Newsletter – Week 5, Term 2 2024 – Botany Downs Primary School

Week 5, Term 2, 2024

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,

Sunday was a sensational day with our Parent and Teachers Association organising an awesome Bricks Show with a Bake Sale, Book Sale, Sausage Sizzle and many other exciting events.

A sincere thank you to our ladies in pink from our PTA for the enormous amount of time and effort you have put into organising this successful event.

We also had members of our BDS whānau who helped on the day who we wish to thank and also all those who attended the event. Thank you to the staff of BDS who supported the PTA and our school by attending the event.

Congratulations to our very clever Lego creation winners:
Year 5 and 6 – A space station by Isaac Angove
Year 3 and 4 – A Trojan Horse by Damian Odendaal
Year 1 and 2 – Treasure Island by Brody Tynan

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

Reminder – School is Closed

School is Closed this Friday 31 May and Monday 3 June.

Friday 31 May is a Teacher Only Day where our staff will participate in professional development on our new Curriculum. This means that school is closed for all students.

Monday 3 June is King’s birthday so enjoy the long weekend!

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 29 May – No Uniform Day / HPPA Girls Soccer Day 1
Fri 31 May – Teacher Only Day
Mon 3 June – King’s Birthday (public holiday)
Tues 4 June – PTA meeting
Wed 5 June – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Thurs 6 June – HPPA Soccer Field Day
Fri 7 June – HPPA Rugby Day 2

** click here to view more of the school calendar **

SCHOOL NEWS

Bricks Show

Some of the amazing creations on display at the weekend:

Space station by Isaac Angove

Trojan Horse by Damian Odendaal

Treasure Island by Brody Tynan

New Build Walk-through

We welcome our BDS whānau to walk-through our new build between 3.00 pm and 4.00 pm on Wednesday 12 June.

We are happy to be able to finally have our classrooms fully completed by this date and to have a large number of people through. Our new furniture will not have arrived so you will need to imagine our wonderful new classrooms with new furniture as well.

Notice from Botany Downs Kindergarten

Dylan Schmidt – Olympic Ambassador

We were very fortunate to have Olympic bronze medal trampolinist Dylan Schmidt speak to our tamariki on Monday 27 May. By sharing his experiences, setbacks as well as showing us his medals, he connected our school motto – Our Best Always – and our own BDS Values with what he values through: striving for excellence, never giving up, resilience, and having dreams to aspire to! He also performed a few flips!

Dylan leaves in five weeks for the Paris Olympics: good luck Dylan!

New Library Collection!

We are delighted to share our library’s new collection of books in other languages.

These beautiful books (and more) are ready for borrowing and are available for our tamariki to read and enjoy in their home languages. At present, we have books in the following languages:

Afrikaans
Arabic
Chinese
Cook Islands Māori
French
Hindi
Japanese
Korean
Samoan
Spanish
Tongan

We would love to add more books to our collection – if you have any great children’s books in these languages, that are in good condition and are suitable for primary-aged children, please consider donating them to our library.

** Did you know? We also have a beautiful selection of pukapuka available in te reo Māori:

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Room 2, Year 2: Room 2 has been finding the answer to ‘Where does water come from?’ We have learned many interesting facts and how the Earth’s water cycle works.

Did you know… We are drinking the same water that dinosaurs once did!

Did you know… It takes over a million raindrops to fill a cloud in the sky!

Enjoy reading some of our awesome explanations about the water cycle and look at our mini water cycles working inside our classroom.

Room 28, Year 3: Debate Time: ‘Books are better than Movies’

This week in Room 28, we have been learning to craft a persuasive piece of writing. The idea is to agree or disagree with a statement, and then persuade our readers to agree with our opinion.

We began by participating in a class debate to listen to both sides, then independently created an argument with three reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the statement above.

Team Bookworms vs Team Movie-watchers

Speech and Drama Lessons on Offer

Hello Parents,

We’re thrilled to announce the start of Speech and Drama lessons at Botany Downs Primary, and we can’t wait to meet your children!

Currently, we’re in the process of collecting pre-enrolments for Term 3. To secure a spot for your child, please fill out the form below. Please note that spaces are limited, so enrolments will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis to ensure fairness.

https://forms.gle/Bkt8uphTKVFnVGDc6

Lessons will be held after school on a Tuesday, at Botany Downs Primary. Our dedicated teachers will provide a fantastic platform for students to nurture their confidence, public speaking skills, self-esteem, creativity, manners, and leadership abilities – all vital elements in shaping them into their best and most successful selves.

Through engaging activities and relatable scenarios, each 30-minute lesson promises to be exciting for your children! The fee is $220 per term and speech and drama is beneficial for all ages from year 0-6. Everyone is welcome!

For more information visit our website www.thrivespeechanddrama.co.nz, or feel free to email Kelly at kelly@thrivespeechanddrama.co.nz with any questions you may have.

Kind regards,

Kelly Raos | Founder & Head Teacher
m: 021 023 70463

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.