Week 6 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

DPS Kid - More calls for Change

I’ve enjoyed having conversations with some of you around the topic of education as I’m out and about before/after school (bonus: I’m glad that people actually are reading this stuff!).

I mentioned the Tomorrows Schools Review last week, and shared some ways you can have your say. The taskforce are also coming to town...your opportunity to hear firsthand about the report, to engage in some debate and to ask any questions you may have.

As I said last week...this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity NZ is giving us all, actually inviting us to have our say on how we want education to look, and how schools should be run.

This link takes you to a booking site, and the public meeting will be held next Thursday 7pm at the new Trust House Netball Centre (also a good chance to check out the new facilities).

TV Show ‘The Project’ recently hosted Dr Peter O’Connor whose views I shared at the start of the year...short clip, raises some interesting points about the system as a whole. Worth your time to view.

Masterton Interschool Swimming

Another great event yesterday, and the kids represented our school well. Quite a number will now progress to the Wairarapa Champs. Well done team. The results are further down in the newsletter.

Ki O Rahi Tournament

Last Friday a team of enthusiastic DPS Kids headed to the coast to take part in the Coastal Ki O Rahi Tournament. The team were awesome winning their first 3 games, then losing their 4th. Unfortunately a nasty incident occured after the 4th game, and we withdrew our team from the competition. While it is a shame the kids missed out, we took a stand against poor sideline behaviour, and poor student behaviour directed at us from another school.

This does serve as a reminder about sideline behaviour, and about showing PRIDE while watching children take part in sport. Sport is a competition, and we aim to win...but we know that winning without PRIDE isn’t being a successful human being/DPS Kid. DPS has a great name in the sport community, we have huge numbers of participants, compete highly and are known for our excellent behaviour. Lets carry that on.

NZSTA Kōrari Programme

With the upcoming Board of Trustee elections not too far away, NZSTA are running a workshop to explain a bit more about what being on the Board actually means. The Wairarapa session is on the 2nd April, 6pm at Kuranui College. A great opportunity, more information below.

School Donations

A letter will be coming home today as a reminder about our voluntary school donations. These really do help our school out considerably, for a pretty cheap rate. Works out to be 25c a day for the school year...just over a dollar a week. Great value we think...especially in comparison to other schools. While some schools ask about the same as us, some donations can be 4, 5 or even 6 times as much...for public school education. Massive thanks to those who have paid, and likewise to those who have said that they will not be paying. Helps us enormously with our planning.

Want to attend DPS?

It is getting close to the time our Board will announce how many places are available for the 2nd half of 2019 for those who live out of our school zone. You have the opportunity over the next week and a bit to let us know if you are interested in attending. Knowing this helps our Board determine how many places they need to open up. It is always a disappointment when I have to inform parents that their child is unable to attend...and most of this is because we did not know about them. Spread the good word about us, and encourage people to contact the office to express an interest in coming.

Pride

whakatauki - Week 6/7

what's happening at DPS?

Movin’March 2019

This week we have completed an audit of how students travel to school.

For the next 2 weeks we would like you and your family/ whānau to accept the challenge of active travel to school come rain or shine!

The Movin’March team have sent us a stack of WOW (walk or wheel) passport cards which we will stamp each day your tamariki walk or wheel to OR from school.

Students will be given a Walk or Wheel Passport Card on Friday that can be stamped when they Walk or Wheel to school from home or from one of our Travel Pou.

These will be stamped at the pedestrian crossing on Pownall St, the Kiwi crossing on Cole St if students have Walked or Wheeled from the Travel Pou and at the School Pou inside the gate by the hall if they have Walked or Wheeled from home.

There will be a box in the Office Foyer to post completed passports and a second passport may be collected from your home class teacher.

All entries will go in the draw to win one of six $300 AVANTI vouchers. The school with the highest percentage of walk or wheel trips in each district will win a $100 Prezzy card – so help us take out the district prize by encouraging your kids to walk or wheel to school!

Parents

On your way to work instead of dropping your tamariki/ children outside school, drop them at one of the Travel Pou or marker posts.

There are three. They can be found beside the new red brick wall in Cole St, “The Crossing” in Essex St and next to Douglas Park Grounds in Essex St.

Arrange to meet your child at the pou after school.

This will give children opportunities to

· Gain agency or independence

· Assess risk

· Make decisions

· Gain confidence

· Improve Physical fitness

· Gain a sense of community by travelling with their school mates.

On Friday 22^nd March we will celebrate Movin’March with……

“Fancy Wheels Fancy Feet”

A chance to dress up their wheels and feet and show them off in a “Grand Parade”.

Student Art Challenge

Our students will be participating in the Movin’March Art Challenge! A street scene template of Jack the Kākā’s journey to school has been designed for our tamariki to colour in – there’s also space to get extra creative by adding in elements of their own journey to school. Vouchers & Prezzy cards are up for grabs. Full details are here.

Parents also win

Snap a photo of your family’s journey to school during Movin’March and win. It might highlight a small adventure or wonder discovered along the way, or simply capture a moment in your journey. Post your photo publicly on Facebook or Instagram with #movinmarch. All entries will go in the daily draw to win a family pass to a fun destination in the Wellington region. T&C’s are here.

DPS BOOK FAIR 7TH TO 13TH MArch

Before School 8.20 - 8.40am

After School 3.00 - 3.30pm

At the DPS Library

Come and get some fabulous books and bring all your whanau and friends!

Eftpos, credit card and cash accepted!

Book Character Day

To celebrate the Book Fair coming to DPS we are going to be having a 'dress up day' next Friday (15th March).

