Year 7 & 8 Team @ Beckenham: Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 4

In this post:

Cantamath
Beckamath
Congratulations
Ski Trip
Sports news
Year 8 girls' self defence
Photo Gallery

Cantamath

It was so exciting to see all of the fabulous Cantamath projects arrive at school on Friday. We are hoping to see some last-minute arrivals on Monday. Well done to the 90 children who completed their projects on time. On Friday after school, the teachers marked each project and identified those that will be going through to the Cantamath competition at the Christchurch Arena on Wednesday, August 25th.

We would love to give whānau the opportunity to view these projects. A display has been set up in East Pukaki, the old new entrant hub that is across the courtyard from our hub. This will be open before school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and after school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All work that is not going through to Cantamath will need to be taken home on Friday.

Cantamath problem-solving teams will be announced early next week. These teams will compete at the Christchurch Arena on August 25th, at 4pm for Year 7 and 5pm for Year 8.

Beckamath

On Wednesday afternoon last week, we held our annual Beckamath competition. Children competed in homegroup teams to solve tricky maths problems. The hall was filled with excitement, focused energy and the heat of competition. Below is the top part of the results table. See photos at the end of this post.

Congratulations

A special congratulations to Zoë Clarke, who has been awarded a leadership scholarship for Cashmere High School in 2022.

Ski Trip

Many thanks to everyone who has completed our ski trip form. We nearly have all of these completed. As part of the preparation for our day on the mountain, we will be going over a ski safety contract with the children and viewing a slideshow to give them an idea of what to expect. We will also be having lessons looking at the snow safety code, dressing for a mountain environment and familiarisation with equipment for first-time skiers.

A reminder that our ski day is on September 2nd. The buses will be leaving from Sandwich Rd at 6am and will return at 6pm.

Gear

For those of you who indicated on the ski form that you would like help to get clothing for your child, we will start matching children up with gear and sending this home next week. If you offered to loan clothing - I will contact you if we need it. If you are looking for a good place to hire clothing and goggles, Snowmania rents gear at very reasonable prices: 4 Dalgety Street, Riccarton Phone: 03 961 6747. Remember that we arrange the skis, boots and helmets through Mt Hutt; you don't need to sort this equipment.

Being dressed for the mountain conditions makes such a difference to the enjoyment of the day. Below is a reminder of what your child will need.

Several thin layers are much better for keeping warm and comfortable than a bulky layer. Cotton is not great for the mountains; thermal clothing is what’s needed.
Polypro or woollen thermal top
Thermal ‘long-johns’ or tights
Fleece or woollen top / jersey
Waterproof pants
A warm weatherproof jacket
Woollen or thermal socks, not too thick. Socks need to come up to mid-calf at least.
Weatherproof gloves or mittens
Either sun glasses or ski goggles
A scarf is optional, but must be tucked into their jacket, to avoid dangling ends.
Hats are not needed as all children will be given a helmet
Sunscreen, for the face
A substantial lunch, including a drink. The mountain cafe is very expensive. Children may bring some money for a hot drink or snack, but please also pack a lunch. They are responsible for looking after any money they bring.
Long hair needs to be tied up. Children who get asthma should have their inhalers with them.

Sports news

Our fingers are crossed for a fine day on Tuesday so that we can go ahead with our Year 5-8 duathlon. For those who have entered, bikes need to be placed in the stands which will be by the Norwood entrance to the park before 8:30am. Remember to lock the bike to the stands as this area will not be supervised in the morning.

Our final winter sport session is this Thursday.

Self-Defence

This coming week we welcome back Lynda Maindonald from the Girls’ Self Defence Project. This project has been set up to equip girls with the skills and strategies to keep safe. Our Year 8 girls will have 8 hours of tuition with Lynda over 3 sessions. We are organising this in two groups with the first group starting on Wednesday.