Week 4 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

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

Creativity is a big part of what this school is about…we have a two year Strategic Goal to further develop our Culture of Creativity, and it is one of our 4 Core Beliefs (alongside Critical Thinking, Learner Agency and Collaboration).

We believe that Creativity is a skill that can be taught, a muscle that can be developed. Over time we have developed some indicators to help us describe what Creativity is…and when Dr Mark Osborne was in at the start of the term, we reviewed and revised them again. They are:

We believe that creative learners are able to:

Dare to be different and be brave
Create purposefully
Generate and challenge a range of ideas (fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration)
Visualises possibilities.
Share your creative process.

Mark also shared a line with us that we have added as a title type descriptor…and that is

Creativity is Intelligence having fun

Such a great way to describe it!

Teachers have spent some time this year learning how to use Garageband on the iPads…a music creation tool. We are now starting to see this effort pay off as around the school children are creating their own music soundscapes, and even creating their own songs. Te Arawa, Pippa and Riley from Kahikatea have even written and recorded their own anti-bullying song (in English and Te Reo) in support of Pink Shirt Day! This is part of what we are pushing for…giving children the space, the tools, the ability and the confidence to be creative…and them setting their creative selves loose on the world!

Attendance + Illness

It seems like the colder weather has brought the first round of winter illness with it. We are seeing more children away unwell, and it is also impacting staff. This isn’t just happening here…nationwide, sickness is hitting, and it is impacting schools. This Stuff article highlights some of the challenges…with schools having to shut, or ask for children to only come if necessary.

When staff are away there are only a few options open to us. Firstly…we aim to get a relieving teacher to come in to cover the room. Over the last few years this has become harder and harder as there are less people out there doing relief teaching work. I recently advertised to generate some more names for us to call on. Another option is that we cover the class internally. At times the teaching team, even with a teacher down, might be able to cover the children themselves…this is the real beauty of having the shared teaching environments that we do. The last option is that we can ‘split the class’...this means the children in that room are split across a bunch of other rooms (eg if a Kahikatea teacher is away those children would be split across the other two Kahikatea classes, and the 3 Rātā classes). This is our least preferred option…while it is very common for schools to do this, historically at DPS we have pretty much never done it (great example…even at the peak of COVID we never had to split a class, we always had a teacher/reliever). However…the lack of relievers out there, combined with the onset of this winter illness impacting staff…it is likely that splitting classes may become more common here at school.

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…Friday 31st May…It will be great to have you, and great to see our DPS Kids rise to their own challenge during their run.

Reminder: Teacher Only Day Tuesday June 4th

Just a reminder that all of the local schools, primary and secondary, are closed Tuesday June 4th. For the first time ever we are getting all of the town’s educators together for a day of learning. As one of the organisers I’m stoked with how the day is looking, and excited to get everyone in the same place, hearing the same thing. Thanks for your support.

Dental Forms

A message from our great dental bus team, please check your child's schoolbag for a dental form from them. There are a lot outstanding, they need to be signed and returned. Thanks!