You can dress up as your favourite book character OR go along with the theme of 'The Enchanted Forest' OR you can wear mufti.

If you choose to dress up or wear mufti you must bring a gold coin!

Can’t wait to see you all dressed up!

FRIDAY LUNCH: Order your subway lunch at the office or online !

DPS Sport 2019

Masterton Cluster Inter-school Swimming

Congratulations to our DPS team who conducted themselves with PRIDE at the pool yesterday. You make us very proud and we know you all gave 100%!

Any swimmer who placed in the top 8 of their individual event/s will be invited to represent the Masterton Cluster at the Wairarapa Champs on Wednesday 20th March (evening event)

The following pupils placed in the top 3 in their events:

Lennox Sowry - 1st backstroke, 2nd freestyle, 3rd breaststroke
Levi Wallis - 1st backstroke, 3rd freestyle
Brooke Miller - 3rd breaststroke

The following pupils placed in the top 8 in their event/s:

Riley Chittick, Taine Jones, Theo Polley, Madi Eynon-Matiaha, Korbyn Calkin-Aporo, Luke Jonas, Stephen Price

Our relay teams did well too!

7-8 Boys - 2nd
9 Girls - 3rd
10 Boys - 3rd
10 Girls - 2nd

Term 1 Sport Draw

The draw for teeball, mod and intermediate softball is in the sportsboard outside Rm 4.

Check out this link too - TERM 1 SPORTS DRAWS

writing

Miss Choat’s homeclass has been learning about poetry. After voting to decide on a colour, each person wrote one line which included the word magenta. We then played with how the sentences sounded together, moving them around and changing the order, to find the best poem.

Magic Majestic Magenta

I dislike MAGENTA because it is too pink,

My bruise is MAGENTA,

The radiant, beautiful MAGENTA flower called my name and I smelt its lovely smell,

As Korbyn gazed up at the sky, she saw the sparkly MAGENTA clouds,

The sunrise looks like MAGENTA,

I like the way MAGENTA shimmers in the sun,

Korbyn is MAGENTA,

I like MAGENTA because it is the colour of fabulous flowers,

One of Miss Choat's draws is MAGENTA,

I like MAGENTA because it is a mix of pink and purple,

Majestic MAGENTA, the colour of a magical sunset,

I want much more MAGENTA,

My dog and teacher are coloured MAGENTA,

MAGENTA is such a mythical magical colour, like purple,

MAGENTA is a colour like purple and pink,

Clean purpleish, pinkish MAGENTA flowers,

The quick, slick MAGENTA fox sprinted through the long tall trees hoping to bring dinner home,

MAGENTA, My house,

MAGENTA is a cool colour,

My MAGENTA pink dog,

Purple and pink make MAGENTA,

I like when my Mum wears her MAGENTA shirt,

MAGENTA is a flower,

I want MAGENTA hair,

MAGENTA is cool.

Community Events

Kiwis volunteering on a hospital ship in Africa.

Every year a bunch of Kiwis head to West Africa to volunteer onboard an enormous hospital ship, run by a charity called Mercy Ships.

Surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists and radiographers provide surgeries and treatment to thousands of patients from the world’s poorest countries.

Tumour removal, facial reconstruction, cataract removal/lens implants, cleft lip and palate reconstruction and orthopaedics surgeries (club feet and bowed legs).

It takes a diverse range of skills to enable the ship to function. Half of the 450 crew are non-medical staff. Teachers, Engineers, maritime workers, chefs and cleaners.

Yes the ship has a school for children of volunteer couples.

TVNZ’s SUNDAY current affairs programme travelled to Guinea, West Africa, to profile this remarkable group of Kiwis.

It is an inspiring story.

The story is on SUNDAY – TVONE – 7.30pm on March 10^th .

Further information in advance of the story is at the links below.

facebook

Mercy Ships

What’s in the latest issue of Tots to Teens Magazine

Click on the above link to view!

In this issue, we have great sanity-saving hacks for parents coping with kids back at school, including four ways to save money (and stress!), supporting parents of our new entrants, and eight reasons for kids to consider martial arts as an after-school activity. We have three delicious ways to include "wonder food" turmeric in your everyday family meals, five top tips for busy and tired mums, and help when you're thinking, "Uh-oh... What's my kid looking at online?" (a scary prospect now that our kids spend so much time on YouTube). Check out our amazing Rotorua story and make sure you enter our special competition to win a 4-day action-packed vacay to this great destination. Also, we’re investigating why good old-fashioned nursery rhymes never go out of style, and why they may be integral to children's emotional and cognitive development.

We now also have a fantastic new smartphone- and computer-friendly digital version of Tots to Teens for parents to view!

REGISTER HERE: www.funrun.plunket.org.nz

The Pantoloons are coming back to the Wairarapa in April and bringing us the magic of Peter Pan!

El Rancho

Kia Ora

We are a youth outreach team from Soulway Church.

Since 2009 the youth outreach team known as 'Souled Owt Kids Club' has been operating like an after school program. We engage the tamariki in activities that teach good morals, values and life lessons that will give them the skills to build healthy relationships. We also have fun playing sports and listen to good music with healthy food and everything is free. We usually only advertise this to the local neighbourhood that surround the Margaret street park but this year with the influx of children showing up with parents donating time and food we decided to send out a invite to the entire community to share our blessings. attached is a poster with all the info.

CALLING ALL HARRY POTTER FANS.

I am going to Japan for School (MIS) and I am selling my home made Harry Potter wands for $5 each as part of my fundraising efforts to get there.

Order yours today by texting mum on 0276003680.

Thank you very much for your support.

Kind Regards

Dylan Tovio

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