Newsletter – Week 2, Term 4 2023

Kia ora koutou BDS whānau,                                                                  Week 2, Term 4, 2023

Congratulations to Cameron Pitcaithly who has been elected to our School Board. As we only had one nomination Cameron has automatically been appointed. We are very much looking forward to Cameron working alongside us on our School Board.

We are asking for feedback on our communication systems at BDS. Please could you take this three-question survey.  It is a quick yes or no and then an optional place for comments. Thank you very much: Communication Survey

Our communications systems at BDS are as follows:

• BDS Newsletter emailed out every week for information on all aspects of our school 
• Our school app for reminder notifications and the newsletter

• Team Newsletters at the beginning of each term
• WeChat app in Mandarin for our Chinese language speakers. Group: Botany Downs School:

• Our website to showcase our school: BDS Website
• School Facebook page where we celebrate our successes: BDS Facebook Page

We are very excited to announce that we will be holding another Fun Run. Please check your emails as this has all the information on how to sign up, prizes etc. All funds raised will go towards continuing with the upgrade of our playgrounds and outdoor spaces. Our students really enjoyed this awesome event last year, and it was amazing the way our community came together to support our school. Thank you.

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

Policies and Procedures –
SchoolDocs 2023 Term 4 Review

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 website on the link below:

Policies and Procedures – School Documents

For Term 4 the following policies relate to Learning Support and are up for review:

• Curriculum and Student Achievement Policy
• Student Achievement Information
• Home Learning
• Distance Learning
• Religious Instruction / Religious Education
• Health Education

If you would like to participate in reviewing the policies, please click on the link above and follow the instructions.

If you have any questions or queries please contact: Mark Insley, Deputy Principal: marki@botanydowns.school.nz

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 18 Oct – School Board meeting
Thurs 19 Oct – HPPA Rugby
Thurs 19 Oct -Positive Puberty Plus: Parent/Whānau information evening, 6.00pm in Room 16
Fri 20 Oct – Fruju Fridays begin
Mon 23 Oct – Labour Day (public holiday)
Wed 25 Oct – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Thurs 26 Oct – Senior school athletics 
Fri 3 Nov – Gumboot Friday
Wed 8 Nov – Yr 3&4 Poetry recital
Wed 8 Nov – Howick Int orientation visit: 9.30-10.30am
Thurs 9 Nov – Somerville Int orientation visit: 1.00-.2.45pm
Mon 13 Nov – Teacher Only Day
Wed 15 Nov – School Board meeting
Thurs 16 Nov – HPPA Athletics
Fri 17 Nov – School Disco

** click here to view more of the school calendar **

SCHOOL NEWS

We invite you to attend our school assembly on Friday at 9.10 am. We will be presenting our Botany Best Certificates and Values Bookmarks. This week our item will be from Room 13.

Our Capabilities

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities:  Hoor Laghari, Selina Mulipola, Alice Chen, Natalie-Mae Tokai, Daisy Wu, Ella Blake, Kevin Chen, Olivia Leaumoana, MacKenzie Kim, Mili Li, Denis Mititelu, Arissa Ezra Fesolai, Sonny Palalagi-Waru, Cherry Nguyen, Chaz Grisselle, Nicolas Long, Lia Biddick, Kyan Norton, Duncan Luo, Riley Johnston, Qais Balasmeh, Isla Knight-Over, Skyla Stanley-Hunt, Judi Tbakhi, Jacy Ablos, Ayden Sharp, Jia Zhang, Elani Venter, Angela Chen, Riaan Karthick, Cameron Burgess, Samreet Thind & Angela Ni.

Our Values

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our value of  Manaakitanga: Jacob Dai, Joshua Chuah, Leo Tong, Vito Feng, Wianru Botha, Braxton Sills, Amanda Kim, William Faletau, Tavis Lee, Jayden Coetzee, Alyssa Roberts, April Clements-Goh, Richie Lewis, Leo  Cowarin, Francis Sekona, Violette Mcilroy, Evelyn Xu, Liam Andrew, Cindy Zhang, Amelia Dellow, Milan Gahunia, Lexi Storey, Emma Sun, Rosie Chin, Jasmine Wu, Devid-Lee Bezuidenhout, Mason Huang, Chevy Davis, Ashley Cajayon, Sarah Shawani, Joy Turner, Aris Ezra Fesolai & Ishnoor Virk.

