Kauri- Term Two, Week 5

Congratulations !

Leadership badges, Kete Certificates, Science Badge, Cross Country, NFL competitions! It is wonderful to see so many opportunities offered and taken up by our ākonga this term. Congratulations to you all, we are very proud. 

We also know that sometimes we miss something, so feel free to discuss this with your homeroom teacher. 

 Cashmere High School Trip 14 May

Here is a photo gallery of our trip on Thursday, along with some student voice of the experience. 

CHS "its scary as you feel like you have to get everything right", "they are a great bunch and they know their stuff ", "they are lucky having a trip like this". 

BKTOP " this was sooo much fun", "the haka was so loud, they knew how to use their voices", "I saw Jacob's sister", " the students were really friendly".

Being Part of Something Bigger- Cashmere High School and Beckenham te kura o Pūroto

Planting in the Cashmere Stream.

This initiative was started through the sustainability club at CHS and some our students have been working with this group too! A big thank you to Vinnie, John, Max, Alex P, Tom, Alex S and Dylan who volunteered their time and Justine Vandenberg for giving our students the opportunity to be sustainable citizens. Ace!

The grasses will help to cool the stream for the eels, absorb run off and the draping leaves provide some habitat for small aquatic life. 

40 Hour Famine -Be part of Something Bigger

19–21 June | Be Part of Something Bigger

This year, World Vision are again inviting young people across Aotearoa to make a real impact through the 40 Hour Challenge — raising life-changing funds for children and communities in the Solomon Islands.

Why?
Because right now, many children and families in the Solomon Islands are facing significant challenges due to poverty and the impacts of climate change. Communities rely heavily on farming and fishing, making them especially vulnerable to changing weather patterns and natural disasters. Funds raised through the 40 Hour Challenge help provide practical support and create stronger, more sustainable futures.

Our Year 5–8 students had the opportunity to sign up this week. We would love your support in helping them sign up, choose a challenge, and begin their fundraising journey. Click the link here to join our school's fundraising page. 

Whether students choose to go completely offline for 40 hours or create a challenge of their own, every effort helps make a difference.

Child not taking part in the challenge but would still like to contribute? You can access our school fundraising page here.

Cyber Safety

The HDCA for Parents and Whānau

The Harmful Digital Communications Act (or HDCA for short) is an act passed by the Government back in 2015 to help people dealing with serious or repeated harmful digital communications. It covers anything digital like text, emails or social media content.

The most useful thing for parents to understand about the HDCA is the way the 10 communication principles define what is good or bad behaviour online.

If you’re ever concerned about your young person (or you just want to brush up on your knowledge!) visit Netsafe’s Guide to the HDCA

Staying Safe Online: Bullying

One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.

Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.

Kauri News - Week 1, Term 2

 

Welcome back to Term 2!

Tēnā koutou! The Team Kauri teachers have been excited to welcome back our Year 7 & 8 students. We hope you all had a restful break and are ready to get back into the swing of things for the new term.

Building Work in Kōmanawa

There was some exciting progress during the holidays: new walls and doors were installed in our Kōmanawa spaces! These additions will help our team create more learning-centered spaces, reducing noise across the hub while allowing for greater flexibility when we are working collaboratively.

Technology & Languages

The start of the term has coincided with our new technology rotations. Students have already started in their new groups, and there has been a hive of activity across the spaces with everyone keen to learn new skills.

Students also welcomed back our language teachers this week as they continue to develop their knowledge and acquisition of beginner French and Spanish.

Fundraisers

At the end of Term 1, Kahawai (Hugo’s HG) organised a school sausage sizzle fundraiser. It was a massive hit! The class sold over 300 sausages and made approximately $500 profit. A big thank you to our admin team for collecting the money and tracking orders, and to the teachers across the school who helped manage the distribution on the day. Well done to Kahawai for the hard work that made this so successful!

Quiz Night 2026

In Week 10, Team Kauri will be hosting our annual Quiz Night! Please keep an eye out for further notices regarding this event. From Week 5, we will be asking each Team Kauri family to contribute a luxury item for our hampers.

We are also looking for parent helpers both for the evening itself and to help with the lead-up. We are especially keen to find a parent coordinator to help source special prizes to be auctioned or awarded to our top quiz teams.

Upcoming Events: Term 2

Week 1

• Friday: Welcome Assembly

Week 2

• Monday: ANZAC Day Public Holiday (No School)

• Wednesday: PSC Aqua-thon Event (Swim & Run)

• Wednesday: World Vision Junior Youth Conference 2026 – Christchurch

• Friday: Whole School Cross Country

Week 3

• All Week: PTA Readathon
• Monday: Winter Sport Trials (1:30 pm – 3:00 pm)
• Tuesday: Winter Sport Trials (1:30 pm – 3:00 pm)

Kauri Team Newsletter - Week 8 Term 1

 Kauri Week 8 Blog

Kia ora koutou, 

We have been very engaged and working diligently in the Kauri hub for the last two weeks! We’ve been focused on our Literacy/Inquiry tasks on Leadership, have had hockey sessions to amp up our skills, Tuakana Teina time with our Year 1 and 2s from Kahikatea, and started cross-country training for the competition in Term 2. The Year 5-8 teachers have also been collaborating about our Winter Sports programme, which starts in Term 2 as well! 

Upcoming Dates:

Term 1
Week 9:            

Wednesday - Huxster Mountain Biking Event at McLean's Island

Thursday - Last day of school for Term 1 (have a restful break!)

