Kia ora koutou BDS whānau, Week 8, Term 1, 2023
Thank you Mr D’Ambrosio, Mrs Hatley-Owen, Mrs Jeffs, and Mr Insley for running such a successful HPPA swimming competition for our local schools. Our tamariki were amazing and not only swam well but had a great time. This is our last week of swimming so we farewell our talented and enthusiastic swimming instructors Wayne Johnson and Taylor Holmes. The swimming lessons and fun that can be seen and heard from the school pool has been sensational. Thank you.
Our Year 5 and 6 Eco Warriors had a beautiful day enjoying themselves on the Eye On Nature Trip and found it very educational. Thank you Mr Huskinson for organising this trip and to Mrs Marston and parent helpers for making this possible.
We are looking forward to making connections at our Learning Conversations on Wednesday and Thursday, our Bright Sparks and Year 0-1 curriculum information sessions, and also at our Pōwhiri on Friday. See more details below.
Ngā mihi nui,
Vicki Parkins, Principal – Tumuaki (vickip@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Coming up @ BDS…
Wed 22 Mar – Jester’s Pie Day
Wed 22 Mar Learning Conversations, 3.20-5.10pm
Thurs 23 Mar – Learning Conversations, 3.20-7.40pm
Fri 24 Mar – BDS Pōwhiri, 9.30am
Wed 29 Mar – No Uniform Day
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School Donation
The School Board asks parents to consider making the recommended School Donation. If you pay your donations before 31 March 2022 you would be entitled to a 33% tax rebate.
- $235 for one student
- $470 if you have two or more students at school
Payments can be made in a lump sum or spread out over the year.
These payments can be made:
- By EFTPOS at the school office
- Using our school bank account: 12-3089-0059300-00 or through the Kindo shop https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/
Please contact trisht@botanydowns.school.nz if you have any questions or wish to discuss the payment options in confidence. Donations in excess of the recommended amount are always very welcome.
When you make your school donation in myKindo for 2023, you will see the option to opt-in to Supergenerous when you pay. Kindo and Supergenerous work together to lodge your donation rebate claim with the IRD. They do all the hard work for you and give you the option to regift your 33% tax rebate to Botany Downs School as a new donation. It’s an awesome way to make your donation go further. Find out more about Supergenerous.
Thank you very much to those who have paid their school donation.
Your donation really does make a difference.
Your School Donation helps towards funding:
- Specialist teachers for swimming
- School librarian
- Additional teacher aides in classrooms
- Intervention and extension programmes
- Digital technology equipment
- Online learning platforms
- Improved playground equipment and school environment
Thank you,
Botany Downs School Board
School Activity Donation
The School Activities Donation is a per annum contribution of $40.00 that goes directly towards:
- Educational visits
- School performances and activities directly related to core curriculum outcomes
- Trips
- Arts Evenings
- Sports and Cultural Events
Payment can be made in the same way as the school donation.
Thank you,
Botany Downs School Board
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Entrance from Yarra Place Update
 The timber stairs will now be the main access from Yarra Place into school. Thank you.
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BDS Values:
Relationships / Whanaungatanga
 At BDS we are…
- Friendly, welcoming, and kind
- Caring and supportive
- Active listeners
- Helpful
- Communicating positively
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Pōwhiri – Friday 24 March
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Learning Conversations
This week we look forward to welcoming whanau and students to our learning conversations. This is a conversation between students, parents/whānau, and the teacher about what our children are learning at school. Our teachers will be supporting students to share some of their learning with their parents and the progress they have made so far this year. Our learners are at the centre of everything we do, therefore our tamariki’s voice at these learning conversations is important. We encourage you to bring your children to your scheduled meeting time this coming Wednesday or Thursday.
Wednesday 22 Mar – 3.20-5.10pm
Thursday 23 Mar – 3.20-7.40pm
To book your appointment time, please go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code, enter the event code vbvzj and then follow the instructions below.
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Second-Hand Uniform Sale
During our “Learning Conversations” on Wednesday and Thursday the PTA will have second-hand uniform items for you to purchase at very reasonable prices. Available from 3.15-5.00pm on both days.
If you would like to donate any uniform please see the container in the office foyer.
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Whānau Hui – 29 March
Nau mai, Haere mai!
This is an invitation for our Māori community to share your views on how we can best meet the needs of our Māori tamariki; assist in Māori related activities; contribute to and promote student awareness and pride of their cultural identity of themselves or their peers and their surroundings.
Botany Downs Primary will be holding a Whānau Hui on the 29th of March at 4.00pm in Room 27.
Please RSVP to: marki@botanydowns.school.nz
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Year 0/1 Curriculum Information Sessions
These sessions are to provide whānau with information around our teaching and learning programmes in our Year 0/1 classes and will assist parents with ways they can support their tamariki with their learning at home too.
