Pohutukawa Team Newsletter Term 1 Week 8

Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike Race

On the 18th March, Jenny went to compete in the Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike Race with 3 of our Pohutukawa students. It rained, they got covered in mud, but the smiles kept coming and they kept going. They all had to dig deep at some point during the event, really showing a love of challenge and some real grit. Here are some photos of the day:

Winter Sport: Coaches Required

With Term 2 fast approaching, we are starting to organise coaches and managers for our Winter Sport teams. As always, Beckenham School enters teams into the Friday Winter Sports competition, and look forward to travelling to Hagley Park to play against other schools in rugby, football, netball and hockey. To enter as many teams as possible we rely on our supportive community to volunteer to coach/manage sports teams, alongside our staff. If you are keen to support us in this we would love to hear from you. Please email expressions of interest to Jenny at jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz. We look forward to hearing from you!
At the beginning of Term 2 we will be holding trials. Children who do not make a team or who choose not to participate will remain at school.
Jenny and Gayle

Huxter Mountain Bike Relay

The Huxter Mountain Bike Relay event is being held at Mcleans Island on Friday the 7th of April. While this event takes place during school hours, the children will remain the responsibility of their parents for the duration of the event. We know of a few children already entered for this event by their parents and a few more children seeking a racing partner. If your child is interested in this event, please email Jenny to be put in touch with another family who are looking to enter. Please also let Jenny know when you have made an entry so that we can provide a Beckenham sports top and mark the child appropriately on the school roll.

Alpine Ice - Reminder

As you will be aware we are planning a trip to Alpine Ice as part of our learning about our school values.  This trip will take place on Monday 10th April (week 11).  Thank you to the parents/caregivers that have volunteered to come along to help make this trip possible, we really appreciate it! If you are able to help us, please email your child’s teacher before Monday 3rd April 2017. Please indicate if you have sufficient ice skating experience to be able to help children on the ice or not. Lack of experience won’t rule you out, however we would like to take some parents who are able to assist children on the ice.

Art - Supplies needed

For art this term, the children have been working hard on sculpting clay totem poles. Each child is currently making three sculptures, each representing aspects of their identity. What amazing artists we have in the Pohutukawa Hub! The care and attention to detail the children show when using clay is impressive. Next week, we will begin painting the totem poles. If you have any old shirts, newspapers or egg cartons at home it would be hugely appreciated if you send them along to school with your child next week.

SPCA - Bake Sale

Starfleet Academy is a much anticipated learning opportunity in the Pohutukawa Hub.  It is a time when our students have the opportunity to follow and realise their passions in learning.  Two of our students have used their initiative and have held a bake sale to raise money for the SPCA. Cupcakes and muffins were on sale for a for a gold coin and demand was high! Congratulations on supporting this awesome cause.

P.E. - Striking and Fielding

Our current focus in P.E is striking and fielding alongside team work and tactics. By practising these skills and playing these games, our children are learning the key skills and tactics for games such as Baseball, Cricket and Softball. Here are some of our children in action:

Writing 

In writing our children have produced interesting information reports on a topic of their choice.  Here is a piece on Tui's:

Tui
Do you know that male tui weighs more than the female tui. If you want to know how much both tui weigh then you should read this article. If you do read this report then you will learn lots about tui. You will learn things like what tui eat, what tui look like and what the enemies are. Tui are amazing birds and by the end of this report I think you will agree with me.

 Tuis like to eat lots of different foods. They like to eat nectar from flowers and flax. They also like to eat insects, fruit and small seeds.

 They are lots of different colours depending on the light. They are mostly green, blue, purple and sometimes shades of bronze. The male tui weighs 125g and the female weighs 90g. The tui also have two white tufts on their neck under there chin.

 Stoats, ferrets, rats and possums climb to where the tui have made their nest and steal tuis eggs then eat them. The pests eating the eggs is bad because then New Zealand will have less of these beautiful birds, because the eggs won’t hatch.

 I’ve been writing about tui and I hope you have learned some amazing facts.You’ve learned what tui eat, what their enemies are and my favourite, what they look like! Tui are amazing birds, don’t you think?