Kahikatea Term 1 Week 2

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Kia ora koutou. Our year has started and it's been wonderful to be able to enjoy hot sunny days outside exploring our school play areas, especially the sandpit with it's new tools. 
Each days starts in home groups and teachers really appreciate you arriving in plenty of time to settle your child into their learning day.
This is a good time for children to catch up with their friends and to talk about the day ahead. 
In our teaching team we have Amber, Anna, Charlotte and Jules. We also have Jeanette who is our teaching assistant and every Monday we have Nicola.
Soon we are welcoming another lovely teacher to our team.
Kia ora Lisa

Last year I completed my Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning having spent some placement time at Beckenham school. I am extremely excited and blessed to be back, as I start my teaching career as part of the Kahikatea hub at Beckenham School.

As a beginning teacher I am passionate about establishing relationships with tamariki to empower them to achieve their full potential. I am passionate about integrating te reo Māori into my future lessons and classrooms and for making learning fun!

My husband Darren and I have three gorgeous children, Jade (13), Jordan (10) and Luke (8). As a family we love to travel and spend time together. Outside of school I love to bake, read and be involved in sport.


Discovery 
We have been exploring the play options available at Discovery Time...check out the photos below!  We have been practising our school values by sharing ideas and listening to each other (We Get There Together), and how to use and put materials away (We Care).























In the theater for Korero 





T1 W3 in Pōhutukawa

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First few weeks of the year

What a fabulous start we have had to the year in Pōhutukawa. Everyone is happy to be back, catching up with friends, participating in fun activities and learning new things. Some of us love this amazing summer weather we are having! Please remind your child/ren to bring a full water bottle to school every day, and encourage them to bring it home, empty!
Our programme at the moment is still focusing on establishing routines and building relationships, through workshops, art, co-operative house games and home group time.

Lunchboxes

As mentioned at the beginning of the year learning conferences, we are trialing keeping lunchboxes in the children's bags, in their cubby holes outside, unless they would prefer to bring their lunchbox inside and pop it on the allocated shelves in the Maker space area. The majority of the students are happy to keep their lunchboxes in their bags, as they are more accessible to them throughout the day. We are very happy for anyone who would like to bring their lunchbox inside, to do so.

BYOD

What a fantastic response we have had to the students bringing their own devices to school! We now have three lockable cabinets for the children to safely store their devices. We have spoken to the children about the care of their devices at school, and it would be great for this to be reinforced at home. The children should
- always return their device to a lockable cabinet when they are no longer using it.
- return their device to the same spot in the same cabinet during the school day.
- always take home their device at the end of the school day.
- charge their device at home.
- use only their school account at school.
- naming your child's device would also be very helpful.

Unfortunately we have had a device go missing last week. It is a Samsung tablet, in a black cover. If there is any information known about this device, please let us know. 

Sports news

Sports Tops


There are many sports tops that were issued last year that have not been returned yet. Please have a check to ensure that you do not have a Beckenham Sports Uniform lurking at the back or a draw or elsewhere and return to the Kauri hub ASAP. This is much appreciated. 

Swimming Sports Next Week


Our school swimming sports is being held at Wharenui Pool on the afternoon of Thursday the 21st of February. 

Answers to commonly asked questions:
Children compete in year levels.
There are 25m and 50m races for each stroke, (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly).
The medly is 25 m of freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. 
Only 50m races qualify for zone level competition.
The children may do a diving start or start in the water.
The children will not be able to touch the bottom at the deep end of the pool.Therefore, the children should be capable of swimming the distance they have entered without needing to stop. 
A lifeguard will be supervising the event. 

Information for the day:
Children need to bring their swimming costume, a towel, a good lunch and a water bottle to school with them on the day of the event. 
The children will travel to Wharenui Pool by bus, leaving school at 11.30.
The event will start at 12:15 and finish by 2:30.
There will be space available for spectators directly to the right as you enter the pool. The children will be sat opposite on the bleachers, in their house groups. Please, do not cross over to sit with the children. 
It is extremely difficult to give an accurate time for each race. The races will be in this order: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, medley, House relay. For each stroke, the 25m races will precede the 50m races. We will start with the youngest age group. 
After their last swim, the children may get changed and then rejoin their House to cheer on their peers.
Children may go home with their caregiver after the event if signed out with a teacher. 

