The last week of 2019 in Pōhutukawa

Monday 16 December

Hut day!

Last week, the children got into groups, planned what their hut would look like and decided on what materials each child would need to bring to school. If your child can't remember what was decided for them to bring, we suggest any of the following: sheets, blankets, tarpaulins, pegs, tape, string, cushions, decorations, fairy lights, large boxes and any other supplies which can be easily carried to school.

The materials are only to be brought to school on Monday and will need to be returned home at the end of the day, to ensure we are looking after our environment.

We expect to see lots of creativity, innovation, kiwi ingenuity, working together and children having lots of fun.

Tuesday 17 December

House games and school picnic - 12pm!

Our amazing house captains will be organising a variety of games and fun activities for their houses. After the fun and play, we will be having lunch in the park. All whānau are invited to this school-wide event.

Wednesday 18 December

Water fun on the park, after lunch!

We will be attending the Year 8 graduation assembly at 11am, and then after lunch there will be fun and games on the park, with regards to water. The children are invited to bring their togs and any water guns they may have. We will set up the slip and slide and the children can have a fun-filled afternoon. Fingers crossed that the weather plays its part!

Thursday 19 December

Last day, school closes at - 12:30pm!

At 10am the students will be visiting their new homegroup for 2020. They will be told which home group they are in prior to 10am and also given a letter to take home. Hopefully having seen who is in their class and knowing who their homegroup teacher is will ensure the children happily enjoy their break, and that they will be looking forward to the new year.

Thank you from us all for your support, in such a variety of ways, over the year. We have had a lovely year with your children, and hope that everyone has a wonderful break. Stay safe and we look forward to seeing everyone who is returning in 2020.

Gayle, Katie, Rae, Steve and Tracy

T4W8 in Pōhutukawa

Kapa haka celebration concert Thursday 5 December 6:30pm

The Pōhutukawa kapa haka group, along with Te Whānau Mahi Tahi and the Kōwhai kapa haka group will be performing on the above date, in the school hall.

This will be Sherrilee's last performance as the teacher in charge of our kapa haka groups. 

Road Patrol training Friday 6 December 9:30

Constable Ross will be training a group of Year 5 students who have kindly volunteered to join the road patrol for next year this Friday. The students will be learning theory and then putting what this into practice on our crossing at Sandwich Road. Keeping our whānau safe while crossing the road is an important responsibility, and we appreciate the students taking this on.

'Thank you' croissant & coffee morning Tuesday 10 December 8:30am

You are invited to our "Thank you..."

There are many people within our school community who go the extra mile to help others and make our school the caring community that it is.  Many thanks to all those who recently made meals and baking for a school family who needed a bit of extra support, your kindness was truly appreciated. Thank you to the people who help with trips, being on the PTA, serving on the Board, baking days, book sorting, and many, many more varied activities around our school, that keep the school running and support our tamariki and our staff.

As a small token of our appreciation as a staff, for the work that parents, grandmas, grandads, aunties, uncles, neighbours, friends and others in our community who do support us, we will be hosting  croissant and coffee on Tuesday December 10th in the staffroom from 8:30 - 9:15am.  We would love to see as many people as possible there.

Sherrilee's farewell assembly Wednesday 11 December 9:30am

We have sadly received the resignation of Sherrilee as our Kaiako Te Reo Maori. Sherrilee has been on our staff for 25 years, and has made a huge contribution to our school through her teaching of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and kapa haka. Sherrilee has been offered work in secondary schools which she is excited about taking up and we wish her all the very best for that.

We will be holding a farewell assembly next Wednesday morning, from 9:30am. We are inviting past students of Te Whānau Mahi Tahi to attend, along with our current whānau.

We would appreciate if parents of current students could bring along a small plate of food to contribute to the morning tea, as a way of contributing to the 'thank you'.

Hut Day Monday 16 December

Due to 'Hut Day' being such a success last year, we have decided to give the children the opportunity to enjoy such a day again this year. 

Next week, the children will be given time to get into groups, plan what their hut will look like and what materials each child will need to bring to school.

Suggested materials will be sheets, blankets, tarpaulins, pegs, tape, string, cushions, decorations, large boxes and any other supplies which can be easily carried to school.

The materials are only to be brought to school on Monday 16 December, as we do not have the storage facility to keep them at school. All materials brought to school will need to be returned home at the end of the day, to ensure we are looking after our environment.

T4 W6 in Pōhutukawa

Speech Competition

And what a competition it was! The teachers struggled to choose only two candidates from each homegroup, with so many children presenting their speech clearly and confidently. A lot of the content of the speeches showed a passion for looking after our environment and animals. We believe our future is in good hands!

Congratulations to these children who were in the finals: Quinn Clarke, Fergus Macdonald, Zoe Winsor, George Smith, Freya Braun, Vida Gerard, Olive Morel, Zoe Clarke, Layla Wallbanks, Frances Daniels-Maxwell. Thanks to Mahli who did a terrific job of being the presenter.

