Cross Country

Practice is well underway for this event, and it is great to see the kids challenge themselves. I write this every year…and I still believe it. Cross Country isn’t about running as much as it is about developing perseverance, and rising to a challenge. No matter how fast you are, how far you can run…training can get you quicker, or enable you to run further. And the beauty of it…the challenge is universal. I’m yet to meet anyone who can run, push themselves and not be physically and mentally challenged by the effort it takes. Legs get sore, that voice starts in your head (just slow down, walk a bit…) so the real learning in cross country is about pushing yourself, and being able to push past the challenges.

We look forward to inviting whānau to the cross country…which will be our first big parent event in quite some time. It will be great to have you, and great to see our DPS Kids rise to their own challenge during their run.

Give-a-Little

Thank you to the generous donations being made in support of one of our DPS whānau. Challenging and tricky waters they navigate, but the support is much appreciated. The page is here if you’d like to donate.

Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC)

Hit and miss this week…Rimu got to enjoy a magic time out at Pūkaha Mt Bruce, but we had to postpone the Rātā trip to Mt Holdsworth. The Pūkaha trip was a real hit, the children had been building to this in their play based learning and classwork. Great to have the children out and about again, something that we were quite excited for this year…COVID has provided its challenges…but going forward each of the teams have several more trips planned as well as the Camp Kaitoke experience for the Year 5 and 6 children at the end of Term 3.

Upcoming Dates

We have 3 short weeks at school this term that you need to be aware of:

• Week 6: Monday 6th June is Queen’s Birthday Weekend…no school that day

• Week 7: Friday 17th June is a Teacher Only Day for all the Masterton Primary Schools…no school that day

• Week 8: Friday 24th June is the new Matariki public holiday…no school that day

Splash! We ran for our lives, we hid in the watercress and weeds.

We came out but stayed curious about what was going on. We saw a big fat giant with a scary rod.

There were very big juicy rotten sausages on flax. We wanted them really badly but knew it was a trap. We tried to ignore them but I couldn’t help it so I took one bite and up we went onto land. They kept on touching me but it burnt so I tried to get back to the water in time because I was running out of air.

I wiggled and slithered to get back to the water and I did. We lived happily ever after.

Zeke Reid

An Eels Life

BOOM! I was born… I was a brand new tiny little fish, well “Elva.” I was confident, prepared and ready to travel to my new home. The current was dragging my tiny body to a creek, lake or stream. I was like a dog being dragged around by its lead. On the way to my habitat I made a couple of friends, so I was able to manage swimming so far!

My eyes fluttered open. Something wasn’t quite right! I later realised I had transformed into… AN EEL! I looked like a huge long slippery worm! I was like an ice ring. I slithered down to the deepest part of the creek.The years flew by like a bird whooshing for its next prey. “WACK!” Something had slapped into my home, I rushed away in case it was something that all the other eels whispered about, fisherman... “Look,Look!” A young voice cracked. “I see one!” I rolled my eyes and slowly swam back to the small whole I dug for myself. After that day the visited me every other afternoon, destroying my piece and quite.

I had decided to emigrate back to the ocean, where it all started. I gave all my friends a proper goodbye, packed my things, and took off! It's about time I moved. Those humans have been bothering me this entire past year. I was halfway through my imagration until… A BOAT!

The end.

Heidi Sawkins

Splash! Something flew into the water. Suddenly something strong spreads down the river. The Eels slowly emerged from their holes But suddenly the ground started the Shake. The humans have arrived

Woosh something sharp landed in front of me as fast as a blink of an eye. It looked like a big claw, it pulled the weeds from in front of me eventually leaving me exposed.

Colt Lee

The adventure of an eel

I slipped through the slimy wet pipe and ended up in the unknown stream. The muddy grass brushed along my tummy and it tickled with humour. Ooo the humans were here dropping something, mmm it was sausage the flavours were melting on my tongue.

I slipped back through the slimy slithery pipe. It felt different, it felt bigger, the current grew stronger and stronger and it was getting harder and harder to swim. Some other eel friends started to surround and help me get to the end. An hour later, I was about two centimetres away from home altho it didn't feel right but I kept on going.

Wait where am I? It smelt salty and felt sandy. The distance was longer and it felt wider. This doesn't feel right. I started to feel homesick but FREE.

Elise McDonald

Next week is Bully Free week, which culminates with 'Pink Shirt Day' on Friday the 20th. We will be raising funds to help support mental health and anti-bullying programmes in New Zealand schools and work places. So think pink...and bring a gold coin donation for this fantastic cause!

You can find out more about Pink Shirt Day at https://www.pinkshirtday.org.nz/

FoDPS First Meeting for 2022

Do you have some time to help with fundraisers and in school events?

We would love to have you join our small dedicated group of parents and teacher rep doing our bit to give the DPS tamariki that little bit extra.

We meet monthly during term time, support events such as cross country (handing out ice blocks as tamariki complete the run), fundraisers (currently selling pies 🥧) and other little extras throughout the year.

We will meet in the staff room at 7.30pm Wednesday 18th May.

If you have any questions before the meeting you can email us

fodps@douglaspark.school.nz

Our DPS School Cross Country will be held on Friday 27th May (Postponement date: Friday 3rd June).

Parents are welcome, so put the date in your calendar! Students can wear their PE uniform or a top in their house colour (Rutherford = Red, Sheppard = Blue, Batten = Black, Hillary = Green). Year 6 students may dress up.

Our first race begins at 11.10am.

Order of Races

Year 3 boys and girls

Year 2 boys and girls

Rimu boys and girls

Year 4 boys and girls

Year 5 boys and girls

Year 6 boys and girls

Click here to register - http://www.hockeywairarapa.org.nz/Online-Registration-Forms/under-11-program-2022