Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Thursday 11 November 2021

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

With this week just gone having being a short week, I postponed the newsletter completion to Saturday when the weather was forecast to be less pleasant and hence find myself now looking out the window at the wet and grey day outside. I hope that many of you managed to enjoy the stunning day yesterday. I tried my hand at surfcasting out at Birdlings Flat - with no success, but enjoyed lots of sun and relaxation in trying!

Progress and Achievement updates - Reports via HERO

As we have previously noted, our move to HERO was to also provide a new, online portal for the ongoing reporting to whānau on your child's progress and achievement. We expect to open this portal to you this coming Friday, 19th November. During the week ahead, we will provide specific information on how to access and read the information in the portal. It will help if you have viewed the report information before you come to Learning Conferences the following week.

In the meantime, if you haven't yet logged onto HERO, please try and do that before Friday 19th. 
For information on how to download the app, click here.
For more detailed information on how to log into HERO - click here.


When you log into the app, you will need to select "NEW USER" and use the email address that you have provided to us that we use to email newsletters etc to you for. If we do not hold an email address for you, you will not be able to log into HERO. 

If you would like someone to call you to talk you through the process, please email Reihana - reihana.dougherty@beckenham.school.nz

Learning Conferences

Learning Conferences will be happening the week after next, on Tuesday 23rd November and Thursday 25th November. School will finish at 2pm on both days to facilitate these.

Please log onto www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and use the code wwwsx to book your learning conference with your child's home group teacher.




COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate - update

As I have mentioned in a previous newsletter, the government has mandated that all adults who work and or volunteer to provide any services in schools throughout New Zealand are now required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We have been working to support our staff and other support providers to ensure that we can meet the requirements of this mandate. The mandate comes into effect at 11:59pm on Monday 15th November. Our Board of Trustees can assure our community that we are ready to be fully compliant with the requirements of this mandate.
These requirements also apply to members of our community who come on site to support our students, including whānau who help with playground duty, trips and learning within the school. Thank you to everyone who has already provided us with the information we requested.
We get there together - to ensure the safest learning environment for our tamariki.

Ngā mihi mahana
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events:

Week 5:
Mon 15 Nov - Zone Athletics

Week 6:
Tue 23 Nov - Learning Conferences (2.15 - 7.30pm) SCHOOL FINISHES AT 2pm
Wed 24 Nov - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm, all welcome) 
Thu 25 Nov - Learning Conferences (2.15 - 7.30pm) SCHOOL FINISHES at 2pm
Fri 26 Nov - Celebration Assembly (12.00 - 12.30pm)

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 & 2022  term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Willow Day - Year 6

Willow, you are such a positive and hard-working student. You put a huge effort into your learning and show great persistence when the learning is challenging. You are an extremely reliable and trustworthy leader, helping to make a difference at our school. Ka pai to mahi, Willow. You are a star!

School Notices

Theatre Sports

Congratulations to our 2 Theatre Sports team who competed on Saturday in The Court Theatre annual competition. They were stars and displayed our school values to a tee! They were up against some tough competition (Year 9's and 10's), but this didn't stop them from 'improv-ing' their hearts out! Well done to: JJ Mathias, Connor Colquhoun, Fergus Macmillan, Emma Reedy, Lachy Mcleod, Zoe Winsor, Luisa Jose, Katya Atlas, Rory Price, Syesha Mee and Oliver Mclachlan. 


ESOL over the past few weeks...

Sunflowers have been the theme for our students. They have planted seeds and we are discussing and awaiting germination!





The students learned about the life-cycle of the sunflower plant and associated vocabulary.

Mana Ake Drop Ins

A number of whānau have already made great use of the Mana Ake “drop-ins”. Sessions are now on Tuesdays from 9:30 - 10:30 for parents, starting on November 2nd. These drop-in sessions are here to provide parents with an opportunity to have a private, informal conversation around the well being of their child with one of our Mana Ake workers (kaimahi). If you feel like you would like to attend a drop-in session, please book in a time via the link here: Mana Ake booking  The code to use is yj2ed. Alternatively, you can contact Jacky in the office and she will make a booking for you.

Book Character & Rainbow Diversity Day!

Get excited because Student Council and Diversity Group are teaming up to bring you an exciting, new mufti day. Just like we did in term 1 when we did “Purple day and Lots Of Socks day’ we are combining our fundraising efforts to support the Child Cancer Foundation and Qtopia. We are giving you the option of wearing the book character costume that you didn’t get to wear during lockdown, or dressing up in something rainbow coloured to support the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate diversity. It is a fundraiser so it would be greatly appreciated if everyone could bring a gold coin donation. The day that this will be on is Friday the 3rd of December.

-The Student Council and Diversity Group

Sports News

Today we had a fabulous Junior Athletics event on the park with a lot of fun, laughter, and both serious and not-so-serious competition! interrupted momentarily by a false alarm and fire evacuation, and fabulous none-the-less!



PTA News

Weetbix Kids TRYathlon

The Weetbix TRYathlon is on (fingers crossed!) next year, Sunday 6th of March in the morning at Jellie Park. If you have a child aged 6 or older who is keen to get involved you can easily register them online at https://tryathlon.co.nz/locations/christchurch/ and join our school group by searching “Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto”.

There will be a gazebo for the kids to hang out in and a BBQ cooking well deserved sausages on the day.
It’ll be a great day family day out and something to look forward to for next year!

Salami Collection

Please note that pick up is from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto at the following times:

Thursday 9th December 2021
  • 9.00 - 10.00am
  • 2.30 - 3.30pm
  •   Friday 10th December 2021
  • 9.00 - 10.00am
  • 2.30 - 3.30pm
Thank you for placing your order, your support is as always really appreciated. 

Please make sure you have paid online if that was how you decided to pay, as we cannot place the order if payment has not been received.

Our account is 12-3148-0244558-00.

Keep in touch with the PTA

To stay up to date with the PTA, please check out our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Facebook page, linked here. Or come along to one of our meetings - all welcome.
 
Meeting dates can be found in the weekly school newsletter, or on the school calendar - linked here.
These meetings are usually held on a Wednesday night 7.30-9.30pm.

BOT Update

Māori Educational Success - Policy Review

From time to time we will be asking you to review one of our policies that come up on our review cycle. The policy for parental review this term is the Māori Educational Success policy. 

You will find it on School Docs at this link. 


Username: beckenham
Password: pride


Click on Current Review, and then the Policy name - on the right you will see which Policies are available for review by Parents. Then simply follow the directions to submit feedback.

Feedback is encouraged, and most welcomed.

Community Notices

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

A Beckenham Kindy Announcement

We are sad to announce that after 23 years at Beckenham Kindy Helen Peters is retiring.  Helen’s compassion and wisdom has been an amazing asset to the kindy.  She has helped countless kids settle into kindy and find a place of belonging. 

Due to alert levels we are unable to give Helen the proper shindig she deserves.  Instead we would like to invite all current and former pupils, to come and say Haere ra during Helens last week with us.  You are welcome to drop by between 9-230 from Monday 13th dec through to Wednesday 22nd dec.

If you have any stories, pictures or words of thanks for Helen we are going to collate these into a book.  Please send these to rach.boulton@gmail.com by the 14 Dec with the childs name and the last year they attended kindy. 

We are also collecting a koha to get something special for Helen.  If you would like to contribute, drop to George at Kindy or Rachel at 116 Fisher Ave, or contact the email address above.

Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 4

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 Kia ora whānau, 

This term is just whizzing by! We had a fantastic Junior Athletics Day today, with the students participating in Discus, Sack Races, High Jump, Egg and Spoon races, and Javelin. This year we were unable to have our whole school house relays so we held a Kōwhai house relay. It was a very exciting race!

