Week 7 newsletter

DPS Kid - Daring to Dream

Over the next few weeks we will start to explore this in classes, looking at Daring to Dream as a learner. Learning is about failure, making mistakes, going into the Learning Pit...and slowly climbing back out. Any new skill is a challenge, and as the video shows...through failure both Destin and his son were able to achieve a challenging skill after multiple failures.

Spirals of Inquiry

For 2018 the teaching team at DPS are undertaking some learning with Rebbecca Sweeney (CORE Education). We are learning how to work as teams to critique and reflect on our teaching practises in order to make learning more engaging for our learners.

This is a year long piece of work aiming for long-term change. At times we may reach out for some input from whānau, to get a different perspective on the learning here at DPS. Any feedback we receive is greatly appreciated, and goes towards developing staff into better teachers...which obviously means great things for your learners.

Calendar Dates - Reminder

We have two half days at school coming up:

Friday 23rd March: Teacher Only Afternoon. NZEI are running Paid Union Meetings around the country in the lead up to contract negotiations with the Ministry. All teachers are entitled to attend. Children will go home at 12.30pm.

Thursday 12th April: Teacher Only Afternoon. Our normal Data Afternoon, this time around the staff are working with Rebbecca Sweeney from CORE Education. Children will go home at 12.30pm.

We appreciate your support for these 2 afternoons.

Tuesday 3rd April: Also, Easter falls during term time this year...so the Education anomaly of Easter Tuesday occurs. While this is not a public holiday, all schools are closed on the Tuesday.

Behaviour at School

As you know occasionally conflict can arise between children at school. The word ‘bully’ is easy to throw around, but what we find is that at DPS very rarely have we actually had ‘bullying’ issues. The below definition is from the Ministry of Education:

WHAT IS BULLYING?

Bullying behaviour is serious and complex. It is a form of aggressive behaviour. Most widely accepted definitions of bullying behaviour are based around the following four characteristics:

Bullying is deliberate - there is an intention to cause physical and/or psychological pain or discomfort to another person

Bullying involves a power imbalance – there is an actual or perceived unequal relationship between the person doing the bullying and the person being bullied that may be based on physical size, age, gender, social status or digital capability and access

Bullying has an element of repetition – bullying behaviour is not usually one off. It is repeated over time, with the threat of further incidents leading to fear and anxiety. Repeated acts of bullying may involve single acts on a person, as well as multiple acts on the same person

Bullying is harmful – there is short or long-term physical or psychological harm to the person being bullied.

The key here is that there is a difference between a mean, nasty one-off act...and bullying. Our aim is to provide a safe and supportive environment for all our children, and we work very hard to ensure our systems keep your children safe and happy during school hours. At DPS we run a positive-behaviour system, based on PRIDE, and are quick to act on issues that arise. Parents can help us in two ways:

• If you child tells you of an incident, check that a teacher knows. Some children do not report to a teacher/adult at school, and if we do not know about an issue we can’t seek to resolve it
• Let us deal with school issues within school. I know that temptation is strong sometimes to get involved as the parent, to have a conversation with the child you perceive to have done the wrong thing, but this isn’t a good idea. Often it will inflame the situation

End of Swimming

Another swimming season comes to an end with the Year 3-6 Swimming Sports held on Monday. It was great to see the parent turnout, children love sharing their success with whānau and their peers. We are fortunate to have a school pool, and to have the support of FODP’s financially to keep it, and a great caretaker in Mr Blue to maintain it so well. Giving the children an opportunity to swim daily for the first part of the year is amazing, and so beneficial to them.

Week 6 Whakatauki

He kai kei a ringa

There is food at the end of my hands. A person who can use his or her basic abilities and resources to create success.

Awards for Week ending 9 March

Green

Jeremiah Rm 3A Joel Rm 3A Hayley Rimu Liam Rm 15

Seb Rm 15 Akasha Rm 4 Karanema Rm 6

Gold

Oliver Rm 4 Maceo Rm 14 Marley Rimu Calais Rm 1

what's happening at dps?

Ki-O-Rahi 2018

DPS took 2 teams to Riversdale to compete at the “Coastal Classic” run by Whareama School and Whaiora. We had a great day and it was awesome to play a different sport. Our Yr 6 team just missed out on the play-offs and the game between the DPS Yr 5s and DPS Yr 6s was pretty intense!

We would like to thank Kate McGovern and Joe Dahlberg for coming in to coach our teams in their own time, as well as Kevin Jones, Bridget Price and Stacey Miller for coming as parent helpers and transporting us to and from Riversdale.

Masterton Cluster Swimming

Last Tuesday DPS sent a team of 25 swimmers to the Masterton Cluster Swimming sports. They had been training at DPS during their lunchtime so it was great to finally see all their hard work pay off in the pool! We would like to say a big thanks to

Kevin Jones, Stacey Miller, Dave Dale and Ness Dale for volunteering their time to help the event run smoothly - we really appreciate it!

