Kia ora taatau, 

What a wonderful 2 weeks it has been, full of excitement and success.

Firstly, a MASSIVE shout out to everyone; parents, staff and extended family members, who so generously contributed their time and effort to make this year's Fair on the Hill such a success. The number of man power hours that are given behind the scenes is immense, and there are simply too many people to individually thank.  However, a special mention must be made of Pippa Wetzell for being the person who so calmly and capably pulled and held everything together this year. It is during events such as this that I feel so grateful to lead a school that has such a wonderfully supportive community. We will share the total raised with you as soon as we are able - and look forward to seeing our children benefit from the science and technology equipment that we purchase with the funds raised.

Not to be outshone by the fair, students have also been having a wonderful time at various sporting and EOTC events.

As you will read later in the newsletter our interschool swim team had a successful day at the Takapuna Pool. Congratulations to all those students who represented the school and thanks to Anne Keuper for organising the event on behalf of the Devonport Peninsula Schools.

Last week a team of chess players attended a chess tournament at Stanley Bay School. There were 58 players in total. Congratulations to Lucy Collett who placed 9th and was the top performing girl on the day (the next girl placing 26th!), and Benjamin Mansell (19th) and Oliver Yeung (21st) who were our top performing boys.  A big thanks to Elizabeth Elkins who organised this experience and who facilitates our weekly chess club.

Mobility Parking

Currently in our school community we have two families where grandparents with mobility issues pick up and drop off their grandchildren. These grandparents have mobility stickers, granted to them for genuine medical reasons, that may not always be obvious to casual observers. The school is very happy for any caregiver who has a mobility sticker to make use of the mobility park in the staff carpark.

If it has wheels - your child needs a helmet.

We have recently had a couple of close calls with scooters and bikes as children leave at the end of the day. This is a reminder for parents that if your child is travelling on wheels, then they MUST have a helmet on their head.  

EOTC week

This week is EOTC week across the whole school. While our year 6 camp unfortunately had to be post-poned, the remainder of the school is engaged in a number of different activities outside the classroom across the week. This is the beginning of a new approach for DPS school, with the intention of developing a progressive programme of activities that start in year 1 and build up to the camp experience in year 6. Thank you to all those parents who are providing parent help with these activities this week.

Naku noa

Melinda Bennett