Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 29 May 2020

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Celebration Assembly!

Today is Celebration Assembly day, and we are excited to share our 'virtual' assembly with you again!

Outdoor Spaces

Excitement has really been building this week as the Greenscapes Team have been putting the final touches to our new outdoor playspace. It will be formally opened on Tuesday, and will be available for the children to play on from Wednesday.

Our huge thanks go to the Outdoor Spaces Team who have driven this project from the very beginning. They have included Carmel Wade (BOT) and Amanda Wolt (PTA) currently consist of Nigel Easson, Paulette Newton, Nathalie Doering, Nicola Reddecliffe (PTA) and Matthew Macdonald (BOT). We wouldn't have got to this stage without their amazing dedication and commitment.


Morning Drop-offs and Afternoon Pick-ups

Thank you all for the support you are giving at the school gates!
We are really appreciative of the way that our families and children are managing the new drop-off and pick-up procedures.
What has been interesting is the positive feedback from many parents, and from teachers too, about the benefits of children independently coming into the hubs in the mornings. Numerous caregivers have reported to staff about how they are enjoying having the extra 20mins or so each morning. The teachers have noted how much calmer the hubs are in the morning when they can focus on your children as they settle into the day.
We are also aware that caregivers do need time to maintain relationships with teachers. Many of you are making great use of email, in the first instance, and we know that face-to-face conversations are important too so we are considering how morning drop-offs might look going forward.

New Signage!

We are very excited to have new signage at our front entrance area. We have a large sign now at the front gate, and a sign showing our school values, next to the hall.



Learning Conferences - final week of Term 2

Due to the lockdown, we have had to reschedule our Learning Conferences for this term. We are now working towards these happening in the final week of term, on Tuesday 30 June and Thursday 2nd July. School will close at 2pm both days, to allow the learning conferences to take place. More information about booking a learning conference will come out next week.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the team

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Tuesday 30 June - Learning Conferences - School closes 2pm
Thursday 2 July - Learning Conferences - School closes 2pm

Friday 3 July - Final day of Term 2

Term 3 begins TUESDAY 21 July

Term Dates Click here to view 2020 term dates.

School Notices

Scooters

Have you lost a scooter?  These two are sitting in office area.  Please come and claim them if they are yours.



Kōwhai Term 2 Week 7 News

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Kia ora whānau,

What a lovely few weeks we have had settling back into our routines in the Kōwhai hub. Both the teachers and the students were very excited to be back.

We have seen lots of examples of "We Love Learning"  and "We Love Challenge" during Discovery time this week.






Some of the students also showed our "We Get There Together" value by helping to protect the plants in the new playground with Pip, Rowe and Paulette.










Just before lock down your child would have brought home their small booklet with login details for websites etc. Please make sure that this is sent back into school, as the students will be continuing to use these to log in during our learning times.

An update to the community calendar: at this stage we are not having a whole school cross country event happening this term. We will keep you updated with whether a smaller event may happen at a later date.

Next week we will be starting to create some sculptures in the style of Joan Miró. We have all sorts of things for the children to use to create their sculpture already in the hub. Your child may choose to bring some other bits in to help their plan and ideas come to life. The children will need to have a shoe box or something of a similar size to keep the parts of their sculptures safe. Please help remind your child to bring this in.

Your child will have started to bring home their reading books again this week. They may not have a reader every day, and on those days they can choose to read a book of their own choice. If your child is reading chapter books, they can continue reading these at home for reading every night. Each student has a list of essential words that are stuck in the front of their home learning book. These are to help them practise their spelling. The children can also use Studyladder and Nick's basic facts website to help practise their math skills at home. Please ensure your children bring their reading folder back into school daily. If the children do not have a reading folder, a reading book will not be able to be sent home.

This week our Kete Certificates have been awarded for:

Congratulations to Matthew Welch, Lukas O'Connor, Georgia Shaw and Aloise Armstrong-Gallot. Keep up the good work!

We hope you have a lovely long weekend!

The Kōwhai Team
Rowe, Nick, Tracey and Laura




Pōhutukawa Sport in 2020

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Sport in 2020

We are currently working with schools in our zone, Sport Canterbury and other local sporting bodies to plan for what competitive sporting options might look like this year. All planning for sports will follow the guidelines as set out by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. Given the current climate, we may need to adapt and change plans, (possibly last minute), as new guidelines and instructions are released by the government. We will endeavour to keep you up to date.

