Term 2 Week 8 2021
Kia ora koutou,
Maratiki begins this week and for the rest of the term, our tamariki will be exploring and learning about Matariki – researching, creating art, singing songs and listening to stories.
On Wednesday we will be having our class and individual photos and this is followed by our school disco on Friday.
Please note: it is important that you do not send your child to school before 8.30am in the morning if at all possible. We now have too many children coming to school before 8.30am and this is causing difficulties on our school deck where they need to wait for the bell to go.
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Congratulations to the following children who will be receiving their Special Terrific Person Certificates and Values Bookmarks at school assembly on Friday, starting at 9.10 am. This week our item will be Talented Musicians; violinists Donna and Evan, Rm14 – we welcome you to attend.
Special Terrific Person Certificates
Mia Bester, Leroy Karika, Iraison Su, Rafa Zhao, Aarav Narayan, Evan Guo, Isher Singh, Gus McCrindle, Tanya Kumar, Felix Cao, Guoshen Ma, Gerhard Synman, Ella Mitchell, Sonny Clements-Goh, Achnitya Singla, Ryan Henry, Lauren Tosh, May Shawani, Daisy Kuo, Riley Johnston, Victor Zhang and Kayla Martins-Fouche.
Values Award
Ariyan Atrushi, Max Fu, Francis Sekona, Marcus Ismail, Charlie Pirie, Nathan Christians, Aryan Singla, Brooke Williams, Cynthia Liang, Qiqi Zhao, Tyler Sanders, Jaaveis Iese, Liam Manson, Tai Smith, Sariah Hooker-Mason, Mollie Zhang, Lene’ Venter, Chanelle Tuhakaraina-Hemopo, Jana Hamayun, Ava Lombard and Blake Lundgren.
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Coming Up @ BDS…
Wednesday 23 June – Class and individual photos
Friday 25 June – School Disco
Thursday 1 July – Pōwhiri ceremony, 9.30am. Starts 9.45am
Week 10 – Book Week
Wednesday 7 July – Parent/teacher interviews
Thursday 8 July – Parent/teacher interviews
Friday 9 July – Book Character Parade / Last day of Term 2
Monday 26 July – First day of Term 3
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Matariki
 Matariki signals the Māori New Year. It is a time of
renewal and celebration in New Zealand that begins with the rising of the Matariki star cluster. It is a time to celebrate new life, to remember those who’ve passed and to plan for the future. It’s a time to spend with whānau and friends – to enjoy kai (food), waiata (song), tākaro (games) and haka.
For the rest of the term, our tamariki will be exploring and learning about Matariki. We will be researching, creating art, singing songs and listening to stories.
Ka puta Matariki ka rere Whānui. Ko te tohu tēnā o te tau e!
Matariki reappears, Whānui (Vega) starts its flight. The new year begins!
Pōwhiri
The Pōwhiri is a traditional Māori welcoming ceremony, a process where the host people welcome visitors, usually on a marae but in this instance to our school. Mrs Parkins, staff and students will officially welcome our Manuhiri (new staff, new students who have started in 2021, and whānau of new students) onto the school grounds.
Whānau of new students who have started at our school this year are welcome to come to our Pōwhiri.
Please join us…
Thursday 1st July
Assemble by Room 2 at 9:30am
Pōwhiri will begin at 9:45.
Michelle Takaiti, Māori Studies, michellet@botanydowns.school.nz
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PhotoLife Class & Individual photos
Class & Individual photos will be taken on Wednesday 23 June. Please ensure your child is wearing the correct uniform. Sibling forms may be obtained from the office.
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New Kiwi Schools App Update
Unfortunately our new school app from Kiwi Schools will not be ready until the beginning of Term 3. We have continued with our School App that we were already using in the meantime. Please see the letter below from Kiwi Schools.
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Book Week is almost here!
Our annual celebration of books is coming in Week 10 of this term – with activities, competitions, special guests, and the fabulous Book Character dress-up day and parade! The Scholastic Book Fair will also be open throughout the week in the library with a selection of wonderful books to purchase.
