Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Newsletter Rāmere (Friday) 16 September, 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

A reminder to all that this Monday the 19th of September, the school will be CLOSED to all students, while our kaimahi (staff) participate in a Staff Only Day of professional learning and development. We will be continuing to develop our understanding of  "Trauma Informed Practice", as well as working on moderation of assessment, use of HERO and preparation for end-of-year reports.

From Wednesday to Friday of this last week, I was at our new conference centre, Te Pai, attending the annual New Zealand Principals' Federation Conference with over 860 other primary principals from around New Zealand. It was a huge privilege to be able to host this event in Christchurch for the first time in over 12 years, and to be able to showcase our amazing new convention centre and increasingly re-built city. We were challenged by numerous speakers, including a youth panel that included past-student, Lucy Gray, to consider the impacts and reach of our leadership. Each speaker gave us a new 'wero' or challenge to strive for better outcomes in terms of equity, excellence, inclusion, sustainability and wellbeing.

We are delighted to welcome Megan Harris back onto our staff. Megan was a teacher in our Year 7/8 team a number of years ago, and has recently returned from a time in Dunedin. Megan is currently working in the Kahikatea team.


Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Mon 19 Sep - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Thu 22 Sep - BOT Meeting (5.30-7.30pm - te Rūma Kaimahi - Staffroom)
Fri 23 Sep - PTA Disco - Gold Coin entry
Mon 26 Sep - Public holiday - Queen Elizabeth II memorial (School Closed)
Wed 28 Sep - PTA Meeting (7.30-9.30pm in the Green Room)
Thu 29 Sep - Parent Evening with Cashmere High School Principal (6-7.15pm Staffroom)
Fri 30 Sep - Last day of Term 3
Mon 17 Oct - First day of Term 4
Mon 24 Oct - Labour Day - (School Closed)
Tue 25 Oct - Netsafe Workshop for all whānau - St Martins School, 7pm
Fri 11 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day - (School Closed)
Thu 15 Dec - Last day of Term 4 - School closes 12:30pm
Mon 

Term Dates

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 8

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 In this post:

  • Cashmere High
  • Quiz Night
  • Speech Competition
  • Sports Results
  • Relationships and Sexuality



Year 8s to Cashmere High School


Please take note of the details above re the CHS principal, Joe Eccleton, coming to Beckenham to speak with our Year 8 whānau in the last week of term. 

If your child is enrolled at Cashmere High for 2023, you will have received information about their pre-enrolement testing on Tuesday September 27th. We will be talking with the children about the entrance testing and passing on some tips and advice this coming week. On the day of the testing, the children make their own way to Cashmere High and back to school afterwards. We ask that they are back at Beckenham by 1:20 at the latest.


Quiz Night

On Saturday October 29th we are holding a Comedy Quiz Night to raise funds for our Year 7 & 8 Wainui Camp which takes place early next year. If you have been to one of our comedy quiz nights before, you will know they are so much fun and that tickets sell out pretty fast. Tickets will go on sale in the last week of this term. 

At the quiz night we will be auctioning off grocery hampers. We ask that every Year 6 and 7 family donate a luxury non-perishable grocery item for the hamper. Please send these along to school before the end of this term. We will be collecting items in a box in the Kauri hub. Please encourage your child to bring their item ASAP and mark their name off the list when they deposit their item in the box.



Speech Competition

We were treated to an entertaining speech competition on Friday morning. This year the children wrote story-telling speeches and we listened to fractured fairy-tales with interesting twists, original stories and recounts of personal experiences. All were very entertaining. Special congratulations go to our place-getters.

Year 7:
  • First place: Christopher
  • Second place: Ashlyn
  • Third place: Luka
Year 8:
  • First place: Fergus
  • Second place: Lola
  • Third place: Richelle
We wish Christopher and Fergus all the best for the South Zone Speech Competition which will be held early next term. The date is yet to be confirmed.

Sports Update

On Thursday we had a netball team and a hockey team at the Canterbury Winter Tournament. A huge thanks to the parents who coached and managed these teams. Both groups had a fabulous day of competition with the netball team coming 5th and the hockey team 9th, both in competitions of over 30 teams.  Their sportsmanship, as well as their teamwork and skill, were top notch!

Next week we have teams competing at Koru Games in ultimate frisbee, touch, hockey and volleyball. Once again, many thanks to the parents who are giving up their time to coach and support these teams. Koru Games runs from Tuesday to Thursday and includes Year 7 & 8 teams from across the South Island.


Relationships and Sexuality Education

We will be keeping you informed as we work our way through the Relationships and Sexuality Education curriculum on the content of our lessons. 

Our first session focused on creating shared expectations for these lessons. The children identified what would make them feel safe during these conversations, which included sentiments such as respecting everyone’s contributions and questions, laughing along with someone, not at them, and being mindful of your own boundaries and the boundaries of others. 

Rights and Responsibilities
We reflected on how our rights and responsibilities changed as we matured. The children thought about what rights and responsibilities they would have in the future and how some of these would occur automatically while others would occur according to individual readiness. 

Stereotypes
In these sessions we identified the different stereotypes that we see in society today and how these have changed over time. We also looked at how stereotypes may be reinforced in the media and how these are being broken down. We talked about the influences that stereotypes have on people's lives and how can can stand up to these and be our own person. 

Body Image
In these sessions, we sought to normalise body image worries and explored the media’s role in promoting unrealistic body ideals. We looked at before and after photos that demonstrated how a person’s appearance could be drastically altered through photoshopping, camera angles, lighting and so on. The message: these models don’t look like this in real life. We shared some examples of companies that are engaging in more honest representation in their marketing campaigns. The children were encouraged to adopt the following mindset.
  • Think and talk positively about your body and about the appearance of others
  • Don’t judge others on their appearance - call out those that do
  • Eat a variety of foods that fuel and sustain your body
  • Focus on what your body can do rather than what it looks like




Kahikatea News Term 3 Week 7

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 Kahikatea Team News - Term 3 Week 7

Kia ora koutou,

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Kahikatea team! Read on to find out more about what we have been up to.

Kete Focus: We Love Challenge!

The student council organised a fun STEM activity during 'We Love Challenge' week. We were given a selection of materials and had to design a bridge that could hold a tin can. We made changes as we went when we realised that something didn't quite work, and persevered when it was tricky. We did so well!










Learning Through Play

It is always a joy to watch our children interact, discover, negotiate, and problem-solve during Learning Through Play. Here are some recent photos of us in action!


















Te Whare Tapa Wha

During our home group time, we are learning all about how we can support our wellbeing (hauora) using the Te Whare Tapa Wha model. We have a fabulous new poster that illustrates how important it is to take care of all of the different aspects of our lives to support our wellbeing. 






That's all for now!
Team Kahikatea

Koru Team news, Term 3 Week 7

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 Kia ora koutou,

We hope that this finds you at the end of a lovely weekend with your families, and we look forward to seeing your wee ones with their beautiful, wide smiles, tomorrow morning!

Our focus in this post is on Maths, and in particular on the Maths strand area of Probability. In the first week of the previous fortnight, we focused on developing the language of probability, introducing such terms as 'always', 'perhaps', 'certain', 'possible', 'impossible', 'will', 'might', 'won't', 'will', 'maybe', 'never', 'yes', 'no'. The context for this learning took the form of familiar stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Gingerbread Man, Cinderella and Maui Catches the Sun, and the children were asked such questions as 'Do you think Little Red Riding Hood will see a tree on the way to Grandma's house?' and 'Do you think Red Riding Hood will see a hedgehog in the forest?' 

Whatever the children's decisions, they were always asked to justify their thinking.

During the second week, we learnt more about probability by playing card games, such as Memory, using sets of animal cards (including various numbers of animals, at the most, ten cats, ten dogs, six mice and one pig). As we played the games, we thought about how likely it is for 'an event' to happen, for example, 'What are the chances of picking up two cats as opposed to picking up two dogs?' The children were asked to think about such questions as:

  • What card do you think you will turn over next? (given the cards that have already been turned over)
  • Why do you think that?
  • Which cards do you think will be last?
  • Which are the hardest pairs to find?
  • Which are the easiest pairs to find?

In this game, Feeding Greedy Cat, which cat will get the most fish, the blue cat or the red cat?

Was there a lucky colour in your game?

In this game, was it better to be in the team collecting the same cards or the team collecting the different cards?

Which card do you think you'll turn up next? And why do you think that?

Is it certain, possible or impossible for Cinderella to see a hot air balloon on her way to the palace?

Will the gingerbread man always, possibly or never see a tractor on his way to the river?

What are the chances that the first card you turn over is a dog? Why do you think that?

Which card will you choose to turn over next?

Which are the hardest pairs to find? Which are the easiest pairs to find?

Are you collecting pairs that are the same or pairs that are different? Is it better to collect pairs that are the same or pairs that are different?

Which coloured cat is going to get the most fish?

Is there a 'lucky' colour? Was the same colour 'lucky' every time you played the game?

Our Probability focus gave the children an in-depth look at uncertainty and chance, in a variety of situations. They were given the opportunity to acknowledge and anticipate possible outcomes, always justifying their thinking each step of the way. What a lot of fun we had in Maths throughout this last fortnight!

...and one final message - many thanks to you for the continuing support you are giving your children with their learning, by helping them to practise their heart words, their sound cards and their reading at home with you. The difference this makes is invaluable and we certainly appreciate it enormously.

All best for the week ahead!
Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Elizabeth, Georgia, Nicola, Stacey and Jeanette

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 7/8

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 In this post:

  • Speech delivery week
  • Keeping Safe Sessions with Year 8 Boys
  • Ski day wrap up
  • Duathlon wrap up

Speech Delivery Week

Over the past few weeks, the children have been creating their story-telling speeches. In one form or another, they will be sharing their speech this coming week. For most of the children this will take the form of presenting it to their literacy group. Over the weekend, please encourage practise with reading / presenting their speech. On Friday morning, between 9 and 10:30, we will be holding our speech finals in the hall. Parents are most welcome to attend.  

Keeping Safe Sessions with Year 8 Boys

Every year when the Year 8 girls and gender-diverse students are doing self-defense, the boys ask what about us. We see their point. This year, Brad Culver, Megan’s husband has offered his time to take the Year 8 boys for a parallel program on keeping ourselves safe. Keeping ourselves safe falls under the Health curriculum. 

Brad has a background of working with the US and NZ police, a masters in behaviour modification and is a teacher. He has previously volunteered his time in Kauri to teach American Football and Basketball. Brad has designed a program that will cover the following topics.

  • Assertive communication and body language
  • Standing up to peer pressure
  • How body language and tone of voice can affect the outcome of a situation
  • What can cause some situations to escalate and how to avoid this
  • Being an upstander
  • How to deescalate a situation and keep yourself safe

These sessions will be held on Friday afternoons as this works in with Brad’s availability. The first session was very well received by the boys and Brad was really impressed with their engagement.

A huge thank you to Brad for volunteering his time. 


Ski Day Wrap-up

As I mentioned in an earlier brief post, the children had a fabulous day on the slopes of Mt Hutt and we were so impressed with their 'can do' attitudes, support of each other and progress. We were also grateful for the support of the parent group who encouraged, guided and kept the children safe. Thanks to those who have already returned gear that was borrowed from school. If you still have some at home, please return this ASAP.  We have shared a large folder of photos with the children, after discussions on not sharing photos of others on social media or modifying images. Your child will be able to access and share these with you at home.



Duathlon Wrap-up:

On Tuesday, we had a small and enthusiastic group taking part in our school duathlon. They gave of their best and it was awesome to see lots of big smiles on their faces. Those who have qualified for the Canterbury Duathlon will have already received a Hero message about this event. Special congratulations to Torun, James, Alfie and Rose who won their respective events. A group of 30 seniors helped with the running of the event. They did a great job of encouraging competitors and keeping everyone safe on the course.