Week 4 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

Our Vision: Together we Nurture, Explore and Create for a Better Future

The ‘Together we’ part of our vision really shone earlier this week in the aftermath of the terrible weather. Firstly I just want to again say a massive thank you for keeping the children home on Monday, especially at quite short notice. The school received many positive messages of support…and that was nice. It is easy in those moments to second guess your decision, but as more schools also closed, and as the messages of support kept coming in, I was confident we had made the correct decision.

Sadly…we lost an old friend in the giant Oak Tree that came down. I found the photo below online…from the 1960’s. You can see the 3 oak trees…and it will be the left hand one that has come down. The trees look fairly established in these photos, so the ‘ol oak has seen a lot of change here at school over time!

Also sadly…the oak came down right in the middle of the big playground, our newest one. Large parts of it are now wrecked…bent steel, snapped poles and torn materials. However, a couple of parts are untouched and we should be able to re-use them. Massive thanks to Wairarapa Treescaping for coming so quickly, and dealing with the mess. You can see the scale of the job in the other photo below.

We are working with the Ministry to determine what happens next…but the reality is we will be without that playground for a little while. Thankfully we are lucky enough to have two other great playgrounds for the children to use.

Attendance Plan

As of 2026 all schools are to have an updated attendance plan that aligns with new government requirements. The aim…to have 80% of children attending ‘regularly’ (attending 90% or more of the time). In a school term to have ‘regular’ attendance you can be away for no more than 5 days (a week of schooling). The plan states the responsibilities of whānau, and of school, to try to help have children here each day.

Once your child is away for more than 5 days, a set of procedures kicks in to inform you of the absences, and to outline next steps. This is largely how we have operated in the past, the difference now is we will also include Medical days away as absences. The responses from school outlined in the plan are supportive, and are aimed at lifting attendance. Each set of 5 days away means a different set of responses.

It will be no surprise that low attendance has a negative effect on schooling outcomes…not just academically, but also socially (missing out on friendship connections) and emotionally (the worry and anxiety of missing out).

Being here each day is what we are after…but getting to the 80% target will require home and school to work together.

Our average attendance across all of last year was just 61.5%...Term 1 2025 was our highest at 74%, and Term 3 was our lowest at 43%. You can see the uphill battle to be fought to get to 80%

You can find a summary of our STAR Plan here

Picnic

It was a real shame to call off our school picnic last week…but the weather really wasn’t playing ball with us!

We will get back to you with a possible postponement day…we’d still love to have you all here.

Beach Ed

Last week Kōwhai had their first Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) experience for the year, heading to Riversdale for Beach Education. The Surf Lifesavers run an excellent programme…and the children had a fantastic day away. Many thanks to our parent volunteers for coming along…we can’t provide these experiences without your help, and also thanks to the staff for putting the trips together.

Enrolments

I’m putting a call out now…have you enrolled your child for 2026? You may have a 4 year old in the house, or a friend with a 4 year old…make sure the office has been contacted so we have you in the system. We have an enrollment zone, you can read the details in this link. Make contact at office@douglaspark.school.nz

what's on at douglas park

what's been happening in kowhai

Kōwhai thoroughly enjoyed the visits to Riversdale for Beach Education on Thursday and Friday last week. Whilst the Thursday trip was treated to slightly better weather and a full lifesaving crew, we had a wonderful time on Friday as well - notice the different sky colours between photos!

Children learnt about how to look at water and assess for rips

Explored the Club House

Investigated an IRB (Inflatable Rescue Boat)

Played games on the sand

Learnt to dive under waves

Boogie boarded

There was a lot of PRIDE shown across both days and there were lots of children who dared to dream and gave new things a try.

A huge thank you to Mike and the Surf Lifesaving crew at Riversdale and a huge huge thank you all of our parent helpers, bus driver, van drivers and staff. We can't do these things without you!

subway lunch available every friday - order online or at the school office

change of details

If you have recently moved house, had a change of phone number, or any other contact details of your child/children have changed, could you please let us know at the school office by calling in to see us, phoning us on (06) 370-0189, or sending an email to office@douglaspark.school.nz