Week 6 NEWSLETTER

The learning in those two examples is basically identical…can the children use positional language correctly…but I know which one will stick in a child’s mind more! Coding the robot to move to various shapes, or to get to its ‘house’...positional language is ‘inside’ the activity…and the children gained a heap of other skills on the side that you can’t from a workbook (collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, oral language and communication primarily). We don’t use the government maths programmes…but we do teach the curriculum…and I’d argue we do an epic job of that! 

Making learning hands on (where possible), or providing opportunities to ‘DO’ the learning…or providing activities that can be tackled in many ways (rich learning tasks)...these methods are powerful, and things like worksheets/workbooks can be used more for practice or reinforcement of learning. 

We had a couple of great parent comments this week in HERO…whānau who are also seeing the power of teaching/learning in this way:

• Fantastic work. I love the creative approach to statistics and teaching the students the Statistical Enquiry model. Great work Mrs Mac

• What an epic way to integrate digital tech with practical hands-on learning!

We have our learning showcase event ‘This is Learning’ next week (Friday 29th August from 1pm). We would love to see you there, and be able to show you the rich learning that happens at your child’s school.

Paid Union Meetings

Today the NZEI (primary teachers union) are holding paid union meetings to discuss their current negotiations with the government. While some schools are closing, DPS is staying open and sending staff across the day to the two meetings available in Carterton. 

The current negotiations have been in the media as our secondary teacher colleagues went on strike yesterday, and have more action planned for later in the term. The negotiations always bring our negative stories about the profession…so I’ll ask you to keep two things in mind when you read/listen to anything at the moment:

• The whole sector is undergoing massive change, and it is a rush. In 2007 we got a new curriculum, but had until 2010 to be using it. We received the English and Maths curriculum in October last year, and were expected to be using them in January. The rate and amount of change is massive…and add to that the pressure of trying to ‘fix’ our attendance and achievement issues. Massive!

• But…the big thing I would ask you to keep in mind (and I said it in 2022, and in 2019)…please keep in mind that no one wants to be a teacher anymore. Despite the noise in the media about great pay, holidays etc…the real story is, no one wants to be a teacher anymore. The average age of teachers is pushing 60, numbers of people training has declined hugely (when I trained in 2003 there were several hundred of us at Teacher College in Wellington, last year the University down there had around 40) and the drop out rate in the first 5 years is huge. Put those three facts together…that all our experience is leaving, that hardly anyone is training, and that people are quitting early in their careers…and we have a mess on our hands.

Netball Success!

Well done to the DPS Pulse, winners of their netball grade! It was a bitterly cold night on Tuesday, but the children lit up the court with their skills…it was a close, tight match. The Fernridge team was also very skilled…but we came away with the win at the end. Well done kids!

RE: Russell Street School Sports Exchange – Tararua Challenge

WHO: Rātā and Kahikatea Year 5/6 pupils
WHAT: Tararua Challenge 2025 – our annual sports exchange with Russell Street School
WHEN: Friday 12 September (Postponement date: Thursday 24 October)
WHERE: Russell Street School, Palmerston North
TRAVEL: By bus
COST: Nil

Please see the Hero for further information and to complete the survey. All students need this be completed or they are unable to attend the exchange. 

Teacher Only Day - Monday 1st September

We will be having a second (and final) Teacher Only Day this term…please add Monday 1st September to your calendars. 

We are able to have two teacher only days in 2025 to focus on teacher development and the new curriculum. In September we will be diving further into the new maths curriculum. 

Thanks in advance for your support of this.

All Parents/Caregivers of Year 6 Students who wish to enrol their child at Masterton Intermediate School for 2026 need to complete this online before the end of Term 3. Click on the link to submit your child's enrolment online https://enrolments.linc-ed.com/apply/NZ/2909

We are currently experiencing a significant increase in illness among the students in our schools. To help keep everyone safe and well, we kindly ask that you please keep your child at home if they are unwell. Keeping sick children at home helps protect other tamariki, staff and families, and supports quicker recovery for your child. Thank you for your understanding and support in keeping our kura healthy.  

If you have 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   

Mr Watts writing class have been busy putting together the stories below for the children in Rimu this week

All school teams and draws will be posted on Hero.