Newsletter – Week 5, Term 4 2023 – Botany Downs Primary School

Kia ora koutou BDS whānau, Week 5, Term 4, 2023

Thank you so very, very much, we are already at $18,000 for our Fun Run donations. During the weekend all our lines for netball, basketball, tapuwae, fun activities, and shapes were painted on our asphalt courts and they look absolutely amazing. We have also purchased over $1,000 of sports equipment for all year groups and will be adding a canopy and cover for our sandpit. We are aiming for $25,000 from our Fun Run so we can have even more amazing additions to our playground including shade sails.

Our ICT provider has corrected the link for Class Considerations in our last newsletter and it is now working properly. We apologise again for any inconvenience. We have deleted the five entries on the previous Google form so please could you enter these again. The new Google form has been sent to you in an email.

We had another fantastic PTA meeting last night and the organisation for our school disco is well underway for a very special night indeed. Thank you PTA.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 8 Nov – Yr 3 & 4 Poetry recital
Wed 8 Nov – Howick Int orientation visit: 9.30-10.30am
Thurs 9 Nov – Somerville Int orientation visit: 1.00-.2.45pm
Fri 10 Nov – FUN RUN
Mon 13 Nov – Teacher Only Day
Wed 15 Nov – School Board meeting
Thurs 16 Nov – HPPA Athletics
Fri 17 Nov – School Disco
Thurs 23 Nov – BYOD meeting for Yr 3, 4 & 5 parents
Fri 24 Nov – Junior Athletics Day
Wed 29 Nov – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Fri 8 Dec – No Uniform Day
** click here to view more of the school calendar **

Teacher Only Day

A reminder that we have a Teacher Only Day coming up on Monday 13 November. Please note: sKids will be open on this day, please contact them if you require supervision for your child on that day.

Botany Downs sKids

End-of-Year Dates

Wed 6 Dec – Yr 3/4 Big Day In
Thurs 7 Dec – Yr 0/1/2 Prizegiving 9.15-10.30am
Fri 8 Dec – Yr 0/1/2 Big Day In
Tues 12 Dec – Yr 3/4 Prizegiving 9.15-10.30am
Wed 13 Dec – Yr 5/6 Prizegiving & Yr 6 Graduation 9.15-11.30am
Thurs 14 Dec – Yr 5/6 Big Day In
Fri 15 Dec – Last day of 2023 – school closes at 12 noon

SCHOOL NEWS

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Meeting
2023 Year 3, 4, 5 parents 5-6pm in the staffroom
Thursday 23 November 2023

In 2024, our Year 4, Year 5, and Year 6 students may bring their own devices to school each day. Students who do not bring their own devices will continue to have access to school-owned devices.

Please visit the following link for more information on recommended devices your child could bring: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/education/byod/botany-downs-school

At Botany Downs Primary School, we highly recommend a Microsoft or Chrome OS device.

The minimum screen size should be 11″ as our testing program will not work with smaller screens.

If you do decide that your 2024 Year 4, 5 or 6 child will bring their own device in 2024, BYOD agreement forms will be sent home at the beginning of the 2024 school year. Students are unable to bring their device until a completed form is returned to school.

For any enquiries please email Mr Yoon: sojungy@botanydowns.school.nz

School Magazine

At BDS we celebrate the year at our kura with photos and stories in our school magazine. This is a wonderful summary of the school year and we know many of our whānau treasure this magazine.

School Magazine – $20

Purchase your 2023 Botany Downs School Magazine NOW!
Deadline December 1 (Week 8 Friday).

Order now:
Pay via Kindo OR BDS bank account number 12-3089-0059300-00 OR
pay at the school office by EFTPOS

Tumeke Tumuaki

Tumeke Tumuaki is a day to celebrate the amazing contribution principals make to education.

Yesterday we presented Mrs Parkins with a card that had lovely messages written by every class in the school. Thank you Mrs Parkins for all that you do for Botany Downs School!

‘Mrs Parkins is kind, nice and happy. She hands out the certificates and books with lots of special events. She helps us and makes sure we have the best playground. She is very responsible because she is in charge of the school. She has a beautiful smile.’ Room 1

‘Mrs Parkins- We think you are really kind. You make fair rules and help us with our problems. You are really funny and make a great principal. Thank you for making our days shine even when it is raining.’ Room 12

‘Mrs Parkins is the best principal. We are very lucky to have her and we appreciate all the hard mahi she does for our Kura. He taonga rongonui te aroha ki te tangata.’ Room 27

Fun Run

We are so excited about our Fun Run this Friday! Thank you for your amazing support, we now have five classes who have raised over $1000 (R2, R6, R17, R10 & R8) and altogether our school total is at $18,000 with a few days still to go!

Thanks to your generous donations, we managed to raise $25,000 last year to complete our turfing project and BDS students are already enjoying upgrades to our outdoor areas and playgrounds this year. Check out the new line markings that were painted over the weekend!

There is still time to sign up and collect donations
by clicking on this link:
Sign up for the Fun Run!

Remember – even one donation puts you in the draw to WIN!

PTA Disco – “Let it Glow”
Friday 17 November

Disco tickets are on sale now via kindo, $6 per child. Don’t forget to buy your vouchers to purchase glow sticks, food, drinks and more, all items are $2 each.

Gumboot Friday

Thank you for supporting Gumboot Friday last week – it sure was a good day for wearing gumboots! As a school, we raised $410 for I Am Hope.

Our School Councillors with the support of Mr Insley selected the following winners for the colouring competition. Well done to:

Year 1 – Gracie Room 7

Year 2 – Nella Room 3

Year 3 – Miane Room 13

Year 4 – Jacy Room 22

Year 5 – Gabriel Room 26

Year 6 – Khloe Room 17

Diwali

Happy Diwali to our families who will be celebrating this weekend.

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 5, Room 27: We are currently studying Animal Habitats. We started by learning about different habitat types and then moved on to researching our native animals, including their threats, diets, characteristics, and homes. To share our findings we used art, dioramas, and Canva slideshows.

ESOL – Our ESOL students have been learning about animals. Through talking to Farmer Megan, we discovered that over the winter months, it is good to provide extra food for our native birds. You may have seen the tūī feeder hanging from the tree outside the ESOL room. We followed this recipe to make sugar water and it looks like it was popular with the birds!

Dissolve 100g (approx. ½ cup) of white sugar in 1 litre of warm water.
Once cool, pour sugar water into the Tūī Nectar Feeder.

LIBRARY NEWS

Storylines Notable Book Awards 2023

Congratulations to the authors, illustrators and publishers of this year’s Storylines Notable Books! These books celebrate excellence in New Zealand publishing for children and young adults and many of them can be found in our school library. The Notable Books are always impressive lists, and are a great place to look for inspiration for finding books for your children.