Koru Team News Term 1 Week 3

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Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had a fantastic week in the Koru hub. It has been amazing to see tamariki embrace our school values as we continue getting to know each other!

Mathematics

This week, we have started our mathematics programme. We are working through a thematic unit called 'All About Us', which engages children in early numeracy activities. So far, we have explored children's prior knowledge of numbers, counting, and grouping, and we have conducted a simple statistical inquiry to find out our favourite sports and foods - some children even created their own graphs during learning through play!














Literacy

Teachers have been busy working through initial assessments with tamariki this week. It is so exciting to see the letters and letter sounds that children already know! Next week, we will be learning what to expect during a small-group literacy time and practising the routines involved. Literacy folders will begin coming home in Week 5.

We have been doing whole-class literacy activities this week. These involve a letter-of-the-day focus. We practise writing the letter in the air, look at our Milo the Monkey book, and go on a Pirate Island adventure (example below). Tamariki then engage in a task linked to the letter of the day.








Learning Through Play

We love learning through play! This week, we have continued to explore the resources and activities within the hub. Learning through play allows children to explore, discover, experiment, and solve problems in playful and imaginative ways. This time is very special as it is a time in which children can make new friends, practise our school values, and have fun!










Yoghurt pouches

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




Library

Our library time is each Friday. Please support your child to remember their library folders each week so that they can enjoy issuing two new books.


Staying Safe Online

As our tamariki spend more time online, it's important for parents and whānau to help them stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital technology.

Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit, so that whānau have all the information they need to talk about online safety.

If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.

That's all for now! We hope you have a fantastic weekend and look forward to seeing you next week.

Ngā mihi,

The Koru team

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

elizabeth.drummond@beckenham.school.nz

stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz

Pōhutukawa Team Update Term 1 Week 3

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Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all

We've now spent a very busy and productive 2 weeks in Pōhutukawa establishing routines and building relationships. We've all been impressed with how quickly the Year 5 students have adapted to new ways of doing things, and we love when the Year 6 students show support and aroha to their peers. Arohaina te tangata me te taiao, We Care. Thank you for reading on for some very important updates about what we have been up to in Pōhutukawa, and what is coming up.

Swimming Sports Wednesday, March 5

Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto Swimming Sports is being held at Wharenui Pool on Wednesday 5th of March.

This is an optional event open to children in Years 5 to 8. Races are held for freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. For each stroke, there will be a 25m and 50m event. You may enter races in all strokes but may only enter one distance in each stroke. For example, you could enter 25m backstroke and 50m breaststroke but you can not enter 25m and 50m backstroke. Only competitors from the 50m events are eligible to be considered for Zones. You will race against your year group. Please click here to enter.

To take part, you must be a confident and competent swimmer for the stroke and distance you have entered. If you are unsure of your ability, please ask a teacher for advice. Parents and/or your swimming coach, (if you have one) are also great people to ask for advice.

Workshops

All the teachers have now had the chance to teach every student in our team through a series of workshops. Our beginning of the year 'Workshops/ Papamahi' covered Using Google Classroom, Active Listening, UDL (Universal Design for Learning), and Lunchtime Games and Activities. It would be great to discuss with your tamariki about these workshops, and what they have learned. It was a lot of information, so asking them to share what they remember is a good way to consolidate their learning. These Workshops aim to introduce important aspects of life in Pōhutukawa, which we will continue with next week with Cyber Safety, PB4L, Health and Wellbeing, and Diversity.

Learning at Home and Google Classroom

All of the students have now signed up for the Pōhutukawa 2025 Google Classroom and their Home Group Google Classroom. Students can also access the Pōhutukawa Learning Site via their Google Classroom. The site serves as an online hub of resources should you wish for your tamariki to continue doing some school work at home. We will continue to add material and build the students' knowledge around using Google Classroom and Google Sites in the coming weeks. As always, we encourage you to actively participate in this area of your tamariki's learning. Ask them to show you what is available to them online and what they can see and do. He taonga te ako, the treasure is learning.

CCC

You may have heard your child talking about our CCC "cool curriculum classes". This is how we start our day; they are a great way to ensure we are teaching all areas of our curriculum. We are planning to start the programme next week. Megan is teaching Midfulness, Rae is covering Digital Technology with Coding. Chris is teaching Visual Arts via visual Mihimihi and Pepehas, while Gayle is teaching PE and Games, Nick is teaching Digital Technology . There is such a lot of learning happening over the term in CCC, so we encourage you to keep chatting about what we are covering in these courses with your tamariki. He taonga te ako, the treasure is learning.
Staying Safe Online

As our tamariki spend more time online, it’s important parents and whānau help them stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital technology.

Cyber Safety

Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit so parents, families and whānau have all the information they need to talk about online safety.

If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.





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

The Pōhutukawa Team

Chris, Nick, Rae, Megan and Gayle

Kahikatea Whānau Update: Term 1 Week 3

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  • Welcome back!
  • Drop offs
  • Library times
  • Kapa Haka
  • Garden Club
  • Literacy
  • Cyber Safety

Welcome back to school!
We have been absolutely loving getting to know our new tamariki, everyone has made such a positive start to school. The Kahikatea hub has been very busy with participating in literacy, maths, sports, learning through play, getting to know each other, inquiry and kapa haka. Below are some pictures of the fun we have had over the past two weeks:





























Drop Offs:
Please remember to use either the Sandwich Road or Park entrance to enter the school. The entrance behind our building is for BOSCO families to use. We are encouraging our children to unpack their own bags in the morning. Thank you for your support with this, we have noticed many of you standing back and allowing your children to put their lunchboxes, reading folders, and bags away themselves. 


