Kauri Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 2

There is lots on in the Intermediate Hub at the moment. I apologise for the long blogpost. It is all important, so please read carefully. 

Learning Conferences:

We are looking forward to seeing you at learning conferences today and on Thursday. Please do not wait outside, just come straight in. Your child knows to get their bucket and start sharing their learning with you. We will join you to talk about writing, maths, key competencies and answer any questions.  30 minutes needs to be allowed for our conferences.

Becamath:

Tomorrow we will be holding our maths problem solving competition in the hall. The children will be in mixed ability groups, solving problems and running answers to get marked. It is an exciting event. We will be keeping an eye on individuals, as this is one part of the selection process for our Cantamath teams. 

Ski Trip:

We are just over a week away from our ski trip. Over the past two days I have been matching children up with ski clothing that they need to borrow. We have been short on glasses/goggles, medium sized gloves and larger ski pants. If your child still does not have what they need, Snowmania, 4 Dalgety Street, Riccarton, has the best deal on rental equipment, including gloves or goggles for $5. The package at Mt Hutt includes skis, boots, poles, helmet, ski pass and lesson, so no need to organise a helmet or hat. 

On the day we will need to leave school, Sandwich Rd, at 6:10am!!! Yes, I know, it is extremely early, however we need to be at ski hire on the mountain by 8:15. The tricky part is that the ski report, letting us know if the mountain is open, does not come through until 6am. This close timing is unfortunate, but not something we can avoid. If your child arrives for the bus before we have seen the ski report, please wait with them until the go/no go decision has been made. We will be leaving the mountain to head home soon after 3:30, which will get us back to school around 5:45pm. We will text with a more accurate time when we are on our way home.

Tomorrow we start our class preparation sessions. These include: dressing for the mountain, an introduction to gear, snow safety and mountain management. Many thanks to those who replied to say they can loan skis for our dry land session on Thursday morning.

Being dressed for the mountain conditions makes such a difference to the enjoyment of the day. 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 woolen thermal top
• Thermal ‘long-johns’ or tights
• Fleece or woolen top / jersey
• Waterproof pants
• A warm weatherproof jacket
• Woolen 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. 

Plan for the day:

6:10am           Meet in school car park on Sandwich Rd, roll call

6:15am           Buses depart

8:15am           Arrive at the ski-field, snack, ski hire sorted and tickets distributed

9:00am           Lessons begin

10:30am        Morning tea break

11:15am        Free skiing with lots of adult supervision

12:30pm        Lunch break 

1:00pm          Free skiing with lots of adult supervision

3:20pm          Return gear to ski hire

3:40pm          Leave the ski-field

5:45pm          Arrive back at school

Parent Helpers:

Many thanks to the following people who have offered to help out on the mountain.

Skiers: Matthew Cowie, Paula Winsor, Stu Clarke, Joe Evans, Tony Sice, Iris Brookland, Liz May, Matthew Macdonald and Rod Gray

Non-skiers: Kate Packer, Anne Jaiswal, Jane Parrett or Hugh Reynolds and Fenella Jameson.

If you expected to see your name on this list, but didn’t, please contact me ASAP. If your name is on this list and you are now not available, again please contact me ASAP.

I will be sending out a parent helper notice later this week.

We have four teaching staff going, including Jarred. Many thanks to those who have sorted their $30 for this trip. We would appreciate the rest of the money in ASAP. 

Finally on ski trip, we need to make up another 20 arm bands, as per the photo below. If you are a sewer and able to help out by making these up, please email me.

Cantamath Home Learning:

There was a misprint on the notice that went home about Cantamath project home learning. This is due on Monday August 13th. Your child should be well underway with their project by now. Please let us know if any support is required for your child. 

Winter Tournament:

The weather really turned it on for our Zone Winter Tournament at Hagley Park yesterday. The children competed in a series of fast and furious games against teams from other schools in our zone. Three seemed to be the number of the day with many of our teams earning third place in the tournament, narrowly missing the chance to compete at Canterbury level. After the tournament, I received a number of emails from parents, commenting on the fantastic sportsmanship demonstrated by our tamariki, which is fantastic to hear. A mammoth thank you to all the parents who managed a team for the morning. The children loved this experience.

Mountain Biking Passion:

Last year, in Term 4, I (Jenny) offered mountain biking as a passion option. I would love to be able to offer this again this year and I know there are quite a number of keen participants in our Kauri whanau - I've been asked more than a few times to repeat the passion group this year!

This passion is made possible by adult helpers who are willing and available to support with child and bike transportation and child supervision. With Passion Thursday taking place during typical work hours, I am getting in early so that we can hopefully get enough adult helper committed to the venture to enable it to happen.

If you are able to commit to some or all Passion Thursday sessions, please fill out this form.

