A warm welcome to this fortnight’s Koru Team blog post. Although it’s been a quieter couple of weeks in terms of events, our tamariki have been busy with rich learning across all areas of the curriculum. It has been lovely to see their growing independence and engagement throughout all the activities and classroom routines.
Pathways, Direction, and Matariki – Our Maths Learning As a start to our learning about Matariki, we shared the story Little Kiwi’s Matariki, which you can watch again at home here: 👉Little Kiwi’s Matariki - YouTube
This story inspired some wonderful cross-curricular learning. We created Matariki stars through art and craft, and used directional language (such as forward, turn left, turn right) to help Little Kiwi find the stars. We also used Bee Bots to practise our coding skills by programming them to follow a pathway towards the Matariki star cluster. This learning has supported our development of spatial awareness, early coding, and mathematical language, all while celebrating the Māori New Year.
Kiss and Drop: As the number of children in our Koru Team grows, our hub can feel a little overwhelming for some tamariki in the morning. Please aim to "kiss and drop" your child off at the door, rather than entering the hub with them. This will help set your children up for a calm, quiet, and successful transition in the morning. Thank you so much for your support with this!
Learning Conferences – Tuesday 10th & Wednesday 11th June Our Learning Conferences are happening next week on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 10 & 11). Please note that school will finish early on both days at 1:00pm. Supervision will be available until 3pm for a small group of children who are unable to be collected at 1pm.
We need EVERY FAMILY to fill in this form (click here) to let us know your plans for your child(ren) on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th June. This includes letting us know if you need your child supervised at school on one or both of the Learning Conference days from 1:00-3pm.
These conferences are a great opportunity to celebrate your child’s progress and talk about next steps in their learning journey.
If you haven’t yet made a booking, please do so as soon as possible:
Literacy Folders: Please continue to send Literacy folders to school each day, and remind your child to unpack them into their group’s box each morning. These folders contain important learning materials used during our Literacy lessons. Thank you for your support in keeping this routine running smoothly.
Matariki Evening – Tuesday 17th June at 5pm - 7pm We are looking forward to celebrating the Māori New Year with our school community at our upcoming Matariki Evening! 📅 Tuesday 17th June | 5:00–7:00pm
Here’s what to expect: ✨ Welcome in the hall at 5:00pm ✨ Kapa Haka performances ✨ Workshops and activities throughout the evening ✨ PTA Sausage Sizzle – please bring a koha (donation)
It will be a special evening of culture, community, and celebration. We hope to see you there!
We wish you a restful weekend and look forward to another fun and engaging fortnight ahead.
Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou, Niquita, Stacey, Katie and Elizabeth
We continue to be impressed with the progress our tamariki are making, this is reflected in the school reports which are live on HERO today-please make sure you sit down with your child and share all of the positives with them.
There are a lot of bugs around, both gastro and cold/flu. We appreciate your support in keeping your children at home when they are unwell. We continue to ventilate our hub, ensuring windows remain slightly open during the day. We have also begun to hand sanitise before eating again.
Matariki:
Matariki Evening
Tēnā koutou e te whānau,
We would like to invite you to our Matariki Whānau Rōpū hui.
Matariki is the start of the Māori new year and a time of reflection, connection and planning for the year ahead. We would like to celebrate with you and your whānau on Tuesday the 17th of June from 5:00 pm. The PTA will be having a Sausage Sizzle on the night for a small koha (donation). We will also be having performances form our Year 3-8 Kapa Haka groups, and each hub will be providing different activities to do with Matariki. There will be more details to come soon.
Mānawatia a Matariki!
Learning Conferences:
We are looking forward to meeting with you and your child(ren) next week during their Term 2 Learning Conference.
School will finish at 1:00pm on both days, Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th June.
To support the availability of staff for these conferences we ask for children to please be collected from school on both days at 1.00pm. Supervision will be available until 3pm for a small group of children who are unable to be collected at 1pm.
We need EVERY FAMILY to fill in this form (click here) to let us know your plans for your child(ren) on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th June. This includes letting us know if you need your child supervised at school on one or both of the Learning Conference days from 1:00-3pm.
Children will not be able to leave the school grounds to walk/bike home at 1:00pm if we have not been advised by you that you want them to do that.
Please contact the school office if you need any support with the form or if you have any questions.
We thank you for your support on these days.
Cross Country
A big well done to the following Year 1 and 2 Kahikatea students who will be competing at the Hillview X Country Challenge on the 24th June:
As you will be aware, our school will be closed for instruction tomorrow to allow our teachers to participate in Rā Kaimahi 2025 - Te Mana o Te Tamaiti (Our Kāhui Ako Conference Day), hosted at Cashmere High School. We appreciate the community’s support in enabling our staff to attend this important professional learning event.
Thank you to the 243 families who have already made bookings for upcoming Learning Conferences.
As a reminder:
Learning Conferences will take place on:
Tuesday 10 June - between 1:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Wednesday 11 June - between 1:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.
On both of the above days, classes will finish at 1:00 p.m. We thank you for accommodating this change to support the facilitation of Learning Conferences. Limited supervision will be available at school until 3:00 p.m. and we will be in touch over the next couple of weeks to confirm arrangements for those who require it.
Next Friday, school reports will be sent out through HERO. As you read your child’s report with them, it’s important to remember that every child grows and develops at their own pace - and that’s not only okay, it’s completely normal. Progress can look different for each learner, and success isn’t always linear. Celebrating effort, curiosity, resilience, and growth - no matter how small - can make a world of difference in how your child sees themselves as a learner. Your encouragement and belief in their potential are powerful tools that help them thrive.
Have a great long weekend.
Ngā mihi, Cade Principal / Tumuaki
Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto
Important Dates
Upcoming Events
Thu 29 May - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30-7:30pm, Staff Room)
Fri 30 May - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Mon 2 Jun - Public Holiday, School Closed (King's Birthday)
Fri 6 Jun - Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am in the Hall)
Tue 10 Jun- Learning Conferences (school closes at 1pm)
Wed 11 Jun- Learning Conferences (school closes at 1pm)
Tue 17 Jun- Matariki Evening (5PM-7PM)
Thu 19 Jun- Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am in the Hall)
Fri 20 Jun - Public Holiday, School Closed (Matariki)
Wed 25 Jun - Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30-7:30pm, Staff Room)
Wed 25 Jun - PTA Meeting (7:30-9:30pm)
Fri 27 Jun - Celebration Assembly (10:00-10:30am in the Hall)
Fri 27 Jun - Last Day of Term 2
Mon 14 Jul - First Day of Term 3
Citizen of the Week
Abigail Brinner - Year 8
Abigail, you are a hard working and tenacious learner. You apply yourself to every task and experience with the same dedication. Your contributions are not isolated to the classroom either as you are a valued member of our school student leadership team. Thank you for being an amazing role model in our team and school. Ka pai tō mahi!
Maya Buckman - Year 4
Maya, you are a hardworking and diligent learner. You consistently show our school kete values each and every day. You are a kind friend, and your caring and warm nature brightens our hub! Thank you for helping others and being an excellent role model! Tino pai tō mahi, Maya!
School Notices
PTA News
Readathon
Thanks for all your support with the Readathon. It looks like there has been some great reading happening and lots of fabulous costumes were seen. We raised $5,163.30 towards this year's school bus trips.
Book & Clothing Sale
Get ready for some seriously good bargains at our upcoming Book and Clothing Sale on Saturday 7th June, 8am – 4pm.
We are needing some parent helpers:
Saturday (7th June) morning, we need some people to help on the checkouts and some floaters refilling and tidying up tables.
Thanks everyone who has already donated. Last week for Donations. We are currently collecting up until 3pm Friday 6th June:
- Gently used adult and children’s clothing (please, no rips or stains)
- Books of any genre
- Puzzles (with all the pieces, please!)
Please drop your donations in the boxes at the school office.
Thank you for helping us make this event a success.
CookieTime Fundraiser
Back by popular demand. The PTA are selling Cookie Time Rookie Cookies. Look for an order form in your child’s bag or Online Order Here. Extra forms are available at the office.
This Cookie Time Fundraiser features the 25g Rookie Size version of the famous Original Chocolate Chunk Cookie. Made with real Chocolate and real ingredients, this size is ideal for lunchboxes, handbags and coat pockets.