Term 2

Week 1:

Wednesday - Ngā Puna Wai Tournament (Year 5-8)

Week 2:

Monday - School closed (Anzac Day)

Wednesday - PSC Aquathon Swim and Run Event

Wednesday - World Vision Junior Youth Conference 2026 (for World Challenge Leaders)

Friday - BTKOP Cross Country Event

Tuakana Teina with Kahikatea students

Every other Friday (non-assembly days), Kauri is buddying with the Year 1 and 2 students for some shared reading and inquiry time. Last week, they paired up one-to-one and completed a Nature Scavenger Hunt and read books together. We love seeing our school values ‘We Care’ and ‘We Get There Together’, during this time. Looking forward to next time!

Canterbury Hockey Sessions 

Each Home Group had a jam-packed 45-minute session with a Canterbury Hockey representative. The students learned about push passing, how to hold a stick correctly, had a few competitions and played a game at the end. Everyone showed ‘We Love Learning’ during their session!

Literacy/Inquiry Biographies

The past few weeks, the students have been researching a leader of their choice and writing a biography essay about that person. The students will also create a static image of their leader. This is a visual representation of their leader with a quote and symbol to depict a strong image portrayal. We look forward to completing our projects and sharing them with whānau and each other.

Year 7/8 Mountain Biking Relay

The South Island Schools MTB Champs are currently underway, and the boys have already had an awesome start. Our Year 7/8 team of Zach G, Ben S, and Daniel M took out 1st place, finishing four minutes ahead of the next team. They also placed 10th overall, racing against mostly high school riders.

In the U14 Cross Country race, Zach G placed 1st, winning by three minutes. Daniel M finished 6th, and Ben S came in 11th.

Such a great effort so far—we’re excited to see how they get on over the rest of the event!

PSC Canterbury Swimming:

A huge congratulations to all the Year 7/8 students who participated in the zone swimming competition. Fun was had by all, especially when they got their ice cream! The participants displayed grit and our school value, ‘We Love Challenge’. Well done tamariki!

Welcome to Nate, our 24/7 Youth Worker!

Nate, a 24/7 Youth Worker, will join the Kauri team in Term 2, working 2 days a week. He comes with fantastic listening skills and a passion to support all tamariki. We look forward to working with him on our team!

Have a fantastic weekend with your tamariki,
Hugo, Kate McG, Megan C, Sarah A, Megan H & Nicky

Kauri Team Newsletter - Term 1, Week 6

Kia ora koutou,

What a jam-packed two weeks we’ve had in Kauri! Week 5 featured the South Zone Swimming Sports, round two of our Whare Kotahitanga, Walk or Wheel Week, and plenty of learning packed in between.

Week 6 is already shaping up to be a highlight for the yearbook as we enjoyed a range of activities during Leadership Week. From discovering what type of leader we are to putting those qualities into practice, it has been fantastic to see students stepping up and embracing new challenges.

Upcoming Dates:
Week 7:            Wednesday - Whare Kotahitanga (Rotation 3)
                          Thursday - School Based Immunisation Programme

Week 8:             Monday - Canterbury Hockey Skills Sessions
                          Thursday & Friday - SISS Mountain Biking Event
                          Friday - Celebration Assembly & Kauri Sausage Sizzle

Week 9:             Wednesday - Huxster Mountain Biking Event at McLean's Island

Have a fantastic weekend with your tamariki,
Hugo, Kate McG, Megan C, Sarah A, Megan H & Nicky

Thank you to Megan Harris
Over the last three weeks, we have been incredibly lucky to have Megan Harris covering Megan C’s homegroup while she has been away. Megan has stepped in seamlessly and has been a wonderful part of Kauri during this time.

Thank you, Megan, for all the support, care, and enthusiasm you have brought over the past few weeks — we have truly loved having you in Kauri!

South Zone Swimming Sports (& Swimming Cups)
In week 5, our BTKOP representatives headed off to the South Zone Swimming Sports to compete for a chance to advance to the Canterbury event on Thursday the 26th of March. We want to congratulate all of our swimmers for the determination, grit and speed they showed through their races and a further congratulations to those who progressed to the Canterbury event. 

We have also presented our first cups for 2026 and wanted to share our congratulations to Sarah W and Sebastian B who were our 2026 recipients. What an incredible achievement for you both!

Whare Kotahitanga

Our house captains, deputy house captains, and sports leaders have been showing off their fantastic leadership skills by running our Whare Kotahitanga sessions over the past two weeks, with two more to go. During this time, we have been taking part in activities within our house groups, involving all tamariki across the school. Students have rotated through four different stations: rautaki (sport), tūhono (connection), auaha (creation), and hononga (team building). Tamariki across the school have been loving this time to connect, and our kaiako (teachers) have been raving about the leadership shown by our student leaders — tino pai!

Week 6 - Leadership Week

Leadership Week has been a highlight for our class. We were lucky to hear from three inspiring speakers — Craig Saunders, Lucy Gray, and Andy Thompson — who shared their experiences and insights about leadership. Through their talks, students learned about different leadership styles and what it means to lead in positive and meaningful ways.

Throughout the week, we had plenty of opportunities to put these ideas into practice. Students planned a tuakana–teina buddy session and spent time on Friday connecting with our Kahikatea buddies. We also walked to Mount Vernon and then on to Hansen Park, where we took part in leadership and team-building challenges.

Each afternoon, students participated in a variety of fun team-building activities, including blindfolded mazes, tug of war, the electric fence challenge, and the classic game of Zip Zap. On Thursday afternoon, we also enjoyed a swim at Waltham Pool, and we returned to school on Friday morning for a team breakfast together.

It has been fantastic to see students stepping up, supporting one another, and growing their leadership skills throughout the week. Please enjoy these photos from Leadership Week!