Newsletter
Week 3 NEWSLETTER
from the principal
Our Vision: Together we Nurture, Explore and Create for a Better Future
A big part of our school vision is the drive to help create a better future for our children. While that largely centres on the way we teach, our innovative practice and our use of things like the ‘Good Sorts’ teaching…at times we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and the way the school operates. We are a large place…370 children, 40 staff, 17 classrooms, a hall, large office and staffroom, library, pool…and without doing a count probably 30+ toilets. We consume power to run the rooms and create waste through the learning as well. None of this is avoidable, but as an organisation we can reduce our carbon footprint.
Over time we have done a lot to reduce our environmental impact, ranging from LED lights across the entire school, compost and recycling systems, promoting nude food, reusing paper and cardboard and of course our large solar panel arrays.
Over the last 12 months Hannah Choat and the Enviro Team have been measuring our Carbon impact…how much power we use, how much wastewater we create, the weight of the rubbish we send to the transfer station, the amount of power we generate etc, etc…and I’m proud to announce that we have been certified as a Net Carbon Zero School! This is yet another cool achievement to announce at the start of this term…and I believe we are the first school in the region to gain this accreditation. We have had to offset our carbon production, and now have a range of measures for 2024 to further reduce our carbon footprint. Well done to Hannah and the kids Enviro Team for their hard mahi!
A great example of how this school is striving to meet our vision, and an example of how we are playing our part to help create a ‘Better Future’.
Grandparents Day
Looking forward to this tomorrow, our annual Grandparents Day! We will start in the hall at 11am with a Kapa Haka performance, then head to the classrooms. The children and staff are excited to host you tomorrow, and to be a part of the relationship/connection building.
Building Update
A huge amount of scaffolding arrived yesterday and is being installed along the whole length of the main block at school. This is to allow the new long run spouting to be installed. We still have access to the office/classrooms, but just be aware of the scaffolding and the work going on around you.
Connect, Inspire Learn: Student Led Conference
An absolutely amazing day here at DPS last week. Over 200 students from different schools came to lead learning for others, to share their knowledge, to connect across schools and inspire each other. The feedback has been incredibly positive...from students involved, teachers who came and principals of our local schools. I’m very proud of the fact that Shaun Harkness from Douglas Park had a lead role in developing, organising, hosting and running this conference. I believe that education is about creating better communities, helping kids give back, to give service to society. This conference was one of the ways DPS is giving back, we helped give this learning opportunity to over 200 students, to 11 schools. Shaun Harkness led this (along James from Opaki and Trudy from REAP), and deserves accolades for it...and the whole school pitched in...whether it was Rātā and Kahikatea heading off site for trips (to allow the conference space to work in), Kōwhai and Rimu having to share the school with 200 extra kids, and our staff share our staff room with all the visiting adults. Service to others is important, and this was DPS in service to the education sector of Masterton (and the outlying rural schools). Look forward to the 2024 edition!
Teacher Only Day - Monday 13th November
Our last Teacher Only Day for the year. Douglas Park and 8 other primary schools are closing to learn more about the refreshed NZ Curriculum. The day is starting here at DPS as we listen to Derek Wenmoth…a fantastic thinker in the education space. He worked with our staff at the beginning of this year, and I have brought him to Masterton for other teacher-only days. So…Monday 13th November…Teacher Only Day…add to your calendars!
Writing - Rimu - Hayley's Homeclass
Check out a sample of our terrific tales!
what's happening at dps?
Masterton Intermediate - 2024 enrolments open now
MASTERTON INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL 2024 ENROLMENTS OPEN
PLEASE ENROL NOW
Please enrol online using the below link
We are encouraging online enrolments!
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. Please note that these must be ordered by early morning on the Friday to ensure your child's order goes through for that day.
Please note that the app you are looking for is Subway Express - School Lunch programme.
Community notices
