Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 5

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Kia ora whānau,

We have had another very busy fortnight completing our calendar art and many more activities.

Keeping Ourselves Safe

We have started teaching Keeping Ourselves Safe (KOS), a safety programme from the New Zealand Police. These lessons will be taught by your child’s homegroup teacher, with support from Constable Meg Moynihan, our local Police School Community Officer. As Anna Reid is away, her homegroup will start the KOS programme at a slightly later date.

What will children and young people learn?

  • to work out when their safety is at risk
  • how to keep safe when they meet and mix with other people
  • who and how to ask for help if they, or someone they know, is being abused
  • to go on asking for help until someone does something to stop the abuse
  • that it is important to make and follow personal, family and school safety rules

What part do parents, caregivers and whānau play?

Parents and whānau are strongly encouraged to support Keeping Ourselves Safe. You can also talk with your child about what they have learnt in Keeping Ourselves Safe and help them with any KOS activities they bring home. Visit the whānau section of the NZ Police Keeping Ourselves Safe website for more information and frequently asked questions.

If you require more information about the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme or wish to discuss the learning, please speak with your child’s homegroup teacher in the first instance.

This programme is divided into focus areas and this week we have discussed the following:

Focus area 1: I am unique, He taonga ahau

For safety reasons, students need to know their name, where they live, and the names of the people they live with. When they can verbalise their feelings confidently, they can report times when they feel safe and unsafe. We also discussed online safety so the students have an understanding of what personal information should not be shared on line.

PB4L and Wellbeing 

Our school uses the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) schoolwide framework, to help our students understand and grow positive behaviours such as kindness, responsibility, respect and positive attitudes towards learning. We have a school-wide Word of the Week, and this week's is respect! Our students loved this song. We also have a learning focus, and this week's is mindset. You might enjoy watching this short video at home.

Gymnastics 

We loved our second trip to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics last week! The students were once more engaged in a variety of activities including swing ropes, trampolining, swing bars, balance beams, rolling, foam pit, rock crawl and more. The instructors were fabulous and were very impressed by the positive behaviour and listening skills of our students. We were all captivated by the dusting of snow on the hills on our ride home in the bus. 

The Christchurch School of Gymnastics offers after school and weekend classes if you wish to pursue this for your child.












Book Character Day

Last Friday was our Book Character Day and numerous book characters came to life.










Thank you so much for your continued support.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 11 Aug 2023

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Whilst it was still frosty, it was lovely to see the sun yesterday, to lift the experience of Book Character Day! I know that teams are likely to share photos through their team newsletters... below are three Witches in a Cherry Tree...! it was really great to see so many children and families engaging with the fun of Book Character Day, and I know that the PTA collected in lots of fundraising forms from the Readathon yesterday too. Please keep these coming in over the next two weeks. The PTA will have a prize draw for each year level, at Celebration Assembly in two weeks, so you have until 9am Friday 25th August to get that fundraising back in.

School Closed - Friday 18 August

Remember that SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED this coming Friday, 18th August for a Staff Only Day. Our staff will be undertaking two pieces of Professional Development with support from staff from the Ministry of Education. The first part of the day will be UBRS training - Understanding Behaviour and Responding Safely. The second part of the day will be looking at the new Curriculum Refresh document 'Te Mātaiaho' and unpacking this together. 

Te Mātaiaho | the refreshed NZ curriculum is designed to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and be inclusive, clear, and easy to use.

It has been developed over the last two years in collaboration with the education sector, ākonga and their whānau, communities, and a wide range of interested organisations and communities.

The final draft of Te Mātaiaho is expected to be released in Term 3, 2023, and it will include the three refreshed learning areas which have been released so far: te ao tangata | social sciences, English, and mathematics and statistics.

The other five learning areas are being refreshed, and will be released in 2024 and 2025. Schools and kura have until 2027 to begin using the complete refreshed curriculum.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

NB: You can find our Community Calendar on our school website. You can embed this calendar into your own digital calendar and stay up-to-date with events and information.

