End of Term Class Parties

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Hi,
Just a reminder that tomorrow (Thursday 13th April) we are having our class parties across the team. Your child is able to wear mufti and needs to bring along a piece of fruit to help make some yummy fruit kebabs.
We have all worked really hard in our Hubs to get to have our class party!
Don't forget the PTA are also having their hot cross bun fundraiser tomorrow. $2 for a delicious hot cross bun. All money made will go to our outdoor spaces fund.

Kowahi Teaching Team

Kauri Whanau Update: Term 1 Week 11

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Thank you:

As term one draws to a close, we would like to thank all of the parents who have helped to make some of the more exciting aspects of our programme possible. To those who cooked, encouraged and supervised on camp, to those who joined us to run activities or sleep over night at leadership camp, and then there are more who have helped out with the running of, and transportation to, sporting events. A big thanks to Ivo who runs our Friday code club. We love teaching your children, and with your partnership we are able to offer so much more than we could on our own.

Thursday April 13th: 

On the last day of term, we will be spending the day at Beckenham, so we can use the hall for J-Rock rehearsals. Children need to meet at the hall at 8:50. Please do not order lunch-on-line for this Thursday. Do bring $2 for a hot cross bun.


J-Rock is on Thursday May 18th. This is a full day and evening commitment for all children in our hub. A bus will take the children to Horncastle Arena in the morning. Parents or caregivers will need to arrange for the collection of children at 9pm from Horncastle Arena. 


Inquiry Learning:

Inquiry learning has been a big focus at school over the past two weeks and will continue to be this week. We are aware that some children are requiring more support to stay on track. The children are showing a positive attitude to the challenge this learning requires, and to keep the experience positive, we are going to give them a 'do less better' message on Tuesday. Over the weekend we have read each child's work and given them feedback and next steps. We would rather they revise and improve what they have done so far and get maybe at least one more slide done, than rush to have something written on each slide. Many children will need to be spending some time on this at home as well as at school this week. Thank you in advance for encouraging this to happen.

Seeking more parent help:

Leading up to and on the day of J-Rock we need parent support for the following:

  • In order to take part in J-Rock there is a substantial participation fee. We will be holding two fundraising events next term to meet this cost. The first is selling jelly and ice-cream. We will do this in week 2, on the Wednesday for Beckenham and Thursday for Champion St. We are looking for one parent to help supervise some students to run this fundraiser. 
  • On the day of J-Rock we are at Horncastle Arena from 9:30am until 9pm. Children will bring their lunch. For dinner we would like some parents to help prepare a finger food meal. In the past this has been an american hotdog, muffin and piece of fruit. 
  • We are currently thinking about costumes for our performance. Some of these will need to be sewn. Prototypes will be made and we will need parents (grandparents etc) to do the sewing.
If you can help with any of the above, please click on this link and fill in the quick form. 

Looking ahead to ski day in term 3:

We have booked our annual ski day at Mt Hutt for Thursday August 17th. To transport the children we will book one bus and would like to use parent transport for the rest of the children. We need to know now, who would be able to help out and provide transport on the day. We are after people who are experienced in driving on ski field roads and have suitable cars, ie 4WD. Please click this link if you would be able to help on this day. 

Winter sports help required:

We are still looking for people who could help coaching teams in the Friday winter sport competition at Hagley Park next term. If you are able to help with hockey, football or netball, please email Jenny. jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz

Congratulations:

Last Thursday, following a fantastic swim in our South Zones Swimming Sports, Daisy, Juliette and Kaia represented Beckenham school in the Canterbury Swimming Sports. All three girls swam well, doing themselves and the school proud.  A special well done to Juliette who was placed third in breaststroke.


A big thanks and well done to Amelia and Hannah who co-presented a workshop with Nicky, at the Delving Deeper conference for teachers last Thursday. What awesome ambassadors for our school.

After a week of downpours, the rain cleared just in time for the Huxter MTB Schools Relay last Friday. Four keen mountain bikers from the Kauri Hub competed alongside hundreds of other children, doing multiple laps of a very muddy McLean's Island course. The feedback from parents told of a very enjoyable and well-run event. Alex came an impressive second place his age group. 



Kowhai News Week 10 Term 1

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Hi everyone,

What a wet week we have had. The children impressed us all this week by demonstrating wonderful manners even though they had to spend most of the week inside. We are all pleased to see the sun shining once again!

PTA Hot Cross Buns THURSDAY 13th April
On Thursday, the PTA are selling hot cross buns as a fundraiser for the outdoor spaces. Hot crossed buns will be $2. 