It will cost the school $6 per child to offer this event. A request for a contribution to support this additional activity has been added to your child’s account. 

Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike Race


Beckenham School would like to promote an upcoming mountain biking event in Hanmer Springs that may be of interest to you: The Hanmer 4 and 8 Hour 

This event has been a fantastic day out and enjoyed by many in the past.

The Hanmer 4 Hour, run by Hanmer Events, is a super fun event, suitable for children looking to get into competitive mountain biking. Competitors work as part of a team with the aim of completing as many laps of a set course as they can over four hours. The course this year is a mixture of forest trail and non-technical single track. 12-year-olds may compete as an individual in the under 17 category. There is a separate course for Super Junior Teams (aged 8 - 11 years) that uses tracks in the Heritage Forest. These children need their own Tail End Charlie (an adult to keep up with them) for each lap they do. While these tracks are suitable for children, competitors should be confident riders, who are capable of controlling their speed and direction on single track. 

Teams of 3 or 4 are ideal, depending on how many laps the children want to do. Each lap would typically take 20 to 30 mins depending on your speed. More information can be found on the Hanmer Events website (www.hanmerevents.co.nz).

While Beckenham School encourages participation in this event, children will remain the responsibility of their parents for the entire duration of the event. Please let me know if you plan to enter an individual or team or if you would like support in connecting with possible team members. 

Please email Jenny with details of your team, if you are looking for people to make up a team or have any questions.. 



2019 Kahikatea Week 1 Newsletter

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Kahikatea Team Newsletter
Term 1 2019

Kia ora koutou,
Greetings to you all and a very warm welcome to this new year. It is a pleasure to be able to meet with you and your child/children during learning conferences. We are looking forward to a full and flourishing year ahead!

Meet our teaching team:




Amber Donovan amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz
Jules May                        jules.may@beckenham.school.nz
Charlotte Verity charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz
Anna Reid                       ann.reid@beckenham.school.nz
Kristika Burridge kristika.burridge@beckenham.school.nz


The First Weeks of School
Our focus in the first weeks of school will be about building relationships and getting to know each other. This will include supporting students to become familiar with daily routines including how to use the inside and outside spaces, how to move around safely and sensibly, how we use resources and materials and learning how to work together. Becoming familiar with the sequence of and expectations within a day of learning at school is important for all our tamariki. If you have any questions or concerns please let your child’s home group teacher know.

Daily Routines:
The first bell rings at 8.30am. At our hub entrance there will be a teacher to meet and greet children and families as they arrive. If your child/children arrive before 8.30am they will need to wait outside as this allows time for teachers to prepare for their teaching day.
We encourage you to support your child’s independence by allowing them to carry and unpack their school bag and place it into one of the green or blue cubbies (at the back of the Tahaki Hub).
Lunch boxes, drink bottles and reading folders will be stored inside the hub.
Activities will be set up in hubs at 8.30 each morning. Once your child has put away their things, he/she is welcome to choose an activity or to go outside to play.
All children are to come to their home space at 8.55. If you arrive after this time it is very important that you report to the office to sign in.  If you need to collect your child from school during the day you will need to sign them out at the office.

Home Learning
During the first two weeks as our teaching and learning programmes are being established there will be no expectation for our tamariki to be completing home learning tasks. More detailed Information about what our Home Learning will involve will be shared with whanau soon and we will let whanau know how parents can support us within the hub.

Topic
Through a range of learning experiences and across a range of different curriculum areas we will be learning about the concept of Innovation. We look forward to sharing our learning goals for this with you soon.

Parent Help
To help us settle into our learning routines we would appreciate if offers of parent/whanau help are delayed for the first few weeks. If you are happy to work ‘behind the scenes’ to put away reading books etc we would very appreciate that.  Please make contact with one of us and we’ll let you know how you can help.