Mon 14 - Thu 17 Aug - Cantamath Display viewing in Kōmanawa - from 3-3:30pm
Fri 18 Aug - School Closed - Staff Only Day
Wed 23 Aug - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Wed 23 Aug - 7:30pm - PTA meeting - Staffroom
Fri 25 Aug - Final day for returning Readathon Money
Fri 25 Aug - 10am Celebration Assembly 
Mon 28 Aug - Year 7/8 Ski Trip
Fri 8 Sep - 10am Celebration Assembly
Thu 14 Sep - am - Year 8 entrance testing at Cashmere High
Fri 15 Sep - School Photos
Wed 20 Sep - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Fri 22 Sep - 10am Celebration Assembly
Fri 22 Sep - 1:45pm Beckenham's Got Talent!
Fri 22 Sep - Final day of Term 3

Term Dates: Click here to view 2023 & 2024 term dates

Citizen of the Week

Finn Breitmeyer - Year 7

Finn, you exemplify our school values in your daily actions at kura. You bring such enthusiasm towards your learning through inquiring questions, insightful contributions and focused mahi. You are a strong team player on the sports field and a loyal friend to many. You bring reliability to your leadership positions and earn the respect of peers and staff alike. 

School Notices

Student Council Talent Show...

On Friday22nd September, the the last Friday of this term, the Student Council will be hosting "Beckenham's Got Talent!" Leading up to this, each hub will hold a mini-final, where 2 finalists will go through to the school event on the last day of term! Since Kowhai have more children than the other hubs, they will have 3 finalists. Only 5 people per performing group. Please encourage your children to practice an act with their friends. Let the talent begin!!!

A big thank you... 

... to all the whānau who completed our recent science survey. We had an amazing 84 responses! Your thoughts, along with the student surveys, staff surveys, observations of student learning and analysis of teacher planning, will help inform our current review and development of science learning at our school.
Charlotte Verity

School Duathlon

Our school duathlon will be on Wednesday the 23rd of August. It will take place in the afternoon. 

This is an optional event for Year 5 to 8 students. It involves both running and cycling and is considered an endurance event. If your child has an interest in these kinds of events and is looking for a challenge, they can enter the event through a Google form, which will be shared next week. 

The running component is approximately 2 km and the cycling is approximately 1 km. 

Each year we ask for parent help to support us with the running of the event. This usually involves marshalling on the course. There will be a Google form going out via Hero to gather the names of people who can help out. 

Learning across the Teams

DigiFest - engaging with Aotearoa NZ Histories through Technology...

Our Kāhui Āko (local cluster of schools) have put together an opportunity for groups of learners and staff to engage with new parts of our curriculum using technology. This week, groups of Year 5-8 learners went to St Mark's School with teachers and worked with digital technology facilitator, Wilj Dekkers, from ImpactEd.


This coming week, on Tuesday and Wednesday,,. groups of children from Years 1-4 across our Kāhui Āko will be engaging with digital technology at Beckenham in our hall, again supported by Wilj. This is a wonderful opportunity for our teachers to engage in professional learning with other teachers, and to learn alongside our tamariki.

Cantamaths - Year 7&8

This term, as part of their Mathematics learning, our Year 7&8 students have been engaging with Cantamath individual challenges. These were all completed this week, and have been set up in Kōmanawa for viewing next week. There are some AMAZING investigations, games, mathematical artworks and explanations of complex mathematical thinking that have been produced. 

All whānau are welcome to visit Kōmanawa, with their children, to enjoy the display over the coming week, after school each day from Monday to Thursday. If you have children in Year 5 & 6 this year, we particularly encourage you to visit with them as they will be participating in this programme next year.

PTA News

Congratulations on all the great reading that’s been going on over the past two weeks.  Come and choose a bookmark to reward your hard work! The PTA will be at school on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings before the bell to collect sponsorship money and give out bookmarks. You can also pay sponsorship money directly into the PTA account.    

