Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto PTA Beginning of the Year Bulletin 2020
Who is the PTA?
We are a group of caregivers and teachers who meet on the 4th Wednesday every month. Our mainpurpose is to support the school. We try to do this not only by fundraising, so we can financially
support the school, but also by organising events that bring us together as a school community. We
have an extraordinary community at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto and because of this, the PTA can
do a great job at supporting the school.
We would love new people to come along & see how we work. Why not pop along to our first
meeting in 2020: Wednesday 26th February at 7:30 pm in the staffroom & check the PTA out? You do not have to be a PTA member to attend and there is no pressure to feel like you need to join just because you attend a meeting (There is often good food and always good chat!).
If you do want to help, rest assured you only have to do as little or as much as you have capacity for.
We are all busy parents with other commitments: jobs, preschoolers, our own sports (even partners
get a look in sometimes), and if we all do a little bit, it is amazing what can be achieved. Having a
broad range of skills and ideas is key to making the PTA work, so don’t be shy, come and say hi :).
Please click on the link Meet your PTA for a breakdown on who we are & what we do. We have a variety of roles, some that can even be done at home.
How does our PTA work?
Each event has a ‘coordinator’ who manages that event with the assistance from other PTAmembers & volunteers from our school community. Volunteers are sourced either via the PTA
Survey (which gets sent out at least once a term via the newsletter) or from Google forms sent out
via social media. Please click on the link if you would like to complete the survey: PTA Survey.
How do we decide what to fundraise for?
We listen to your suggestions made via the PTA Survey. We also ask the staff to create a “Wish List”.This year PTA is organising its largest fundraiser - The Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Twilight Fair,
which will be held on Fri 20th March 2020. Money raised from the Twilight Fair will be used to
replenish our school sports uniform collection (which is badly needed for the smaller students at
school!) and for funds the school can use to update our digital technology. A new digital curriculum
has been introduced nationwide: children need to learn coding concepts and how to program robots
so that they can become creators of digital technology, not just users. To do this requires expensive
equipment. As a PTA and a community, we are striving to assist the school with this expense.
Planning for the Fair is well underway and we would love new people to join the Fair Team and help us crack the $20k mark!!
What did we get up to last year?
Last year we enjoyed hosting the New Whānau Morning Tea each term, the Kids Masquerade Disco& co-hosting, with the Student Council, the Shared Breakfast on the Shortest Day.
We ran the Clubbercise classes, which were a huge success – “whoop whoop”!
We organised a Cheese Roll-a-thon and sold some scrumptious Cheese Rolls!
On the last Sunday of each month, the PTA hosted a car boot sale in the school car park, the
Beckenham Booty. This was a great way to clear out cupboards and meet new members of the
community as people hawked their wares.
We co-ordinated our annual fundraisers the Read-a-thon, Calendar Art & the Back in 1969 Quiz.
Our last event of the year was the Annual Leavers lunch, a beautiful way to send off the year 8’s on
their next adventure!
With the money we raised last year, a new Beckenham Te Kura o Puroto Gazebo was purchased to
be used at community events where our tamariki are participating. Another exciting item bought
with fundraising money was the very flash Outdoor Portable Sound System, which was just fantastic
to see in use at athletic sports - goodbye squeaky bullhorn!
As well as this we funded each child to go on a class trip and contributed to the annual Kauri ski trip.
A real highlight has been seeing the new Outdoor Spaces take shape, as all the money generously
given by the community has enabled the Outdoor Spaces Committee to finalise the design stage and
begin to build some fabulous play spaces for our tamariki.
What is coming up in 2020?
As usual we have lots of things planned for the year ahead! There is no expectation for families toparticipate in all the events we provide, anything contributed is always gratefully received. We aim
to offer our families a variety of events to participate in & hope you can enjoy some of them this
year.
Besides our main event the Twilight Fair, we will bring you back the Kids Disco, the Read-a-thon,
Calendar Art, the Quiz, a Top Team Family Fun Day and more!
One of our less known activities is mobilising pastoral care for families who need it. (We always keep
the family anonymous). A helping hand when a family is having a tough time is always so
appreciated. If you think you could cook a meal or bake a cake when we put a shout out, fill in the
PTA survey link.
We Care Range
We love our ‘We Care’ range, products that help us care for our environment & provide practical
assistance in our daily lives. We have Jute Bags, String Veggie Bags & Beeswax Wraps to assist you with your war on plastic. We also have a few Beckenham Tea Towels & Aprons left along with the Beckenham Grid A2 Canvas.
We are excited to be working in conjunction with our local Eatery, The Birdwood, to offer the
following Deal – purchase a $17 Reusable Takeaway Cup from The Birdwood & your first coffee is free. Every time you refill that cup you will receive an 80c discount. Let’s help keep those disposable cups out of the Landfill. These ‘Ideal Cups’ are NZ Made, BPA Free, Leak-Proof, Robust & Barista- friendly.
Contact us to order from our We Care Range at pta@beckenham.school.nz.
Thank you!
Thank you for your ongoing support
Remember to always check the PTA Facebook Page & the PTA Website for up to date information.
Regards
Jody Smith and Liz May (Co Chairs) and the PTA team
https://www.facebook.com/ptabeckenhamschool/
https://sites.google.com/view/beckenham-school-pta-nz/home