Newsletter

Week 8 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

DPS Kid - Kindness

As a nation, as a community, as humans we are still coming to grips with the awful terror attack in Christchurch last week. I’ll give no words to the ill deeds and the ‘person’ behind it, but want to make it clear that our thoughts are with the Christchurch community, and the Muslim community of NZ. Thoughts are also very much with the school sector down there, and I’d like to mention Cashmere High...deep condolences for the loss of two of your students, ex-students and whānau.

"How do we respond to the horrors of this day? With kindness. A hello. A nod. A word. We’re a family of many faces & cultures & houses. A mosque is my house. A synagogue is my house. A temple is my house. A Marae is my house. We are family & families look after each other" - Nigel Latta

As a teaching staff we met 8am Monday (and support staff at 8.45am) to discuss how we would respond as a school. We’ve made the decision to be guided by the children, and to work from their level of understanding. It was our assumption that many would be unaware of what has happened, especially our youngest. This seems to be the case, and it gladdens me that their innocence has been left intact.

This doesn’t mean we don’t respect the gravity of the event, far from it. Our meetings were very emotionally charged, full of concern over what has happened, deep sorrow for the victims and their community and the potential ill effect it may have had on our students (and for many staff, their older children). Anne Kershaw led us in a beautiful prayer at the end of both meetings, and it was a healing way to start our week.

Below is how we have been responding to those children who have brought it up, or needed to talk to us...it may be very useful for you as parents also. Essentially...starting with them, and guiding them to kindness

  • Reassure them that the incident is over (and in our case it happened a long way away). For some children seeing it on the nightly news they are unable to distinguish ‘news’ from a real event happening...so for some children it may seem like the terror attack is ongoing.
  • Acknowledge the event...yes, a shooting did occur...but don’t allow the talk to be about the traumatic details.
  • Encourage them to talk if you see they want to, and allow them to ask further questions
  • Acknowledge their feelings, and explain it is OK to feel upset (avoid saying…’’don’t worry”, or “don’t be upset”)
  • Give them your attention (be present)
    • From Nathan Wallis:
      • Lots have asked about advice for teachers tomorrow, so in general the teacher will model resilience by putting on a brave face that celebrates all the good guys and how quickly it was contained. Validate the children’s emotions by reflecting them back to them and saying it’s ok to feel that way and very normal. Then make a positive phrase that speaks to the thousands of people who have responded with love and kindness , and assume that we will rise above this in your closing statement. If you are sure - they will be.
  • This link is great in terms of how to have these conversations, and includes a guide for age appropriateness: https://www.theparentingplace.com/how-to-talk-about/world-trauma/

If it comes up in casual conversation...acknowledge it, and re-frame it to the positive reaction from police/medical services, and the kindness of the community and the nation

    • One way of re-framing this kind of an event is to draw attention to how many people came to assist and help after an event like this, rather than focusing on the terrible event and motives of those who brought it about. That’s not to deny this exists, but it helps to show that there is good in the world, to balance the very obvious threat that has become very apparent in our children’s worlds.

Our biggest response will be through our ongoing PRIDE/DPS Kid lessons, of which the focus this term has been on Kindness and Respect. I think the events of last week mean that the teaching and development of such human qualities is all the more important. Here is a video we have shared with the children recently, a challenge to be a better human...seems to take on a deeper meaning now:


Book Character Day

Wow, such an amazing response for Book Character day...the school really got into the spirit of it. Coming at the end of another great book fair, the day was not only a celebration of the power of words...but also of the creative abilities of our children and families. So many amazing looking costumes. The parade in the hall was epic...45 minutes of kids just being captivated by one another. So good. Special mention must be made of Miss Fraser (T-Rex)...easily the best staff costume I’ve ever seen, the laughter and smiles you brought...awesome.


Pride

whakatauki

what's happening at DPS?

Movin’March- Week ending March 22nd

Well done to all whānau /families who have been encouraging their children to walk or wheel there way independently to school from our Travel Pou or from home.

It certainly reduces the congestion outside Douglas Park School and accordingly is so much safer for all of our students..

Even though our WOW Passport promotion is over this Friday I would like to encourage you all to keep up this practise to ensure safety for your children with all the other benefits.

  • A sense of community
  • Increased physical exercise
  • Independence
  • Student agency: Critical thinking
  • Risk assessment

You may also continue to enter the competitions below until the end of March.

Parent Photo Competition

· Last week Zealandia kindly donated all our Family pass daily prizes and this week Staglands is our fun Wellington Destination.

Thanks Staglands for your generosity!

· We also have three adult Micro scooters to give away each Friday as part of our Jack’s Favourite Friday Photo part of this competition.

· All you need to do is snap a photo of your family’s journey to school during Movin’March, post your photo publicly on Facebook or Instagram with #movinmarch. T&C’s are here

Share your story

· Have a short story to tell? How or why did you walk or wheel for the first time (or let your children do this for themselves)?