Mini Ball
We are offering our tamariki the opportunity to play mini ball in Terms 1&4 at Pioneer Stadium.
For us to provide this opportunity, we need the help of some wonderful parents who would be keen to coach one of the teams. This would look like providing a training session at school one lunchtime each week and attending the weekly games. I organise the management side of things; sending out game times etc each week.
If you are keen to help, please send me an email ASAP as the games begin early in Term 1. This will enable me to advertise this to the children and organise the teams in the first couple of weeks.
I very much look forward to hearing from you!
Kind regards
Anna Reid - anna.reid@beckenham.school.nz

Karakia to start the day
This karakia is used across our kura to start the day and for formal gatherings, celebrations and meetings.
“This is an ancient karakia that was used when you were out at sea and a storm was approaching. However, the storm is a metaphor for any life­ threatening force. It is now widely used at the start of the day or at the start of a meeting”.

Whakataka te hau ki te uru,
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga.
Kia mākinakina ki uta,
Kia mātaratara ki tai.
E hī ake ana te atākura he tio,
he huka, he hauhunga.
Haumi e! Hui e! Tāiki e!

Translation
Cease the winds from the west,
Cease the winds from the south,
Let the breeze blow over the land,
Let the breeze blow over the ocean,
Let the red ­tipped dawn come with a sharpened air,
A touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day.

We wish you all the best, for a very happy and successful year together!

Arohanui, Kahikatea Team.

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter 8th February 2019

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

What a fabulous start to the year we have had! We have started the year with a record roll of 463 students which is, we think, the largest start of year roll we have ever had.
We had 435 learning conferences on Thursday and Friday of last week which is 94% of all of our children. Thank you all for engaging with this opportunity to get the year off to such a positive start. I know our teachers really value having the chance to meet each child and their family individually and to begin the year having already begun to develop a shared understanding of your child's goals and aspirations.

Our new staff and students were welcomed today at our first Welcome Assembly of the year.


We were welcomed in by our senior Kapa Haka students and later in the assembly, enjoyed seeing the parade of flags that represent our new families.


There was great excitement this afternoon around the sandpit as some trucks arrived to dig out the old sand, and replace it with fresh sandpit sand! What a wonderful surprise for the start of the year. The sandpit is such a popular place for so many of our children every day.
Thanks to Nigel for organising this and to Hamish Denny of Drainworkz for making it happen, and to Fulton Hogan for donating the sand. What fun will be had on Monday!


 We are looking forward to a very busy and exciting year ahead.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy and the team

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Tue 12 Feb - first day of Technology for years 7 & 8. Bus leaves at 8:30am
Tue 12 Feb - Beckenham Outdoor Spaces Team to meet with the community in the Staffroom, 6:30 - 7:30pm
Fri 13 Feb - Celebration Assembly, All Welcome. 10:50 - 11:20 in the school hall.
Wed 20 Feb - Board of Trustees Meeting 5:30pm - 7:30pm All Welcome
Thu 21 Feb - Swimming sports for Years 5 - 8 at Wharenui Pool.12 - 2pm
Fri 1 Mar - Celebration Assembly, All Welcome. 10:50 - 11:20 in the school hall.

Term Dates

Click here to view 2019 term dates.

School Notices

Children who are absent, arriving late, or leaving during the day

Please remind your child that if arrive at school after the bell has gone, they need to first go to the office and sign in. This will avoid you getting a text from school to say that your child hasn't arrived which can be very distressing when you know you sent them to school.
The same process applies if you take your child out of school at any time during the day, before 3pm. Please ALWAYS come over to the office and sign them out, even if this is a planned event that their teacher is aware of.
Please communicate ALL information about absences to Jacky in the office. Please feel welcome to copy the teacher in but do not rely on busy teachers to pass this information on to Jacky. 
Also, please do not text teachers or email teachers during the day about passing on information to children or about absences and assume that they will get it. Teachers don't always check texts or emails during the day, and we have had times when a teacher has been away from school on a course, or home sick, and important messages haven't got through to the right person. Please always email the office.

Hats

Wearing a sunhat is compulsory for all children when they are outside during Term 1 and Term 4. Please consider a hat to be as important as your child's lunch, and check each morning that they have it in their bag. 

