Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Pōhutukawa Update, Term 1, Week 7



Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all,

As the term races on it's time to catch up on what we've been up to in Pōhutukawa, and also let you know some information about a couple of upcoming events. Please read on!

'Taku Pepeha'
Our catchphrase for this term is "Whakapapa Helps Shape the Unique Identity of Who We Are". As part of our look into 'Identity' this year, we have been constructing pepeha in the afternoons. It has been wonderful to see the whānau engagement, and to learn about the students' whakapapa, genealogy. Thank you for sending through family photos, which the students may use in their presentation. Students have also been reciting and practicing their pepeha in order to record it and share their awesome te reo Māori skills with you. Kia kaha te reo Māori!

PB4L

Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto is a PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) school. PB4L looks at behaviour and learning from a whole-of-school as well as an individual child perspective. Our particular team's PB4L focus for the start of the year is “being an upstander”. We have been discussing how we can show the values ‘We Make a Difference’ and ‘We Care’ by being upstanders. We have discussed with the students the different actions we can take to be an upstander (as opposed to a bystander) if we see someone being mistreated. We have linked the Slideshow ‘How to be an Upstander’ here, and encourage you to take a look so that you can continue these very important conversations at home, too. You could also read Oat the Goat (bilingual interactive online storybook), which teaches how to show acceptance, empathy, and tolerance by being an upstander. Mā tātou kātoa, te waka e hoe, we are all in the waka together.

Kapa Haka Performance this Friday

Our fabulous Kapa Haka rōpu have been working on a few items with Whaea Cath Milio, and have been called upon to perform this Friday at 10:00 am at our Celebration Assembly. As in years past, each team has a turn at performing at Celebration Assemblies during the year with the intention being to showcase what the learning has been, and to get used to performing in front of an audience. It would be wonderful to see you there. He taonga te ako.

Pioneer Basketball Year 5-8 Primary Winter Competition Registration of Interest

Please fill in the Form if your tamariki is interested in playing for Beckenham on a Wednesday (Year 6) or Thursday (Year 5) afternoon in the Pioneer Basketball Competition in Term 2 and 3.

Games are played at Pioneer Stadium, with schools and individuals from around Christchurch South. There is a cost involved and the team will require parental support to manage the team at the games. Please fill in this form before the end of the term (April 12) to indicate your child/ren's intention to play. https://forms.gle/4xHt41FrUmHYEiiBA

This year Pioneer have changed the competition to differentiate between Year5 and Year 6. Once we have collected the responses we will be in touch if we have enough players for a team for each Year level.

For more information about the competition please visit http://www.pioneerbasketballclub.co.nz/Pioneer-Competitions/primary-winter-yr-5-8 

Friday, 1 March 2024

Pōhutukawa Update, Term 1, Week 5



Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all,

Huge congratulations to all of the Swimming Sports competitors who represented themselves so admirably yesterday. Such a fantastic way to show 'We Love Challenge'! Keep an eye out for some photos of the event from our Media Team. Thank you also to the parents and whānau who supported the tamariki at the pool, and in the preparing them for the afternoon. A special mention to those who have qualified for Zones. Nau mai te wero! And so, on we swim into the second half of the term. Please read on for some important information about what we are learning in Pōhutukawa.

Pepeha

As part of our 2024 schoolwide focus on the concept of 'Identity', we are currently learning about our pepeha in Pōhutukawa. The tamariki have been learning about how and when people came to Aotearoa, New Zealand, and making a differentiation between 'tangata whenua' (people of the land', or people with Māori whakapapa/ancestry), and 'tangata Tiriti' ('People of the Treaty of Waitangi, or people with no Māori ancestry). You can read more about the differentiation here.
 
We will be leading all of the students through the process of writing and learning their pepeha using a template that reflects their ancestry, and respects our local mana whenua. We believe it's important to acknowledge the personal nature of pepeha and that it should reflect each individual, their whānau, and the story of their ancestry. We encourage you to discuss and look through your child's pepeha, and include whatever you think supports your child's identity.
 
If you have any questions or you would like to discuss anything, please get in touch. Mā tātou kātoa te waka e hoe, we're all rowing the waka together.

Maths and Reading Groups

Maths and Reading groups have now started and everyone has been allocated a teacher for these core subjects - the final stage of our regular daily timetable. We encourage you to take some time to ask your tamariki to show you what they are now able to access through their  Maths and Reading Google Classrooms and Sites. These are a great way to keep the learning going at home, too. The treasure is learning, he taonga te ako!

Kia tino pai ngā rā whakata. Have a great weekend, everybody.

The Pōhutukawa Team