Sunday 30 August 2020

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 7

 In this post:

  • Fundraising Update
  • Sports Uniforms
  • Cantamath projects
  • Self Defence
  • Speech Competition
  • Ski Day

Remember that Monday is a staff only day. We will see everyone at 8:30 on Tuesday, ready for technology.


Fundraising for Camp

So far this term our raffles, toilet paper sales and quiz night have contributed $4000 to our camp fundraising! This Thursday we are making over 350 dozen cheese rolls. If you have ordered cheese rolls, please help the environment by providing your own (named) container. There will be boxes outside the hall to drop these into on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sports Uniforms

Our 'keeping it local' sports competition finished off last Thursday. A huge thanks to all parents who helped to coach / manage / ref our teams. The weather this weekend is perfect for getting that uniform laundered and ready to hand in on Tuesday.



Cantamath

With a staff only day on Monday, this provides the perfect opportunity for getting lots of work done on Cantamath projects. These are due to be handed in this Friday, September 4th.

Self Defence

The Girls' Self Defence Project starts this Friday, in the afternoon, for Year 8.

Speech Competition

What an entertaining morning we had last Wednesday when we listened to the finalists in our speech competition. Our judges were from the Cashmere High English Dept and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the children tell their stories. A special congratulations to:
Year 7: 1st, Zoë; 2nd, Jonty; and 3rd, Jalori
Year 8: 1st, Max; 2nd Ben; and 3rd, Ruby

Zoë and Max will go on to represent our school at the South Zone Speech Competition on Monday September 21st, in the evening.



Ski Day

The sun shone, the mountain glistened and the children had a blast at our ski day on Friday. There were so many fabulous examples of children embracing challenge and 'getting there together'. A huge thanks to the parents who helped out and made the day possible. 































Tuesday 25 August 2020

Last Chance for Cheese Rolls

 Many thanks to all who have supported our cheese roll fundraiser. If you have yet to place your order, you have until 8pm tomorrow, Wednesday, to do so. Click here to place your order.

If you have ordered some cheese rolls, we would love you to provide your own container. We will leave a box outside the hall on Tuesday and Wednesday next week for you to place your named container in. Please include your child's name and hub on the label. Cheese rolls will be made and ready to take home next Thursday, September 3rd.

Thanks for supporting our Year 7 & 8 camp fundraising.

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 6

In this post:

  • Ski trip (at the end)
  • Camp fundraising
  • Wacky hair day
  • Talent quest
  • Sport
  • Speech finals
  • Cantamath

Camp fund raising

Many thanks to those who helped out with and supported our quiz night last Saturday. A huge thanks to Liz who coordinated the whole event. Despite needing to limit the number of participants, we still made a good profit. Toilet paper and paper towel orders have now been placed. 

That leaves our cheese roll fundraiser to go. Orders close tomorrow, Wednesday. Many thanks to those who offered help with equipment, supervision and collecting ingredients. I will be emailing you shortly about this. If you have placed an order, please drop your named container off outside the hall before school on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. It is great not to have to use extra packaging.

Wacky Hair Day

The student council is running a wacky hair day next Friday, September 4th to raise money for Child Cancer.  Go wild and bring a gold coin.

Talent Quest

Next week we will be holding team auditions for the school talent quest. We are looking forward to seeing the talent on show. 

Sport

This Thursday is our final round of winter sport for this season. Playing locally with schools from within our zone has provided an opportunity for participating in regular competition while also building community ties. A huge thank you to all the parents who have given their time and expertise to coach, referee and manage teams. After Thursday's games, we would like to collect as many uniforms as possible. Please ensure that your child has something to change into so that uniforms can be collected in on Thursday afternoon. 

 It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that Koru Games has been cancelled this year. This is due to them being unable to meet requirements to operate safely at Level 2. We know that the children involved will be deeply disappointed. The teams have put in lots of work preparing for the tournament and we would like to acknowledge their participation and commitment that was shown at practices thus far. Many thanks to the parents who had offered parent support for this event. 

Speech Finals

We are looking forward to our speech finals tomorrow, Wednesday. This will take place in the hall from 11am. Parents of competitors are welcome to sit, socially distanced, at the back of the hall. Congratulations to:

Year 7: Fergus, Jonty, Mila, Jalori, Zoe C, Zara M and Caleb

Year 8: Tom, Eddie, Henry M, Ben, Henry H, Max and Ruby

Cantamath

By now your child should be underway with their Cantamath project. If this is not happening at your place, please email your child's home-group teacher so that we can help get things started. 

Ski trip this Friday: August 28th

Mt Hutt can safely accommodate school groups at Level 2. Our trip on Friday is going ahead at this stage. The ‘at this stage’ is all to do with the weather. If the mountain is ‘on hold’ or closed, we will look at rescheduling the trip. The tricky bit is that the ski report (https://www.mthutt.co.nz/weather-report/) comes out at around 6am, so we could have the scenario where we arrive at school, find out the mountain is on hold and have to head home again - get changed and come back to school at the normal time. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen! 

Departure time

Please meet in the Sandwich Rd carpark at 5:50am, dressed in ski clothing. We will be pulling out at 6am. 

Ski contract

If this has not been signed and returned to school yet, please get this back tomorrow.

Gear

We have matched children up with the gear that we have available. If your child is still short of something these can be hired from outlets in town. Snowmania rent 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 thermal 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. Under Level 2 there are restrictions in the cafe, with limited options, queues and longer waits. The mountain operate a cashless payment system. We would prefer that children bring all their own food and drink.

Long hair needs to be tied up. Children who get asthma should have their inhalers with them.

If your child needs to bring their cell phone, they are responsible for it during the day. It can be used on the bus, but when out on the mountain, these are to be zipped away in pockets.

Our day:

5:50 Arrive at school, on Sandwich Rd. Buses and cars leave at 6:00

8:00 We will arrive at the ski field car park

8:15 Ski hire sorted, 9am lesson group through first 

9:00 Lessons for first timers and half of second timers. Everyone else has a short free ski

10:30 Morning tea on the deck

11:00 Lessons for everyone else. Free ski for those who had a lesson at 9.

12:30 Stop for lunch

1 - 3:30  Free ski with your friends

3:30 Return gear and back to the bus

4:00 Buses leave

6:00 ish We arrive back at school

We will send out an email late in the afternoon with a more precise time for arrival back at school. There is an air of excitement in the hub this week and we are so pleased to be able to go ahead with this trip. If you have any questions, please email Nicky, nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz


Thursday 20 August 2020

Cheese Rolls, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels and a Bike

 Kauri Whānau are in the midst of fundraising for our camp. We would love your support for the following.


Cheese Rolls - delicious! Orders closing next Wednesday. Click here for details and to order.


Toilet paper and paper towel sales have been extended. This is a great way to stock up on the essentials. Click here for details and to order.


Bike Raffle. This raffle is being draw on Saturday night. Click here to order your tickets.


Hamper Raffles. Tomorrow, before and after school, tickets for our hamper raffles will be on sale outside school on Sandwich Road and on the park. These hampers are packed with lots of lovely treats. Buy your $2 ticket and be in to win. Raffles will all be drawn this Saturday night.

Many thanks for your support.

Tuesday 18 August 2020

Kauri Whānau: Week 5 extra messages!

 I clicked that post button too soon! 

Sport

We are following Sport Canterbury's lead on our decision around winter sport for the remaining two weeks. Secondary school sport has resumed with no spectators and contact tracing.

We have been in consultation with the other schools in our zone and we feel confident that we can go ahead with this week's games. We have existing systems in place that will enable us to easily identify who was where should the need for contact tracing arise. We ask that you refrain from spectating this Thursday's game. 

It is important that all children bring water bottles, as well as their usual sports uniform, mouthguard and shin pads as appropriate. Drink fountains are currently out of action. 