The following DPS swimmers placed in the top 8 of their events and get to represent the Masterton Cluster at the Wairarapa Champs (which was last night)

Ryley Allen-Hirst, Elia Dale, Silas Samuelu-Clement, Levi Wallis, George Pedersen.

The following pupils placed in the top 3 and competed last night also:

Brooke Miller - 3rd Backstroke

Ayla McRae-Burling - 3rd Freestyle

Lennox Sowry - 3rd Backstroke

Some great results from our relay too!

Girls 9 Relay - 1st

Girls 10 Relay - 1st

Boys 10 RelaY - 2nd

Nga Tama Toa

This year we have 5 pupils who will be taking part in Nga Tama Toa. They will be learning about haka, mau rakau and goal setting with other pupils from the Wairarapa - Yr 5 - Yr 13!

Josh, Taine and Jeremiah are new to the program and Theo and Austin are doing it for the second year in a row. We are very lucky to have Joe Dahlberg support our boys at each Nga Tama Toa session.

Movin’March 2018

Deciding to allow your children to walk or bike to school can be a daunting decision but the benefits of increased physical and mental well-being are worthwhile.

Research shows walking and biking to school improves physical fitness and helps develop confidence, independence, decision making and risk assessment skills, improve communication with parents and build a stronger sense of community.

We understand active travel can be a challenge for many families. The distance to school, time pressures of work and after-school activities along with concerns about road and personal safety impact on the decision to allow walking and cycling to school. Movin’March provides a great opportunity to overcome these barriers and give walking or wheeling a go – even if it’s just for one day to see for yourself how rewarding it can be for your family. Movin’March is a month long celebration of active travel to school run by the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Participating schools will encourage their students to take part in the WOW (Walk or Wheel) Passport Challenge.

Students have received a WOW Passport to be stamped each time they walk or wheel to school during Week 7 and Week 8 of Movin’March.

Enviro Team members will be stamping WOW Passports from 8:15am till 8:40 at the Pownall St crossing, the Cole St crossing and Kummer Crescent gate.

Once their card is full, students post their WOW passport in the box in the office foyer. They will go in the draw to win one of 6 $300 Avanti voucher in the Wellington and Wairarapa area!

Fancy Wheels Fancy Feet

Friday 23rd March

To Celebrate Movin’March. Dress up your wheels or dress up your feet! Be in the Grand Parade at morning play time. Spot prizes will be given!

community news

School-gen’s ‘Energising Young Minds’ competition

The competition gives DPS the chance to win a share of $25k, $15k or $10k to spend on science or tech equipment.

Please vote on the School-gen voting page http://www.schoolgen.co.nz/voteforyourschool/

People can vote once a day up until voting ends on 2 April.

To ensure a small school has as much chance of winning as a big school, we’ll be dividing the number of votes a school gets by its school roll. The top five schools will go forward to an independent judging panel who will decide who wins.

To view the full Terms and Conditions of the competition go to http://www.schoolgen.co.nz/enter-your-school/.

Recycle your car seats...

Did you know you can now recycle your expired or damaged child car seat? Around 90% of seat materials are recyclable which is great news for the environment, and keeping expired car seats out of circulation is good for child safety. SeatSmart accepts any brand of capsule, booster or reversible car seat (no polystyrene boosters) for a small fee of $10 (RRP). For collection site details visit www.SeatSmart.co.nz. You can also like us on Facebook (SeatSmartNZ). Thanks to Wellington, Upper Hutt and Hutt City Councils for their support.

Abby Baylis

Administrative Services Manager – 3R Group Ltd

PROGRAMME MANAGERS FOR SEATSMART CAR SEAT RECYCLING

P +64 6 872 7235

E abby@3r.co.nz

W www.3R.co.nz

FB SeatSmartNZ

W www.SeatSmart.co.nz

INCREDIBLE YEARS PARENTING PROGRAMME

Starting: Thursday 5th April 9:30 am - 12 noon

Masterton Family Education and Support Centre

St Lukes Church - 2 Workshop Rd, Masterton

How long is the course?

The Incredible Years Parenting Programme consists of one session a week for 14 weeks. Before the course begins a facilitator will ring each participant to set up a visit to complete pre-course paperwork and discuss their needs.

How much does it cost?

This programme is free to participants. Our new course is funded by the Ministry of Education. Assistance with paying for childcare and transport may be available depending on our funding and the family’s circumstances.

Can anyone attend?

To attend this course you need to:

· Care for at least one child that is aged 3 – 8 years old. We are not funded to provide places for participants who don’t care for children in this age range.

· Have access to the child. Participants practise the skills they learn in course sessions at home with their child.

· Priority will be given to those with a community services card and also to those families who have a child with a formal diagnosis.

Enrolment

Parents can enrol through our website http://www.incrediblefamilies.org.nz/incredible-years/register/

or complete the attached enrolment forma sn email it back to me : jane@edresources.co.nz

Jane Dunbier

Administrator

Incredible Families

0274 182 671