Botany Downs Secondary College is a state

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school located in East Tamaki, a suburb of

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. The school opened in 2004 as a result of new residential development in the eastern Auckland area. Serving Years 9 to 13, the school has a roll of approximately students.

History

Botany Downs Secondary College was announced with a notice published in the

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by Education Minister

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on 12 November 2001, with the working name ''Howick South Secondary School''. 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. *The inner circle represents the student. *The outer circle represents the nurturing and educating by the teacher. *The overlapping circles echo the traditional role of the educator and the student. *The outer shape links the circles, envelops the whole school community and is pointing towards the future.

Whanau system

The Whanau system in BDSC contains 4 Whanau, with the later addition of Britten and Koru. *Koru Whanau (Green) *John Britten Whanau (Black) *Spirit Whanau (Purple) *Discovery Whanau (Blue) *Endeavour Whanau (Yellow) *Sir Peter Blake Whanau (Red)

Enrolment

In the 2023 Census, 54.5% of students ethnically identified as Asian, and 35.5% as European/Pākehā. Other major ethnic groups include

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(8.2%),

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

(5.5%), Middle Eastern, Latin American, African ( MELAA) (4.8%), and other (0.8%). International students were included but separated, with 4.3% of students having been affiliated with an international status. The roll data presented is based on roll returns from the

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as of 1 July 2023, reporting over 1,734 students, including domestic students who are affiliated with a single or multiple ethnic groups and international students. As of , Botany Downs Secondary College has a roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori. As of , the school has an

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of , placing it amongst schools whose students have socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 8 and 9 under the former

socio-economic decile In the education in New Zealand, New Zealand education system, decile was a key measure of socioeconomic status used to target funding and support schools. In academic contexts the full term "socioeconomic decile" or "socioeconomic decile band" wa ...

system).

Notable alumni

* Tafito Lafaele – rugby union player * Ben Nee-Nee – rugby union player

References

External links

Botany Downs Secondary College official site
*
Botany downs Secondary College at New Zealand Educated
{{Schools in Auckland Secondary schools in Auckland Educational institutions established in 2004 2004 establishments in New Zealand Schools in East Auckland