Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto newsletter Monday 2 May, 2022

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou



We are looking forward to seeing all of our tamariki back at school tomorrow. We are also very pleased to be able to welcome whānau back into the school grounds, for the first time properly since August last year! No more dropping and collecting at the gate (unless, of course, that is still working for you!) Masks won't be required when outside, although you are welcome to wear them if you choose to. 

At Orange, we ask you to wait outside learning spaces, well away from the hub entrances when dropping and picking up children. A teacher from each hub will be available to greet you outside the hub in the mornings, and teachers will walk out with children in the afternoons. 

All children will finish school at 3pm again!

Whilst the mandate for mask-wearing in schools has been lifted, schools are being encouraged to consider the needs of their community and put appropriate local guidelines in place.

At Beckenham, we believe that masks have been one of the best tools available to us for limiting the spread of Covid-19 at school, and keeping our staff and our children as safe as we can. We are also aware that further waves of Covid-19 are expected, and that NZ is going into its first influenza winter in three years. We know that many families are also now travelling both within NZ and even outside NZ.



For these reasons, we have decided to continue with our status quo on mask-wearing inside our buildings. This means that children in Year 3/4 are strongly encouraged to wear a mask inside, and that our Year 5-8 children should continue wearing masks inside, as they did so capably during Term 1. Our staff will also continue to wear masks inside. 

We know that this cautious approach has served us well so far, and we will review this during Term 2, as we get a better picture of case numbers in our school community.

Ongoing Roadworks around the school - please walk if you can this week!

As most of you will be aware, the burst pipe on Colombo Street last week has significantly added to the challenges of navigating safely around our streets. This morning Colombo St was still closed and we are working on the possibility that it will still be closed tomorrow.

The section of Norwood St between Fisher Ave and Tennyson is also closed. 

Sandwich Road is also currently closed at the Eastern Tce end and will be so for the rest of this week.

So there is no vehicle access to the school from Eastern Terrace.

SIEPP will install additional signs on Eastern Tce at the Fisher Ave intersections saying ‘NO SCHOOL ACCESS FROM EASTERN TCE’. They will already have ‘ROAD CLOSED AHEAD’ signs in place.

Please avoid bringing vehicles down Sandwich Road for drop-off and pick-up this week unless you need to access the accessible parking. There will be significant challenge for everyone's safety if we have large numbers of cars trying to do 3-point-turns all week on Sandwich Road.


COVID-19 - Please continue to notify us of positive tests.

Please continue to let school know if your child has contracted COVID-19. We are still sending numbers through to the Ministry of Education on a daily basis. 
We currently have three staff at home this week in isolation and we know that we still have a number of families across the school who have been, or are currently, in isolation due to COVID.

You can email the school office: office@beckenham.school.nz or leave a message on the answerphone 03 337 1404

Term 2 Dates

Tuesday 3 May - Term 2 begins
Monday 6 June - Queen's Birthday - School closed
Friday 24 June - Matariki - School closed
Friday 8 July - Last day of Term 2

Student-Led Inclusion

Due to Covid challenges and being in restricted settings, our colleagues and students in the Ferndale satellite have been operating in their own bubble since August last year. Our senior students were missing the connection with the Ferndale students that they had previously been able to enjoy, so Saxon, one of our Year 8 students, suggested an activity where they could communicate through chalk-painting on the windows! 
Such a lot of fun was had by both groups of students! Lots of great comments and conversations came from people noticing the great artwork in the days after too.
We are looking forward to having much more natural interactions with our Ferndale colleagues and akonga this term, now that we are working in the Orange Covid setting.



Ngā mihi nui

Sandy & the Team

Koru Team News: Term 1 Week 11

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Kia ora e te whanau,

We hope you are all happy and healthy, and that everything is going well for you all on the home front. We have officially reached the end of our first term here at school! It has been an incredibly busy term, and we are very proud of the resilience and perseverance our tamariki have shown, along with their ability to incorporate all aspects of our school values into their daily lives. Very well done, koutou!

Here is the Learning At Home page link for those of you who might be wanting to access this throughout the school holidays. You will see that there are enormous possibilities here on our Koru team page, from a range of extra Maths activities, a wide variety of Literacy activities, through to many picture books which have been read by the teachers and uploaded so that the wee ones can enjoy a quiet moment listening to a good story.