Special congratulations to the top four placegetters:

Zoe Winsor

Freya Braun

Zoe Clarke

Layla Wallbanks

Music Concerts

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to hear the training band concert. What a talented bunch of musicians we have at our kura. Along with playing some popular Christmas tunes, Maree Parr introduced us to the instruments the children were playing. We were also privileged to hear several impressive solo performances. Congratulations to George Smith who received a trophy for having shown the most progress over the year.

Today we will be attending a string and ukelele concert at 12pm.

Sports news

Congratulations to the large number of Pōhutukawa students who attended the South Zone Athletics Day on Monday at Hansens Park. It's always a big day, and the teachers were very proud of the way our students managed themselves in a positive and respectful way. We were very glad to hear that they kept safe and dry when the inclement weather rolled in!

Good luck to these students who have qualified for the Canterbury Athletics, being held on Wednesday 4 December:

Lola Harris: 50m, long jump

Billy Murfin: 50m

Jonty Mitchell: long jump and 80m

Keanna Hakeagaiki 80m

Mahli Boreham: high jump

Josh Breitmeyer: long jump

Year 5 relay team: Anna, Keanna, Bella, Lola

Navigating the Journey

Yesterday we began the sexuality programme of Navigating the Journey. The students are separated into Year 6 and Year 5 groups. Katie and Steve are working with the Year 6 students and Tracy, Gayle and Rae are working with the Year 5 students. The first lesson was about the visual images of Navigating the Journey, setting guidelines and establishing a positive environment. The use of a question box was also discussed. Next week the topics will be under the theme of 'Who am I?' Topics may include describing unique personal qualities, promoting a positive and inclusive body image,  self-worth: identifying gender and social strengths,  identifying and affirming the feelings and
beliefs of self and others, equity issues: recognising and challenging bullying,
stereotypes, and body image messages and recognising media, social media and consumer
influences.
When we teach sexuality as a Health topic, we are always guided by how the group of students reacts and the feeling we get from them as we introduce the lessons.
We strongly encourage the students to discuss at home content covered at school, and to ask further questions or for clarification from their whānau.
If you have any queries about this programme, please feel free to contact any teacher.

Pōhutukawa Speech Finals on Thursday 14 November at 1:45pm

Pōhutukawa Speech Finals on Thursday 14 November at 1:45pm

What a wonderful week of speech presentations we have had. The teachers all commented today about the fabulous content in the speeches. The students have worked really hard at pitching their speech to engage their audience, and have impressed us immensely. 

It was a very difficult decision for each homegroup teacher to choose only two finalists, and we discussed at length those students who presented well. Along with engaging and relevant content, we were looking for great eye contact, clear and audible speech, expression of voice and face and use of gestures and body language. 

Congratulations to these students who have been selected as speech finalists:

Fergus Macdonald

Quinn Clarke

Vida Gerard

Freya Braun

Olive Morel

Zoe Clarke

Zoe Winsor

George Smith

Layla Wallbanks

France Daniels-Maxwell

Our speech finals will be held in the hall at 1:45pm tomorrow, and extend an invitation to whānau and friends to attend. 

T4 W4 in Pōhutukawa

Cool Curriculum Classes this term

Art

Katie is taking sketching classes. The children have been learning how to shade and make shadows. They have been sketching realistic images, and took advantage of the weather to work outside today.

Te Reo Māori

Rae has been teaching about New Zealand place names and the stories behind the names. Some places are named after people and some are named after landscapes.

Coding

Steve has been overseeing the coding programme. The students are using code.org to learn how to code. Everyone works at their own pace and are on different levels. Some people do pair programming.

NZ Sign Language

Gayle has been teaching the students all sorts of things in NZ Sign Language. They have been learning how to say and spell their names, the alphabet and simple phrases.

Cultural

Every student has chosen a country to research and has been working on a slideshow of information on that country/culture. Tracy has been overseeing the slideshows.

Sun hats and water bottles

With the increase in temperatures, it is incredibly important that every student has their wide-brimmed sunhat and water bottle at school every day. Being hydrated helps keep the body and brain functioning well. It would also be great to see the drink bottles go home regularly to be washed.

Taking advantage of the balmy temperature today, so children elected to silent read outside.

Athletics

What a fabulous day it was for athletics yesterday. It was a day for showing 'We love challenge' and for trying your best. It was lovely to see the whole school on the park, having fun and partaking in a number of sporting activities, along with many whānau members encouraging athletes and taking photos. Congratulations to everyone for having a go, and well done to those students who excelled in their events, coming in the top four. Jenny will finalise the list of students representing our kura in the zones athletics over the next couple of days. This event is being held at Hansens Park on Monday 18 November. 

