Term 2 Week 9 2021
Kia ora koutou,
A huge thank you to our PTA for organising such an amazing disco. It was such a success due to all the effort that went in before and during the evening by these amazing people. Thank you to all the staff who came along to enjoy the evening and become much needed helpers.
On Thursday we are having our first school pōwhiri to welcome our new students, staff and their whānau who have joined Botany Downs School during 2021. This is a very special occasion and our kapa haka, Mrs Takaiti and Mrs Carr have been practising with enthusiasm and dedication.
We also have a busy sporting week with our hockey teams participating in a field day on Tuesday and our Rugby Teams field day on Friday. All the best.
Please book in your Parent Interviews. This is such a special time to make further connections with your child’s class teacher and learn about your child’s progress at school. All the specific details are below in this newsletter.
Book week is coming up quickly in the last week of school. This is an exciting event and we all appreciate the time and energy taken by you to prepare your child’s costume.
During the weekend the work has begun on installing our three canopies. These will be a huge asset for our students who will be able to have shade in summer and a dry area to play during wet lunchtimes. Temporary fencing has been put in place to section off the work areas. Our new canopies are going up in the junior courtyard area, between Rooms 11 and 6 and in front of Rooms 18-19.
Please shut the gates when you leave the school. It is  extremely important that they remain shut during the day and we do not want to start needing to lock them during school hours.
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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 Room 12 sharing their Matariki learning – we welcome you to attend.
Special Terrific Person Certificates
Braxton Sills, Candice Mao, Harlen Hadrup, Amelia Berkett, Tiana Parsons, Keren Gao, Allen Wang, Genasis Taylor-Wihongi, Hanro Stoltz, Agastya Kerkal, Kyle Gouws, Sana Shikoda, Kate Houston, Katelyn Pretorius, Rain Gu, Anson Leung, Katy Yu, Tresha Mudaliar, Leo Xie, Jennifer Xu, Jonathan Huang and Liam Andrew.
Values Award
Japjot Hanjra, Rowena Luo, Liam Cho, Hadassah Shamuel, Ansh Patel, Yongha Kim, Mia Jack, Cameron Ellis, Caleb Moukarzel, Skyla Kretzmann, Rion Mose, Elsa Huang, Ayden Speck, Grayson Lincoln, Martin Duff, Nicholas Luo, Austin Hei, Emma Li, Naya Abou Hassan, Thaiki Ono, Nicolas Li and Aaron Zhang.
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Coming Up @ BDS…
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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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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Year 6 Camp 2022
It is with great excitement that for the 2022 and future Year 6 Camps we will be attending Chosen Valley Camp in Ararimu. The Camp will take place from Wednesday 2nd to Friday 4th March.
Chosen Valley offers quality accommodation for students and adults, excellent catering and many exciting activities including: Flying Fox, Confidence Course, Water Slide, Kayaking, Rafting, Trolleys, Archery, Burma Trail, Air Rifles, Team Building and Orienteering.
The decision to move to a new EOTC facility for our Year 6 Camp was not taken lightly and took into account many factors. Primarily we now have too many children for Camp Bentzon and they cannot accommodate us. At Chosen Valley we will be able to provide more EOTC experiences in a shorter time frame with far less travel time and reduced cost.
Ultimately we must ensure that students enjoy a safe, educational and fun EOTC experience, which Chosen Valley Camp enables us to deliver for our students.
Vicki Parkins vickip@botanydowns.school.nz, Mark Insley marki@botanydowns.school.nz,
Botany Downs Board of Trustees
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Book Week is next week!
 Book Week is happening next week – a reminder of the special events taking place:
- Book Fair – open Monday-Thursday in the library, including late nights on Wednesday and Thursday. Come and visit to purchase some awesome books!
- Daily – RANDOM READING – when you hear the airhorn sound – drop everything and read for 10 minutes!
- Monday, Tuesday afternoon (1.45-2.45pm) – guest story reading in class. Parents and caregivers, if you would like to come in to read stories to your child’s class, please email their teacher to arrange a visit.