Circle Time

Circle Time is one of the many things we do to promote well being amongst the students at Beckenham School. Each week for 30minutes, we provide the children with the opportunity to discuss and share how things are going and to provide the time to create solutions to any problems. This week our focus has been around compliments. We discussed how giving and receiving compliments makes you feel. Over the next week we will be continuing to demonstrate kindness to each other and compliment one another when we see great things happening! Hopefully your home will be filled with compliments too!



Class Parties
Each Hub has been working towards individual hub parties this term. The time has finally arrived for them to take place, so here are the details! The parties are all on THURSDAY and the children across our team can wear mufti and bring along a toy and a piece of fruit to make fruit kebabs with. 


Team Learning 
Hub 5/6 were invited to join the children in Hub 3/4 to talk about the future of our Beckenham school playground. The younger children had designed their ultimate playground and written descriptions. We got into buddy groups to share the learning and the Year 3/4 children gave feedback on their work. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to be big buddies and show some leadership. All of the children thoroughly enjoyed the experience. 





Kowhai Top Team Planning
This week we have been working in collaborative groups, planning and designing a Top Team styled event for the children in team Koru. Working collaboratively has provided the children with the opportunity to develop some skills that are necessary for being 21st century learners. 
The children have had to articulate their ideas, listen to each other, acknowledge group contributions, problem solve, give compliments and synthesise ideas. Wow! 
Next week they will implement their game by running a mini Top Team event. At this time, the children will be learning how to be effective communicators, organised, well planned and give positive feedback to the children in team Koru as they participate in their game. We are sure they will do an amazing job!
Group discussion and sharing of ideas
Hub 5/6 Inspiration Stations
This week in Hub 5/6, the children have had the opportunity to make pom pom pets, replicate one of our new learning spaces using lego, design and create marble runs, paint buddy rocks, make certificates for our buddies, creating comic strips to name a few. These activities provide the children with the opportunity to become effective communicators as they discuss their learning, problem solve, share ideas and take on the roles of tutor and tutee. The discussions this week have been incredible. They children have demonstrated deep thinking and a natural willingness to support and help each other. 



Parent Help - We Need YOU!

We would love to hear from anyone who would like to offer their services to help support our Hub programmes. Putting away books, reading with children, playing games are some of the ways you can help. We love having parents in our Hubs and this partnership enables us to add more to our programme to help support our young learners!

THORRINGTON RESTHOME
We have a close relationship with Thorrington Resthome and would love to continue this again this year. We need one parent who would be willing to take 10 children to Thorrington Resthome as a M.A.D Time option each Friday. We are happy for this to be on a roster basis too!

PIZZA MAKING
Each Friday next term, we would love to provide the children with the opportunity to bake pizzas at school. This would involve helping the children in the kitchen to make the pizza bases, create their pizzas and clean up. If this sounds like you, please contact: paulette.newton@beckenham.school.nz

That's all for this week
Kowhai Teaching Team

Pohutukawa Newsletter Term 1 Week 10

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Alpine Ice

We are looking forward to our Alpine Ice trip coming up on Monday 10th April. This is just a final reminder that each child will need their:
  • Jersey
  • Jacket 
  • Gloves 
  • Warm hat
  • Morning tea
  • Cut lunch (please note that there will be no lunch orders available on this day)
  • Drink bottle 
  • Any special items they may require, e.g., inhaler
  • Spare change of pants, just incase
  • Helmet - compulsory (bike, ski etc)
  • Pants (uniform, or as close to uniform as possible)
  • Thick socks (or 2 pairs). 
It would be very helpful at Alpine Ice if children know their shoe size. Please have this discussion prior to Monday. 


Wellbeing Circle Time

Part of our week is spending time in our home groups unpacking wellbeing. This term we have been focussing on wellbeing through understanding concepts around anxiety, family and hub culture, self-belief and identity. There has been a lot of discussion around how thoughts impact on behaviour and possible solutions for when these are negative. The resource that has been guiding these discussions is a book called 'Rising Tide' which has been put out by Worrybug. Your child will be bringing their own copy home next week for you to go through together and have further discussions.


Christchurch Libraries 

We have been lucky enough to have Kim, from Christchurch Libraries come to visit our team and take each reading group for a 45min lesson around authors, genres, new books and library programmes. 