Helplines: 

1737 - free text and phone counselling 24/7 
Youthline – 0800 376 633 or free text 234 
Depression Helpline – 0800 111 757 or free text 4202
Anxiety New Zealand - 0800 269 4389
What's Up – 0800 942 8787 (5–18 year olds).
thelowdown.co.nz –or email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626

Community Notices

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

Chinese Art competition 2023

This art competition is a joint venture by the Christchurch branch of the NZ China Friendship Society and Harcourts Gold Spitfire. It follows on from the highly successful initial competition last year. The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Happy Chinese New Year’. We are running the same competition this year but with more sections and more prizes (see the poster above). 

AKOTECH CodeCamps October School Holidays - FREE PRIZE & EARLY DISCOUNTS

Our holiday camp allows children from the ages of 7-12 to develop 21st century skills in a fun and action packed environment. Create and train your own AI Avatars, make games, code drones & go to work for a simulated Tech Gaming Studio to build games for a big client.  

Develop confidence & initiative through design, creativity, solving problems, presenting & collaboration. Create your own games, worlds and apps to make our world a better place.
We also have Literati Lab just for girls, which includes AI Art & Animation. 
Enter our competition to win a FREE 4 day pass to one of our CodeCamps

St Margarets College: 25th - 28th September & 5th - 8th October
Book Now at www.akotech.nz
Competition: www.codecamp.co.nz/competition
EarlyBird Save Up to 21% Until 25th Aug
Siblings Save 6%


Seeking orchestra musicians - Luminaires Charitable Trust

We are on the search for great volunteer musicians to play in our orchestra.
Luminaires Charitable Trust is a fairly new entity in which we focus on supporting young people in the performing arts. Our shows to date have been Spamalot Young@Part (July 2022) and Heathers the Musical, Teen Edition (April 2023). We are currently in rehearsal for an original children’s show, Beauty Within the Beast, which plays October 5-8th at the McCombs Performing Arts Centre at
Cashmere High School.
The story tells of a battle between the fairies of winter and spring, in which a young non-binary princess gets caught up in their war and is transformed into a beast. And so the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast is told with many twists along the way.
The score is an original score written 25 years ago for a predominantly youth orchestra. Therefore we are open to a mix of young players as well as adult musicians.

The orchestra is comprised of Flutes I&II, Oboe, Clarinets B flat I&II, Bassoon, Trumpets B flat I&II, Trombone, Tuba, Percussion (chimes, triangle, tambourine, cymbal, woodblock, maracas), drum kit, tuned percussion (xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, chime bars), piano and strings.

We would sincerely appreciate you passing this onto anyone you think may be interested.
We ask that interested musicians please email luminairescharitabletrust@gmail.com outlining your preferred instruments and a brief outline of your experience by Sunday 20th August.

Nga mihi nui,
Franc Bol (Producer / Director)
021666921


The General Election is on 14 October 2023. To vote, you need to be enrolled and your details need to be up to date.

It's easy to enrol, check or update your details online: vote.nz/enrol

More information and additional resources are available on the Electoral Commission's website here: https://vote.nz/2023-general-election/resources/resources-to-share-with-your-community

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 11 Aug 2023

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Whilst it was still frosty, it was lovely to see the sun yesterday, to lift the experience of Book Character Day! I know that teams are likely to share photos through their team newsletters... below are three Witches in a Cherry Tree...! it was really great to see so many children and families engaging with the fun of Book Character Day, and I know that the PTA collected in lots of fundraising forms from the Readathon yesterday too. Please keep these coming in over the next two weeks. The PTA will have a prize draw for each year level, at Celebration Assembly in two weeks, so you have until 9am Friday 25th August to get that fundraising back in.

School Closed - Friday 18 August

Remember that SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED this coming Friday, 18th August for a Staff Only Day. Our staff will be undertaking two pieces of Professional Development with support from staff from the Ministry of Education. The first part of the day will be UBRS training - Understanding Behaviour and Responding Safely. The second part of the day will be looking at the new Curriculum Refresh document 'Te Mātaiaho' and unpacking this together. 

