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Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 10 February 2023

Posted on 12 February, 202312 February, 2023 by Sandy Hastings, Principal, Beckenham School

Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

We are all getting back into the rhythm of school again. With two short weeks now behind us, we can see lots of great routines being established by tamariki (children), whānau (families), and kaiamahi (staff) around getting to school, being at school, and managing a Monday-Friday school pattern again.

Being in a 'House' at our school...

We have four Houses at Beckenham, and each child is put into a House when they start at school. Children who are part of the same family are put into the same house, and they usually stay in that house for all the years they are at Beckenham. All of our new students have now been allocated a House. If you are not sure which house your child is in, please contact Jacky or Reihana at the office.

House Shirts: Fisher, Waimea, Heathcote and Tennyson

We have a House Shirt as an optional part of our school uniform. The House shirt can be worn every Friday, and on days when there are going to be House activities such as 'House Games', Athletic Sports, Cross Country etc. On other days, regular, red school tops should be worn. House shirts are able to be purchased through the office for $25 each.

Each house has four senior students who lead the house - two House Captains and two Deputy House Captains. During the year, we have different events where children compete or participate in activities in Houses. The House Captains and Deputies often run these events. At our Celebration Assembly this week, our House Captains and Deputies were introduced.

Early Finish on Thursday 2nd March - please fill in the survey link below

As you may be aware, the teachers' union, NZEI, are still in negotiations with the Ministry of Education around a new collective agreement. There is going to be a paid union meeting that all union members are expected to attend, on the afternoon of Thursday 2nd March. As the vast majority of our teachers belong to the union, we need to stop classes at 1pm on this day.

If you are NOT able to arrange for your children to be collected at 1pm on Thursday 2nd March, we will arrange supervision here at school. If your child normally attends BOSCO on a Thursday, we will make sure they get to BOSCO as usual.

EVERY FAMILY needs to fill in this survey, please, to let us know what your plan is for this day so that we know where every child is going to be at 1pm, and we can plan adequate supervision for those who need to stay at school.

Laura and Baby Max

Congratulations to Laura Williamson and her partner Steve on the birth of baby Max at the end of November last year. Some of our staff and students had the pleasure of meeting Max when Laura popped into school for morning tea last week.

2023 Whānau feedback on reporting through Hero

During 2022 student reports were provided to whānau through Hero. As this is a new process for our school community, we would appreciate your feedback as we look for ways to improve the experience.

We would appreciate it if you would be able to take a few minutes to complete this survey (click here).

If you are new to Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto in 2023 there is no need to complete the survey.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki (Principal)

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Term 1

Wed 22 Feb - PTA Meeting; All Welcome (7:30 – 9:30pm in The Green Room)
Thu 23 Feb - BOT Meeting (5.30-7.30pm- Staffroom)
Fri 24 Feb - Celebration Assembly (10.00 - 10.30am in the Hall)
Mon 27 Feb - Year 5-8 Swimming Sports - Wharenui Pool 12:30-2:30pm
Thu 2 Mar - School Closes at 1pm for Teachers to attend Paid Union Meetings
Mon 6 - 10 Mar - Walk or Wheel to School week
Mon 6-Fri 10 Mar - Year 7/8 Camp - Wainui
Fri 10 Mar - South Zone Swimming Sports (Y5-8), Wharenui Pool
Wed 22 Mar - PTA Meeting - All Welcome (7:30 – 9:30pm in The Green Room)
Thu 6 Apr - Last day of Term 1
Fri 7 Apr - School Holidays begin (School closed)

Term 2

Mon 24 Apr - Staff Only Day (School closed)
Tue 25 Apr - ANZAC Day (School closed)
Wed 26 Apr - First day of Term 2
Mon 1 - Wed 3 May - Year 5/6 Camp - Living Springs
Mon 5 Jun - King's Birthday (School closed)
Fri 30 Jun - Last day of Term 2Continue reading→

Kauri Whānau Update, Term 1 Week 2

Posted on 10 February, 202310 February, 2023 by Thomas

Kia ora koutou katoa,

In this post:

Leadership positions
Leadership Week
Technology
Swimming Sports
Wainui camp update

It's been a great start to the year so far. We've had a wonderful time getting to know our learners.