The following are the library programmes available:

Mon - Science Snippets in the Library 
Mondays (3:30-4:30) – South Library
Free after school science programme presented by Science Alive! in libraries across Christchurch. Excellent Science Alive educators lead children through interactive activities to stimulate their interest in science, and something to take home every week! Cost: Free No Bookings required

Mon -  Maker Space Girls
Mondays (3:30PM – 5:00PM) – South Library - Girls' only version of our Maker Space Workshop.
This dynamic and innovative workshop will explore a range of exciting technologies. There will be four terms: 3D design, Coding and Robotics, Photo editing and Animation, eTextiles and Papertronics
When: Starts week two of every term
Age: 10-13 years               Cost: $20.00 per child per term

Thurs - Busy Book Club 
Tuesdays (3:30-4:30) – South Library
Explore new books, arts, crafts and technology and have after school fun in the library. Busy book club is a free activity that runs over two school terms. When: Starts week two of every term.
Age: 7-10 years                 Cost: Free                           Bookings required

Fri - Minecraft Club 
Fridays, (3:30PM – 4:30PM) – South Library
Get creative, start crafting! Build imaginative worlds and battle nocturnal creatures at the learning centres' Minecraft club. Novice or expert, join the club and play with your friends in our very own world. A tutor will be in attendance to supervise and assist if necessary. Starts week two of every term
Age: 8-13 years                 Cost: $20.00 per child per term                  Bookings required

Sat - Girls Minecraft Club 
Saturdays (2:30PM – 3:30PM) – South Library
Get creative, start crafting! Build imaginative worlds and battle nocturnal creatures at the learning centres' Minecraft club. Novice or expert, join the club and play with your friends in our very own world. A tutor will be in attendance to supervise and assist if necessary. Starts week two of every term
Age: 8-13 years                 Cost: $20.00 per child per term                  Bookings required

Roboclub: An after school programme for boys & girls Y4-8. 
Learn to programme EV3 Lego Mindstorm
April School Holidays – see website
3D Tinker Workshop
Tuesday, April 18, 2017 (9:30AM – 3:00PM)  - South Library Come along to our 3D Maker Workshop and use 123D to create your very own masterpiece.
Age: 10+ years                  Cost: $30 per child                                      Bookings required - limit of 12

Claymation Library
Discover the process of producing animated movies, in a style similar to 'Wallace & Gromit'. Plan an original story, create your own characters and craft your own movie using digital photography. This course runs over two days. See website for more details.
Bookings are required - limit of 12. Please phone to put your child on the waiting list.
Age: 8-12 years                                 Cost: $22 per child

Autumn Sewing
Tuesday, April 18, 2017 (9:30AM – 3:00PM) - Upper Riccarton Library
Fun workshop to learn the basics of sewing using a machine and create 1-3 projects. Choose a cushion cover, pocket scarf, pencil case or library book bag! You will need to choose and purchase your own fabric and supplies beforehand. Bring in your own sewing machine or borrow one of ours.
Ages: 9-12 years                               Cost: $15                              Bookings essential.

KORU HIGHLIGHTS: Term 1 Week 10

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Learning Is A Magical Experience
In hub 3&4 we had our very own Harry Potter visiting to show us his wide-range of magical skills including pulling a bunny rabbit out of a hat. The audience was captivated by this sophisticated techniques and even supported by saying the words abracadabra.




WANTED: Used Toys Still In Good Condition
We have received some quality, used toys over the past couple of weeks. A huge thank you to everyone who has brought them in. We are still on the hunt for more, so please keep us in mind if you are inspired to have a clean out over the holidays. Check out the pictures below of the children focused on their discovery.























Circle Time

Circle Time is one of the many things we do to promote well being amongst the students at Beckenham School. This practice involves the children and teacher sitting in a circle, creating a safe zone for children to share and problem solve together. Some of the topics we have already explored in our hubs are; self-regulation and breathing, compliment giving and kindness, self-management and sharing what's on top.


Koru Celebration Assembly
This week Koru is leading and performing in assembly. We will all be singing Moana's 'How Far I'll Go'. We will also be celebrating Karda and Annabelle who have earned themselves Citizen of the Week. A huge congratulations to Karda and Annabelle! We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 6th April at 2:15pm.

Karda you are a superstar learner and classmate. You demonstrate your 'I love challenge' attitude by trying new things with increasing confidence and resilience. Your growing self motivation and positive 'I can' attitude is an inspiration to us all. Thank you for being a role model for us at learning times when you focus and try your very best. Tino pai Karda.

Annie, you are a fantastic learner and friend in Hub 10/11. You have the most beautiful smile, and always look on the bright side of life! You are kind, generous, helpful and always respectful to classmates and adults alike. You put 100% effort into producing top quality work and you are always keen to step up for a challenge. Your attitude is a wonderful example for us all! Thank you for providing sparkle and smiles each and every day for us, Annie. You're a gem!



Any allergies to cats? 
Next week, Charlotte would like to bring her kitten in to share with the children. If this causes any problems (e.g. allergies), please email charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz.