Beckenham Update: Monday 16 March 2020

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Beckenham Update: Monday 16th March 2020

Kia ora koutou

We are working on a day-to-day basis at the moment, as the nation prepares itself to make significant changes to the way we move around, in order to stem the spread of Covid-19. The situation we find ourselves in is unique and unprecedented in our lifetimes.

At school, we see our role as being first and foremost to maintain normal routines, to reassure our children and our community, and to enable caregivers to get on with their working lives where this continues to be possible.

We are also very aware that the situation is changing rapidly, and we are trying to be proactive in our planning to be able to be prepared for future scenarios.

Preparing for the possibility of school closure

As you will have seen in other countries, closures of schools have happened and it is certainly now a possibility that we need to consider may happen here. Currently, whilst the expectation is that we will stay open, we do need to be prepared that this may change. The Ministry of Education has today asked every school in New Zealand to give the Ministry an indication of how 'connected' their school community is.

To help us prepare for the possibility of closure, we would appreciate if EVERYONE would please take a moment to complete this brief questionnaire about your online capability at home.  Please do this as soon as possible. This information will support us as we try to plan for how teaching and learning 'online' might look, and we can also give the Ministry of Education a picture of how connected our community is.

Hygiene Education

We have a programme of education in place that is continuously reminding children about handwashing, and of coughing or sneezing into their elbow, rather than their hands.
We are adopting the 'no hugs, no handshakes and no hongi' approach.
Ask your child tomorrow to tell you about the East Coast wave!
We would really appreciate you reiterating these messages at home.

Absences from School

Thank you to everyone for keeping sick children at home. This is an important part of keeping our whole community as well as possible during this uncertain time. 
Please ensure that you contact the office if your child is going to be away and include the reason why.
If you do not contact us, your child's absence is marked as 'Truant'. If you let us know they are going to be away, but don't leave a reason, the absence is marked as 'Explained but Unjustified'.

Year 7/8 Camp

At this stage - the situation is too uncertain for us to try and rebook this camp later in the year. We will consider alternative options such as day trips etc, once we have a better picture of what the next few months will hold. If you have paid for camp already, please make contact with Sandra Rauch, our finance officer, regarding if you would like to apply this to your donation or have it returned back to you.

School Photos will be taken this Wednesday morning!

Please ensure that children are all in full uniform on Wednesday, ready for their class and individual photos.

Updating Contact Details

Please ensure that you let Jacky in the office know if any of your contact details have changed. This includes email addresses, caregiver contact numbers and names and numbers of emergency contacts.

Update from the PTA

The Twilight Fair may be cancelled but we still have a great Art exhibition running this week in Komanawa along with our Pumpkin competition, silent auction / prizes, raffle tickets and Mystery bottles. Come along to Kōmanawa (near the Eastern Terrace entrance to school, before or after school every day this week.



Kahikatea Week 6-7 Term 1 News

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Kia ora koutou,

We have centered much of our learning this week around the construction that is happening outside of our hub. It has been very exciting to see the landscape change over the past six weeks.

Maths
Children worked with their learning buddies to discuss the story, choose a strategy, and use materials to solve the problem together.

Writing


We have been writing about the playground construction site. Here are some photo's of our brainstorming...





At school there is a construction site. I can't wait until it is finished because it will be such fun to play in. The workers are doing a good job. I love it!

By Hannah





Plea for materials

One of the most popular choices during Discovery Time is 'making'. For this, we require a range of recyclable materials. At the moment we need...


  • milk bottle tops
  • cardboard boxes (small, e.g., cereal or muesli bar boxes)
  • tubes 
  • newspaper (for painting and art)
Board games provide opportunities for tamariki to practice taking turns and working together. If you have any board games or puzzles that you no longer require, we would gratefully receive these, particularly as we are heading into the cooler months.

That's all for now!
Amber, Charlotte, Jules, Lisa and Katie

Important update re Covid-19 and implications for the Fair and Y7/8 Camp

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Kia ora e te whānau

The changing landscape with regard to our country's efforts to keep Covid-19 at bay has required us to re-examine two important school events that are on our calendar over the next three weeks - the PTA Twilight Fair this coming Friday, and our Year 7/8 camp to Dunedin in Week 9.

In light of the announcements made yesterday by our Prime Minister around the measures that we all need to be taking to promote community health and wellbeing, and the signalling of further measures that are likely to be put in place around events where large numbers of people are gathering, we have made the decision to cancel the Twilight Fair and the Year 7/8 Camp.

Calling off both the Fair and the Y7/8 Camp now is a proactive response to minimise any possible effect of Covid-19 could have on our community.

Both decisions have been made early to give everyone involved as much warning as possible in this changing landscape. The PTA were about to embark on the busiest week of lead-up to the fair and this decision will give them better time-frames to cancel in. We appreciate that a number of parents had booked leave to attend the camp, and needed as much warning as possible about this cancellation also.