Music Festival

All the very best to the 45 children and Katie who are performing in the Music Festival on Thursday night at the Town Hall. The choir will be having a final practice on Thursday morning at the Town Hall. The choir has been practising for a long time for this special performance, and we know that they will be fantastic.

String and Ukelele Concert

On Thursday there will be a string and ukelele concert at 2:20pm. The concert will go to 2:55pm. The concert is about promoting the option of string and ukulele of 2020.

Whānau Rōpū Hui

Whānau Rōpū Hui this coming Friday, 8th November, 5 pm - 7:30 pm

For our Whānau Rōpū Hui this term we are excited to be having a shared kai/ potluck picnic at school from 5:00pm to 7:30pm on Friday 8th November.  We are looking forward to getting together again to celebrate Te Ao Māori, share some kai and enjoy some games - including the exciting sport of Ki o Rahi. Nau mai haere mai, welcome. These hui, get-togethers, are a great opportunity to get to know other tamariki, children and whānau, families in the school community. 

Pōhutukawa - Cycle safety on Friday - Y6 students

Cycle safety on Friday for Year 6 students

Unfortunately, due to the changeable cold weather, the Cycle Safety team have had to swap around the groups to share out the time left for Cycle Safe.

On Friday there will be another on-road session from 9am to morning tea with Group 2. This will mean they have had 3 sessions on the road.

Group 1 is going to head out on road for the last 2 sessions of Friday (after morning tea and after lunch).

This means that both groups (so ALL Year 6 students) will need their bikes at school tomorrow, Friday.

T4 W2 in Pōhutukawa

Athletics Day

This year, Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto is excited to announce that we will be holding our athletics celebration as a whole school event. This will take place on Monday the 4th of November (week 4). Years 5 to 8 will be out on Beckenham Park competing in field and track rotations all day. Years 0 - 4 will start the day with their usual school routine and join us on the park for their run, jump, throw rotations from 11:50 am. 

Athletics learning is a key part of our PE curriculum across all teams. The children are being taught safe and effective techniques as well as perseverance, resilience and sportsmanship. Our whole school athletics day is a celebration of this learning. 

This year, all children will compete alongside each other rather than in boy/girl events. This is one way that we are seeking to make the event inclusive to all. Sport Canterbury do have gender-based divisions for zone level competition and we will still be able to identify qualifying athletes from Years 5 - 8 to represent our kura at this event. To achieve this we will run our sprint finals for Years 5 - 8 by gender. Like previous years, we will be identifying a top girl and boy athlete from each year level from 5 - 8 who will be recognised at a Celebration Assembly following the event.

Our athletics day concludes with sprint finals, starting at 2:00. Our whole school will come together to cheer on the runners. The final event is a House Relay, which doubles up as an adult versus children race. With years 0 - 8 participating in this relay, we are going to need your support to make up an adult team. Bring your running shoes!

Long jump for years 5 - 8 will be held at Hillview Christian School, on a separate date, yet to be confirmed. 

More detailed information about the day’s programme will be communicated to you before the event. 

The children are training most days in the field events, and it is great to see so many children prepared with appropriate footwear.

Sun Hats

During Terms 1 and 4, the expectation is that everyone is to wear a sunhat. We require everyone to wear hats that shade the face, neck, and ears, whenever the children are outside and involved in school activities. Hats must be broad-brimmed (min. 7.5 cm), or legionnaire/bucket hats (min. 6 cm brim, deep crown). These hats provide significant protection to the eyes. If a child does not have a hat at school, they will be asked to stay in an allocated shaded area.  For Year 5 - 8 this area is in the courtyard. 

Thank you to those parents who have dug out a sun hat already!

Cycle Safety

This week our year 6 students are involved in the Cycle Safe Programme provided by the Christchurch City Council. 

Cycle Safe is a cycle skills education programme for schools.  Students learn the benefits of cycling and how to ride with confidence and be road-wise.

 

The programme includes:

• Cycle maintenance and helmet fitting
• Basic cycling skills
• Road rules
• On road cycling

The students are to bring with them their bike, lock and helmet to school on the days their group is taking part.

The groups are as follows:

Group 1 (participating Tuesday and Wednesday)

Ava , Grace H, Zoe L, Syesha, Mila, Molly, Zoe C (R), Ilia, Imedha, Olive, Jayda, Sophie R, Josh B, Max, Morgan, Sachit, Josh W, Riley, Brooklyn, Caleb, Deakyn, Julia, Rosie, Isabella, Luca & Te Paea.

Group 2 (participating Thursday and Friday)

Zara B, Nela, Aydan, Tabea, Zoe-Arianna, Jonty, Mahli, Jill, Marriyah, Lexie, Gracie, Eli, Justine, Fern, Nevannah, Matilda, Layla W, Zara M, Fergus McM, Layla J, Aarav, Cooper, Seth, Otis, Connor C, Mac, Connor I & Marcellus.