Te Mātaiaho | the refreshed NZ curriculum is designed to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and be inclusive, clear, and easy to use.

It has been developed over the last two years in collaboration with the education sector, ākonga and their whānau, communities, and a wide range of interested organisations and communities.

The final draft of Te Mātaiaho is expected to be released in Term 3, 2023, and it will include the three refreshed learning areas which have been released so far: te ao tangata | social sciences, English, and mathematics and statistics.

The other five learning areas are being refreshed, and will be released in 2024 and 2025. Schools and kura have until 2027 to begin using the complete refreshed curriculum.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

NB: You can find our Community Calendar on our school website. You can embed this calendar into your own digital calendar and stay up-to-date with events and information.

Mon 14 - Thu 17 Aug - Cantamath Display viewing in Kōmanawa - from 3-3:30pm
Fri 18 Aug - School Closed - Staff Only Day
Wed 23 Aug - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Wed 23 Aug - 7:30pm - PTA meeting - Staffroom
Fri 25 Aug - Final day for returning Readathon Money
Fri 25 Aug - 10am Celebration Assembly 
Mon 28 Aug - Year 7/8 Ski Trip
Fri 8 Sep - 10am Celebration Assembly
Thu 14 Sep - am - Year 8 entrance testing at Cashmere High
Fri 15 Sep - School Photos
Wed 20 Sep - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Fri 22 Sep - 10am Celebration Assembly
Fri 22 Sep - 1:45pm Beckenham's Got Talent!
Fri 22 Sep - Final day of Term 3

Term Dates: Click here to view 2023 & 2024 term dates

Citizen of the Week

Finn Breitmeyer - Year 7

Finn, you exemplify our school values in your daily actions at kura. You bring such enthusiasm towards your learning through inquiring questions, insightful contributions and focused mahi. You are a strong team player on the sports field and a loyal friend to many. You bring reliability to your leadership positions and earn the respect of peers and staff alike. 

School Notices

Student Council Talent Show...

On Friday22nd September, the the last Friday of this term, the Student Council will be hosting "Beckenham's Got Talent!" Leading up to this, each hub will hold a mini-final, where 2 finalists will go through to the school event on the last day of term! Since Kowhai have more children than the other hubs, they will have 3 finalists. Only 5 people per performing group. Please encourage your children to practice an act with their friends. Let the talent begin!!!

A big thank you... 

... to all the whānau who completed our recent science survey. We had an amazing 84 responses! Your thoughts, along with the student surveys, staff surveys, observations of student learning and analysis of teacher planning, will help inform our current review and development of science learning at our school.
Charlotte Verity

School Duathlon

Our school duathlon will be on Wednesday the 23rd of August. It will take place in the afternoon. 

This is an optional event for Year 5 to 8 students. It involves both running and cycling and is considered an endurance event. If your child has an interest in these kinds of events and is looking for a challenge, they can enter the event through a Google form, which will be shared next week. 

The running component is approximately 2 km and the cycling is approximately 1 km. 

Each year we ask for parent help to support us with the running of the event. This usually involves marshalling on the course. There will be a Google form going out via Hero to gather the names of people who can help out. 

Learning across the Teams

DigiFest - engaging with Aotearoa NZ Histories through Technology...

Our Kāhui Āko (local cluster of schools) have put together an opportunity for groups of learners and staff to engage with new parts of our curriculum using technology. This week, groups of Year 5-8 learners went to St Mark's School with teachers and worked with digital technology facilitator, Wilj Dekkers, from ImpactEd.


This coming week, on Tuesday and Wednesday,,. groups of children from Years 1-4 across our Kāhui Āko will be engaging with digital technology at Beckenham in our hall, again supported by Wilj. This is a wonderful opportunity for our teachers to engage in professional learning with other teachers, and to learn alongside our tamariki.

