you can help.

We are looking for someone who has a contact for cheap fruit and vegetables. Please contact Caitlin if you have a contact.



Kauri Whānau: reminders for tomorrow

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 We had an awesome leadership day with Year 7 today. Below are reminders for the next two days of our leadership adventure!

Year 7

Either tomorrow or Friday the Year 7s will have their day as a leader in a junior hub. They need to come prepared with any equipment and materials for their activity. It is great to see that some have already brought what they need to school. Children should go to their homegroups at the start of the day and from there they will be dispersed to where they need to be. 

Year 8

  • Please check our last post for the detailed gear list
  • Bring bedding and overnight bag into the Nook on arrival at school tomorrow
  • Take medication in a labelled bag to home-group teacher
  • Remember $2.40 for bus fare, or a metro card
  • Thanks for all the food donations! If you are yet to bring yours, please have it tomorrow
  • We stay at school all day and night tomorrow. 
  • Bring lunch for tomorrow. We have the dinner, breakfast and lunch for Friday sorted
  • Any problems, call Nicky on 0276229403
Watch out for another post from me in the weekend with lots of details about Wainui Camp, which is just around the corner!

Moving to COVID Alert Level 2 at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto

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Kia ora e te whānau

As you will have probably heard via tonight's news, we are moving to Alert Level 2 at 11:59pm tonight due to new community cases of COVID-19 today in Auckland.

Whilst this is never a situation we want to be in again, we have been here before and we have very successfully navigated this situation as a school and wider community. We've Got This!

The Secretary for Education has already emailed all principals around the country and the following ways of operating apply to Alert Level 2:

1. Schools are open to everyone, and all children must attend.

At Alert Level 2 the disease is contained but there is still risk of community transmission. It is safe for children and staff to attend school as there will be appropriate measures in place, including for children and staff vulnerable to severe illness.


2. Learning will be onsite with distance learning offered in some circumstances.

Distance learning will be provided for those required to self-isolate, those individuals who health authorities have asked to stay away while waiting for a test result, or those choosing to remain at home because they are vulnerable to illness.
If you believe that your child fits the above criteria, please let the office know and we will contact you regarding home learning options.

3. Schools are not classified as gatherings and a range of events and activities can go ahead.

For most day to day activities at schools, the rules for gatherings do not apply. Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response Order, schools are exempted from physical distancing requirements when people are there to receive, provide, or support education services.
However as soon as an event or activity brings people onsite who are not there for education purposes, including students, parents and caregivers, then the rules for gatherings do apply. This includes performances such as school plays, cultural events and sporting activities.
This means that we will return to our protocol of parents dropping and collecting children from the gate rather than coming onto the school site. 

We will have staff at the main gate, and at the Park entrance to school so that you can hand children over to them, rather than coming onto the school site.

KORU - NE children - will finish at 2:30pm during Alert Level 2 to ensure that they can be collected at the MAIN GATE before the main rush of caregivers arrive for the 3pm pickup.


4. Schools will close for cleaning and contact tracing if there is a confirmed case who was infectious when at school.

Your Director of Education will work closely with you and health authorities should this occur. Please contact your Ministry regional office if you hear of a confirmed case in your school community but haven’t been advised about it by health officials.

5. Face coverings are not required at school or on any school transport.

This includes charter buses hired by the school to transport students and staff. Anyone who chooses to wear a face covering in any setting should be supported to do so.

6. Sick people must stay at home.

They should seek medical advice if they have COVID-like symptoms and get tested if advised to do so. If that person displays relevant symptoms of COVID-19, tests positive for COVID-19, or has been in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, they must self-isolate.

7. You must have a contact tracing system in place.

If you have to come onto the school site, please ensure you sign in at the office as usual, AS WELL AS using your COVID app if you have one

8. Fundamental public health measures continue to apply at every alert level:

  • Physical distancing (not touching and not breathing on each other at Alert Level 2)
  • Hand hygiene
  • Cough and sneeze etiquette
  • Regularly cleaning and disinfecting high touch surfaces.


Stay in Touch

If you need to contact your child's teacher - email will be the best option at Alert Level 2. You can find all of the teacher and Admin email addresses HERE
If you need to contact Jacky in the office - email office@beckenham.school.nz or phone 337 1404
To contact Rachel in accounts, contact accounts@beckenham.school.nz or phone 337 1404

We will continue to keep updating you as more information comes to hand.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the Team!




We have copied information from the Covid19.govt.nz website below for your reference.


Education information at Alert Level 2

At Alert Level 2, early learning centres, schools and tertiary education facilities are open for all age groups.
If an educational facility is connected to a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19, it legally must close temporarily, if advised by the public health unit, to allow for contact tracing.
Children or young people legally must stay home if they:
  • are unwell
  • have COVID-19 symptoms
  • are self-isolating
  • are waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test.
Distance learning will be available for any students not able to attend school.

Children, young people and teachers do not need to wear face coverings at school. This is because the risk of infection within the school environment is low.

Early learning services and schools

All early learning centres and schools are physically open including for years 11 to 13. Distance learning will be available for those who cannot attend school, for example where people are self-isolating.

Early learning centres and schools are safe environments for children, young people and staff. Additional public health control measures are in place to prevent the spread of disease and to support contact tracing.

Shared parenting at Alert Level 2

From the COVID19.govt.nz website:

At Alert Level 2, parenting arrangements can be as normal.
Household bubbles do not need to be maintained, and you can connect with friends and family in a safe way.
It's safe to send your children to schools, early learning services and tertiary education. Appropriate measures will be in place.

Travelling for parenting purposes

Children can travel freely for the purpose of parenting arrangements. There's no restriction on distance for domestic travel.

Children still should not move between households if they show cold, flu or COVID-19 symptoms, are awaiting a test or are required to self-isolate. Make sure you travel in a safe way and follow public health measures.

Public transport is available to everyone at Alert Level 2. Keep in mind that there’s less capacity on public transport because of physical distancing so if you can, consider travelling at off-peak times or walking or cycling. You should not travel on public transport if you’re unwell.

Legal advice and Family Court

Lawyers and other legal services are available during Alert Level 2 — physical consultations will need to follow public health measures.

You can find a list of legal aid lawyers on the Ministry of Justice website or you may be eligible for assistance from a Community Law Centre.

If you have a dispute on shared parenting the Family Court may be able to assist.


If you were doing Family Dispute Resolution check with your provider. These services will be available under Alert Level 2 but the way they are delivered may change, including doing some of the programme by phone or online.

Call 0800 COURTS (0800 268 787) if you need other information about Family Court.