Principal's Patch
Kia ora koutou
New Playground Opening - this Monday, 21 November, 9:10am
Nau mai, haere mai! After much excitement from our tamariki, who have been keenly watching the removal and rebuild happening in our Junior Playground area - with many pātai (questions), the new playground will be ready to be officially opened this Monday morning at 9:10am. We invite all whānau to join us for the opening. The playground will be opened with a Karakia, and a ribbon cutting and Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, our senior kapa haka group, will perform. If you are able to join us, please feel very welcome to do that.
Please note, all children need to be at school before the bell at 8:55am so that they can be in their hub when the roll is taken. Teachers will bring children over to the playground at 9:05am, ready for the opening at 9:10am. We will aim to be done by 9:30am.
A big thank you to PLAYCO and our Property Team, especially Richard Scott from the Board of Trustees, for all the work that has gone into the planning and the build.
Whānau Survey - please contribute your perspective...
Over the next 2 to 3 years we will be further developing our understanding of gifted learners and how we meet their needs at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto. This survey is part of the initial process and helps us with our planning and direction. We encourage all whānau to complete this survey which will be open until Monday 28th November.
Thank you...
...to all of you for your support and understanding in picking up children at 1pm yesterday so that our teachers could attend their union meeting. It was very much appreciated by us all.
...to all of the children who participated in our fun PJ or 'Dress Like a Teacher' day today and to the whānau who supported them! Contrary to what I put in the newsletter last week, the gold coin donation was not for charity this time, but to fund the Student Council Art Project that the Year 8 students are creating to gift back to the school. The student council will let you know next week how much was collected.
Ngā mihi nuiSandy Hastings
Tumuaki (Principal)
Tumuaki (Principal)
Important Dates
Mon 21 Nov - Junior Playground Opening Ceremony (9.05am - all welcome)
Wed 23 Nov - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm - Green Room)Fri 25 Nov - Celebration Assembly (10 - 10.30am)
Wed 30 Nov - Whole School Picnic and Kapa Haka performances (see info below)Fri 2 Dec - Celebration Assembly (10 - 10.30am)Thu 8 Dec - BOT Meeting (5.30 - 7.50pm - Rūma Kaimahi/Staffroom)Fri 9 Dec - Final Celebration Assembly (9.45-10.30am)Wed 14 Dec - Year 8 Leavers Graduation - 11am - 12noon, followed by Leavers' LunchThu 15 Dec - Last day of Term 4 - School closes at 12:30pm
Wed 23 Nov - PTA Meeting (7.30 - 9.30pm - Green Room)
Wed 30 Nov - Whole School Picnic and Kapa Haka performances (see info below)
Term Dates
Citizen of the Week
Izzy Clarke - Year 4
Izzy, you shine in everything you do. You are always willing to help and take on challenges with a smile. Your passion for dancing has made you such an eager and enthusiastic student. In Kōwhai, you have been an amazing role model everyday since day one, and that effort has never gone unnoticed. We appreciate your positivity and passion for learning at school. Tu meke, Izzy!School Notices
End of Year Reports
Today, 2022 End of Year Progress and Achievement reports are available to whānau through Hero.
There will be no timetabled end of year Learning Conference. If you would like to discuss any elements of the end of year report, please contact your child’s Homegroup teacher.
Please note:
- any children who started at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto in Term 4 2022 will not be receiving a written report. Please contact your child’s Homegroup teacher if you would like to talk about how they have settled into Beckenham
- the Homegroup teachers of Koru children who started at the very end of Term 3 or during Term 4, will be or have been, in contact with whānau about booking a transition to school meeting, in place of a report
Please take the time to sit with your child and read their report together, celebrating their successes and their accomplishments this year, in all areas of school life.
If you have any further questions, please contact your child’s Homegroup teacher.
Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori
The Ministry of Education fund a Te Reo Māori language development programme called 'Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori'. This programme is designed to support school and Early Childhood staff, and whānau (with priority for whānau Māori), with their personal te reo Māori journey, so that all of our tamariki benefit from improved use and teaching of te reo Māori across our kura.