Cantamaths - Year 7&8

This term, as part of their Mathematics learning, our Year 7&8 students have been engaging with Cantamath individual challenges. These were all completed this week, and have been set up in Kōmanawa for viewing next week. There are some AMAZING investigations, games, mathematical artworks and explanations of complex mathematical thinking that have been produced. 

All whānau are welcome to visit Kōmanawa, with their children, to enjoy the display over the coming week, after school each day from Monday to Thursday. If you have children in Year 5 & 6 this year, we particularly encourage you to visit with them as they will be participating in this programme next year.

PTA News

Congratulations on all the great reading that’s been going on over the past two weeks.  Come and choose a bookmark to reward your hard work! The PTA will be at school on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings before the bell to collect sponsorship money and give out bookmarks. You can also pay sponsorship money directly into the PTA account.    

Helplines: 

1737 - free text and phone counselling 24/7 
Youthline – 0800 376 633 or free text 234 
Depression Helpline – 0800 111 757 or free text 4202
Anxiety New Zealand - 0800 269 4389
What's Up – 0800 942 8787 (5–18 year olds).
thelowdown.co.nz –or email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626

Community Notices

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

Chinese Art competition 2023

This art competition is a joint venture by the Christchurch branch of the NZ China Friendship Society and Harcourts Gold Spitfire. It follows on from the highly successful initial competition last year. The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Happy Chinese New Year’. We are running the same competition this year but with more sections and more prizes (see the poster above). 

AKOTECH CodeCamps October School Holidays - FREE PRIZE & EARLY DISCOUNTS

Our holiday camp allows children from the ages of 7-12 to develop 21st century skills in a fun and action packed environment. Create and train your own AI Avatars, make games, code drones & go to work for a simulated Tech Gaming Studio to build games for a big client.  

Develop confidence & initiative through design, creativity, solving problems, presenting & collaboration. Create your own games, worlds and apps to make our world a better place.
We also have Literati Lab just for girls, which includes AI Art & Animation. 
Enter our competition to win a FREE 4 day pass to one of our CodeCamps

St Margarets College: 25th - 28th September & 5th - 8th October
Book Now at www.akotech.nz
Competition: www.codecamp.co.nz/competition
EarlyBird Save Up to 21% Until 25th Aug
Siblings Save 6%


Seeking orchestra musicians - Luminaires Charitable Trust

We are on the search for great volunteer musicians to play in our orchestra.
Luminaires Charitable Trust is a fairly new entity in which we focus on supporting young people in the performing arts. Our shows to date have been Spamalot Young@Part (July 2022) and Heathers the Musical, Teen Edition (April 2023). We are currently in rehearsal for an original children’s show, Beauty Within the Beast, which plays October 5-8th at the McCombs Performing Arts Centre at
Cashmere High School.
The story tells of a battle between the fairies of winter and spring, in which a young non-binary princess gets caught up in their war and is transformed into a beast. And so the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast is told with many twists along the way.
The score is an original score written 25 years ago for a predominantly youth orchestra. Therefore we are open to a mix of young players as well as adult musicians.

The orchestra is comprised of Flutes I&II, Oboe, Clarinets B flat I&II, Bassoon, Trumpets B flat I&II, Trombone, Tuba, Percussion (chimes, triangle, tambourine, cymbal, woodblock, maracas), drum kit, tuned percussion (xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, chime bars), piano and strings.

We would sincerely appreciate you passing this onto anyone you think may be interested.
We ask that interested musicians please email luminairescharitabletrust@gmail.com outlining your preferred instruments and a brief outline of your experience by Sunday 20th August.

Nga mihi nui,
Franc Bol (Producer / Director)
021666921


The General Election is on 14 October 2023. To vote, you need to be enrolled and your details need to be up to date.

It's easy to enrol, check or update your details online: vote.nz/enrol

More information and additional resources are available on the Electoral Commission's website here: https://vote.nz/2023-general-election/resources/resources-to-share-with-your-community

Koru Team News: Term 3 Week 3

Posted on by

 Kia ora, e te whānau,

Wow! What an incredible first few weeks of the term we have had! There has been a lot happening in our hub, across all areas of school life. We have had different themes for our Learning Through Play, such as transport and vehicles, and cafes and restaurants. The children's imaginations have been running wild with these ideas and this is evident in the games they have been playing with each other, and the creations they have made.

Our tamariki are becoming very knowledgeable about the different school-wide "Words of the Week" we have had. We have talked a lot about the first three words we have had this term:

  • Upstander: Standing up for others in situations that aren't right, and supporting others who may need your help
  • Honesty: Being truthful in what we say and do 
  • Inclusion: Making others feel a part of something and including others in your activities/games. 
Disco:
On Friday, we had our PTA School Disco. There were so many awesome outfits and dance moves being shown off. Have a look at the pictures of some of our tamariki below to see the fun we had:















Reminders:
  • How is the Readathon going at your house? We can't wait to see all the books you have been reading together with your whānau at home. Keep up the great work and remember to bring the forms back into school on Friday, 11th August (Week 4).
  • Next Friday, Friday 11th August, is Book Character Dress-up Day. Your child can come dressed as their favourite story book character. This is a day to celebrate the end of the readathon and all the amazing books there are out there. We cannot wait to see the creativity!
  • A reminder to return Literacy folders to school each day, as we use these during our Literacy sessions. Also a reminder for your child to take really great care of the books that are sent home in these folders, as these books are very expensive to replace and are used within the whole hub. We appreciate and thank you for helping your child to be responsible  and to take great care of our school equipment. 
  • Friendship List: Please remember that if you would like to be on the Friendship List, this will be sent out on Thursday, 10th August to all those who have asked for their details to be included. It is a great way to get in contact with other families and to organise play dates with your child's friends. Please send your details to Georgia's email by Wednesday, 9th August. (georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz).
We hope you are all having the most wonderful weekend and keeping warm!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
The Koru team teachers: Georgia, Elizabeth, Stacey, Sarah and Denise

elizabethgail.drummond@beckenham.school.nz
stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz
georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz


Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 4 Aug 2023

Posted on by

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

A huge 'Thank you' to the PTA and whānau who gave their time to make the four discos happen! Running four, back-to-back discos is no mean feat and takes a considerable amount of organisation and support. The events were clearly successful, and enjoyed and appreciated very much by our children.

Sandwich Road Water Leak



As those of you who use the front entrance to the school will be aware, we have had major, ongoing issues with a water leak at the crossing point for over 18 months. The issue appeared to have been repaired during the May holidays, then returned again during the July break. Over the past three weeks, Richard Scott and I have been in almost daily contact with the council as the leak has become worse and worse. Below is a message from Tim Drennan regarding this leak and the plan for repairing it:

Firstly, thank you to the school community and residents for their patience with ongoing water leaks in the area. There have been several leaks that have caused disruption, both on the road and within the school grounds.  

We have repaired a number of leaks in this area over the past few months. However, we are aware the current leak has got worse over the last few days.  We had undertaken a temporary repair on this leak in the past and had hoped that it would last until we were able to do a full replacement of the water pipe. The replacement is scheduled to happen in October this year.  

The current leak is on one of the major mains that supplies water to the reservoirs on the Port Hills and surrounding area.  The water supply for the school does not come off this main.

From 8pm, Friday 4 August, one-way traffic management will be in place on Sandwich Road so we can begin the repair. Spare parts are not available locally and need to be sourced from Auckland given the age of the pipe. The repair will be completed on Tuesday 8 August and traffic management will remain in place until then.

This is a temporary repair, and we are hopeful that this will be enough to get us through until the replacement is in place.  

We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days and weeks.

Again, thank you for your patience.

Ngā mihi
Tim Drennan
Manager Service Excellence 
Three Waters



As you can see from the photo above taken on Friday evening, the repair has started to happen. Please be aware that Sandwich Road will have traffic management in place on Monday and Tuesday, so consider walking, biking or parking away from Sandwich Road if you can on those days.

