Kauri Whānau Update: Term 3, Week 1

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Welcome back! We hope you have all had a restful break, and that the first week back hasn't been too much like hard work for the tamariki. We've enjoyed reconnecting and hearing what great things they've been up to over the break.

In this post:

  • Jenny Returns
  • Cantamath Reminder
  • Speeches
  • Koru Games
  • Pyjama Day
  • Bridie surname update
  • Writing extension opportunities

Jenny Returns

This week we welcomed Jenny back to the Kauri Hub. Jenny has been suitably refreshed from her time away, and has had a great first week reconnecting with the Year 8s and meeting the Year 7s.

Cantamath Reminder

By now, children should be underway with their project. Please chat with your child to see where they're at, and give them a gentle nudge if they haven't started yet.

If they're still struggling to come up with ideas, please remind them about the example slideshow on the Kauri Hub google classroom and chat through the categories which can be seen on the notice that went home in paper copy and via Hero.

Please also feel free to email homeroom teachers by Monday so we can catch up with them as well.

Speeches

We are currently teaching persuasive writing in Literacy and  working towards presenting speeches in Week 5.

Some students will be in their element, while other may find the prospect of speaking in front of their peers less appealing. Please check in and see how your child is feeling and encourage them to discuss with their Homeroom or Literacy teacher if they have any worries. We want to ensure that all students feel successful and are appropriately challenged, however this may look.

Koru Games

Jenny is seeking enthusiastic parents to support and/or coach for Koru Games on the 19th to 21st of September. The sports we hope to enter are Touch Rugby, Ki O Rahi, Basketball, Hockey, and Ultimate Frisbee. Please email her if you are able to take part, or if you know someone who might be interested.

Pyjama Day

It was amazing to see the range of designs possible on an oodie on Wednesday. Many of the students were so comfortable in their learning, that maybe should consider a oodie uniform option! We had a really positive feedback from the City Mission when our student leaders took in the donation of cans - thank you to everyone that contributed towards this.


Bridie Surname Update

Please note that Bridie's email address has been updated to reflect her new married name. Please get in contact with her via bridie.harris@beckenham.school.nz

Writing Extension Opportunities

Write On School for Young Writers is offering the following opportunities in Term 3:

  • Antarctica VR + Real Writing:  August 4th in Rangiora
  • Nth Power Poetry:  August 11th in Rolleston
  • Songwriting: August 18th at Tūranga in Christchurch
  • Super Senses: Sept 1 at Tūranga in Christchurch
  • Write for the Ears podcasting: Sept 8 in Rangiora
  • From Beginning to End: Sept 15th in Rolleston

You can find out more via their website.


Kōwhai Gymnastics Trip and News Week 1, Term 3

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Kia ora e te whanau, nau mai hoki mai.

We hope that you enjoyed the break. It has been lovely to hear students share stories about their holidays. It sounds like lots of fun was had whether they stayed in Christchurch or travelled elsewhere. It is hard to believe that term 3 is here already! The students have had a great first week and have started settling back into the routine.


Gymnastics Trip - Parent Helpers Needed

As a team, we will be teaching a Health and PE unit about our bodies and how we move these, focusing on gymnastic movements. During weeks 3 and 4, the Kōwhai team will be travelling to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics for a couple of sessions. Working with a professional gymnastics school will help us educate the students in a safe environment with expert help. The dates and times for the trips are as follows:

Thursday August 3rd 2023

  • Charlotte's Homegroup: 9:00-11:30
  • Rowe's Homegroup: 10:30-1:00
  • Nick's Homegroup: 12:30-3:00

Thursday August 10th 2023
  • Charlotte's Homegroup: 9:00-11:30
  • Rowe's Homegroup: 10:30-1:00
  • Nick's Homegroup: 12:30-3:00
Anna M and Anna R's classes will be divided up and spread amongst the 3 groups. We are looking for some keen parent helpers to attend and help out. If you are available and would like to come along and help, please complete this form by Monday, 24th July.


Calendar Art

This term, students will have the opportunity to explore the iconic artistry of Romero Britto and create their very own calendar art, bursting with Britto-inspired brilliance. From his playful use of vibrant hues to his distinctive patterns, Britto's artworks radiate joy and positivity. We are very excited to get creating and can’t wait to see the finished product!

Balloon Racers

This term, our inquiry focus is on technology and revisiting forces and motion. The students will embrace their inner inventors and set their imaginations soaring as they construct their very own balloon racers. Through this hands-on project, they will explore physics, discovering how forces shape the world around us. As students engage in the process of designing and refining their racers, they will build collaboration and reflection skills.