As we said, it has been a very busy term full of exciting activities and impressive progress throughout, including:

  • having the wonderful Kate in to teach our tamariki about different aspects of Digitech, 
  • having the lovely Sue in to help with some baking on Fridays, 
  • children making wonderful progress in their Structured Literacy groups, and
  • tamariki learning lots of new concepts, knowledge and strategies in the Maths area.

Unplugged programming, using individual paper mazes, and weaving play-based learning into Digitech, by choosing a character to act as a robot programmer and using kinetic sand as barriers and obstacles.

Vocalising the code, using the simple code blocks of 'forward', 'turn' and 'backwards'.

Guiding Bingo through the maze, by giving him a 'superpower' and adding 'jump' to the code blocks. 

Unplugged coding refers to learning coding skills, without the use of technology!

Incorporating our Sustainability theme into Digitech.

The tamariki talked about the impact of pollution and rubbish on underwater life.

They then 'taught' AI (the iPad app they were using) to tell the difference between a fish and rubbish, then, using the iPad to control a bluebot, children then set about cleaning up the ocean so that the sea creatures could be safe, happy and thrive!

Structured Literacy: 

Although your children haven't brought their literacy folders home over the holidays, this doesn't mean that their Literacy learning and practice must stop for the time being. You will find, in our Koru Learning at Home Literacy area, links to the letter sound cards (you could make your own copies for home, if you have a printer), their heart words, and several other aspects of phonemic awareness. In the phonics section, there is a link through to YouTube which gives lots of opportunities for the children to practise a variety of phonemic awareness activities. 

Maths: 

The children have been working hard to increase their knowledge of bigger numbers and the concepts like place value which are involved in this learning. They have been:

  • using tens frames to show the make up of 'teen' numbers (10 + ? = the particular teen number)
  • learning about how the teen numbers are represented by words in te Reo Māori
  • counting forwards to 20, and then on to 100
  • counting backwards from 10, and then backwards from 20
  • learning to read numbers to 20, 100 and beyond (up to any 3-digit number), and working towards understanding the concept of place value required when, for example, zero is a place holder, as in 702
  • solving fun Maths problems using a variety of strategies 
  • learning new maths games (like Traffic Light, Move and Prove and various versions of Memory which involve matching a number, for example, 14, with its matching tens frame pattern) 
  • making patterns and pictures, using the shape equipment
The progress the children have made in this area this term has been very exciting! Please visit our Learning At Home Maths area for a variety of fun activities to engage your children, if they are heard, at any point during the holidays, to make pleas such as, "PLEASE, can we have some Maths fun today?"

We love these Maths activities which require the children to justify their thinking, and which also allow for a wide variety of 'answers'.

Again, impressive thinking here, and a growing ability in tamariki to justify their thinking.

Excellent explanations and problem-solving here!

Learning about 'teen' numbers.

Learning that 'teen' means ten.

The children's drawings are representations of what they actually did, using popsicle sticks and hair ties, to form bundles of ten with some 'ones' left over (please note, the line through the ten 'sticks' is the hair tie!)

And aren't the tamariki amazing to be learning how to write equations in this way?

The Three Billy Goats Gruff: 
Over the last two weeks, we have had a theme within our akomanga, focusing on the Three Billy Goats Gruff. This has led to some incredibly imaginative thinking, along with the use of a variety of creative skills. Our tamariki have been involved in:

  • socio-dramatic role play where they began by building a bridge, then found all sorts of animals to represent the three billy goats and another animal (often a wild cat, such a s a tiger) to play the part of the troll, before retelling the story using those characters
  • creating a small world, where they used the skills of recalling what happens in the story to retell it to their peers using characters they had made 
  • a whole class bridge building competition, using such equipment as Duplo, wooden building blocks, Lego, boxes, small bricks, and a variety of classroom furniture. 
Two trolls (one large and pink; the other a small grey elephant) up to mischief in this retelling!

Watch out, little goats...

Oh, no - what is going to happen next?

... a bad day for one of the trolls.

...and a very bad day for the other!

More creative use of a variety of animals (including dinosaurs) in this retelling.

Another troll about to get his comeuppance!

And a creative variation on the Three Billy Goats Gruff theme, incorporating the use of the train set, some Lego and some shells!

