Week 7 NEWSLETTER

from the principal

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

I had a visit this week from a prospective parent, moving into the area, and wanting to know more about our school. She had some great questions around…what does learning look like here, what does a day look like, are there opportunities for sports and are there opportunities for performance and creativity? We had a great chat, and a nice tour of the school where I got to point out all of those things in action. She was impressed with the variety of learning opportunities, and how focussed and ‘into it’ the children were. We saw children in their play, small group reading, outside building/making, on devices making art, some were doing a test, some were away at Athletics, and some starting their maths.

All this leads to a question…What do we want learning to look like for our children? In this age of change inside the education sector at the moment…what do we hold onto dearly?

I love walking through classrooms here at school, I love seeing the work children bring to the office (could be a creation, a great story, a challenging maths problem, some coding) to share, I love the trips, the other opportunities, the sports, the kapahaka, walking through the playground on duty and seeing the happy children, watching sports from the sidelines, the making/creating…and what I love the most about all of the things at school is the variety.

This means all of our children can find their place to shine…those who are academically minded, those who are creative, those who are sporty, those who love to perform, those who love to build, those that love the outdoors, those that are curious, those who care for the environment, those who are digitally capable and those that need that little bit of extra help.

Just in the last week…in and amongst the ‘normal’ reading, writing, maths, inquiry, PE, kapahaka etc etc…we have had children compete at the Wellington regional ePro8 engineering competition (and they came 8th), we’ve had outdoor classroom afternoon, children have been to Wairarapa College for science, Wairarapa College have come here for SLAM with our Year 3’s, children to Whakamairu Reserve to work with Greater Wellington Regional Council and we had nearly 50 children compete at the interschool athletics…with 17 of these children heading off to regionals (our results are actually quite staggering…22 Top-3 placings across the events, and of our 6 relay teams…four came 1st, and one came 3rd!). The variety up above…and the success…wow, what a great place to be.

Even looking at some of our Maths testing going on at the moment…our Year 5 and 6 students are once again punching above their weight nationally, outperforming national expectations (DPS in blue below, national norms in light grey)

Now…what we do at DPS is no experiment…a tonne of thought, research and effort sits behind what our learning looks like. I think one of the markers that shows we believe in what we do, that we know it is positive, that it makes a difference and produces well rounded children ready to tackle their future…is that my own children attend this school, as do the children of other staff (and indeed teachers from other schools). There is no way I would gamble with the educational future of my own children…education is a foundation you want to be rock solid, and I know that is what the wonderful staff at DPS provide.

A solid foundation, multiple opportunities to shine, multiple chances to find your passion…that’s what I want learning to be like for our children.

Dates for your Calendars

Tuesday 9th December: Final Celebration Time at Wairarapa College
Thursday 11th December: Last day of school, 12.30pm finish

what's happening at douglas park

rimu outdoor classroom afternoon

Last Thursday we had outdoor classroom afternoon. Our focus in Rimu was to learn about respecting our environment by making sure our rubbish goes in the bin. We learnt about the bin systems and even went for a hunt to find where the rubbish goes once it leaves our classroom. Students then used keynote to show where typical rubbish items should go.

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

Sports

All school teams and draws will be posted on Hero.

Community notices

Kia ora

Get Involved – Masterton 2050

Masterton is growing and changing. We’ve had 20% growth in the last decade, and we are expecting more to come. We are also becoming more diverse as a community. With growth and change comes opportunity, and to help us make the most of every opportunity, we’re developing a plan for our future. We’re calling it Our Future, Our Story – Masterton’s Vision Towards 2050, and we’re starting the process by creating a shared vision that will set the scene for our plan.

To do this, we need to hear from the community, so we’re inviting you to get involved!

We want to know what you love about our district now, and what you’d like to change. What you want for yourself and your whānau, and what you think about a range of different topics. Your stories will literally help shape our future, and what life here will look like in 2050. We know our community have a huge range of diverse experiences to draw on as well as some wish lists for the district, and we want to hear it all!

How to get involved and share your ideas:

The workshops will be two hours and held in Masterton. Some will be general, while others have a specific theme. We’d love for you to sign up for whatever you’re most comfortable with. At the workshops, we’ll do some context and scene setting, then facilitate group discussions. If you haven’t been to a workshop before, know that there are no wrong answers so don’t be shy.

Only got a few of minutes? Share your thoughts with us online here

You will find different options for providing feedback online. If you only have a few minutes, we have two quick questions. If you have a little more time, share aspirations for yourself and your whānau, and your thoughts on a range of topics that we will need to consider as we develop the plan.

Connect with us at a community event

We will be out and about at a variety of community events up until Christmas. If you see us, come and have a chat and pop up a ‘post it’ on one of our idea boards.

Invite us to your space – if you have a hui or meeting before Christmas, let us know.

We’re a versatile bunch. If you invite us to come along to your hui or meeting, we will do our best to get one of the team there to talk to your group. Let us know what time and place suits – email submissions@mstn.govt.nz or give us a call 06-370-6300.

Future stages and what happens next:

Identifying a vision is stage one of the planning process. As we gather the feedback, we’ll analyse what the community are telling us and identify key themes. These themes will be the basis of scenarios that we will test with the community in 2026. When we start the testing phase, we’ll be back out and about to get feedback on what people think. Feedback from the scenarios will then be used to create a development plan that works towards delivering the community’s shared vision. We’re aiming to consult on the draft development plan in spring 2026.

Follow along:

We’d love for you to follow our progress. To do so, and for more information about the development plan visit: https://whatsup.mstn.govt.nz/our-future-our-story

We look forward to hearing your ideas.

Ngā mihi nui

Our Future, Our Story team