Kauri Whanau Update: Term 4, Week 3

Week three and things are humming in the Intermediate Hub at Champion Street. The children have adapted really well to the new normal.

This Week:

Writing:

Most of the children have made a great start to their 'Tale with a Twist' writing. During Wednesday and Thursday they will have a 15 min workshop and 60 mins of writing. By the end of Thursday their writing should be finished. Please ask your child to show you their writing and encourage them to work at home, if needed, to meet the deadline.

Next Week:

Athletic Sports: 

At the moment the long range forecast is looking good for our sports day next Monday, Oct 31st. A reminder that we stay at Beckenham all day for this event.

Big Day Out:

On Thursday Nov 3rd we are off to the city for the day. The children will be rotating around three activities in their home-groups: Medal Art at the museum, Quake City and the botanical gardens. We will send out a message with more specific details early next week. At this stage we are looking for two parents to accompany each home-group. Please fill in this form if you can help. We will be leaving from Beckenham at 9am and will return by 3pm.

Maths home-learning:

Due in on Friday Nov 4th.

Future Events: 

We will send home a paper planner for your fridge with these dates.

Wednesday November 9: Zone athletics at Hansen Park

Thursday November 10: Rapaki Marae trip - all day

Wednesday November 16: Summer tournament for slow pitch and kiwi tag teams

Thursday November 17: Year 7 doing 'People Savers' first aid course at school

Thursday December 1: Year 8 doing 'People Savers' first aid course at school

Friday December 2: Top Team competition at Beckenham in the afternoon (parent help required)

Monday December 5: 'A very Kauri Christmas' matinee performance for school

Tuesday December 6: 'A very Kauri Christmas' evening performance at 7pm. All children involved.

Wednesday December 7: Canterbury athletics

Friday December 9: Walk from school to Victoria Park - all day (parent help required)

Monday December 12: Year 8 pool and pizza part at Tracy's from 4-6pm

Tuesday December 13: Corsair Bay trip - from 10:30 - 3:00 (parent help required)

Thursday December 15: Leavers' assembly and lunch. Year 8 may arrive at Beckenham at 10:30am. Year 8 finish school for the year after the shared lunch.

Friday December 16: Last day for Year 1- 7, finishing at 12:30

Kauri Update: Term 4 Week 1 / 2

We have swept into term 4, embracing the newness and the challenges with smiles and enthusiasm.

This week...

Life at Champion Street:

Busing to school has quickly become with new norm. No one has missed the bus and behaviour has been pleasing. We are loving the new furniture and the children have quickly adapted to the new environment.

Writing:

We kicked the week off with a birthday party, or rather three birthday parties, for our writing motivation. The children have planned / or are planning, a piece of descriptive writing with a twist. This writing will be due at the end of week three.

Ready for another piece of chocolate.

Home-learning:

This was given out on Monday. Hopefully it is underway at your place.

Sunhats:

This term all children need named school sunhats. If your child needs to purchase a new one, they can do this at the school office after school.

Climate Change:

We have started our learning about climate change by viewing and discussing 'An Inconvenient Truth'. Discussion has included talk around the fact that there is more than one opinion about why our climate is changing and this movie presents one of these opinions.

Next week...

Athletic sports:

Our sports day is next Thursday, October 20th. As we will be holding this at Beckenham Park, we won't be going to Champion Street this day. Children will need to be at school by 8:50, not 8:30. Before school, they can play in the park. When the bell rings, Year 5-8 will gather in the hall. Parents are most welcome to come and watch during the day. Tracy will send out a programme next week.

New Zealand Playhouse Performance:

On Monday we will be returning to Beckenham straight after lunch, in time to see the New Zealand Playhouse travelling performance: 'The Fairest Of Them All.'  $4.50 will be added to your account, as a donation for this performance.

Coming soon...

Week 4:  Thursday November 3rd, are will spend the day in town, including an art session at the museum.
               Sexuality Road lessons begin

Week 5: Wednesday November 9th, zone sports at Hansen's Park
               Thursday November 10th, Rapaki Marae visit

Coming later...

'A very Kauri Christmas' performing arts evening, Top Team, Victoria Park walk, day trip to Corsair Bay, first aid training and more. A calendar of Kauri events will come out next week.

Lunchtime on the first day of term.

There she goes...

Congratulations to our newest Gold Leaders.

Kauri Whānau: End of term 3 update

Last week was pretty massive, as we packed up, farewelled our Beckenham hub and moved to our Beckenham @ Champion St hub. It was wonderful to see so many parents at our new location for lunch on Friday. Our new spaces are looking good, with beautiful artworks outside and new furniture inside our light filled hub. We are lucky to have a breakout space too. 

