Newsletter, Week 1 Term 1, 2024 – Botany Downs Primary School

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau Week 1, Term 1, 2024

Welcome back to school for a year full of fun, friendships, and learning. We extend a special welcome to our new tamariki and their whānau. We look forward to meeting you all.

Mr Joe D’Ambrosio and Mrs Kaur have returned after a years leave and we welcome them both back. We also welcome a new staff member, Ms Lee, who will be teaching our five year olds in Room 11.

You will have already received an email from your child’s teacher and the team newsletter will also be sent out to you. This has specific information relating to each year level.

Our teacher only days were very valuable and provided professional development for staff, focusing on student voice and learner agency, assessment, and our new Mitey Programme. We will be including updates on our learning in newsletters throughout the year.

During the holidays it was very busy at school. Rooms 1-11 were renovated, our school grounds grassed, the fences taken down, and ongoing work in our new six classrooms.

Our builders worked very hard to meet the completion deadlines but due to unforeseen circumstances Rooms 8-11 are still waiting for their Autex on the walls and their carpets to be laid. This will be completed in the weekends when the carpet and Autex have arrived so this will not provide any disruption to the learning. The Room 14 and 15 renovations were not able to be started at all and hopefully, this will be happening in four weeks time.

Our new six classrooms are very nearly completed but we are being advised there will still be about a three to four week completion time.

Thank you to the teachers in these rooms for their patience, understanding, resilience and all their hard work packing and unpacking their classrooms. Our school is looking amazing as it has now been freshly painted and we are looking forward to getting our artwork and signs reinstalled.

I am looking forward to seeing you at school and at the Whānau Picnic and Meet the Teacher.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Tues 6 Feb – Waitangi Day (public holiday)
Wed 14 Feb – School board meeting
Thurs 15 Feb – Whānau picnic / Meet the Teacher (5-7pm)
Tues 20 Feb – Yr 6 camp: parent meeting, 6-7pm
Tues 27 Feb – Yr 5 camp: parent meeting, 6-7pm
Mon 4 Mar – PTA meeting
Wed 6 Mar – Yr 6 camp (returns Thurs 7 Mar)
Mon 11 Mar – Yr 5 camp (returns 12 Mar)
** click here to view more of the school calendar **

Dates for 2024

Term 1: Thursday 1 February – Friday 12 April
Waitangi Day – Tuesday 6 February (public holiday)
Good Friday – Friday 29 March (public holiday)
Easter Monday – Monday 1 April (public holiday)
Easter Tuesday – Tuesday 2 April (school holiday)
ANZAC Day – Thursday 25 April (public holiday during term holiday)

Term 2: Monday 29 April – Friday 5 July
TEACHER ONLY DAY – Friday 31 May
King’s Birthday – Monday 3 June (public holiday)
Matariki Holiday – Friday 28 June (public holiday)

Term 3: Monday 22 July – Friday 27 September

Term 4: Monday 14 October – Tuesday 17 December
TEACHER ONLY DAY – Friday 25 October
Labour Day – Monday 28 October (public holiday)

Whānau Picnic and Meet the Teacher
Thursday 15 February, 5-7pm

We are all looking forward to our Whānau Picnic and Meet the Teacher this year. Bring a blanket and a picnic and meet other BDS whānau, as well as meeting your child’s teacher.

Our schedule for the evening:
5:15 pm – An Introduction to ESOL at BDS with Mrs Kate Keenan for parents of students who will be attending ESOL for the first time. Please come to the staffroom.
5.30pm – Junior school parents/caregivers go to your child’s classroom
6.00pm – Year 3 parents/caregivers go to your child’s classroom
6.00pm – Year 4 parents/caregivers go
to Year 4 (ILE) canopy
6.30pm – Senior school parents/caregivers go to your child’s classroom

** sports gear will be available on the field for games and fun!
** coffee/tea/hot chocolate will be available to purchase!
**Mr Whippy will be available to purchase ice creams!

Important…

If your contact details have changed recently, please ensure you email to let us know so that our records are up-to-date and correct.

Email any contact updates to: office@botanydowns.school.nz

SCHOOL NEWS

Our BDS Values

At Botany Downs School we “live” by these four Values:

Our focus value for the first half of Term 1 is:

Our Capabilities

These capabilities represent the skills and knowledge for our ākonga to achieve success as they grow. These capabilities weave through all our learning areas.

School Communication

Our communications systems at BDS are as follows:

BDS Newsletter emailed out every week for information on all aspects of our school
Our school app for reminder notifications and the newsletter

Team Newsletters at the beginning of each term
WeChat app in Mandarin for our Chinese language speakers. Group: Botany Downs School:

Our website to showcase our school: BDS Website
School Facebook page where we celebrate our successes: BDS Facebook Page

Uniform Reminders

Please name all uniform items.
Hats to be worn in Term 1.
Bring a named drink bottle.
We do have sunscreen at school but we do suggest you apply sunscreen in the morning.
Lost Property is outside Room 1.
New uniform items can be purchased from John Russell Schoolwear, 9 Moore Street Howick.

Summer uniform options (sunhat must be worn)

Examples of suitable school shoes

BDS shoes and socks

More information about our school uniform can be found on the school website here: www.botanydowns.school.nz/uniform/

BYOD – Week 3 Monday 12 February

Students in Years 4, 5 and 6 are able to bring their own device to school from week 3 (Monday 12 February). Please contact Mr Sojung Yoon at sojungy@botanydowns.school.nz for any further information.

Sojung Yoon (BYOD Coordinator).

BDS is beginning the “Mitey Journey.”

Here is some background information about Mitey and there is a link below to the Mitey website for your information too. We will continue to inform and update our BDS whānau as community engagement is a vital and very important component of the programme.

Mitey is the first whole-school mental health education approach in New Zealand schools to have been shaped by research and underpinned by a bicultural approach. It is richly and deeply informed by international research literature that affirms the whole school approach central to Mitey.

Mitey is an evidence based, school-wide approach to teaching mental health education which is built around the NZ Curriculum and aligned to the Mental Health Education Guidelines.

Have a look at the Mitey website –www.mitey.org.nz

Joe D’Ambrosio, Mitey Lead Teacher (joed@botanydowns.school.nz )

BDS Staff 2024

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.