Newsletter – Week 9, Term 2 2023

Kia ora koutou BDS whānau,                                                                  Week 9, Term 2, 2023

All the best for our two Dance Troupes who will be performing at Sommerville Intermediate School on Wednesday. We look forward to showcasing your dances in our next newsletter. Our Bright Sparks and Year 0-2 Maths Curriculum Information Session is this Wednesday in our staffroom; see further details below. 

Please continue to email, phone, or use our school app to let us know that your child will be absent. This is very important and will help our office administrator, Mrs Bishop, with her role of recording the reason why each student is absent without us having to contact you.

Have a great week everyone.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 21 June – No-uniform Day / Year 0-2 Maths information session
Wed 21 June – HPPA Hockey Field Day / Dance Festival (evening)
Fri 23 June – HPPA Rugby Day 
Wed 28 June – Learning Conversations: 3.20 – 7.30pm
Thurs 29 June – Learning Conversations: 3.20 – 5.10pm
Fri 30 June – Matariki celebration
Fri 30 June – Last day of Term 2
Mon 17 July – First day of Term 3

SCHOOL NEWS

End of Term & Values Certificates

End of Term: Emily Green, Andrew Liang, Daisy Wu, Leo McKeen Smith, Amanda Kim, Sujin Yu, Sakura Erskine, Olivia Chen, Mannat Gahunia, April Clements-Goh, Dante Eason, Rex Zhao, Cooper Jiang, Chloe He, Annabella Zhang, Arya Lawn, Hasrat Dhillon, Huntr Bishton, Logan Baker, Rafa Zhao, Alexander Ong, Henil Tailor, Matthew Zhou, Nathan Li & Ofa Fifita.

Values: Benjamin Duckworth, Carolyn Xu, Anthony Song, Ilaisaane Faletau, Kevin Chen, Olivia Leaumoana, Deandre Stanley-Hunt, Lexi Jones, Denis Mititelu, Wesley Yang, Odette Apperley, Lianie Vorster, Grayson Lincoln, Mandy Belding, Roselynne Tokai, Daisy Kuo, Vhenzkate Masias, Lance Miguel, Michael Joseph, Samantha Tokai, Aryan Karthick, Kai Du Plessis, Gemma Green & Nathan Li.

These certificates will be presented at Friday’s assembly.
Assembly begins at 9:10am; please be inside and seated by 9:05am.

Matariki Celebration

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

We are thrilled to announce that our school will be hosting a Matariki celebration on June 30th (last day of term), commencing at 10:00 am and concluding at 10:30 am. We extend a warm invitation to all whānau to join us for this special occasion. The festivities will begin with a performance by our Senior and Junior Kapa Haka at 10:00 am, held outside the hall. Following the performance, you will have the opportunity to admire the beautiful artwork crafted by your tamariki in their classrooms. Finally, we will gather for a shared morning tea.

Matariki, also known as the Māori new year, symbolises a time of celebration, growth, and rejuvenation. It offers us a chance to come together as a community, honouring our whānau, sharing kai (food), exchanging stories, and singing waiata (songs).

In preparation for this special event, we kindly request that our tamariki contribute to the shared morning tea by bringing either a packet of store-bought biscuits or whole fruit during the last week of school.

We look forward to celebrating another successful term with you all.

Michelle Takaiti (michellet@botanydowns.school.nz)

Learning Conversations – Next Week

Bookings for Learning Conversations are made online; please see the following for more information. 

Learning Conversation Bookings for Students who Attend ESOL Classes:
A reminder that parents/caregivers can make two bookings, one to meet with your child’s classroom teacher and one to meet with Mrs Keenan (ESOL teacher).  Please see details below about how to make a booking.

Year 0-2 Maths Information Session

On Wednesday 21 June(tomorrow) we will be holding a Junior Maths session taken by Mrs Joanne Hughson.

This session runs alongside our current Bright Sparks session and is held from 9:15-10:15 am in the staffroom.

All Junior School parents are warmly invited to attend to find out more about our Year 0-2 Maths programmes.

Returning Books When the Library is Closed

Botany Bob (a name chosen by BDS students) is our new after-hours returns bin in the office foyer. If the library is closed, or you remember you need to return your book just as you are leaving school, you are welcome to return your books to Botany Bob.

A huge thankyou to Ms O’Driscoll for making Bob look awesome!

Chess Championship

On Tuesday last week, some of our Year 5 and 6 students went to the East Auckland Primary Interschool Chess Championship. They showed great participation and resilience when competing and had a wonderful time overall.

Cross-country Amendment

I need to make an apology to Owen Huang who came second in the Year 5 Boys Cross Country race. By mistake, I had the wrong name in the newsletter last week. Owen Huang was presented with his certificate at assembly on Friday.
Rachael Jeffs, Cross-country Coordinator (rachaelj@botanydowns.school.nz)

BDS Art Group

Here are our wonderful group of students who worked with the Howick College Arts Council to create beautiful artwork for the school – thank you team!

Children Turning Five 

If your child is turning five in the next six (6) months please ensure you enrol them as soon as possible. Our roll is steadily growing and we need to plan for classes and teachers during the year.

Please collect your enrolment pack from the office, or email office@botanydowns.school.nz 

Joanne Hughson DP/SENCo – Year 0-3 (joanneh@botanydowns.school.nz)

Learning and Fun @ BDS

Year 3, Room 13 – Abstract Trees Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s Concentric Circles. Room 13 has been busy creating beautiful pieces of art. After finding out about the abstract artist, Wassily Kandinsky, we created our own abstract trees focusing on concentric circles. We made these by layering paper.

LIBRARY NEWS

Native Bird Exhibition

These beautiful native bird sculptures were created by Room 17. They began their project by researching native birds and then applied that knowledge to create their artwork. Now completed, the students brought the flock of birds over to the library and displayed them alongside books they found that relate to their birds.

They make a wonderful exhibition for the library; please feel free to pop in to see them!

COMMUNITY NOTICES

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