Winter SportAll children will be involved in winter sport. This week the children have been asked to fill in a survey asking their preference of sports and asking them to choose between development or competitive.

The sports that the children were asked to choose between were netball, hockey, football, rugby, badminton (development only) and table tennis (this is also looking like it would be for development only due to low take-up from other schools).

You may like to talk with your child about the options that they selected. If they feel like they made a mistake on the form, please email Anne.

Development teams have a focus on developing technical skill within a low-pressure and non-competitive environment. Games will be against their peers and have a focus on fun.

Competitive teams have a focus on developing technical skill and a focus on preparation for competition. Government guidelines permitting, they will compete against other schools in our zone.

Competitive Winter Sport

We are currently planning a zone-based winter sport option for 2020. This replaces travelling to Hagley and Nuweek Parks and involves competitive games against teams from our zone, utilising local parks and schools. This plan reduces the need to travel across town, minimises the number of people that the children come into contact with and makes contact tracing easier.

Winter Tournament

No information at this time

Cross Country

Currently, Sports Canterbury is looking at the beginning of term 3 for a Canterbury level event. Our Zone is currently looking at week 12 as a possible time for our Zone competition, making week 10 a logical time for our school-based event. We are still working through what this will look like. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that a whole school event will be possible. Training for cross country will start for children Years 5 to 8 next week. This gives the children time to prepare physically and mentally for this challenge.

Year 0 - 4 Cross Country

No information at this time

Basketball
Pioneer will be running 3 on 3 games for four weeks in term 2. These will be played on a half-court. To keep the numbers down, no spectators will be allowed inside the gym as spectators. One adult per team will be allowed in the gym to manage the team. From term 3, the hope is that the usual 5 on 5 games may resume.

Canterbury Swimming and Canterbury Duathlon

There is a possibility that these events may run in term 4. This can not be confirmed yet.

Hanmer Springs 4 Hour Mountain Bike Challenge

https://www.hanmerevents.co.nz/4-8-mtb-info

This event has a new date of Saturday the 14th of November.

Nearly there!

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Tuesday 26th May, 2020

Kia ora koutou,

The new play space is VERY close to completion with the final paths and gardens being completed this week (25/5/2020). Tony (from Greenscapes) and the rest of the Greenscapes team aim to be finished by Friday 29th May. We are in the process of being gifted a name for this area from Ngāi Tahu and hope to have this finalised by the end of the week, too.  The development of this play space has taken a long timed due to the complex nature of the ground and we are so excited to have it ready to be used by our tamariki next week!





At this stage, our plans (still to be confirmed) are to open the play space next Tuesday, 2nd June, just before lunch. At this stage with the Level 2 restrictions, this will just involve the students. We have asked Greenscapes to keep the fences up until Tuesday morning to prevent people from going on it until we have formally  opened the space.



We need all of our community to look after and care for this space by being the Kaitiakitanga - the guardians - of the area. We will be teaching the children the importance of doing the following to nurture and care for this area.

We only walk on the paths 
We stay off the gardens
Only one person on each slide at a time and we only go 'down' the slide
We can play in the river
The bark needs to stay on the ground

and, for the meantime, we stay off the grass (whilst the Ready-Lawn is taking)


Moving Forward...


We will be planning another working bee to install some small huts in this play space and in the gardens by the hall. The new area still needs the Sensory Garden, nets for the balance play area and some willow tee-pees to be installed. However, the ready-lawn grass needs to be established before we layer anything else on top.

The Outdoor Spaces team will be working on the next staging plans across the school on Friday. Some of the plans we will hope to action next include; 
* Creating a new all-seasons mini football pitch at the end of Tahaki
* line markings for games on the asphalt across the school
* Seating for students and parents

That's all for now. We just wanted to keep you 'in the loop' with where we are at. 

Ngā mihi nui
Outdoor Spaces Team

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto NewsletterFriday 22 May 2020

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Thank you all for the amazing way that you have adapted to our new way of being for Alert Level 2. The drop-offs and pick-ups have been going extremely well and many of the children have also had the opportunity to demonstrate new levels of independence a result.

It has been wonderful to see the learning happening again across the school.

A happy face back learning at school!

