Newsletter – Week 2, Term 3 2025 – Botany Downs Primary School

Week 2, Term 3, 2025

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,

Nominations are now open to join the Botany Downs School Board. This is a great opportunity to support our school and help shape a positive future for our tamariki.

Please check your email for a message from Election Pilot with all the details on how to nominate yourself.

We would love to see a range of voices and experiences represented so that we can keep growing together as a strong BDS whānau.

Our Year 4–6 Cross Country event is coming up this Thursday. Please see the details below and come along to cheer on our tamariki. A big thank you to Mrs Jeffs for all your organisation and support getting our runners ready.

We are so happy and excited to share with you that work has officially begun on our brand new playground for Years 0–3. Construction is expected to take about a month, and we can’t wait to see our tamariki enjoying this wonderful new space.

A huge thank you to our amazing PTA for their tireless fundraising efforts, and to the School Board for their support in funding this exciting project. We are so grateful for your dedication to creating fun, safe, and engaging spaces for our learners.

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

Coming Up @ BDS

Thurs 24 July – Senior Cross Country
Fri 25 July – No Uniform day – Come dressed as something beginning with B for Botany
Tues 29 July – School Board meeting, 6.00 p.m
Wed 30 July – PTA Jester’s Pie day
Thurs 31 July – BDS Dance Extravaganza, 6.30 p.m
Wed 6 Aug – Nominations close for School Board Elections
Wed 6 Aug – Yr 5&6 Speech finals
Mon 11 Aug – ICAS English / HPPA Speech finals
Wed 13 Aug – HPPA Gymnastics
Tues 19 Aug – Netball Non-competitive day
Wed 20 Aug – PTA Jester’s Pie day
Thurs 21 Aug – ICAS Science
Mon 25 Aug – ICAS Maths
Wed 27 Aug – School Board meeting, 6.00 p.m
Fri 29 Aug – HPPA Lit Quiz / Daffodil day

Nominations Are Open

The nomination process for our School Board elections has started and nominations are now open. We have five (5) spaces for parent representatives on the Botany Downs School Board. We have appointed Schooled Election Pilot as the Returning Officer for the election. They will be handling the election process and you will see communications directly from them.

Everyone who is eligible to vote in the election will receive a nomination pack (either via email or post). The info pack will contain everything you need to nominate yourself or another member of the community. If you are going to nominate someone else, just make sure they know about it and will accept the nomination! It will also include information about who isn’t able to be a School Board member.

If you need extra forms, or want a copy of the nomination form in Te Reo Māori or another language, just contact the Returning Officer from Election Pilot directly on 0800 VOTENZ (0800 868 369) or election@electionpilot.nz.

Don’t leave things to the last minute, because elections close at noon on Wednesday 6th August 2025.

You can email in your nomination, complete it online at www.boardelections.nz or fill it in and drop it off to the school office. You can also send in a candidate statement and smiling photo with your nomination.

A copy of the electoral roll is kept at the school office and is available to be checked during usual school hours.

Policies and Procedures – SchoolDocs 2025
Term 3 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 our school website on the link below:

Policies and Procedures – School Documents

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

Visit the website https://botanydowns.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm
Enter the username (botanydowns) and password (best).
Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
Read the policy.
Click the Start your review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
Select the reviewer type.
Enter your name (optional).
Follow the prompts to show that you’ve read the topic and enter your feedback if you’d like to comment.
Agree to the privacy statement and click “Submit review”.

For Term 3 the following policies relate to Learning Support and are up for review:

Child Protection
Abuse Recognition and Reporting
Food and Nutrition
Safety Checking
Police Vetting
Missing Student Procedure

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

SCHOOL NEWS

Cross Country

This Thursday the 24th July we are holding the senior school cross country at Millhouse reserve. All Year 4 to 6 students will be taking part in this event.

Approximate race start time 1.00pm and order of races (each race starts at 10 minute intervals, approximately or as time dictates):

Year 6 Kauri Girls
Year 6 Kauri Boys
Year 4 Tītoki Girls
Year 4 Tītoki Boys
Year 5 Tōtara Girls
Year 5 Tōtara Boys

Prizegiving will follow these races on the day.

Travelwise

You will see our Travelwise Leaders each morning at the Drop and Go Bay. Their role is to:

Help students out of cars and make sure they get through the school gates safely.
Make sure students are walking safely on the footpath.
Support students to cross the car park safely by standing next to the crossing.
Hold up signs to spread road safety information.

HPPA Boys and Girls Soccer Competition

In Term 2, Week 10, the Girls Soccer team participated in the competitive soccer competition. The girls played extremely well considering most of them had never played soccer before. They had a very successful day, showing sportsmanship, dedication, hard work and teamwork. They came away with a couple of wins, a draw and a loss. They should all be very proud of themselves. Ka pai girls!

