Week 1 newsletter

from the principal

Secondly, the research is out there and more coming, that these spaces do have an impact on student outcomes. But, as stated earlier, the real win is focussing on the teacher, not the space. The article quotes John Hattie (who happens to be an educational hero of mine). Hattie is a leading researcher, who ranks activities and their effect on learning. His highest, by almost double, is Collective Teacher Efficacy...the shared belief that we, collaboratively, can make a difference to learners. He talks about the power of collaborative expertise, about teachers helping each other get better in their jobs. Collaborative practice is what these Modern Learning spaces should be about...the focus on the teaching, not the space. These open spaces allow this collaboration to happen more regularly and more effectively than possible in single cell classrooms.

Thirdly, cards on the table, Douglas Park has classes as described in the article. Our Rimu Learning Space has 54 students working alongside 4 teachers. Kōwhai have 73 with 3 teachers. Rata are in two pairs...53 students in each, 2 teachers in each. Kahikatea have 115 students and 4 teachers.

• Numbers can be deceiving...at first glance numbers seem high, but all of our teaching teams are operating at lower student:teacher ratios than funded for (so the children are getting a great deal). Add our part-time morning teachers to the mix, and our support staff (teacher aides) and we have an abundance of adults to help learning at DPS.
• The noise though? Many comments complain about noise levels in these learning spaces. The building work that DPS has just completed has seen acoustic tiling installed throughout, and the difference this makes is amazing. Add in the sliding glass doors between spaces and the breakout rooms...and you have a very acoustically pleasant space to be in.
• 80% of time on ‘Google’...this is a claim made in the article! This would be over 4 hours of school time per day on a device and a) I don’t believe that would be true, and b) that is far from the case at DPS. Yes, we have plenty of devices, and they are well used. But books, paper, pens are used equally, if not more so for learning than devices.

I could go on...but will leave it there for now. Click here to read the article, consider your own experience of working with us at DPS and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Drop me a line at garethsinton@douglaspark.school.nz or just come have a chat with me.

See it in action: Our DPS Modern Learning Environments

DPS Kid - What’s Your Hill?

This video flitted through my Twitter feed the other day. I’m not normally one for the motivational videos, but I thought this had some great messages relating to our DPS Kid.

• Resilience is vital. Life isn’t easy, and we will often fail and have to pick ourselves back up. Waireka, one of our parents and Ka Rewa facilitators says this often. Grit, determination...we want that.
• Define your own success. What is important to you, what do you determine success to be? This speaks to goal setting and accepting challenges. Mauria te Pono, Dare to Dream.
• Put in the work to maintain your success. Learning is hard, and failure is a part of that. Hard work does not guarantee success, but lack of hard work guarantees that there will be no success
• Be yourself, respect yourself
• Dissect our success, our failings, our struggles...and learn from them. Reflect and improve
• Own your mistakes, make amends and move on. Don’t hold onto them.

What is your hill?

Collaboration

Mentioned above, and the topic of our staff meeting on Monday. We are lucky to be working with Mark Osborne this year, a leading education thinker. He is helping us better undertand our Core Beliefs, the things that drive our learning and that we want to instill in our leanrers. We have looked at Student Agency last term, Collaboration this week, and will finish with Creativity and Critical Thinking in Term 3.

Mark spoke to the ‘why’ behind collaboration, why is it important. He spoke a bit about the role of technology and automation. Computers are fantastic at routine, repetitive jobs. They are usless at understanding and relating to humans. Jobs that don’t require human interaction with each other are more at risk of being lost in the future, so developing children who are awesome at working effectively in teams is a key skill for the years ahead (I’d argue a key skill for now...not too many jobs where you get to work in isolation). He also references the Economist Study I wrote about last year, when a global survey ranked key skills employers were looking for...key collaborative skills rank very highly, as do the rest of our Core Beliefs

As I said then, Literacy and Numeracy are important skills to develop but they are no longer enough. We want DPS Kids who have our Core Beliefs shining out of them, ready to face their futures.

World Famous!

Our very own BoT Chairperson Brett Cockeram featured on the first episode of the latest season of TVNZ’s Coast. Brett spoke about one of his passions, the plight of the Tuna Kuwharuwharu (longfin eel). Last year Joe Potangaroa worked with some of our Kahikatea students, and our Whānau group, and he has written this great little book on the eel, worth a read.

Watch Brett on the link below, around the 37 minute mark.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/coast-new-zealand/episodes/s2018-e1

Child Away?

Remember to contact the Office staff to let us know. All messages should come through the office so we can keep a track. You can email (office@douglaspark.school.nz), or txt/call on 021128 3607 or 370 0189.

Learning Success

As we know, learning doesn’t just happen at school in front of a teacher. Hunter Smith has learnt how to ride a motorbike...and ride it pretty well also! On the 22nd April he came second at the Sargeant mini series. Hunter rides a TTR110 motor bike, and has acheived highly. Dare to Dream Hunter!

Whakatauki

He aroha whakatō, he aroha puta mai.

English Translation

If kindness is sown then, kindness is received.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT DPS?

Contact details update

An update form will be coming home with your child/ren on Friday - please complete it (even if there are no changes) and return to school. Thank you with your help to keep our records up to date.

