Newsletter – Week 6, Term 4 2024

                                         Week 6 Term 4, 2024

Tēnā koutou te whānau,

Our highly anticipated Fun Run / Colour Fun event was postponed due to last Friday’s rainy and windy weather. Your support is appreciated and we are looking forward to our day and also our playground upgrades from your generous donations. Thank you. (Please see below for the updates).

A huge thank you to Miss Lui, Mrs Bua, and the choir for all their hard work and dedication preparing for the Howick Christmas Fair event, especially on the day when the weather unfortunately led to the cancellation of their performance. Despite not being able to showcase their talents at that event, the choir has delighted us all with their performances at assembly. It has also been wonderful hearing their lunchtime practices, filling the school with music and joy.

Last week, our talented Year 3 and 4 students showcased their best at a wonderful poetry recital. It was wonderful to see our tamariki confidently sharing their work, supported by a captivated audience of whānau. Thank you to everyone who attended, to the teachers for their dedicated preparation, and to our amazing students for their creativity and courage in performing.

With the arrival of warmer weather, this is a friendly reminder that all students should be wearing their summer uniform. This includes hats for sun protection, black socks only, and either black shoes or black sandals. Thank you for ensuring your tamariki are dressed according to the uniform policy.

For safety and supervision, we kindly ask that students do not arrive at school before 8.30 am. This helps ensure everyone is safely monitored before classes begin. Thank you for your cooperation.

Our Year 4-6 tamariki, including Room 20 in the photo below, have been enjoying swimming lessons with the John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Community Swim programme. They travel by bus for these sessions. Supported by groups such as the Lion Foundation, Auckland Council, and the Ted Manson Foundation, the programme provides free swim lessons, pool access, transportation, and instructors.

This initiative focuses on essential water safety and swimming skills, covering 27 water skills for life and basic swim techniques. Schools receive eight weekly lessons over one term. 

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 20 Nov – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Mon 25 Nov – Fun Run / Colour Fun
Wed 27 Nov – BYOD Information meeting for parents of Yr 3s
Thurs 28 Nov – Junior Athletics Day
Fri 29 Nov – No Uniform Day
Thurs 5 Dec – Yr 0-1 Prizegiving, 9.15am
Mon 9 Dec – Yr 3&4 Big Day In
Tues 10 Dec – Yr 2&3 Prizegiving, 9.15am
Wed 11 Dec – Yr 4&5 Prizegiving, 9.15am
Thurs 12 Dec – Yr 6 Prizegiving & Graduation, 9.15am
Fri 13 Dec – Junior Big Day In
Mon 16 Dec – Yr 5&6 Big Day In
Tues 17 Dec – Last Day of 2024

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

End of 2024 Dates

Thurs 5 Dec – Yr 0-1 Prizegiving, 9.15am
Mon 9 Dec – Yr 3&4 Big Day In
Tues 10 Dec – Yr 2&3 Prizegiving, 9.15am
Wed 11 Dec – Yr 4&5 Prizegiving, 9.15am
Thurs 12 Dec – Yr 6 Prizegiving & Graduation, 9.15am
Fri 13 Dec – Junior Big Day In
Mon 16 Dec – Yr 5&6 Big Day In
Tues 17 Dec – Last Day of 2024

2024 Term 4 BYOD Meeting

With the end of the year fast approaching, this is an update on BYOD for Year 3-6 students and whānau.

Year 3 parents – next year, Year 4 students can bring in their own devices! I’ll be presenting and answering questions from parents and the community on 27th November (Week 7 Wednesday) at 3.15 – 4.15 pm in our New Build, Room 22.

Year 4 and Year 5 parents – there’s not much you need to do. Your child’s school account will be rolled over to the next school year. If you did not ‘bring your own device’ in 2024, and are considering it in 2025, you are more than welcome to attend the BYOD presentation afternoon mentioned above.

Year 6 parents – as the Year 6 students graduate, their accounts will be suspended and deleted. The Year 6 teachers will guide students through the Google Takeout process to transfer files to their personal accounts.

Sojung Yoon, BYOD coordinator, sojungy@botanydowns.school.nz 

School Page about BYOD – https://www.botanydowns.school.nz/digital-technologies/

SCHOOL NEWS

Fun Run / Colour Fun Fundraiser

The weather forecast is looking good for our new Fun Run / Colour Fun date, Monday 25 November. Please note that there has been a change to the timetable due to Yr4 & Yr6 classes going swimming on that day.  Please see below:

Congratulations to Room 2 and Room 5 who have both reached a combined class total of $1000. All students in these classes were given a free ice block as a reward! There are lots of other classes that are very close. Check out the leaderboard here: BDS Fun Run Totals

We are excited to have even more prizes to give out at our assembly this week. Collect a donation between Monday, November 18, and Thursday, November 21, to be entered into the draw for one of five milkshake vouchers kindly donated by Hancock’s Cafe in Howick.

