Week 8 newsletter

Joe Dahlberg - Good Sort!

Our very own Joe Dahlberg received the Good Sort award from More FM this week...which comes with a Stihl Shop voucher. Well done to Joe, this recognises all the extra he does for both DPS and the wider community. The man is a real trooper, often doing more than what is expected of him (has Joe taken a DPS Sports Team with your child in it? He does that out of the goodness of his own heart...Has Joe played games in the playground with your child? He does that for free when he could be having a break in the staffroom. Has Joe had a yarn to your child, make them feel special about themselves? That’s him being a good sort). Good stuff Joe!

https://www.facebook.com/morefmwairarapa/videos/2061368023879533/

Winter Sport

Signups and trials are underway for our two main winter codes, Netball and Hockey. Being part of a team and playing a sport is a great way to develop some of our DPS Kid attributes. The four Core Beliefs of Agency, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Creativity are all developed. Making your own choices and decisions on the field/court is being agentic, analysing your game...how well it went, what you need to work on...is being a critical thinker. Working as a team, playing as a unit...to do this means showing great collaborative skills. Creativity on the field/court is something that can be expressed through your talents, your skills and your way of being as a sportsgirl or boy.

As always, we provide a lot of opportunity for children in sport and we expect a commitment from children and whānau. Not only are teachers giving up there own time, but parents and children are also...and when players do not turn up it is the other children in the team that suffer.

Signing up to play is a commitment to turning up to play.

Paid Union Meeting - Children home TOMORROW 12.30pm

We appreciate your support with this tomorrow. Teachers are entitled to attend, and this is an important meeting for them. The Teachers Union (NZEI) are about to start negotiations with the Ministry of Education. You will be aware from the media that NZ is facing a teacher shortage. While this is more prevalent in the large centres (especially Auckland), this affects us all. Even here in Masterton we have less applicants for jobs, and it is becoming harder to find relievers to cover classes. The Union are after a pay increase, both to recognise that teacher salaries haven’t kept pace over the last 30 years, and also to make the profession more attractive to people thinking about becoming a teacher.

I know that our wonderful teachers here at DPS put in 110% to their jobs, delivering great experiences in and out of the classroom. It is our teachers that provide a great foundation to the learning journey of our kids, the leadership opportunities, the cultural groups to allow children to express themselves, and the multitude of sports teams, most of which compete during teachers own time out of school. These guys deserve every cent that the Union can bring to them.

Ka Rewa

This year we have started working alongside Te Hauora to deliver a cultural resilience programme called ‘Ka Rewa’. This is being run in the Year 5/6 Kahikatea Team, led by Amy Williams and Amy West. Our very own parent Waireka Collings is one of the facilitators, alongside Nathan (Chopper) Riwai-Couch and Kendyl Walker. The programme teaches children cultural resilience through Maori world and cultural concepts. They play engaging (but challenging!) games, complete activities in class, and have a great time doing it all. We are one of just a few schools involved, another great opportunity given to our learners.

Upcoming Dates

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.

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.

Want to know our Policies or Procedures?

Last year the Board of Trustees shifted to an online platform for our Policies and Procedures. These guide decisions made at school, help us organise what is going on, and provide the backbone for how things operate at school. The site is comprehensive, and is based on ‘best practice’ for all areas of schooling.

If you want to check out our Policy or procedure on a particular area, login and search or browse for what piques your interest:

Go to http://douglaspark.schooldocs.co.nz/

User: douglaspark Password: pride

As we get underway with our SchoolDocs journey we will be making small adjustments to either the policies to reflect what we do here, or to our practices to make sure we are providing the best school environment for the children

School Donations!

Thanks for the donations that have been coming in, we really appreciate it. The money from donations is above & beyond what we get from the government, and allows to give your child an above & beyond experience of learning. The extra $$$ means we can provide extra resources (people and things), help with trips and contribute to the development and maintenance of the school. Our $50 is cheap for what you get in return, and definitely one of the cheapest donations asked for in Masterton. Pay by the end of the term and you are in to win an iPad Mini…$50 gives you the chance to bring a $500 device home, awesome!

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.

what's happening at dps?

No lunch orders tomorrow as school finishes at 12:30 pm.

Yr 3-6 Swimming RESULTS!

What an awesome way to finish off our swimming season! Good on everyone for Daring to Dream in the pool…

House Relay Winner......SHEPPARD

Congratulations Sheppard on a great win closely followed by Hillary, Batten (with a flying finish from Elia Dale) and then Rutherford

Overall Points Winner......RUTHERFORD

Well done Rutherford...all those points added up in the end and you are the 2018 House swimming champs!

WINTER HOCKEY

Permission slips have gone out this week. If your child wants to play in a hockey team for Terms 2 and 3, they need to have the permission slip back by March 29th.

When signing the forms, pease remember that this commits your child to play in a team for the whole season, through the winter and that parents are agreeing to get their child to the games each week.

If your child is in Yr 1-3 and have never played in a team before, please register them for Funsticks on the hockey Wairarapa website.

The locations available are Masterton (Thursday), Greytown (Wednesday) and Clareville (Saturday).

Movin’March Madness!

We’re bang smack in the middle of Movin’March so now is the time to walk or wheel and be in to win! As well as fresh air, independence, exercise and life’s small adventures up for grabs, walking or wheeling to school over March means you and your children get the chance to win heaps of other great prizes!

Parents please send us your photos of your school journey anytime over March and you will go into our weekly draw for a family pass to your favourite Wellington Wild Things destination! Or have a blog about how you may have changed your travel habits and why. We’d love to hear your stories so they can inspire others.

Make sure your children get their WOW Passports stamped. When their card is full on Friday post in the box provided in the Office Foyer, they’ll go in the draw to win one of six $300 Avanti vouchers from On Yer Bike.

We are celebrating WOW Fancy Wheels Fancy Feet at playtime – 11.05-11.30 am on Friday 23rd March with a “Grand Parade”. Bikes on the field, scooters in the scooter area and Walkers with Fancy Feet on the drive way next to the scooter area. Spot prizes to be won.

Remember to keep Cole St safer for your children by dropping them off a short distance from school so they can continue to walk or wheel to school independently. We suggest by the Pownall St crossing, Essex St by the Douglas Park walkway and near West Kindergarten.

room 4 Writing

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/.