Ski Day, this Thursday:

While the heavens opened and dumped lots of lovely snow on Mt Hutt over the last couple of days, unfortunately the forecast for Thursday is for strong winds. Please check https://www.nzski.com/mt-hutt/mt-hutt-weather-report after 6am on Thursday to check if the ski field is open. If open, we will be going, if not, it will be a normal school day. In the case of a closed day, we will reschedule the trip.

Key reminders:

• Be at school, Eastern Tce, by 7am
• Come dressed is: thermal top and long-johns, long woollen socks, warm top, weather-proof pants and ski jacket. We can take off layers in the bus / car.
• In a day pack: gloves, goggles or glasses, large bottle or water, large lunch and inhaler / medication as required.
• In jacket pocket: some energy food for snacking on the slopes.
• Optional: activity for bus / car trip, camera, $5 to spend at cafe.
• All children will be provided with a helmet, skis, boots and poles.
• We will return to Eastern Tce by 6pm.

Cantamath, next Wednesday: 

Next Wednesday, August 23rd, we will be taking all of Year 7 & 8 to Horncastle Arena at 8:40, to view the Cantamath project display. We will be back at Champion Street by 10am. A $3.50 transportation contribution will be added to your next account.

We were blown away by the high standard of work that the children produced for their Cantamath projects. Many thanks to the parents who helped with ideas, encouragement and support. Congratulations to the following people whose work has been selected to go through to the Cantamath competition:

• Publicity Motif: Jessie, Caleb, Joel
• Games and Puzzles: Alex
• Static Model: Georgie, Tilly, Rosie, Fynn, Santiago, Saraya, Constantin, Marlonique, Isla, Miriélle
• Dynamic Model: Kaia
• Written Project: Sadie, Adam, Daisy, Isaac, George, Gabriel, Hannah W, Luke, Christopher, Bonnie
• Photography: Juliette

Next Wednesday our Cantamath teams will compete against the best mathematical talent in Canterbury, in the problem solving competition. Best of luck to:
Year 7: Santi, Adam, Gabriel and Tom, with Hannah as reserve.
Year 8: Isaac, Rosie, Alex and Kaia, with Amelia as reserve.

Congratulations:

Three of our Year 8 students were interviewed for scholarships at Cashmere High School earlier this week. We were very excited to hear that Jordan H has won a leadership scholarship. Tino pai Jordan!

Inquiry Learning:

The children are currently completing their inquiry resource project to conclude our learning about diversity. These should be completed by the end of this week. If your child is not finished by the end of the week, we will let you know, as this will need to be completed at home.

Speeches:

We start speech writing season next week. On Monday we be looking at what makes a great speech and will start brainstorming topics. This year all children need to write and deliver a persuasive speech on some aspect of change. This topic is very broad. The speech is to be 3-4 minutes in length. We will be writing these at school. Discussion about possible topics, at home, would be extremely helpful. The speeches will be presented to home groups on Monday and Tuesday of week 8, 12 and 13 of September. Our hub final will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday Sept 14, in our new hub at Beckenham.

Te Whānau Mahi Tahi:

Last night, Te Whānau Mahi Tahi opened this year's cultural festival. They were stunning! They exuded power and mana on stage. From the moment they stepped on stage till when the last poi exited, our performers gave of their very best. Beckenham supporters in the audience were very proud. Tu Meke Te Whānau Mahi Tahi!

We were thrilled with how our open evening went last Thursday. Lots of people came along to our new hub to learn about how things operate in Year 7 & 8, and about all of the events and activities we do. The 25 Year 7 & 8 children who spoke were superb. We ran an informal 'panel type' discussion and were so impressed with the children's enthusiastic responses and their willingness to contribute.

Ski Trip:

Most children who needed gear for our ski day have now been sorted. We are still in need of ski gloves and glasses / goggles for some. Please let Nicky know if you can help out with these. Parents helping with transport should have received a form that needs to be completed and sent back to school ASAP. This form was sent home with children today. Some key points for next Thursday's trip:

• Children are to meet on Eastern Tce at 7am, dressed in their ski gear. We will peel off a couple of layers once in bus/car. 
• If the Mountain is on hold or closed we will postpone the trip. The daily ski report is available from 6am  https://www.nzski.com/mt-hutt
• As well as the clothing already discussed on the form, children will need sturdy footwear, a bottle of water, a hearty lunch, sun screen and lip balm. 
• Long hair will need to be tied up.
• Children can bring devices to use in the bus / car. These will stay locked in vehicles during the day. The journey from school to mountain will take about 2 hours. 
• It is up to you if you would like your child to have money to buy a hot drink etc at the cafe. Food prices up the mountain are expensive. We would ask that children have no more than $5. It is absolutely fine for them to come with no money.
• We will return by 6pm. Collection will be on Eastern Tce.

