Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Newsletter, Friday 17 September, 2021

‘Kia kaha’ is well understood in New Zealand English with its meaning of ‘be strong’. We often talk about languages as if they are people – talking about language health, strength and revitalisation. So when we say ‘Kia kaha te reo Māori’ we’re saying  - ‘Let’s make the Māori language strong'. 

This week has been Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) here in Aotearoa and I have been really impressed by how much more te reo Māori I have heard and seen through the media this year than ever before.

At our kura (school), each hub participated in their own way in celebrating and learning more te reo Māori. 

The display below was put up in the Whare Pukapuka (library) by Anne, our amazing librarian. 

Our goal is always to make te reo Māori a language that our tamariki (children) understand and can use with confidence. This is a challenge when none of our staff are fluent in te reo, and there is a shortage of fluent te reo teachers throughout the motu (nation). We have a team of kaiako (teachers) at school who support us to upskill one another and make sure we keep our focus in this kaupapa (matter)!

We encourage you as a whānau (family) to ako (learn) together, and to add te reo Māori into your daily conversations!

It's been a week of fairly cold mornings at the gate this week, so a huge thank-you to our staff who work the entrances every morning. Thank you also to our road patrol team who are there each day, morning and afternoon, making sure we all get across the road safely. We do appreciate that it is tricky not being able to come onto the school site each day and we thank you all for your patience.

Do you, or one of your neighbours, have a pre-schooler turning five during 2022? 

Are they enrolled yet? If not, please contact Jacky in the office about enrolment as soon as possible. It helps us significantly with our staffing and planning if we know in advance who to expect at school the following year! 

You can find enrolment information and forms here on our website.

Sandy Hastings

Tumuaki (Princpal)

Lockdown is over and the PTA is back!

The Readathon has been a bit disjointed thanks to COVID, but let's start where we left off! We will be at the main gate on Sandwich Rd every day next week collecting any cards that have been completed or money you still have to donate. We will have cool bookmarks to give in return.

The model describes health and wellbeing as a wharenui/meeting house with four walls. These walls represent taha wairua/spiritual wellbeing, taha hinengaro/mental and emotional wellbeing, taha tinana/physical wellbeing and taha whānau/family and social wellbeing. Our connection with the whenua/land forms the foundation.

When all these things are in balance, we thrive. When one or more of these is out of balance, our wellbeing is impacted. 

Taha whānau is the people we care about, who recharge us and make us feel we belong. Whānau isn’t just our immediate relatives. It includes our friends, hoamahi/colleagues, iwi or community – the people who are close to our hearts. 

Taha wairua is about taking notice and appreciating the beauty around us. It’s about rediscovering things that make us feel awe, hope, strength, unity and connection. For some, wairua is faith or a higher power. Sometimes our wairua isn’t strong and we encourage you to think about what wairua means to you and ways to strengthen it. When your wairua is strong, it’s easier to feel good, cope with challenges and build strong whānau relationships.

Taha tinana is about how your body feels and how you care for it. Refuelling your body helps you to feel mentally well. Sometimes your tinana might not be where you’d like it to be and this might be beyond your control. What’s important is that you do what you can to nurture it.

Taha hinengaro is your mind, heart, conscience, thoughts and feelings. Just like your physical health, your hinengaro needs to be nurtured. Hinengaro is what you do to stimulate and refresh your mind so you can better cope with the ups and downs of life.

Whenua is our connection to the land. It’s soil, plants, animals and people – tangata whenua. It’s the earth through which you are connected to your tūpuna/ancestors. Whenua is a place of belonging and it’s comforting that it is never too far away.

BOSCO’s October Holiday Programme is now open for bookings. We are very excited about the variety of crafts, baking and sport activities we have planned these holidays. We will also be visiting Ferrymead and playing a fantastic round of minigolf at Caddyshack. Pony Parties will bring their amazing animals to visit us and the boys from Cheapskate Skateskool are ready to come and teach us a few tricks again! We have limited spaces available so email Juanita now at office@bosco.org.nz to find out more or make a booking online via Aimy Plus.