Sickness and keeping sick children at home

Already this term we have seen a series of colds, flu, tummy bugs and a small amount of Covid at school. We can see that these bugs do spread through a home group or a team very quickly so please keep children at home if they are unwell, and make sure that phone or email the office to let us know why they will be away. Thank you!

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

NB You can find our Community Calendar on our school website. You can embed this calendar into your own digital calendar and stay up-to-date with events and information.

Fri 11 Aug  - Book Character Day - final day of Readathon
Fri 11 Aug - 10am Celebration Assembly
Fri 18 Aug - School Closed - Staff Only Day
Wed 23 Aug - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Wed 23 Aug - 7:30pm - PTA meeting - Staffroom
Fri 25 Aug - Final day for returning Readathon Money
Fri 25 Aug - 10am Celebration Assembly 
Fri 8 Sep - 10am Celebration Assembly
Thu 14 Sep - am - Year 8 entrance testing at Cashmere High
Fri 15 Sep - School Photos
Wed 20 Sep - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Fri 22 Sep - 10am Celebration Assembly
Fri 22 Sep - Final day of Term 3

Term Dates: Click here to view 2023 & 2024 term dates

Citizen of the Week

Lukas O'Connor - Year 6

Lukas, you brighten up the hub with your vibrant smile. You are a helpful student who demonstrates our school values of 'We Care' and 'We Love Learning' on a daily basis. Your kind and caring nature is enjoyed by many. We appreciate you everyday! Ka rawe, Lukas! 

School Notices

Readathon and Book Character Day

Remember to get those reading minutes in each day & added to your tamariki Readathon forms!

 A reminder that the last day of the Readathon is this coming Friday the 11th of August, which is also Book Character Day! We look forward to seeing everyone coming to school dressed as their favourite book character. 
All Readathon money needs to be in by 9am on Friday 25th August, and the PTA will announce spot prize winners in assembly on that day (rather than Friday 11th as stated on the reqadathon card).

Cross Country Challenge

At the end of last term, the top-placed students in our Year 0-4 cross country event had the opportunity to take part in the Cross Country Challenge which is held at Hillview Christian School every year. There were many other schools participating which added to the excitement of the whole occasion. Luckily, the rain held off and the children successfully took part in their cross-country races, putting every effort into doing their best. It was fantastic to see the determination on everyone’s faces as they strove to get to the finish line. Well done to you all!

Following the races, the children then attended an award ceremony followed by a delicious afternoon tea. It really was a fantastic experience for our tamariki.

Free Broadband - Supporting Students To Learn

The Ciena Jump for Students Fund can now be accessed through selected local libraries. 

To be eligible, there needs to be cell tower capacity (mobile coverage) at the home address. If the home address is available, your details will be sent to the Christchurch City Libraries by GCSN, and a librarian will contact you when a modem is available to collect. A GCSN co-ordinator is available to support whānau through the process if needed.

The Ciena Jump for Students Fund offers a free modem and 210GB monthly data until the end of this school year.  For more information on the Ciena Jump For Students Fund, please visit https://www.skinny.co.nz/jump/ciena/

Helplines 

1737 - free text and phone counselling 24/7 
Youthline – 0800 376 633 or free text 234 
Depression Helpline – 0800 111 757 or free text 4202
Anxiety New Zealand - 0800 269 4389
What's Up – 0800 942 8787 (5–18 year olds)
thelowdown.co.nz –or email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626

Community Notices

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

“If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever.”
― A.A. Milne
Tickets can be purchased via Ticketek: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=POOHBEAR23


The Mainland Pouākai want you to be a part of the action this year as they take the floor in what will be an exciting season. For the games listed below, we are offering your school an exclusive 10% discount on tickets which will be a great night out for the whole family!  Get yours your tickets today!

Mainland Pouākai vs Northern Kahu Home Game - Sunday 20th August, 3:00pm at Cowles Stadium


Mainland Pouākai vs Whai Home Game - Sunday 27th August, 3:00pm at Cowles Stadium


If you are interested in purchasing tickets to other home games, please click the link: