Koru Team News: Term 4, Week 3

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Kia ora, e te whānau,

It has been a busy first three weeks of term in the Koru hub! We have had our Junior Park Explorers trip, our whole school Athletics day, and our tamariki have been working really hard in their Literacy and Maths groups. We are so proud of the amazing job they have all done in returning to their school day routines, and we thank you for helping to support your children in settling into their mornings, with your quick goodbyes, at least five minutes before the bell rings.

Some important dates for this term are as follows:

  • Staff Only Day - Thursday, 16th November (school is closed)
  • Canterbury Anniversary Day - Friday, 17th November (school is closed)
  • Reports go live - Week 6
  • Celebrate Diversity and Culture Dress up day - Friday, 1st December
  • Tamariki meet their 2024 teacher and final day of school for the year- Tuesday, 19th December

Junior Park Explorers Trip:

On Friday, 13th October, we were fortunate enough to finally go on our Junior Park Explorers trip down at the Beckenham Ponds, after two previous postponements, due to inclement weather. Thank you once again to all the amazing parent helpers we had on the day, for dedicating your time to be with us. We couldn't have done it without your help!

We had the privilege of having educators from the Christchurch City Council, Celia and Jen, come in and talk to us about being park explorers, and teaching us some of the ways we might explore the area around the Beckenham Ponds. We learnt and experienced many new things: different bird calls; going on a bird walk, where we noticed and listened to the surrounding birdlife; how birds help the process of pollination and seed dispersal; the different insects that could be living around the pond and the use of magnifying glasses to see what insects we could find; and playing a game known as 'Tumble Tree Forest' where our tamariki were challenged to think about and come up with solutions as to what would happen for our birdlife and insects, when too many trees are cut down.




























Reminders:

  • Sun hats need to be brought to school every day. These will stay in your child's bag whenever the children are indoors. No hat, no play.
  • If you use the sandpit at the end of the day after school, can you please make sure to put the cover back in before you leave. We really appreciate seeing that you are already helping us with this. Thank you!
  • Literacy folders need to be brought back to school and unpacked from schoolbags every day, so that they can be used during our Literacy sessions.
  • Library folders and poetry books need to be brought back on or before Fridays, so your child can get a new poem for their poetry books and some new books from the library. 
We hope you all have a fabulous week ahead, and we look forward to seeing you at drop off and pick up times!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

Georgia, Sarah, Elizabeth and Stacey

Kahikatea News Term 4 Week 3

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Kia ora e te whānau,

It has been a lovely week back after the long weekend. We have been enjoying the lovely Spring weather!


Athletics

A highlight of our week was athletics day. Kahikatea children showed 'We Love Challenge' and 'We Get There Together' as they participated in long jump, hurdles, shotput, and relays. Here are some photos taken during our training and on the day.





























Toys

A quick reminder that toys are not allowed at school. If you have any questions, please let your child's homegroup teacher know.


That's all for this week. We hope that you are having a fabulous weekend!

Team Kahikatea
quynh.nguyen@beckenham.school.nz
katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz
amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz
lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz
krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz


Kauri Whānau Update: Term 4, Week 3

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 In this post:

  • House Games
  • Memories
  • Year 7 Leadership
  • Athletics Day
  • Whale Rider
  • Uniform
  • Sexuality Education
  • Music Festival
  • Fairy Doors

House Games

This Monday afternoon we have House Games. Students are encouraged to wear their house shirts for this. We're looking forward to seeing what the House Captains and Deputies have organised!

Year 8 Photos and Memories

We are missing at least 15 five-year-old photos which need to be sent through to Nicky this weekend. There are also a few memories that need to be written. Please remind tamariki to check whether they have a friend memory to write and if they've written it. If these are not done over the weekend it is likely that they will unfortunately be missed out of the Yearbook.

Year 7 Leadership

We talked through the google form application for Leadership positions in 2024. This is due at the end of next week (Friday Nov. 3rd), but if ākonga are interested in any of the positions, they will should chat with whānau as part of their application process.