Primary and Intermediate Ski Race:

This annual event is held at Mount Cheeseman and is a fantastic opportunity for tamariki with a passion for skiing to represent their school in this sport. Following the success of last year’s event, we would like to put forward a team again this year and are now accepting entries on a first come first served basis. Children must be competent skiers. The event takes place on Sunday the 19th of August and costs $40 per child, payable to the school. Please, email Jenny if you are interested in entering.

Phew! That's it for now. Just a community message to finish with ...

Week of Engineering Expo – Come along and get inspired!

Interested in learning more about engineering or just want to learn more about how the world works? If you’re looking for a fun family day, are considering engineering as a career pathway or wish to answer your child’s tricky questions about how things work, head along to the Week of Engineering public open day. There’ll be drones, robots and virtual reality to get involved with! Find out more at www.weekofengineering.co.nz/engineer-expos-2018

When and where:

Canterbury University’s College of Engineering
69 Creyke Street, Christchurch
Saturday 18 August from 10am – 4pm.

Soup and cheese rolls for lunch this week.

Many thanks to those who have let us know they would like to order a soup and cheese roll lunch for their child this week: Monday for NE - Year 4 and Tuesday for Year 5-8. If you have yet to let us know, please fill in this form.

We encourage children to bring their own cup, however will have disposable cups for those who need them. Order your soup and cheese roll, or two cheese rolls and no soup by the flagpole before school, for $3.

Thanks for supporting Kauri fundraising.

Soup and cheese roll lunch next week.

On Monday and Tuesday next week we will be selling tomato soup and a cheese roll for lunch. $3 will buy a cup of soup and one cheese roll, or two cheese rolls. Koru and Kowhai's day is Monday and Pohutukawa and Kauri on Tuesday.

Children purchase their tickets by the flagpole before school.

To give us an idea of quantities to prepare, please fill in this very quick form.

Many thanks for supporting Kauri fundraising.

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 1

We have enjoyed welcoming everyone back to school this week. Unfortunately Hannah is unwell at the moment. We hope to have her back on board by Thursday. I will be in and out of the hub over the next four weeks. I will be teaching 50% of the time and will spend the rest of the time in the office as acting DP, while Sandy is away on a principal exchange in Australia. We are lucky to have Mel filling in for me. She is an experienced Year 7 & 8 teacher, with a multitude of skills and talents.

Cyber Safety:

Over the school holidays we were alerted to several Instagram pages that involved children from our hub. These pages had been set up anonymously and asked posters to request the owner give an honest opinion of what they thought of the poster. Accounts such as these have the potential to cause a lot of damage to the well-being of our children. One page started with warm fuzzy comments, but the 'honesty' promise led to some not so complimentary comments as well. Another page contained quite hurtful comments.  We had concerns on several levels, both for the person(s) who had set up the accounts and also for the many students who were asking for opinions of themselves. We have contacted the parents of the children we knew about who were involved directly. Due to the way the pages have been set up, we were not able to identify all of the children who posted. On Monday we had a very productive discussion about this at school, and will continue to revisit cyber-safety issues. It would be great to also have discussions at home to reinforce messages of safe on-line use.  One of our key messages is, if it is not something you would feel comfortable asking or saying to a person face to face, then don't say it on-line. Thanks for your support with keeping our tamariki safe on line.

Feedback:

We would like to gather some feedback from you on how this year is going for your child. We will use this information to continue to develop what we do in the Intermediate Hub. We would also like to use some of your comments at our Year 6 Open Evening which we will be holding in a couple of weeks time. Please click on this link to complete a brief feedback form.

Ski Trip:

Many thanks to everyone for filling in the ski info form. If you offered to loan ski clothing, please name this and sent it along to school in a named bag - preferably by the end of this week. We need to match gear to children who need it, next week.

Cantamath:

Your child will have brought home a sheet outlining the choices for their Cantamath project, on Monday. If you have yet to see this sheet, please check their bag. All children need to complete a project at home over the next three weeks. If they need inspiration, there is a slideshow with photos of past projects on google classroom, which they can access at home. If they need to discuss ideas, we encourage the children to talk with us before school, after school or at break times this week. We appreciate your encouragement from home, to make sure this project is completed well.

Speech Writing:

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we will be running our story telling speech motivation and start discussing ideas. Thanks to those of you who have already talked about this at home. The children will have the choice of retelling a traditional story, telling a story from the point of view of a different character, creating a fractured fairytale or telling a story of their own. On Thursday we will look at exemplars, then writing will begin next week. The more talking about the story before the children write, the better. Thank you for supporting them with this.

