Kauri Whanau: Term 2 Week 2 Weekly Update

We are looking forward to catching up with many of you this week at learning conferences. Remember to allow 30 mins for the conference. When you arrive, come straight into the hub. Your child will start sharing their learning and we will join you to discuss progress and next steps. Your child's home-group, maths and possibly reading teacher will spend time with you during the conference. There will be a list of reminders of what to share on the whiteboard, for your child to refer to.

There are a number of important messages below about upcoming events. They are in order of when the events occur. Please read carefully.

Cross Country:

The children have been training regularly in preparation for our Cross Country Sports Event this Friday. We really appreciate your support. On Friday the children will have an early lunch before bussing back to Champion Street at 12.30. Teachers will led a course walk to ensure the children are familiar with their route. The first race is the Year 6 girls who start at 1.30. Please ensure all children are wearing suitable footwear and have a warm layer to wear for before and after their race. Any children who are unable to compete due to medical reasons should bring a note from home signed by a parent, or send an email to their home-group teacher.

• Year 7 Girls – 2:05 pm
• Year 7 Boys – 2:10 pm
• Year 8 Girls – 2:20 pm
• Year 8 Boys – 2:25 pm

Thank you to all the parents who have offered to be course marshals. Please meet Jenny by the cricket pavilion at 1.15 to be given a high visibility vest and to find out your position.

J-Rock:

In just over a week now we will be sharing our J-Rock performance at Horncastle Arena. Children are dancing, sewing machines are whirring and excitement is building! Many thanks to the parents who are helping with costume making and jelly fundraising this week. Later this week I will contact those who offered to help with the evening meal. 

We would like all costumes at school by this Friday, earlier if possible. If your child has more than one costume, they will need a small named box to hold their costumes. This will help quick costume changes run smoothly. If you have offered to lend flouro vests, checked shirts, overalls etc, please name these and send them to school ASAP, so we can match them with children. 

Next Monday afternoon, May 15, we will be having another rehearsal at Hillview in the afternoon. All children will be back at Beckenham by 3pm. 

Next Thursday, May 18th, J-Rock day, all children need to be at school, in uniform, with their costume box, a hearty lunch and drink bottle by 8:30am. We will be spending the day and evening at Horncastle. Please arrange to collect your child at 9pm from Horncastle. You will need to come to the front entry so that children can be signed out. If you are attending the performance, please let your child's home-group teacher know. Two of us will stay with your children, we have seats at the back of the arena, and get them to you at the end of the evening. 

Winter Sport:

We have now finalised teams for Winter Sport and communicated these to the children. The interest in playing sport was really encouraging and making up teams was a challenging task due to the level of skill and positive sportsmanship displayed by all the children. Unfortunately, we are limited to entering a maximum of two teams per sport in each age group and so can not take all the children who want to go.

Children participating in Winter Sport will have an early lunch each Friday (starting in week 3). They will be bussed to their game location at 12.30. Games start at 1.15 and should be finished by 2.15. On completion of their game they will be bussed back to Sandwich Road via Campion Street, arriving back at Beckenham by 3 pm.

Locations for matches are as follows:

• Netball, Rugby and Year 7 and 8 football - Hagley Park
• Hockey and Year 5 and 6 football - Nunweek Park

Children attending Winter Sport should ensure that they bring a warm jersey or jacket and a water bottle to their game. The following safety gear is also required:

• Hockey - shin guards and mouth-guards
• Football - shin guards 
• Rugby - mouth-guards

Mouth-guards can be purchased from the Beckenham office and we have some shin guards available to lend.

All players should have short nails and are not permitted to wear any kind of jewellery.

Of the children competing we have a mixture of highly able, competitive players and children who are trying out the sport for the first time. While there is a competitive element to Winter Sport, the primary focus is on participation and good sportsmanship. We look forward to seeing our school kete values on display.

Cashmere High Open Day:

On Monday May 22nd, Mark Wilson, the principal of Cashmere High, will be visiting our hub, with two ex-Beckenham Year 9s, to talk about transition to high school. The following day on May 23, Cashmere High will be holding it's open day from 4:30 - 6pm.

Showcase:

On the last Thursday of term, July 6th, we will be holding our annual Year 5-8 Showcase evening, starting at 7pm. As our hall is out of action at present, we will be showcasing in the Hillview Gym on Wilsons Rd.  All children will be involved in this evening, as we will be sharing our J-Rock performance, choir, Te Whanau Mahi Tahi, a band group, as well as Year 5 and 6 performance groups. This will also be a chance to celebrate leadership, with presentation of awards. Please mark this date in your diaries.

Ski Trip: 

Many thanks to the parents who have offered to help on our ski day, on August 17th in term 3. Matthew, Rod, Shaun / Katherine and Glen have all offered to take cars. We need one more parent, who has experience driving on a mountain road, to join us and help transport children. If you are able to help out, please fill in this form.