Kete Certificates: 

Congratulations to Neasa, Kit, Jos Luke, and Nellie, for showing our school kete values and recently receiving certificates in the areas of:

  • We Care
  • We Love Learning and
  • We Make a Difference
Ka pai, tamariki!

We trust that you all have a wonderfully safe and happy Easter break and school holiday to follow. 

Thank you so much for the support which you have all provided for us here at school throughout this term. It is always greatly appreciated. Your children have shown wonderful levels of participation and contribution throughout this first term and will all, no doubt, be very tired. We trust you all have the chance to relax and recharge ready for an exciting Term 2 ahead.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

Elizabeth, Georgia, Stacey and Amy


Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter, Rāpare (Thursday) 14 April

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Today is the last day of Term 1, with Good Friday tomorrow marking both the start of the long Easter weekend and the school holidays.

Term 2 Starts on TUESDAY 3rd May

Please remember that the Monday after the school holidays will be a Staff Only Day for our Kura. Term 2 will start again on Tuesday 3rd May. We look forward to seeing everyone back after the holidays.

Covid-19 Update

Note that numbers may be different to previous graphs, as we do get historical cases reported.

After hitting a peak last week and again early this week, we have had no new cases of Covid-19 reported to us in the past two days. That is great news, and brings our rolling 7-day average from its highest point on Monday of 4.9, to a clearly dropping 2.7 today.
Attendance was also at a term low last week, only getting to 72% on three days. It was good to see that we were back up to 77% for most of this week.

We still need you to let us know if any of our children test positive during the holidays, please.
If your child tests positive, please email me (principal@beckenham.school.nz) with their name, and the date they either started symptoms or tested positive. We will be forwarding numbers to the Ministry of Education through the holidays.

Moving to Orange!!!

As you will be aware, the whole country is now working at the Orange Traffic Light setting. 



This means that we are very pleased to be able to welcome whānau back into the school grounds, for the first time properly since August last year! No more dropping and collecting at the gate (unless, of course, that is still working for you!) Masks won't be required when outside, although you are welcome to wear them if you choose to. 

At Orange, we ask you to wait outside, well away from the hub entrances when dropping and picking up children. A teacher from each hub will be available to greet you outside the hub in the mornings, and teachers will walk out with children in the afternoons. 

All children will finish school at 3pm again!

Whilst the mandate for mask-wearing in schools has been lifted, schools are being encouraged to consider the needs of their community and put appropriate local guidelines in place.

At Beckenham, we believe that masks have been one of the best tools available to us for limiting the spread of Covid-19 at school, and keeping our staff and our children as safe as we can. We are also aware that further waves of Covid-19 are expected, and that NZ is going into its first influenza winter in three years. We know that many families are also now travelling both within NZ and even outside NZ.


For these reasons, we have decided to continue with our status quo on mask-wearing inside our buildings. This means that children in Year 3/4 are strongly encouraged to wear a mask inside, and that our Year 5-8 children should continue wearing masks inside, as they have done so capably this term. Our staff will also continue to wear masks inside. 

We know that this cautious approach has served us well so far, and we will review this during Term 2, as we get a better picture of case numbers in our school community.

Welcome Back to Nicola Reddecliffe

We are very pleased to confirm that Nicola Reddecliffe will be rejoining ourstaff in the New Entrant Koru Team from the beginning of Term 2. Nicola is well-known to many of you, both as a parent and member of the PTA, as well as having been a teacher in the Koru Team last year. Welcome back, Nicola!


Welcome to Maisie Bowden

Maisie has been working as a casual Teaching Assistant for most of the first term. She began just doing a few hours of back-up work, and has quickly become a regular and indispensable part of our team! We love having Maisie on our staff, and thought it was time we introduced her to you properly! Maisie also works at BOSCO so is well-known by our students, and will be known to some of you as well.


