Year 7 & 8 Team @ Beckenham: Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3, Week 1

It was lovely to welcome Kauri Whānau back to school today. We have another exciting term ahead. Highlights include:

Arts Academies get underway, as we work towards our music production of 'The Trials of Alice in Wonderland'. Auditions for speaking parts will be held next week. The show will be performed in December, on Monday 4th and Thursday 7th.
Week 2: Monday 31st July, Winter Tournament and GTX Dance workshop for those not going to tournament.
Week 2: Thursday 3rd August, Open Evening for Year 5 & 6 families. You would have received an email if your child is one of the presenters.
Week 3: Wednesday Aug 9th, Becamath problem solving competition for all of Year 7 & 8.
Week 4: Monday Aug 14th, Cultural Festival.
Week 4: Thursday Aug 17th, Ski trip to Mt Hutt. 7am - 6pm
Week 5: Art week.
Week 5: Wednesday Aug 23rd, Cantamath at Horncastle Arena from 3:30 - 6pm. Teams yet to be selected.
Week 6: Learning conferences on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
Week 7: Friday Sept 8th Beckenham speech finals.
Week 8: Tuesday Sept 12, possible trip to town.
Week 9: Monday Sept 18th, South zone speech finals at Cashmere Primary in the evening.
Week 10: Packing up for our move back to Beckenham.

Please keep an eye out for our weekly news and read this carefully, for updates on the events mentioned above.

Writing:

We had a writing motivation this afternoon, for our next writing topic. The motivation involved a blindfolded trust walk. The children need to be thinking about a simple story outline, based around a theme from this experience: being lost, trust, darkness, having to be reliant on senses other than sight. Planning for writing gets underway tomorrow, Wednesday.

Your feedback please:

We would appreciate you filling in this brief survey, so that we can continue to improve the teaching and learning in our hub.

Home Learning:

Over the next three weeks, all of Jarred and Nicky's and some of Jenny's maths class will be working on a Cantamath display project for home learning. Children have been given a sheet with all instructions to take home today. There is also a google presentation with ideas that children can access at home through google classroom. It is really important that they make a decision on their project and get underway this week. Anyone struggling for an idea should talk with their maths teacher before Friday. Three weeks will be needed to complete a quality piece of work. Jenny's class has the option of doing a Cantamath project or normal home learning. Most opted for the usual worksheets.

Ski Trip:

We nearly have information for all children for our ski trip. Some paper forms were sent home today, for those who have not completed the online form. Please return these tomorrow, Wednesday. Many thanks to the people who have offered to loan clothing and goggles. Please name these and send them along to school ASAP, so we can match children up with gear.

Language reports from Cashmere High School:

Language reports arrived at school after the children had left at the end of last term. Today these were handed to children to take home. Check your child's bag if it has not been produced.

Congratulations:

Congratulations to Daisy, Rosie and Kaia who competed in the NZ School Orienteering Championships in the first week of the school holidays. There were about 50 girls competing in the event and all three girls were placed in the top five for both the short and long events.
Short event: Kaia 1st, Daisy 4th, Rosie 5th
Long event: Kaia 1st, Daisy 2nd, Rosie 5th
What an awesome achievement. A shining example of girls who love challenge!

Our new hub:

Today our new hub was opened. At the moment, a lack of outdoor play space and the Year 5 & 6 hub being used for admin, delays our return for one more term. We can't wait!