Speech Competition

The children will be delivering their story telling speeches to home-groups this Thursday and Friday. Please encourage your child to be practising at home.  The hub finals will be next Wednesday morning, starting at 11am. Parents of finalists are welcome to come and watch. We will have socially distanced seats at the back of the hall and you will need to sign in at the office as usual. 

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 5

In this blogpost:

  • Fundraising Update
  • Ski Trip Update 
  • Maths
  • Self Defence

Quiz Night: 

A huge thanks to those who sent in items for our hamper raffle. Hampers have been put together and ticket sales are underway before and after school. Thanks to the 20 people who have offered to provide a plate of food for the supper. Liz will be in touch soon, via email, with instructions for dropping these off on Saturday.

Cheese Rolls: 

Orders are trickling in for cheese rolls. These close next Wednesday. Please click here if you are yet to order yours, or order on the paper form that went home last week and post the order in the box that is at the office.

Bike raffle:

The bike raffle will be drawn at the quiz night. If you have yet to get your tickets, you can buy these online.

Toilet Paper and Paper Towels:

We have extended this fundraiser as there are some delays with delivery. Please click here if you would still like to order some toilet paper and paper towels.

Ski Trip:

Apologies for confusing you with the wrong date on the ski contract form. Our trip is on August 28th. Many thanks for those who have returned this ski contract. If you have yet to get yours back, please get it signed and back to school. 

After speaking with Mt Hutt yesterday, we have had to change our departure times to fit in with their ski instructor availability. We will now all be leaving at 6am. Yes, that is a very early start, but it will ensure that we can all make the most of our day in the mountains. 


Please check last week's post for the list of what each child will need. I have nearly finishing matching children up with clothing. We are short on some sizes. If we are unable to help your child, you could check out Snowmania.

Maths Home Learning and Guest speakers:

On Monday we posted a presentation with ideas for Cantamath projects on google classroom. After Wednesday all children will have talked about what Cantamath projects entail and will have been given a notice with the entry options on it to take home. This is a home learning activity for the next three weeks. We are more than happy to support your child with ideas, they just need to ask one of us. By this Friday every child should have decided what to do and be underway with their project. Projects are due in on Friday September 14th.

On Monday and again on Wednesday we have had Alex, a maths professor from Canty Uni who is currently working  on the Govt National Response Committee for Covid-19, working with our team.  Alex talked about how being a mathematician is a rewarding career pathway. She went on to run a number of practical probability activities that gave a very good insight into how Covid-19 spreads and how mathematical modelling can predict the spread of the virus. 





Self Defence

Every year we work with Lynda Maindonald from the Girls' Self Defence Project, who spends 8 hours with our Year 8 girls teaching them self defence skills. This is a NZ wide project that was set up by the Crime Prevention Unit 20 years ago. These sessions start on Sept 4th. From time to time our boys ask why they cannot be involved in these lessons. This project was set up in response to crime statistics that clearly showed it was our female population who most needed self-defence skills and education. 

Sunday 16 August 2020

Tuesday 11 August 2020

Kauri Whānau Week Update: Term 3 Week 4

This blog contains information about:

  • Fundraising update
  • Speeches
  • Cantamath Projects
  • Congratulations
  • Ski Trip (lots of important info)

Plates of food needed for Quiz Night

Thanks to the 10 people who have volunteered to provide plates of food for supper at our Quiz Night on August 22nd. We still need 20 more plates. Please click here to let us know if you can help. These can be dropped at the hall on Saturday afternoon or just before the quiz in the evening.

Cheese Rolls

There was a problem with the order form that went out in the weekend - which has now been fixed. We will also send paper order forms home, as these are handy for collecting multiple orders. 

Bike Raffle

We would love a couple of families offer to spend an hour at New World supermarket over this coming weekend selling tickets for our bike raffle. If you think you could do this, please email Megan.

