Newsletter – Week 8, Term 2 2024

                                         Week 8, Term 2, 2024

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,   

Our Kapa Haka performed at the Owairoa Marae on Saturday as part of the celebration for the  Matariki Festival. We were very proud of their performance. Thank you to our amazing Kapa Haka teacher Mrs Takaiti and to all our Kapa Haka tamariki. Thank you also to the parents and staff who came along to be part of the Matariki Festival on Saturday, it was great to see you supporting our kura.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 26 June – No Uniform Day: Crazy Hair/Hat / PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Thurs 27 June – Whānau Matariki Visit
Friday 28 June Matariki Public Holiday
Mon 1 July – PTA meeting
Wed 3 July – Learning Conversations: 3.20-7.40pm
Thurs 4 July – Learning Conversations: 3.20-5.10pm
Fri 5 July – Last Day of Term 2
Mon 22 July – First Day of Term 3

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

SCHOOL NEWS

Learning Conversations

Bookings are now open:

Walking School Bus

Thank you Mrs Marston for driving our Walking School Bus every morning. So far we have Charlie, Neil, Oscar, and Gemma.  

Join the bus, it’s a great way to exercise on the way to school with friends.

Botany Best & Values

We invite you to attend our school assembly on Friday at 9.10 am. This week our item will be from Room 29.

Values

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our value of Resilience / Manawanui: Alfred Wang, Annieheta John, Maci Lund-Finn, Nina Phanwa, Katya Troussova, Hajar Al-Jumaily, Lynda Li, Baghel Singh, Michael Booth, Zayne Van Niekerk, Marylyn Nduku, Charlie Pirie, Sophie Klee, Enoch Liu, Aidan Malez Ocampos, Nikita Winterstein, Amber Belcher, Theodore Chuah, Abigail Harrison, Connor Rudman, Grant Leslie, Ava Tang & Beau Scott.

Botany Best

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities: Ilaisaane Fifita, Poppy Walker, Aria Zhang, Gabe Jacobs, Grace Zhao, Ahaan Harridass, Daisy Huang, Dhrishiv Katal, Baran Amiri, Marcus Ismail, Tina Tian, Advik Advik, Isher Singh, Memphis Kwok, Claire Zhou, Damian Roberts, Ofa Fifita, Gemma Yee, Amitoj Singh, Ayeza Zahidani, Daniel Bayani, Nicholas Botha & Jurgens Lewis.

Cross-country

We had a stunner of a day last Tuesday, sneaking in with blue skies between the rain clouds. The students ran really well and worked hard to complete the new and challenging course.

World Vision 40 Hour Challenge

This weekend (Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd) is the World Vision 40 Hour Challenge with the focus for 2024 being to raise money so that people around the world can work with nature to restore forests, fight the impacts of climate change and regreen our future.

At Botany Downs Primary we have 27 students participating in the challenge. Good luck to you all for your challenge and fundraising!

Last weekend, one of our School Councilors and Year 6 students, Gemma Yee ran a flower-making workshop at Botany Library to help raise money for World Vision. She also did some violin busking. An amazing effort Gemma – Ka pai tō mahi!

Girls Soccer Tournament

Our BDS Year 5 & 6 Girls soccer team played in the HPPA tournament at William Green last Wednesday. This was supposed to be a 2-day competition, but unfortunately the first day was cancelled due to rain and hail. Our team played extremely well and every game was very close. We never gave up, we improved every game and we scored a great win at the end! Well done girls!

Rugby Tournament

The BDS Rugby team went to Lloyd Elsmore to play in the final tournament of the season. In the end, we finished 8th overall and we won one game. The boys showed stellar teamwork and determination and should be very happy with their performance. Well done!

These photos are from our last game where we only lost by one point in the final minutes!

ICAS Exams for Year 5 and 6

This year our Year 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to participate in the ICAS English, Science, and Maths assessment exams in Term 3. These assessments are completed online and cost $21.50 each. A newsletter has gone home to Year 5 and 6 students, however there are spare newsletters which can be collected from the school office.

All entries and payments must be completed by Friday 21st June.

Dates for exams:

English – Thursday 15th August

Science – Tuesday 20th August

Maths – Monday 26th August

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Mark Insley (Deputy Principal), marki@botanydowns.school.nz

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Room 7, Year 1: In Room 7 we have been learning all about Trees and how important they are to our Earth. They give us so much yummy fruit and last week Mrs Johnston shared oranges from her tree. A good dose of Vitamin C. Yum!

A big thankyou to the Guo family who have kindly donated their drum set to us. This is greatly appreciated.

Student Success…

NZMSM Annual Music Competitions: Congratulations Lucas and Isaac!

Hapkido: Michael Booth achieved his black belt in Hapkido; he has been working very hard for the last two years, to achieve his black belt. Hapkido is a Korean form of martial arts, it is a form of self-defence that includes throwing techniques, kicks, punches, joint locks, grappling, and other forms of defence and attack. Congratulations Michael!

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

Matariki Story Time – Free Event

This special Matariki story event is happening this Sunday, June 23, 11am, at the Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookshop: 1 Jervois Rd, Ponsonby. Join in for some beautiful stories and meet the author, Miriama Kamo.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Holiday Soccer Development Camp

Registration for our Holiday Soccer Camp is now open! To register: click here.

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