The students all showed our school values today, especially We Get There Together and We Love Challenge today. We are so proud of them. 

Here are some photos from the Kōwhai Athletics Day:

































We hope you have a lovely long weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai team - Laura, Quyhn, Nick, Meagan and Rowe 


Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 4 Week 4

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 In this post:

  • This coming week in relationships and sexuality classes
  • Sunhats
  • Top Team next Tuesday
  • Celebrations

Relationships and sexuality sessions this coming week:

We have completed the 'Who am I?' section on the programme, which looked at identity and stereotypes and continue to be impressed with how the children are contributing and responding in discussions. Over the coming week, we will be focusing on relationships. This includes looking at different types of relationships and the qualities we value in these relationships, intimacy, sexual attraction, consent, sexual orientation and diversity. 

Sunhats:

In term 4 sunhats are required during break times and whenever we are outside for learning. While many of the children are organised with these, a small number are not. Please ask your child about their sunhat situation. If they don't have a school hat with a brim, any brimmed hat will do.

Top Team:

We are looking forward to our annual Top Team competition next Tuesday afternoon, Nov 16th. Many thanks to Brett, Richard, Nicola, Amanda and Jules who will be helping by running stations. This event includes water activities, so children need to bring a change of clothes. Quick-dry or thermal tops, as well as shorts, are recommended. Sunhats are essential. Bring on the fun!

Celebrations:

A huge well done to Megan and the two theatre sports teams who competed at the Court Theatre last weekend: Syesha, JJ, Connor C, Oliver, Zoe W, Emma R, Fergus Mac, Rory, Katya, Lachy and Luisa.  They have spent hours learning and perfecting their craft and can be proud of their performances.  It was exciting to see past students involved in some of the teams we were competing against. We hope our Year 8s continue this passion for theatre sports as they move on they high school.




Last Friday we presented our sportsmanship, social studies, science and mathematics cups at assembly. As parents could not be present for the presentation of cups, we have included the citations below.

Sportsmanship

When selecting recipients for the sportsmanship awards, we consult with a range of people who have worked with our Year 8s in a sporting context. 

Our first recipient of the Sportsmanship Award is Cooper Reddecliffe. Cooper, your coaches praised you for your ability to unite your team. Through positive talk, you raised the spirits of your team and focused them on the mahi that needed to be done on the court. Whatever the result, you stay positive and determined. 

Our second recipient of the Sportsmanship Award is Zoe Clarke. Zoe, your coaches talked about your resilience and about the way you let your playing do the talking. You are humble in victory and gracious in defeat every single lesson, every single practice, every single competition. Zoe, you give so much encouragement to those around you making a competitive environment an inclusive environment too. 

Thank you, both for all the times that you have helped with the organisation and running of an event at our kura. Cooper and Zoe, no one can deny your huge passion for sport. It is awesome to see you paying it forward by coaching younger tamariki at our kura. You are both fantastic role models to them. I am speaking on behalf of all your sports coaches when I say that at every event, we are so proud to stand beside you because of the values you show while representing our kura.

Social Studies

Social Studies covers a wide range of topics including geography, history and politics. Our recipient of the Social Studies Cup for 2021 is Otis Yeomen. Otis, your knowledge of social studies makes you a fascinating person to talk to. Not only can you recall a seriously impressive array of facts that span the scope of social studies, but you are also a deep and critical thinker, who makes connections and asks probing questions. You have an insatiable thirst to learn about our world and how society works. Otis, you articulate sophisticated concepts with clarity and you enjoy a well-reasoned debate. What an amazing mind you have. 

Science

Our recipient of the Science Cup for 2021 is Marcellus Scott. Marcellus, your ability to question things is expected, accepted and amazing. This quality has helped you to look at science with your eyes wide open. Your interest in how things work from a scientific perspective kept us as teachers on our toes. It is minds like yours that will help prove theories in the future. We will miss your debates, your inquisitive nature, but most of all your science mind. 