Kapa Haka at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto 2019

Nau mai haere mai ki te tau hou (Welcome to the new year.)
“He kai poutaka me kinikini atu, he kai poutaka me horehore atu, mā te tamaiti te iho.” Look after the children to ensure the future strength of the people.
This year we have close to 150 tamariki involved in Kapa Haka across our four kapa groups, Kahikatea, Kōwhai, Pōhutukawa and Te Whānau Mahitahi. All the children from Koru take part in a weekly kapa haka sessions to learn the basics.
If your child expresses an interest in being part of a kapa haka group, please see Jackie at the office to register on the waitlist.  This year we are endeavouring to add development group sessions where children on the waitlist will be given time to experience some basic kapa haka learning.

Nga Mihi Mahana(Warm greetings)
Sherrilee Herangi
Kaiako o kapa haka
(kapa haka teacher)

Garage Sale

Jack Kelly who is a Year 7 in Kauri Hub, is raising money for a well for a village in Africa. As part of doing this, he is having a big garage sale on Saturday the 9th of February at 9am at his home at 33 Ngaio Street, St Martins.  He would love for anyone from Beckenham Kura to come!  There will be lots of toys, books, furniture, clothes and household effects for sale.  His neighbours in Ngaio and Koromiko Streets are supporting Jack by also donating goods.  There will also be a sausage sizzle.  We hope you can come along!

Scholastics Book Club 

Issue 1 for 2019 will be coming home with your child this week.

When ordering an item please include the HUB name that your child is in.

Hub names are:
Koru
Kahikatea
Kowhai
Pohutakawa
Kauri

Internal Hub group names such as Forest, River etc will NOT be recognised and will delay the processing of any order.

Guitar, Bass and Ukulele Tuition Beckenham School 2019

Beginner Guitar, Bass and ukulele lessons, both group and some individual are available during
school time beginning February 2018.
Roger Hamilton has been teaching these instruments for between 6 an
12 years and has done so in 2 other South West Christchurch schools as
well.
If you would like your child to enroll in learning an instrument, either call
or email Roger Hamilton directly on the contacts below or fill out this
page and return the tear off section to the Office by start of term.
email: rbhamilt@gmail.com
cell: 027 3070466 / 9424619

Note: Children can learn Ukulele from Year 3 up. To learn Guitar, you need to be at least Year 5.
And bass learning is from year 6 up. The reason for these limits is the physicality of learning the
instruments. Many of my students start on Ukulele and go onto Guitar, they learn a lot of the skills
for the guitar on the ukulele by that, plus they know how to play 2 instruments. The ukulele is
becoming more and more popular amongst adults as well as children. I recently saw a virtuoso
player from Canada on Ukulele play the ‘Jumping Flea’, which is the English translation of
‘Ukulele’. He is known as one of the best players in the world. If you are curious, go to YouTube
and search “James Hill. Ukulele”. Ukulele players in their 2 nd year get to go to “Strum, Strike, Blow’, an annual event for players at Horncastle Arena.
Registration forms for these lessons are available from the office.

Lunchonline

At the beginning of every year you need to log onto lunchonline and check that they have the correct details for your child's team for the year. To do this, please log onto the lunchonline website https://orders.lunchonline.co.nz/home/AccountLogin and click "members" and change their hub name and school (otherwise your lunches will end up in the wrong location).  If your child no longer attends a school with Lunchonline then you can make them "inactive" by unticking the box next to their name.

If you have finished with Lunchonline altogether then you will want to close your account and get a refund of any left over money.  Simply click "close account" and follow the instructions to receive your refund (less a $5 admin fee).  If you have less than $5 left on your account you won't receive a refund.  Lunchonline now have the capability for you to donate your remaining credit on your account straight back to the school.

The next batch of refunds will be processed by Lunchonline at the end of Term 1 2019.

Wellbeing at Beckenham Te Kura

Wellbeing continues to be a priority for our staff and students. To help our tamariki understand what wellbeing is, we have developed and refined our own school definition, based on Te Whare Tapa Whā. Students will be learning about the ‘four walls’ or aspects of Wellbeing over coming weeks. Discussing Wellbeing at home can help cement your child’s understanding of it.

(INSERT IMAGE: TE WHARE)
Beckenham Te Kura: Wellbeing Definition
My wellbeing helps me feel good and flourish in life.
It is based on Te Whare Tapa Wha. It includes my mind, body, feelings and how I work with others.