For the balloon racers, we are after some construction materials. If you have any of the following, could you please send them in as soon as possible?:
  • cardboard
  • small boxes for construction (e.g. cereal boxes/boxes smaller than a shoe box)
  • small plastic containers (e.g. recycling)
  • milk bottle tops
Tēnā rawa atu koe – thank you.


Here are some photos of what's been happening this week. 










From the Kōwhai team

Kahikatea News Term 3 Week 1

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Kia ora e te whānau,

It was so lovely to see the smiles on the faces of the Kahikatea tamariki as they arrived at school on Monday morning! We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday break.

We have an exciting term ahead, with gymnastics, calendar art, House of Science learning, and the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme to look forward to.


Gymnastics

Our first gymnastics session will be next Tuesday, the 25th of July. The following social story has been shared with children. Please take a moment to have a look through it.





















Sharing Our Learning - What is a Scientist?

On Tuesday, Katie asked her home group the following questions:
- What is a scientist?
- What does a scientist do?

Children then drew a picture of how they view science in action. Here are some examples. We think they are fantastic!


"My scientist is studying eggs from a bird." - Jess


"The scientist is sharing his potions with the little kid." - Louis


"The scientist is doing tests on a hedgehog." - Poppy


"My scientist is holding a potion and is going to bed." - Rossouw


"She's making potions. She is called Rosie." - Violet


The scientists are inspecting the dogs and the cats." - Zac


"The scientist is studying the animals." - Sailor

Nuts at School

This is another reminder that the Kahikatea team has students with nut allergies, one of these is life-threatening. Therefore, we are asking that nuts and nut-based products are NOT brought to school by your child. Nut-based products include items like Nutella, peanut butter, muesli bars containing nuts, etc.

The team is also aware that some children may have other dietary requirements. Please talk with your child’s Homegroup teacher if this is the case so that they are aware and we can create a specific plan to support your child if need be.

Our policy at school is that children only eat their own food and not share. Teachers are reminding children about this, handwashing, and putting food wrappings in their lunch boxes to take home.

If you have any questions please contact your child's Homegroup teacher.

Thank you for your support as 'We Get There Together'.


Literacy Information

Some children have changed into a new literacy group with a different teacher. It has been lovely getting to know our new literacy groups this week! 

Please ensure your child brings their literacy folder to school each day and places it in their literacy teacher's tub. This way, we can make sure that texts are regularly going home for you to enjoy with your child. 

Teachers will be sending home updated materials to support children with home learning by the end of Week 2.


Request for Materials

We love being creative in the Kahikatea team! Please continue to send along recyclable materials to school. 


That's all for now,

Team Kahikatea

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

Pōhutukawa Update, Term 3, Week 1

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 Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all

We trust everyone was able to make the most of the extra time with family over the holiday break. We were glad to see the sun greet us when we returned, although our luck ran out when our winter sports were again cancelled because of the change in weather. Winter is certainly making its presence felt this week, as well! We hope you're all keeping safe, dry, and warm. Please read on for some information about the beginning of the term.

Keeping Ourselves Safe

In Week 6 and 7 we will be teaching the personal safety programme by New Zealand Police - Keeping Ourselves Safe.  We cover this programme every two years as part of our Health curriculum. Parents and whānau are strongly encouraged to support Keeping Ourselves Safe.
You can:
  • attend a meeting at school to find out more about Keeping Ourselves Safe on Wednesday 2 August at 2.15 pm in the staffroom
  • find out about abuse and what to do if you think a child you know is being abused
  • talk to your child about what they have learnt in Keeping Ourselves Safe.
  • set safety guidelines with your family
  • help young children with the Keeping Ourselves Safe activities they bring home
  • give the same safety messages as the school is giving
  • look at the whānau section of NZ Police Keeping Ourselves Safe for more information and frequently asked questions

PB4L

Our PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) focus for the start of the term is “being an upstander”. We have been discussing how we can show the values ‘We Make a Difference’ and ‘We Care’ by being upstanders. We have discussed with the students the different actions we can take to be an upstander (as opposed to a bystander) if we see someone being mistreated. We have linked the Slideshow ‘How to be an Upstander’ here, and encourage you to take a look so that you can continue these very important conversations at home, too. You could also read Oat the Goat (bilingual interactive online storybook), which teaches how to show acceptance, empathy, and tolerance by being an upstander. Mā tātou kātoa, te waka e hoe, we are all in the waka together.

