Week 9, Term 3 2026
Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,
Celebrating Te Wiki o te reo Māori
It is wonderful to celebrate Te Wiki o te reo Māori across our school this week, with our tamariki enthusiastically learning and using te reo Māori in their classrooms. A big mihi to our tamariki and kaiako for making this week so special.
Welcoming Our New Librarian
We are thrilled to give a very warm welcome to Miss Ashleigh Harris, who is joining our school community as our new Librarian.
Miss Harris comes to us with fantastic experience from another primary school library, along with a great background with Scholastic. She brings a wealth of knowledge, energy, and a genuine passion for children’s literature to our team.
At BDS, we love our library and continue to deeply value it as the heart of our school. Books and reading are such an essential part of who we are, and we are delighted to have Miss Harris on board to help our library continue to grow and inspire our students.
A Huge PTA Disco Thank You
A massive thank you to our amazing PTA for hosting such a fantastic school disco. It was a brilliant, high-energy evening with a record turnout of tamariki having a fantastic time together.
Celebrating Our Recent School Events & Achievements
Thank you to Ms Liu and Miss Young for coaching our gymnastics team and taking them to the HPPA Gymnastics event. Our tamariki competed with great confidence and made us incredibly proud.
We also sent three fantastic teams to the HPPA Netball Field Day. A special thanks to Miss Smith, Mrs Marck, and our parent helpers for leading and supporting our players. Everyone had fun.
Thank you as well to Mrs Takaiti and Miss Lu for guiding our Tūhura, Kapa Haka, and Pasifika Au Siva groups to their visit to Te Tuhi. This was a great experience.
We really appreciate all of our staff and helpers for making these rich experiences possible for our students. For full details, photos, and group updates on these events, please see further below in the newsletter.
Ngā mihi nui
Vicki Parkins
Principal/Tumuaki (vickip@botanydowns.school.nz)
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Coming Up @ BDS
Week 9 – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
Tues 15 Sept – HPPA Mathex
Wed 16 Sept – PTA Jester’s Pie Day
Thurs 17 Sept – HPPA Chinese Speech Competition
Thurs 24 Sept – Cultural Dress Day
Fri – 25 Sept – Last Day of Term 3
Mon 12 Oct – First Day of Term 4
Fri 23 Oct – Teacher Only Day
Mon 26 Oct – Labour Day (public holiday)
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BDS Yearbook 2026!
Planning for the 2026 yearbook is well underway with an exciting opportunity for an amazing artist to design and feature on the front cover!
Order your copy today from Kindo or pay by EFTPOS at the office. ONLY $20!
A year full of wonderful memories.
Sales from now until early Term 4. Don’t miss out.
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Gymnastics
Last week, our gymnasts had a fantastic day competing at the Champ of Champs Gymnastics Finals at Tri Star in Mt Roskill! We are so proud of everyone who competed and represented our school. A special congratulations to Fraser Shadbolt, who placed 10th in the Year 3 Boys Competition. An awesome achievement!
Well done to all of our gymnasts!
Miss Young and Mrs Liu
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Netball
Last Wednesday, we enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at the HPPA Competitive Netball Day, with three of our teams taking part – two girls’ teams and one boys’ team.
It was a busy day filled with plenty of netball, learning and fun! It was fantastic to see our players demonstrating great effort and sportsmanship throughout the day. As the games progressed, our teams continued to grow in confidence and showed some great connections on the court, working together and supporting one another.
We are very proud of the way all of our players represented our school.
A huge thank you to our awesome parent helpers for giving up their time and supporting our teams throughout the day.
Well done to all of our netballers on a fantastic day!
Miss Smith & Mrs Marck
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Cultural Art Experience at Te Tuhi
Our Kapa Haka and Pasifika Au Siva tamariki had an awesome time at Te Tuhi. They explored how Pacific artists use traditional signs and symbols to share visual stories. Bringing their own class-designed motifs to life, our talented tamariki used colour, line, and shape to craft vibrant Polynesian tapa-inspired artworks that proudly tell their personal and cultural journeys!
Ngā mihi to our parent helpers for supporting us on the day.
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Congratulations!
Year 3, Room 28 Yunxiao participated in the Auckland Dancesport Championships on Saturday, winning first place in ChaCha and first place in Gypsy Tap.
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1st place!
Congratulations to Vito in Y5. Vito took part in the Auckland GP Series, Auckland XC Champion 1st and Auckland Road Championship 1st all in U12 grade. Well done on your success!
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A Huge Thank You for Our Jungle Disco!
What a fantastic night at our Jungle Disco on Friday!
A huge thank you to all of our wonderful students who came along ready to have fun. We loved seeing so many creative jungle-themed outfits, with everyone putting in so much effort to get into the spirit of the night. It was wonderful to see the children dancing, laughing and enjoying themselves with their friends.
We would also like to say a very special thank you to all the parents, whānau and teachers who helped make the evening possible, from setting up, selling food and accessories, to supervising and clean up, your time and support are very much appreciated.
Events like this are only possible because of our amazing school community, and we are so grateful to everyone who got involved.
Thank you for helping make it such a memorable evening.
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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 Rimu Year 1 Room 10.
Our BDS Capabilities
Congratulations to our following Tamariki who have shown their Botany Best by displaying our capabilities: Emma Hughes, Erik Hu, Odi Hika (Puke), Aaron Qu, Anna Yu, Ozias Su’a, Jasmine Yip, Eleanor Booth, Ethan Luo, Arlie Clements-Goh, Petr Bertyaev, Autumn Jacobs, Binchen Fang, Bhevin Verma, Raizel Chowdhury, Halle Moir, Jahsiah Tione Kemp, Ari Ross, Dana Al-Sarraf, Ava Shahsavari, Jeson Wang, AJ Aisea, Noah Eliesa, April Adams & Angela Wang.
Our BDS Values
Congratulations to the following tamariki who have displayed our Value of Resilience – Manawanui: Ryan Hu, Asher Oostendorp, Brody Tynan, Nathan Hurter, Ethan Manu Lambai, Isabella Wayne, Leon Lo, Jenna van Zyl, Lieol Strickland, Caelin Ramiah, Lillias Fisher, Kruz Oti, Emma Xie, McKayla Dell, Timothy Parsons, Keli Hu, Menima Feagaiga, Afifa Jannatul, Ranaya Galahitiyawa, Noah Wei, Zelda Brockwell-Gounder, Corbyn Grainger, Avery Ip, Hope Avau & Baghel Singh.
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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!
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We are currently planning classes and staffing for the remainder of 2026. To ensure we have accurate numbers of our new entrants— even those starting in 2027— we ask you to please contact the school office for enrolment information. 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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HJ Elite Academy –
Holiday Soccer Development Programme
 Registration is now open!
Looking for a fun and active way to keep the kids engaged during the school holidays? Our Holiday Soccer Development Programme combines professional coaching, skill development, games and plenty of fun for young players of all abilities.
View programme details & register:
https://www.hjeliteacademy.co.nz/school-holiday-soccer-program-auckland/
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