Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Schoolwide Newsletter, Rāmere (Friday) 3 May 2024, Week 1

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Principal's Patch

Kia ora koutou

Welcome to Term 3! It has been lovely catching up with everyone this week and hearing about holiday experiences.

Staffing Updates

A few staffing updates to share.

Teaching Assistant
On Monday we welcomed Tim Cleland to our staff. Tim has a background in outdoor education and has volunteered at Beckenham over the past few years. It's great to have him join the team. Tim will mostly be working in the Kauri team.

Charlotte Verity - Year 3-4
Congratulations and farewell to Charlotte! Charlotte has been appointed and has accepted a Teaching Position at another school in Christchurch. Charlotte will take up this position in Week 8 and her last day at Beckenham will be Friday 14 June.
We will be sad to see her go and we wish Charlotte all the very best with this new career adventure.

Temporary cover for Sue Leadbetter & SENCO duties
Sue is currently on sick leave after having had back surgery this week. She is feeling good all things considered, and is now in recovery mode after a successful surgery. We wish Sue all the best for her recovery and look forward to welcoming her back in a few weeks.

Whilst Sue is on leave Laura Williamson will join the SLT team in a SENCo support role. 

Team Blogs

The school newsletter and team blogs alternate each week. The team blogs are a great way to see what your child's team have been focussing on and learn about what is coming up. Sitting with your child looking at the photos and sharing the news provides a conversation starter to hear more about what your child has been learning and doing at school. We encourage you to take the time to sit with your child each fortnight and talk through the learning and events. 

Ngā mihi nui
Jo Smith - Tumuaki (Acting Principal)

Important Dates

(you can also find the Community Calendar on our website here)

Tue 14 May - School Cross Country 
Wed 22 May - BoT Meeting, 5.30-7.30PM, Staffroom
Fri 24 May - Book Character Dress Up Day
Wed 29 May - PTA Meeting, 7.30-9.30PM
Fri 31 May - Staff Only Day (kura/school closed)
Mon 3 Jun - King's Birthday (kura/school closed)
Tue 25 Jun - Matariki Evening at Kura
Wed 26 Jun - BoT Meeting, 5.30-7.30PM, Staffroom
Wed 26 Jun - PTA Meeting, 7.30-9.30PM, Staffroom
Fri 28 Jun - Matariki (kura/school closed)
Fri 5 Jul - Last day of Term 2

Term Dates: Click here to view  2024 term dates

Citizen of the Week

Ophelia Holton - Year 4

Ophelia, you are an extremely kind, caring and enthusiastic member of the team. You are self-motivated, trustworthy and a wonderful team player. You show all of our school values every single day. Thank you for always being such an outstanding role model. Well done, Ophelia!

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
  • All students should only eat lunches and snacks that have been provided by their caregivers.  
  • Bottles, other drinks, and lunch boxes provided by caregivers should be clearly labelled with the name of their child.  Home group teachers and caregivers will decide where the children’s bottles and lunch boxes will be kept during the day to ensure no cross contamination occurs.
  • Parents are asked not to bring food into school to be shared with other children.  Whilst we understand that there are times you want to celebrate special events for your children with their friends at school, e.g. birthdays or being awarded prizes, by bringing food and treats for them to share, we have a policy of children only eating the food that their whānau have prepared and sent with them.  We have a number of students with food allergies and also need to respect the wishes of some families who want to monitor what their children are eating and prefer their children just to eat food they have prepared. From time to time, there may be an event that teachers have organised that will involve food (cultural or learning activities) and they will have advised families in advance that this will be happening.  
  • At the beginning of each year caregivers will need to check the expiry dates on any medication to be held at school.  
  • On the first day of school, caregivers will need to bring their child’s medication to the school office.  Caregivers will need to sign a medicine authority form (School Docs).  The responsibility of monitoring the expiry dates of medications rests with the parent.
  • Caregivers may be asked to come and talk to staff about their child’s specific health needs and ways we can support them at school.
We will inform you during the year if specific guidelines for your child’s hub change. 

Our full allergy policy and guidelines are 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 home group teacher.

Coffee Car Update

A message from Amber & Gyaltsen: "The Wheel Coffee car is now up for sale! We will no longer be selling coffee on Monday and Friday mornings. 
We sincerely appreciate all the support from the staff who have been regular customers and the Beckenham community. 

Kindest regards, Amber & Gyaltsen"

On that note - if anyone in our community has connections with a Coffee Van or Cart, who may wish to work with us to continue providing a school gate 'pick me up' service a couple of times each week, we would be interested in hearing from you. 

Welcome Assembly

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Welcome Assembly today. Together we welcomed new students and staff, who have joined us since our Term 1 Welcome Assembly, into our Beckenham whānau.

Reminder Period Products Available Here

Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata: Period products in schools, aims to provide access to free period products for children and young people in all state and state-integrated schools and kura across New Zealand.

In 2020, Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata started with a trial phase in 15 schools and kura across the Waikato, to understand more about providing period products in schools and kura.

In February 2021, the Government announced the expansion of the initiative to all state and state-integrated schools and kura across New Zealand on an opt-in basis. Schools and kura have been able to access products for students since June 2021 with funding secured until June 2024.

Providing free ikura products in all state and state-integrated schools and kura aims to:
  • reduce barriers to school attendance and sports involvement
  • improve child and youth wellbeing
  • reduce financial strain on families and whānau, and
  • promote positive gender norms and reduce stigmatisation of menstruation.
Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto opts in to this program. If you have any questions about the availabilty of product, please email or speak to the Office.

