Botany Downs Secondary College

Botany Downs Secondary College, located in East Auckland, is a large, multicultural co-educational state school for Years 9 to 13 (ages 13 to 18 years) with almost 1750 students, 170 staff, and a decile rating of 9. Opened in 2004, we have a modern learning environment which promotes 21st-century competencies.

Our college is founded on the whānau concept, with six “schools within a school” providing for the pastoral care needs of learners.

• Purpose-built for modern expectations of learning and teaching
• Built on the Whānau concept as the foundation of pastoral care for students
• Emphasis on both academic challenge and personal development, with proven success in national qualifications and the development of young leaders
• Support programmes for all students, including gifted and talented students, students with specific learning conditions, and those in need of literacy and numeracy remediation, including English as an Additional Language (EAL) support
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT) incorporated into the learning process focused on developing collaboration, communication and critical thinking, enabling self-paced, self-directed and anywhere-anytime learning
• Integrated thinking and learning curriculum, developing metacognitive processes, reflection and goal-setting
• Mentoring programmes, providing peer leadership and academic and career guidance
• Authentic and contextual learning opportunities
• Innovative teaching approaches from a dedicated, high-calibre staff