Sexuality Education

As part of our health curriculum, we will be teaching 'Nagivating the Journey: Sexuality Education' to our Year 5 - 8 classes this term.  If you would like to find out what is involved in these lessons or have any questions, you are invited to attend a parent meeting in the staffroom on Monday November 11th, between 7 and 8pm. Please indicate on this form if you plan to attend.

Speeches

Our topic for writing at the moment is speeches. Every student should be underway with planning or writing their speech. Each student will present their speech to their home group unless there has been consultation with the home group teacher. The speech finals for our team will be Thursday 14 November at 2pm in the hall. 

Orana Park trip for Pōhutukawa this Monday and Tuesday

Orana Park trip Monday and Tuesday

The weather looks great for our trip to Orana Park tomorrow and on Tuesday!

Some final reminders for the students: 

• Wear school uniform to school and be at school at the usual time
• Bring a good sized lunch and a full water bottle
• Wear comfortable shoes as there is lots of walking involved
• Bring any medication required (eg. inhaler)
• Optional - rain jacket (Tuesday), school sun hat

Tracy and Rae's classes along with half of Steve's class are going on the trip tomorrow.

Katie and Gayle's classes along with half of Steve's class are going on the trip Tuesday.

We leave school at 9:30am and return at 2:30pm.

Thank you again to all of the adults who are accompanying us as active supervisors! 

We look forward to all of the fun and learning to come!

T3 W8 in Pōhutukawa

Orana Park trips on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 September

On Monday Tracy’s home group, Rae’s home group and half of Steve’s home group will be visiting Orana Park. On Tuesday Katie’s home group, Gayle’s home group and the other half of Steve’s home group will visit the park. Steve's home group know which day they are going to the park.

Thank you to all of the adults who offered to help. To those adults who are assisting us with adult supervision, could you please be at school on the day your child is going on the trip by 9:10am, so that we can brief you on the Safety Action Plan.

The students should be at school at the usual time. We are leaving at 9:30am. The students will need to be in comfortable footwear and in school uniform. They should bring a jacket in case of inclement weather. If your child suffers from asthma, please ensure they have their medication with them in a named plastic bag, with instructions about administration. Your child needs to give this to their class teacher prior to departure. The students will need to wear school uniform and bring: 

A water bottle 

A substantial morning tea and lunch 

A warm layer of clothing (especially a windproof jacket) 

Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email  message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled. 

Please return....

• readathon cards and money, to the office
• sports uniform, washed and dried, to the box outside the library

Cultural Festival

Good luck to Te Whānau Mahi Tahi who are performing at the Christchurch Primary Schools Cultural Festival at Horncastle Arena on Thursday 12 September night! The show starts at 6:45pm. 

The instructions from Sherrilee are:

ENTRANCE: Side door/performers special entrance to the far far left of the arena. Meet Nicky and Steve there.

WEAR: Easy to put on shoes, warm zip-up top/jacket, stage make up if allowed to. 

BRING: Your best smile, wonderful manners and fabulous Beckenham Te kura o Pūroto behaviour.

ARRIVE: Around between 6:15pm-6:30pm, staff will guide you to our seating area.

PICK UP AFTER SHOW FROM: We will move as a group and meet all parents/whānau downstairs in the main foyer,  just look for our costumes.

Whānau Rōpū Hui - Monday 16 September 5:30pm

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

We would again like to offer you a hearty welcome to our Whānau Rōpū hui in the school staff room.

We are looking forward to getting together again for another great evening to celebrate Te Ao Māori with our local whānau, cook and share some kai and talk about upcoming events as we continue to develop our Whānau Rōpū together.

Nau mai haere mai! Come along, this is a great opportunity to get to know other tamariki and whānau, enjoy a cuppa and some kai, and get involved in this important aspect of our kura.

Ngā manaakitanga noho ora mai,

Steve Cooke and Sampson Karst

Keeping Ourselves Safe

At the moment the whole school has the pleasure of hosting Constable Ross Mitchell, who is conducting some lessons for every class from the Keeping Ourselves Safe learning that we are doing. Keeping Ourselves Safe [KOS] consists of a comprehensive range of child protection resources to help students learn and apply a range of safety skills that they can use when interacting with others. 

The school is able to access these from the NZ Police website. Keeping Ourselves Safe enables children and young people to learn and apply a range of safety skills that they can use when interacting with others. Students recognise the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships, and those who have been or are being abused are encouraged to seek help.

Discussing what your child has been learning at school will be a great way to reinforce the safety messages being delivered.

Back in 1969 Quiz: Saturday 14th September

So many amazing things happened "Back in 1969". Let's celebrate some of these 50-year milestones with a quiz.

The quiz will follow the usual format & one category will be focused on all things 1969.

Tickets are $20 each, max. of 6 per team. Supper provided, bar available & prizes galore.

This event is an adult-only event (R18). Doors open at 7pm.

Dress up is optional but sooooo encouraged!!! Prizes for the "Best Dressed".

Profits raised from this event will be used to purchase a Portable Outdoor Sound System.

Many thanks to our PTA for supplying entertainment for the community and funds to the school!

Book dress up day photos

Parenting Week

‘Strategies to help your family through the difficult times and enjoy being together’

 ‘Neighbourhood Trust is proud to bring you Parenting Week here in Canterbury. It’s happening from the 9th to 19th September and has around 30 events for any stage of parenting. They have a great line-up of experts including Mike King, Pio Terei, Dr Sue Bagshaw, Jenny Hale and Jax Hamilton, all right here.

 Their facebook page: Parenting Week, Christchurch www.facebook.com/parentingweekchch has all the events listed and more information.

Book dress up day photos

We had a fun day on Friday, finishing off our Readathon week with a book character dress up day. 

T3 W6 in Pohutukawa

Christchurch Schools' Music Festival

Massed Rehearsal next Monday

The Pōhutukawa Festival choir will be heading to Avonhead School next Monday, the 2nd of September, to attend our area rehearsal. We will be leaving school by bus at 12:15 and will return by 3pm.

Tickets

We will be performing on the evening of Thursday 7th November. Tickets are now on sale at Ticketek. This year marks 80 years since the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival began. Titled ‘You’re the Voice’, this year’s programme features songs from the past eight decades of the festival, as well as some new ones. Some parents or grandparents may remember singing some of the songs themselves as children in the massed or representative choirs during their youth! This year is also the first year that the festival will be held in the Town Hall since the earthquakes. We encourage you to get hold of your tickets asap, as the Town Hall has limited seats in comparison to our previous venue, Horncastle Arena. 

Orana Park Trip

Hopefully you will have received a paper copy of the notice informing you of our planned trip to Orana Park. If not, here is the information:

We are heading to Orana Park on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th of September, from 9.30am-2.45pm, to tie in with our inquiry focus of innovation, our science topics (habitats, classification, adaptations) and our writing of animal information reports this term.

As we are such a large team we are required to visit the park in two groups. On Monday Tracy’s home group, Rae’s home group and half of Steve’s home group will visit the park. On Tuesday Katie’s home group, Gayle’s home group and the other half of Steve’s home group will visit the park.

We will need the help of some adults to enable us to go on this trip. We will be leaving school at 9.30am via bus and we will have an emergency vehicle. If you are interested in assisting us on this trip as an adult supervisor, please email your child’s home group teacher before Friday 30 August. We will contact all adults who have kindly volunteered to help, to confirm whether your help is required.

The buses are being generously funded by the PTA. The cost per child will be $10 and a request for your contribution to this will be on your Term 3 account.

For the trip, your child will need to be in comfortable footwear and in school uniform. They should bring a jacket in case of inclement weather. If your child suffers from asthma, please ensure they have their medication with them in a named plastic bag, with instructions about administration. Your child needs to give this to their class teacher prior to departure.

On the day, students will need to wear school uniform and bring:

• A water bottle
• A substantial morning tea and lunch
• A warm layer of clothing (especially a windproof jacket)

Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email  message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled.

Thank you to those adults who have shown an interest in being supervisor for the trip. We will contact everyone next week to confirm required help.

Winter Sports uniforms

Once winter sports uniforms have been washed and dried, could they please be returned to school and popped in the pink box in the wee foyer area between the library and the office.

T3 W6 in Pōhutukawa

Christchurch Schools' Music Festival

Massed Rehearsal next Monday

The Pōhutukawa Festival choir will be heading to Avonhead School next Monday, the 2nd of September, to attend our area rehearsal. We will be leaving school by bus at 12:15 and will return by 3pm.

Tickets

We will be performing on the evening of Thursday 7th November. Tickets are now on sale at Ticketek. This year marks 80 years since the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival began. Titled ‘You’re the Voice’, this year’s programme features songs from the past eight decades of the festival, as well as some new ones. Some parents or grandparents may remember singing some of the songs themselves as children in the massed or representative choirs during their youth! This year is also the first year that the festival will be held in the Town Hall since the earthquakes. We encourage you to get hold of your tickets asap, as the Town Hall has limited seats in comparison to our previous venue, Horncastle Arena.  

Orana Park Trip

Hopefully you will have received a paper copy of the notice informing you of our planned trip to Orana Park. If not, here is the information: 

We are heading to Orana Park on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th of September, from 9.30am-2.45pm, to tie in with our inquiry focus of innovation, our science topics (habitats, classification, adaptations) and our writing of animal information reports this term.
As we are such a large team we are required to visit the park in two groups. On Monday Tracy’s home group, Rae’s home group and half of Steve’s home group will visit the park. On Tuesday Katie’s home group, Gayle’s home group and the other half of Steve’s home group will visit the park.
We will need the help of some adults to enable us to go on this trip. We will be leaving school at 9.30am via bus and we will have an emergency vehicle. If you are interested in assisting us on this trip as an adult supervisor, please email your child’s home group teacher before Friday 30 August. We will contact all adults who have kindly volunteered to help, to confirm whether your help is required.
The buses are being generously funded by the PTA. The cost per child will be $10 and a request for your contribution to this will be on your Term 3 account.
For the trip, your child will need to be in comfortable footwear and in school uniform. They should bring a jacket in case of inclement weather. If your child suffers from asthma, please ensure they have their medication with them in a named plastic bag, with instructions about administration. Your child needs to give this to their class teacher prior to departure.
On the day, students will need to wear school uniform and bring:
A water bottle
A substantial morning tea and lunch
A warm layer of clothing (especially a windproof jacket)
Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email  message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled.

