Pōhutukawa News - Week 4, Term 1, 2021

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

Week 4 was another busy week, here are some of the highlights!

Canterbury Earthquake Commemorations

Last Monday 22nd February, Pōhutukawa joined the other teams at Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto in commemorating the 10 year anniversary of the Canterbury Earthquakes by filling our footpaths with images and messages of aroha and togetherness. We Care, Arohaina te tangata me te taiao.

Swimming Sports

It was great to see many whānau at our annual school swimming sports on Thursday. The event is always a lot of fun and the nervous energy on the bus on the way to the pool was palpable! We Love Challenge at Beckenham, and it was fantastic to see the tamariki literally leap out of their comfort zones with a splash. Nau mai te wero! Here is a message from Jenny Diggle to the competitors:

"Congratulations to all our swimmers who competed in the school swimming sports.

You embraced an opportunity to get involved and challenge yourself in friendly competition. Wharenui Pool wanted me to pass on how impressed they were with how clean you left the bleacher area. When I did a check after you had all left there was not one bit of rubbish and there was no lost property left behind in the changing rooms. These seemingly small things do make a difference. Thank you!"

Maths Groups

Our maths groups started this week. The tamariki have all started to engage in independent activities and think about goals they want to achieve for the term. It's wonderful to see many children wanting to improve on their basic fact knowledge. All the groups spent some group time engaging in activities that require justifying their answers and reasoning by using mathematical language. One example of the questions that were used to promote this mathematical reasoning was the following question in a "Move and Prove" activity:

 I am 9 hundreds and 100 ones. Am I 900, 999, 1000, or 9100? Be prepared to justify your answer. 

We Love Learning. He taonga te ako. Why not ask your child/children to justify their answer to you?

Pōhutukawa News (Swimming Sports and Huxter) - Week 2, Term 1, 2021

Kia ora e te whānau, it was great to catch up with many of you at the PTA picnic this evening. Here are a couple of notices regarding some upcoming sports events. (Please note the entries for swimming sports close on Monday!)

Swimming Sports

Here is a link to an information slideshow about our upcoming Swimming Sports, to be held on the afternoon of  February 25th. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vbhbd7jLy4F8aMK09Bdz0hxBCMuTuSDnnDVic8qyt74/edit?usp=sharing

We spoke with all of the students as a team about the day and have explained to them how they can go about entering. We have also encouraged them to speak with you before choosing which events to enter if they are unsure. The information on this Slides presentation outlines this same information and should clarify any questions you may have. 

The students can access the entry form (a Google Form) by logging on to 2021 Pōhutukawa Google Classroom. Please let us know if you do have any questions, we are happy to help.

Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike Relay

We would like to promote the above event to keen mountain bikers. Children compete as a team to complete as many laps of the course as they can in 4 hours. Children 11 years old and younger ride a mellow loop that goes through the Heritage Forest. Children 12 years and older ride an intermediate level track, (it’s worth noting that this course is the same one that adults compete on and so it is a little busier). Whānau are responsible for entries and for supervising children at the event. There are already a number of children entered and we will have a Beckenham te Kura O Pūroto base area set up for all our teams to use. If you enter this event, please let Jenny Diggle know so that we can share information and coordinate plans for race day.

https://www.hanmerevents.co.nz/48mtb

Pōhutukawa News - Week 2, Term 1, 2021

Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all. We had a great start to the year last week getting to know each other and learning about some of the routines in the Pōhutukawa team. Thankfully, the sun came out on Friday afternoon and we could finish off the week by having some water play in the Park. Those who weren't so keen on getting wet were still able to get outside and spend some time exploring our local flora and fauna down at the ponds or getting creative in the sandpit. It has been so good to reconnect with our returning Year 6 students, as well as make connections with our Year 5's and our students who are new to Beckenham. We are looking forward to an awesome year ahead!

This week we will be starting our ever-popular CCC (cross-curriculum classes) as well as the workshops/ papamahi, which will be covering the following topics:

• using devices, with Rae
• goal setting using WOOP, with Gayle
• book setup and bookwork expectations, with Anna
• being active listeners, with Steve

Thank you as always for your support, and please do get in touch if you have any questions. We understand there is a lot of information to take on board, particularly for students new to our team, and we are all more than happy to explain or clarify any queries you might have. Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe, we are all in the waka together! On that note, here are a few notices for the start of the year.

BYOD and Cybersafety Forms

It is great to have so many students bringing their own devices to school. Please remember to send along the signed permission slip for the BYOD agreement in order for your child to be able to access the BYOD network at school. If you have not yet returned the signed Cybersafety agreement, please do so as soon as possible. Every child MUST sign the Cybersafety agreement regardless of whether they are bringing their own device to school or not. Both of these forms are available at school if you need them.

Stationery

A big thank you to all of you who either brought $5 to your Learning Conference or paid by eftpos at the school office for your child's/children's two maths books for the year. We have received the books and we will be giving them out this week. If you are still to pay for these, please contact Jacky at the office to arrange payment.

Pōhutukawa Learning Site 

Our Pōhutukawa Learning Site is up and running for 2021! Please use the following link: https://sites.google.com/beckenham.school.nz/pohutukawalearningsite2020/home 

Here you will find the 'Pōhutukawa 101' video that we watched at Learning Conferences. If you find you are having trouble accessing any of the Google material it might be because the privacy settings have been limited to users with a Beckenham school email address. This is to ensure that materials relating to your child's/children's learning cannot be shared out into the wider world. Signing in together with your child will mean you can see everything that we have on our learning sites and on Google Classroom for this year.

Sunhats, sunscreen, and hand sanitiser

Thank you for ensuring that your child comes to school prepared for the sun. A named sunhat is a compulsory uniform item in Terms 1 and 4 and students who do not have a sunhat are required to stay in the shade during break times. A full drink bottle is another key item for these hot days. There is plenty of shade on the netball court, where we eat lunch, although it's a good idea for students to be wearing their hats whenever we are outside. The school supplies sunscreen and students can also bring their own sunscreen and keep it in their bag should they need to apply some during the day. We are making sure we sanitise and wash our hands throughout the day, so if your child has sensitive skin, please give them their own sanitiser to use. 

Important Dates

25 February - Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Swimming Sports (Y 5-8) - 12 - 2pm at Wharenui Pool

18 March  - South Zone Swimming Sports

23 March -  Canterbury Primary School Triathlon 

More information about the above events will come home closer to the time.