COVID-19 UPDATES

Announcement : 

SchooI Board Parent Election 2022 – nominations close on Wednesday 3 August at 12 noon. Election day is Wednesday 7 September. Please follow this link for more information: https://www.botanydowns.school.nz/bot/

Newsletter – Week 2 Tuesday 26 October

Term 4, Week 2 2021    

Kia ora koutou to our BDS Community,

We hope you enjoyed the long weekend and we look forward to another week of home learning.

With our continuing lockdown, home learning expectations remain the same; that our students try to complete the work to the best of their ability while still maintaining the balance of work and having fun. We understand that learning will be different in each household.  Please keep in mind that emails are our way of communicating with you so please check these regularly as they provide valuable information for your students’ learning.

Please remember that we are here to support you, so do not hesitate to reach out and make contact with your class teacher, or myself vickip@botanydowns.school.nz, Mark Insley, Deputy Principal Year 4-6 marki@botanydowns.school.nz or Lisa Bethune, Deputy Principal Years 0-3 lisab@botanydowns.school.nz

We are beginning to plan for next year and we are pleased to let you know that we are investigating the opportunity for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) at BDS in 2022 for our Year 5 and 6 students next year. Students who do not bring their own device will still be provided with a school device. This week is the first part of this process by gathering information from all Year 4 and 5 parents in an email survey. Please take a few minutes to fill this in. We will be providing more information to our Year 4 and 5 parents as we plan and work through the phases. 

We will continue to keep you updated as we navigate these challenging times.  Thank you for your continued support and positive emails to our teachers.

Ngā mihi,
Vicki Parkins
Principal
vickip@botanydowns.school.nz

School News

Newsletter and Website Translation

Our school newsletters are available on the school website and can be viewed in different languages with the translate function. Look for the drop down menu in the top right corner of the website.

温馨提示:我们的学校通讯可以在学校网站上找到,可以用浏览器的谷歌翻译功能以中文阅读

ICAS tests for 2021
 
Due to the current uncertainty of a return to school, children who are registered to do the Science and Maths ICAS tests will have the opportunity to complete them remotely from home.
 
Dates for the tests are below:
Science Tuesday 9th November 11am
Maths Thursday 11th November 11am
 
A newsletter will be sent out to parents to explain how your child can complete the tests online from home and test conditions.
 
If you have any questions please let me know:
Mark Insley, Deputy Principal, marki@botanydowns.school.nz

Hard Packs and Devices

If you are using a hard pack instead of a device for your home learning and you require an additional hard pack, or you now need a device (we do have limited numbers) please contact: Lisa Bethune: lisab@botanydowns.school.nz Years 0-3, and Mark Insley: marki@botanydowns.school.nz Years 4-6 for contactless pick up from the school.

School Bubbles

Our school remains closed at Alert Level 3 with the exception of those children whose parents and carers must go to work and there is no appropriate caregiver.

If your circumstances have changed please email Mark Insley: marki@botanydowns.school.nz with your child’s name and room number if you are certain you require supervision for your child. Your child must be registered to attend a school learning bubble.

Further Cancelled Events from the HPPA 
(Howick and Pakuranga Principals Association)

We have been notified that unfortunately, the following events have now been cancelled due to the on-going lockdown restrictions:

  • Inter-school athletics day
  • All term 4 sporting events

BDS Home Learning

Room 8 children made their own snow using baking soda, white hair conditioner, and a large bowl. Here are some of their creations:

Liam Cho

Sarah Shawani

Umar Shaheer

 

Room 11:

 

 

Room 3, Year 2: We have been very busy reading, writing, making Kitchen Chemistry experiments,  drawing, sharing our culture, dancing, playing our homemade instruments and just having fun.

Room 25 – New Entrants:

 

Room 20 has been writing creative stories about being a … toothbrush!

Let me tell you about my life as a toothbrush…

My life as a toothbrush is fun because I get to go in Anna’s mouth and I get to clean her teeth. The first day she held me. I was so excited when we got home. I was so happy to have a home with a person who loves me. The next day Anna took me to the bathroom. Do you know what a bathroom is ?

That day she was thrilled. She took me into her mouth and it was………??? FUN!!!!!!! When I went into her mouth I was singing in her mouth and it was ´´I am cleaning I am cleaning´´. That was the best day ever  THAT IS MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A FUN LIFE.
By Chanté Bester

 

Let me tell you about my life as a toothbrush…

One day I was made in a factory and I heard a worker say “We’re gonna be rich! With these AMAZING toothbrushes we can make a fortune!!!” 

After I heard that I was SO EXCITED!

But then THE HORROR CAME DUNN DUN DUUUUUUUN… I was stuck on a shelf all by myself and every other sibling of mine (toothbrushes) was taken. 
I was on the shelf for many, many, many years, Then one day a little girl looked and pointed at me. Her mum grabbed me off the shelf and handed me to the little girl.