Cross ("Cool") Curriculum Classes

CCC classes continue with some changes for Term 3. Steve is continuing to teach the Arts this term this term Visual Arts. Rae is covering Digital Technology and continuing with Coding. Gayle is teaching Geography, and Megan is teaching Health with a look at conflict resolution. There is always a lot of learning happening over the term in CCC, so we encourage you to keep chatting about what we are covering in these courses with your tamariki. He taonga te ako, the treasure is learning.

STOMP!

As part of our concept of Innovation this year, we have launched into our Inquiry this term with a bang... and a thump.... and a rat-a-tat-tat! As you may have heard, we have been looking at STOMP: the inventive and invigorating stage show and the students have been working in groups to recreate and innovate with improvised instruments. It's been great to see the tamariki working together and taking different roles in their groups to create their own unique rhythms. We will be making an audio recording of their performances, so keep your ears open for that!

 

Kia pai te wiki, have a great week

The Pōhutukawa Team

T2W10 Final newsletter of Term 2

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Sun and soup - a wonderful way to end the term today! We were grateful to Rebecca from the PTA for coming in today and heating up the frozen soup that was leftover from the Matariki Hui last week. We had 18 litres of soup left, and it was all very keenly consumed at lunchtime today. We were very impressed at how many children love vegetable soup!

Cybersafety - especially over the holidays

We encourage families to monitor children's social media activity closely, especially over the holiday period. We know that device time can be a real obsession for some of our children and we also know that many children are not yet able to navigate the wide range of social media platforms that they may have access to. 
Please be especially vigilant of SnapChat. This is a popular platform among many of our children. The recommended age for SnapChat is 13, and one of the very real challenges of this platform is that ANYONE, whether known to your child or not, can make contact through SnapChat and can invite a user to interact with them. This feature alone makes SnapChat a highly unsafe environment for children to be in without very close supervision. Children can also invite their friends into groups, and groups that start as friendly places for communication, can easily and often become toxic if not carefully managed and monitored.

Wheelchair Rugby - Students vs Staff

As part of our schoolwide learning theme of "Innovation", your Year 7 & 8 team have been looking at innovation in the design of sports equipment for people with disabilities. We were fortunate to be able to access the wheelchair rugby chairs, courtesy of Parafed. As well as spending time looking at the design, and trying out the incredibly maneuverable wheelchairs, the students challenged the staff to a 'no holds barred' game of wheelchair rugby in the hall yesterday! Probably due to the fact that there was no running involved, the students' fitness advantage disappeared and the staff were the winners on the day!


From all of our staff, have a safe and restful holiday. We look forward to seeing you all at school again on Monday 17 July.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mon 17 Jul - Term 3 starts
Wed 19 Jul - PTA/Student Council Mid-winter breakfast 8:00 - 8:45am - all welcome (see blurb below)
Fri 21 Jul - 9:15am - Welcome Assembly
Fri 28 Jul - 10am Celebration Assembly
Fri 4 Aug- PTA Discos - see below for details
Fri 11 Aug - 10am Celebration Assembly
Fri 18 Aug - School Closed - Staff Only Day
Wed 23 Aug - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Wed 23 Aug - 7:30pm - PTA meeting - Staffroom
Fri 25 Aug - 10am Celebration Assembly 
Fri 8 Sep - 10 am Celebration Assembly
Thu 14 Sep - am - Year 8 testing at Cashmere High
Wed 20 Sep - 5:30pm - BOT Meeting - Staffroom
Fri 22 Sep - 10am Celebration Assembly
Fri 22 Sep - final day of Term 3

Term Dates for next year

At our Board Meeting this week, our Board confirmed the Term Dates for 2024. If you click on the link below, you will be able to view them, and you can also download a printable copy if you want one for the fridge!

Citizen of the Week

Ruvi Lawrence - Year 5

Ruvi, you are motivated, energetic, outgoing and fun! We are lucky to have you as a positive role model in our hub. You have an inquisitive mind and are highly engaged, embracing any challenge with enthusiasm. You have the self-confidence and persistence to make anything possible and regularly make interesting connections in your learning. Ka pai tō mahi, Ruvi.

School Notices

Picking up students from school

From time to time we get advised that a person, other than a listed contact for a student, will be picking them up from school. In these instances, we would really appreciate having the contact details for this person to ensure that we are able to contact them if there is any confusion around pick-up time/place for a student.
In these instances please phone the office on 03 3371404 or email office@beckenham.school.nz

Amber's home group - rescheduled Learning Conferences

We are very pleased to have Amber back at school again, and have rescheduled her home group Learning Conferences for Thursday 20th July, Week 1 of next term.  To book, please go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and put in the code: wca24

School Donations and Tax rebates 

Claiming back 33% of your School Donations and Contributions from the IRD
A reminder that via the IRD you may be eligible to claim back 33.33 cents for every dollar you donate to the school. This includes both school donations and contributions towards camps.

