Week 2 NEWSLETTER

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and spent time with family and friends.

In 2019 we invited Jay Ruka to speak to us as a staff...and he was excellent. His hope, his dream is that over time we come to honour the Treaty, to view it as a positive and be comfortable engaging with others in conversation about it. To bring Te Ao Māori and Western ways of being, thinking and working together. The video below is of Jay giving this presentation to a different audience...and while lengthy it is worth a watch.

Another video floated through social media over the weekend and is worth sharing here to provoke some thinking. If we are to rise to Jay’s challenge of being comfortable having a conversation about Te Tiriti, we need to first be uncomfortable, to open the conversation up. This video is great (very funny as well), but also is confronting. It leaves us with the challenge to learn more about Te Tiriti, to speak a bit more Te Reo or to learn a waiata.

As a Pakeha principal I know I have a responsibility in this space to be better, to lead better and to be ‘uncomfortable’ as we head to being comfortable with Te Tiriti. I have certainly upskilled over the last few years, and as a school we have come quite a way on this journey...but, as always, more to learn, more to improve.

School Picnic

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow at school...we are opening classrooms for you to come and meet teachers and have a look at spaces...and from 5pm, the picnic out on the field. Bring a blanket, some food, whānau and have a great time. We will be opening the pool and have a bouncy castle as well. The evening is always a great way to meet staff, meet other parents and a super way to start the school year together.

Calendar Dates

• Thursday 1st April (Week 9): Teacher Only Day

• Monday and Tuesday 12th/13th April: Learning Conversations

  • A change here...these will be Term 1 and 3 this year for the majority of learners, the first round being this term. More info will come out later.

Friends of Douglas Park School (FODPS)

First meeting of the year is tonight, 11th February, 7.30pm in the staffroom at school! New members welcome! FODPS do an amazing job fundraising to provide extras for the kids of DPS. Two really easy examples...all school trips, FODPS either cover or contribute to the cost of these...and the school pool, over the last 5 years the team have painted the pool, added new filters and two new pumps! Our kids swim everyday due to the hard work of the FODPS team...come along tonight and get involved!

HERO - Term 1 Sport, Events & Trips

This year we will be using HERO for virtually all school information...one place for you to go to, one place for us to share. This worked really well for us in Term 4 last year.

Information about Term 1 Sport has been pushed out through HERO. A range of sports are on offer, and the HERO post contains the information, dates and cost of each. The signup google form is within the post as well.

Information about trips this year will also come out via HERO, doing away with sending out 300 pieces of paper. The first event will be Wings over Wairarapa and information will come out soon (via HERO) about this.

Please let us know if you are having trouble with HERO and we can help you out.

Hemi Walker is continuing to offer music tuition this year. Hemi works at several schools in the Wairarapa and holds a diploma in contemporary music. Hemi has a modern approach to his lessons and offers tuition in Keyboard and Guitar. The lessons are conducted in school time in small groups. The lesson cost is $12 per week for a half hour session. If your child is already enrolled with Hemi no need to do anything, if you would like to start your child in music tuition for 2021 please email Hemi at walkermusiclesson95@gmail.com.

We're excited for another busy term of sports! All sign ups are to be completed using a google form, the link can be found in Hero! These need to be completed before Wednesday 17th February. No late registrations can be accepted. If there is a cost this must be paid by Friday 26th February.

Netball Wairarapa will be running Netball for Year 1/2 and 3/4. There will be more information out about this next week.