Thank you to those adults who have shown an interest in being supervisor for the trip. We will contact everyone next week to confirm required help.

Winter Sports uniforms

Once winter sports uniforms have been washed and dried, could they please be returned to school and popped in the pink box in the wee foyer area between the library and the office.

T3 W4 in Pōhutukawa

Making Dutch biscuits

Today Forest (Rae's home group) were lucky to have Linda, Keanna's mum, come in to share a part of her Dutch culture with the children. They made Dutch biscuits, which looked and smelt delicious.

The children really appreciated the time Linda spent with them, and enjoyed gobbling up the fruits of their labour. Thanks Linda!

 

Head Lice

This is a reminder to routinely check your child/ren's hair for head lice or eggs. Unfortunately the little creatures are sneaky and need to be treated when detected, as they are very easily transferred from head to head.

School email address

As you may have heard, we have had a talk with the students about the way they use their school email address and school Google account. It came to our attention that some students had been using their school email address and school Google account for purposes other than learning. To make it very clear, we talked to the students about the following points:

• not having extensions (including cursors, GIFs, wallpapers etc)
• slides and docs are to be learning related and set or directed by a teacher 
• slides and docs are not to be shared with other students unless allowed/directed by a teacher (to avoid being distracted by commenting chat)
• school email is to be used for learning purposes only, and not as a means of communication with other students
• students have been asked to 'unshare' docs, delete docs from their drive which are not school or learning related
• students can use their school Google account at home for continuing with any work started at school (especially if directed by a teacher), to go on any educational websites such as Studyladder, Nick’s App, Maths Whizz, Prototec, E-ako, Solve Me, ReadWorks or to complete any home learning set by teacher
• using teacher approved websites only. Some YouTube clips are allowed to be viewed when it is relevant to learning.

For all other usage which is not school or learning related, such as communication (emails), making slide shows or docs with friends, we suggested that the students use their own personal account. This of course would be with the knowledge and permission of parents/caregivers. The recommended age for creating a personal Gmail account is 13 years old. You can create a Google Account for your child under the age of 13 and manage it using Family Link. With Google Accounts, children get access to Google products like Search, Chrome and Gmail, and you can set up basic digital ground rules to supervise them. 

Technology is an ever growing part of our world and we feel it is very important to ensure that at school the purpose of technology is to enhance the students' learning, as well as teach them skills regarding technology to equip them for their future. By monitoring and setting tight guidelines with regards to technology use at school, we hope to grow responsible and respectful users of technology.

Winter sport

Next week is the last week of winter sport. Thank you so much to all of the adults who have volunteered and helped out with a team. We certainly couldn't have done it without you!

T3 W2 in Pōhutukawa

Winter tournament

The weather hasn't been very kind to us over the last two weeks with regards to our zone's winter tournament. Jenny has made the call to cancel the tournament due to the weather and the impact it would have on the students returning to school. Unfortunately the tournament is unlikely to be rescheduled.

Year 6 morning in the Kauri hub

Our Year 6 students have a fabulous opportunity next week. On Tuesday, when the Year 7 & 8 students are off site at technology, the Year 6 students have been invited into the Kauri hub to have some fun with the Kauri teachers. They will get to experience some of the passions of the Kauri teachers, and be able to see what happens in the senior part of the school. When the Year 7 & 8 students return from technology, the Year 7 students will join the Year 6 students for some activities and chats about their favourite parts of being in the Intermediate hub.

Bakery on Thursday

The Year 7 & 8 small business group will be setting up their bakery and opening at lunchtime tomorrow, 12:40. All items are being sold for $1. All profits are going to charity. Your child can purchase cookies, cupcakes, donuts and rice-bubble slice. If your child is worried about losing their money before lunchtime, they can hand it in to their home group teacher who will hand it back at 12:40.

Curriculum areas:

Writing - At the moment we are embarking on writing information reports. The students are able to choose an animal they would like to find out more about. The report is mostly being completed on Google Docs/Slides so you are able to view progress at home.
Maths - The topic we have begun looking at this term is proportion and ratio. Most classes have started looking at fractions. Any talk at home around fractions (food being cut up, baking, sharing etc) to reinforce what we are doing at school would be great.
Science - This term on Friday we have Science for 50 minutes, and each home group will have two lessons with each teacher. Our overall topic is The Living World, and we are covering adaptations, classification, habitats, life cycles and human body processes.
CCC (Cool Curriculum Classes) - This term our classes are Culture (the cultures of the students in our home groups), NZ sign language, Jump Jam, Te Reo Māori and coding.