We understand that there will be huge disappointment, particularly from our children, around both of these decisions and we will support them to understand the bigger picture of 'We get there together', as we are sure you will too.

We will be reviewing our school procedures and upcoming events again over the next two days, and waiting for further direction as it comes from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. 

As we get futher information, we will ensure that this is passed on to you. 

Until that happens, school is on as normal, and we look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Ngā mhi nui
Sandy Hastings - Principal/Tumuaki, on behalf of the staff, the Board of Trustees and the PTA

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 1 Week 7

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We have had another busy week in the Intermediate Hub! Dunedin camp is just two weeks away. On Monday a separate post will be sent with many details including a gear list. One of the most important items of clothing to organise is a waterproof coat.

School Fair Leadership Opportunity

We would love to see as many of our senior students as possible volunteering to help out at the school fair this coming Friday. They will be rewarded with some extra leadership points. Students interested are to fill in this form. 

Cheese Rolls

Huge thanks to the parents who gave time and /or equipment to ensure our cheese roll fundraiser was a success. It looks like we have raised over $2500! Check out the photos at the end of the post.

Swimming Zones

Well done to everyone who competed at the zone swim event on Wednesday. It was heart warming to hear of the positive energy and great team support. Special congratulations go to:

  • Year 7 relay team (Fergus, Cooper, Zoe and Olive) - 2nd
  • Abby C - 1st freestyle
  • Zoe C - 1st freestyle and 1st breaststroke
  • Fergus - 1st Backstroke and 2nd Freestyle
  • Thomas - 1st Backstroke and 1st Butterfly
  • Cooper - 1st Breastroke

Duathlon

On Friday afternoon our school duathlon saw many children living our school value: 'we love challenge'. It was great to see some children giving this event a go, not expecting to gain a place, but just relishing the challenge. As children get older, they can become more reluctant to experience challenge for challenge's sake. This is something we love to encourage. The event was also another opportunity for students to step up as leaders, as marshals on the course and encouraging others. Congratulations to those who were placed and have qualified for the Canterbury duathlon on May 15th. 

Leadership Speakers

Last Tuesday Matt Reid spoke with our team about his experiences working with MSF (Doctors without Borders). This was another great example of self-leadership for our tamariki to learn from. We were really impressed with some of the questions that were asked. 
This coming week we have two more leadership talks arranged. On Monday Mark Inglis will be sharing is amazing life journey and on Tuesday Lucy Schrader-Manuera, an ex-student who is head girl at Cashmere High this year, will be sharing with our team. 
With lots of leadership stories and experiences under their belts, our children will have plenty of material to bring to their next writing assignment, as essay on leadership. 













Kōwhai News Week 6 Term 1

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Kia ora whānau,

Kōwhai Kid of the Week

Next week, on Friday, we will be handing out Kōwhai Kid of the Week certificates at our team hui. When a child receives a certificate, they get to make pizzas for their lunch the following Friday at school. We will provide the bases and the children just need to bring along the toppings (pre-cut) for them to put on their pizza. To ensure you know if your child is making pizzas, we will send an email to let you know.

FAIR

We are so excited! One week to go until our Twilight Fair 4.30-7.30pm on the school grounds on Friday 20th March. Today the children each brought home a plate for baking. These need to be returned to school next Friday with baking on them. There will be a table for the baking outside the hall. 

The PTA desperately need more helpers to make this epic night happen. If they don’t get enough helpers they will need to cut stalls and there will be massive queues, which will mean sad faces on the night :(. Click the following link if you haven't yet signed up to help on the night. As they say, 'Many hands make light work!': Would love to help at the Fair!


Inquiry- Identity 

Following on from the Life Education visit, we have been learning more about our body and how it works and learns. Over the next couple of weeks, the children will be conducting experiments to learn how our body digests food, what germs are and how they spread (keep an eye out on our experiments in the Maker Space), how our eyes work (children will explore real eyes and dissect them to learn how they function) and they will learn about the importance of water and our nervous system for learning and growth. In some of the sessions, the children will view actual organs to give them an understanding of what they look like and how they function. Please note: If any children feel squirmish and do not like the idea of working/handling/dissecting organs, they do not need to participate in that session.

Donovan Bixley
Next Friday, the children will be lucky to hear the wonderful author Donovan Bixley speak about being an author. We are excited to have him share his journey and we hope this will inspire some of the children to do the same!

School Photos
We have school photos next Wednesday 18th March. This will involve a homegroup photo and an individual photo. Please make sure your child is wearing their correct school uniform for this. Thanks.

Kapa Haka
Next Friday, we will begin our kapa haka sessions with Whaea Cath. All the children in our team will have the opportunity to participate in these sessions. For the remainder of this term, we will divide the team into two and each group will have 25 minutes with Whaea Cath, learning action songs. We are really excited about this opportunity and know the children will enjoy these sessions.

That's all for now.
Have a great weekend ahead

Kōwhai Teaching Team
Rowe, Nick, Laura and Paulette