Newsletter – Week 7, Term 2 2024 – Botany Downs Primary School

Week 7, Term 2, 2024

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,

At BDS we value honest, open, positive communication about learning. We know that the best learning comes from a strong partnership between teacher, student and whānau. We also know that our learners are at the centre of all that we do.

Our Whānau Learning Conversations encourage our students to take responsibility for their learning and also help to increase whānau understanding of their child’s learning. These Whānau Learning Conversations give our tamariki the opportunity to share their learning, show what they are doing well and what they need to learn next.

Whānau Learning Conversations: Bookings are now open (see below for information)

Wednesday 3 July Learning Conversations 3.20-7.40pm
Thursday 4 July Learning Conversations 3.20-5.10pm

A reminder that if you have a child who attends ESOL, you can book two appointments, one to meet with your child’s classroom teacher and one with Mrs Keenan, our ESOL teacher.

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

Coming up @ BDS…

Wed 12 June HPPA Girls Soccer / New Building Walk Through
Tues 18 June – HPPA Hockey Field Day
Wed 26 June – No Uniform Day: Crazy Hair/Hat / PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Thurs 27 June – Whānau Matariki Visit
Friday 28 June Matariki Public Holiday
Mon 1 July – PTA meeting
Wed 3 July – Learning Conversations: 3.20-7.40pm
Thurs 4 July – Learning Conversations: 3.20-5.10pm
Fri 5 July – Last Day of Term 2
Mon 22 July – First Day of Term 3

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

School Donation

The School Board asks parents to consider making the recommended School Donation.

$235 per child

Capped at $470 per family

Payments can be made in a lump sum or spread out over the year. These payments can be made:

By EFTPOS at the school office
Using our school bank account 12-3089-0059300-00 through the Kindo shop https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/

Please contact trisht@botanydowns.school.nz if you have any questions or wish to discuss the payment options in confidence. Donations in excess of the recommended amount are always very welcome.

Thank you,
Botany Downs School Board

SCHOOL NEWS

School Uniform

We are very proud of our Botany Downs School uniform. During winter this can include a BDS beanie and dark green headband that can be purchased from John Russell menswear in Howick. Please remember to purchase black shoes and/or sandals, and socks that are black, or grey with our green stripe. No white socks please. Thank you.

Learning Conversations

Bookings are now open:

Botany Best & Values

We invite you to attend our school assembly on Friday at 9.10 am. This week our item will be from Room 4.

Values

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our value of Resilience / Manawanui: Alyssa Roberts, Ethan Du, Talei Tuwai, Darcey McCrindle, Zoe Neemia, Nicolas Long, Nathan Mostert, Abby Bi, Rehoboth John, Dayton Huggins, Braxton Bills, Dehan Meyer, Roxas Eason, Miane’ Cronje, Louis Hunter, Huntr Bishton, Remaness Manihera-Emery, May Mei, Minaya Welivita Maharalalage Dona, Liam Forrest, Angela Ni, Benjamin Duckworth, Selina Mulipola, Anthony Song & Anton Birchler.

Botany Best

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities: Bianca Zhang, Baraa Almayah, Luca Takaiti-Kerr, Vincent Liu, David Kim, Liam O’Neill, April Adams, Nathan Tokai, Jacy Ablos, Qitei Ramlall, Milan Li, Luke Buckley, Bruno Hussey, Judi Tbhaki, Mackenzie Scott, Sebastian Birchler, Eshaal Fazal, Avril An, Ruby Buckley, Breeannah Clark, Ruoxi Wang, Nathan Zhu & Kainan Wang.

ICAS Exams for Year 5 and 6

This year our Year 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to participate in the ICAS English, Science and Maths assessment exams in Term 3. These assessments are completed online and cost $21.50 each. A newsletter has gone home to Year 5 and 6 students, however there are spare newsletters which can be collected from the school office.

All entries and payments must be completed by Friday 21st June.

Dates for exams:

English – Thursday 15th August

Science – Tuesday 20th August

Maths – Monday 26th August

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Mark Insley (Deputy Principal): marki@botanydowns.school.nz

HPPA Mixed Soccer Field Day

On Thursday 6 June, 38 Year 5 and 6 students walked to Meadowlands Reserve to play soccer against other schools in the Howick Pakuranga area. The purpose was to play, enjoy and grow confidence in playing soccer. We had fabulous parent support on the day, as well as great coaching from Mr Lewis Sharp. Miss Hill and Mrs Hughson were impressed with the enthusiasm and energy shown by all our students, who were definitely displaying their “Botany Best”. Even though it was a “Fun Day” we actually won most of our games!

Thank you to our wonderful parent helpers for walking to and from Meadowlands Reserve as well as supporting and supervising our tamaraki! It was a really successful and enjoyable day!

Joanne Hughson (Soccer Coordinator, joanneh@botanydowns.school.nz)

World Vision 40 Hour Challenge

The World Vision 40 Hour Challenge focus for 2024 is to raise money so that people around the world can work with nature to restore forests, fight the impacts of climate change and regreen our future. The 40 Hour Famine Challenge takes place from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd June.

We understand the 40 Hour Challenge is a big commitment and therefore is optional to take part in. If your child would like to take part in the 40 Hour Challenge and has your permission, please fill in the permission form and return it to your class teacher by Monday 17th June. Permission forms can be collected from the school office.

After returning the permission form, your child will then be issued a sponsorship booklet. Once your child receives a sponsorship booklet please help them select a suitable challenge and seek suitable sponsorship. After completion of the 40 Hour Challenge, children then need to collect the sponsorship money and return it to our school office in a named envelope by Friday 5th July.

One of our Botany Downs students, Gemma Yee has organised a flower making workshop to help raise money for World Vision. See details below to help support her with her challenge.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Mark Insley (Deputy Principal): marki@botanydowns.school.nz

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Room 1, Year 2: Room 1 has been learning about landforms and different bodies of water. We created these landform dioramas using clay. We worked in teams and began with picture plans. We used air-dry clay to make the landforms and painted them. Feel free to come by and have a look.

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)

LIBRARY NEWS

New Zealand Book Awards for
Children & Young Adults 2024

Congratulations to all the finalist authors, illustrators, and publishers for this year’s awards! These books have been judged as the top books created for our tamariki and rangatahi in the last year. The winning books in each category will be announced in August.

To find out more about the finalist books and the awards, click here: NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults