Week 5, Term 2 2026
Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,
Poipoia te kākano, kia puāwai – Nurture the seed and it will blossom
We have a number of teams competing at HPPA sports events over the second half of Term 2. With such great weather last week and to start this week, our sports teams have been practising with eagerness. Our teams for this term include: dodgeball, chess, girls soccer, rippa rugby, hockey, soccer fun day, and boys soccer. A huge thank you to our teachers for coaching the teams and also to the adults who provide transport. All the best for your upcoming competitions!
Yesterday, we had Murphy’s Landscaping begin work on our Nature Garden. Many students use this space in Term 1 and 4 as an alternate play area. It will be great to have it cleared out with new entry stairs built, new mulch in the pathways and native plants planted ready for the warmer, drier months.
A reminder please that if your child rides a bike or scooters to school they must wear a helmet. This is to ensure your child’s head is protected should they have a fall when making their way to or from school.
Mark Insley
Acting Principal/Tumuaki (marki@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Coming Up @ BDS
Wed 20 May – HPPA Girls Soccer Day 1 / School Board Meeting, 6.00pm
Fri 22 May – HPPA Rugby / PTA Sausage Sizzle, 3.00pm
Wed 27 May – HPPA Girls Soccer Day 2 / PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Fri 29 May – TEACHER ONLY DAY
Mon Jun 1 – King’s Birthday (public holiday)
Tues 2 Jun – Kauri Yr 6 Stardome Trip (2 classes)
Wed 3 Jun – Kauri Yr 6 Stardome Trip (2 classes)
Fri 5 Jun – No Uniform Day
Mon 8 Jun – PTA meeting
Wed 10 Jun – School Board meeting, 6.00pm
Mon 15 Jun – PTA Bake Sale
Tues 16 Jun – HPPA Soccer
Wed 17 Jun – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Fri 19 Jun – Sun 21 Jun – World Vision 40 Hour Challenge
Mon 22 Jun – Pōhutukawa Yr 3 Stardome Trip
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Health and PE Curriculum Survey-
Last Week to Complete the Survey
At Botany Downs School, we value our parent and caregiver thoughts about what we do. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey regarding our Health and Physical Education Curriculum. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will be used to support our future decision making in designing and delivering this important curriculum learning area.
Health and PE Curriculum Survey
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2026 International Competitions and
Assessment for Schools (ICAS)
Year 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to participate in the 2026 International Competitions and Assessment for Schools (ICAS). ICAS assessments are designed to recognise academic excellence. Students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.
It is important to note that these assessments are not related to our New Zealand Curriculum. This means that ICAS results are not taken into consideration when determining progress, when reporting to parents or when selecting academic award recipients for our prize givings.
This year we are offering Year 5 and 6 students the opportunity to participate in English, Science and Maths assessments. All assessments are supervised at school and completed online. You will be notified of your child’s results when they are ready and they will also receive a certificate. Top performers will be eligible for medals and special ceremonies to recognise their academic excellence from ICAS assessments.
Dates of assessments:
English: Monday 10th August 9-10.30am
Science: Monday 17th August 9-10.30am
Maths: Monday 24th August 9-10.30am
Each assessment has a cost of $22.95. For payments, we will be using the Parent Payment System so you must make your payments directly to ICAS. All payments must be made by Monday 20th July. We will not be accepting payments at school. See below for payment details.
- Log in using the PPS code: Visit the ICAS website shop and use the PPS code to log in: XNF939
ICAS tests shown for selection are at the school’s discretion. After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.
Mark Insley (marki@botanydowns.school.nz)
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World Vision 40 Hour Challenge
Last week our School Councillors visited the Year 4, 5 and 6 classes to discuss the 40 Hour Challenge and handed out permission letters. If you give permission for your child to take part, please return the permission form to your child’s class teacher. After returning the permission form, your child will then be issued an information booklet which explains how to start fundraising.
This is it whānau! It’s that time of year when youth across Aotearoa come together for The World Vision 40 Hour Challenge – happening from June 19th-21st 2026. We’re challenging you to go offline for 40 hours and raise funds so children in Solomon Islands can get the nutritious food they need. Whether it’s no phone, gaming, social media, or even power. You get to choose what you’ll do and how you’ll do it.
Step away from screens. Step up for real change.
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HPPA Dodgeball
On Friday Mr D took our first ever Dodgeball team to Sunnyhills School to compete in a school tournament. The team had a lot of fun and learnt a lot about the game.
If you are interested in playing dodgeball outside of school, weekly sessions are held on Monday evenings at Sunnyhills School, with regular opportunities to play competitively with leagues and tournaments. If you are keen to get involved, or have a child who wants to get better at the game check out the website Dodgeball For All, or email: dodgeballforall@gmail.com.
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Pink Shirt Day – Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who supported our bake sale on Friday for Pink Shirt Day. We raised $416 to support this great cause. It was great to see so many of our tamariki in pink for the day!
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Wednesday Challenge – Winners!
Congratulations to Room 21 for being our Term 1 Wednesday Challenge winners!
They were lucky enough to win the spot prize from the Wednesday Challenge team and celebrated with a well deserved pizza lunch.
It’s fantastic to see more and more students choosing active ways to get to school by walking, biking, or park and stride. A huge thank you to all the children taking part and to the parents and whānau for supporting and encouraging them along the way. Keep up the great work everyone!
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Fun & Learning @ BDS
Rimu Year 1, Room 9 – Room 9 has been learning about kindness and friendship. We were very excited this week to visit Harold the Giraffe in the Life Education van. We had lots of fun and shared plenty of ideas on how to be a good friend.
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PTA Notices…
Sausage Sizzle: Friday 22nd May, 3pm –
Join us after school this Friday for a PTA Sausage Sizzle! Chicken sausages will be available for purchase for $2 each from 3:00pm outside the staffroom — the perfect end-of-week treat for students and families.
Please note that this will be a cash-only event, and numbers are limited, so be sure to get in quick before they sell out! We look forward to seeing everyone there and thank you for supporting our PTA fundraising efforts.
Sushi and Pizza lunch orders avaliable every week –
St Pierres Sushi is available every Wednesday and Domino’s Pizza every Friday.
Remember: $1 from every order goes directly to our school!
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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 Kōwhai Room 3, and the choir. All whānau are welcome to attend.
Our BDS Capabilities
Congratulations to our following tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our Capabilities: Binchen Fang, Nyrah Chand, Carlito Calvert, Maverick Cox, Isla Marshall, Boston Haretuku, Mikhail Tufue, Ella Chan, Menima Feagaiga, Mario Ma, Ellie Guo, Lily Smart, Kiano Gillespie, Theodore Salomon, Lily Oliver, Lloyd Singh, Hirad Jamalidogaheh, Jenuki Perera, Avery Ip, Nathan Tokai, Mawada Khammas, Atarah Dizon, Nathan Miguel & Yeray Limones Navarro.
Our BDS Values
Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our Value of Responsibility / Kaitiakitanga: Luapene Anthony, Sha Downs, Nirvana Winterstein, McKayla Dell, Rumi Knight, Max Harlum, Eiichi Ogura, Aashvi Sing, Felix He, Hannah Schutte, Nazem Almayah, Kelly Yu, Amara Pavadia, Xena-leigh Hamilton, Grace Ren, Jeson Wang, Reshitha Perera, Xiai Maiava, Michael Turnbull, Rubani Kahlon, Amy Chen, Liam O’Neill, Angela Wang & Thea Moir.
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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)
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A friendly reminder to help your children practice our school values of RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY by looking after the books they borrow.
What do we do if a book has been lost or damaged?
We know that accidents happen; it is all part of learning and growing. Honesty is always the best policy… please encourage your child to come to the library to talk to Mrs H – they won’t be in trouble, and most times, a book can be repaired. If lost, or damaged beyond repair, the school will ask for a contribution to replace the book.
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