Getting to school in term 4:

From day one of next term, children will need to be at school between 8:20 and 8:25am. They check in with a teacher, by Eastern Tce, and then board their bus. The buses depart at 8:30. Flag monitors and bus monitors will need to be at school by 8:15. 

Help needed:

On the last Friday of the holidays, October 7th, the rest of our new furniture will arrive at Champion Street. The tables will be in flat packs. We are looking for a team of parents to help us put these together. Please email Nicky if you are able to help out. Exact times will be confirmed next week. 

One of our Passion Friday groups for next term is all about learning to knit (we may learn about crochet too). If you can knit and would like to help out between 11 and 12:30, please email Nicky. Even if you could just make one or two Fridays, that would be appreciated. We are also collecting any donations of wool. 

Take care and enjoy the holiday. 

 

Last photo opportunities. Our old hub comes down next week.

 

Enjoying the new sports equipment at Champion St...

 

... and the new furniture.

 

Our Burton Morris inspired kiwiana murals look fabulous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kauri change of plans for tomorrow, Thursday.

Due to having no offers of parent help and the cold, damp weather forecast for tomorrow, we have changed our plans for the morning. We will now stay at school and be based in the hall and on the field, as the furniture movers work in our hub.

We look forward to seeing you at Champion Street between 12:30 and 1:30 on Friday, for lunch and a look around Beckenham @ Champion St.

Kauri Whanau: Term 3 Week 8/9 Update

Excitement is building as we get very close to our Champion Street move. Read on for important messages about the upcoming week.

Sports uniforms:

If you still have a sports uniform at home, please make sure this is sent back to Tracy on Monday.

Talent Quest:

The finals of our school talent quest will be held on Thursday afternoon, Sept 22. Parents are most welcome to attend.

Writing:

The children have been writing movie reviews over the past two weeks. A number of children will need to spend time on their writing over the weekend. The reviews need to be completed by Wednesday.

Technology:

Next week the children are staying at school on Tuesday morning and going to South for technology on Friday. This change of timetable is due to happenings at South next week.

Thursday:

On Thursday morning the movers are coming to take the remaining things out our hub and transport them to Champion St; this includes quite a bit of furniture. That morning we have planned a walking trip to Pioneer Pool and back. School will cover the pool admission costs. Children are to wear school uniform, including their jacket and bring togs and towel in their backpack. We think the walk will take 40 minutes, travelling along the river. We plan to be back at school, and our empty hub, by 12:30.

Friday:

Children arrive at school at the usual time and travel to technology for the morning. No bags will be left at school. This will be the last time we will be in the hub. After tech, the bus will drop them at Champion St. You are welcome to join us from 12:30 - 1:30 for a sausage sizzle lunch, being put on by the PTA. After lunch the children will have their first afternoon in class at our new site. At 2:30, the buses will take the children back to Beckenham. Then the holidays will begin ... hooray!

Enjoying the first visit to our new hub on Tuesday.

Painting kiwiana murals for Beckenham School @ Champion Street.

We had some eager and very helpful workers on Thursday morning.

Kauri Whānau Term 3 Week 7 Update

At this stage we are hopefully two and a half weeks away from moving out of our hub, so as you can imagine things are pretty busy. Read on for celebrations and notices.

Celebrations:

Te Whānau Mahi Tahi performed at the Cultural Festival last Friday evening. They were sophisticated, original and awe inspiring. Beckenham parents and staff in the audience were glowing with pride. Click on this link to see a video of their performance.

Our speech finalists presented their stories with confidence and enthusiasm at the south zone speech competition on Monday evening. Despite not getting placed, we thought they were fabulous. Special congratulations to Oskar for getting an honourable mention.

Cashmere High School Testing:

Testing for Beckenham students takes place on Thursday Sept 15th.

Starts: 9.00am, in the Performing Arts Centre (PAC). 

Dismissed: 12.15pm (approximately)

Students need to bring: A pen, pencil, ruler and some food for morning tea.

Cycles: Students will be permitted to leave their cycles in a designated supervised area.   All cycles should be brought to the Performing Arts Centre.

All students need to be back at Beckenham by 1:10pm.

Parent help needed:

We would love to have some parents / grandparents helping with two parts of our programme. Firstly if you have knowledge/skill in athletics and are free to help on the next two Monday afternoons, Sept 12 and 19, please let Tracy know. Secondly, we have a large group of children in the wearable arts group for arts academies. This group currently meets on a Friday (Sept 9 and 16) afternoon. If you are free to help out with planning, problem solving and advising, please let Nicky know. Wearable arts creativity will continue next term. 

