Week 7 NEWSLETTER

COVID Update

Last week I mentioned that we were still in single digits for cases, but across the last 7 days we have crossed into double digits. Not unexpected given what we are seeing nationally and in our own region. We have also seen our first ‘recoveries’ come back to school after their time away…nice to see them back, smiling and into the learning! Currently we have 15 ‘active’ cases in isolation out of our school population of 342…so still very low numbers. All our systems are still in place and they all seem to be serving us well. While I’m no scientist, and proving this would be a challenge, I’m confident that at this stage we’ve seen no in-school transmission.

The time needed to isolate for cases/household contacts has been reduced…and this website is awesome for figuring out your return to school date. Thanks once again by supporting us by keeping children away when they are sick at the moment. We know this can be a strain and a challenge.

I think I need some help

Covid-19 has caused challenges for people in many ways. If you need some help - reach out. There is support available.

• For existing MSD clients or NZ residents needing financial support please ring Work and Income on 0800 559 009. Open 7am-6pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-1pm (Sat), Sun closed.

• The Government Helpline is available to help people who aren’t sure who to talk to: please call 0800 779 997. Open 8am-5pm, 7 days a week.

• Foreign nationals who do not qualify for other support can still access support through CDEM Groups – contact them through the Government Helpline.

• For people who need support to find short term temporary accommodation due to COVID-19 please call MBIE’s Temporary Accommodation Service on 0508 754 163 to register.

Sport @ DPS

It has been great having our own internal Mod Softball and Tee Ball competition…so many children have taken part! COVID may have taken away the interschool feature, but we haven’t lost the opportunity for children to shine on the field. A big thanks to the teachers giving up lunch breaks to provide this for the children…as always, going above and beyond.

For the last 4 weeks we will be running touch and rippa rugby for the kids, building towards taking part in a local tournament later in the month.

Teacher Only Day - Thursday 14th April

Advanced notice…we are having a Teacher Only Day on Thursday 14th April. This was to be a townwide teacher only day, but due to COVID we aren’t coming together across all the schools. DPS is still going to have the day to do some powerful learning together. Many thanks for your support.

This makes the last day of term Wednesday 13th April (as Friday is Good Friday).

Got Younger Siblings?

We are just updating our enrollment records for the year. If you have a 4 year old at home that will be attending DPS this year can you please let us know. Flick an email to the office: office@douglaspark.school.nz . This information lets us plan out classes, and to manage our numbers here at DPS.

Our Kōwhai students had an awesome EOTCC experience at Mt Holdsworth this week. The Year 3s set off on Monday and Year 2s Wednesday. Our EOTC instructor 'Beechy' was a wonderful guide and all students had a great time learning outside for the day! He whetu koutou.

We are so lucky here at DPS to have such an awesome group of people working with our learners! As we get new staff, we will have a korero with some of our staff to help you learn more about us! Feel free to stop for a chat when you see us around school.