Newsletter – Week 7, Term 1 2024

                                         Week 7, Term 1, 2024

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,   

On March 5th, the Botany Downs School community celebrated a significant milestone. At the crack of dawn, we gathered for a formal Māori blessing to officially open our freshly built classrooms. This was a special occasion and our BDS staff, whānau, tamariki and manuhiri (visitors) were deeply privileged to be part of such a meaningful event.

The day began at 5 am with a Karanga (a call of welcome) and then a Waerea (protective incantation) which allowed many to view our new two-storey building for the first time. Once downstairs, we participated in the Whakamoemiti (to give thanks) ceremony, expressing gratitude by returning the soil to the whenua and planting a native tree. The Mihimihi (speeches) concluded the blessing with acknowledgements of those present and ancestors.

The morning’s events ended with shared kai and waiata, a process of whakanoa to return those involved to a normal spiritual state. 

We would like to acknowledge and extend our appreciation to Kaumatua Martin Cooper, Kaumatua Rangi McLean, Tainui Waka, Manurewa Marae and O Wairoa Marae for organising and guiding us through the ceremonial proceedings. Their wisdom ensured that we approached the blessing with the utmost respect for tangata whenua (people of the land) and we are honoured to deepen our connections and contribute to this journey for our tamariki.  

From our Kura we wish to thank the amazing team who supported with the build in so many ways. A sincere thank you to all of the following: Kaumatua Martin Cooper, Kaumatua Rangi McLean, Tainui Waka, Manurewa Marae, O Wairoa Marae, and Michelle Takaiti for their guidance with respecting and honouring Māori protocol at our kura, Michelle Takaiti for her summary of our special blessing above, from the Ministry of Education Property team Bernard Cheng and Jessica Edmondson, from Leighs Construction Jake van Tuinen and Allan Alombro, from Savills Adam Flemming, our School Board and our outstanding staff who have been so much part of this process and our BDS Whānau who attended the blessing.

This new space is absolutely stunning and will enhance our students’ learning experiences.

We are looking forward to connecting at our Whānau Learning Conversations on Wednesday and Thursday next week. We have already sent you information about how to make these bookings but we have included this again in the newsletter.  

Senior Constable Craig visited us again to help support our kura with parking and drop off outside the school. We will be supported by Senior Constable Craig in the future and also representatives from Auckland Transport through our Travel Wise Programme.

The Year 6 Camp was a huge success for our tamariki. A very special thank you to Joe D’Ambrosio, Rachael Jeffs, Sophie Hill, Mark Insley and our amazing group of parents who also had a fantastic time at camp.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 13 Mar – Mix and Mingle Morning Tea, 9.00-10.00am
Wed 20 Mar – Whānau Learning Conversations, 3.20-7.40pm
Thurs 21 Mar – Senior Swimming Sports Day
Thurs 21 Mar – Whānau Learning Conversations, 3.20-5.10pm
Wed 27 Mar – Jesters Pie Day / School Board meeting
Fri 29 Mar – Good Friday (public holiday)
Mon 1 Apr – Easter Monday (public holiday)
Tues 2 Apr – Easter Tuesday (school holiday)
Fri 5 Apr – HPPA Swimming
** click here to view more of the school calendar **

SCHOOL NEWS

Botany Best & Values 

We invite you to attend our school assembly on Friday at 9.10 am. We will be presenting our Botany Best Certificates and Values Bookmarks. This week our item will be from Year 4, Room 19, and Year 6.

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities:  Riley Wu, Lachlan Marck, Leo Minto, Bille Turner, Amelia Mun, Sachie Ogura, Angela Wang, Baghel Singh, Theia Saunders, Mia Jack, Qiqi Zhao, Dongju Lee, Jeremiah John, Rhythm Sharma, Chaz Grisselle, Finn O’Neill, Skyla McCallister-Lee, Christian Perry, Ozias Su’a, Gemma Green, Gary Taing, Lance Miguel & Cooper Ellis.

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our value of Respect/ Manaakitanga: Jordan Claasen, MacKenzie Kim, Minji Kim, Demi Tseng, Newyear Lealamanua, Liam O’Neill, Ethan Pope, Matilda Malez, Baran Amiri, Mariam Alwaidh, Ziyu Qi, Camilla Chen, Harper Timms, Luke Buckley, Jia Zhang, Naoki Yamagata, Shawn Kim, Nathan Zhu, Willow Cox, Jay Kim, Ishnoor Virk, Jon Wu & Harley Key.