$20 per bag for 20 Individually wrapped delicious cookies.
Orders close Thursday 26th June 2025
Collection will be the 1st week of next term at the School Hall. Date to be confirmed and advised.
Kupu Māori o te Wīki:
These are our whakataukī (phrase), instructions and kupu (words) for the last couple of weeks. Give them a go!
Whakataukī:
He rau ringa e oti ai - This means many hands make light work. So, let’s focus on working together as a team!
Mauria te pono - this means to Believe in Yourself!
Instruction:
Ka kite anō - this means see you later!
Turituri - be quiet!
Kupu:
Manuhiri - this is the word for guests or visitors.
Hōtoke - Winter (season)
If you are unsure of the pronunciation of a word, have a look at Te Aka (the Māori dictionary) where you can hear how the word is spoken correctly.
Matariki Evening
40 Hour Challenge: Go Offline. Make a Difference.
13–15 June | Be Part of Something Bigger
This year, World Vision are inviting the youth of Aotearoa to make a real impact — by going completely offline for 40 hours (or choosing your own challenge) to raise life-changing funds for children in the Solomon Islands.
Why?
Because right now:
1 in 6 children in the Pacific are living in severe child food poverty.
Nearly half of kids under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition.
80% of Solomon Islanders depend on fishing and farming for food and income.
World’s 2nd most at-risk country for disasters because of extreme events and sea-levels rise.
We’re fundraising so communities in the Solomon Islands have what they need to grow strong in a changing climate. Just $28 can provide a family with a vegetable garden — a daily source of food, health and hope.
Our Year 5–8 students will be signing up on during week 5 and starting their fundraising journeys. Let’s get behind them!
What an amazing morning at the South Zones Cross Country! Our Beckenham students truly embodied our school values, offering support to both their Beckenham peers and all competitors.
Here are the results of the students who have qualified for the Canterbury Zones Cross Country:
Year 5: Laurien (3rd) & Chloe (6th)
Year 6: Max (2nd), Haydn (3rd), Jayme (2nd) & Clara (6th)
Year 7: Ben (4th), Zach (5th), Laura (2nd) & Misha (3rd)
Year 8: Bianca (2nd)
Every student gave their best effort! It was a fantastic morning overall.
We would like to invite your students who are interested in basketball to attend our upcoming school holiday Rams Basketball Camps. We have a Junior Camp for School Years 5 – 8 and a Senior Camp for School Years 9-13. The participants receive coaching from Canterbury Rams basketball players! The camp is suitable for all levels of basketball players with the emphasis on fun & learning new skills!
Looking for an engaging and educational holiday activity? AkoTech's Holiday Programs at University of Canterbury, Christchurch, offer hands-on experiences in coding, logical problem solving, and AI entrepreneurship. Students can explore their interests in project-based learning with technology. Programs run throughout July from 9 AM - 4 PM. Learn more and register at www.akotech.nz
A warm welcome to this week's Koru Team blog post. It's been a very busy fortnight, filled with lots of amazing learning, as well as the whole school Book Character Dress Up day last Friday and, of course, today's Cross Country event. The children did incredibly well during their Cross Country run today, showing 'We Love Challenge' (completing the course, and doing their best to show determination and stamina) and 'We Get There Together' (encouraging their classmates if anyone was finding the running challenging). We thank our Year 7 and 8 Kauri students who supported the Koru team tamariki as they ran today.
Kiss and Drop:
As the number of children in our Koru Team becomes ever higher, our hub can feel a little overwhelming for some tamariki in the morning. Please aim to "kiss and drop" your child off at the door, rather than entering the hub with them. This will help set your children up for a calm, quiet, and successful transition in the morning. Thank you so much for your support with this!
Learning Conferences:
We’re looking forward to meeting with you all at our learning conferences which are coming up on Tuesday, June 10th and Wednesday, June 11th, after mid-year reports are shared on Friday, June 6th. These meetings are a valuable opportunity to celebrate your child’s progress, talk about their current learning and next steps, and explore how we can work together to support them both at school and at home.