Year 6 Positive Puberty Plus Parent/Whanau Information Evening

The Parent/Whānau Information Evening will take place this Thursday 19th October at 6.00pm in Room 16.

If you have queries about your Year 6 child participating in the upcoming Positive Puberty lessons, we encourage you to attend the Whānau Information Evening. If you decide to withdraw your child from the lessons, please let your child’s teacher know: they will find other work for your child on that day.

2023 BDS Fun Run Fundraiser

With the support of the PTA, Botany Downs School is once again running an online Fun Run fundraiser to enhance our school’s outdoor spaces. Thank you to the families who have already signed up and started fundraising. Check out the awesome prizes below!

Please read the letter that was emailed to you on Friday for more information or click on: botanydownsfunrun.raiseit.co.nz/hub

Year 0-2 Curriculum Information sessions

On Wednesday 25 October, we are presenting a Junior Literacy session for our Year 0-2 whānau. The session will include information around the current evidence based changes that are happening in how we teach reading, writing, and spelling. You will also find out about our  Structured Literacy programme, and how you can further support your child’s learning. Mrs Shirley Johnston our Year 0-1 Team Leader will be presenting this session. There will also be time for kōrero, and lots of questions of course!

On Wednesday 1 November, we will be holding a Junior Maths session taken by Mrs Joanne Hughson.

Both sessions run alongside our current Bright Sparks sessions and are from 9:15 am – 10:15 am in the staffroom.

Please RSVP to Joanne at joanneh@botanydowns.school.nz if you are interested in attending either or both of these curriculum information sessions.

Gumboot Friday – 3rd November

Gumboot Friday is an annual event that raises money for free youth counselling. The event also serves as a platform to raise awareness about mental health and provide support to those who may be struggling with their mental well-being.

To support Gumboot Friday, our Botany Downs School Councillors will be collecting gold coin donations on the hall deck from 8.30-9.00am on Friday 3rd November. It would be awesome to see as many children wearing their gumboots as possible to support this worthy cause. Our councillors are also running a colouring-in competition with a prize for the best colouring for each year level. 

Gumboot Friday – 3rd November, Gold coin donation, wear your gumboots!

ICAS Results

Congratulations to all the Year 5 and 6 students who took part in the ICAS English, Science, and Maths Assessment exams. We now have the results and certificates for English and Science. These certificates will be handed out at the Year 5 and 6 team assemblies. Maths certificates will be handed out as soon as they arrive. Please see below for students who achieved some excellent results.

Year 5 English:
Merit (top 45% of participants): April Clements-Goh
Credit (top 35% of participants): Harkirat Gill, Aadhityaa Paarthiban, Justin Qiao, Rishi Biju
High Distinction (top 1% of participants): Jay Kim

Year 6 English:
Merit (top 45% of participants): Nathan Tan, Sienna Tye, Alicia Wang, Maxwell Yang
Credit (top 35% of participants): Arya Lawn, Yi Sen Qi, Mollie Zhang
Distinction (top 10% of participants): Vera Zuo

Year 5 Science:
Merit (top 45% of participants): Shana Chen, Kayla Fegen, Harkirat Gill, Khrish Ranchhod, Young Xu
Credit (top 35% of participants): Jay Kim
Distinction (top 10% of participants): Justin Qiao

Year 6 Science:
Merit (top 45% of participants): Maxwell Yan
Credit (top 35% of participants): Saket Andala, Ruby Chen, Amelia Dellow, Mollie Zhang

Otago Problem Challenge

Throughout Terms 2 and 3 our Year 6 Maths Extension group has taken part in the Otago Problem Challenge Maths tests run by Otago University. The Otago Problem Challenge is a series of 5 mathematics problem-solving competitions, where students answer five questions in 30 minutes on each of five problem sheets. This year we have had some amazing results, well done!