This is also a time to mix and mingle with other Year 0/1 parents over a cup of tea/coffee and will be held alongside our current Bright Sparks sessions. All parents of our current Year 0/1 students are warmly invited!
Wednesday 22 March from 9:15-10:15 am
we will be holding a Year 0/1 information session around Maths learning
and the expectations for our most junior students.
Wednesday 29 March from 9:15-10:15 am
we will be holding a Literacy information session
for whānau of our Year 0/1 tamariki.
Please reply to joanneh@botanydowns.school.nz if you are attending either or both of these sessions.
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No Uniform Day – Wednesday 29th March
Remember to bring a gold coin donation – you can pay by Kindo, or with cash on the hall deck before school or give it to your classroom teacher.
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“Big Walk” – Tuesday 28th March
Meet at Booralee Park at 8.00am and walk into school with our Travelwise Leaders and Maxx the Pukeko from Auckland Transport.
We can make the road around our school entrance safer by parking a little bit further away and walking in to school. We’ll show children and adults a really easy, safe place to “Park and Walk”.
 Red line = park your car / Yellow line = walking route
Kylee Holmes, Travelwise Coordinator (kyleeh@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Book Week 2023 is Coming!
Find your taonga – books are the treasure!
 Planning is underway for our annual Book Week celebration. It will all be happening in Week 2, Term 2 – the Scholastic Book Fair, fun lunchtime activities, the Hikoi Korero (story walk), special guests, competitions, fun activities, and of course the fabulous Book Character Dress-up Day (Friday 5 May).
Mark your diaries for this fun school-wide event and keep an eye out for more information in next week’s newsletter!
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Eye On Nature Trip
On Wednesday the 15th of March, 30 Year 5 and 6 students from the Enviro Club went to the Auckland Botanical Gardens for the Eye On Nature event. This is an annual event for students interested in sustainability and environmental science. This year the event focused on the subject, “What is Waste?”
The students had a wonderful day in the sun learning all about what waste is and how people in Auckland can produce less of it and improve our local environment. Here are some photos of the excellent activities the students enjoyed.
Tom Huskinson, Enviro Club Coordinator (tomh@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Year 5 Camp
What an adventure Willow Park Camp was for our Year 5s this year; from fun and challenging activities to scrumptious food, we had it all. Thank you to our wonderful parent helpers for their support, it wouldn’t have been possible without them.
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HPPA Swimming Competition
On Friday Mrs Jeffs and Mr Insley took 22 Botany Downs students to compete in the HPPA Swimming Sports at Lloyd Elsmore. They were a great group who were very supportive and cheered on each other.
We had some fantastic results, congratulations to the swimmers who earned the following places:
Oscar Wong 8 Year old boys 4th Championship Freestyle
Nathan Li 9 Year old boys 2nd Championship Freestyle and 1st Backstroke
Matthew Zhou 9 Year old boys Novice Freestyle
Ian Lopez Woo 9 year old boys 2nd Novice Freestyle
Emily Su’a 10 year old girls 2nd Backstroke
Eric Guo 10 year old boys 1st Novice Freestyle
Cooper Jiang 10 year old boys 2nd Breaststroke
Lachlan McHardy 10 year old boys 3rd Backstroke
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Learning and Fun @ BDS
Year 3, Room 12 – We have been developing our small balls skills. We have been working on keeping our eyes on the ball and moving our body to the ball when catching. When throwing the ball we have focused on how our body should be positioned and following through with our throwing arm. We have enjoyed using these skills in games of scatterball.
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Student Librarians 2023
Meet our team of lovely Year 5 students who help keep the library running smoothly. They help out during lunchtime issuing or returning books, shelving books, and helping their peers, or in the morning before school returning and shelving books, and preparing the library for the day.
Student Librarians: Kayla Fegen, Joy Turner, Maanvi Patel, Owen Thornton, Arissa Ezra Fesolai, Gemma Brealey, Harkirat Gill, Samreet Thind, Tanush Tailor, Simon Huang, Avril An, Ayla Richards, Ishnoor Virk, Kyle Gouws, Skyla-Lee Kretzmann, Tanya Kumar, Mia Swartz and Ziyu Qi.
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Book Launch… Granny McFlitter
Granny McFlitter is a popular character in our library. This launch celebrates the fourth book in the Granny McFlitter series, created by champion rhymer Heather Haylock and amazing illustrator Leal Chisholm.
There will also be a launch on Saturday April 1st, 11am
at the Papatoetoe Library– 30 Wallace Road, Papatoetoe.
Granny McFlitter at Papatoetoe
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