We also have amazing incentives for the winning class in each year group, check with your child’s classroom teacher to find out more!  Thank you to everyone who has already signed up and is collecting donations, every little bit helps build our total.

Sunflower Competition –
Prizes Have Been Purchased!

If you still have a sunflower going strong, remember to take good care of it for the next three weeks by watering regularly and giving additional fertiliser (seaweed or sheep pellets are good options) as necessary. 

The competition closes at 8pm Sunday 8th December.
Prize winners will be notified on Monday 9th December.

To evidence the height of your sunflower, you must have a photo of yourself standing tall next to your sunflower with a tape measure showing the height. Parents: please email your child’s full name, room number, sunflower height (in cm), and photo evidence to Mrs Stankovic (kathryns@botanydowns.school.nz) by Sunday 8th Dec. Entries close at 8pm sharp!

School Board Notice

We’re delighted to share a new addition to our school uniform for 2025. Following requests from our community, the school board is pleased to advise from the beginning of 2025, both long and short plain black socks will be available for all our tamariki as part of our BDS uniform. Our green striped sock can also be worn but will no longer be for sale.

We hope this adjustment provides added comfort and convenience for all our students.

The Botany Downs School Board would like to extend our deepest gratitude for the contributions we have received towards our pool refurbishment project. Thanks to these incredible donations, we have been able to move forward with the resurfacing of our pool and the addition of a new pool cover — ensuring it remains a safe and enjoyable space for our students for years to come.

Thank you to the following organisations, your generous contributions are greatly appreciated.

Pub Charity, thank you for your donation of $7,500.

Four Winds, thank you for your donation of $4,000.

Lion Foundation, thank you for your donation of $7,500.

Your commitment to supporting education and community initiatives like ours is invaluable, and we are truly grateful. Thank you once again for helping us make this project a reality.

Auckland Primary Schools Table Tennis Tournament

Last Thursday, 14 November, 15 girls and boys from Year 6 competed in the Auckland Primary Schools Table Tennis Competition. Many of these students had never played table tennis before so it was a new skill for them to learn. Every Tuesday at lunchtime, they practised hard and enjoyed having mini competitions with each other.

Congratulations to all students who participated on the day and for representing Botany Downs School. A special mention to Qiqi Zhao who made it through to the final 20 players in the knockout competition.

Middle School Poetry Recital

Last Tuesday the Year 3 and 4 students came together to celebrate the top two poetry recitalists from each class. These 16 students took to the stage and delivered their poems with great enthusiasm and pride. A massive congratulations to all of the finalists:

Naoki Yamagata and Lily Hodgson (Room 27)
Skyla McCallister-Lee and Shawn Kim (Room 28)
Eric Li and Emily Green (Room 29)
Tushita Arun Kumar and Hannah Shadbolt (Room 30)
Sarah Shawani and Hanro Stoltz (Room 17)
Ashley Cajayon and Quintus Wang (Room 18)
Aaryan Verma and Lucas Pope (Room 19)
Henil Tailor and Isher Singh (Room 20)

Our winners were:
1st Place: Aaryan Verma
2nd Place: Quintus Wang
3rd Place: Lily Hodgson

Summer Reading

After a successful Summer Reading programme last year, we are excited to offer this opportunity once again for our students. 

• For BDS students in Years 0/1-5 only. Students must be returning to BDS in 2025.
• By giving permission to take part, parents agree to ensure books are cared for and returned in the first week of Term 1 2025.
• Parents/caregivers also agree to reimburse the school for any lost or damaged books.
• Only students who have had a form signed will be able to borrow books. Borrowing will be available in Weeks 8 & 9.
• Registered students will be able to borrow up to 10 library books for the summer.

Why sign up for Summer Reading? The best way to improve literacy skills is to keep practising them. This is particularly important over the long summer holidays and helps keep students reading levels up. Plus, it is a fun thing to do!

If you would like your child to borrow school library books over the summer,
please complete and submit this form: 
Summer Reading Registration Form
*please complete one form per family

PTA Notices

No-Uniform Day, Festive Fun – Charity Food Drive – Friday 29th November

We are excited to host a special Festive Fun No Uniform Day!  Students are invited to come dressed in their favourite festive outfits, whether that’s bright summery shirts, festive-themed clothing, reindeer antlers, or anything that brings out the seasonal cheer.