Whānau are welcome to register, if you would like to grow your knowledge and use of te reo Māori, and if you are able to then give back to our kura in some way and support and encourage staff and tamariki. (Please note that this course is for adults only, not tamariki).
Registrations for this programme for 2023 are now open, and places are filling up fast!
Programme and time committment required.
The current programme is delivered in the following way for 2023: 14 weeks of face-to-face classes or online (if you choose this option).
Classes are held after school/Ece hours:
- 4-7pm for face to face and 4-6.30pm for online
- (to view the Canterbury class options for 2023 click here)
(there is a later online option for participants who cannot attend until after 5.30pm).
2023 classes will start in week 2 February 13th and run for 8 weeks in term 1 and 6 weeks in term 2.
Two 1 day wānaka (9-5pm) will be held as well one on a Saturday and one on the last Friday in the April School holidays for level 1 for example, other levels will differ.
Once you have pre-registered , Te Ahu will send out the wānaka dates for each level.
Next year they are offering face to face classes for Taumata Levels 1-5 in the first half of the year and online levels 1-4.
For enquiries about our programme please email: Teahu@whitiora.org.nz
To pre-register, click on this link. Once you have done that, please let Sandy know (principal@beckenham.school.nz), as she will then need to set you up with a Ministry of Education login, so that your registration can be processed.
This year, we have had nine of our staff, including our Senior Leadership Team, teachers, admin and long-term relievers, participate in this course and we have all learned so much. Many will be continuing next year.
If you are unsure or have questions, do come and talk with someone at school about it! "Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe" We Get There Together!
Whole School Picnic and Kapa Haka Performances Wed 30th Nov
On Wednesday 30th Nov, from 5pm, we invite you all to attend a school picnic which will then be followed by three kapa haka performances. (NB if the weather is wet, the picnic will be cancelled but the kapa haka performances will continue as outlined below)
Everyone is welcome to attend all of the kapa haka performances and, we have scheduled each group in its own time slot so that families can just attend the one that their child is in if that works better for them. We also know that our hall can't accommodate everyone if we run a single concert with all of the groups performing! Each group's performance will run for approximately 20 mins
The timetable for the evening will be:
5pm onwards - Whānau Picnic in front of the Admin area and beside the hall. The Student Council will be running some activities for children, using games that the PTA had made for the school fair 2 years ago!
6pm - Year 3/4 Kapa Haka group performance
6:30pm - Year Y5/6 Kapa Haka group performance
7:00pm - Te Whānau Mahi Tahi kapa haka performance
"Wheel and Walk" to school prize draw
The staff at SEIPP Construction, who have been doing all of the water mains replacement work on our local Beckenham streets, have been working with us to encourage students to 'Wheel and Walk' for the remainder of the term. They had four major prizes this week, and will be donating spot prizes to give to students over the comng weeks who get to school by bike, scooter, walking or any other form of transport that isn't a car! This includes students that are dropped off at any of the surrounding streets to avoid congestion on Eastern Terrace.
Today at our Celebration Assembly these prizes were drawn out of the box and awarded to the following students (with thanks to their whānau for supporting this):
The Birdwood:
Violet Chatterton
Hetties:
Harper Freeman
Harper Freeman
Blake Grayburn
Leo Davies
Again thank you all for your patience while the infrastructure is upgraded, and a reminder to all whānau doing the school drop off and pick up, that Sandwich Road is closed to everyone except for residents, school staff, and those with accessibility needs. This will likely be the case until the end of term.
Year 8 2023 School-Based Vaccination Programme
School Phone - Important Information
We are having some ongoing issues with our landline phone which is causing problems for people trying to dial into the school. If you are unable to reach us on the landline please use the school mobile phone, 021 0279 4107.
We are in the process of upgrading the phone system and this will alleviate the issues we are having. Many apologies for this inconvenience - we are working hard to get it resolved.
Please note, next Thursday the 24th of November we will be undergoing a network upgrade which may affect our phones and internet. Please send any absence messages to the school mobile phone where possible, and use the school mobile to call if the main number is not working.
