Kia ora koutou BDS whānau, Week 6, Term 2, 2023
It was another exciting week last week with photos and information below from our Netball Field Day and our Year 2 MOTAT trip. Thank you to our staff and BDS parent helpers for making these opportunities possible for our tamariki.
Our first house day in a very long time was a huge success, thank you to Mr Yoon and his team of staff, and we are all looking forward to our next house day.
We are expecting to see the building of our senior school playground start this Wednesday, weather permitting. This is very exciting and should only take a couple of weeks. The police helicopter could not land on our wet field on Monday so we are now aiming for this Friday sometime after 9.30 am. We will still be going ahead with the school assembly.
Please do send back your slip for our staff PUM meeting on Wednesday. We have emailed this to you and also sent home a hard copy, and all the information is on the sheet. Thank you.
Our BDS trousers have finally arrived at John Russell Menswear in Moore Street.
Thank you for the amazing success we have had with the selling of the PTA chocolates and to our PTA for making this such a worthwhile fundraising event.
On Friday at school assembly, we will be celebrating the success of our amazing librarian, Vanessa Hatley-Owen, with the recent publishing of her beautiful picture book called Farewell, Anahera. We have several copies of this book in our library and Vanessa also did an exceptional presentation at the Howick Library for her book launch. Congratulations Mrs Hatley-Owen.
Ngā mihi nui,
Vicki Parkins, Principal – Tumuaki (vickip@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Coming up @ BDS…
Wed 31 May – HPPA Girls Soccer Day
Thurs 1 June – Yr 4&5 MOTAT trip
Mon 5 June – King’s Birthday (public holiday)
Tues 6 June – HPPA Soccer Field Day 1 / PTA meeting
Wed 7 June – Year 4-6 Cross-country / School Board meeting
Thurs 8 June – HPPA Soccer Field Day 2
Tues 13 June – East Auckland Interschool Chess competition
Wed 14 June – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Wed 21 June – No-uniform Day / HPPA Hockey Field Day
Wed 21 June – Dance Festival (evening)
Fri 23 June – HPPA Rugby Day
Wed 28 June – Learning Conversations
Thurs 29 June – Learning Conversations
Fri 30 June – Last day of Term 2
Mon 17 July – First day of Term 3
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Botany Best and Values Award
Botany Best: Joshua Chuah, Jax Bloem, Harper Annan, Beau Scott, Mira Ong, Corwin Zhang, Zara Watson, Elliot Cheng, Odi Hika, Tanya Kumar, Ansh Patel, Francis Sekona, Emma Botha, Kensie Tate, Peri Petelo-Vili, Ryan Baker, Emma Sun, Jasmine Wu, Cynthia Liang, Baran Amiri, Sophie Chen, Lucas Pope, Owen Huang & Theo Chuah.
Values: Leon Lo, Alice Chen, Naoki Yamagata, Whitney Chan, Navya Kumar, Annieheta John, Arzoyi Arora, Hailie Chan, Kairav Mahabir, Ziyu Qi, Harper Timms, Rex Zhao, May Shawani, Eric Guo, Caleb Uy, Arya Lawn, Stevie Lawrenson, Isaac Su’a, Tiana Parsons, Vivaan Sharma, Ethan Luo, Tina Tian, Samreet Thind & Gary Taing.
These certificates will be presented at Friday’s assembly.
Assembly begins at 9:10am; please be inside and seated by 9:05am.
This week’s item – Room 22
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Our Focus Value for Weeks 6-10 is –
Resilience / Manawanui
We display manawanui by responding to challenges positively. We learn from our mistakes using a growth mindset.
- Learn from our mistakes
- Display a growth mindset
- Acknowledge our feelings
- Respond to challenges positively
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2023 ICAS Assessments
Your child has the opportunity to participate in the 2023 International Competitions and Assessment for Schools (ICAS). This year we are offering Year 5 and 6 students the opportunity to participate in English, Science, and Maths assessments.
