Newsletter – Week 5, Term 1 2025 – Botany Downs Primary School

Week 5, Term 1, 2025

Tēnā koutou te whānau,

This is a very special week for our Year 6 students as they head off to camp at Chosen Valley on Wednesday for two nights, as part of their Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) experience. They are excited about the wonderful opportunities camp provides, from team-building activities to outdoor adventures. I am looking forward to visiting them on Thursday and seeing all the fun and learning in action.

Thank you to all our parents who came to our whānau conversations on Wednesday and Thursday. If you were unable to attend please do make contact with your child’s teacher. The questions really supported our building connections, thank you for taking the time to answer them.

At the end of Week 6, we say goodbye to Mrs. Renee De Bruin, who is relocating overseas with her family. During her time at BDS, she has made a significant impact in her roles as teacher, team leader, and Kāhui Ako lead teacher. Renee has created a fantastic classroom environment where students thrive and develop a love for learning. She has been a highly valued member of our team, and we sincerely thank her for her dedication and contributions. We wish Renee and her family all the best for their exciting new adventure.

In Week 7 we welcome Mrs Brittany Morron as the new teacher in Room 17. Mrs Morron brings a wealth of experience and a range of skills to our school, and we are excited to have her join our team. Mrs Morron also attended whānau conversations last week, providing a great opportunity to meet with families and begin building connections with students and whānau.

Our Facebook page will have many photos of our Year 6 Camp and all the fun they are having.

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

Coming Up @BDS

Mon 10 Mar – Yr 5 Camp (returning Tues 11th)
Wed 12 Mar – PTA Jester’s Pie day / Cricket day
Thurs 13 Mar – Yr 5&6 Swimming Sports
Wed 19 Mar – School Board meeting, 6.00 p.m
Thurs 20 Mar – Grandparents’ Day; 1.30 p.m
Tues 25 Mar – Yr 3 Howick Historical Village (2 classes)
Wed 26 Mar – HPPA Swimming day
Wed 26 Mar – Yr 3 Howick Historical Village trip (2 classes)
Fri 28 Mar – Cricket final day / No Uniform day
Wed 2 Apr – PTA Jester’s Pie day
Tues 8 Apr – Pōwhiri, 10.00 a.m
Fri 11 Apr – ANZAC Special Assembly / Last day of Term 1

Bus Bay Closed

Please note: our bus bay/drop off will be closed tomorrow morning (Wednesday 5 March) between 8.30-9.00 a.m to allow access for our Year 6 camp bus.

The bus bay/drop off will also be closed on Monday morning between 8.30-9.00 a.m to allow access for our Year 5 camp bus.

Grandparents’ Day Invitation

We warmly invite all grandparents to join us for Grandparents’ Day. This is a wonderful opportunity for tamariki to share their learning, show their school environment, and spend time with the special people in their lives. We welcome other special people who play a grandparent-like role in our students’ lives. We look forward to celebrating this special time together.

Date: Thursday 20 March
Location: Meet in the School Hall then you will go to the classrooms
Time: 1.30 pm

SCHOOL NEWS

School App

This is a great time to download our free school app if you have not already done so. From this app you can read our newsletter, receive alerts, record your child’s absence, and view our school calendar. The app is free and can be downloaded from your App Store.

House Points

Congratulations to the winning house for last week… Hillary. Each week students can earn house points for demonstrating our school values. The House Leaders tally up the points from every classroom and award the House Cup to the winning house at assembly. The students from Room 19 who are in Hillary are pictured below with the House Cup.

Senior Swimming Sports

Next week is our senior swimming sports. This year there is a change to the organisation. This change is because we are only taking Year 5 and 6 students to the interschool competition based on HPPA implementing Year groups instead of age groups. So, our school swimming sports will look different. We would like every student to get involved this year so we are also adding in novelty races.

On Thursday the 13th March our swimming sports will look like this:

Year 6: First session 9:00-10:30ish

Year 5: Second session 11:00-12:30ish

Freestyle heats

Ball push

Backstroke heats

Board and cup

Breaststroke heats

Noodle pull

Freestyle finals

T-shirt relay

Backstroke finals

Breaststroke finals

During our swimming sessions, we will be selecting students to compete in the competitive races based on their ability to swim the length of the school pool. All other students will choose two races from the novelty races to participate in.

Parents/guardians are welcome to come along and watch the races. Seats will be provided on the changing room side of the pool for you. Please do not sit with your child as space is limited.

HPPA Cricket

On Wednesday 26th February, our boy’s cricket team attended the HPPA Interschool Tournament. We played four games and came away with two wins and two very close losses. The boys demonstrated our School Values all day, showed good sportsmanship to the other teams, always tried their best, and soaked up the beautiful sunshine.

Thank you to our parent helpers and those who came to support us on the sideline. We can’t wait to keep practising together and play five more games on Wednesday 12th March.

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 2, Room 1.

Our BDS Values

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our value of Relationships, Whanaungatanga: April Adams, Luna Lopez Woo, Angela Wang, Dana Al-Sarraf, Anaisha Sharma, Nazem Almayah, Scarlett Hudson, Louis Hunter, Yilin Mao, Sophia Cheah, Tushita Arun Kumar, Leo McKeen-Smith, Marcus Ismail, Arlie Clements-Goh, Quintus Wang, Sakura Erskine, Yasmine Alsharefi, Amanda Kim & Luca Takaiti-Kerr.

Our Capabilities

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities: David Kim, Baghel Singh, Michael Turnbull, Akshar Samdaw Krishinchand, Riley Hughes, Ephraim Kazaroho, Parris-Praise Singh, Liah Van Wyk, Joshua Chuah, Miles MacEachen, Wickus Botha, Beau Scott, Lieol Strickland, Leo Cowarin, Dehan Meyer, Darcey McCrindle, Leo Minto, Andrew Chan & Hailie Chan.

PTA – Fruju Friday!

Fruju Friday is back!Pay via Kindo by midnight Thursday or bring cash on the day. Frujus ($2) and icepops ($1) will be sold each Friday after school outside the staffroom until the end of term.

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Year 2 – Room 29 has been working on descriptive writing for the past few weeks. We looked at how to make our writing more exciting by adding adjectives to our nouns. Take a look at our awesome ‘What Am I’ pieces of writing!

Year 5 – Room 15 put a lot of effort into designing their visual pepeha and showcasing their individual stories of the places and people they are connected to. Pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori. Ka Pai tō mahi.

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.