Whilst we are all working to save lives by staying at home, we have also been finalising our staffing going forward. As you have been aware, particularly if you have children in the Kōwhai Team, Paulette Newton is moving on from Beckenham to a new job with the RTLB (Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour) from the start of Term 2.

With the school holidays being brought forward by two weeks, Paulette effectively now finishes at Beckenham at Easter. We do wish her very well in her new role, and will arrange for a more appropriate farewell assembly at school when we are back on site again.

In the meantime, we advertised for a new Team Leader and went through a robust appointments process. From that, we are delighted to announce that our own Laura Williamson has been appointed as the new Team Leader for the Kōwhai Team. We are very excited about having Laura join the Leadership Team, and bring her expertise and skills to our mahi.

Laura Williamson

That, of course, solved the problem of the Team Leader vacancy, but didn't replace a teacher within the team! We have just finalised our second appointment process, and are delighted to announce that Tracey Maloney will start in the fixed-term role of teacher in the Kōwhai Team from the start of Term 2, until the end of the year.

Tracey Maloney

Tracey has been one of our key relievers in the school for some time and, in Term 1, was working on Fridays in the Kahikatea Team in Charlotte's place. Charlotte will be returning to full-time work from the start of Term 2.

Nigel Easson

We also wish Nigel Easson extremely well in his new position as principal of Sheffield School, which he starts in Term 2. His time with us has also come to an abrupt halt and, like Paulette, we will invite him back for a proper farewell assembly.

Rob Proffitt-White

And a reminder that we have Rob Proffitt-White joining our team from the start of Term 2, to take up the position of Acting Deputy Principal. We will welcome Rob and Tracey properly when we have our next Welcome Assembly on site!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the (changing) team

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We have started into a new phase of New Zealand’s response to COVID-19 and it is very different than anything most of us have ever experienced.  I wanted to reassure you that school staff and Board of Trustees will continue to be available to support your child’s learning and wellbeing in the next weeks.

Thank you for your understanding of our very generalised learning support over the days this week since school formally closed on Monday. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday with most of the staff at school, preparing for the lockdown. This included developing plans for continuing to upskill teachers around what digital learning might look like, and helping all teachers to develop the skills for uploading videos, using online tools such as Google hangouts for team meetings and exploring options for linking up with students next term.

You will understand the importance of routine for your family. If your routine has been shaken up, like you’re now working from home, it’s good to structure your time. Routines are reassuring, and promote health and physical wellbeing. The below timetable (targeted at children) could be something your household adapts to use over the next weeks. A school holiday version will likely look a little different, but some form of routine will still be important as we go through the lockdown period. Obviously, this is just one example, and what it might look like for each family will be different, depending on your situation.



If you need to get in contact with anyone from school over the next two weeks of holidays, please email me using principal@beckenham.school.nz
Our teachers will be communicating during school hours, once the term starts again on Wed 15th April. Please also bear in mind that teachers have their own lockdown lives to manage too. Like many of you, some have children and other whānau in their homes, and may also be trying to share a workspace with others on their kitchen tables!
We would ask that you use email as the primary way to contact teachers during the lockdown, rather than texting or phoning, in the first instance. This means that teachers can manage their time and schedule work time at home too.

Some good news to support you either working at home and/or studying at home - Spark, Vodafone, Vocus/Slingshot, 2Degrees and Trustpower have all advised they have removed their data caps and the possibility of any extra charges based on usage.

If you do not have a data plan at home, Skinny Jump is flexible prepaid broadband: Only $5 for 30GB of data, no contracts or credit checks. https://www.skinny.co.nz/jump/home.html Skinny Jump is a not-for-profit service supporting those most at risk of digital exclusion, including families with children, job seekers, seniors, people with disabilities, refugees and migrant communities, those in social housing. If you think this sounds like a plan can support you, or someone in our community please share with them and make contact with Skinny Jump

For our Pacific families, if you are not aware the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ has been working to ensure useful information is available to Pacific peoples. A one-hour special will be aired on Tagata Pasifika’s segment on Saturday at 9am; and on Sunday at 7.35am, Tagata Pasifika will share messages from community leaders. The Ministry is asking you to reach out to all your family members, community groups, friends and group chats to ensure our Pacific community groups are watching the programming on both days.

A big thank you to all of you for taking the lockdown so seriously. As the Prime Minister has noted staying at home will break the chain and save lives; breaking the rules could risk someone close to you and if the rules are not complied with, this could risk the lock down period being extended or could risk the virus being spread to thousands

Ngā mini nui
Sandy and the team!

I am getting daily, lengthy email bulletins from the Ministry of Education, much of which contains reminders for our community about what the Level 4 lockdown means. These have included the following for whānau and community:

Update on the provision of home-based supervision and care for the children (aged 0-14 years) of essential workers

The Government has agreed that three large home-based providers (Barnardos, Edubase and PORSE) will provide additional support to essential service workers, where workers are not able to make their own arrangements. These providers have national coverage.

The level of demand from essential service workers is not yet clear and we are exploring all options to make sure that essential service workers can do the important work necessary. In particular we are working with the wider network of home based providers to identify additional carers in areas of high demand.

Essential workers should still continue to contact one of the following three providers if they have been unable to make their own arrangements:
Barnardos - covid19enquiries@barnardos.org.nz
Edubase - Home Grown Kids & Kids at Home 0508 44 54 37 or info@hgk.co.nz
PORSE - porse.co.nz 0800 023 456

Access to school sites

Further information to support wellbeing