Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter Friday 22 October 2021

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Remember that this is a four-day weekend with Labour Day on Monday and a Staff Only Day on Tuesday. We look forward to seeing all the children back on WEDNESDAY.

Welcome Assembly today
We had a welcome assembly with a difference today - outside and sadly, without all of our new families and whānau there to share in the welcome.

We welcomed 29 children, 25 of whom were new to Beckenham since Week 2 of last term, and four children who have recently returned to Beckenham after having some time away.

We celebrated their 12 different nationalities and cultural backgrounds with a parade of flags and got a lovely photo of them all together at the end!



It was great to have Te Whānau Mahi Tahi performing again for us and leading from the front of the assembly, welcoming us all in.





Thank you!

...to one of our wonderful parents who built this beautiful 'fairy garden' in one of the planter boxes over the school holidays. It has been played with constantly since school started again this week!


Please be aware of Netflix's new streamed show "Squid Game"

This programme has a rating of 16+ for a very good reason - extreme violence, strong language, and regular, very frightening scenes depicting death that are not suitable for primary aged children.



You may have seen this article on Stuff about the impact that viewing this programme is having on children in Australia.
We urge you to closely monitor your child's viewing, and be aware that they may be able to watch this through Youtube or other platforms, so extremely close parental guidance is encouraged.

Athletic Sports next week - no spectators please

After carefully considering the guidance from the Ministries of Health and Education, we will be running the Year 5-8 Athletic Sports next week as a 'no spectator event'. Whilst we operate with staff and students, we are able to have events like this outside, but as soon as we add spectators into the mix, we would be operating outside of those guidelines.
Thank you for your understanding of this. We will do our best to take lots of photos and will post these to our school Facebook page.

We wish you all a very relaxing and safe long weekend.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings
Tumuaki - Principal

Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Week 2:
Mon 25 Oct - Labour Day (School Closed)
Tue 26 Oct - Staff Only Day (School Closed)
Wed 27 Oct - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm)  Dessert Evening - All Welcome
Thur 28 Oct - Year 5 - 8 Athletics
Fri 29 Oct - Celebration Assembly (12 - 12.30)
Sun 31 Oct - PTA Halloween Picnic in the Park Cancelled

Week 3:
Wed 3 Nov -  Board of Trustee's Meeting (5.30 - 7.30)
Sat 6 Nov - Theatre Sports Competition (@Rangi Ruru Girls)

Week 4:
Wed 10 Nov - New Entrant (Chelsea and Tracey's Home Groups)  & Year 8 School Photos 
Thur 11 Nov - Year 0 - 4 Athletics (TBC)
Fri 12 Nov - Canterbury Anniversary Day (School Closed)

Term Dates

Click here to view 2021 & 2022 term dates.

Citizen of the Week

Misha Lee - Year 3

Misha, you are an absolutely awesome member of the Kōwhai whanau! You have an fantastic 'can do' attitude and set a wonderful example to others as you cheerfully work hard in all areas of school life.  Misha, you are a considerate, caring and enthusiastic friend, who naturally incorporates our key values in everything you do. Thank you for being such a superstar! Tino Pai! 

School Notices

Food Allergy Guidelines

Across our school, we have a number of children with different food allergies.
To support the wellbeing of these students we have the following guidelines in place which we ask you to follow:
  • Whenever children bring food to school for shared kai occasions, please follow the guidelines provided by the teachers for that event. 

  • We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change.  Our full allergy policy and guidelines in this booklet, are also available on the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto website under “Information - Policies - SchoolDocs” then search ‘allergy’. 
Username: beckenham
Password: pride

If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them in the first instance with your child’s point of contact teacher.

Mana Ake “Drop-Ins” are continuing…

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.

Sunscreen, Hats and Drink Bottles

Please remember to send your child to school each day with sunscreen applied, and with a named school hat and their named drink bottle.



Medication At School

If a child requires medication at school on a long or short term basis, parents/caregivers need to complete a medicine authority form with Jacky or Reihana in the office. Procedures are followed to ensure that it is kept securely, and administered appropriately.

Any medication that is required to be kept at school on an ongoing basis, expiry dates need to be checked regularly by parents/caregivers. If the school notices an expiry date is due parents/caregivers will be advised.

Parents/caregivers are asked to please update the school on any medical/health information about their child by contacting the school office.

ESOL News

This week...

Koru children enjoyed talking and playing a shopping game. They learnt about healthy food, too.