Culture

As mentioned, our focus for Culture this term is on the variety of cultures we have within our team. This will be an opportunity for all students to share their culture with their home group. So far we have located the countries of the children in home groups on a world map and have coloured in a flag from the identified country, which will be displayed around the world map on the wall. Every student in the Pōhutukawa hub will be represented by a flag on the wall. The students will be given an opportunity to gather information about their culture, whether that be from talking at home, from what they experience at home or what they look up on the internet.

On top of what the students can find out, I wondered if there might be anyone from or connected to our Pōhutukawa community who would like to and be able to pop into school to share any aspects of their (and their child's) culture? This might include teaching dance, sharing cultural experiences, teaching language, making food or anything else to do with your culture. If this sounds like something that you would like to do, or something you could convince someone in your whānau to do, please contact Tracy on tracy.inwood@beckenham.school.nz

We have so many experts within our community, and it would such a refreshing change for the students to have a different adult sharing what they know. I'm sure your child would also feel very proud to have their culture highlighted in such a way!

T2 W10 in Pōhutukawa

No winter sport this Friday

Our travelling winter sports teams do not play on Friday, the last day of the term.
Winter tournament is on Tuesday 23 July, the first Tuesday back of the term.

CCC - Cool Curriculum Classes

This term for CCC we have offered music, culture (Social Studies), well being (Health), library and coding. On Monday, for the last session of the term, the children rotated around every class.

Lillie - "I really enjoyed music because you got to learn about different kinds of genres and got to learn more than you knew already."

Katya - "My favourite CCC was coding because it was really fun. It was good for your brain to learn about coding and it will be good for the future."

Josh - "Culture was my favourite subject because we learn about the ways people are different and about the NZ culture."

Luca - "I enjoyed going to the library because it's a calm, fun space where people can enjoy their books."

Lachy - "Well being helped me because doing mindfulness is good for my body and brain."

 

Drama Day

Today we have had a focus on drama. The students made groups, chose to select a script, adapt a book or movie, or make up a play. They have practised, made props, acquired costumes and then have volunteered to perform their play on the stage before our hub. It has been really pleasing to see the children working collaboratively, compromising and using their imagination.Who knew we had such a fabulous bunch of aspiring actors and actresses?

 

Have a super break. Fingers crossed the weather plays its part, and we look forward to everyone returning back to school safe and sound, on Monday 22 July.

Winter tournament - we need you!

Winter Tournament is on the first Tuesday morning of Term 3 at Hagley Park, (23rd July).

Winter Tournament is a series of quick round-robin games against other teams in our zone. It serves as a qualifier for the Canterbury Winter Tournament. Our travelling weekly winter sport teams will compete in this tournament.

An adult is needed to manage each team and to referee their games. Many of our wonderful winter sport coaches are volunteering their time to be with their team for the tournament. We are able to enter more teams than what we can enter in winter sport and so would like to reorganise some of the teams to maximise the game time for each child. This requires more adult help.

We currently need managers for the following:

Hockey: 1 x year 5/6 and 2 x 7/8

Football: 2 x year 5/6

Netball: 1 x year 5/6 and 1 x 7/8

If you are able to help out, please email Jenny on jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz.

You may catch the bus with us or meet us at Hagley Park. You would be needed between 9 and 12:30.

T2 W6 in Pōhutukawa

Learning conferences next week

We have learning conferences in week 7 on Tuesday 11th June and Thursday 13th June. Note that school will finish at the earlier time of 2pm on both days to allow for Learning Conferences to take place. These conferences are an opportunity for you to meet with your child’s home group teacher to discuss your child’s current achievement and their next steps for learning. The conferences will be 15 minutes in duration for Year 1-6.

If you would like your child to stay at school between 2 pm and 3 pm on one or both of those days please fill in this google survey so we can plan ahead.

To book, please go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and use the code yucbe  

School reports

School reports will go home with all children tomorrow. These reports comment on attitude and application in Reading, Writing and Maths, and also include a general comment about how the year has gone so far. Learning conferences next week will be the time to discuss these reports in further detail if required.

PTA News - Kids' Disco

Polish those shoes & practice those moves, the KIDS' DISCO is coming back to town.

Mark the date NOW in your calendar- FRIDAY 14th JUNE in the HALL

NE -Yr 3: 4:30-5:30pm

Yr 4 -Yr 6: 6-7pm

Yr 7-Yr 8: 7:30-8:30pm

GOLD Coin entry fee.

