Week 10 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

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

Our Leaders Team unpacked our school data on Tuesday, and we are thrilled at the progress and attainment of the children. Our data currently is:

Reading: 83% of children are Kua Mārama or higher (working at an expected level against the curriculum, or higher)
Writing: 85% of children are Kua Mārama or higher
Maths: 87% of children are Kua Mārama or higher

When we look at the children who started with us as 5 year olds, their data is higher again. In reading 88% of these children are Kua Mārama or higher, Writing it is 90%, and Maths it is 90%. These results are awesome…but I’m particularly thrilled as we are getting these high results while still doing our play learning, our maker learning…while still giving children daily opportunities to be successful outside of reading, writing and maths. I got a lovely email last night from a parent sharing about how one of our students is loving Maths, and was happily doing some maths mahi at home. Part of her email really captured what we are trying to do here:

There are so many things we appreciate about Douglas Park but one thing we really value is how he is engaged in meaningful and challenging learning opportunities. It could be in maths or in maker or sport, we have a happy boy coming home each day.

I love the description of learning being both meaningful and challenging, and I love the acknowledgement that this is in an academic setting, as well as the making and sport. It really sums up our aim here…to develop children who are very capable academically (as our results show), who are also capable as ‘people’ (people who are kind, creative, collaborative, can think critically and have agency/ownership of their learning).

As an aside…there was an announcement from the government yesterday around standardised testing for primary school students. Like most schools, we use these assessment tools already. We use e-asttle as a reading assessment tool, we use PAT Maths and we also assess writing using our own progressions that are based on the e-asttle writing assessment tool.

The announcement also seemed to suggest that schools aren’t sharing to parents how their children are progressing academically. While I can’t speak for all schools, I would say most schools do this as well. Our HERO app does this, and does this all the time, all year. Today you will be getting a teacher comment pushed out via HERO, and your child's graphs have all been updated to show where they are against the NZ Curriculum, and the progress they have made (the dials).

Inquiry Learning Sharing

Last Thursday the teaching teams shared with each other the results of the students Inquiry Learning. Sharing learning publicly like this is great for the children…they get to be recognised as experts by their peers, they have to explain what they have done and why and it also gives them an endpoint, an audience to work towards.

New staff and a farewell

We have two teacher aides joining our DPS Team. Natalie has started with the Rimu Team this week, and Rose will start in Kōwhai next term.

We do sadly have to farewell Darelle who has been working with Kōwhai this year as a teacher aide. Darelle is an amazing staff member, goes above and beyond and always has a smile. We wish her well in her new role across town.

I have also appointed a teacher to start another New Entrant class in Rimu partway through next term. I’ll announce the details next term once they’ve worked through the process with their current school.

Building!

We have builders back on site…almost got through a whole term without fences and scaffolding, but not quite! They are in to complete the hall project. Now that the roofing project has been completed (fixing the leaks finally), the old pinex ceiling has been ripped down ready to be replaced. New insulation will go in, and hopefully by the time school starts again next term this work will be complete.

Road Patrol

I’d just like to say a massive thanks to our road patrol children (and the staff that support). We’ve reached that time of year…cold, wet…but these guys front up to do their mahi, keeping our school community safe crossing the roads. One of our big drivers here is the idea of ‘Service’, developing children who want to ‘give back’ and these road patrol guys are a great example of that. Cheers team!

UNIFORM REMINDER:

We have a compulsory school uniform and this can be purchased through NZ Uniforms (3 Albert Street, Masterton). Second hand uniform is on sale at school and available to view by appointment. Call the office to make a time.

Students must wear their DPS polo shirt and black uniform bottoms. Any items worn under the DPS uniform that can be visible, need to be black.

Shoes and socks must be black also. We appreciate your ongoing support with ensuring that your child is wearing the correct and tidy uniform to school.

Writing - fab collabs

This term, through the Kahui Ako our students have had the opportunity to be part of three different Fab Collab’s. Two of the Fab Collab’s were run by Wairarapa College students and one at Solway College.

Music Fab Collab at Solway College.

We got picked up in the Solway College van and went to their music room. Mrs Blue came with us. We got to play lots of different instruments. My favourite one was the guitar. I learnt some chords and we played a song called ‘Train Blues.’ Some children from Hadlow went as well. I’m really pleased I got to go because I had fun in the music room at Solway College.

By Bowie Matthews

Digi Tech

Fab Collab at Wairarapa College

We walked to Wairarapa College with Mr Archer to the Digi Tech room. When we got there we had to line up and they wrote our names on the board. We had to pick a buddy. Our buddy taught us how to code on Tinkercad better. I learnt to make a name tag, mine turned out really cool. I’m glad I got to go to Waicol because it was fun.

By Luka Anderson

Drama Fab Collab at WaiCol

Mrs Walsh walked with us to Wairarapa College. When we got there we went to the drama room. We played lots of games, my favourite one was making up scenes. We made up our own ideas. We invented one about schools, Hugh was acting as the teacher, Amaia and I were students. We were misbehaving and almost went to the principal's office! We played a game where people tried to make you smile and you’re not meant to, I always smiled. I’m glad I got to go to Waicol because it was amazing and now I’m friends with some people at Waicol.

By Ella Oakly

Baking for GBB

In term one, our student hauora leaders went to Solway Primary School and Eve from GBB talked to us about how once someone put a scone on someone's desk and it brightened her day. That gave the woman the idea to start GBB which is a voluntary organisation that gives out treat food. Their motto is ‘Spreading Kindness, one treat at a time.’

We talked to the other student councillors about making Lolly cake and Rice krispie cakes to donate to GBB. We made double batches of both recipes on Monday lunchtime in the hall.

My job was mixing all the ingredients for the lolly cake, we rolled it in coconut. The food got delivered to Eve, so she could give it out to groups in our community.

It made me feel good to make the lolly cake knowing it was for other people and it was fun making it.

By Savannah McAdams