We are currently working with schools in our zone, Sport Canterbury and other local sporting bodies to plan for what competitive sporting options might look like this year. All planning for sports will follow the guidelines as set out by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. Given the current climate, we may need to adapt and change plans, (possibly last minute), as new guidelines and instructions are released by the government. We will endeavour to keep you up to date. Winter SportAll children will be involved in winter sport. This week the children have been asked to fill in a survey asking their preference of sports and asking them to choose between development or competitive.
The sports that the children were asked to choose between were netball, hockey, football, rugby, badminton (development only) and table tennis (this is also looking like it would be for development only due to low take-up from other schools).
You may like to talk with your child about the options that they selected. If they feel like they made a mistake on the form, please email Anne.
Development teams have a focus on developing technical skill within a low-pressure and non-competitive environment. Games will be against their peers and have a focus on fun.
Competitive teams have a focus on developing technical skill and a focus on preparation for competition. Government guidelines permitting, they will compete against other schools in our zone.
Competitive Winter Sport
We are currently planning a zone-based winter sport option for 2020. This replaces travelling to Hagley and Nuweek Parks and involves competitive games against teams from our zone, utilising local parks and schools. This plan reduces the need to travel across town, minimises the number of people that the children come into contact with and makes contact tracing easier.
Winter Tournament
No information at this time
Cross Country
Currently, Sports Canterbury is looking at the beginning of term 3 for a Canterbury level event. Our Zone is currently looking at week 12 as a possible time for our Zone competition, making week 10 a logical time for our school-based event. We are still working through what this will look like. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that a whole school event will be possible. Training for cross country will start for children Years 5 to 8 next week. This gives the children time to prepare physically and mentally for this challenge.
Year 0 - 4 Cross Country
No information at this time Basketball
Pioneer will be running 3 on 3 games for four weeks in term 2. These will be played on a half-court. To keep the numbers down, no spectators will be allowed inside the gym as spectators. One adult per team will be allowed in the gym to manage the team. From term 3, the hope is that the usual 5 on 5 games may resume.
Canterbury Swimming and Canterbury Duathlon
There is a possibility that these events may run in term 4. This can not be confirmed yet.
Here is a link to a survey re Winter Sports for our Pōhutukawa learners. We are still firming up what our options however it would be very helpful to get an indication of what support you may be able to offer. We would greatly appreciate it if you could complete the survey as soon as possible.
We are SO excited about seeing your children back at school on Monday! As I am sure you are aware, things will be a little bit different at school compared to "normal". If you haven't already, please watch our Welcome Back to School Video (below) with your family, so you and the children know what to expect.
Also, in error, the wee video that Anne, Steve, Kerilea and Kate made was left out by mistake, so here it is!
Just a few important reminders for next week - your child will need a named drink bottle full of water at school each day. If your child arrives at school without a water bottle we will be phoning you and asking you to drop one in as there are no operational water fountains at school in Level 2. Drink bottles and lunch boxes will be kept in the cubbies with bags.
If your child has borrowed a school device for the lockdown period, please bring it back to school on Monday and take it straight to the verandah outside the library where you can sign it back in. If your child uses a skateboard to travel to and from school, these will now be stored in the locked bike stand area on Sandwich Rd - they need to be there by 9am at the latest, which is when the area is locked. They will be stored there at your own risk.
If your child has any skin sensitivities or allergies and you are concerned about the use of hand sanitiser and / or school soap, please feel free to send your child to school with their own products to use. If you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to contact your child's home group teacher.
Here is a video outlining the drop off and pick up procedures at school for the time that we are operating in Level 2. We appreciate your support with this.
Here we are at the end of another week of distance learning! Thanks again for all of your great work supporting your child(ren) in their distance learning. Keep on sending that work through to us - we love to receive it!
We will be having our second social Zoom call for our Pōhutukawa Hub Learners on Monday May 11th at 11am. If your child would like to join us and their friends for a catch up, please email your child's home group teacher and we will send you the link. Just to clarify, the reason we do not automatically send out the Zoom link to all our learners is because we want to ensure that they have your permission and support to be on the call. Please also ensure that the username that your child will be using to join the call clearly has your child's name or family name visible. As an extra security measure we use a waiting room in Zoom, so that we can ensure that only Pōhutukawa learners are able to join the call. If we cannot identify a potential attendee, we cannot admit them. We appreciate your support with this.
Here is this week's celebration assembly, we hope you enjoy watching it!
Well done everyone for making it through Level Four and also working through the first week of distance learning at Level Three. By now we are all settled into our home learning / distance learning routines. Thank you for all of the positive feedback on our Pōhutukawa Hub Website. We hope that you are continuing to enjoy the variety of learning challenges that we offer each day.
Distance Learning
We are really enjoying receiving work that the children have been creating. It's great to see photos and videos of their learning too - they help us feel connected with you! Please also remind your child(ren) to click the submit button on any work that they have completed in Google classroom - that way we get a notification and know that the work requires our attention and feedback. We continue to strive to offer a variety of learning activities that will suit each family and their different circumstances. We are very happy to see that the majority of our learners are completing at least one learning challenge from our site each day, as well as using the site (and other resources) to complete numeracy and literacy learning daily. Remember to check the Sharing Our Learning section in our Pōhutukawa Google Classroom stream so that you can see what everyone has been up to! Keep up the great work everyone, and remember we are here to help if you or your child need support with their learning.
If you feel it would be beneficial for us to call you or use Zoom to connect with you and your child about their learning, please email you child's home group teacher and we will set up a time in the school day that suits. Please keep in mind that Steve will be on site at school next Tuesday and Thursday and Anna will be on site on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On these particular days they are busy working with children at school, and so will contact you on the days that they are working from home.
Using Zoom for Learning meetings with students
Last week we opened up Zoom to our Google Suite for students. Our teachers have been using Zoom for their meetings, and find this platform to be far superior to the similar option of Google Meet which some teachers had been using with the children.
Please be aware that your child's security is a top priority for us. To that end, we have the following procedures in place, and we ask you to monitor (as always) what your child is using their school account for at home.
All Zoom meetings with staff and students will be recorded by the staff member.
Staff have enabled Zoom 'waiting rooms' meaning that students cannot begin a meeting without the teacher who created the meeting being in the room.
Students should ideally be in a room where you can at least see them, when they are in a zoom conference. (Bedrooms and bathrooms are not appropriate places for children to be when using social / meeting platforms.)
Please remind your child that their Google accounts are for school and learning use only. This means that they should not be using their student accounts to engage in Zoom or Google Meets with one another for social purposes.
We are, however, aware that the children are missing the social connection with their friends that being at school usually provides. With this in mind, we will be holding a Zoom session on Wednesday May 6th at 11am so that any learners who are missing that social connection with their teachers and friends can connect with us. If your child is interested in attending the Zoom (with your support) please email your child's home group teacher and we will send you the login and password. Please click on the link below for some helpful tips on Zoom Protocol.
We have a Celebration Assembly video to share with you - please have a look below! The video is best viewed in full screen.
Cybersafety at Home When Using School Google Log ins
As you may be aware from the school cyber safety agreement, Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto has various cyber safety systems in place in order to keep students safe. We have one system called “Highlights” that we would like you to be particularly mindful of during lockdown.
This system allows teachers to see Chromebook screens and/or Chrome browser tabs whenever that device or browser is signed into a school Google account during school hours. This is an important tool that teachers use to keep students safe and to offer support while students are learning. It also has privacy implications and is one of the main reasons we always ask and remind students to only use their school account for learning purposes. If you want your child to use their personal device/browser for other purposes or without the school cyber safety systems in place, then it is important that students sign out of their school account and sign into a personal account created by you. If your child has borrowed a school Chromebook, they should only be using this with their school login and for learning purposes.
We also utilise a specialised web filtering system to help keep our students safe online. This filter automatically alerts staff whenever a student account is potentially being used to access unsafe content on the internet. Like Highlights, this filter system is active whenever a student is signed into their school account, even if they are at home. If we receive a concerning filter alert during lockdown, we will contact you via email.
It is important to note that teachers never rely on just the filtering system. We work hard to actively monitor students’ screens and always ask students to work in a place where their screens are visible. We strongly encourage you to adopt a similar approach at home by making sure children only use devices in a family area where they can be easily seen. We also encourage you to actively check that your child/children are using the device in a safe and positive manner.
Junior Neighbourhood Support Canterbury challenges you to…
Make a Stop Motion Lego Movie!
You can use lego or other toys to share one part of your Covid-19 isolation time. Some ideas for experience to share include (but are not limited to):
Keeping 2m away
Going to the supermarket
Staying at home
Leaving the house for exercise
Easter or ANZAC Day 2020
Send your entries to jns@canterburyns.net before Level 2 ends and we’ll put them into a movie that everyone can watch. If you need some help getting started with Stop Motion, have a look at https://www.instructables.com/id/Stop-Motion-Animation-for-Kids/
Stop Motion Studio is a popular Apple and Android app to use to film and you should only need the free version. If you are using a Chromebook, you may like to try Stop Motion Animator (from the Chrome Web Store).
Thanks again whānau for your support and collaboration in these times. Have a great weekend everyone!
