Newsletter
Week 7 NEWSLETTER
from the principal
Strike Today!
The nationwide teacher strike is on today, and I know the profession feels the support of the community…and I thank you for that. The sector is in a bit of a mess, and we need the government to recognise that. While we appreciate money is tight for everyone (government included) it doesn’t change that we are in a state of crisis. Our vision at school…Together we Nurture, Explore and Create for a Better Future…asks us to lift learning up and set our kids on a path to make a difference in their future. We want (and need) the same for our teachers, because at the moment the ‘Better Future’ part in the profession seems a bit lacking. Some facts below:
The average age of a teacher is 54, and it is aging. 58 for principals (makes me positively youthful!)
The amount of people enter teacher training is declining rapidly
The drop out rate in the profession in the first 5 years is staggering
62% of all current Auckland Principals have less than 5 years experience
Between 10-20% of Principal jobs are not filled when jobs are advertised.
Across the country there have been more new first time principals in the past 5 years than at any stage prior in history
The gap between Primary and Secondary schools is now massive. To compare…a primary school of 300 students vs a secondary of 300 students: The secondary would have 6 more teachers, more than 2 full time counsellors (we have none), and have 2 funded Deputy Principals (we are funded for 1). We do wonders already at DPS with the staffing we have…imagine the possibilities if we were funded fairly!
The financial gap is also huge. Those same two schools…the primary would have 16 management units to allocate to teachers (a bonus to their salary to recognise extra work), and the secondary would have 35. And…the kicker to that is, these units are worth $1000 more in a secondary school compared to primary. And…the nail in the coffin is…on top of those units, they get extra middle and senior management allowances (again, extra to salary)...24 of them, and primary get none. Add that up and the secondary has 59 units/allowances to give, while the primary only has 16, and these units/allowances are worth more in secondary.
All of this adds up to a crisis…we aren’t recruiting teachers (no one wants to do the job), those in the job are finding it hard and leaving…and those of us in the Primary School sector are treated as second rate compared to secondary (and to be fair, it is even worse for our kindergarten/ECE colleagues…they do an amazing job, and get a raw deal for it!).
So why strike? Because what other choice do we have? Somehow we have to get the pay and conditions right to attract the very best people into the profession, and to have things right so they want to stay.
Well done Archie and Quin!
Some very cool making by these young lads this week. I was busy in meetings every time they came to see me on Monday, so on Tuesday they cornered me in the office with their creation. It is an arcade type game…they built a little catapult (which works awesomely by the way!), then made a structure to fire into. The game was firing objects (acorns, fuzzy felt balls etc) up into the top compartment. Up there was a hole…so you got a point if you could fire the object up into the structure, and have it fall down the hole. Very tricky! Most of my attempts went well over the top, like I said…the catapult was very effective! I did get one though…smiles all around when that happened.
Another example of the learning we provide at DPS. Kids all get the ‘normal’ reading, writing and maths…but these opportunities happen in and around those times. The learning in this is rich…the Creativity to come up with the idea, the Agency to take the idea and plan for it, make it a reality, the Critical Thinking it took to problem solve (they were very proud of how hard it was to make) and of course the Collaboration of the two boys working together over the day on the project. All of our Core Beliefs in action…love it!
Bake Sale
Thank you for your support of the Rimu team bake sale yesterday. Each teaching team has a fundraiser like this across the year…and the money goes right back into the team to buy the ‘nice to haves’, or contribute to things like trips. We really appreciate your support…we want to thank you, and to assure you the money all goes back to great things for kids!
Wairarapa Cricket's First Girls Smash Festival
Our girls had such an awesome day out at Wairarapa Cricket's First Girls Smash Festival.
Well done girls - such great daring to dream! Tino pai to mahi.
Rippa Rugby
Our Year 5/6 and 3/4 Rippa teams had an awesome day at the Rippa Rugby tournament yesterday!
It was wonderful to see these guys daring to dream and representing DPS with PRIDE at the event!
Tino pai to mahi tamariki ma.
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.
Teacher Only Days - Reminder
We have two upcoming teacher only days:
Thursday 6th April: This is all of the primary schools in Masterton closing for a day of professional learning. Again I am one of the organisers, and it will be a day of powerful learning for our educators. This TOD makes Wednesday 5th April the last day of the term
Monday 24th April: This is a teacher only day to look at the new NZ Curriculum. All schools in NZ have the first two weeks of term 2 to have a TOD, and many are choosing Monday 24th April as the very next day is ANZAC Day, so schools will be closed then. This makes Wednesday 26th April the first day of term 2.
Thanks in advance for your support of these days.
What's happening at DPS?
Lucky Book Club Orders…here is some information so you can plan out your orders over the year. When each edition arrives - students are offered the magazine but taking one home is not compulsory! We encourage parents to enstall the LOOP app on their devices to make ordering easy. Please have your orders submitted by the closing date to avoid postage costs to yourselves.
Any problems please contact Gemma McPhail at gemmamcphail@douglaspark.school.nz or you can find me in room Kōwhai. Or you can talk to Meryl in the office and she may be able to help you.
Sport
CRICKET
This week 12 of our students participated in the Wairarapa's first Smash Girls Cricket Festival Day. The girls had an absolute blast and were able to test many of their newly acquired skills. Thanks to Melissa Hansen and Cricket Wairarapa for organising the day. Also thanks to Mr Sinton, Mr Harkness, and Miss Choat for transporting and supervising on the day.
MASTERTON INTERSCHOOL SWIMMING SPORTS
Congratulations and good luck to our swimmers who qualified for the Regional Swimming Champs being held next Wednesday 22nd March.
A special Mention needs to go to our Boys relay teams who both came first and our 7-8 year old girls relay team who came second. Ka mau te wehi.
MASTERTON RIPPA RUGBY COMPETITION
This week we sent a year 3/4 and a year 5/6 team to the Rippa Rugby tournament held at Memorial Park. Our students competed with PRIDE and both teams finished the day undefeated! A fantastic effort by all.
Thanks to Joe and Helen for taking the teams on the day. Without them, the day wouldn't have been possible.
Order Subway online or at the office for delivery to school friday
Every Friday we have Subway lunches delivered to school. If you would like to order your child a subway lunch, the easiest way is to order online. Please make sure you put your child's class (teachers name) on the order as it makes it much easier to sort our end. Subway can also be ordered by filling out a form at the school office before school on a Friday.
Community notices