Then, a few seconds later I was at a whole new different place! Humans call it home. Then I was put in a room called the BATHROOM. It was getting dark soon and the little girl named Angela opened the door, walked in and grabbed me. Yuck! she put this weird smelling and yucky looking thing that was called TOOTHPASTE on me. The toothpaste said “Hey…….. Sup dude”  Then I saw the inside of Angela’s mouth – ewww! There was black, yellow and even green! She opened her mouth and *swish scrub* . Yuk! I had all of that bacteria on me and she had clean white teeth. That’s not fair! I thought. 

A few years later I was old and put in something called the rubbish bin. And that’s the end of the story. But if you are wondering where I am now? I have been recycled into a hair brush!
By Mandy Belding

 

The day I was made:

When I woke up it was the day I was made, I found myself in a strange building. People call it a factory. It was so big that a million of me could fit in here. 

Monday – I was put on a high shelf. It was soooooo boring, so I decided to make some friends. But whenever I asked someone to be friends with me, they just kept saying, “Why would I be friends with you, you’re new, dummy?”

Tuesday – I give up on making friends so I am just gonna wait and wait until someone buys me.

One hour later:  Ugh, it’s been one hour. Isn’t somebody going to buy me?

Wednesday – Wow this sucks. It is so boring and I am alone because everyone on the shelf that I’m on is bought, but me.

Thursday – OMG, why am I not getting picked?If I’m not getting picked I would rather jump off the shelf into someone’s basket.

Friday – Another toothbrush saw me and said to me, ”Want to be friends?” When I heard that I quickly said, ”YES!” Then I thought, well this is not so bad after all.

Saturday – Finally I was picked, I was picked by a boy. When I was at his home I was put in a deep plastic bucket but he said to me, “Stay in this cup. I’ll see you at night.’’ 

At night I was grabbed by the same boy and covered with something called toothpaste. A moment later I was moving in a bubbly dark room called a mouth. Boy, it stunk! And it had yellowish white teeth. 

One month later – Sunday: It was time. I was put in the plastic bin. The next time I woke up, I was a paintbrush!
By Leo Xie

 

Room 15: Diamante Poem:

summer
hot, bright
climbing, swimming, running
heat, sun, ice, snow
skiing, shivering, splashing,
wet, dull,
winter

Benjamin Wynyard

LIBRARY NEWS

Free Online Live Stream Event
 
Saturday 30 October, 7pm
 
Join Tanya Batt and friends in the Batt Cave for the 2021 Bat-a-thon. An evening of stories, songs, games and crazy antics to celebrate our national winged treasure, the pekapeka/bat.
 
Our fabulous flapping line up includes:
  • Manbat and national bat ambassador for Bird of the Year- Ben Paris,
  • award winning NZ children’s author Melinda Szymanik: author of the new picture book, ‘Bat-Kiwi’ 
  • music by top awards winning Kiwi Kids musicians Robin Nathan of ‘Fleabite’ and Claudia Gunn.
 
Get out your bat costumes and dress to impress for spot prizes and giveaways. Free event live streamed through Facebook and Zoom. Follow/Like on Facebook: @tanyabattimaginedworlds.

Drawing Competition!

** competition closes: 11.59pm, Friday 17 December
** email your entry to: competitions@upstartpress.co.nz
** entries must include the entrant’s name, age, phone number and address

GOOD LUCK!

Have You Checked Out the eLibrary Yet?

Follow this link to find out more about the eLibrary, and how to log in:  https://www.botanydowns.school.nz/learning-at-home-links/ (Scroll down to the  ‘Additional Learning Links’ section)

Your child has been set up with a log in and will be able to borrow books to read on any device (via a downloaded app).

The eLibrary will be available from now until 27 November 2021.

Please help your child to login, and enjoy browsing the eLibrary together. Some titles are age restricted and will not be available to your child if they are not in the appropriate year level. The eLibrary is curated by Wheelers New Zealand.

COMMUNITY NOTICES


Tickets are available via Eventbrite here: The Happiness Club parent workshop
or contact: jo@thehappinessclub.co.nz

Ministry of Social Development –
Assistance with Essential Costs

Information sheets from the Ministry of Social Development can be found on the school website here: https://www.botanydowns.school.nz/2021/09/20/information-from-ministry-of-social-development/, and they contain information outlining how the Ministry can assist with paying essential costs. The sheets are available in te Reo, Samoan, Tongan, Chinese, Hindi, and English.

Please also check the MSD website to find out what you may be eligible for: Check what you might get (msd.govt.nz)

COVID information for Pacific communities

Key information on COVID-19 is available in nine Pacific languages on the Ministry for Pacific Peoples website.

 

COVID information in other languages

 The Ministry of Ethnic Communities has released some videos in different languages about the “Golden Rules for Level 4”:

 

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

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