Scholastic Issue 3 Out Now

Issue 3 ordering closes - Friday 28 June 2024. Please click the link below to view, and place orders:


PTA News

PTA School Disco

The PTA will be running the disco(s) on the 7th June and the PTA needs you. We are running 4 x Disco (timing below) for the tamariki on the 7th June, these are based on their home groups.

We need 10 x Helper per disco to make sure the tamariki are safe.

If you can help at just one or all of the disco that great. Without your support, we can't run the disco.

The timing of the disco are:

NE - Year 1&2 2pm -2.45pm

Year 3&4 4:00-4:45

Year 5&6 5:10-6:10

Year 7&8 6:30-7:30

If you want to help please contact: Jason Orchard 027 4444-888 [PTA Chairperson] or email us at pta@beckenham.school.nz with when you can help out and some contact details.

Readathon 2024!

Look out for the readathon sponsorship forms coming home from school. This is a great opportunity to help encourage your children’s reading as well as raising some money for the school. The readathon runs for two weeks and we will be collecting forms and sponsorship money and giving out bookmarks during the week of 20th May. There will be spot prizes on Book Character day - Friday 24th of May! 

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.

PTA meeting dates can be found in the fortnightly School Newsletter, or on the school calendar - linked here. These meetings are usually held twice a term on a Wednesday night 7.30-9.30pm. 

Sports News

Cross Country

Our whole school cross-country event takes place on the afternoon of Tuesday the 14th of May. The children have been out practising this week, developing perseverance and resilience; it is wonderful to see how they encourage each other. You are invited to join us to spectate and cheer on our tamariki. We start with Year 8 races at 1:30pm. 

Children race in their year groups. 

The courses vary. The older the children, the longer the course. Years 0 to 4 have courses set on Beckenham Park. Years 5 to 8 have a course that includes Beckenham Park and a loop of Eastern Terrace, Fisher Avenue and Norwood Street. 

Children run in their house top or their school polo. Please make sure that your child wears suitable running shoes. Trainers are ideal. 

If you can help out on the Year 5 to 8 course as a marshal, please fill in this form. 

Winter Sport

We are still looking for adults to help with winter sport. 
We are in particular need of adults to help with Year 5/6 and Year 7/8 football and Year 5/6 and 7/8 hockey. 
If you can help out on Thursday afternoons starting on Thursday 30th May, please fill out this form. If there are people within your whānau who have the time and enthusiasm to help, please pass on the invitation. 

BOT Update

Dear Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto School Community,

We have an update to share with you regarding our school leadership. As you know, at the start of this year, our Principal Sandy Hastings, entered a secondment as Leadership Advisor with the Ministry of Education. Sandy has decided that the time is now right to step away from her permanent role at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto.

Since joining us in May 2011, Sandy has played a pivotal role in guiding our kura through numerous challenges and achievements. Her dedication and leadership have left a lasting impact on our community, and we are incredibly grateful for her years of service.

We will find a special moment to bid farewell to Sandy, celebrate her contributions and wish her all the best for the future. In the meantime, as a Board, our attention will now turn to the process of recruiting a new Principal before the end of the school year.

Thank you for your continued support.

Regards,

Marcel Frei
Presiding Member of the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Board of Trustees

A message from Sandy Hastings:

Having started as principal at Beckenham in May 2011, just after the major February earthquakes, the role has included much more significant change management than I could have ever anticipated. The first two years included managing our way through aftershocks. We experienced the loss of the school library through a fire (2012), and have gone through several years of rebuilding (2015-2018) including the addition of two new roll-growth classrooms (2021) and significant landscaping and playground improvements. Alongside this physical change, I have had the privilege of working with 33 Trustees including seven Board Chairs (Presiding Members), seven Deputy Principals, and over 145 staff. It has always been a privilege to work alongside and lead with these people and our community through changes that also included 13 years of pedagogical shift and changes in government educational priorities. During 2018 our staff supported one another and our ākonga through the tragedy that was the Mosque shootings, and then, in 2020, changed gear to navigate our way through a pandemic. In 2015, we also celebrated the Centenary of the school which was an important milestone.

At the end of last year, the opportunity to take up a secondment in the Ministry of Education as a Leadership Advisor felt like a timely and appropriate opportunity for me, to share much of the learning that I have had over nearly 19 years of principalship with my colleagues in the wider Canterbury and Chatham Islands region. I have now been in the role for a term, and I have been given the opportunity to continue this role for another year, which I have accepted. At the end of that time, I will review what my next steps might be. In the meantime, I am also about to become a grandmother for the first time, to twins who are due to be born sometime in the next eight weeks, and will be coming to live in our home. This has also contributed to my decision to formally step away from the role of principal, to allow me to be more present and available in my new family role.

I have enjoyed, appreciated and loved my time at Beckenham, serving the school community and working with the most amazing people to try and always put our tamariki at the very centre of our decisions, and ensure that each of them achieve the very best possible outcomes. I would like to thank every one of our Board members, staff past and present, and the whānau of the hundreds and hundreds of children who have been through Beckenham during my tenure there, for their support, and for the challenges and opportunities, that have enabled me to grow both professionally and personally. I wish all of you, every success for the future.

Ngā mihi nui
Sandy Hastings

Community Notices

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






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