Week 5, Term 4 2026
Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,
We were so excited to officially open our brand new Year 3 and Year 4 playground on Monday morning. This is the third playground built at BDS for our tamariki, giving our students a fantastic space to play, explore, challenge themselves and make happy memories together.
We began the celebrations with a performance from our very own Kapa Haka group, led by Mrs Takaiti. It was such a special way to mark the occasion. Seeing the excitement, laughter and huge smiles on our tamariki’s faces as they explored their new playground for the first time was very special.
A project like this takes a team, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped bring this special space to life. A huge thank you to Mrs Stewart and Miss Searle for leading the playground design, with wonderful support from Mrs Ryan throughout the process.
We would also like to extend a thank you to Cameron Pitcaithly, our School Board representative, who joined us to cut the ribbon and officially open the playground.
What a fantastic addition to our Kura. We hope our tamariki enjoy many years of fun, friendship, adventure and wonderful memories in their new playground.
(Take a look at the photos below to enjoy some of the highlights from our special celebration)
To ensure the safety of our tamariki and minimise disruptions to learning, parents and whānau are asked not to be on school grounds during school hours (8.55 am – 2:45 pm).
- Drop-Offs (Lunches, Togs, Hats): If your child forgot their lunch, togs, hat, or school supplies, simply leave them at the office. We will bring your child down to collect their things or so you don’t need to walk to the classroom.
- Early Pick-Ups: Please phone or email the office in advance. We’ll have your child ready and waiting for you in the office for a quick, easy pick-up.
Sign In & Lanyards: If you must step onto school grounds beyond the office, you are required to sign in at the office first and wear a visitor lanyard, so our team knows you have followed the safety process.
Thank you so much for your partnership in keeping our tamariki safe and ready for learning.
Ngā mihi nui
Vicki Parkins
Principal/Tumuaki (vickip@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Coming Up @ BDS
Week 5
Wednesday 11th Nov – Howick Intermediate Orientation
Wednesday 11th Nov – Year 1 Zoo Trip
Wednesday 11th Nov – Year 4 Zoo Trip
Friday 13th Nov – HPPA Athletics Day
Monday 16th Nov – Calendar Art Final day for orders
Monday 16 Nov – 4.30pm Information on BYOD for 2027 (Bring Your Own Device)
Tuesday 17th Nov – Junior School Athletics
Wednesday 18th Nov – Non Uniform Day/ Silly Socks
Tuesday 24th Nov – Weetbix Tryathlon
Monday 7th Dec – Rimu Big Day In
Tuesday 8th Dec – Year 2/3 Prizegiving 9am-10.30am
Wednesday 9th Dec – Year 4/5 Prizegiving 9am-10.30am
Thursday 10th Dec – Year 3/4 Big Day In
Friday 11th Dec – Year 2 Big Day In
Friday 11th Dec – Graduation Year 6
Friday 11th Dec – Stockade Hill Christmas Concert
Monday 14th Dec – Year 6 Big Day In
Tuesday 15th Dec – Year 5 Big Day In
Wednesday 16 Dec – Last Day of School Term 4. School finishes at 2pm.
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New Year 3 and Year 4 playground
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Year 3 & 4 Poetry Recital
Over the past few weeks, our Year 3 and Year 4 students have been working hard to learn and practise their poems in preparation for their class Poetry Recitals. Each class selected two students to represent them at the Poetry Recital Finals last Wednesday. The students did a fantastic job confidently presenting their poems to an audience of Year 3 and Year 4 students, teachers and whānau. It was wonderful to see their confidence, enthusiasm and hard work on display!
Our Year 3 finalists were:
Room 28 – Katya & Zoe
Room 29 – Nicolas & Rubleen
Room 30 – Jane & Ethan
Our Year 4 finalists were:
Room 17 – Anyi & Datis
Room 18 – Hannah & Asher
Room 19 – Aahana & Danika
Room 20 – Leo & Jordan
All of these students did an exceptional job demonstrating our school value of Resilience throughout their performances.
Our top three place getters were:
1st Place – Jordan
2nd Place – Aahana
3rd Place – Nicolas
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Thank you to everyone who supported our fundraiser and purchased a funky pair of socks. Sock orders will be coming home with students on Thursday this week. Thanks to the wonderful support of our school community we raised $600 for our school!
