Hut Day this Friday

 Kia ora whānau,

This Friday we will be having a Hut Day from 11am onwards. The children have formed groups of 4 or 5 across the hub, and are in the process of planning and designing their hut, a letter box and hut rules etc. Your child will come home with a list of items that they may need in order to build their hut (e.g. old sheets, string, pegs). The children have been reminded to ask for your permission before taking anything to school!  The items will need to come to school on Friday, and will come back home the same day. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child's home group teacher. Thanks for your support.

Camp Medication to be collected

 Kia ora whānau,

If you sent your child to camp last week with some personal medication, we are holding all of this medication in the hub. Please come and collect it from us before or after school any day this week.

Camp Starts Tomorrow! Important Information PLEASE READ

 Kia ora whānau,

It's all go for camp tomorrow! Just a couple of important reminders:

• We will be walking into camp - rain or shine! If there are very cold winds we will not take the Sign of the Bellbird route as it is very exposed. We will, instead, walk the coastal route from Governor's Bay. Please send your child to school with warm layers, a waterproof jacket, sensible walking shoes and it may be worth popping a spare pair of socks into their backpack in case they get wet feet.
• Please have your child at school with their overnight bag and daypack by 8.30am at the latest so we can complete the roll. We need sufficient time to complete all of our preparations and load the buses. We appreciate your support with this.

We are all very excited and are looking forward to a fun and safe Living Springs adventure!

Final Camp Preparations

Kia ora whānau, We will be leaving for camp next Wednesday November 25th. Please have your child at school with all of their named gear in their overnight bag, plus their day pack containing lunch, a drink bottle, morning tea, sun hat and a windproof / waterproof jacket by 8.30am at the latest so we can complete the roll. Please also remember that any medication that is needed by your child during the day (e.g. asthma inhalers) can be stored in your child's day pack. All other medication that will be administered to your child in the morning or evening whilst on camp must be handed to Anne Batchelor in a named plastic bag or container on Wednesday morning. All medication handed to Anne for administration on camp must have a Medical Authority form completed for it. Anne will print these off and store them with your child's medication. If you have not yet completed a medical authority form for your child's medication, please do so immediately and email Anne at anne.batchelor@beckenham.school.nz to let her know that you have since completed a form. We are also in search of some ice cream containers with lids to take on the bus with us, in case of travel sickness. If you have any spare containers at home, we would greatly appreciate it if you could send them in to school ASAP.

BYOD Information Evening

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto has an optional Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme for students in Years 5-8. This programme is very popular and has been in operation since 2014. If you want to find out more about our BYOD programme including the rationale, digital citizenship practices and device responsibilities, please visit our BYOD website or come along to our information evening on Wednesday, 18 November from 7-8 pm, in the Kōwhai Hub. If you plan to attend this meeting, please RSVP here. The evening is optional and is aimed particularly at parents of current Year 4-7 students who are considering taking up BYOD next year but have not yet made the decision. The information evening will give you a chance to hear about our BYOD programme and ask questions about how it works. We generally recommend that families who want to participate in the BYOD programme purchase a Chromebook for their child to bring school. We are currently changing our BYOD provider and will send out a Chromebook offer, with prices, closer to the end of the year. With the introduction of the new Digital Technologies strand of the Technology Curriculum this year, ensuring that every child has access to a device becomes more important than ever before.

Important Reminder - Camp Health Form to complete

Kia ora whanau, This is a reminder that our Health Profile and Consent Form needs to be completed by this coming Monday, November 2nd 2020. Many thanks to the 60+ families who have already completed this form. One form needs to be completed for each child who is attending camp. This contains important information which allows us to support the children and their health needs while we are away at Living Springs. Please click here to complete the form If your child requires personalised medication while on camp, please also complete a Medicine Authority Form here. If you have any questions, please email anne.batchelor@beckenham.school.nz

Canterbury Triathlon

Kia ora koutou, The Canterbury Triathlon is an awesome event for children who have a good level of fitness and are after a challenge. We are restricted to the number of entries that we can make and these will be done on a first come first-served basis. Entries close on the 16th of November. This year, the event has a new venue at a private property close to Clarkville and will be held on Wednesday the 25th of November. Please note, the swim component is in a lake therefore it is very important that children are confident and capable swimmers. Due to the small numbers of children who compete in this event, we are unable to send a teacher to this event. Transportation and supervision of the children need to be arranged by each whānau. We are also required to provide an adult for set up or pack down in addition to marshaling duties. This person must be free of any responsibility to children at the event. Please indicate on the entry form if you are available to marshal. More information on this event can be found on the following link. https://www.sporty.co.nz/asset/downloadasset?id=576e24b0-7b85-4450-97cc-2357821c4990 Entry form click here