- Tuesday – guest author Sally Sutton visiting Year 1,2 & 3
- Wednesday – guest author Anne Kayes visiting Year 4, 5 & 6. Bring a soft toy friend to read to.
- Friday – Book Character Dress-up Day and Parade! We can’t wait to see your costumes! Whānau are warmly invited to come and watch the parade from the hall deck. The parade starts 11.00am.
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: to book your interviews, go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code in your browser, and enter the event code 64uzr.
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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.
If your child needs to be taken out of school during this afternoon please follow our usual school procedures and collect your child from the office. Thank you.
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Roady Safety Week
Road Safety last week was promoted by our Travelwise students who monitored the speed of cars travelling near our school. Thank you for remembering to drive under 40km/hour, saying goodbye quickly in the drop off bay, and not stopping on yellow lines.
 We noticed a big traffic danger was the build up of cars waiting to turn into the drop off bay. Consider stopping a short distance from the gate and encouraging your children to walk into school.
Our Road Patrollers and supervisors are out every morning and afternoon keeping us safe when crossing Mirrabooka Ave. Our New Entrant and Year 1 students came out and practised crossing safely.
The winners of our colouring competition will be announced at assembly on Friday.
Kylee Holmes, TravelWise Coordinator, kyleeh@botanydowns.school.nz
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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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COVID Update… 
The greater Wellington region will stay at Alert Level 2 for a further 48 hours so more testing can occur and to provide reassurance we don’t have COVID-19 in our community. The rest of New Zealand is at Alert Level 1 (not Alert Level none).
Anyone who was in Wellington over last weekend is asked to check the locations of interest again to make sure they weren’t at the same place at the same time as the confirmed case, and to adhere to the Alert Level 2 restrictions wherever they are in the country.
It is important that you get tested if you have any symptoms similar to cold or flu – don’t assume it is “just” a cold.
We are also asked to continue to be vigilant. Situations with  COVID-19 can move very quickly and the global pandemic is not going away with 2.5 million new cases and more than 64,000 deaths in a week being reported by the World Health Organisation in their 22 June Situation Report.
At all times, staying away if unwell and seeking advice about getting tested, remains a priority for us all. Please contact your GP or Healthline if you have any COVID-19 symptoms including aches and pains.
We will support learning from home for anyone required to stay away, so please get in touch with us if you have any concerns.
A reminder of the symptoms to look for. You or your child may have one or more of the following:
- a new or worsening cough
- fever (at least 38˚C)
- shortness of breath
- a sore throat
- sneezing and runny nose
- temporary loss of smell.
Some people may present with less typical symptoms such as only:
- fever
- diarrhoea
- headache
- muscle pain
- nausea/vomiting
- confusion/irritability.
Symptoms can take up to 14 days to show after a person has been infected. The virus can be passed onto others before they know they have it – from up to two days before symptoms develop. So the sooner you seek advice, the quicker health authorities can respond.
A face covering helps stop droplets spreading when someone speaks, laughs, coughs or sneezes. This includes someone who has COVID-19 but feels well or has no obvious symptoms. Face coverings are particularly useful when physical distancing is not possible from people you don’t know, such as in supermarkets and stores.
Face coverings are not required when at school or on school transport, however they must be worn on public transport and domestic flights for anyone aged 12 and over. Go to the covid19.govt.nz website for more information about requirements and exemptions.
A reminder there is a lot of information about COVID-19 available in different languages. Please get in touch if you need any help accessing information in your first language.
Thank you all for continuing to play your part in keeping COVID-19 out of our community. We will be doing the same through our regular cleaning, monitoring for signs of illness, continuing to encourage good hygiene practices and supporting you to check in using the NZ COVID Tracer app.
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Book Week Reminders…
Join us for Book Week – if you would like to come and read some stories to your child’s class on Monday or Tuesday afternoon (1.45-2.45pm), please email your child’s teacher to let them know!
The Scholastic Book Fair will be open during our Book Week, there will be lots of great books available to purchase…
Opening Hours: 
Monday-Thursday morning 8.30-9.00am
Monday-Thursday afternoon 2.30-3.30pm
Wednesday evening until 5.00pm
Thursday evening until 8.00pm
** Payments by EFTPOS or cash
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