A message from Mrs Booth
What an amazing day we had at Athletics on Wednesday. The sun shone, the rain stayed away and everything ran to plan. Our students competed well and demonstrated good sportsmanship. Congratulations to all those who will go on to represent DPS at Peninsula Athletics. Well done to all the competitors. Thank you to Anne Keuper for organising the day, and also thank you to the staff and parents who helped everything run so smoothly.
Wednesday was also round one of the 2018 EPro8 competition. This event requires students to work in a team, using science, maths and engineering skills to build solutions to problems. Three teams of Y6 students left Athletics day at mid-day to compete. Well done to all twelve students who demonstrated great thinking and resilience, as the tasks are by no means easy! Congratulations to team 4STEMtastics who took first place and will now compete in the semi-finals in December. A big "thank you" to Sarah Watson who has worked with the children during her lunch times to prepare them for the competition, and also to the parents who helped with transport and support.
Our Kapa Haka group have been busy preparing for the Peninsula festival tomorrow (Friday) and then at Onepoto on 23rd November. I am looking forward to accompanying them and watching their performances. Mrs Campbell has worked with the group throughout the year and must be thanked for all she has done, especially as Whaea Lani has not always been available to support us.
Next week our girls' cricket team heads off to Eden Park to play in the Champ of Champs competition. Fingers crossed for good weather for them and good luck on the day.
At this point in the year we start to plan for the new school year. Parents are invited to read the article about class structures for 2019 and let us know if there are things we need to consider when placing your child. Our charter consultation survey will also be sent out in the near future, along with the information presented during the recent consultation evening. Finally, e-learning surveys have been sent out to Year 3 - 6 parents. This probably feels like a lot of surveys, however we do take careful note of what you tell us and it does influence our actions. I would encourage parents to have your say, whether via the surveys, through email, or by talking to me.
Our Y6 students will be taking part in transition activities over the next few weeks. One of the highlights is our Bike to Belmont event, organised by DPS and PC Murray Fenton. Murray helps the students to think about safe routes around Devonport and to BIS and then off they ride. Fifty students biking along Lake Road, with a police escort, is quite an experience and we feel that this helps all our Y6 students to think about safety on the road. Parents planning to drive along Lake Road on the morning of Thursday 15th November may want to allow a little extra time!
Our Year 5 students are also preparing to step up into new leadership roles and the election of new House Captains will go ahead next Thursday. New road patrollers will also be trained by PC Murray.
Nga Mihi
Beverley