Newsletter – Week 7, Term 4 2024 – Botany Downs Primary School

Week 7, Term 4, 2024

Tēnā koutou te whānau,

We all had a fabulous day yesterday at our Fun Run. There were so many smiling faces as our tamariki enjoyed the exciting activities throughout the day, and the grand finale, a vibrant and colourful run, was the perfect way to finish. Thank you to our BDS whānau for encouraging family and friends to contribute to our Fun Run page, our parent support on the day, our tamariki, our sponsors and a huge shout out to Mrs Keenan who is the mastermind and organiser of this event.

As we work on class placements for 2025, we want to acknowledge the effort and care our teachers put into this process. While we appreciate that many families share friendship requests for their children, our primary focus is creating classes that support learning and development for every student.

With students having a wide range of social connections across classes and year levels, it isn’t always possible to accommodate all requests. Teachers carefully balance academic needs, social considerations, and class dynamics to ensure the best outcomes for all students. We are confident in the thought and care that goes into placing each child and thank you for trusting us with this important task.

At the HPPA Athletics Day last Friday, the sun was shining, and it was a day filled with energy, effort, and great sportsmanship. Thank you to Mr D’Ambrosio and Mr Insley for their outstanding organisation and our tamariki who showed our school values and the Botany Best spirit.

Last Wednesday evening was a special occasion as we celebrated Miss Smith and Mrs Kaur achieving full teacher registration. Our kapa haka group gave an outstanding performance, filling us with immense pride, thank you to the kapa haka team and Mrs Takaiti for their dedication and effort.

Congratulations to Miss Smith and Mrs Kaur on this significant milestone in their teaching careers. The evening was made even more memorable by the wonderful support from our staff, who came together to celebrate this joyous achievement.

Thank you to our incredible road patrollers, Mrs. Holmes, and the parents and grandparents who have provided unwavering support throughout the year. Whether it was raining, windy, sunny, or cold, your dedication has been invaluable in keeping everyone safe, we couldn’t do it without you. To celebrate their hard work, our road patrollers enjoyed a well-deserved day of fun at Rainbow’s End.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

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

Junior Athletics

A reminder our Junior Athletics is on Thursday this week for
all Junior Students (Years 0-3).

Students will need to come to school wearing their PE uniform which includes their house PE shirt, shorts and running shoes. (Year 0 can wear any top in their house colour if they do not have their PE uniform yet).
They may also need their school jumper, fleece or jacket.
A water bottle is necessary.

Programme: The first rotation will begin at 9am and subsequent activities follow.

Supporters: We would love you to come along to support the students and assist if needed, but please ensure you remain off the running lanes where students are running.

Fun Run / Colour Fun

It was perfect conditions for our Fun Run and Colour Fun yesterday. Thank you to our amazing helpers who gave up their time and to the supporters who came to cheer everyone on. The students worked hard for their donations and had a lot of fun along the way.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up and collected donations, our fundraising website will close tomorrow so there is still time to get in the draw for our major prizes: Fun Run Sign Up. We are looking forward to giving these prizes out in our assembly on Friday. Remember to check out our school Facebook page for more photos of the fun we had!

Summer Reading

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!

Summer Reading Registration Form
*please complete one form per family

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.

Weet-Bix TRYathlon

On Wednesday, Mrs Jeffs and 39 students headed out to Mountfort Park in Manurewa for the annual Weet-Bix TRYathlon. Even though the weather was not on our side, everyone had a great time and competed to the best of their abilities. A great day was had by all. If you want to get involved in this awesome event next year, look out for information towards the end of Term 3, 2025.

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 item will be from Year 6 students, presenting three plays.

Our BDS Capabilities

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities: Ryan Hu, Alyssa Roberts, Artie Ong, Ethan Du, Minji Kim, Olivia Leaumoana, Joanna Qiao, Acen Wu, Gracie Marshall, Hazel McNeill, Chloe Simpson, Alana Sahni, Reshitha Perera, Isabella Liang, Rosy Xu, Nature Parsons, Ethan Luo, Muhammed Abdullah, Cordelia Prentice, Jenil Patel, Ali Alsharefi, Sophie Klee, Francis Sekona, Archie Barson, Enoch Liu, Emma Sun, Harley Key, Aidan Sameer, Tong Wang, Nehansa Athukoralalage, Aris Ezra Fesolai, Liam Forrest, Wiandre Nel, Rosanna Siew, Charlotte Pitcaithly, Mac He, Tristin Van Rooyen, Yilin Mao, Beau Scott, Xiyue Wang & Willow Cox.

Our BDS Values

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our Value of Resilience, Manawanui: Hanlin Hong, Nelson Wang, Hunter Collins-Preiss, Leo Minto, Maxton Fung, Arzoyi Arora, Konnor Oti, Megna Swaraj, Newyear Lealamanua, Liam O’Neil, Jayson Holmes, Ava Shahsavari, Daniel Hollins, Jacy Ablos, Carter Kenny, Zean Wang, Ayla Mii, Dongju Lee, Tina Tian, Petr Bertyaev, Amisha Clarke, Advik Advik, Bruno Hussey, Isher Singh, Ali Moshtagh Askari, Memphis Kwok, Ayden Sharp, Ryker McCallister-Lee, Claire Zhao, Kaylin Walker, Dara Inventor, Sebastian Birchler, Avril An, Christopher Le, Richie Lewis, Gabriel Divinagracia, Ruby Buckley, Lily Hodgson, Natalie-Mae Tokai, Kayla Martins-Fouche, Vito Feng, Neil Olarte, Miles Macceachen, Jurgens Lewis, Leo McKeen-Smith & Ian Wang.

2024 School Magazine –
Deadline THIS FRIDAY (November 29)

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 THIS FRIDAY (November 29).
Order now: pay via Kindo

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Room 5, Year 0: Room 5 has been creating wonderful ladybug art from a story we read in class. The children drew the ladybugs, then colored them with pastels, and then added paint and glitter to make it extra special. We also made some wonderful bug puppets.

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

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.

The library is closed this week while we complete our annual stocktake however, books can still be returned: to in the box outside the main library doors – or to Botany Bob (our after-hours returns bin in the school office foyer).

Thank you for your help in finding and returning all our library books!