Week 3 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

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

During one of our teacher only days before school started we worked with James Nottingham. James is a leading figure in international education, creator of the ‘Learning Pit’ and a guy that has a history with Douglas Park stretching back to 2008. There are a lot of changes in education at the moment, but I brought James into the school to remind us of the powerful things we don’t want to see dropped away

Feedback
Challenge
Celebrating mistakes and progress
Having High Expectations
And…helping students through the ‘Learning Pit’

When we start any new piece of learning…be it learning equivalent fractions, how to make a paper plane, using a metaphor in a piece of writing or riding a bike…any new piece of learning leads to challenge. It is a very rare thing to be ‘great’ at something right away. So as we start learning, things are hard…and the temptation is to give up at that point…but persevering through, working with others, having strategies…these things can lead us back out of the Pit, and we have picked up a new skill. It is this struggle in the pit…the mistakes, the half starts, the confusion, the first attempt, the edits…these are the things that are important to both teach children, and help them see that they are vital and important.

This can be at odds with modern life, particularly social media…we see the amazing performance (but not all the struggles at practice), we see the winning try being scored (but not all the dropped passes), we see the great piece of art (but not all the failed attempts).

When we see a final product that impresses us we should also look for, and celebrate, the learning process that led to it. We need to be better at celebrating the hard work inside the Learning Pit.

School Parking - Drop off and Pick up

A new year, and (yet another) opportunity to talk about car parking at school. Let’s be honest…there isn’t enough roadside parking to cope with a school of over 300 children, and this is a similar issue faced by every school in the nation. But…just because there isn’t room, there isn’t an excuse for poor parking habits. We have already had complaints…people parking over driveways, parking on the yellow lines and even double parking. While room is limited out the front…parking along Pownall St, or across the park in Essex St is plentiful…and we would encourage you to have a system with your child where they can walk for a few minutes to meet you afterschool.

Down further in the newsletter is a notice from the Wairarapa Road Safety Council and the NZ Police that details the potential fines for infringements…ranging from $70 to $750! While it is not the job of the school to enforce these, we have started to inform the Police and the District Council parking officers.

Also…after a couple of close calls with children/parents using the staff car park to enter/exit school we have put some cones up, redirecting you to the main pedestrian gate. The carpark has vehicles coming in/out of it…particularly at 3pm with the afterschool vans coming in. It isn’t safe or smart to share space with moving traffic…and the outcome between a van and child meeting isn’t going to be great.

Board of Trustees Vacancy

A casual vacancy has occurred on the school board for an elected parent representative. The board will fill the vacancy by selection.

If 10% or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the board, within 28 days of this notice being published, to hold a by-election to fill the vacancy, then a by-election will be held.

Request for a by-election should be sent to:

dpsbot@douglaspark.school.nz

Douglas Park School Board of Trustees

P.O Box 313

Masterton 5840

by: Wednesday 12th March

Stationery

We are very lucky to have the BOT subsidise our stationery for the year. This really keeps costs down and once again we ask that all learners pay $15 by the end of February. The easiest way to pay is online, our bank details are ASB 12-3290-0064275-00 please put your child's name as a reference. You can also call into the office and pay by eftpos or send cash to the office in a named envelope if you prefer. Please pay promptly as it saves us following up but any problems at all please see the office.