Mix and Mingle Morning Tea

Wednesday 13  March 9 – 10am staffroom

Come along and meet the Senior Leadership Team Vicki Parkins, Mark Insley, Joanne Hughson, and other BDS Whānau.

We will give a short presentation on our Strategic Plan and Property and then have lots of time to mix and mingle.

We look forward to seeing you for our Mix and Mingle Morning Tea.

Whānau Learning Conversations Next Week:
Wednesday 20th March and Thursday 21st March

At BDS we value honest, open, positive communication about learning. We know that the best learning comes from a strong partnership between teacher, student and whānau. We also know that our learners are at the center of all that we do.

At BDS our Whānau Learning Conversations encourage our students to take responsibility for their learning and also help to increase whānau understanding of their child’s learning. These Whānau Learning Conversations give our tamariki the opportunity to share their learning, show what they are doing well and what they need to learn next. 

Next week our tamariki will share their reading, writing and maths learning and next steps with you. It is a time for a positive discussion about learning. It is also a time for setting learning goals together. If you do need to speak to the teacher about any other concerns please make another time.

Our teachers are currently supporting their learners, according to individual needs,  to prepare for these learning conversations.

What you can expect to see and hear…. 

• Your child being supported appropriately by the teacher to lead the Learning Conversation
• Your child talking about what they are learning and why they are learning it 
• Your child proudly showing evidence of their learning
• Discussion and questions between teacher, whānau and student about learning and next steps
• Learning goals being discussed and developed together

Please make sure you make a booking for either
Wednesday 20th March or Thursday 21st March.

Any questions or queries please speak to your child’s teacher. E waka eke noa – we are all in this together.

How to book your Whānau Learning Conversation time:  

Life Education

The Life Education trust is a great programme that brings expert educators in a mobile classroom to our school to deliver content from the New Zealand Health curriculum. Below are the different areas that the year levels will be focussing on in Term 2. The van will be here for 3 weeks at the start of the term. 

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Year 2, Room 2: Writing of the Week – My Teacher’s Secret Life. We have been writing about our teacher’s ‘secret’ life using our imagination as well as some clues in the classroom. Here are some of the stories. Please come to our class to read more about what we think our teacher does after we go home…

Year 4, Room 18: Room 18 are enjoying getting to know their buddies in Room 9. 

They have been teaming up to read with their younger buddies, making reading fun and helping each other learn. 

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)

LIBRARY NEWS

Scholastic Lucky Book Club

Brochures for the Scholastic Lucky Book Club will be coming home later this week, offering a wide range of books for all ages and interests. This is a great opportunity to support your child’s growing literacy skills, and develop their love of reading.

Each purchase also helps the school to provide valuable resources for the library and classroom – thank you for your support!

Orders will close on Friday 22 March.
Online ordering and payment is preferred – please see the brochure for details. 

Reading Helps Your Mind Grow…

Help our garden grow – add your favourite book! Students may either ask Mrs Hatley-Owen for a ‘cupcake flower’ and write the title of their favourite book or may draw a picture of the cover in the shape of a flower.

Let’s see how big our garden can grow! 

COMMUNITY NOTICES

CAPE EGMONT VIRTUAL HALF MARATHON 2024

Want to walk or run in your own time, but also be part of a fantastic event?  Then we would love you to join us.

The Cape Egmont Virtual Half Marathon offers three distance options  – 5 km, 10 km and 21 km.  Which can be completed any time anywhere from the 1st to the 31st of July 2024.   Simply record your time via Strava, Map my run, Fit Bit or screenshot and upload through our website.  Every finisher receives a medal and all money raised goes to the Taranaki Cancer Society and the Taranaki Men Can Exercise Group.  To help those in our province affected by cancer.

ENTER AT:  www.capeegmonthalf.com  ENQUIRES capeegmonthalf@gmail.com

• Get up close to original fire trucks and equipment dating back to the 1800s.
• Check out the state-of-the-art fire trucks and specialist capabilities in use across Tāmaki Makaurau today.
• Meet the firefighters who keep our communities safe.
• Watch demonstrations of the essential work carried out by our Specialist High Angle Rescue and Urban Search and Rescue teams.  
• Explore the fascinating history of firefighting in Tāmaki Makaurau through exhibitions featuring videos, photos, and rare archival materials. 
• Learn about the trailblazing men and women who were instrumental in shaping and influencing what has developed into our modern-day emergency response services.
• Learn about fire risk and safety to keep them and their whānau safe through interactive displays and demonstrations, and Virtual Reality activities. 
• Meet our partner agencies including NZ Police, Hato Hone St John, and Civil Defence.
• Make it a day out for all the family with free admission.

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