Newsletter – Week 8, Term 4 2024

                                         Week 8, Term 4, 2024

Tēnā koutou te whānau,

As we are coming to the end of the year it is time to farewell valued staff members and welcome our new staff members.

We farewell Miss Jacquie O’Driscoll and Mrs Sharmila Raj, who are both moving to schools closer to home. Mrs O’Driscoll has been a valued part of the Botany Downs School community for the past nine years, and Mrs Raj for the past seven years.

Both teachers have demonstrated exceptional dedication, enthusiasm, and passion for their work. They are highly respected by staff, students, and the wider BDS community.

Mrs Raj began her journey at BDS as a classroom teacher and later took on a leadership role as a team leader. Her contributions as a leader and mentor have been truly valued by both her colleagues and students.

Miss O’Driscoll’s enthusiasm for sports has been invaluable. Many students have benefited from her coaching and guidance over the years.

We extend our warmest wishes to Mrs Raj and Miss O’Driscoll as they embark on this new chapter in their teaching careers. They will be greatly missed at BDS, and we wish them every success in their new schools.

We are delighted to welcome four highly skilled and enthusiastic teachers to our kura: Mrs Teresa Lu, Year 6; Mrs Melanie Else, Classroom Teacher Release; Mrs Vanessa Childs, Classroom Teacher Release; and Mrs Katy Brown, job share with Mrs Rachel Ryan in Year 4. We extend a very warm welcome to our new staff members and we are excited to have them as part of our BDS whānau.

Thank you and best wishes to Mrs Tash Barber, Mrs Robyn Wilshire, and Mrs Katherine Stankovic. Your dedication to supporting our teacher release and your commitment to teaching have made a meaningful impact. 

Mrs Lynette Radue is concluding her fixed-term appointment as the teacher of our start-up Year 0 classes this year and we are delighted that Mrs Radue will be returning in 2025. We are grateful for the positive and happy start she has given our new tamariki on their schooling journey at BDS.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

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

Start of 2025 Dates

Tues 4 Feb – First Day of Term 1
Thurs 6 Feb – Waitangi Day (public holiday)

1.  Go to myschool.co.nz and search for your school
2.  Search for Botany Downs School
3.  Insert child’s name and year level (student ID is not required)

SCHOOL NEWS

Fun Run / Colour Fun Fundraiser

Thanks to everyone who signed up and collected donations to go towards improving our outdoor play areas. We raised over $16,000 as a school and had a lot of fun along the way!  Room 27 will be enjoying free ice blocks this week collecting over $1000 as a class and Room 1 will enjoy a pizza party with Mrs Parkins for raising more money than any other class. Year 2 won the prize of extra play and a free ice block. Room 5, Room 27, Room 19, Room 23, and Room 26 have also earned rewards for winning their year group competitions.

Congratulations to the following individual prize winners:

Top Earners
Gold: $150 Botany Town Centre voucher (Andrew R1 $700)
Silver: $100 Botany Town Centre voucher (Brody T R1 $460)
Bronze: $50 Botany Town Centre  voucher (Zara W R2 $420)
Randomly selected winners: $100 Botany Town Centre voucher (Nathan R7, Ryder R21)

Thank you once again to our awesome sponsors who made this event possible and provided us with such fantastic prizes!

Junior Athletics 

It was a great day last Thursday for our Junior Athletics! The overcast weather made it nice and cool for a sports day. It was wonderful to see excited children with lots of smiles and fantastic attitudes all around. A big thank you to all the parents and senior students who helped out on the day. Your help was very much appreciated. 

Jacquie  O’Driscoll, Junior Athletics Organiser

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.
• Registrations will close Friday 13 Dec.

PTA Notices

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 Principals’ Awards for Term 4.

Congratulations to: Elliot Cheng, Rosie Roberts, Oliana Aoelua, Mia Cajayon, Isabella Hudson, Hajar Al-Jumaily, Nathan Mostert, Jason Van Wyk, Chenuthi Konara Mudiyanselage, Samantha-Nicole Tokai, Rowena Luo, Dehan Meyer, Aaryan Verma, Lillias Fisher, Lucas Chen, Kaylin Walker, Vivaan Sharma, Gemma Yee, Abigail Harrison, Natalie-Mae Tokai, Carol Ma & Wianru Botha.

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Room 7, Year 1: Please enjoy some of our Fun Run recounts:

In the bouncy castle I was jumping to the wall and then falling down. I was at the obstacle course having so much fun but I got a bit tired. I was in the sandpit building a sand castle with Kaida.
Remi Atrushi 

In the bouncy castle I played tag with Lynda. In the obstacle course I went into the tunnel. In the sandpit, I made sand cookies. In the colour run I was green and pink and purple.
Daisy Huang 

I was in the sandpit with Olivia, making love heart cupcakes. In the colour run, I was pink, orange, and green like a rainbow.

In the colour run I liked it when they put lots of green on me I looked like a Grinch.
Kaida Jones

Room 22, Year 5: This term, Room 22 went on an exciting hunt for Minibeasts! We encountered some fascinating little creatures and while Mrs Takaiti wasn’t exactly their biggest fan, we quickly learned how important they are to our environment. This tied beautifully to our school value of kaitiakitanga.

We researched their habitats which inspired us to choose a Minibeast to focus on and recreate its habitat within our classroom. Room 22 enjoyed every moment of this term’s inquiry focus. Mrs Takaiti however, is relieved that she won’t have to share the classroom with any more 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

Library Books To Be Returned

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 now closed for the year however, books still need to be returned:

• to the library during class time (with permission of classroom teacher OR
• to in the box outside the main library doors

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

COMMUNITY NOTICES

School’s nearly out! If you’re spending any of the summer holidays in or around Auckland,
slam dunk into the summer holidays by catching a BNZ Breakers game.

Save 15% on tickets to any of the BNZ Breaker’s games in Auckland during December and
January. Simply use promo code STUDENT to redeem your 15% off.

BNZ Breakers v Tasmania JackJumpers – ‘North Shore Game’
Thursday 12 December, 7:30pm @ Eventfinda Stadium

BNZ Breakers v Sydney Kings – ‘Christmas game’
Friday 20 December, 7:30pm @ Spark Arena

BNZ Breakers v Perth Wildcats – ‘Mascot Party’
Sunday 5 January, 4:30pm @ Spark Arena

BNZ Breakers v Tasmania JackJumpers
Thursday 16 January, 7:30pm @ Spark Arena

Book tickets at: www.nzbreakers.basketball/pages/tickets

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

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