Newsletter Week 3 Term 4 – Botany Downs School

Week 3, Term 4 2026

Kia ora koutou Parents and BDS Whānau,

On teacher only day our teachers and teacher aides came together for an inspiring day of professional learning and growth. We focused on aligning our teaching with the new curriculum, moderating end-of-year writing assessments, and deepening our culturally responsive practices.

When our staff learn and grow together, our tamariki thrive. We are excited to put these fresh ideas into action across all our classrooms.

A huge thank you to Mrs Jeffs and our Year 4, 5, and 6 teams for organizing a fantastic Athletics Day. It was wonderful to see so many parents and whānau come along to support our students.

A special thank you also goes to the Howick Intermediate students who came along to support and help out during the event. The children truly showed their Botany Best, gave every event their all, and had a wonderful time out in the beautiful spring sunshine.

Ngā mihi nui

Vicki Parkins

Principal/Tumuaki (vickip@botanydowns.school.nz)

Coming Up @ BDS

Week 2

Wednesday 28th Oct – HPPA Basketball

Wednesday 28th Oct – School Board Meeting

Wednesday 28th Oct – Bookclub orders to be into school

Thursday 29th Oct – HPPA Touch

Monday 2nd Nov – PTA Meeting

Friday 6th Nov – Gumboot Friday

Monday 9th Nov – Last day to order Yearbooks

Wednesday 16 Dec – Last Day of School Term 4. School finishes at 2pm.

SCHOOL NEWS

Keeping Our Tamariki Safe – Parking Reminders

The safety of our tamariki is our top priority. Please remember:

No parking on yellow lines – These areas must stay clear for visibility and safety.
Do not park across driveways – This blocks access and creates hazards.

Let’s all do our part to keep drop-off and pick-up times safe for everyone. Thank you for your cooperation.

Complaint to Auckland Transport on Line

Gumboot Friday 6th November

Gumboot Friday is an annual event that raises money for free youth counselling. The event also serves as a platform to raise awareness about mental health and provide support to those who may be struggling with their mental well-being.

To support Gumboot Friday, our Botany Downs School Councillors will be collecting gold coin donations on the hall deck from 8.30-9am next Friday, 6th November. It would be awesome to see as many children wearing their gumboots as possible to support this worthy cause. Our councillors are also running a colouring in competition with a prize for the best colouring for each year level.

Gumboot Friday 6th November, gold coin donation, wear your gumboots!

Policies and Procedures – SchoolDocs 2026 Term 4 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 4 the following policies relate to Learning Support and are up for review:

Curriculum and Student Achievement Policy
Reporting about Student Progress and Achievement
Learning Support
Maori educational Achievement
Health Curriculum
Privacy Policy

Mark Insley

Deputy Principal

marki@botanydowns.school.nz

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 items will be from Room 8, Rimu Year 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:

Makarios Tufue, Zara Watson, Andrew Chan, Asher Ellis, Rosie Roberts, Ela Uguz, Aaronn Ajai, Varya Govender, Mila Biddick, Xiyue Wang, Benjamin Duckworth, Brian He, Cordelia Prentice, Roxas Eason, Henil Tailor, Nature Parsons, Umama Adil, Dante Eason, Nyrah Chand, Kaisley Zhang, Elaina Su’a, Eiichi Ogura, Averia Reid, Jaiden Chen, Iris Ma’u, Leonidas Hamilton, Ivy Chen, Ayla Storm, Hirad Jamalidogaheh, Katya Troussova, Amy Chen & Heera Javaheri.

Our BDS Values

Congratulations to our following tamariki who have displayed our Values of Relationships – Whanaungatanga:

Zemira Manu, Hannah Binning, Maci Lund-Finn, Jiale Yu, Jurgens Lewis, Violet Liu, Christian Perry, Taika Murray, Hannah Shadbolt, Skyla McCallister-Lee, Kirianne Parado, Fedya Chibel, Zoya Khan, Julius Ming Peterson, Emma Zeng, Maverick Cox, Isla Marshall, Aashvi Singh, Jahsiah Tione-Kemp, Braden He, Sabrina (Aleeya Nur Sabrina), Emily Kim, Inaya Galahitiyawa, Lloyd Singh, Anaya Paraskar, Lucius Huang, Amber Jing, Tiara Mathewson, Daisy Huang

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).

http://raceroster.com/events/2026/139448/south-auckland-weet-bix-kids-tryathlon-2026/register?team=1050966

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.

Enrol Now If Your Child Turns 5 in 2026 or 2027!

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)