Kahikatea and Kowhai did likewise, and also played some memory and team building games.




Canterbury Schools Orienteering Festival 6th and 7th November


Orienteering is a fun sport, using a map to navigate around checkpoints. While the aim is to finish the course as fast as possible, one of the great aspects of orienteering is that everyone is free to go at their own pace which suits their fitness and desire! For those interested in adventure racing, navigation is an essential skill and most teams have at least one member with orienteering experience.

The schools orienteering festival events are at the Groynes on the 6th November and Bottle Lake forest on the 7th November. The courses are set to be suitable for aged 9 and older and can be done individually or in pairs (many younger children also compete as well but would need to feel confident without an adult). Participants are able to enter one or both days. More information is available on the webpage
https://papo.org.nz/series/view/21/canterbury-schools-orienteering-festival-2021 or from Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto parent and orienteering club member, Jenni Adams jennia.home@gmail.com  Entries for the festival close Friday 29th October and should be made individually using the link from the webpage.

After school training opportunities are available over the next two weeks:

Tuesday 26 October | Halswell Quarry | Finlay’s Picnic Area at the end of the main road into the park

Wednesday 27 October |  Barnett Park | End of the car park near the field 

Monday 1 November |  Heathcote Domain | Meet by Cricket pavilion  

Tuesday 2 November  | Hansen Park / Rudolf Steiner School |  Playground in Hansen Park 

For the trainings bring: Comfortable shoes, a compass if you have one, and $2 for a map.  

Sports News

Congratulations to Nevannah who is developing a passion for Netball Umpiring, and has been recognised for her commitment and dedication with these two awards. Nevannah's goal is to one day umpire a Silver Ferns test match.

Cousins Ollie and Lola represented Canterbury during the school holidays, in a 4 day basketball tournament held in Ashburton. Both played some exceptional basketball and had some great wins for their respective U13 teams. Congratulations!


PTA News

Event Cancellation

Regretfully due to COVID, the PTA has decided to err on the side of caution, and cancel the Halloween picnic at the park, that was to be held on the 31st.

Community Notices

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

Huntsbury Preschool is hosting an OPEN DAY


Tuesday 26 October from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Spaces available for 2-5 year olds, Monday-Friday
Come check out our special little preschool on the hill.

Art Competition

As part of our council consultations on coastal hazards, we are running an art competition on what Christchurch might look like in 50 years. We want people to get creative and show us how life in coastal Ōtautahi Christchurch will be. Floating houses? Water cars? Houses and schools on poles? Water bikes? You can show us in any way you like – a drawing or painting, short movie, a presentation, a sculpture, a poster, a photo – get creative!

 Drop off is at any of our Christchurch City Council libraries, or get in touch with Hannah.Ballantyne@ccc.govt.nzto arrange collection.


Koru News Term 4 Week 1

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 Kia ora whanau,

Welcome to the fourth term of the year, and what a busy one it looks as if it's going to be! It was such a treat to see all of those wide and happy smiles back at the school gate this week. We give an especially warm welcome to Hunter, Millie and James who all had their first day at school on Monday. What a wonderful job they're all doing of settling in beautifully at school. Mīharo, tamariki!

All children have returned to the school routines very happily, and are enthusiastically embracing their learning, including those crucial areas of learning like showing 'We Care', embracing challenge, helping each other out when the need arises and making a difference by keeping the learning spaces tidy and well-organised.

A huge thank you goes out to the parents who have created the absolutely gorgeous fairy houses for the Koru team's raised garden area. The children are loving the play in this area, and have been having some great ideas for the things that they could make or bring in from home to decorate the garden even further. Some of their ideas include:

  • little plants (flowers, little succulents and herbs)
  • tiny terracotta pots
  • little beds for the fairies to sleep in
  • decorations for the houses
  • stones, painted or plain
  • a little lake!
  • little hollows and tunnels
If you have any of the above items at home, or perhaps resources which could be put together to create any of the above, all contributions will be gratefully received. Next week, we're going to have a go at making our own little fairies out of old-fashioned wooden pegs. If you have any fabric which would be suitable for clothes or wings, any little buttons, tiny fake flowers, or any other items which you think might be useful, we'd love it if you were to send them along to school. Thank you so much, in anticipation!

Learning Through Play:
The children have jumped back into their Learning Through Play with energy and enthusiasm. They have had some special Koru time in Treemendous, and there are also several little schools in operation, both indoors and outdoors (see below).