If you are able to help out at ONE of these DISCOs please email amandawolt6@gmail.com

Term 2 Week 4 in Pōhutukawa

Zones Cross Country

Congratulations to all of the students who represented our kura last week at the South Zone cross country. This was held last Tuesday at Halswell Quarry. We had 24 students from our hub, and according to Jenny and Nigel they did a fantastic job of displaying our school value of  'We love challenge'. Special congratulations and good luck to Kever Thorley and Josh Breitmeyer, who have qualified for the Canterbury cross country competition.

The Christchurch School Strike 4 Climate Team

The Christchurch School Strike 4 Climate Team have notified us that there will be another student strike for climate change on this Friday.

In a bid to recognise the advancements that need to be made another strike will occur on May 24th from 1 pm in the Entertainment Triangle in North Hagley Park. We invite school students, teachers and staff to attend the strike in support of a local, national and international change to the system in order to ensure the future generations, the youth of today, and the leaders of tomorrow, will inherit a livable planet. 

In order to meet our sporting commitments on Friday afternoon, we need to know who will be attending this strike. Can you please email by the end of Thursday, either 

tracy.inwood@beckenham.school.nz or 

jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz  

to let us know if your child will be involved in this strike. 

More fantastic emotion writing

The end of this week sees us finish our current writing topic on emotion. If you have yet to read your child's piece of writing, ask them to share it with you, or show you, through Google Docs.

Here are some more examples of fantastic writing:

My First Time Horse Riding

My stomach tightened with nerves as I led the pony to the mounting block. I stepped onto the block while someone else held the pony still. I put my left foot comfortably into the stirrup and bounced into the saddle. I screwed up my face in fear, if the pony moved but he stayed still. I aimed to get my other foot in the stirrup but I missed. I aimed again and got in. Phew. It reassured me that both my feet were in the stirrups. The pony felt enormous to me but he was tiny. I was only seven! I took a deep breath. “Are you good up there?” the helper asked. “Yup,” I said hesitantly. The truth was, I wasn't ready, but how do you learn without doing it? The teenager clicked on the pony and he walked forward. I wobbled around, trying to keep my balance. By the time we got to the round pen, I had found my balance. I never thought that animals aka horses are so comfortable to sit on! She led me around the small round pen, while we waited for Bonnie. When Bonnie and our instructor came, we kept being led around the pen. Then the instructor asked if we wanted to ride without being led. I felt my butterflies in my tummy as the teenager walked beside me but didn't hold me. We learned to turn, go, and stop, and then we played a game of sneak up granny. Of course, I won! I started having fun and relaxing, as it was only Bonnie and me in the lesson. It was soooooo much fun, and now I get riding lessons/pony club.

By Tabea

 Fear factor!!

The last name gets pulled out of the bucket, but it isn’t me. Applause thunders through my ears as the challenge gets announced. You have to eat an eyeball, eeeeeww!!!! It sounds gross but I still want to do it. I hear that there are still more eyeballs to be eaten, so I shoot my hand up straight away. Katie is coming with metal tongs plopping sticky eyeballs into people's hands. I am getting even more excited. As she comes  closer and closer she gets to me and drops a sticky, squelchy eye ball in my hand waiting there 

I walk up to the humongous line of people waiting to eat the eyeball. Once everybody who wants to do the challenge has an eyeball to eat my anxiety kicks in. Then the countdown starts: 5,4,3,2,1! I hesitate for a second then reluctantly stuff it in my mouth. It tastes revolting! I am disgusted. I instantly ask Rae if I can get a drink from the drinking fountain by the classroom. She says yes so I race over as fast as I can. I have never run this fast, not even in cross country. Sluuuuuurp, I drink as much as I can to try to wash the taste out. 

The water just makes it worse. Now I feel nauseous - worse than ever. I go back to the line to be applauded for the task I have achieved. Now I am grateful that I have done it.

By Quinn

Splash

I clung to the side rail as we entered the dark gloomy cave. The only noises I could hear were screeching tracks, screams and trickling water. As we walked down the wet path I saw broken bars and caution tape. Now I was getting scared. Eventually we got a cart. I jumped in. Finally I thought.

Erch, the cart screeched up the track then when we got to the top of the hill edge we jerked to a stop. I felt worried. What if the track was broken? But that was exactly what the ride wanted me to think because next screech the cart wheeled down the track at top speed. Ahh! Where is this going? Curving, wurving, up, down, left, right. Then suddenly the cart dropped down and we splashed through a giant curtain of water. Woosh! It was over.

I got out of the cart sopping wet, took off my dripping headband and jersey and wrung them out. I looked up at Dad and asked him hopefully, “Again?”

By Julia

Special visitor

Today, just before lunch, we were very privileged to have the Rt. Hon. Jacinda Adern visit our school. She was here to speak with Lucy Gray and 5 other students from surrounding schools about the Climate Change Strike happening tomorrow. It was all very exciting, and a great experience for the students to see, hear and speak to our prime minister up close!