Merit certificates: Saket Andala, Maxwell Yang, Nathan Tan, Ruby Chen, Dion Choi, Eric Guo
Excellence certificate: Amelia Dellow

2022 Prizegiving Cups to Return

It is now the time of the year when we require cups that were awarded at last year’s prizegiving to be returned to the school for this year’s names to be engraved. 

If your child received a cup or trophy at last year’s prizegiving, please return it to the school office as soon as possible – thank you.

Term 4 Summer Uniform

Term Four is time for our summer uniform which includes our BDS hat. The accompanying footwear is either sandals or plain black shoes with the matching socks, depending on whether your child is wearing a skort, shorts, or a tunic.

Weetbix TRYathlon

Don’t forget to join the school TRYathlon team. So far we have 20 students registered and we would love to get more! Please use the link below to register:

Join the Botany Downs TRYathlon Team!

Travelwise

Thank you to our Travelwise Leaders for painting a colourful path at the front entrance of our school.  We hope you enjoy following the shapes up the footpath to the crossing to get you safely into school.  

Our plan is to encourage everyone to stay on the footpath rather than to cut across the road – it’s all about teaching the children road safety!

A special thank you to Bunnings for donating all the paint, and coming to help on the day.

Kylee Holmes, Travelwise Coordinator (kyleeh@botanydowns.school.nz)

Fruju Fridays – Start This Week!

Come and cool off every Friday until the end of term. Pay via Kindo, or bring your gold coins and come and see us by the staffroom after school. 

Frujus: $2 each / Icepops: $1 each

** Please note: Kindo payments must be received by midnight Thursday. 

Niue Language Week

This year’s theme for Faahi Tapu he Vagahau Niue – Niue Language Week is Fakatūleva e Vagahau Niue mo e Tau Aga Fakamotu ma e Tau Atuhau, which means – Sustain Niue Language and Culture for Future Generations.

Schedule of Orientation Visits to
Somerville Intermediate 2023

Date: Thursday 9th November 2023

9.15am -10.20 am: Cockle Bay & Owairoa Schools
11.00am -12.15pm: Point View & Willowbank Schools
1.30pm -2.30 pm: Shelly Park, Botany Downs, and contributing schools not named

Also on Thursday 9th November the New Parents evening will take place in the Somerville Intermediate gymnasium at 7pm. This is an opportunity for the parents to attend for an overview and ask any questions.

Children Turning Five – Enrolment 

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)

Fun and Learning @ BDS

Year 1 – Room 8: To support our Inquiry learning about The Living World, our Year 0 and 1 students visited the amazing Auckland Zoo.  Room 8 were able to see and experience animals up close. We saw lions feasting, tigers prowling, cheetahs sleeping, monkeys swinging and meerkats scampering.  We enjoyed learning interesting facts. Did you know that spider monkeys do not have thumbs?

The best part about the zoo was seeing the spider monkeys. They have skinny legs and arms and long tails to swing in the trees. They had brown and black faces and they were eating and playing. They made me feel nervous.
Jasgun Mavi

The best part about the zoo was seeing a meerkat because we had to go into a tunnel and into a bubble to see them. The meerkat had a fluffy tail, small black eyes and little brown feet.
Mia Cajayon

The best part was seeing the lions. The lions are yellow and have sharp teeth. They are the kings of the jungle. There were 3 female lions and they were eating meat.
Luca Takaiti

Student Successes…

Last term we shared the success of Reece Parkin who was awarded the Sam Prattley Cup for Outstanding Sportsmanship but missed including this wonderful photo. Our congratulations again Reece!

LIBRARY NEWS

A reminder to please ensure books are treated gently and respectfully so that everyone can continue to enjoy them. 

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Howick Uxbridge Pippins – Join Now!

Howick Uxbridge Pippins has space to take more girls aged 5-6 keen to join in on the fun GirlGuiding NZ offers.

We offer a non-competitive learning environment that is open-minded and values-based. It’s a supportive place to grow confident, adventurous girls ready to be tomorrow’s leaders.

We offer a programme where the girls themselves have a say in their activities and offer experiences like camps, crafts, and real-life experiences, rewarding them with badges as they learn new skills.

To register your interest and learn more about our rewarding programme, complete the form here: 

Register Your Interest – GirlGuiding New Zealand – You be the Guide! (girlguidingnz.org.nz)

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