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Who: BDS Whānau of 2027 Year 4, 5 and 6
When: Monday 16 November, 4.30-5.30 pm
Where: Room 22, Year 5
What: Information on BYOD for 2027 (Bring Your Own Device)
In 2027, our Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 students may bring their own devices to school each day. Students who do not bring their own devices will continue to have access to school owned devices.
Please visit the following link for more information on recommended devices your child could bring: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/education/byod/botany-downs-school
At Botany Downs School, we highly recommend a Microsoft or Chrome OS laptop.
The minimum screen size should be 11″ as our testing programme will not work with smaller screens.
If you do decide that your 2027 Year 4, 5 or 6 child will bring their own device, BYOD agreement forms will be sent home at the beginning of the 2027 school year. Students are unable to bring their device until a completed form is returned to school.
For any enquiries please email Mr Yoon: sojungy@botanydowns.school.nz
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Your children have been busy creating beautiful works of art that can be made into calendars, cards, diaries and more! Please keep a look out for a flyer coming home with a preview of your childs artwork and your unique order code.
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School Assembly
We invite you to attend our school assembly on Friday at 2.10pm. We will be presenting our Botany Best Certificates and Values Bookmarks. This week’s item will be from Room 6, Rimu Year 0/1. All whānau are welcome to attend.
Our BDS Capabilities
Congratulations to our following tamariki who will receive certificates for shown their Botany Best by displaying our capabilities:
Elizabeth Ilalio, Olivia Chen, Demi Tseng, Jiale Yu, Eason Dong, Azalea Ngo, Breeannah Clark, Jiaying Lin, Steiny Morunga, Vion Lee, Tiffany Qu, Hanro Stoltz, Adalyn Cox, Liam Oostendorp, Jeremiah John, Olivia Wang, Yara El Chami, Lochie Fitzpatrick, Nirvana Winterstein, Miya Wei, Aashvi Singh, Felix He, Aahan Prasad, Rabaab Cheema, Lily Smart, Thishen Gunasekara, Tasha Lee, Corbyn Grainger, Noah Eliesa, Adhiraj Madan & Yixuan Zhang.
Our BDS Values
Congratulations to our following tamariki who have displayed our Value of Relationships – Whanaungatanga:
Aliya Christian, Annabelle Firouzi, Artie Ong, Mira Ong, Finn Roosenbrand, Ava Tang, Keileb Dell, Wianru Botha, Leon Lo, Matthew Samuriwo, Yuexi Wang, Yasser El Chami, Jia Zhang, Isabella Mackay, Leo Chen, Rex Zhao, Zerahiah Turner, Troy Viljoen, Mingyou Wang, Tomaki McCleary, Gary Gao, Leshan Wijayaratna, Isabelle Tynan, Anderson Kim, Raiden Ripata, Max Wang, Akshar Samdaw Krishinchand, Patrick Sun, Damon Chen, Zoe Mungapattu, Starzia Erskine, Uriel Su’a & Ayat Arham.
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Important Dates to Remember
- End of Term Dismissal – Wednesday, 16 December: School will finish at 2:00pm on Wednesday, 16 December. (Please note this updated time—school will conclude at 2:00pm instead of 12:00pm due to the new Ministry of Education requirements).
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Secondhand Uniform email address
Due to popular demand we have now set up a second hand uniform email address.
We only have limited stock and sizes available. If you require any second hand items please use
this email address: secondhanduniform@botanydowns.school.nz and put your child’s name,
room number, their size and the items you are looking for.
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Enrol Now If Your Child Turns 5 in 2026 or 2027!
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We are currently planning classes and staffing for 2027. To ensure we have accurate numbers of our Year 0 and Year 1 learners, we ask you to please contact the school office for enrolment information.
Thank you for your support in ensuring we can have a smooth transition to BDS!
Enrolment packs are available from the school office, or you can request one via email: office@botanydowns.school.nz
Rachel Ryan, DP/SENCo – Year 0-3 (rachelr@botanydowns.school.nz)
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 Why sign up for Summer Reading? The best way to improve literacy skills is to keep practising. This is particularly important over the long summer holidays, and it helps to keep students reading levels up. Developing a love of reading for pleasure helps to improve wellbeing, develops empathy, builds focus and stamina, builds vocabulary and general knowledge, and encourages curiosity and imagination (key factors in innovation and problem-solving skills).
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