From all of us on the staff, to all of you and your whānau... thank you for your continuing support of us all in the work we do with your children. This term has been really challenging, and we have made it through with your support. We are all going to be taking a well-needed break over the next two weeks, and we wish you and your families a safe and relaxing break too.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Principal - Tumuaki

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Thu 14th Apr - Last day of Term 1
Fri 15th Apr - Good Friday (School Closed)

Term 2

Note that Monday 2nd May is a Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Tue 3rd May - First day of Term 2 
Wed 25th May - BOT Meeting 5.30PM - 7.30PM
Wed 25th May - PTA Meeting 7.30PM - 9.30PM

Term Dates

Click here to view 2022 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Skye Langer - Year 4

Skye Langer, you are a fabulous model of all our school values. You show incredible focus and persistence in learning. You keep trying through challenging ideas or material, and you honestly and openly reflect on your learning.  You have a growth mindset and encourage all those around you to do the same. Being an expert on a number of subjects, you share your knowledge and creativity with those around you, such as in your comic club group! You make a difference by noticing and helping around the hub, and supporting others when they need it. You are a welcoming peer who greets others with a smile and an open mind. Skye - thanks for being your amazing self! 

School Notices

Farewell to Constable Ross Mitchell

Yesterday we had the sad honour of farewelling Constable Ross Mitchell who is retiring from his role as School Community Officer with the NZ Police. Ross has been in this role for over 11 years, and has worked in our school training Road Patrollers, and supporting our teachers with Health and Wellbeing programmes of 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' and 'D.A.R.E.' during that time. Ross has been a person who has built his work on building relationships with our tamariki, showing them that the police are there to support, help and protect our community.


It was a fabulous opportunity for our senior kapa haka students to use their skills to show Ross how much they all appreciate his contribution. He was very moved by the haka they did for him. We acknowledge Ross's contribution to our school and wish him all the very best in his new role leading the hardware department at Mitre 10 Mega in Hornby. Do say 'Hi' to him if you see him there!

Community Dental Service - Dental Care During the School Holidays

The Community Dental Service will be providing urgent and relief of pain appointments during the school break at:
  • Aranui Community Dental Clinic, 240 Breezes Road, Christchurch
  • Hornby Community Dental Clinic, 2 Hei Hei Road, Christchurch
You can access these appointments by calling our Contact Centre on 0800 846 983.
For any dental advice please call the Contact Centre on 0800 846 983 or email commdental@cdhb.health.nz

Lost Property

As always, there is a collection of large and small items, along with various unnamed uniform items at school, awaiting their owners to come and claim them.
These three, precious items, are sitting in the office - the earring found in the playground today, whilst Peter Rabbit and the glasses have been there for a few days. Please come and claim them next term, if they are yours!

BOSCO

If you are looking for AWESOME Easter fun for your kids this holiday – look no further! BOSCO has an exciting April Holiday programme planned, filled with activities to keep all ages entertained so YOU don’t have to. We have Suzie the magnificent performer coming to us, House of Bricks, a dance instructor to teach us a few dance moves and so much more! You will not want to miss out on all our baking, crafts and special days that we have planned like pyjama day, circus day, wizard day and definitely not the BIGGEST EASTER EGG HUNT EVER! So, if this sounds like something you are interested in, email Juanita at office@bosco.org.nz or book online via Aimy Plus. See you there!

Community Notices

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

Hockey

Southern United hockey looking for players keen to try goalkeeping

Are you athletic with quick reactions? If you are, you could be an amazing hockey goalkeeper. Southern United Hockey Club are on the hunt for more goalkeepers for their Year 7 and 8 teams. Specialist coaching and development opportunities will be offered to all interested goalkeepers. Contact juniors@suhc.co.nz for more information.

Cashmere Technical Football Club Holiday Fun Programme

Earth Day competition which TOCK

Pebbles Montesorri Cashmere

Pebbles Montessori Cashmere have limited spaces available in our nursery for under 2 years. Currently we have all day Mondays and Fridays plus every afternoon. Please contact us to find out more information and to arrange a visit admin@pebblespreschool.nz.


Free Family Event - The Cashmere Club

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 11

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Kia ora tātou,

It has been another busy fortnight, and our students have continued to amaze us with their passion and energy for learning. Well done to all our tamariki! Thanks again to all whānau for your ongoing support. We wish you a relaxing, healthy and fun holiday period. 

Park Detectives 

The Christchurch City Council Outdoor Education Team visited us over the past fortnight, and helped us learn more about birds, bugs and trees down at our local ponds. The children completed a 'what I already know' and 'what I'd like to learn more about' brainstorm before we completed the sessions. We had lots of fun talking about birds, bugs and trees. Here are some of the key terms we learnt. Why not ask your child about them at home and see what they recall? 