Parent Feedback needed for Movin’March

Movin’March was a month-long event organised by Greater Wellington Regional and local Councils to encourage students to walk or wheel to school. To help us improve this initiative we really need your views. Please could parents complete this short survey by Friday 4 May: http://inform.gw.govt.nz/parent.survey.

Survey respondents will also go in the draw to win a $100 prezzy card! Thanks, your comments will help us encourage more students to walk and wheel to school!

TuckaBox

NZ Sign Language Week

Next week is NZ Sign Language week. In Celebration Time we will be singing and signing a waiata written by Tiki Taane. You could give the poster above a go at home!

NZSL Sign-Song with Tuhoi

“No Place Like Home” by Tiki Taane, ft. Ria Hall and friends

WINTER Hockey

Practices have started this week. The teams are up in the noticeboard and the draw will be there as soon as it is available.

We have an 11 a-side team coached by Rosie Davies. They will play on Saturday morning. Their practices will be Tues am at 7.30am and 12.45pm on Thurs lunchtime.

There are 2 6 a-side teams that will play Friday after school. They are the DPS Renegades (coached by Miss Davies) and the DPS Macs (coached by Jane). These teams will practise each Wed lunchtime at 12.45pm.

There are 2 6 a-side teams that will play on Tues after school. They are the DPS Redsticks (coached by Sophie Macdonald) and the DPS Whitesticks (coached by Salome le Roux) These teams will practice on a Tues lunchtime.

Please make sure your child comes to school ready to practice on their set day.

Fees can now be paid to the office please. $40.00 per player.

Councillors Report

COMMUNITY NEWS

Solway College

Solway College is an integrated Year 7 to Year 13 day and boarding school for girls. It is a small school with Christian and family values. Most of the students enrol in Years 7, 8 or 9. The college accepts students from all walks of life and our students have a wide variety of sports, cultural, service and academic opportunities.

MATS ATHLETICS TRAINING

This programme is designed for kids of all abilities from year 2 until year 6 who are looking for a little help to run jump or throw faster longer and further and considered the basis for many sports. The aim is to improve running, jumping, throwing techniques, move faster, Increase distance, get fit, lose weight or add some variety to your current fitness programme, while having fun. The programme for term two is:

Term 2 - 30 April – 6 July

Monday and Wednesday: 3.45pm – 4.30pm General Run Jump Throw and Cross Country Training

Venues = Colin Pugh Sportsbowl, Masterton

Please contact Mark Harris to book your spot on +64 21 300 380, mark@maharris.co.nz or refer to www.maharris.co.nz

2018 APACHE JACKS WAIRARAPA KIDS CROSS COUNTRY

The Wairarapa Kids Cross Country is fast approaching with the first event scheduled for 6th May in Featherston.

The other dates are:-

· 20th May Greytown

· 27th May Clareville

The aim is to complete these events before the Wairarapa Primary Schools Champs on 13th June 2018 to give everyone a chance to practice one, two or three Cross Country races beforehand.

More details can be found on the poster or via the following web link http://www.sporty.co.nz/wtf/Apache-Jacks-Wairarapa-Kids-XC-1/Entry-About-Results including how to enter.

We look forward to seeing you all over the series.

For further information please contact Mark Harris on 021 300 380

Space & Science Festival

After inspiring more than 10,000 people in Wellington over the last two years, the “Space & Science Festival” is coming to the Wairarapa.

Space & Science Festival, is a mix of spectacular science displays, science talks and classroom activity. It's a not-for-profit charity created by a group of volunteer parents, teachers, scientists, engineers and technologists. Our focus is on making science accessible, and providing fun experiences that encourage young minds and nurture their interest in a wide range of STEM activities.

The Festivals' Lead Partner, Genesis School-gen, will be showcasing their hands-on child-friendly activities so you can explore the world of energy.

Otago Museum will be offering you a stunning mix of science demonstrations - don't forget your cameras!

Marvel at the beauty of Bio-luminescent Bacteria, thanks to Siouxsie Wile's team at BirghtEnz.

Enjoy a variety of talks and presentations in the hall including one of New Zealand's leading astrophotographs, Stephen Chadwick and his presentation, 'A journey through the Cosmos'.

Not to mention a feast of creative technology to play and learn.

Tickets are only available only through the Space & Science Festival website and have been kept to a very modest $10 a person thanks to our lead partner Genesis School-gen. Ticket sales will support both Greytown Primary School and the Space & Science Festival.

Tickets on sale online here https://spacesciencefestival.org/index.php/greytown-space-science-festival/

Check out our series of events running through May too:https://spacesciencefestival.org/index.php/events/

See you there!

Keeping our players injury-free this winter sports season

The winter sport season is now underway with lots of our students signed up for a team sport. Kids plus sport can often mean injuries, however there a number of ways to keep players having fun and staying injury-free this season.

· Plan to get kids to games in time to warm up with the team.

· Check they’ve got a drink bottle and a warm jacket for after the game.

· Make sure they have any protective equipment they need such as mouthguards and shin pads.

· Remind them to watch out for others – on the field, turf or court.

· Get them to cool down and stretch after games to take care of their growing muscles.

If an injury does happen, call your medical centre to see if they can help. If it’s at the weekend, the Wairarapa After Hours service based at Masterton Medical is open 9am-5pm. Contact them on 06 370 0011 or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 for free medical advice 24 hours a day.

The Dreaded Flu!

Keeping our kids safe in vehicles

Sustainable Living programme