A few reminders for the Pōhutukawa team

Hut Day (Monday)

Hopefully you have been alerted to the fact that tomorrow is hut day! The children have chosen groups and have made lists about the materials they require to construct their hut as a group. Each child wrote on a slip of paper the particular items they are to bring tomorrow. If you haven't spotted this, it may be in the depths of your child's bag! Any items brought to school are to be taken home at the end of the day.

The children asked if they could share food whilst in their huts. We have decided that if a child wishes to share their morning tea with their group, that would be fine. They can bring food to share, food that fits with the healthy eating which we promote at school. No lollies, chocolate, chips, popcorn or any drink please.  We would prefer that they eat their own lunch. This is completely optional and by no means a requirement of the day.

Although the students believe they won't be doing any  learning tomorrow, we expect (and will discuss with them) that the NZ key competencies (thinking, relating to others, using language, symbols, and texts, managing self and participating and contributing) will be used throughout the day.

Waltham Pool (Tuesday)

We are really looking forward our a trip to Waltham Pool on Tuesday. Your child will need to bring their backpack with:

A sufficient packed lunch

Water bottle

Togs

Towel

Goggles (optional)

A warm jacket/school sweatshirt

School sunhat

Children will not be able to ride on the hydroslide or purchase food at the pool,.

We will be departing school to walk to Waltham Pool at 11:00am, and we will return by 3:00pm.

Thanks again to the large group of adult helpers supporting us on this trip.

Last day (Thursday)

On Thursday morning the children will be meeting as a team in next year's hub. There they will learn who their teacher is going to be next year, and who is in their class. 

Between 11-12 there will be water fun on the park. The children will be encouraged to bring their togs and a towel, as we will have the slip and slides available. They will also be allowed to bring water guns as there will be water gun fun on the park. There will be an inside option for those children not keen on getting wet.

School closes at 12:30.

We would like to wish all families a safe and happy holiday. We have loved teaching this team of children, and have enjoyed getting to know many families. A special mention goes out to our 10 Year 4 students, who have coped admirably in the Pōhutukawa team, and have in fact blended in so well, that we often had to be reminded that they weren't Year 5 students! Although we are going to miss our big Year 6 students, we know that most of them are going to be just through the door to next door, so we'll still get to see them. And we look forward to seeing our lovely Year 4 and 5 students again next year! 

Enjoy your break everyone!

The last two weeks in Pōhutukawa, 2018

Sexuality

The majority of our students eagerly await the afternoon Health lessons in sexuality, having overcome nervousness. It's great to see their understanding of their bodies and puberty issues growing. We hope that you are having some interesting discussions at home! We will finish this topic at the end of the week.

Football fun

On Tuesday Tyler Logan from Cashmere Technical AFC will be running small football games for our team. We have a solid relationship with the club, and are grateful for their support during the year.

Building completion celebration day

As you will have read in the latest newsletter, we are having a 'Building Completion Celebration Day' this coming Thursday, 13th December.

The celebrations will begin at the first bell, at 8:55am on Thursday. Children will hang up their bags, then come over to the hall where we will be welcomed in by Te Whānau Mahi Tahi, and will then have a short time of reviewing the building journey and the naming of our new buildings through stories and pictures. This will take about 20 minutes and we invite our families to stay and enjoy this celebration with us. 

At 1:20 pm, the PTA will be providing a sausage sizzle (or vegetarian, gluten free falafel) for each of the children, (and they will still need to bring other lunch items to eat as usual). Then we will all go out to the park for celebration games in houses. Following that, we will provide a lemonade iceblock for every child as a very special treat. If you do not wish your child to be given this food, please let your child's teacher know.

Final celebration assembly and thank you morning tea

On Friday 14 December at 9:30 - 10:30 am it will be our final celebration assembly. 

Following the assembly, there will be a thank you morning tea, where we say a huge THANK YOU to all those parents, caregivers, grandparents, volunteers and everyone else who has helped out in some way at our school, has become a welcome tradition at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto.

If you have volunteered, provided a helping hand, read books, donated books, been on a school trip, helped out with cooking in a hub or any other one of the myriad of ways that support our school community during 2019, then this invitation is for YOU.

Come and have a drink and bite to eat at the school hall from 10:30am onwards, this Friday 14th December. 

Monday 17 December (Week 10) - Hut day!

On the last Monday of term, we have chosen to allow the students to be have a day where they show our school values and the key competencies of the NZ Curriculum (key competencies are the capabilities people have, and need to develop, to live and learn today and in the future - thinking,

relating to others, using language, symbols, and texts, managing self, and participating and contributing). Hut day! In groups, the students will plan their hut (location, resources needed, decorations and letter box) on Friday, and then bring along all they need on Monday. Together they will construct their hut, completing added challenges along the way. They need to also create a letterbox, as they will be making 'happy holidays' cards for others. The huts will be deconstructed at the end of the day, with all materials being returned home, or recycled. We suggested that some of the best materials would be sheets, pegs and string. All materials being brought from home must have the permission of the owner/s, and must be returned! We envisage the day to be a lot of fun.

The hut making materials will be required only for Monday.

Waltham Pool

On Tuesday 18 December our team will be visiting Waltham Pool. Thank you to the adults who have volunteered to help us on that day. Katie will be in touch shortly with regards to expectations. The children will need with them a big packed lunch, a water bottle, a bag with their togs and towel, goggles if they wish and sunscreen. They will be wearing their school uniform and their school hat. We will be walking to Waltham Pool, leaving school at 11am, and returning before 3pm.

Passions on Thursday

This week, the Pōhutukawa Team's passion learning session will be held on Thursday instead of Friday. If your child needs to bring anything special for their passion learning project (e.g. Lego or other toys), please remind them to bring it to school on Thursday.