Week 5 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

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

In the weekend Alzeimhers Wairarapa ran their ‘Big Day Out’ fundraiser, part of which was a LEGO competition for schools to enter. Schools had to build something that ‘represented’ their place, what made it special. Mr Josh ran a competition at school to find a team of children to be our master builders. It was very popular…and has led to the idea of us running a regular LEGO club. From that comp a team of 5 then set about this term building their entry. Isaac, Dane, Riley T, Hugh and Henry met Mr Josh every morning tea to bring their ideas to life. The design starts with our uniform top (our DPS Kid) then flows out with our local waterways represented (check out all the tuna (eel) in them). They flow to all the things the children thought were important…PRIDE, making/play/creativity, the pool, the gardens, the turf…and all backed by the Tararuas in the background. Cleverly, they incorporated a build to hold an iPad Mini that ran one of our Apple Distinguished Schools videos on a loop all day. A great example of our Core Beliefs in action…children having to Collaborate, to show Agency by designing their own work, by Critically Thinking through all the design issues…and of course doing it Creatively.

On the day, we gained 2nd place which is awesome…and the team won $200 to spend on books for the school. I get the sense they will be buying some LEGO oriented books for the LEGO club!. Well done team, and well done Mr Josh! It was great to see the displays from the other schools as well…Mauriceville, Fernridge and Martinborough…some real talent out there.

2025 Staffing Update

A couple of changes to staff for 2025:

Megan Syben heads on maternity leave at the end of the year, and will be away for 2025. Awesome news for Megan and her husband, we look forward to meeting baby Syben next year.
Amanda Mitchell finishes up very soon to also head on maternity leave, expanding the Mitchell whānau! Also great news for them, and I know Eden will be very excited to tell us when the new baby arrives.
Maya Champion finishes with us to head off overseas. Almost considered a rite of passage for Kiwi teachers to head away after becoming registered, we hope she has an amazing time/experience over there!

We have hired/re-hired some staff for 2025:

Whaea Deb, Brooke and Mr Josh are all back for 2025. Awesome people to have in front of the children, that's a real win for us.
James Riley is also returning to DPS after a year at Solway College. James is an excellent practitioner, and the person who led all the big changes at DPS around Maths. We look forward to having him back.

There are still a couple more pieces of the puzzle to put together, but we are looking pretty well sorted for next year which is great.

Bike Track Underway!

Chris and Adam from Empire of Dirt arrived on Monday, and immediately got underway with our new bike track. Two diggers have dug out the track, a front end loader has moved all the soil to start forming the banks of the pump track, and today a truck and roller have backfilled the track, and rolled it all flat. Looking forward to seeing this project progress over the next few weeks!

Writing - Miss Gasparini's homeclass

Hockey Wairarapa needs your help!

Hockey Wairarapa are raising funds to help with the cost of the new turf. It is a great initiative to support if you can and will help make sure hockey stays strong in the Wairarapa!

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