Newsletter – Week 11, Term 1, 2022

Kia ora koutou BDS whānau,                                                                Week 11, Term 1, 2022

In our final newsletter for the term we wish to begin by taking this opportunity to thank our wonderful BDS community for continuing to show their ‘Botany Best’ in supporting us in all our COVID health and safety procedures during Term 1.   

Thank you to our staff for their continued dedication and hard work for your tamariki to ensure not only their safety and well being, but for also delivering high quality, engaging learning experiences.  Thank you to our students for their resilience and genuine enthusiasm for school.

We wish you a relaxing, happy holiday and look forward to seeing you all back at school in Term 2.

Ngā mihi nui,

Vicki Parkins Principal vickip@botanydowns.school.nz
Mark Insley marki@botanydowns.school.nz
Joanne Hughson joanneh@botanydowns.school.nz 

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 13 Apr – ANZAC assembly
Thurs 14 Apr – Teacher Only Day
Thurs 14 Apr – Last day of Term 1
Fri 15 Apr – Good Friday (public holiday)
Mon 2 May – First day of Term 2

School Holiday Office Hours

School will close on Wednesday 13^th April at 3.00pm and will reopen Monday 2^nd May

During the holidays the office will be open from 9.00am until 1.00pm on: 

Wednesday 27^th April 2022

Thursday 28^th April 2022

Friday 29^th April 2022

SCHOOL NEWS

Term certificates

Well done to: Nature Parsons, Sophie Klee, Ansh Patel, Ethan Luo, Varya Govender, Mariam Alwaidh, Eli Adams, Vito Feng, Ozias Su’a, Nella Ranchhod, Caleb Moukarzel, Reuben Tate, Judi Tbakhi, Anthony Xu, Muhammad Ahmad, Peri Petelo-Vili, Summer Chai, Jamie Bruwer, John Kereama, Arya Lawn, Jeremiah Valentine, April Clements-Goh, and Harkirat Gill.

COVID Update for Term 2

We will continue with all our health and safety protocols that are already well established.  We have had no positive COVID cases at school in the last week, and with the shorter time frame for isolation, our attendance at school is very high.

Our only changes for Term 2 will be:

• All students can enter school and leave by the gate of your choice
• Year 1 students will no longer be taken to the front gate at the end of the day
• Students will play all together outside in the playground
• Parents can come onto the school grounds but please continue not go into classrooms

Bus Bay 

The bus bay will remain closed for the safety of all as we are starting our new building projects during Term 2. The moving of rooms 20-23 will begin and also the laying of turf under our new canopy.  This area will need to be free for vehicle access.  Thank you.

Senior Student Leadership

Congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 students who have been selected as our school leaders. 

Year 5 and 6 students have undertaken a rigorous process that enables them to display their various leadership qualities. This year we had particularly hard decisions to make and would like to thank all students who applied. If you were unsuccessful, please remember there are many other roles and opportunities that come up throughout the year for you to become involved in.

House Leaders
Teacher in Charge – Mr Yoon (sojungy@botanydowns.school.nz)

Peer Mediators
Teacher in Charge – Mrs Thomson (kirstent@botanydowns.school.nz)

Ambassadors
Teacher in Charge – Mrs Keenan (katek@botanydowns.school.nz)

School Councillors
Teacher in Charge – Mr Insley (marki@botanydowns.school.nz)

Travelwise
Teacher in Charge – Mrs Holmes (kyleeh@botanydowns.school.nz)

Road Patrol
Teacher in Charge – Mrs Holmes (kyleeh@botanydowns.school.nz)

ANZAC Study

We are learning about the Anzacs and as Anzac Day is in the school holidays, we will have an Anzac Service Assembly on Wednesday 13 April. If you are able to take your child to an Anzac Service on 25 April, it will help them to make a link between what they learned at school and real life.

Poppies will be available for sale on the hall deck on Wednesday prior to our
ANZAC assembly for a gold coin donation.


ANZAC display in the library

Our own Mrs Hatley-Owen, the author of  ‘When Dad Came Home’ reading to the students

Sharmila Raj, Inquiry Leader(sharmilar@botanydowns.school.nz)

Thank You!

Thank you from the Tamaki River Rotary Auxiliary group – what an amazing collection! We’ll sort and deliver the goods to the Salvation Army and St Columba church. Your generous donations will make a big difference to families in need.

Policies and Procedures – SchoolDocs

SchoolDocs provides a comprehensive core set of policies and procedures that are tailored to the needs of Botany Downs School. SchoolDocs updates, modifies and creates policies in response to changes in legislation or Ministry guidelines, significant events, reviews/requests from schools and regular reviews.

Our SchoolDocs policies and procedures can be found via the Our School tab in the menu on our Botany Downs School website.

For Term 1 the following policies are up for review:

• Visitors
• Contact in an emergency
• School closure
• Earthquakes
• Covid 19 Information and Procedures

If you would like to participate in reviewing the policies, please follow the instructions below.

1. Follow the instructions on our website (as above) to access the policies on our SchoolDocs site. BDS policies and procedures website page
2. Scroll down and click on Review Instructions.
3. Select the appropriate policy you would like to review, click the link and read the policy.
4. Click the Policy Review icon in the top right-hand corner of the page.
5. Select the Type of Reviewer you are “Parent/Caregiver”, enter your name and click Login.
6. Enter your ratings and comments, and submit your review.

If you have any questions or queries please contact:

Mark Insley, Deputy Principal, (marki@botanydowns.school.nz)

Life Education (Harold the Giraffe) Visit

For over 30 years Life Education has been teaching health and nutrition in schools throughout New Zealand. Every year over 250,000 children from 1,450 schools are involved in the Life Education programme. Through lessons in the mobile classrooms children learn about healthy eating, being a good friend, good and bad substances and how their body works.

In the first three weeks of Term 2 we are lucky enough to be having the Life Education Caravan and Harold in our school. I hope you enjoy the ‘Harold stories’ from your children throughout the visit. 

Jacquie O’Driscoll, Teacher in Charge (jacquieo@botanydowns.school.nz)

School Uniforms

Term 2 is time to wear our winter uniform.  Please see below:

Winter uniform Terms 2 & 3 – options:

• grey shorts with yellow BDS long sleeve polo shirt
• green skort with yellow BDS long sleeve polo shirt
• green and navy checked tunic with yellow BDS long sleeved polo
• BDS green winter jacket
• black shoes with: black tights or black knee length socks (girls), grey socks with green stripe (boys)
• OPTIONAL EXTRA:  green BDS beanie

Information about uniform requirements, and where to purchase items, can be found on the school website here: BDS uniform

BDS Learning and Fun

Year 1, Room 5 – The red poppy is a symbol of remembrance and hope, including hope for a positive future and a peaceful world.

Year 5, Room 16 – It has been a ‘crazy’ term for our tamariki. Term 1 was filled with many challenges and exciting learning opportunities. Room 16 went back in time and learned about The Great Migration which led to a discussion about Polynesian Navigators. We ended the term by developing a deeper understanding of ANZAC Day and the First World War. Learning is cool, bring on Term 2!

LIBRARY NEWS

Auckland Libraries School Holiday Fun

Head into your local public library these holidays and join the ‘Over, under, upside down’fun! Details can be found here: Auckland libraries: Over, under, upside down

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Term 2 Afterschool Soccer Programme

We are excited to announce that the HJ Elite Academy, After School Soccer development  programme will be back on our grounds at Botany Downs Primary in Term 2.  

Term 2 programme will be held on Mondays at 3:15pm – 4:15pm, from May 9-July 4, 2022. 

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