Athletics Day

We had a fantastic day on Thursday with tamariki engaging with the challenge and fun that comes with Athletics Day. Our awesome seniors, alongside whānau, efficiently helped with the setup and packdown and we appreciate the extra time and effort put in to support this day. 

The final event for our Year 5 to 8 students is Long Jump, which is optional and will take place at Hillview Christian School after lunch this Tuesday afternoon. If you are able to help run this event, please get in touch with Jenny.

We are underway for our Term 4 Passions. Here are some photos from the fairy doors passion where they are using tiles to mosaic doors. 

Whale Rider

We are coming to the end of a novel study of Witi Ihimaera's The Whale Rider for three of our Literacy classes have been working through, and to wrap it up we will be watching the 2002 movie which is based on the book. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Thomas in the first instance. You can see more about the movie via the Common Sense Media page.

Uniform Reminder

Over the weekend and through the next week, please check you child's uniform as uniform that is defaced is no longer correct uniform. This particularly seems to be an issue with hats. We will be keeping an eye out and will email whānau if needed.

Sexuality Education

In lieu of the parent information evening planned for after school on Tuesday which did not go ahead, please see the attached slideshow. If you have any questions about the teaching and learning that will take place over the next few weeks as part of this curriculum, please get in touch with your child's homegroup teacher in the first instance.

Music Festival

On Friday evening next week our Year 5 to 8 choir will be performing in the Town Hall as part of the Christchurch School's Music Festival. We wish them all the best for this, and are sure they will do an excellent job given all the hard work they've put in during practices. Extra  best wishes to Isabelle P and Freyja S who will be performing every evening of the festival as part of the Concert Band and Senior Representative Choir, respectively.

Fairy Doors

We were thrilled that the men from the St Martins Menzshed cut, sanded, painted, and hinged the basis for our fairy doors, which is one of our current Friday afternoon passions groups. Many thanks to the people who supplied baking for our thank you gift. While it all looked delicious, we can assure you that it did end up in the right hands! You can see some of the work that has begun on the fairy doors in the photos below.








Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 3

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Kia ora whānau,

Here is an update on what we have been doing in the Kōwhai hub over the past two weeks.

Christchurch South Library Visits

Over the past two weeks, all the homegroups in Kōwhai have been on a trip to South Christchurch Library to learn about the history of the library and what the new build will look like after the earthquake irreparably damaged the current building. We were shown a slideshow on how the library evolved over the years and we ended up seeing an architect's drawing of the new library which is yet to be built. It was a really interesting experience and the children were fascinated!

        

The children then went on a scavenger hunt round the library to learn about the different areas in the library and what they are for. They also had to look for information and answer various questions. It was a fun activity while being educational at the same time.

We would just like to thank all the parent helpers who came along on the trip. We could not have done this without you. We would also like to thank Kerilea, our teacher aide, who came to support us on all of our visits.








Athletics Day

This week we held our whole school Athletics Day and it was great to see everyone out on the park participating in their various events and disciplines. In the Kōwhai team, all the homegroups had 5 rotations: high jump, long jump, discus, shot put and sprints. It was amazing to see everyone give it a go and doing their very best. Congratulations to you all!











Being SunSmart

It has been great to see so many children remembering to wear their hats at school, especially with all these sunny days we have been experiencing. Please do continue to make sure that your child has a hat at school every day and that it is clearly named. There is always the option of keeping hats at school, either in tote trays or in an allocated hat tub. We also encourage everyone to have sunscreen on. This can be applied before coming to school and we also have sunscreen at school if anyone needs to top up or they forget to put sunscreen on. Thank you so much for your support with this.

Have a great weekend!


Kura News Website

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 Ngā mihi e te whānau,

In the Pōhutukawa team this year we are thrilled to have some budding journalists, Billy, Chester, Jensen, and Tom.

These keen reporters have created a news site, that they keep regularly updated with news articles about latest comings and goings at kura. We're really pleased to be able to share their mahi with you here.  https://sites.google.com/beckenham.nz/kuranews/home  

Well done, team, you are really living our Kete values with your contributions to school life. Tau ke, awesome!