Story telling speeches

The children know that their story telling speech needs to be finished by this Friday. They then have until Thursday the 20th to practise the delivery of their story. Stories will be shared on Thursday and Friday of next week. The more practise they get at reading their story aloud, adding gesture, pauses and using eye-contact - the better. Please encourage your child to be working on this at home. 

Cantamath

The Cantamath competition is coming up on September 16th. This is a Canterbury maths competition for Years 7 -10. It has two sections - problem solving teams (which will be selected in a couple of weeks) and a maths project display competition. On Monday next week, we will send home information about the display competition. All children are expected to create something (maths artwork, model, written project, game/puzzle, photography, publicity motif) and this is mainly done at home. There will be three weeks to work on their project. We will talk through ideas at school and are very happy to talk with individuals and provide some guidance to support them with this home learning. 

Congratulations

We had a number of Year 8 students apply for leadership and sports scholarships at Cashmere High School recently. We were thrilled to hear that Thomas Lyall has been awarded a leadership scholarship. Tu meke Thomas!

Ski Trip: Friday August 28th

Departure time

Because Mt Hutt are operating with reduced numbers of ski instructors this year, we have needed to split the times for our ski lessons. The majority of our children will have their lessons at 11am. These children will travel by bus to Mt Hutt, and will need to be at school by 7:15am. The other 30 children (the more experienced skiers) will be having their lessons at 9am. This group will be travelling by private 4WD cars (with drivers who are experienced on mountain roads) and will need to be at school by 6am. We will all be back at school by 6pm. We will be sending out emails later this week confirming which group your child will be in. 

Ski contract

Later this week a paper copy of our ski contract will be coming home. This needs to be read and signed by the child and a parent / caregiver. Please make sure these are returned to school by Monday August 23rd. The contract outlines our expectations of children on the day, so we can ensure everyone is safe on the mountain.

Gear

Many thanks to everyone for filling in student information for our upcoming ski trip. We are currently matching children up with clothing (for those who requested this help) and hope to have got through everyone by Friday. If you offered to loan clothing - I will contact you if we need it. Eye protection is something that all children must have. This can be either sunglasses or googles. We do not have enough to loan to children who have requested goggles or sunglasses. These can be hired, as can ski clothing, from outlets in town. Snowmania rent 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.


Saturday 8 August 2020

Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Cheese Rolls and a Mountain Bike

Year 7 & 8 are heading to Dunedin for a week in term 4. Please support our fundraising.

Toilet Paper and Paper Towels

Many thanks to those who have already placed orders for toilet paper and paper towels. Orders close and payment is due by this Monday, August 10th. If you have yet to place your order, please click here.


Cheese Rolls are back by popular demand!

We are making cheese rolls again. Feedback was extremely positive in term one, so make sure you don't miss out this time around. We will also have paper forms available at the office and in Kauri hub; these are useful when getting multiple orders from family, friends and neighbours. Click here to order yours. 


Bike Raffle

We are raffling a beautiful 21 speed mountain bike. The bike will be on display and tickets available for sale, for $2, before and after school each day for the next two weeks, or until 500 tickets are sold. 


Many thanks for supporting Kauri camp fundraising!

Wednesday 5 August 2020

Kauri Kitchen Closed and Hamper Item Donation

We are closing our hub kitchen for a week. The microwave, jug and sandwich press will not be available to prepare food. It will reopen next Thursday. 

Please send along your item for our hamper raffle by Friday this week. Something nice from the supermarket would be great.

Remember gear for winter sport tomorrow.


Sunday 2 August 2020

Kauri Fundraising Update: Week 3 Please Read

Kia ora everyone,

We have just 9 tickets left for the quiz night! If you are yet to get yours, please click here.

Just one week to go to get your orders in for toilet paper and paper towels. 

Our bike raffle ticket sales will start this week, with tickets being sold before and after school. The bike will be on display. Tickets are $2 each.

We would like everyone to donate one item to go in our hamper raffles that will be drawn at the quiz night. Please send a non-perishable 'luxury supermarket item' along to school this week. We will have a tub in the Maker-Space to collect your donations in.


Many thanks!