Writing:

We have started our next writing topic: movie reviews. By the end of tomorrow, Thursday, each child should have started this writing. They have until Sept 21 to complete it. Please ask you child to show you what they have written so far, at the end of this week. The success criteria are listed at the top of their documents. 

Champion Street Update:

We are steaming ahead with our countdown to starting at Champion Street at the start of next term. Earlier this week we got the exciting news that Class Furniture will be supplying fabulous furniture for the Year 5 - 8 hubs while we are based at Champion Street. Occasionally staff from other schools will come to see the furniture in our 'living showroom'. We are currently moving resources to Champion Street. Below are three important dates for this term:

Tuesday September 13: 

After technology finishes at South on Tuesday, the children will be bused to Champion Street to see the school, have lunch and play, before returning to Beckenham by 1:30pm. 

Wednesday September 14:

There will be a parent meeting in our school hall to discuss the logistics of Year 5-8 at Champion Street. This meeting starts at 7:30pm and should take an hour.

Friday September 23:

Our children go to technology on Friday instead of Tuesday this week, due to activities at South. After technology the children will be bused to Champion Street. Parents are invited to join us for a picnic lunch and look around the school. At 2:30 the children will be bused back to Beckenham. This will effectively be our first day at Champion Street.

Kauri Whānau Update: Term 3 Week 6

So much to celebrate and lots of messages too. Please read these important messages carefully.

We have enjoyed being part of learning conversations with you and your child yesterday and are looking forward to more of this tomorrow, Thursday.

Speech Finals: 

A big congratulations to all of the speech finalists who shared their entertaining stories with us on Monday afternoon. We were lucky to have Daniel Pengelly, assistant artistic director from the Court Theatre as our guest judge. Next Monday evening starting at 6:30pm, Jordan and Oskar will represent Beckenham at the South Zone Speech Competition, being held at St Peters School on Fisher Ave. It would be lovely to see some of our children in the audience to support our fine speakers.

Cantamath:

Last Wednesday our Cantamath teams competed against 90 other schools, solving maths problems at Horncastle Arena. Those of us in the audience were worked into a frenzy of enthusiastic support, as we watched the runners put their thumbs up for correct answer after correct answer. The Year 7 team answered every question correctly within the 30 minutes, earning a golden ticket (displaying their 100 points) and coming in sixth place! And then it was Year 8s turn to stun us with their mathematical talent. They also earned a golden ticket and were placed 9th. Wow!

Cultural Festival:

Te Whānau Mahi Tahi take to the stage on Friday evening at Horncastle Arena as part of the cultural festival. We know they will will be stunning and wish them all the best for a fabulous performance.

Year 8 testing at Cashmere High School:

A reminder that due to swimming lessons, our Year 8s who are enrolled at Cashmere High School for 2017, have their testing morning on Thursday September 15th. They are to wear school uniform and return to school for the afternoon.

Swimming:

We are now into the swing of our swimming programme. Some adjustments have been made to groupings so that each child's needs are being met. It is great to see nearly all children making it to school on time to catch their buses. We need to see that 'nearly all' become 100%.

Year 7 Camp 2017 Fundraising:

In term 3 we have the opportunity to run the sausage sizzle on Thursdays from 4:30 - 6:30pm at the touch competition at Waltham Park. We did this last year and raised quite a bit of money for our camp. This will be a good way to fundraise for our 2017 camp, which will be in term 1 of next year at Wainui. We need a small team of parents who would be happy to help with these sausage sizzles. Please let Nicky know if you would be happy to be part of this team.

The next three and a half weeks:

Hopefully you have or will take the opportunity to look at the rebuild display in the hall during learning conferences. On Tuesday we spoke to the children about the current timeframe that we are working towards. The plan is that we will be busing to the Champion Street site from next term. We are in the process of finalising dates for visits to Champion Street this term and an information / question answering evening for parents. We will let you know once these dates have been set in concrete.

Writing movie reviews:

We started our new writing topic this week, with a drama based motivation. Tomorrow we will be watching a short movie and looking at an exemplar to learn about writing a review. On Monday we will be offering a choice of three movies for the children to view and take notes on in preparation for writing their movie review. The movies are:

Remember the Titans - An American football story with a strong focus on leadership. (PG)

Cool Runnings - The story of the Jamaican bobsled team at the winter Olympics, with themes of persistence and overcoming adversity. (PG)

El Dorado - A cartoon movie with messages about what makes a good friend and the importance of friendships. (PG)

Wheelchair Rugby:

Last Friday the opportunity arose to try out wheelchair rugby. What a blast we had! The children had lots of fun and are hungry for more.