Many thanks to the families who lent us gear for our dry land session today. We can all now put on a ski boot, fit it to a ski and take it off.

Trees for the Port Hills:

We had a visit from Steve, who works for 'Tress for Canterbury' today. He talked with us about the vital role trees play, and the impact that the loss of trees on the hills from the fires in February, has had on our environment. The mud we saw in our rivers during the recent flood, came from our hills. We learnt about the kahikatea, our tallest tree, which takes 700 years to reach full height! Steve talked about the huge number of volunteers who have been turning up to weekend planting sessions since the fire and how we need large numbers to help with planting every year. If your family is keen to help with tree planting, click this link. Many thanks to Jordan from our student council exec who arranged for Steve to visit.

Becamath: 

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we will be holding our annual Becamath problem solving competition at school in the afternoon. The children have been put into mixed ability teams. Problem solving, grit, teamwork, running and cheering will be abound!

Home Learning: 

Hopefully there has been lots of maths activity at your place over the past two and a half weeks, as the children put together their Cantamath projects. We are looking forward to seeing these arrive at school by this Friday. It is fine to bring in any completed work early. Please remind your child to name their work. Most of Jenny's maths class are completing the usual home learning instead of a Cantamath project. This is also due on Friday.

Help needed:

Nicky's maths class are creating a mural to enhance our outdoor spaces. The finished mural will look like a scrabble board. We need someone to help us by cutting 100 square shapes out of wood, for the tiles, before next Tuesday. If you are able to help out, please email Nicky.

Writing:

We are currently learning about using 'show don't tell' when writing, to add interest for the reader. Our current writing topic wraps up this week. Here are some snippets that we have been impressed with:

• Creeks echo through the room from the dusty floor boards. Cornelius fills with fear. Trying not to wake his brother, he slowly opens the window and heads into the dark abyss. He gradually straightens his back as he stoops along the gravel path. (Caleb)
• Darkness surrounds me, crawling through my body. One by one goosebumps appear on my forearms. Agony screams inside me from scorching rope burns that twist and turn to form an indented pattern. Branches of stinging nettle scrape me, forcing blood to trickle down my forehead, itching to be rubbed off. I hear deafening screams behind me as dirt tumbles down in front of me. Hard pointy rocks wedge in between my shoe leaving an uncomfortable touch to my foot. “Here comes the steep part!” someone yells. I start to tiptoe up the steep, rocky outcrop, taking each step in caution. (Bella)
  
• Creak! The axles of the rope dispenser rub together causing it to emit a loud obnoxious noise. Is it sturdy enough? Will it hold? Time will tell soon. “You're Up!” the coach yells. The fear and nerves hit me like a bullet to the heart; is this even safe? There are no professionals for miles in little old New Zealand. Welp! There’s no turning back now.
  “Anchors Away!” The owner of the vessel yells out to add effect to the moment. I can tell he knows that I’m feeling more nervous than anything. We hear a faint crashing sound from a distance. Here I go. As tight as I can I clutch the rope, still standing I look down to the depths; what lies beneath there? (Lennox)
  
• I turn my last page of the Hunger Games, my all time favourite book. Refreshing water drips off my numb fingers. The distant roar of the waterfall is somewhat relaxing in this magical forest wonderland. Skyscraper trees tower above me entwining to make a canopy of branches. Sunlight streams to the ground filtering between the small gaps in the brunches. Autumn leaves delicately fall towards the ground carpeting the dusty brown earth. Bees and butterflies dance in and out between the wild corn-flour blue forget me knots, beside the babbling brook. Out of the corner of my eye I spot the prettiest blood red rose I had ever seen. (Rosie)
  
• Blackness  ruled my body.  My heart began to pound in panic, realising that all I could see was nothing. I was walking around the  room like a lost tourist, putting my arms out in front of me to find where I was going. Immediately I fell to the ground  and lost my sense of direction. My hands and my feet began to numb and I lost feeling in my legs. (Millie)