PTA News

Weetbix Tryathlon - 24 February 2019

Not long now until the Weetbix Tryathlon 2019 event. We hope you are all looking forward to a fabulous day. We have had a huge number of entries this year which makes for a really fun morning. Keep an eye out for the Beckenham Flags where we’ll create a base for everyone. The PTA will pop on a sausage sizzle for every competitor. Pack a picnic and get your support crew ready for a fun fun morning. Any questions about the event don’t hesitate to make contact with Nicola – 021532996

Community Notices

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

The Patricia Paul School of Dance

The Patricia Paul School of Dance, your local dance school, is currently giving Jazz and Ballet lessons in your area. The school’s director is teacher, choreographer & ex-ballet dancer Patricia Paul A.R.A.D. (London). Ballet lessons from 3 years through to Advanced, and all levels in Jazz, Contemporary, Tumble and Hip Hop starting from age 7. For all enquiries please phone 372-9191 or email info@studioone.co.nz

Children's Day

Sunday March 3rd 11am - 3pm  Please visit ccc.govt.nz/summertimes for further details.

Sydenham Rugby Club

Junior Registration Dates 2019:
Junior registrations (U6 – U18) will be held at the Cashmere Club in the Sydenham Lounge on:
Wed, 13th Feb, 5pm to 7pm
Sun, 17th Feb, 10am – 12pm
To register / purchase shorts and socks / measure for uniform size
Birth certificates / passport, are required for all new members.
Fees:
$80 subscription per player - (2 siblings $120) (3 siblings $140) (4 siblings $180)
Shorts $25, socks $20 will be available to purchase at each registration day with eftpos available
Register Online:
www.sydenhamrugby.co.nz/sydenham-rc/registration

CSM choirs

At CSM we have two great choirs - the Christchurch Children's Choir, an all-comers choir for 8-12 year olds. This choir meets on a Saturday morning from 9am-10am and is held at 62 Ferry Rd during term time. A fun choir to be in with plenty of performing opportunities. For this choir you can just enrol through our website www.csm.org.nz/enrol

Then there is our wonderful Christchurch Girls' Choir, an auditioned choir for 9-15 year olds. This choir formed last year and has gone from strength to strength impressing audiences with their beautiful sound and delightful repertoire. They meet on a Wednesday evening from 5pm-7pm during term time, also at Catholic Cathedral College . If you would like to audition for this choir please email Celia Stewart at musdir@csm.org.nz and I will send you an audition pack. Auditions are being held on 13 February.

Halswell United Football Club Registrations

Registrations are now open for 2019.  Please visit www.hawkfootball.org.nz for more info.








Kauri Team Weekly Update: Term 1 Week 1

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What a wonderful first week back we have had in the Intermediate Hub. We quite liked the rest day midway through the week too! The children have been fabulous, embracing learning and opportunities with a great attitude.

Camp Help, Fundraising, Sport Help:

Please click this link if you are able to help with any of the above.

Leadership:

We have leadership teams sorted and are currently finalising positions within and across teams.  Our aim is to spread opportunities across many, rather than these being given to the few. In that regard school ambassadors this year will not be children who had this role last year, nor will they be house captains or on the student council exec. Our aim is to give all children (who want this) three leadership roles. Some may have more. Every child who has three or more roles has the potential to earn 60 leadership points per term.

Technology:

Tech starts this Tuesday. Please remind your child to be at school by 8:30am. They may bring some money for the canteen at South. The canteen menu has been shared with them through google classroom.

Languages:

Language classes also start next week on Monday (Feb 11).

Maths and Writing Clubs:

Maths club gets underway this coming Thursday and writing club on Friday. Both of these clubs start at 8:20am and meet in the Breakout. The maths club is for extension and the writing club is for passionate writers.

Maths Whizz:

One of my jobs this weekend is to get set up for Maths Whizz. The children will be doing the assessment for this programme on Wednesday or Thursday. We will be sending home parent information on this programme soon.

Writing:

This week the children wrote to their home-group teacher. If their letter is not finished, we will be sending your child an email over the weekend and copying you in. Please encourage them to finish this by Monday.


Below are some photos of our first week back...

Mastering the 'circle sit'.





We welcomed two new babies to our hub yesterday. There have been over 100 name suggestions!


Focused workers on Friday afternoon.