Outdoor Play Space redevelopment

It has been very exciting this week to see some key elements in the new outdoor play space be fitted including the slide, balance beams, bark areas and today, trees! The Greenscapes team will be in tomorrow morning to do some final planting and we are getting VERY close to being able to open up this space!



Staff Only Days - during Term 3:

We had planned to have a staff only day in Term 2, and another in Term 3, however, due to lockdown, these dates have been reviewed. We will now be having two staff only days during Term 3. These dates will be:

  • Monday 20 July (meaning that Term 3 will now begin on Tuesday 21 July)
  • Monday 31 August

It is important for families to be aware that these days are built into our calendar and result in the school staying open for two days longer at the end of the year than we would be doing if we didn't take them. They are not days that are taken at our discretion and not made up.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Term Dates: Click here to view 2020 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Annabel Aitken - Year 3

Annabelle, you display a positive attitude to all aspects of learning. You are a role model in our hub who naturally demonstrates our school values and this has seen you always willing to lend a hand or help others who need it. You regularly take on extra responsibilities and can be relied upon to fulfil these a high standard, with a smile on your face. You are a star, Annabelle, and we are so proud of you. Tino pai!

School Notices

Lunchonline

Orders for Lunchonline will recommence on Wednesday 25th May.
To place an order, visit the Lunchonline website, click on the button on the top right-hand corner of the page that says "Place an Order" and then either log in or create an account.

School Photo Orders

The order forms for the school photos taken last term have been handed out to the children.  These are due back this coming Thursday, 28th May.  Please return them to the office,  Please ensure that the name of your child and their teacher's name are written in, on the details part of the envelope.
No late orders are able to be accepted.

CSM Bands in Action

It was great to see our children turning up with their instruments and hearing the bands practising again (with suitable distancing in place!).  Many tutors commented on how well their students had managed during the zoom lessons and the great progress they had made.

Training Band


Concert Band

Lost Property

At the end of school today, we had two items of lost property in the Sandwich Road Bike area...

We think that the owner of the pink scooter below has taken home another pink scooter that is the same make and model - but with identifiable difference in the handgrips... if this looks like yours, it has been taken home by the student who was missing hers, and will be returned to school on Monday to be swapped over!


There was also a very nice pushchair left in the bike area after school today, thankfully without any child in it! This has been brought into the office and will be there on Monday morning for the owner to collect.


PTA News

It’s been a very quiet few weeks for the PTA. Along with the rest of the world we are rethinking our schedule for the rest of the year. Many of what we had planned won't be able to happen, but we are hoping to still do some fun things to support the school community where we can, so watch this space, and our Facebook page to see what we manage to get up to.
If you need some uniform items, The PTA Second Hand Uniform shop will be open again from 25th May, every Monday and Friday, 2.30 - 3.30, but to keep things safe we have to open by appointment only. The easiest way to get in touch is to fill in this PTA google form with your name and number.   You can also call the school (3371404) and leave your details with reception. We will be in touch to arrange a time and let you know the details of where to go.

Next PTA meeting: Wednesday 27th May. 730pm.This is likely to be a zoom meeting - details will be sent out when details are finalised.

It’s great to have the kids back at school, we are looking forward to catching up with everyone soon.

Community Notices

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

Circus Quirkus

As you are aware the live performance of Circus Quirkus NZ 2020 had to be cancelled due to the unique situation we are all experiencing.
Here are Links for both Episode 1 and Episode 2 of Circus Quirkus NZ - 2020 Online. Viewing is currently available.
Episode 1  (Password  - Rotary)
Episode 2  (Password  - Rotary)
Episode 3  (Password - Rotary)

This has all been made possible by the Christchurch Sunrise Rotary Club, our local Business Community, and Individuals to allow your clients and their families to enjoy our wonderful online show from the comfort of their own bubble.
Please share with all your clients as soon as you can.
If you choose, you can put it on your organisation’s FaceBook page or share to your entire community through your website.   
Episode 3 will be released next week.
Stay safe and healthy.

Shirley Boys' High School

Scholarships now open:
CV Gallagher Academic - Creative Shirley - Spartan Sports
Registrations close 19th June

ENROLMENTS FOR 2021 NOW OPEN
Visit shirley.school.nz/parents/enrolment/for more information
ENROLMENTS CLOSE 31ST JULY