Winter Tournament:

Jenny now has enough coaches / managers for all Year 7 & 8 winter sport teams. Many thanks to those who are helping out.  All children involved in the tournament need to come to school with sports uniform, drink bottle, substantial lunch, shin pads and mouth guards - as required, on Monday, July 30th. The tournament takes place in the morning, with the children back at school in the afternoon.

Learning Conferences:

A reminder that school finishes at 2pm on Tuesday and Thursday next week for learning conferences. If you have yet to book, please go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz or click on this link and use the code z8vr4  In our hub, please allow 30 minutes for your conference. The children will share their learning with you and their home-group, maths and, possibly, reading teachers, will drop by to discuss progress and any questions you may have. This model has worked well for our older children since we started working collaboratively several years ago.

Soup and Cheese Roll Lunch:

Next Tuesday children can bring along $3 for a tomato soup and cheese roll lunch. We would love children to bring their own cups, but do have some disposable ones for those who need to use these. Funds will support future Intermediate Hub field trips.

Intermediate Hub Open Evening for Year 6 Families

We look forward to welcoming Year 6 families into the Intermediate Hub on Monday August 6th, between 7 and 8pm. This is an opportunity to see what happens in the intermediate years at Beckenham, both in and out of our hub. There is lots to find out about. Come along with your questions and get informed!

Kauri Whānau: Date Correction

Cantamath Projects:

Oh dear, I put the wrong month for the due date of Cantamath projects next term, in yesterday's post. These are due on Monday August 13th, not September. Ideas brainstorming over the holidays would be great. There will be a slideshow of ideas posted in the Kauri 2018 google classroom, which the children can access from home.

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 2 Week 10

We are on the home straight now, with just two days until the end of term. Your child will come home with their school report, technology report and languages report on Friday. There are three pieces of work that we expect the children to finish this week: their argument writing, their artwork and their camp photo presentation. Those who are finished by Friday will get some free choice time in the afternoon.

Ski trip:

Have you filled in the ski trip information form for your child yet? If the answer is no, please click here. If the answer was yes, thanks!

Home learning for everyone:

In the first three weeks of next term all children will have a Cantamath design or research project to work on at home. We will be introducing this project to the children tomorrow, Thursday. They are most welcome to put in some time on this over the holidays. A Cantamath project requires the generation of an idea, planning and creating. It would be expected that at least 5 hours of work would be required. Projects will be due at school on Monday the 13th of September, however these can come to school if they are finished earlier. Work that is of an exceptional standard will be entered in the Cantamath Competition in Week 5, and will earn points towards the 'We Love Learning' Kete Badge. 

Speeches coming up next term:

Next term the first writing topic is for our speech competition, which takes place in the middle of the term. This year the children will write story-telling speeches. They will be able to retell a personal story, or take an existing story and either re-tell it, tell it from a different perspective or create a fractured fairytale. Over the holidays it would be great to brainstorm ideas at home; please don't encourage your child to start writing yet. Speech time brings on anxiety for a number of children. To alleviate this, there will be two options for presenting, either presenting live to their home-group or videoing their speech. A live presentation will be needed to be considered for our hub final. Thanks for your support with discussing ideas with your child. 

Blogging:

We have been thrilled to see a number of students in Kauri Hub earning their Kete Badges! In order to earn one of these badges, tamariki have to complete 60 points worth of actions and write about what they have done on their blogs. Please ask your child to have a look at their blog to see what they have been up to.

Many students have been putting fantastic effort into their posts. At the moment, the blogs are all set to private, with only invited readers being able to read posts (and invitations limited to the Kauri teachers). We are wanting to make these blogs public so that others are able to see the awesome actions that are being carried out. If you have any concerns about your child's blog being made public, please contact Hannah on hannah.elliott@beckenham.school.nz.

Prior to any blog going public, we will be going through all posts to check that there are no posts that provide information that could lead to safety concerns. Students will also be doing some learning around what sorts of things should be left out of future posts. It is unlikely that children will get large numbers of views; all this should do is make it easier for you to see what your child is posting and share it with other family members. In the extremely unlikely event that any issue arises, we can very easily revert the blog back to being private.

Winter Tournament:

On the second Monday of next term, we have our Winter Tournament. This is where our Friday Winter Sport team battle in out against other teams in our zone in a morning full of fast and furious games. It's a fun and action packed morning at Hagley Park. A number of our Friday Winter Sport Coaches are already on board to support our teams, which we greatly appreciate. We are in need of a few more parents to support teams in getting around to each of their games and to umpire/referee. We will be in particular need for football managers as each team gets split in half as the football games are 5-a-side. Please email Jenny asap if you are able to help out. You will be need to be available until 12:30. 

Congratulations:

We are extremely proud of Tilly, who has been selected for the Canterbury Primary Schools Netball Metro Representative team. This was after a number of trials and to be selected from such a huge number of players is absolutely fabulous!