Important Update for the beginning of Term 4, 2016
Kia ora koutou
As you will be aware, we are now officially building and all of the planning and organisation that has been going on is now a reality.
The safety and wellbeing of everyone is our priority for tomorrow, over everything else. If we can have a clear understanding of plans and expectations for moving safely around both sites, and for the bussing back and forth to Champion St, we will set the term up for safety and success.
This is a lengthy email as there is a lot of very important information that we need you to have. Please do read it carefully.
Getting in and out of the Beckenham site
Below is a map of the school, showing access points into the school (Beckenham flags) and access routes around the school (in green).
We will have the four new school flags flying at the four access points to the school tomorrow morning. These points are:
Sandwich Road - the main entrance at the crossing/flagpole
Sandwich Road - at the Dental Clinic
Eastern Tce - via the driveway by Hub8/9 (old R21/22)
Norwood St Park entrance (or any entrance via park) - through into the junior playground or behind Hub 8/9
Fences and Building Site
The fences that are up today (Sunday) are not quite what will be up once the building gets going. We are expecting the demolition of the old Intermediate Hub to happen one day this coming week, and then the 'normal' fencing and access routes will be in place at that time. In the interim, we will be working closely with the Site Manager to ensure that safety and access are prioritised.
Moving around the Beckenham site
Yes - this is going to take a little bit of getting used to as routes are very specific and have changed since last term.
Hub 1/2/3/4 and Hub 10/11 students should have no major changes.
Hub 12/13 children will need to access their rooms through the staff car park fenced off access path.
For Hub 8/9 and Hub 7, the best access in the morning and afternoon (if you are coming in the main Sandwich Road entrance) will be to go through the junior playground, onto the park and then down to your classrooms.
It is very important to remember that none of us have ANY permission to cross fences into the building site - we should consider that this is NO LONGER part of our school. We have no authority over the building site areas - they are now the responsibility of HRS, as is the Health and Safety of anyone who is inside the fenced area.
There will be an Assembly at 9:30am on Monday morning for EVERYONE at the Beckenham Site, to talk about Health and Safety and access around our site. Following this, teachers will be walking their classes around the site and reminding them where they are/are not allowed to go, and which routes they need to take to get there.
Y5-8 students at Beckenham site
In the mornings we need the Y5-8 students to access the buses on Eastern Tce by staying out of the school site, except for those children who come in the Norwood St park entrance, who will then go across to Hub 8/9 (old 21/22), around the back new path and down the driveway to the buses.
Children who arrive at school via Sandwich Rd will be asked to stay on the footpath and walk down to Eastern Tce that way.
The same will apply in the afternoons when Y5-8 students disembark their buses. If they need to go to BOSCO, they should go onto the park, then in to BOSCO via the entrance by the junior playground. If they need to meet a sibling, they should either go through the park to the Junior playground, or around the road, up Sandwich Road and meet them at the flagpole or bike area.
Y5-8 students who bike or scooter to school need to lock their bikes/scooters in the bike stand area, then walk back out onto Sandwich Road and around to the bus on Eastern Tce, and use the same route in the afternoon.
Morning tea and Lunchtime at Beckenham
To ensure safety of all of the children we are planning to keep all the children in two spaces at break times - the park (for Year 3/4 only), and the junior playground for all children. There will be teachers on duty during morning tea and lunchtime in both those spaces.
BOSCO
We are not certain that the access to the new BOSCO rooms (the old Room 8/9) will be ready by 7am tomorrow, so please take your morning BOSCO children to the Hall (via the junior playground doors). If their rooms are accessible, staff will escort them over. If not, they will meet in the hall for the morning session.
At 3pm BOSCO staff will collect children from Hubs 10,11,12 & 13, and will meet Y1-4 children BOSCO children outside Hub 1-4 and escorting them to the BOSCO rooms. We expect the access to BOSCO to be ready for the afternoon session.
Please do not park in the staff car park when dropping or collecting children from BOSCO.
Assembly this Thursday
For logistical reasons, we have changed the time of Assemblies to be on Thursday afternoons. Children from Champion St will bus over earlier and come in directly to assembly and children at the Beckenham site will pack up before coming over to assembly, so that they are ready to pick up their bags when assembly ends at 3pm, and go home. This coming Thursday we will start with our traditional Welcome Assembly (2:15pm) and this will be immediately followed by our normal Celebration Assembly which will be led by the Kauri (Y7/8) team.
Prior to the assembly, the PTA are holding a Welcome afternoon tea in the hall foyer at 1:30pm - new families are particularly encouraged to attend.
Emergency Evacuations
We will have a trial evacuation at both sites on Monday 17th October.
Contacting Champion St
The phone number for Champion St is an extension of the phones at Beckenham. That means that you still call the Beckenham number 337 1404 and ask to be put through to someone at Champion St. Teachers' email addresses have not changed.
Buses to Champion St
A reminder that these will be leaving at 8:30am sharp. We expect the buses to be arriving at 8:15am, so students need to check in with one of the teachers on duty, then get onto their appropriate bus, checking in with their particular bus monitor as they get on. (They should get to know this drill pretty quickly).
Vehicles at Champion St
During school time, no vehicles should come onto the school site. A small number of vehicles will be able to park in the driveway and the rest will need to park on the OPPOSITE side of Champion Street to the school entrance (to leave the school side for the afternoon buses.)
Parent Drop-Off/Pick-up at Champion St
If you are dropping your child off, or picking them up early at Champion St, the same digital sign-in/out process applies at the Champion St reception area. Please ensure that this is always followed.
Ferndale Taxi bus
The Ferndale taxi bus will be parking on Sandwich Road, near the dental clinic and students will enter and exit the site via the Dental Clinic steps. Tony Lee will be putting cones out for the van each day so please ensure that you do not park in this spot - Thank you.
Traffic and Parking at Beckenham
As you will see on the access plan, the staff car park has become a primary access route for students and staff, and now only has 5 staff parks remaining in it. Please DO NOT walk through the staff car park at any time as this creates significant risk for children who will copy this behaviour.
Staff have been asked to park on the south side of Sandwich Road, leaving the north (school) side of Sandwich Road available for parents to drop off children. WE STRONGLY URGE those of you who can, to walk to school or to plan your journey earlier and park in adjacent streets including Birdwood Ave and Martin Ave. If you are using Sandwich Road, we would encourage you to pull up - kiss goodbye, drop off - and drive away, so that we can minimise the traffic build up.
Please note that parking on Eastern Tce (from Sandwich Road to the Ponds) will be restricted to buses only on the school side, and there are NO PARKING signs on the river side. It is critical that these restrictions are followed, to ensure that children are not crossing between cars and buses, and to allow for safe movement of traffic on Eastern Tce when the buses are there.
Tomorrow morning,
Michelle Maule will be on Eastern Tce helping with the Champion St buses,
Cath Barrie will be on Sandwich Rd at the flagpole entrance assisting foot traffic and
I will be on the park access point. Our job is to check that all of the access points are working for everyone, and to help anyone who might be unsure about where to go.
Finally I would like to acknowledge the very hard work of staff, the Board of Trustees, and our Project Team, both at the end of last term and, for many, during the holidays, preparing at both sites to ensure that this coming term goes smoothly.
Thank you for reading to the end of this important newsletter!
We are VERY excited about the fact that the builders are on site and our building programme is underway and we want to ensure that they can get on with their jobs, and we can get on with learning, each without interruption.
Your help and support through this period is very much appreciated. If you have any questions, please email me in the first instance and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.
principal@beckenham.school.nzRegards
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki
