Botany Downs Secondary College (age 13 - 18), Howick, Auckland
Botany Downs Secondary College (BDSC) welcomes International Students. We are a co-educational state school for Years 9 to 13 (age 13 to 18 years) with over 1800 students and 150 staff. At Botany Downs Secondary College we are a forward-thinking community specifically designed to meet the needs of 21stcentury learning and teaching. Botany Downs Secondary College focuses on high expectations of student commitment to achievement; an emphasis on personal development and care for one another; and our desire to form strong partnerships with parents and others in a “learning community”.
Our learning community is at the forefront of best practice in education, including our use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education, recognised by our status as a Mentor School in the Worldwide Microsoft Partners in Learning programme. Our mix of strategies aims at nurturing responsible citizens, creative and critical thinkers and learners, and young people able to advance in a knowledge era community.
At BDSC we utilise diverse learning activities, learning contexts, and technologies. The pace of technological change means that learning can truly take place in the global village of the 21st century and BDSC has established national and international learning partnerships for both students and staff. Our Whanau system as the basis of pastoral care provides exceptional support for individual students. Each Whanau promotes group cohesiveness and establishes an identity for each student that is related to a physical and social environment. When our students leave us, we want them to stride into the world of further education and employment, well qualified and skilled, and equipped to handle the challenges of the world in which they will live, learn, serve, and work. We welcome your active participation in making this vision a reality.
Botany Downs Secondary College has fantastic facilities that we are happy to hire out to our local community at reasonable rates. The Performing Arts Centre, gymnasium, Conference Centre and whanau commons' are popular facilities.
Study at Botany Downs Secondary College
All International students follow the same academic programme as other students in the college. English level is assessed on arrival, and students may be placed into one or more English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes instead of one or more other subjects.
In Years 11-13, we prepare students to achieve National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Levels 1-3. Subject availability depends on class size and cannot be guaranteed. Some subjects require previous experience especially in senior levels.
Senior Curriculum, Year 11 -13
Botany Downs Secondary College offers a broad range of courses to meet the needs of diverse students. We operate a 26 period weekly timetable for delivery of the curriculum (five one-hour periods from Tuesday to Thursday and six 50-minute periods on Monday).
Alongside the regular curriculum is our Building Learning Power programme that promotes metacognitive approaches to understand how to learn and mentoring processes focused on reflection on academic goals and progress. This is supported by Year 12 and !3 students. The curriculum meets the requirements of the New Zealand Curriculum where the Key Competencies and Values are developed within the eight learning areas. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are integrated throughout the curriculum as well as provided as specialist Digital Technology classes from Years 11 to 13, emphasising design and programming.
Accommodation
Our Homestay Families. We have wonderful host families who give students the chance to experience the Kiwi way of life as part of a caring family, and help them to develop their English language skills.
Fees 2025:
NZ$ 20,500 tuition fee one full year
NZ$ 2,000 administration fee
NZ$ 645 Medical and Travel insurance for one year
NZ$ 500 Homestay/Caregiver Support fee (one-off fee)
NZ$ 370 Homestay fee per week
The tuition fee includes: GST, textbooks on loan, ESOL tuition if required, initial stationery pack, airport meet and greet on first arrival