The Book Character Parade will be held on the last Friday of the term, 9th July. We are looking forward to seeing some amazing costumes!
Sharmila Raj, Book Week coordinator, sharmilar@botanydowns.school.nz
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Parent/Teacher Interviews
Interviews will be held in Week 10, and are scheduled for:
- 3:30 pm – 5.00pm Wednesday 7th July 2021
- 3:30 pm – 8.00pm Thursday 8th July 2021
Mrs K Keenan – ESOL/FFP Teacher
- 1.00pm – 5.00pm Wednesday 7th July 2021
- 1.00pm – 8.00pm Thursday 8th July 2021
Online bookings will be available from 9am Tuesday 22 June. Instructions on how to make an appointment time are attached to this newsletter.
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Road Safety Week – 21-25 June 2021
The theme is: Speed
Watch out for….
- our Travelwise Monitors recording the speed vehicles are travelling around our school, and promoting “Slow Down Around Schools”
- the Community Police are coming to show us how the speed gun works outside our school
- a colouring activity for the children to do and go in the draw to win a prize!
Remember…
- going slow = stopping in time
- where traffic is slow, more people choose to walk and cycle
- 30km/h is an appropriate maximum speed around schools and communities where there are pedestrians and cyclists
- when going past a school bus it’s 20km/h in both directions
Kylee Holmes, Travelwise coordinator, kyleeh@botanydowns.school.nz
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School App Update from KiwiSchools CEO
Paul Stuart here, CEO of KiwiSchools.
I’m writing to update you on progress with our smartphone app, KS Connect. 
We understand the frustration you have with the current app’s reliability. We apologise unreservedly.
At the outset, we understood that all that was required was a few bug fixes, but as time has passed, our new developers — in whom we have great confidence — have uncovered problems with how the app was originally built.
This led us to the tough decision to completely rebuild the app, as Jackie mentioned in her previous email. We’re starting again, from the ground up!
This is, of course, a much bigger project — probably ten to twenty times more work – and inevitably, will take longer to complete.
We are not cutting any corners with this rebuild. We would rather wait (and ask you to bear with us!) until we have full confidence in the new build so we do not end up in this situation again.
We have, therefore, pushed the release out until the upcoming school holidays which will mean the new app will be up and running for the beginning of Term 3.
Nga mihi nui,
Paul Stuart
CEO
KiwiSchools
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Upcoming teacher PUM
Botany Downs teachers who are members of NZEI Te Riu Roa will be attending a paid union meeting on Wednesday 30 June in the afternoon.
The purpose of these meetings is for teachers to discuss the priorities for the renegotiation of their collective agreement in 2022. Issues being discussed, such as school staffing levels, directly impact on the education of your children. These meetings are a critical component of the negotiation process and it is the legal right of all members to attend a meeting and have their say.
While there will be some impact on the usual school programme that day in the afternoon, we have adjusted the programme to minimise disruption, and the school will remain open.
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Somerville Intermediate School 2022 Enrolments
Parents/Caregivers of prospective students wishing to enrol for 2022, please note the following:
Our enrolment process for both in zone and out of zone enrolment applications for 2022, will commence at the start of Term 3, Monday 26 July. Our school zone map is also available on our website.
This year all enrolments are to be submitted online. A link to the online enrolment application form will be available on our website, www.somervilleintermediate.school.nz from 26 July.
- Enrolment information will be distributed to Year 6 students at Cockle Bay, Shelly Park, Point View, Willowbank, Owairoa and Botany Downs schools, beginning the week of 26 July 2021.
- Completed in zone enrolment applications, including supporting documentation, are to be submitted by Monday 16 August 2021.
- Enrolments for out of zone students will close at 4.00 pm on Wednesday 1 September 2021. Late applications cannot go into the ballot.
- The ballot for out of zone students will be held on Wednesday 8 September 2021, and written notification to all applicants will be emailed and posted by Friday 10 September 2021.
If you have any queries regarding our new enrolment process or need further information, please email: office@somint.school.nz
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