Today we announced the Year 7 and 8 Leadership positions. It was great that everyone signed up for something, and we're really excited to see how the flourish as leaders this year. If any students have concerns, please get them to email their homeroom teacher and/or Thomas.

Leadership Week

Next week we have our highly-anticipated Leadership Week for all Year 7 and 8 students.

For Year 7 students, this will mean spending time in Junior Hubs (Kōwhai, Kahitkatea, and Koru) on either Thursday or Friday. On Wednesday Year 7s will be taking part in a range of activities to put their learning about the 7 Habits into action. On Wednesday, they will be allowed to wear their activewear.

For Year 8 students, they will need to wear their activewear on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, students have an extra-long day at school with a range of leadership and teamwork activities, which includes a guest speaker, through to 5.30pm at which point we will provide dinner for the Year 8s. They will need their own lunch on this day, however. After dinner, we will head in to Margaret Mahy Playground using public buses, which means they will require $2.50 for the bus fare. We will be back at school and ready to be picked up by 9pm. On Friday, Year 8 students will head to Spencer Park for the day for their own range of activities unpacking the 7 Habits. We will be providing lunch for the students on this day.

We're really looking forward to this opportunity to get to know our learners better and see them extend themselves in the process!

Technology

Next week we will also have our first technology session with (almost) all learners heading to Christchurch South Karamata Intermediate (CSKI). We will communicate with students on Monday about which group and tech specialisation they will have on Monday. With rebuilding currently taking place at CSKI, only three of the four groups will take the bus - one of the Year 7 groups will be taught at Beckenham by the fabulous fabrics teacher for Term 1. We have also received news today that the canteen is currently not operating.

Swimming Sports

Sarah has gratefully received all the information sent through by parents for Swimming Sports and is working through the process of collating everything for the event on February 27th. She'll be in touch with more information to those involved next week.

Camp

The Year 7 and 8 camp to Wainui is also just around the corner - Monday March the 6th to 10th. We have sent emails to confirm with parents who have signed up to come along, and will be sending out a gear list, camp cost notification, and health form by the end of next week.

Thanks for a great first few weeks, and have a relaxing weekend ahead of next week's jam-packed schedule!

Ngā mihi
Thomas

Days 1 and 2 in the Koru team!

Posted on 6 February, 20236 February, 2023 by Unknown

Kia ora e te whānau,

Your children have made an absolutely amazing start to school! We have been so proud of the way they are independently unpacking their bags so beautifully and organising their lunches and drink bottles, and then saying their goodbyes (sometimes with a wee bit of support, which is absolutely to be expected).

On our first day, after calling the register, singing the National Anthem and saying our karakia, we played a 'getting to know you' circle game, in which we introduced ourselves and told everyone what our favourite colours are and then, the second time around, what our favourite foods are.

Later on, we went on a boundaries walk and talked about the places where the New Entrant children can play at break times, and then the children all practised washing their hands properly before having their morning kai. Perhaps they might give you a little demonstration of how they are able to wash their hands - they're absolute experts!!

After little play, the children then joined up into little groups with each other and explored some of the spaces, equipment and toys that we have, including the jigsaw puzzles, the vehicles, the family corner, the Sylvanians and other small world characters, the train set, and the castle and castle characters.

We also managed to fit in some art work, with some of the children decorating their names using beautiful collage materials. This art work will form part of our 'Welcome' wall display eventually. This week, the children are going to draw self portraits, which will also be added to this display, along with some of the photos that we're taking during the day.

We also visited the library, after the Welcome Assembly on Friday. We hope you enjoy reading together, the two library books which your children have brought home. Please ensure that the library books remain in the library folder at home during the week while not being used, in order to keep them safe, and then make sure that they are returned to school on Friday this week. Two library books will come home each week, as long as your child has returned the previously borrowed books.