 ICAS assessments are designed to recognise academic excellence. Students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. It is important to note that these assessments are not related to our New Zealand Curriculum. This means that ICAS results are not taken into consideration when determining progress, when reporting to parents or when selecting academic award recipients for our prize givings.
All assessments are completed online and students receive a certificate and a result report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and special ceremonies to recognise their academic excellence from ICAS assessments.
Yesterday, Year 5 and 6 students took home a permission form for this year’s ICAS assessments. If you would like your child to participate in one or more of the ICAS assessments please fill out the permission and return it to the school office by Friday 30th June. If you require a form please ask your child’s class teacher.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Mark Insley, Deputy Principal (marki@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Whittaker’s Chocolates PTA Fundraiser
Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support with our annual Whittaker’s Chocolates PTA fundraiser. We have had a fabulous response and look forward to announcing our top sellers at the assembly on Friday. Everyone who sold a full box and returned payment by 26th May is in the draw to win one of three $50 New World vouchers – the draw will be made at assembly.
There are still some payments outstanding, please return these to school as soon as possible.
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House Competition Day
It’s been a few years since Botany Downs has had a House Competition Day. We’re getting back into the swing of things with colours and games! It was great to see our student leaders help out in the junior games.
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Year 2 MOTAT Trip
On Tuesday 23rd May, the Year 2 team visited MOTAT. As part of their science inquiry they were able to become scientists and participate in some hands on learning, investigating magnets, electrical circuits, sounds, and lights. Year 2 students, teachers and parent helpers had an awesome time!
MOTAT was Fun!
On Tuesday the Year 2 classes went on a MOTAT trip. It was really fun! First, we went on a bus all the way to MOTAT. When we arrived we walked into a classroom. There was a teacher named Emily who showed us lots of cool things. My favourite was the rainbow glasses because there were rainbows in the lights. When we had to go, we went on a tram to the other block. When we got to the other block we went to the park. My last favourite part was the planes and the buses.
By: Jessie Stirling (Room 1)
MOTAT Trip
On Tuesday we went to MOTAT. First, we all got on a green tram. Next we saw all of the jets and planes. It was so cool! Then we played on the old steam train, it was orange and very tall. Last we went on the toy train ride and it was on the most gigantic lean. On the bus home I sat next to Eric.
By: Jacob Dai (Room 1)
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Netball Fun Day
On Tuesday 23rd of May, we had 4 netball teams attend the Netball Fun Day at Lloyd Elsmore Courts in Pakuranga. All of our students displayed great enthusiasm and sportsmanship. A big thank you to all of the parents who assisted with supervision, umpiring, or transportation. It was definitely a fun day!
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Art Project
We will be completing an art project for our school using milk bottle tops in all colours. Please could you send your milk bottle tops to school over the coming weeks. Thank you!
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Children Turning Five
If your child is turning five in the next six (6) months please ensure you enrol them as soon as possible. Our roll is steadily growing and we need to plan for classes and teachers during the year.
Please collect your enrolment pack from the office, or email office@botanydowns.school.nz
Joanne Hughson DP/SENCo – Year 0-3 (joanneh@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Learning and Fun @ BDS
Year 3 & 4 ESOL – English language learners who attend ESOL have been learning about magnetism as part of our school-wide science inquiry this term.
We use magnets at home and school. In our ESOL class, we played with magnetic games. At MOTAT we also had a magnetic game in the classroom. At home we stick shopping lists, photos and many other things on the fridge. I think magnets are very helpful!
By Evan Yr 3
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 Talofa Lava – it is Samoan Language Week!
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Parents – Join the Reading Tribe!
The library wall is filling up with photos of our tamariki being Caught Reading. We would love to have photos of parents to add to it! Please get caught reading and send us your pic! This is a great way to encourage reading by showing that reading is for everyone – children and grown-ups alike.
Photos can be emailed to: vanessah@botanydowns.school.nz Thank you in advance!
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