Were there barriers or benefits you’d like to share?

· Entrants go in the draw to win a $100 Prezzy card.

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 your own journey to school. Vouchers & Prezzy cards are up for grabs. Full details are here.

SHAVE FOR A CURE!

Our very own Kingzton Thomson from the Kōwhai team is doing something incredibly brave and kind this Saturday. He, along with his little brother Harlem is going to shave off their hair for the awesome cause, fundraising for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand: Shave for a Cause! If you are keen to donate towards this wonderful cause please just click on the link below. It's super easy.

Shave for a Cause!

The Shave for a Cure will be happening this Saturday the 23rd of March at 2:30pm down at Dish Cafe in Lansdowne if you're keen to pop down and show your support.


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

FoDPS News

DPS Sport 2019

Wairarapa Swimming Champs 2019

Congratulations to our team of swimmers that competed at the Wairarapa Champs last night, representing the Masterton Cluster. We compete against the South Primary Schools and it is always a great competition!

The following DPS swimmers placed in the top 3 of their events:

  • Girls 10 Year Olds 25 SC Meter Breaststroke - Brooke Miller = 3rd
  • Boys 10 Year Olds 25 SC Meter Breaststroke - Lennox Sowry = 3rd
  • Boys 10 Year Olds 50 SC Meter Freestyle - Lennox Sowry = 3rd
  • Boys 10 Year Olds 25 SC Meter Backstroke - Lennox Sowry = 2nd


Yr 3-6 Netball 2019

Notices have been sent home this week, if your child hasn't picked one up yet they are in Rm 2 or the office.

Please note...

Yr 3-4 Monday night after school - $20 per player (5 v 5)

Yr 5-6 Tuesday night after school - $40 per player (6 v 6)


Please return the permission slip to Amy Williams in Rm 2 by Thursday 28th March

Please pay the fee to the DPS office by Friday 12th April.

  • Once the permission slip and fee has been returned/paid your child will be placed in a DPS team. The team lists will be in the sports board by the last day of term 1.

The competition runs over term 2 and 3 and there is no netball during the school holidays and over Queen's Birthday weekend.

Yr 1 & 2 netball runs in Term 1 and Term 4.


Term 1 Sport Draw

writing - from Hayley’s Whanau Class

The Fairy and The Princess

The quiet but kind princess tip-toed through the woods. Alongside her was a black dog whose name was Fluffy. The princess saw a purple glow in the bush. The princess was lost so she looked behind the bush to see a fairy. The fairy told the princess her name was Sierra. The princess said that she was lost and the very kind fairy, Sierra, gave her a map so the princess could go home.

By Lana Kerehi and Bella Ihaka-Drysdale


The Hungry Pirate

Once upon a time lived a pirate. He loved golden, fresh treasure. One day he went hunting and found a whole box of treasure but he didn’t want any treasure. He wanted food. So he went hunting more and more and more until he found a treasure chest with burgers in!

By Izaac Haglund and Heidi Sawkins


Dogman

Once upon a time there was a dogma fighting crime. The main criminal he is fighting is Petty, the evil cat. Petty had been stealing again! Dogman got in his police car and drove off to stop him. Nee nah, nee nah. When he caught him he put him in jail!

By Ozzy Ashworth


Tigress the Monster Truck

Once upon a time there was a monster truck called Tigress. He was the coolest, the strongest and the fastest monster truck in the world. He had 5 piston cups and he had the biggest race in the world coming up. He would be racing a guy called Accelerate and he was really cool. Tigress’s coach was the Hudson Hornet but Accelerate was fast. Finally the big race was here. Tigress was in front but Accelerate shoved Tigress into the wall. A big crash happened and he lost the race. When Tigress came out of recovery, he had another race against Accelerate. They started their engines and Tigress was in first again. Accelerate pushed him into the wall again. He was up against the wall again and flipped over Accelerate to win the race. Then Tigress was the fastest, strongest and coolest monster truck once again.

Hosea Fraser

Community Events

East Coast RFC JAB Muster.

Sunday 7th April 10.30am-12.30pm at Whareama Domain.

Come and meet the coaches and register for the 2019 JAB rugby season.

Sausage sizzle provided.

For more information contact Chris Liddle 0212563045 or liddlecris@live.com.

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

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

Kids, are you looking for fun on a Friday night?

Then come along to Kids' Club, 5.30 till 7.30pm on Fridays at the Baptist Church. We provide a safe, family atmosphere with table tennis, computer games, craft, a kid-friendly light tea, Bible stories and organized games. The cost is just $2.50 per child. Phone Liz on 0272233100 for more details or just come along and have a look. We're on the corner of Renall and Chapel Streets; entrance off Renall St.