Mathematics

This year the mathematics cup is jointly awarded to Zoë Clarke and Zoe-Arianna Clarke.

We have a group of passionate mathematicians in Year 8. Students who relish opportunities to challenge themselves and learn new and tricky concepts. Zoë, you are one of these passionate mathematicians. You go above and beyond to challenge yourself in maths. Your Cantamath project on Pythagoras, which was actually several projects wrapped into one, was an example of the very high standards you set yourself. You were the first to finish all of Maths Whizz, enthusiastically tackle very challenging problems and qualified for The Final Challenge in Otago Problem Solving.

Zoe, you have been on the most incredible journey with your maths learning. Maths can be a subject that challenges the best of us. When maths got tricky, you did not step down and admit defeat. You embraced the challenge with impressive grit. You asked questions, spent time doing additional maths learning and you kept rowing. Your confidence and your ability have grown in leaps and bounds. Zoe, what a fantastic math-magician you have become! 

Final Salami Reminder – PTA

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Kia ora e te whanau,

You only have until 3pm Thursday to get your orders in for delicious Cured Salami!

We will be at school Wednesday and Thursday before and after school to collect order forms.



Please make sure you have paid online if that was how you decided to pay, as we can not place the order if payment has not been received.

Our account is 12-3148-0244558-00.

If you have paid online, please double check your order form has been handed in as we have a few payments with no order form yet!

If you want to order via google doc please click here:

As always, thanks so much for your generous support of our fundraiser!

Ngā mihi,

Your PTA

Koru News Term 4 Week 3

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Kia ora whanau,

This week we started practising for our athletics day coming up next Thursday, 11th November. The children have been learning the techniques involved in competing in high jump, sprints, the gumboot throw and the bean bag toss. The children have been really enjoying trying something new. At this stage, because we are still at Level 2, unfortunately parents are unable to attend the event. We will endeavour to take lots of photos of your gorgeous children embracing 'We Love Challenge' to share with you following the event.







This week our shared reading focus has been 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Children have joined in reading parts of the story, retold the story and thought of different words to describe how the caterpillar was feeling. They have made many beautiful caterpillar and butterfly crafts. They have also been involved in class role plays and hot-seating in order to spark their thinking beyond the story.  Hot-seating is a drama strategy in which a character or characters, played by the teacher or a child, are interviewed by the rest of the group. It invites children to recount a specific event, explore motivation and multiple perspectives/experiences related to a theme, topic, event, or an idea within a story.







We have also been busy exploring numbers in our play this week.



Showing 'We Get There Together' in our Learning Through Play.


During Learning Through Play last week some of our tamariki made some little peg doll fairies to play with in our fairy garden. On Friday the children got an opportunity to use their Learning Through Play time to play in the garden. They created some very cute scenes with items they had been collecting. We especially loved the swimming pool for the fairies to bathe in!








Reminders:

School Photos - Chelsea and Tracey's home groups will be having their class and individual photos taken on Wednesday morning.

Athletics Day - Thursday, 11th November. Children can wear their house tops if they wish. Sorry, no spectators allowed for this event.

Hats - In Terms 1 & 4 hats are compulsory for outdoor play. Please ensure your child has a named plain red or black hat to bring to school each day.

Sunscreen - As the days get warmer we will be reapplying sunscreen before lunch playtime each day.

Calendar Art - Have you checked out your child's gorgeous colourful artwork yet online. Their artwork can be made into calendars, mousepads, cards, notebooks or more. These make perfect Christmas gifts! Orders close 9 a.m. on Monday, 8th November.

PTA Salami fundraiser - Hopefully these order forms have made it home! You can drop your order form and money to the collectors before or after school outside the Sandwich Rd entrance every day. Online orders and payments can also be made to the PTA. Orders close 11 November. Salamis will be ready for collection on the 9th and 10th December (after school or evening options), just in time for the holiday season or Christmas presents.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

The Koru teachers: Elizabeth, Nicola, Chelsea, Tracey and Stacey