Botany Downs Secondary College

Botany Downs Secondary College (BDSC)

"Maximising achievement through intellectual growth"
Address
575 Chapel Road
East Tamaki
Auckland 2016
New Zealand
Coordinates 36°56′04″S 174°54′58″E / 36.934370°S 174.915984°E / -36.934370; 174.915984Coordinates: 36°56′04″S 174°54′58″E / 36.934370°S 174.915984°E / -36.934370; 174.915984
Information
Opened January 2004 (January 2004)
Ministry of Education Institution no. 6930
Principal Karen Brinsden
Years offered 9–13
Gender Coeducational
School roll 1879[1] (November 2015)
Socio-economic decile 9Q[2]
Website www.bdsc.school.nz
Botany Downs Secondary College at night.

Botany Downs Secondary College is a state coeducational secondary school located in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of East Tamaki. The school opened at the beginning of the 2004 school year to serve new residential development in the eastern Auckland area and to relieve other secondary schools in the area. Serving Years 9 to 13, the school has a roll of approximately 1879 students.[1] Karen Brinsden has been appointed as the new principal for the school, starting from the beginning of 2016.

History

Botany Downs Secondary College was gazetted by Education Minister Trevor Mallard on 12 November 2001, with the working name Howick South Secondary School.[3] The school opened in January 2004, initially taking Year 9 students only. The remaining school years opened as the 2004 Year 9 students moved through, with the school fully opening at the beginning of 2008.

Logo

The logo design uses the circles of the Beta and Delta characters from the Greek alphabet.

Enrolment

At the June 2012 Education Review Office (ERO) review of the school, Botany Downs Secondary College had 1742 students, including 96 international students. The school has an Asian majority with 51 percent of students identifying as such, including 15 percent as Chinese and 15 percent as Indian. Forty-one percent of students identified as European, including 30 percent as New Zealand European (Pākehā). Māori and Pacific Islanders make up four percent of the roll each.[4]

Botany Downs Secondary College has a socio-economic decile of 9 (step Q), meaning it draws its school community from areas of low to moderately-low socioeconomic disadvantage when compared to other New Zealand schools. This changed from decile 10 (funding step Z) at the beginning of 2015, as part of the nationwide review of deciles following the following the 2013 census.[2]

Whanau system

The Whanau system in BDSC is designed to create a 'family' atmosphere; a "home away from home". It encourages a sense of a community based learning environment. There were previously 4 Whanau, with the late addition of Britten and Koru.

Information & Communication Technology (ICT)

At Botany Downs Secondary College ICT is an integral part of the life of the school, for the teaching and learning programmes, administration and communication with our parent community. Training is ongoing for all staff and students to make the most of the developing technologies. Students have individual access to the network, with copy and print capabilities.

All classrooms in the College are connected to the school network. Staff have both cable and wireless access to the network to enable staff to move freely, creating truly flexible learning areas. Access to the Office 365, the college's network, gives students and staff access to their school email accounts, learning resources and school information from within the college and from home e.g. lesson handouts, powerpoint presentations, assessment calendar and assignments. Parents and students have access to the Webportal, which gives them access to students' grades, fees, reports, attendance and timetable.

As BDSC is a Microsoft school in partnership with Microsoft, using Microsoft services, students can download Microsoft Office Suite for home use, on up to five devices, for free.[5]

A feature of each Whanau is the IT pod situated on the ground floor. Each computer pod has 12 computers, in addition to the computers in the general classrooms, and the Study Centre. The second floor specialist areas have 12 computers. Interactive Whiteboards and data projectors add a new dimension to curriculum delivery in the classroom. The school's Daily Notices are streamed into and displayed on plasma screens in each Whanau Commons.

References

  1. 1 2 "Directory of Schools - as at 01 December 2015". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  2. 1 2 "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Mallard, Trevor (29 November 2001). "Establishment of a New School". New Zealand Gazette (New Zealand Government) 2001 (161): 3935. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Botany Downs Secondary College Education Review". Education Review Office. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  5. ↑ http://www.bdsc.school.nz/parents/parent-guardian-handbook-and-resources

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.