Week 4 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

DPS Kid - Why Change What We Teach?

A simple, but pretty direct video this week...rather than considering skills for future jobs, perhaps education should change to equip children to exist in an uncertain environmental future.

The Whanau Group were off to the Ruamahunga River last night for kai and stories. 20/25 years ago I’d be doing the same thing with my mates, heading to Double Bridges to go for a swim/jump off the cliffs. Back then we never, even once, had to consider how healthy the river was...because it was healthy. Fast forward to now and one of the things we will have to check when we get there is for toxic algae. A traditional education hasn’t solved these environmental issues...but sadly my own children are going to have to deal with our mess as they grow up.

The video is pretty stark...keep an eye on the graph top right. Yes the Earth has ups and downs, but the trend is fairly clear...but the solution/s needed aren't as easy to see.

Student Success! Well done Pippa and Lennox

Always love hearing about successes of our DPS Kids outside of school, daring to dream!

Has your child done something awesome outside of school? Dance competition winner, largest sunflower grown, made a rep sport team, been acknowledged in some way? Drop me a line at principal@douglaspark.school.nz and we can share the success with our school community.

Lennox has carried on with his swimming development taking part in the Junior Festival. 6am starts paid off for Lennox who made PB’s (personal bests) in all his events, but he was proudest of his results in the 100m freestyle and 200m backstroke

Pippa took part in the A&P Show last weekend with her Pony Mickey. Pippa and Mickey came 1st for in-hand, 2nd in best head and 3rd for best mane and tail. Sounds like a lot of hard work and effort has gone into that.

Paid Union Meeting - Students home 12.30pm Thursday 21st March

A date for your calendars. Students will go home at 12.30pm on the 21st March so our teachers (and myself) can attend a Paid Union Meeting here at DPS. This is not a strike, but teachers are required to attend. The Union is allowed 2 of these meetings during school time a year and they are hosting 4 in the Wairarapa that week. Rather than splitting the school up over 4 afternoons, we will just attend one meeting. The meeting will be to discuss any new offer from the government (no offer has been made as yet), and to discuss any further industrial action if teachers reject another offer.

We really do appreciate your support in making arrangements for your children to allow this meeting for the staff.

Have Your Say!

It’s election year for Boards of Trustees around the country coming up in June. At DPS we are considering the switch to a staggered election cycle. Currently the whole board goes through an election process every 3 years, we are considering having an 18 month cycle where some of the board stands for election every 18 months. From a governance point of view a staggered cycle means that you always have someone with BoT experience sitting on the Board.

We would like to invite anyone interested to the next Board Hui where we will discuss and decide whether we shift to a staggered election cycle or not. Great opportunity to have your say, but an even better chance to come along and experience what a BoT meeting is all about if you are considering standing for election. Love to see you there!

School Donations

Another year, time again for us to ask for your school donation. We ask a donation of $50 per child for the year...one of the cheapest in town! This money is Above and Beyond what we get from the government and allows for those Above and Beyond items and activities that we provide. Running the pool, providing extra staff, providing technology for the children to use (has been a bit in the news recently about parents having to pay to provide laptops/ipads etc), help with trips, or maintain our great playgrounds. All of these things cost big $$$, so the extra we get through donations is awesome.

Here is our bank account to make paying the donation as easy as possible! (you will be issued with a receipt for tax purposes)

03 0687 0310653 00

Pride

whakatauki - Week 4 & 5

what's happening at DPS?

wings over wairarapa - schools day

22nd February 2019 from 9.30am to 2.00pm.

A notice was sent home on Wednesday with more information.

Please return the parent help forms and money ASAP!

We are super excited for a fun day out!!

please note: there will be no lunch orders this friday due to the wings over wairarapa visit

Movin March is coming!

Have you dropped your children at one of the travel Pou?

Make the most of the beautiful weather and encourage you child to Walk or Wheel to and from school each and every day.

school of music

At DPS we are offering our students music lessons in guitar, piano or ukulele!

Hemi Walker shall be the music teacher. Hemi is a local musician who has recently completed a Diploma in Contemporary Music. He performs live at various events and music festivals such as Gladstonebury and Tora Tora Tora and works as a music teacher in various other local schools. Hemi also worked with our very own DPS choir at the end of last year. Hemi is very excited to be working with the students at DPS to help them hone their musical abilities and talents!

Music lessons shall be taught at Douglas Park School, once a week on Friday.

Lessons are 30 minutes in duration and cost $12 per lesson.

These lessons are offered to all years across the school.

It is advisable that once students begin lessons that they practice at home or school if appropriate. We have a small number of ukuleles and two keyboards at school for lessons and practise. A guitar will have to be purchased for lessons at school and home practises.

If your child is genuinely interested in learning how to play an instrument and for further information please contact Hemi.

Phone 02041364333

Email hemiwalker95@gmail.com

Stationery Pack prices for 2019

Rimu N/E pack $20.00

Rimu Y1 top up pack $14.00

Kowhai Syndicate $17.00

Rata Syndicate $17.00

Kahikatea Syndicate $17.00

Stationery packs have been distributed to the pupils on the first day of the term (Tuesday 29th Jan)

Please make payment now

You can pay by cash, cheque, eftpos or online to our account: 03 0687 0310653 00

DPS Sport 2019

Term 1 Sport

Our DPS teams have been sorted and are displayed in the sports board outside Rm 4. Thanks for returning permission slips on time!

A reminder that all pupils need to wear the DPS sports uniform for their game. They are available from the Uniform Shop (by McDonalds) or our second hand uniform shop which is open on Wednesday from 8-9am and 2.15pm-3pm.

Practise days are during lunchtime at DPS, they are on the daily notices to remind pupils and all pupils are expected to attend.

Intermediate Softball : Tuesday

Mod-Softball : Tuesday

Teeball : Wednesday

The draws will be displayed in the sports board outside Rm 4, but the link will also be in the newsletter each week.

Term 1 Sport - DRAWS