Library:
Students are able to issue two books from the library each week, they are able to renew books as needed. Students' with overdue books will not be able to borrow new books.

Our library days are as follows:
Tuesdays-Talia and Ambers' homegroups
Thursdays-Sarah's homegroup
Kapa Haka:
We are fortunate to have the amazing Whaia Cath running our Kapa Haka sessions again this year. This term, Sarah and Amber's class will get a 20-minute session each week on a Thursday. Talia and Amber's homegroup in Term 2, Sarah and Talia's in Term 3. In Term 4, we will all work our way to a Christmas performance.

Garden Club:
Thanks to everyone who brought produce this week and gave a koha! We made $38 for our Garden Club which is run by our wonderful Teaching assistant, Lucy. The kids are very excited to be able to put this money towards winter crops!
Thanks to our wonderful sellers, Ryland, Theo and Jak.

Literacy:
We are moving into Literacy groups next week on Monday. There will be a chart up in the hub above the reading folder buckets which says which teacher students are working with for Literacy. The hub will have a hui and line students up and send them off with their teachers for the first few days to ensure everyone gets to the right place.
Students' will start to bring home letter cards, heart word cards, and books over the next few weeks.

Cyber Safety:

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.










Koru Team Blog

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Kia ora e te whānau,

What a wonderful start we have had to 2025 in the Koru team! We are so proud of how our children have embraced 'We Love Learning' and 'We Love Challenge' this week while learning the school routines. We have noticed children independently doing their morning jobs, such as putting their lunch boxes and drink bottles on the shelf, and their bags in the cubbies; fantastic! 

Thank you for taking the time to attend our Term 1 learning conferences. These gave us an excellent opportunity to get to know you and your child and set them up for success this year.

On our first day, we had a very special welcome for Cade Englefield, our new Principal. The Koru team were superstars in the audience, watching with interest as Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, our senior Kapa Haka group, and Christchurch South Karamata Intermediate Kapa Haka group performed waiata (songs) and haka. 

We have had lots of fun exploring our space and discovering the activities offered during Learning Through Play this week. Here are some photos of tamariki in action.

Fun in the sun!

Busy showing 'We Get There Together'.

On the hunt through the Duplo pile.

Deep in conversation, planning what to do next.

Proud of their construction - 'We Get There Together'.

Organising animals into their family groups.

Exploring the Lego and Duplo.

'We Love Learning' - carefully placing the pieces together.

Showing 'We Love Challenge' during a game of Jenga.

Having some time with Cade at the playdoh table.

Enjoying the fresh air, having races outside.

Digging for treasure.

Tamariki showing 'We Care' by sharing the playdoh and equipment.

Who can build the tallest tower?

Busy at work!

Creating beautiful pictures at the drawing table.

Having fun with new friends.

Exploring the vehicles.

Calling Mum on the telephone, and showing 'We Love Challenge' with a puzzle.

Fifth birthday cake.

Sweet treats bakery.

Playing with the submarine.

Deep in thought.

What else can I fit in my grocery truck?


We visited the Senior Leadership office while on our boundary walk this week. One child even got to sit in the Principal's chair and share his thoughts about what the next steps at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto should be (longer play times)!




We care about your safety! Please make sure that you enter and exit the school via the Sandwich Road, Eastern Terrace, or Norwood Street entrances. The gate leading from the carpark is out of bounds. Thank you so much for your cooperation with this.



Thank you, whānau, for all of your support in helping our first week at school be so successful. We hope you have a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to seeing the children back at school on Monday.

Ngā mihi,
The Koru team

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

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 3

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Kia ora whānau!

Welcome to our very first blog of the year. We have had a great start to the term with the children getting to know each other and all the staff in the Kōwhai team. We have had lots of fun doing Discovery every day and also cooling down in the afternoons doing water play (see photos below). We have also been learning how to log on to the Chromebooks and how to access the online resources that we have in the Kōwhai team.

Resources

We are on the lookout for spare electronic parts for children to deconstruct. The children have been loving taking bits of machinery apart and discovering how they have been put together, learning lots along the way.

We are also needing more cardboard boxes for construction. The children have been creating all sorts of things with cardboard boxes of all different sizes such as houses, monsters and cars and we are now in need of more boxes such as toothpaste boxes, tissue boxes, chocolate boxes, muesli bar boxes and so on. If you have any that you are willing to donate to the school, please bring them in and deliver them to your child's homegroup teacher. Thank you so much!

Access To The School

We would like to encourage you to access the school grounds by the park side or the main Sandwich Road entrance by the flag. The BOSCO gate access is meant for BOSCO use only before and after school and remains locked at all other times. Thank you for your understanding and 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. 

We also require 11 parent helpers for this event to ensure it runs successfully. You would need to arrive at school before the Top Team briefing at 1:10pm and the event will finish around 2:55pm. It will involve running an activity station, explaining the activity to the children and generally overseeing it. If you are keen to help, please let your child's homegroup teacher know and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Staying Safe Online

As our tamariki spend more time online, it’s important parents and whānau help them stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital technology.
Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit so parents, families and whānau have
all the information they need to talk about online safety.
If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.


Photos