Last week, Week 1 Term 3, the Boys Soccer team participated in their first day of their soccer competition. They played six games of which three of these were back to back games. I am proud of how they handled themselves, kept going and played right through to their very last game. They came away with a couple of wins, a draw and a couple of losses. Overall we had a great day out. Unfortunately, due to the weather on Thursday, our last day was cancelled.

Thank you to all players for all your hard work!

Melanie Else, Soccer Day Coordinator (melaniee@botanydowns.school.nz

World Vision 40 Hour Challenge

Last term our School Councillors organised our 40 Hour Challenge to raise money for World Vision so children in the Solomon Islands will have enough food to grow healthy and strong. We had 12 amazing students who completed their challenges and raised a fantastic amount of $854 for World Vision. He tino pai!

PTA Notices

Women’s Self-Defence Workshop – Still Time to Join!

Our Self-Defence Workshop with Rida Vivier kicked off last Saturday, but it’s not too late to join! You can still attend the second session on Saturday 26 July, 10:30 a.m–12:00 p.m in the school hall, for $20.

The session will include a recap of key skills from the first day, so newcomers are welcome.
Women from outside the school community can attend – bring a friend!
Book via your child’s KINDO account.
Adults only – this event is for women, and children cannot attend.
Arrive 15 minutes early to get settled.

No Uniform Day – Friday 25 July

This Friday is a No Uniform Day. Come dressed as something beginning with the letter B to celebrate Botany Downs School – think ballerina, builder, banana, or butterfly! Bring $2 either in cash on the day to your teacher or pay via KINDO.

School Assembly

We invite you to attend our first school assembly for the term, on Friday at 9.10 a.m. We will be presenting our Botany Best Certificates and Values Bookmarks. This week our item will be by Year 3 Pōhutukawa – Room 29.

Our Values

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown our focus value Relationships / Whanaungatanga David Kim, Chloe Simpson, Matilda Malez, Scarlett Blanco Zijp, Hayley Bauer, Xena-Leigh Hamilton, Ryker Christian, Kayden Tseng, Ryder Yang, Vito Feng, Miles Maceachen, Devansh Manseta, Yuexi Wang, Emma Kamakorewa, Christian Ilalio, Maemi Yumul, Rikus Fourie, Jerry Zhang, Sergio Guillen, Carter Kenny, Arzoyi Arora, Hunter Collins-Preiss, William Faletau & Hannah Biddick.

Our Capabilities

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities: Noah Eliesa, Angela Cajayon, Misty Tuoro, Aiden Piladuwa Madduma Bogahawattage, Jenuki Perera, Disenya Athukoralalage, Vincent Wang, Bridie Bird, Michael Booth, Yilin Mao, Ariyan Atrushi, Jiaying Lin, Violet Liu, Sebastian Zuo, Mene’ Nel, Jy2 Fajardo, Liam Cho, Caleb Moukarzel, Damian Roberts, Memphis Kwok, Lavinia Chen, Nina Phanwa, Aaron Qu & Zachary Bradbury.

We had a special way of introducing our School Value for this term at assembly last week: our new School Mascot came in to see us. The House Leaders with the help of our Mascot made a video to show us how we can use the School Value of Relationships/ Whanaungatanga when out in the playground. We look forward to seeing our Mascot again when our focus value changes. The Mascot will also make appearances at other times so watch out for it.

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Year 3 Pōhutukawa, Room 28: For Inquiry, students in Room 28 are learning about the different cultures of New Zealand. They are beginning their research by writing an information report about a chosen country. The focus is to find out about the country’s food, clothing, celebrations, climate, and geography.

Year 5 Tōtara, Room 23: Room 23 is proud to share a collage of photographs, capturing snapshots of our learning. Our tamariki have approached every opportunity with curiosity and enthusiasm, showing great teamwork and a love of learning.

Enrol Now if Your Child Turns 5 Before April 2026

We are currently planning classes and staffing for 2026, and having accurate numbers of new entrants — even those starting mid-year — greatly helps us with this process. Thank you for your support.

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)

LIBRARY NEWS

NZ Children’s Book Awards – BDS Voting

On Wednesday 13 August, the winners of this year’s NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults will be announced. Here at BDS we have been reading the Best Picture Book finalists and voting for who we think will be the winner!

So far we have read: You Can’t Pat a Fish, by Ruth Paul, Ten Nosey Weka, by Kate Preece and Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, and Beddy-Bye Time in the Kōwhai Tree, by Juliette McIvor and Lily Uivel. This week’s book is Mataali’i, by Dahlia Malaeulu, Darcy Solia and Liz Tui Morris.