Newsletter, Week 7 Term 3 2023

Kia ora koutou BDS whānau,                                                                  Week 7, Term 3, 2023

Wednesday last week was so much fun as our junior students ran their cross-country in the beautiful sunshine. Well done to all our Year 0-3 tamariki who showed their Botany Best as they ran around the field. Our school value of relationships, whanaungatanga, was certainly evident as the senior students ran alongside our junior runners, encouraging and supporting them. Thank you so much to our staff who made this event so enjoyable, and to our BDS whānau spectators. 

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions with us in the survey we have emailed you. Over 100 of our BDS whānau have completed our school survey.  This will remain open until Wednesday and then it will be closed off so that we can analyse the data, provide feedback for you, and begin developing our Strategic Plan.

We have planted another twenty trees on our school field and now it is spring they are starting to bud. Thank you Mr Huskinson and Mr Laloli for your efforts with this planting.

Last Monday our Leadership Team attended a conference day by Dylan Wiliam, who is a Professor of Educational Assessment. This was extremely valuable and we look forward to using our new knowledge for the benefit of our tamariki.

The Ministry of Education has confirmed a second Teacher Only Day in Term 4, our date is set for Friday 24 November. This day will provide time for professional development for BDS staff on the significant changes happening with the refresh of the New Zealand Curriculum.

Ngā mihi nui, 
Vicki Parkins, Principal – Tumuaki (vickip@botanydowns.school.nz)

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 30 Aug – ICAS Maths
Thurs 31 Aug – HPPA Netball Day 1
Fri 1 Sept – House Competition Day
Mon 4 Sept – PTA meeting
Tues 5 Sept – HPPA Soccer Day
Wed 6 Sept – PTA Jester’s Pie Day

Smart Watches and Smart Phones –
Parent/Caregiver and Student Responsibilities 

Cell phones and smart watches are very strongly discouraged and we have procedures in place, which are recorded in our School Docs Policies: Botany Downs School Docs

If a parent/caregiver needs to contact their child urgently during the day,
they should call the office.

If a student brings a personal digital device (smart watches and smart phones) to our school, the following guidelines apply:

• The school does not accept responsibility for lost, damaged, or stolen personal digital devices brought to the school but investigates any issues as appropriate.
• The device should be kept turned off and out of sight in their school bag.

SCHOOL NEWS

Our Capabilities

Our Capabilities represent the skills and knowledge for our ākonga to achieve success as they grow. 

Our BDS Capabilities weave through all our learning programmes and our teachers focus on teaching specific and progressive skills within these Capabilities. Here is an example of this…

Our Values

Our focus Value for the remainder of Term 3 is Whanaungatanga / Relationships. Have a look at the poster below to see how we build Whanaungatanga at BDS.

House Competition Day

Excitement is building as we approach the House Competition Day this Friday 1 September.

Our students are ready to display their talents and teamwork in various sports and activities. Parents are encouraged to join us and cheer for our young athletes. Let’s celebrate their efforts and the spirit of healthy competition. Please refer to the timetable below:

On the day, children should come dressed in their PE gear with accessories in the colour of their house.

Sojung Yoon, House Competition Day Coordinator (sojungy@botanydowns.school.nz)

2023 Cultural Performance Evening Timetable

We are excited to welcome you to our performance evenings! Please see the below timetable of performances:

*Please note: if your child is part of Kapa Haka, Choir, Orchestra, Dance, or Bucket Drummers you may stay in the hall to watch their performance.

HPPA Literacy Quiz

On Friday last week, six students represented BDS at the annual Literacy Quiz. Seventeen local schools took part, each with two teams participating. The competition was tough, and our students did very well and enjoyed the experience. They have worked hard all term preparing for the Lit Quiz; reading through a list of selected books by top New Zealand authors. 

Well done to: Tanya Kumar, Dion Choi, Arya Lawn, Evie Zhu, Amelia Dellow, and Vera Zuo.

Vanessa Hatley-Owen (Libriarian), Mark Insley DP.

Junior Cross-country

Last Wednesday we held our Junior (Year 0-3) Cross-country event. The children had been training hard in preparation and the weather played its part. 

Congratulations to all the children who showed Manawanui – Resilience by participating and giving their Botany Best.

The following children placed in the first top five of their year group. Certificates will be awarded to the first three runners at our school assembly in Week 8.

Daffodil Day Collection

It was great to see so many tamariki supporting Daffodil Day last Friday. All donations collected went towards the Cancer Society; we raised $515.00. Thank you to our School Councillors for your help selling the flowers. 

Mark Insley, D.P. (marki@botanydowns.school.nz)

PTA – Calendar Art Reminder

Children Turning Five – Enrolment 

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)

Fun and Learning @ BDS

Year 2: Room 1 has been exploring our culture and the different cultures we have in New Zealand. We made our own posters to share our cultures with others. Look at some of our wonderful work!

Year 6: Room 16 Art – We celebrated the Geometry unit with a Tessellating Art piece!

By Yuri Kang

By Grayson Lincoln

By Raymond Palalagi-Waru

By Khanak Khanak

LIBRARY NEWS

Please Look After Your Books…

Please ensure your children take care of the books they read, and treat them gently. We have too many of our beautiful books being returned with torn pages, scribbles, and broken covers.

While we love that so many of our tamariki are borrowing books and enjoying them, we do also need to make sure the books are treated respectfully, and carefully so that many others can also enjoy them. 

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Botany Downs Secondary College – Host Families

Hosting an international student is a great way to bring the world to your home. Create lifelong relationships with people around the world and earn an extra income. Botany Downs Secondary College is expanding its community of homestay families for their 2024 intake.

If you can provide a home away from home in a caring, English-speaking environment visit their website to learn more: BDSC International – Become a Host Family

Pay the kindo way: https://botanydowns.school.nz/kindo/