In the spirit of giving and instead of payment, we ask each child to bring a canned or non-perishable food item to donate, with canned baked beans, spaghetti, and canned fruit particularly needed.  All donations will go directly to the All Saints Food Bank in Howick, helping to support local families in need during this time of year.   Please ensure that there is at least three months remaining on any used-by dates so that the goods can be distributed to their new owners.  All items are to be dropped off outside the staffroom between 8.30am – 8.55am.

We can’t wait to see the students’ festive spirit and to make a positive impact in our community together!

Fruju Friday

Come and cool off every Friday until the end of term, pay via Kindo or bring your gold coins.  Come and see us by the staff room after school. 

Frujus: $2 / Ice Pops: $1. Kindo payments must be received by midnight Thursday.

School Assembly

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 items will be our Junior Dance Groups and Room 8.

Our BDS Capabilities

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities:  Lauren Hayes, Yugo Tsuchiya, Hunter Collins-Preiss, Arzoyi Arora, Maci Lund-Finn, Nina Phanwa, Otto Ward, Nicolas Long, Lynda Li, Ranaya Galahitiyawa, Hridaan Dave, Bill Liu, Hanro Stoltz, Braxton Bills, Liam Cho, Micah Harrison, Damian Odendaal, Louis Hunter, Billy Grant, Huntr Bishton, Raewyn Bua, Kurl Matutes, Scarlet Cheng, Nikita Winterstein, Jasmine Wu, Kyle Gouws, Aadhityaa Paarthiban, Magda Snyman, Kayla Fegen, Kyle Forrest, Varya Govender, Juping Qi, Eric Li, Anton Birchler, Jaiden Wang & Jermyan Mose.

Our BDS Values

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our Value of Resilience, Manawanui: Aahana Perera,  Amanda Kim, Hailie Chan, Max Han, Sebastian Fisher, Mira Ong, Newyear Lealamanua, Fraser Shadbolt, Olivia Walsh, Inaya Galahitiyawa, Victor Phanwa, Michael Booth, Christian Ilalio, Adam Shawani, Marcus Ismail, Mene’ Nel, Sebastian Zuo, Chevy Davis, Venuja Nanayakkara, Kruz Oti, Gus McCrindle, Cherry Nguyen, Rosie Chin, Judi Tbakhi, Zainab Ali, Neville Arora, Leroy Singh, Kate Henry, Damian Roberts, Gemma Green, Jeremiah Valentine, Tanush Tailor, Sana Shikoda, Samarveer Parmar, Skyla Kretzmann, Tanya Kumar, Finn O’Neill, Charlotte Pitcaithly, Wickus Botha, Vion Lee, Lexi Tsai, Areesha Fazal & Hannah Shadbolt.

2024 School Magazine –

Limited numbers – order now!

At BDS we celebrate the year at our kura with photos and stories in our school magazine. This is a wonderful summary of the school year and we know many of our whānau treasure this magazine. 

School Magazine – $20
Purchase your 2024 Botany Downs School Magazine NOW!
Deadline November 29 (Week 7 Friday).
Order now: pay via Kindo 

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Room 3, Year 2: Room 3 has loved learning about invertebrates and making some fantastic artwork about bugs.

Children Turning Five – Enrolment 

If your child is turning five before June 2025 please ensure you
enrol them as soon as possible.

We are planning for classes and teachers into 2025 and this is made much easier if we have accurate numbers of new entrants even as far ahead as the middle of next year!  Thank you.

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

End of Year – Please Return Your Books…

All library books are to be returned this week.

Please help your child to check their book bag/school bag, their classroom, around home, etc for any library books that might still be around.

Library books may be returned: during any lunchtime, during class (if the classroom teacher permits), before or after school, and to Botany Bob (our after-hours returns bin located in the office foyer).

** Students return their books by ‘posting’ the book through the returns slot at the library desk; they do not need to let the librarian know as the computer system tracks who each book has been returned by.

Storylines Notable Book Awards 2024

Last week the annual Storylines Notable Book Awards were announced. Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators and publishers of these books. The awards recognise the top books created for the tamariki and rangatahi of New Zealand Aotearoa. The Notable Book Awards lists are a great place to find the best books for encouraging your young people to read.

For more information about the Notable Book Awards, and the Storylines organisation, click here: Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand | Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa

COMMUNITY NOTICES

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

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