On the main IRD website https://www.ird.govt.nz/ you can search ‘submit a donation receipt’ to find out more.

You are now able to produce your own Tax Donation Receipt from your Hero Login, for the tax year ending 31st March 2023.
Note you will need to do this by signing in through your browser, not in the app.

Please follow this link for instructions. Your receipt will be downloaded to your device for you to print or attach to your online IRD donation claim.

Rachel, our account officer, will be sending out statements through HERO early next week. Thank you to everyone who has made contributions to the school donation already. We rely on your donations to be able to provide the many different supports to the curriculum that we do.

If you have any other queries please contact accounts@beckenham.school.nz or phone the office on 337 1404.

PTA News

Midwinter Breakfast - Wednesday 19th July

Get your PJs on for the return of our annual midwinter breakfast!
Come to school in your pyjamas (or uniform) from 8am on Wednesday 19th July for warm porridge or weetbix. Don't forget to bring a bowl and a spoon! Whānau welcome. Please bring a can of food to donate to the City Mission.


PTA DISCOS



Friday 4th August is the new date for the PTA Discos
Bring a gold coin and come along and boogie the afternoon/evening away.
Whānau welcome
New Entrants and Year 1-2, will have their disco from 2.00-2.45.  
Year 3/4 -  4.00-4.45 
 Years 5/6 - 5.10-6.10 
 Years 7/8 -  6.30-7.30

BOT Update



Our Board are working on developing a new Strategic Plan that will take us into the next two years. To support the thinking that is happening on this, we invite you to contribute your feedback, if you haven't already. Some of you have completed paper forms, and the feedback can also be submitted through this online form.

Community Notices

(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
ReplaceWithCommunityNotices






Exciting Opportunity for Aspiring Junior Chefs!

Introducing the Junior Chef Course, designed to unleash your child’s culinary potential!

Course Details:
Duration: 5 days
Start Date: 3 – 7 July 2023
Time: 9am – 12pm (8 – 12 year old)
         1pm - 5pm (13 - 17 year old)
Location: International Culinary Studio Training Kitchen, 1/57 Warrington St, Christchurch.

Give your child the gift of being self-sufficient in the kitchen! They’ll learn essential culinary skills, techniques, and gain hands-on experience under the guidance of experienced chefs.

Bring your own electronic device, such as a laptop or tablet, to fully engage with digital resources and take our learning to the next level.

Total Cost: $300 per student

Lecturers: Cheryl and Chef Andy will be teaching the kids a great set of skills. Below are some details of what they will be teaching the kids during the 5 day programme.

Day 1: Create the Perfect Pizza with Toppings.
Learn different Icing Techniques for Icing a Cupcake.
Day 2: Learn to make Shaped Bread Rolls
Make a Country Vegetable Soup.
Day 3: Learn to make Fresh Pasta and a Tasty Beef Sauce.
Day 4: Stuff, Roll, Crumb and Roast a Chicken Thigh
Serve with a Vegetable Skewer.
Day 5: Create Home-made Cookie Dough to make five different flavoured Cookies.
Learn to make a range of Handcrafted Filled and Shaped Chocolates.

Empower your child with culinary expertise that will last a lifetime.
Whether they aspire to be the next MasterChef or simply want to enhance their
cooking skills, this course is a stepping stone to their culinary dreams. This course will also help them with their mathematics, reading and social skills.
To reserve your child’s spot, sign them up here: https://www.internationalculinarystudio.com/events.
Limited spots available, so don’t miss out!
Join us at the Junior Chef Course and watch your child blossom into a talented chef.
Enroll today and ignite their passion for the Culinary Arts!

We will only run the course if more than 10 people register.
T & C’s Apply






Play Baseball in Christchurch

Christchurch Astros
The Christchurch Astros are looking for neighbourhood teams to play in the upcoming 2023/24 season
Start your own neighbourhood team (including coach) and we will help you coordinate competitive games against teams from around Christchurch.
If you cannot find enough players for a team, the Astros can help with the combination of programmes near to you.

- Starting school term 4
- Age groups ranging from 5 - U16
- No prior experience needed
- Limited coaching sessions available to help get started
- Equipment available for competitive games
- Practices to be held locally but games occur bi-weekly at Avonhead Park

Please register your interest by emailing: christchurchastrosbaseball@gmail.com