Week 1 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

Our Vision: Together we Nurture, Explore and Create for a Better Future

Welcome back for Term 2! I hope the school break was a positive one, and you managed to get some time together as a whānau. We’ve had a brilliant start back at DPS…one big success was walking in on Monday and there was no scaffolding, no builders fences, no building materials…after nearly two years we are pretty much done with the building mahi…and (if I do say so myself) the school is looking stunning!

I have two contrasting tales to share as we start back this term:

Monday was a beautiful day…the sun was out, the children were back and smiling, the school grounds were full of laughter and conversation as everyone reconnected with each other. We had Dr Mark Osborne (one of NZ’s leading education experts) in for the day, and Shaun and I spent the morning with him observing in each of the classes. We saw in-depth literacy teaching, teacher aides working 1:1 with children, kids creating board games, students making music in garageband, mathematical discussions being shared, iPad skills being taught, children making forts, writing being done about ANZAC day, children working/learning inside and outside, working individually or in small groups, teachers working 1:1, working with small groups, working with full classes…what we saw was an incredibly rich and focused learning environment. After lunch he worked with Shaun and I about where we might head next as a school as we work on our Culture of Creativity…and after school Mark led a staff professional learning session looking once again at what Creativity is, how it can be taught, and how our learning spaces can best develop it. The learning with staff was again incredibly rich, exciting and he mentioned a phrase to us worth sharing…we want learning to be designed so that “children are hands on, and minds on”. Learning that is real/tangible and active, as well as challenging for the brain. Hands on, minds on…I thought that captured so well what we want learning to look like at DPS…we want learning that develops creativity (hand’s on) as well as knowledge (minds on)...and the day felt like a massive win.

THEN

That same afternoon (while we were learning more about Creativity, hands on/minds on) our Education Minister announced 6 new education policies…policies that seemed to fly in the face of all the rich learning by kids and staff that we had seen that same day. To sum some of them up:
1. Standardised Learning - All children to learn the same knowledge, at the same rate (despite children all being inherently different and unique)
2. Standardised Teaching - All teachers to teach the same way (despite a one size fits all approach not being appropriate)
3. Standardised testing - All children to be tested by the same tool, and success measured by that tool (despite success being much more than a test score)
4. Standardised reporting - All reporting to be the same across the country (despite each school serving communities that are diverse and different)

It was a real contrast hearing her speak when I caught up with it after work, given we had just had such a powerful day with Dr Mark Osborne and witnessing all the amazing learning on offer at DPS. I know that the education sector has issues that need to be addressed, but I don’t agree with some of the solutions being offered up here.

Two things that keep rattling around my head that I will hold to as we work through this new education direction (not that the Ministry has released any plans or anything yet)

Children are unique beings, not units of data.
Learning should be hands on, minds on…and be something that they care about

ANZAC Day Dawn Service

Great to see our councillors out in force for the Dawn Service this year. A great way to pay tribute, and to pause and reflect on how lucky we are to live in such a great country.

Mila-Kay and Rueben laid a wreath on behalf of our school community.

Out of Zone Enrolments for Terms 3 & 4

The out of zone enrolment process is underway. If you know of anyone who lives out of the school zone who is considering our school…they need to reach out to us TODAY or they may miss their chance. Flick an email to office@douglaspark.school.nz

Councillors

Dawn Parade

In the holidays a group of councillors attended the ANZAC dawn parade to remember the soldiers who fought for our country. Reuben and Mila-Kay laid a wreath on the cenotaph on behalf of our kura.

It was an early, chilly start so thank you to these children and their whānau for coming along!

Tino pai tō mahi tamariki mā.