To make a booking, please go to:
https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code and use the following code: r3wt9
Literacy folders:
A reminder to please stress with your children that they need to unpack their Literacy folders every morning and take them indoors to their group's Literacy folder box. This is incredibly important for the smooth running of our Literacy programmes. The contents of the folders are used during the Literacy lessons and are topped up at times throughout the week with new letter cards, heart words and, as children become ready for the challenge of reading books, with the Pip and Tim texts. Many thanks for helping us in this way.
Cyber Safety:
Staying Safe Online - Bullying
One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.
We know that the children all enjoyed the Readathon's Stop, Drop, and Read, which helped to support some great reading habits. Thank you so much to those of you who were able to collect sponsors to help raise funds for our school.
If you still have sponsorship money to collect, this can be transferred directly to the PTA account 12-3148-0244558-00 using 'Readathon' as a reference.
The costumes on Book Character Dress Up day were absolutely adorable.
Check out the selection of photos below for some of the 'characters' who arrived at school last Friday!
We hope you have a very happy and relaxing weekend and we look forward to seeing the tamariki, bright-eyed and eager, next week.
Over the past few weeks, our tamariki have been busy with some incredible learning experiences, and there are lots of exciting updates to share from the Kahikatea Hub!
One of the highlights was our trip to Ferrymead. Our ākonga had an absolute blast exploring toys and stepping back in time. We know many of you are eager to see what they got up to!
Reminder - Staff Only day
On Friday, the 30th of May, the school is closed.
A Fantastic Day at Ferrymead!
We had an amazing day exploring Ferrymead, and our tamariki absolutely loved the hands-on learning experiences. Our ākonga were split into small groups and rotated through five exciting stations, each highlighting a different aspect of life and play in the past. These included:
The Science Behind Toys – Exploring the mechanics and physics that make toys work.
Puppets – Learning how puppets were used for storytelling and play.
Indoor and Outdoor Games – A chance to try out traditional games from the past.
Exploring an Old Classroom – Our tamariki stepped back in time and even created their own thaumatrope – a simple optical illusion toy from the 1800s! (Want to try it at home? Check out this video:How to Make a Thaumatrope)
Wandering the Ferrymead Township – A chance to explore the buildings, vehicles, and streets of Ferrymead.
The trip was not only fun but also a great learning opportunity. Our ākonga discovered how toys and games have changed over time, the perfect lead-in to the next phase of our inquiry: designing and creating our very own toys!
We can’t wait to see the creativity that comes next!
Welcome Georgie!
We’re excited to give a big, warm welcome to Georgie Jones, who is joining our literacy sessions each day!
Georgie has been working in Pōhutukawa as a Literacy and Numeracy Support Teacher and brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to our team. She will be working with a few small groups from Talia and Amber’s classes during our reading block.
This is a fantastic opportunity for our ākonga, as it means smaller group sizes and more focused time with a teacher each day.
Georgie also specialises in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and brings a fresh perspective on English language learning. Her expertise will be valuable not just for our ESOL learners, but for all tamariki as we continue to grow our literacy skills together.
Cross Country Highlights – Embracing the Challenge!
Cross country was an awesome event! Every single tamaiti gave it their all, showing determination, resilience, and a fantastic attitude from start to finish. It was great to see our kura come together and celebrate one another.
A huge thank you to all the whānau who came along to tautoko (support) our tamariki, and to those who helped out on the day, we couldn’t have done it without you!
This event was a wonderful example of how we show our school value ‘We love challenge’.
Money, Money, Money!
This week, our tamariki have been diving into the world of financial literacy and what a fun and engaging unit it's been!
We’ve been super impressed with how much our clever ākonga already know about money. Throughout the week, we’ve focused on:
Identifying New Zealand coins and notes
Understanding their value
Solving simple money equations using addition
It’s been fantastic to see our students making real-world connections, asking thoughtful questions, and enjoying hands-on activities with pretend money.
Kōrero about money at home
We encourage you to talk to your tamariki about money in everyday situations. For example:
Explore coins and notes together
Look at prices when you're at the supermarket
Compare costs or count change
These simple conversations will help build their confidence and understanding of money in real-life contexts!
Here are some pics of what they’ve been up to this week!