What follows is a selection of the photos that were taken last week:

Visiting the wharepaku and learning how to wash our hands thoroughly.

Walking around the areas we're able to play in.

Learning what the yellow line means.

Walking from Hangere to the library, office area and junior playground.

Having a chat with Sandy, who we bumped into as we were walking through the courtyard.

After exploring the library, posing for a group photo in the library nook.

Learning about what the yellow spot on the picture books means.

Showing teamwork as we complete the Rapunzel jigsaw puzzle!

Nearly there...

Practising our drawing and writing skills.

Sharing and working together while playing with the cars and trucks.

Exploring numbers and shape using the Numicon.

Showing persistence to fill the 10 by 10 grid.

Taking time to have a quiet read.

Working on the alphabet puzzle.

Observing and listening carefully to instructions, prior to beginning our name collage activity.

Playing with the small world characters.

Working closely together, while playing with the small world characters.

Talking together about the ongoing story which underpins the play.

Working together, while sharing and playing with the vehicles.

That car carrier certainly is completely loaded up!

Playing with some of the aeroplanes.

Team work required here, to complete this challenging jigsaw puzzle.

Discussing strategy.

The jigsaw team, very pleased with the finished product (what a shame to find that one piece was missing though, although all credit to the team for feeling neither frustrated nor too disappointed!).

We trust that this finds you at the end of a wonderful long weekend, and Waitangi Day in particular. We're looking forward to seeing all those gorgeous smiling faces back at school in the morning, all ready for the week ahead!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

Elizabeth, Stacey, Georgia and Sonya

Kahikatea News Term 1 Week 1 2023

Posted on 5 February, 20235 February, 2023 by Lisa Collier

Kia ora e te whānau,

Thank you for taking the time to attend Learning Conferences this week. The opportunity to touch base with each whānau prior to starting the new school year is invaluable. We really enjoyed hearing about each child's holiday break and share in their strengths and next steps.

We had a wonderful first two days back at school! The air conditioning kept us cool as the sun blazed outside. It was wonderful to connect with our home group learners and get to know each other as a team. What really stood out to us was the positivity in the hub. The children were excited to be back at school and keen to give new things a go!

Play Areas

We went on a boundary walk on Thursday to show children the areas that they can play in during break times. The following was also shared with children...

Nuts at School

The following information went out to whānau on Friday via Hero. Just in case you missed it, here it is again...

We are aware that the Kahikatea team have multiple 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, along with reminders about 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'.

Photos

Here are some photos to give you a snapshot of some of the things we got up to this week...

We hope that you are having an enjoyable long weekend, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday.

Kind regards,

Katie, Krystal, Lisa, Amber, and Quynh

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz

lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz

quynh.nguyen@beckenham.school.nz

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 3 February 2022

Posted on 3 February, 20233 February, 2023 by Reihana Dougherty

Principal's Patch

Kia ora and Assalam alaykum

Last week, during one of our Staff Only Days, our staff and one of our board members were extremely fortunate to participate in some professional development designed to increase our understanding of Islam so that we can better support our Muslim ākonga (learners) and their whānau. Alongside the session at school, our staff also had the opportunity to visit the Al Noor Mosque. Being culturally competent is an important part of our work, and when we participate in any new learning, we always seek to find broader principles of understanding, including how having faith of any kind can be an important pillar of whānau values.

This morning we welcomed all of our new tamariki and their whānau to our school with our start-of-term Welcome Assembly.

This would have to have been one of the biggest groups we have welcomed for a long time, with the broadest range of cultural diversity in its make-up. This was evidenced by the 17 flags that were brought in to represent the different cultural backgrounds of our new whānau. We feel incredibly lucky to be able to welcome and be part of such a diverse community.

Reminder to all whānau that Monday the 6th of February is a public holiday and school is closed. We look forward to seeing you all back again on Tuesday.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy Hastings

Tumuaki (Principal)