Newsletter – Week 10, Term 1 2024 – Botany Downs Primary School

Week 10, Term 1, 2024

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,

We would like to introduce our new Caretaker Deon Stuart. Deon comes with many areas of experience and is a real asset to our Kura. Welcome to our BDS whānau Deon.

Thank you Mr D’Ambrosio for the organisation of our Senior school swimming sports. It was a very successful event. It was so great to see so many parents coming to watch.

Last week our Year 5 students participated in riding bikes and learning the skills necessary to ride a bike safely. Thank you Mrs Raj for organising this opportunity for our tamariki.

Thank you for attending our Whānau Learning Conversations. We would like to gather feedback to help us keep striving for Our Best Always. Please take a few minutes to answer this short survey. Thank you.

Whānau Learning Conversation Survey

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Fri 5 Apr – HPPA Swimming
Mon 8 Apr – PTA meeting
Wed 10 Apr – No Uniform Day
Thurs 11 Apr – ANZAC Assembly, 9.30am
Fri 12 Apr – Last Day of Term 1
Mon 29 Apr – First Day of Term 2
Week 2 – Book Week
** click here to view more of the school calendar **

SCHOOL NEWS

End of Term Certificates

We invite you to attend our school assembly on Friday at 9.10 am. We will be presenting our End of Term certificates.

Well done to: Datis Bassam, Kevin Chen, Mannat Gahunia, Darcey McCrindle, Katya Troussova, Mawada Khammas, Jane Bong, Avery Ip, Baran Amiri, Schyler Daniels, Sana Shikoda, Sophie Chen, Micah Harrison, Chevy Davis, Ethan Liu, Connor Rudman, Alice Chen, Xavier Marck, Beau Scott, April Clements-Goh, Jacob Kong, Charlie Gao & Charlie Carson.

Botany Downs School Pōwhiri

Our school will hold a Pōwhiri in Week 11 which is a traditional Māori welcoming ceremony; a process where the host welcomes visitors, usually on a marae but in this instance to our school. This ceremony is our way of welcoming new students and staff, along with their families into the Botany Downs School community.

Whānau (family) of new students are welcome to come to our Pōwhiri. Please join us…

Date: Tuesday 9th April
Time: Meet at 9:45am
Location: Botany Downs School, assembled by the staff room

Pōwhiri will begin at 10:00am.

Part of the pōwhiri process includes a male who will speak on behalf of our manuhiri (visitors) which will be followed by a waiata (song) to support their speech. Whānau are welcome to join in and sing the following waiata:

Te Aroha:

Te aroha

Te whakapono

Me te rangimarie

Tatou tatou e (x2)

To conclude our pōwhiri, Mrs Parkins will invite our new whānau and new students to partake in a hongi/harirū (handshake) with our staff members. This is followed by kai (food) in the staffroom to complete the pōwhiri process.

Ngā Mihi,
Michelle Takaiti (michellet@botanydowns.school.nz)

Book Week is coming to BDS!

Book Week is happening in Term 2, Week 2! There will be the Scholastic Book Fair in our library, special guest authors, and daily fun activities and competitions for our tamariki to enjoy.

As always there will be a Book Character Parade on the final day of Book Week – Friday 10 May! So plenty of time to prepare for this fun event.

Make sure to check your newsletter next week for more Book Week information…

Howick College Story Performance

As a build-up to Book Week, our Year 0-3 students were entertained by the Howick College senior drama students. The group brought three New Zealand picture books to life on the stage, to much laughter and interaction from the BDS audience. It was extra special to watch them perform ‘The Littlest Lifeguard’ as it is written by our own librarian, Mrs Hatley-Owen.

A huge thankyou to the Howick College students, and Head of Drama, Jilly Dryden, for their time and effort to prepare for us: we loved it!

Year 5 Bike Lessons

Thank you Nextbike for providing Year 5 students with free bike lessons. We learned some new skills and some of us learned how to ride a bike for the first time!

BDS Senior Swimming Sports Day

We had a great day for our BDS Swimming competition on Tuesday last week. Great sportsmanship was shown by all who competed. The top swimmers have been selected to represent BDS at the HPPA swim meet on Friday.

PTA Notices…

Wacky Wednesday – No Uniform Day, 10th April

Show off your craziest, most mismatched outfits and let’s celebrate individuality and fun while raising money. Don’t feel like being wacky? Any clothes of your choice are just fine. Donate $2 via Kindo or give cash to your class teacher.

Bricks, Books and Baking Fundraiser, Sunday 26th May, 10am – 3pm
A notice has been sent home with more information about this exciting event.

Please remember to bring in your donations of books and items for raffle baskets. Members of the PTA will be outside the hall each day this term from 8.30am – 8.50am to collect donations.

Please remember to complete the return slip and give it to your child’s class teacher if you are able to help on the day, or would like to receive boxes to bring in baking for the event.

Any questions please contact us at pta@botanydowns.school.nz

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Year 6, Room 25: We wrote stories about camp from the point of view of the activity, and then for Art we made the activity in 3D.

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.