Newsletter – Week 7, Term 1 2026

                                         Week 7 Term 1 2026

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,

Thank you to Chris McIntyre and Makayla Mackay, our two Specialist Swimming Instructors from Fulton Swim School. Thank you for your engaging and educational lessons in our school pool over the past six weeks. We value having specialist swimming teachers at our kura and this has made a huge difference to our tamariki and their swimming. This will be the last week of swimming as the weather is getting too cold now.

We are delighted to welcome three new Teacher Aides to our kura: Alenda Dalmatava, Hayley Jeon and Leandi Neveling. They will be working across a range of year levels, supporting our teachers and tamariki in classrooms throughout the school. Their support will help ensure our learners receive the guidance and encouragement they need to thrive.

Please complete the Google form below if you would like to come to a Curriculum and Assessment evening.  Please see below for more information about this event.

Have a great week everyone.

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

Coming Up @ BDS

Wed 18 Mar – Pōwhiri
Fri 20 Mar – No Uniform Day
Week 8: Mon 23 – Fri 27 Mar – BOOK WEEK
Wed 25 Mar – HPPA Swimming / Grandparents’ Afternoon, 2.00pm
Thurs 26 Mar – HPPA Cricket Finals Day
Fri 27 Mar – Book Character Dressup Day & Parade, starts 9.05am
Tues 31 Mar – Parent Curriculum Evening, 6.00pm
Wed 1 Apr – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Thurs 2 Apr – Last Day of Term 1
Mon 20 Apr – First Day of Term 2
Mon 27 Apr – ANZAC Day (public holiday)

Farewell and Thank You Mrs Willetts!

Last week, we farewelled our wonderful Teacher Aide, Mrs Wendy Willetts. For the past nine years, Wendy had been an important part of Botany Downs School, supporting countless tamariki during their learning journeys. Her dedication to helping our students grow into confident readers has made a lasting impact, and she will be deeply missed. We wish her every success as she begins an exciting new career beyond the classroom.

Parent Curriculum Evening

When: Tuesday 31st March

Time: 6.00pm 

Where:  Botany Downs School (Venue -TBC)

We warmly invite parents to join us for an information evening about the recent updates to the New Zealand Curriculum and what these changes look like at Botany Downs School. We will also outline the adjustments to our mid‑year and end‑of‑year reporting in line with Ministry of Education requirements.

As our School Hall is currently unavailable, we ask that you please complete the Google Form if you plan to attend. Please only complete it if you are attending. Thank you for your support.

Attendance at Parent Evening – Google Form

SCHOOL NEWS

Book Week Starts on Monday!

A reminder of all the events happening next week:

• Book Fair – Open Mon-Fri morning  8.30-9.00am, and Mon-Thurs afternoon 2.45-3.30pm
• Special Guest authors – Minky Stapleton (Tues), Sally Sutton (Wed), and Gracie Kim (Thurs)
• PJ & Bring Your Soft Toy Animal Day – Tuesday
• Grandparent’s Afternoon – Wednesday 2:00-2.45pm pop in to read to your grandchild’s class, and visit the Book Fair after school
• Competitions close Thursday, 3.00pm – colouring in, create a 3D animal
• Book Character Dressup Day & Parade – Friday

Also Happening Daily: mystery guest readers, visit Te Hikoi Korero Storywalk  ‘This is the Dog’, by Maura Finn and Nina Rycroft, Stop, Drop and Read, and fun classroom activities.

Girls Smash Cricket

On Tuesday last week Mrs Jeffs took 12 Year 6 girls to a fun day of cricket. It was run by Auckland Cricket and the girls played a modified version of the game. They all had a great day and came away with some great prizes including Cordelia and Elani being given a signed players shirt.

The boys Cricket team had their second day of competition on Wednesday last week. They played well and won every game in some trying conditions. They ended the competition 3rd equal in their pool, narrowly missing out on the finals. Highlights from the day were Alex hitting 4 fours in two innings, Ansh getting a hat trick and Charlie and Agam each with a spectacular caught and bowled.

Senior Swimming Sports Results

Well done to these students who competed in last Friday’s school Senior Swimming. Good luck to all those going to the HPPA Swimming Sports next week!

The Swimming Certificates will be handed out at our End of Term assembly in Week 9.

Kauri Year 6 Camp Poems – Room 26

Archery

We went to the archery station
Just me and my teammates
My it was fun

We smelt the fear and excitement at the same time
We hear parents giving the instructions
I tasted air and it was delicious
We all got to touch the bows
We felt the sunny sun burning on our skin

I liked the activity that we went on
It was fun
And I’ll try again
So let’s go back!

By Angela 

On March the second, Year Six arrived at Chosen Valley camp,
I was excited as can be.

We felt the bus shake on the bumpy gravel,
I felt exhilaration flow through my body like a volcano ready to erupt.
We heard the students voices clamour as we left the bus,
We heard the birds chirping like our constant chatting.

I saw the great zipline, my stomach churning with fear,
I heard the repetitive murmur in the crowd.
I smelt the putrid sheep poo on the slippery bush walk,
I tasted the sweet, soft crispy marshmallows in my mouth,
I heard the fire crackle with rage.
I felt the grippy rope walking up the dark burmatrail,
I tasted the cheesy, flavourful lasagne.

I will always have my memories, and I was very tired.
 It was thrilling, it was a blast but when we left it felt too fast.

By Sebastian

On the 2nd of March I went to Chosen Valley camp.
I went with my classmates to the spooky campfire.

I saw the fire crackling  in the dark night. 
I could hear a lot of voices whispering.
I felt the hard rough stick that I was going to use for burning the marshmallows.

 I smelled the fresh bamboo leaving the scent in my nose
I touched the smooth and squishy marshmallow.

This camp was the best camp I ever went to. 
It was an amazing experience.
 I loved this camp.  

By Aaryan

PTA Notice

Fun & Learning @ BDS

Rimu Year 1: Room 10 has been learning to be confident learners at Botany Downs School. We learned to be proud of ourselves, our culture, and we can identify what makes us unique. We wrote sentences about what makes us unique and created some art work.  

Tītoki Year 4: We have been doing lots of learning in Maths this term. We have been focusing on working with our learning buddies, using a range of materials to support our understanding and learning to play some new maths games. We have also loved improving our swimming skills during our swimming lessons.

School Assembly – Juniors

This Friday is our Junior (Year 1-3) assembly at 2.15pm. We will be handing out Botany Best awards, and Values Bookmarks to the following Year 1-3 students. This week’s assembly item will be Pōhutukawa Room 30. All whānau are welcome to attend. 

Our BDS Capabilities

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities: Nirvana Winterstein, Ryleigh Herbert, Nathan Binning, Athena Manuela, Eiichi Ogura, Thea Smith, Felix He, Luapene Anthony, Ryker Christian, Max Wang, Jayden Lo, Willow Cometti, Coco Hussey, Alana Sahni, Evelyn Han, Corbyn Grainger, Starzia Erskine, Lucius Huang, Otto Ward, Tiara Mathewson, Nathan Miguel & Remi Atrushi.

Our BDS Values

Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our Value of Respect / Manaakitanga: Lorcan Van Wyk, Wimarie Key, Azhaan Laghari, Louie Takaiti-Kerr, Mikhail Tufue, Matisha Kumar, Zion Tipi, Binchen Fang, Cheng Lin Hong, Emily Kim, Thishen Gunasekara, Ava Shahsavari, Zelda Brockwell-Gounder, Amber Ren, Zoe Mangapattu, Zoe Neemia, Christiaan Meyer, April Adams, Vaice Gasologa, Ethan Pope & Arham Ayat.

Enrol Now If Your Child Turns 5 in 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

Auckand Writers Festival – Dav Pilkey

Calling all Dog Man and Captain Underpants fans – author Dav Pilkey is coming to Auckland! Get your tickets to hear from this internationally bestselling author!

Dav Pikey @ Auckland Writers Festival

Check out the Auckland Writers Fesitval programme for other events happening 12-17 May. The festival includes FREE family days: 

Pukapuka Adventures – FREE festival events for children

COMMUNITY NOTICES

We’re currently inviting young performers aged 7–18 to audition for our upcoming production.

Alice in Wonderland Jr is a fantastic introduction to musical theatre. It gives young people the chance to build confidence, develop performance skills, make new friendships, and be part of a supportive and creative team environment. Whether students are experienced performers or completely new to the stage, we warmly welcome them to get involved.

Community theatre provides an incredible platform for students to grow not only as performers, but as individuals. They learn teamwork, responsibility, resilience, and communication skills, all while having an amazing time bringing a classic story to life.

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