Week 10 NEWSLETTER

Regional Cross Country - Success!

We had a small group of runners head down to Upper Hutt to represent Masterton in the Regional Cross Country event. The event is a massive step up…our kids qualify by being among the fastest at our school, head to the inter-school competition and be among the fastest there to qualify for the next level. This means at this event it is the best of the best from across the entire Wellington region (several hundred schools).

Fern Tua-Davidson, Cody Bedford-Robinson, Reuben Harkness, Heidi Sawkins and Zeke Reid were our students at the event…a massive achievement in and of itself, and they all ran and placed well…but the huge news from the day was:

Cody won his race! Fastest Year 4 boy in the Wellington Region! Each year we have kids from DPS qualify for this event, but this is our biggest achievement ever. A huge well done to Cody, a young man Daring to Dream!

Achievement Data

Half way through the school year, and a chance to celebrate our academic success. Currently in our 3 main learning areas we are sitting at:

• Reading - 86% Kua Mārama or higher (working at where we would expect or higher)

• Writing - 85% Kua Mārama or higher

• Maths - 90% Kua Mārama or higher

It is great to have such solid results behind us, and be in a great position to push on across the next 6 months. While we are a play based, maker school…we also know that children need a strength in literacy and numeracy…and these results show that this is the case. We know that our kids are wonderfully creative, collaborative and are able to generate and make wonderful creations in their play and making at school…and these results show that they are also academically doing a great job as well.

Each teaching team today has a bit of time out of class to go over the progress made this term, celebrate the wins and plan ahead for next term. This time together is invaluable…to learn from each other, to share problems and solve them together, and to use the power of many minds to think about where to next for our learners.

Teacher Comments

We report in a few ways to whānau across the year:

• Face to face via our Learning Conversations in Terms 1 and 3

• A teacher comment about each child shared with whānau in Terms 2 and 4

• Two learning posts for each child are shared per term via HERO. These look different across the school, but are intended to be a snapshot of learning, or a brief window into the classroom and the learning that is going on

• HERO itself - the program is ‘live’, and across the term the progress wheels in reading and writing are updated (we do not have these for Maths). The graph that shows academic achievement is also live, but is updated less often.

Today teacher comments will be pushed out via HERO about your child. Check the app and have a read about the development of your child as a learner and as a young human.

BOT Nominations

With the Board election fast approaching, nomination forms will be posted out tomorrow to all eligible people. Your opportunity to consider standing for the Board, to get involved in the governance of the school and a powerful way to be involved in your child's educational journey.

The Cheetah Queen.

Azim clutched the ivy as he scampered away from the Queen's servants. They were coming to take him to the Queen’s cages. He tried to find Tiago and Griffin before he got captured like Echo, his lion best friend. Azimuth thrusted against the shelter, “Griffin, Tiago!” He said to the human boys. They turned to him, “Echo’s captured!”.

Tiago jumped at the horrible news. A mournful expression haunted his face like he had just seen a ghost. “Let’s go!” He shouted. They both jumped onto Azim. Azim charged towards the cheetah queen's palace. The frigid grass cracked underneath the weight of the two boys on the tiger. Azim rapidly sprinted forward, ready to confront the queen. “Queen Yoru!” Azim yelled as he barged into the palace, running past the guards. The queen exhaled impatiently, Azim bowed quickly as he almost forgot. “I’m sorry for the unidentified appearance. I’m Azim.” The boys scattered away. Yoru smiled. “I hope you are recovering from the trauma.” He added. Azim looked at the gash healing on her side; he estimated it would have been the worst wound. Azim looked back at her face. “Mother did well, she surrendered at the end - at least I got to say goodbye.” Yoru stated. “NOW WHY ARE YOU HERE?”. Azim’s novelty had worn off, he shivered, ‘Oh no!’.

Soon enough as he guessed, the cheetah gracefully stepped down from her throne. Her guards swiftly accompanied her. “Take him to the cages, he can join the awful screeching lion!” Yoru ended with a hiss. “Agh! Noooo.” Azim cried as he tried to put up a fight with the guard, it wasn’t worth it. The guards chucked the tiger into the cage. “Azim!” A voice echoed. “Echo?” Azim asked himself. He looked across the cages and saw him, shivering in the dark. Azim clawed at the cages, after a couple tries he retracted his claws and sighed. He tried again and again until the door started becoming weak.

The manufactured hinge clenched tightly as Azim pressed against the cage door. Azim’s sunken face lit up suddenly, two cheetahs carried around some scraps from the royal dinner. Azim licked his lips, they dumped half in his cage and he feasted happily. “How could they waste this!” He murmured. They gave the rest to echo and they ate. It was getting later as they finished off their food.

The sky darkened although there was more day to come. Azim and Echo had finished their food. “Goodnight, I guess.” Echo called to Azim. “Night.” He replied. They each closed their eyes and hoped to get out tomorrow. The stars burned the sky and it lit the sky alight. But suddenly a crack split the silence, it echoed through the dungeon. The cages had cracked…

By Elise Polley

The Wasp Attack

Whoosh! I smashed myself onto the cold wet bark underneath me not knowing the future consequences. “1, 2, 3!” The seeker was counting and Lizey was running towards me. I waved a signal at her so she knew she could hide with me. She crashed by my side quickly. “Hello!” I said. Lizey put her finger over her mouth, clearly telling me to shush. I rolled my eyes and stared around me. A forest full of green laid everywhere. The floor was made mostly out of mud, The grass sunk between my feet due to how soggy it was. Above the ground was a sunless dull sky, There was a strong overcast that day.“18, 19, 20! Here we come!” My eyes bulged. My hands were shaking as if I was on mount everest. The tree in front of us was the only way of surviving the seeker’s finding us. I looked around watching all the players being harshly found one by one, this was the most intense game I have ever joined. I looked across at Lizey, we both stood like a statue when a wasp flew around us. Slowly the wasp landed on her shaky shoulder. The wasp was a magnet attached to Lizey. We both stared at each other in horror. She had pain in her eyes. It felt as If her facial expression was yelling, “OwWWwW!” She clutched her shoulder.

Poor Lizey began tearing up. I instantly put myself up on my feet and stood forward. “Someone just got stung!!” I yell. She rushed up for help but in less then a snap of a finger she got brutally stung again! I watched Bradyn’s Mum get stung twice on her thigh, I watched Zarah getting stung on her finger. Everything was happening so quickly. All I could do was RUN, and that's exactly what I did…

By Heidi Sawkins

Miniball - Please pay the $15 fee to the office by tomorrow.

Badmintoon - Sign up here. The $30 fee can be paid next term.

Fees can be paid online. Please use their name and the sport as the reference.

Douglas Park School

12-3290-0064275-00