  • Decomposition 
  • Seed Dispersal
  • Pollination
  • Photosynthesis
We hope to undertake more inquiry learning about our environment over the next term. A big thanks to our parent helpers too!















Discovery Time: Gardening Group 

We have been observing and discussing how different plants grow, using their roots and petals and leaves to get nutrition from soil and sunlight. We have looked at bulbs, seeds and root systems and had fun planting beans and daffodil bulbs.








Discovery: Learning social skills through sport

We have an eager group of cricket players this term. The group love sharing their ideas about the rules, and making sure play is fair. They take turns and talk through decisions on scoring. They love to encourage each other.




More Discovery Fun...










Wellbeing: Special Spaces 

This week, we've talked about special places that help our wellbeing. We identified places at school and outside of school, and shared how we feel in these places. Our feelings included calm, happy, safe, joy-filled and loved.




Kauri Whānau Update: Term 1 Week 11

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 In this post:

  • Smart watches
  • Arrival time at school
  • Tech at South - first day
  • PB4L
  • 40 Hour Famine
  • Sport

Term 1 2022, has certainly been different to what usually happens in our Year 7 & 8 hub. We have been so impressed with how your children have responded to these differences and cancellations, that have been caused by the pandemic. It has also been a tiring term with the wearing of masks and lots of illness. The holiday has been well earned by everyone. We wish your whānau a safe and happy two weeks and look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday, May 3rd. Please note that Monday is a staff only day.


Smartwatches

As smartwatches are communication devices, they are not something that our tamariki can have on them during the school day. If a smartwatch comes to school, it will be treated as a phone and need to be handed into the phone box for safekeeping at the start of each day. This is in line with our school ICT agreement.


Arrival time at school

We have noticed a number of children arriving at school very early. This can cause some issues before school. Children should not be at school before 8:30. There are two exceptions for this: on Tuesdays, children can arrive at 8:25 for technology, and on Thursdays, Maths Club children arrive at 8:20.


Technology at South

We are looking forward to travelling to South Intermediate for technology classes from the first day of term two. Unless we contact you to say otherwise, children need to be at school by 8:30 on the first day of term two, Tuesday, May 3rd. 


Positive Behaviour For Learning

We use our PB4L lessons to address any current happenings, concerns or work-ons within our hub. In the past few weeks we have been noticing a trend of students leaving the hub to eat during learning time so we have highlighted the importance of eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet, largely focusing on the food pyramid and what impact each type of macronutrient has on our brain. In addition to this, we have been learning about Ramadan and what this looks like for learners within our kura over the next month. It has been a fantastic way to celebrate our cultural diversity and to reinforce global citizenship. 


Sport

Our sports leaders, Billy and Zoe, have put hours of time into planning a sports event for our hub this term. Despite the weather causing a change of timeframe, our tamariki thoroughly enjoyed playing korfball, spikeball, Kiorahi, Ultimate and T-ball. The encouragement of others and positive sportsmanship have been fabulous to see.

Please click this link to find out about sport in term 2 and indicate if you can help out.

Cross Country: Week 2 Term 2

We are really excited to get back into sports again in term 2.

In term 2 we have cross country on the Tuesday of week 2 for year 5 - 8 children. Inclusion is always a priority as we plan this event and COVID 19 provides another consideration. 

We know that many children will be thrilled about sporting activities resuming. We are also conscious that for people who have had Covid-19, the return to physical activities needs to be done carefully. Taking time to fully recover from Covid-19 and the effect of Long Covidare at the forefront of our minds as we plan our school cross country.  

Participating in our cross country sees many children embracing challenge and pushing the boundaries of their physical endurance. For a healthy, prepared body, this is a great thing. For a body that is recovering from illness, this can impact recovery. 

If your child has returned to school after being absent with Covid 19, we advise that they do not participate in a competitive manner. Instead, our recommendation is that your child walks the course or participates as an event helper. We know that this will be disappointing for some. The final decision on your child’s readiness for cross country at this time is ultimately one for you to make together as a whānau. If you decide your child should not participate in running the cross country for a medical reason (including recovering from having Covid-19), please email their homeroom teacher. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that your child is running/walking cross country on the Tuesday of week 2. 

If your child is well and healthy and intends to participate competitively in cross country, some running practice over the holidays would be a great idea.