Please note, next Thursday the 24th of November we will be undergoing a network upgrade which may affect our phones and internet. Please send any absence messages to the school mobile phone where possible, and use the school mobile to call if the main number is not working.
Community Helplines:
1737 - free text and phone counselling 24/7
Youthline – 0800 376 633 or free text 234
Depression Helpline – 0800 111 757 or free text 4202
Anxiety New Zealand - 0800 269 4389
What's Up – 0800 942 8787 (5–18 year olds).
thelowdown.co.nz –or email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626
Congratulations to...
Christopher McCracken-Shannon for a huge 6.9 km of challenging trail (likened to a 10km flat) at the TrailBlazers krayzie kapers event at Orton Bradley park. Supported by mentor Conor, one jelly snake, a bit of badly sung bon jovi by Conor and an ice block at the finish line. An epic effort.
All of our Kahikatea and Kōwhai tamariki who have just completed two weeks of water safety sessions. For many of our tamariki, just getting into the water was a pretty big deal, with a range of worries and anxieties some of them had about this challenge. Clearly, once in the water, pure joy was found, as the photo below demonstrates! A huge thank you to the staff and whānau helpers who worked hard over the two weeks to make sure these sessions were such a success!
Sports News
Last weekend, Haile Harmer-Campbell, Keanna Hakeagaiki and Elijah Hakeagaiki competed in the Pacific rugby league Series for Te toka tū o Waitaha, Māori rugby league. Keanna and Haile played in the 15s girls' grade and Elijah in the 10s grade.They all played some awesome games over 2 days against some great competition all while representing their proud Māori heritage with mana, haka, waiata, and manaakitanga.
Both of their teams came 3rd in their grades.
Both of their teams came 3rd in their grades.
PTA News
Community Notices
(Notices placed here are contingent on space and do not reflect the views or opinions of the school.)
Basketball fans
The Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers are coming back to Christchurch to play games on Thursday 1 December vs South East Melbourne Phoenix and Thursday 12 January vs Melbourne United. The Breakers have made a strong start to the NBL season sitting at the top of the ladder and don't look to be slowing down anytime soon! Both games will be played at Christchurch Arena and will be a great atmosphere for all. Tickets are on sale now and are as low as $15! Buy yours now from the Ticketek website or from this link: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=BREAKERS23
St Martins Scout Outdoor Gear Sale: Saturday 26 November 9-12noon
Singing Competition on Newstalk ZB
The Star of Christmas: WIN TRANSPORT, ACCOMMODATION & STUDIO TIME WITH NATHAN KING
This Christmas morning on Newstalk ZB – it’s The Star of Christmas singing competition… on The Crazy Kiwi Christmas Kids Show! The grand prize? The opportunity to professionally record any Christmas song with Nathan King, lead singer of Zed. You’ll be treated like a star – with return flights for two to Auckland (if you’re out of Auckland), hotel accommodation, and a music studio tour. If you can sing, and are under 13, email your audition singing a Christmas song to christmas@newstalkzb.co.nz or call 0800 843 864 before 12th December. Then tune into Newstalk ZB on Christmas morning from 6am to see if you’ve won!
More information on the Newstalk ZB website HERE.
3 Day School Holiday Programme - SINGING & RECORDING
CCC seeking Feedback from the community
Christchurch City Council would like to hear what you think about Cashmere Rd, Colombo St, Centaurus Rd, and Dyers Pass Rd intersection improvements.
The intersection of Cashmere Rd, Colombo St, Centaurus Rd and Dyers Pass Rd is heavily used by people catching the bus, cycling, driving and walking. This includes school aged children from nearby Thorrington Primary and Cashmere High School.
A number of buses pass through this intersection, including the popular Orbiter bus route. However, bus stops are located some distance away which makes transferring between bus routes difficult.
There have been a number of injury crashes here involving people travelling by bicycle and motorcycle so we’re proposing changes to make it way safer for everyone.
You can find out more about this project and tell us what you think online, until Wednesday 14 December 2022.
More information/purchase of tickets can be found on Eventfinda NZ or by following the links below: