Week 8 Update

Year 8 Camp forms were due back on Friday Aug, 31st. Please send any remaining forms to school on Monday. We had wonderful support for our PJ day, raising over $400. We were also given money to cover swimming and bus hire from Rotary. So this money along with some funding from the PTA has reduced our camp fee down to $10 per child, this will be charged to your account.

After a dramatic start to the day, with a bus accident (everyone was OK), the Year 7 & 8 Hockey, Rugby and Football teams displayed impressive resiliency to go on and perform admirably at the Canterbury Winter Sports Tournament.  A fabulous attitude was seen in all teams. We were particularly impressed with the Football team who we think were placed 5th.

Winter Sport has now finished and next Friday we will be underway with athletics.

We have spoken with the children about ensuring they are dressed in correct uniform and that their nails are polish free. If there is a valid reason why your child is not wearing correct uniform (black pants and red school top), please write a brief note for them to carry that day. Nail polish is fine for weekends, but please remind your daughters to remove it on Sunday evening.

On Tuesday's long hair needs to be tied back, for safety reasons, at technology. Most children come prepared with hair ties, but a number still need to remember this. Again, a reminder from home would be appreciated.

A big congratulations to the following sports stars...

• Latham Kelly-Foleni will captain the Under 65kg Canterbury Rugby Team in the South Island Tournament.
• Annalise Lightbourne, has been selected for the Canterbury 11 a-side development team. She will be attending the Festival of Hockey in Ashburton in October.
• We have four Canterbury reps who have been selected for Mainland Football this week; Henry Mabin has made the 12^th Grade Canterbury Red Team travelling to Blenheim, Callum Riley has made the 13^th Grade Canterbury Red Team travelling to Queenstown, Lyle Matthysen  has made the 14^th Grade Canterbury Black team travelling to Dunedin and Beth Elliott has made the 14^th Grade Canterbury Red Team who will compete here in Christchurch.

Wow! These are fabulous achievements, we wish you all well with your games.

Week 8 is a big cultural week. All the best to the band and te Whanau Mahitahi, who will preform on Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week.

We hope there has been a lot of spelling going on in your house over the past few weeks. Spellathon cards need to be returned on Monday with testing day on Friday Sept 7th. I have added the Spellathon words to the Spelling Page on this blog, so words are still available to practise, once the cards have been returned.

In week 9, our Year 8 students who are going to Cashmere High School next year will be attending a testing morning on Thursday September 13th. On that day they make their own way to Cashmere in the morning and need to be back at school before 1:30pm.

Week 7 Update

Things are ticking along nicely in the Year 7 & 8 team. Today (Friday) our Hagley Sports teams headed off to Pioneer Park to welcome home our Olympians.

The final round of Hagley Sport will take place on Friday Sept 31st. Basketball is also wrapping up for the year; the white team play their final game today and the red team have their last game on Monday 27th at 5:30.

Self defence is underway for Room 16 and 17 girls; this will run every Tuesday afternoon until Sept 18.

If your child is one of the 18 artists who will be working on the cultural diversity mural, please ensure they come to school dressed in old clothes for painting on Monday (Aug 27 & Sept 3).

Spellathon Cards have all been sent out. Please encourage your child to keep learning these words. Little and often is the best approach; just 3 words a day and they will have them mastered in no time. They also need to be gathering sponsors.

The first notice for Year 8 Camp is being sent home today. You will see we have a new page on this blog for Year 8 Camp, please check this weekly.

If your child is involved in the Music Festival Choir, you should have recieved a notice about their massed rehearsal on Friday August 31st

Week 6 Update

Self defence sessions will start for the girls of Rooms 16 and 17 on Tuesday August 21st, after lunch. This course will run for five weeks. Next term, Rooms 18 and 19 will have their turn.

Special art project: On Monday Aug 27 and Sept 3, four children from each Year 7 & 8 class will be working with Miss Dunlop on the creation of a mural, to celebrate the cultural diversity of our school. This mural will be attached to the wall of the library which faces Sandwich Rd.

ICAS tests: This week we received results for the ICAS science tests. Beckenham students performed very well with a number of distinction certificates being awarded. Special congratulations to Briana Steven achieving a High Distinction.

Spellathon: Spellathon cards will come home in the next day or two. Please read instructions carefully and encourage the children to gather sponsors and learn their words.

Winter Sport: Aug 24th will be the final day at Hagley Park. Students will leave school at 11:00, as we have been asked to join other selected schools to welcome home our Olympians in Hagley Park. Sport will follow after this welcome.
Unfortunately the South Zone Winter Tournament was cancelled due to ground conditions. On Thursday Aug 30th, our A football, hockey and rugby teams will be competing in the Canterbury Winter Sport Tournament. Teams we will be leaving school at 11am and returning by approx. 3pm.

Mid Summer Night's Dream: We are having lots of fun on Thursday afternoons as we create drama, music, dance and art. Below are some pictures taken from this week's props making session.

 The kind fairy Queen's flower garland is coming together, next step ... how do we make flower buds?

Large fruit take shape, next step ... papier mache.

3D trees under construction. We have a few attachment issues to be worked through.

Tissue flowers by the dozen!

Week 5 Update

It's time to keep your fingers crossed and do some fine weather dances, we need a good day on Wednesday 15th Aug for the South Zone Winter Tournament to go ahead.
Leadership Camp: We are currently finalising the costs for our Year 8 Leadership Camp which will take place on Sept 20 and 21. A letter will be coming out in Week 5 with details about this camp.

Speeches: We will be holding our annual speech competition in week 10 (class) and 11 (team) this term. In Year 7 & 8 the students write their speeches at school on a topic of their own choice. Most classes will get getting underway with this writing topic within the next two or three weeks. How you can help at home is to discuss with your child a suitable topic and encourage them to start researching their topic and gathering ideas.

Mid Summer Night's Dream: Thursday afternoons are turning into a highlight for our team as we work towards the creation of our production. The props and set design group would appreciate the donation of:

• Green fabric, any shade or size would be appreciated.
• Chicken wire, if you have any lying around your garage that you no longer need.
• Beads (dark colours ... purple, blue, black, green) or chains (necklace)
• Large boxes or sheets of card.

Please send any donations to Room 19.

Cantamath Success: I've been talking about Cantamath a lot over the past few weeks; well the event finally came and we had reason to be proud of our students. Both teams finished in the top 50% of the schools competing; the Year 7 team scored 65/100 and the Year 8 team 60/100. In the displays section over half of our entries gained awards, which is pretty impressive as the majority of work on display wasn't awarded anything.

• A big congratulations to Gabrielle Gray (game), Jack Ryan (model) and Room 19 maths class (project redesigning Waltham Pool) for their Excellence Awards.
• Well done to Ties Prins (publicity motif), Jimmy King (publicity motif), Briana Steven (model), Hannah Lawson (model), Oscar Hooper (poster), Claudia Hillyer (model) and .... for their Highly Commended awards.

Week 4 Update

On Thursday night we held our open evening for Year 5 & 6 families, and again today we talked with all Year 5 & 6 children at school. I was very proud of our stage band and the five Year 8 presenters who spoke, they did a fabulous job.

On Tuesday we displayed all of the Canatmath display projects that were completed for home learning. Wow, we were blown away by the number of top quality pieces of work that were created. This year we will be putting more entries into Cantamath than we ever have before. Visit our photo gallery to see the selected projects.

Wednesday of week four is a big day. Most of our students will be off to Hagley Park late morning to compete in the South Zone Winter Sports Tournament. No lunch orders for those children please. We wish them well and know they will do us proud.

After school on Wednesday it's Cantamath Time. Our teams would love some supporters. The competition is at the CSB Canterbury Area, starting at 3:30 with the Year 7 team. It is a great afternoon at attend; as well as the problem solving competition, it is also a chance to view all of the wonderful projects on display. The Year 8 competition will be finished by 5:30pm.
Good luck to our teams:
Year 7: Jack R, Briana, Jessica L, Oscar and Jimmy as reserve.
Year 8: Maigan, Beth, Joseph, Anna J and Henry as reserve.