We love the examples of our school kete values being evidenced in the children's play in the photos above. You could ask your children to describe the values they can see in action in these photos!

Structured Literacy:
Both teachers and children are loving getting back into Structured Literacy lessons! The children are showing wonderful focus and engagement, and are feeling very proud of the progress that they're making. Please ensure that your children are practising reading their heart words fluently and confidently, as well as writing them. Practising writing the heart words at home will help your child enormously with their confidence in Literacy groups at school. They can also be putting their letter cards together to form simple 2 or 3 letter words, or for those children who have been at school for a longer time, they can be putting their heart words and letter cards together to form sentences, which they can then read to you.






Great work, tamariki! What fantastic spelling and writing.

Handwashing:
We're back into the routine of washing our hands regularly at school, along with using hand sanitiser. We thought you might like to see an example of how diligent the children are when it comes to handwashing. They are experts!







Hats:
A reminder, please, to ensure that your child brings their named hat to school every day. 

We trust that you all have an absolutely wonderful long weekend, and please remember that Tuesday is a Staff Only Day, so we'll see the children back at school, bright-eyed and with wide smiles, on Wednesday next week!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

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



Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 4 Week 1

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 In this post:

  • Relationships and Sexuality Education
  • Parent help
  • Cantamath canceled
  • Sunhats and masks
  • Year 8 photos

    • Relationships and Sexuality Education

    Many thanks to everyone who has indicated they will be coming to the Relationships and Sexuality Education parent meeting this this evening (Thursday) in our hub. If you intend to attend and have not let us know yet, please fill in this form. Lessons will start next Wednesday.

    Parent Help

    Many thanks to the parents who will be helping with our passions programme this term. I am also keen to have a helper or two to join our 'Sustainable Gifts' passion. This will involve supervising a small group in a making activity each Friday afternoon. Even if you could just make some Fridays, that would make a difference.  Please fill in this form if you can help.

    During this term we have two events planned where we will require parent help, Top Team on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 16th, and a trip to Corsair Bay on Thursday, December 9th. If you can help with either of these events, please complete this form.

    Over the past six or so years we have had a Year 8 pool and pizza party in the last week of term, from 4 - 6pm. In the past, this has been hosted by a teacher or a parent at their homes. We would love this tradition to continue. We organise the pizza and provide supervision, however, none of us live at a property suitable for hosting such a gathering this year. If you think you could host such an event or if you have a good idea for an alternative, please email Nicky.

    Cantamath

    We received an email from the Cantamath organisers yesterday to say that despite exploring many possible options they are unable to go ahead this term. There were a large number of outstanding projects that we were going to send through to Cantamath. These are in Pukaki and will need to go home, some via car - looking at their size. 

    Sunhats and masks

    It was fabulous to see a huge number of our team prepared with masks for the tech bus on Tuesday. Please keep checking that these are packed for all Year 7 & 8s on Tuesday mornings.
    We have a small number of children who are yet to bring a sunhat to school. This makes things really tricky for breaktimes and PE. We realise that Year 8s may not want to purchase a red hat if theirs is missing. Any fully brimmed sunhat will suffice.

    Year 8 Photos

    Many thanks to those who have already sent me a photo of your Year 8 as a 5 year old. If you have yet to do this,  can you please email me (nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz) a photo of your child when they started school. This can either be an 'at / going to school' photo or any photo of them as a 5-year-old. If you cannot email a photo, please send in the hard copy next week and I will scan and return it the same day. I'd love these pics ASAP.

    Important Health & Safety Newsletter, Friday 15 October 2021

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    Principal's Patch

    Kia ora koutou

    I hope that you have all managed to get some time to rest and relax with your family during these school holidays. We are all looking forward to welcoming our tamariki back to school on Monday, with a special welcome for a number of new students who will be starting.

    This newsletter is to keep you up to date on our ongoing Health & Safety guidelines in this ever-changing COVID-19 environment. We face the new term still at Alert Level 2, and understand that it is increasingly likely that Delta will soon appear in our community. During the two weeks of the school holidays, the COVID situation has continued to be challenging in the North Island, and, as a result, there continue to be changes mandated around the way we all need to behave and operate, so as to keep everyone in our community as safe and healthy as we possibly can. A significant announcement this week has been the new mandate for all school staff to be fully vaccinated.

    The information in italics below has come directly from a Ministry of Education bulletin this week. We are receiving daily updates and clarifications on procedures and expectations to help us understand our responsibilities going into Term 4. 

    Applying the mandatory vaccination and testing requirements

    On Monday 11 October 2021 the Government advised that all staff and workers who may have contact with children and students in schools and kura throughout the country (regardless of COVID-19 Alert Level) will be required to have a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by 15 November and be fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022.
     
    From 1 January 2022, education services must only allow those that are fully vaccinated to provide onsite services during opening hours.

    This means vaccinations are mandatory for all those working onsite including teachers, relief teachers, casual staff, administration staff, caretakers, cleaners, OSCAR providers and hostel staff – whether direct employees or employees of a contractor. It also applies to unpaid workers, such as volunteers (including parent volunteers) and any members of the community who are on site at the school kura, as they are likely to come into contact with students. 
     
    The vaccination requirement does not apply to parents or whānau undertaking student pick-ups and drop-offs, but these should be conducted in an outdoor environment where face coverings must be worn, and physical distancing measures retained.

    We will be working through the process of gathering vaccination information from our staff next week. 

    As you can see from the information above, we will also need to begin gathering vaccination information from any adults who come onto the school site as workers or as volunteers, whānau included. Our understanding is that this will be compulsory from the beginning of next year. Please do not be offended if you are volunteering and we request this information from you this year; we do not want to have a big job at the start of the school year if we can make a start on it now. Being unvaccinated will not preclude you from volunteering this year, however, it will from the start of next year.

    Wearing of masks:



    Adults and Masks: There has also been a change in the guidelines to schools on the wearing of masks. Staff at school still do not have to wear masks, but may choose to do so at any time. When any other adults come onto the school site, face coverings MUST now be worn and physical distancing measures maintained, unless this gets in the way of the delivery of the curriculum.
    This means that caregivers and whānau will always need to wear a mask when you come onto the school site, and that staff will also wear masks if we are meeting with you.

    Students and Masks: Students are not required to wear masks at school. If any student wishes to wear a mask, they are absolutely able to do that.
    There has been a change to the requirements around bus transport, particularly for our Year 7/8 students going to technology each Tuesday on the bus.
    Students who are aged 12 and over are now required to wear a mask on both school and public bus services, under all alert levels. Students under 12 are encouraged to wear a mask on school transport.

    As we have increasing numbers of students in our Year 7/8 area are 12 and 13 years old, we have decided to take an inclusive and pragmatic approach and request that ALL Year 7/8 students bring and wear a mask on the technology bus each Tuesday, and on any other bus trips that the Year 7/8 students may make. 

    Sunhats

    As we start Term 4, please ensure that your child has a named red or black school sunhat at school every day.



    Drink Bottles (no water fountains at Alert Level 2)

    While we continue to be at Alert Leve 2, our drinking fountains are not available to be used. This means that all children need to bring a named water bottle to school every day. Please check that this comes home each day for cleaning and refilling.

    Staying connected to your child's home group teacher

    We appreciate that it is much more challenging at the moment to stay connected to your child's learning and school life when all of the above restrictions are in place. Please email your child's teacher if you want to make a time to pop in after school (wearing a mask) to have a quick catch-up, or to see inside your child's learning space (especially if you are new to the school).

    Reports and Learning Conferences

    This year has been a different one in terms of our reporting schedule, as we tranistion across to HERO. We expect to have progress and achievement reports to you at the end of Week 5, with Learning Conferences in Week 6 (23rd and 25th November). More information about these will come out next week.

    See you all next week!

    Ngā mihi mahana
    Sandy Hastings
    Tumuaki/Principal

    Kauri Whānau: Year 8 Yearbook

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     Kia ora,

    No doubt you are finding it hard to believe that your Year 8 youngster has only 8 and a half weeks of primary / intermediate education left! As part of our farewell, we put together a yearbook with photos and memories for the Year 8s to treasure. To do this we need your help.

    1. Can you please email me (nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz) a photo of your child when they started school. This can either be an 'at / going to school' photo or any photo of them as a 5-year-old. If you cannot email a photo, please send in the hard copy next week and I will scan and return it the same day. I'd love these pics ASAP.

    2. Talk with your child about the memory they might write about (a Beckenham memory from the past 8 years) at school next week. They also need to choose a friend and a teacher who they would like to write a memory about them.

    Ngā mihi

    Nicky Dunlop