WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.04 | 24 February 2023

Principal's Message

Participation Day today marked the end of our ‘disruption free’ start to the year as we’ve endeavoured to have a settled start to the year, focused on developing routine, consistency and rigour on teaching and learning. Today was a great way to come together in House Groups and as a school to participate in a range of athletic events and other outdoor activities, including frisbee toss, scrum machine, basketball shots and culminating with the staff race. This was our first Participation Day since 2021 and we look forward to announcing the winning House at a full school assembly next Wednesday. 

All students were asked to bring $2 to support fundraising efforts for those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. All proceeds collected by WHS will go towards a school community in the Hawke’s Bay. Families wishing to donate further can do so by bank transfer using the details below. 

Once again, it was nice for the full school to be able to participate in this event which is important for school culture. A huge congratulations to all the Houses for their great spirit and a special mention to the House Leaders who put in lots of hard work in the lead up to the day. See below for photos and video.

On Tuesday evening, we held our annual NCEA information evening for parents of senior students and you can see below for all the details including the all important Internal Assessment Calendars. Please ensure that your senior student creates their own Assessment Calendar and that you support them to plan accordingly for the weeks where there are lots of assessments. 

The first Learning Engagement (LE) Report of the year is now available on the Portal. These are really important and parents should have received an email which explains the LE Report and how to access it. 

For new parents, LE Reports come out three times per term and provide important feedback on your student’s engagement with their learning. We hope that you find them informative and that they enable you to engage with and support your student’s learning.

For all parents, the LE report is an important indicator of how things are going, and any 2s or 1s should be cause for conversation - with an expectation and strategies for improvement by the next LE report. If students feel they do not know why they have got a certain score then they should contact their teacher. If you have any technical questions please email reports@wakatipu.school.nz.

On Thursday morning, our 2015 Head Girl, Victoria Boult, kicked off our Leadership Speaker Series with a great discussion on leadership, including dealing with failure, being authentic and committing to kindness. These speaker series occur every second Thursday from 8 am, with Michael Rewi, a WHS basketball legend and current CEO of Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust, speaking to students on the morning of Thursday 9 March. All students are welcome to attend.

Next Monday (27 February), all students will have their individual and Ako Group photos, and students are required to wear their blazer and tie for all photos. With that in mind, a reminder that both the tie and the blazer are compulsory items that students need to wear every day. Please see here for the timeline for the day.

On Tuesday 28 February, Year 9 students from Arthur House will head off on their Greenstone Camp. Duncan departs on Thursday 2 March, Fox on Saturday 4 March, Hay on Monday 6 March and Mackenzie on Wednesday 8 March. See key dates below for more details. 

Lastly, the WHS Foundation plays a very important role in supporting students at Wakatipu High School. Their annual contributions enable students to apply for Awhi (Financial Support), allow us to hire additional teachers and teacher aides (to allow us to offer a wide range of classes and to support individual students with their learning) and have allowed us to significantly increase the level of Literacy and Numeracy support we can provide students. These contributions make a significant difference to the education that WHS can offer. The WHS Foundation is currently looking for two more Trustees to join their excellent team. Click here to find out more and apply. Once again, a huge thank you to the WHS Foundation and all the businesses and individuals who support WHS. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Ngā mihi nui,

Oded Nathan
Principal

Fundraising Details

Thank you to those wishing to donate towards our fundraising efforts for those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. Please find the bank details below. All proceeds will go towards a school community in the Hawke's Bay. Please include 'Cyclone' in the reference details.

Bank: ASB Queenstown
Bank Acct: 12-3234-0080772-00
Ref: CYCLONE

Key Dates

Participation Day Photos

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Thanks to our student photographers: Lily Kay, Guinevere Buckley, Bella Dempsey, Ruby Ross

NCEA Parent Evening

Thanks to the many parents who attended the NCEA Information evening held on Tuesday. For those parents and students who are new to NCEA, there can be quite a lot of information to take in. We hope that you will look through the information below and discuss with your student and/or contact the school, including subject teachers, Kaiārahi, Deans or SLT, should you have any questions. 

Here is the powerpoint that was presented and below are some useful links and tips that were included.  

How NCEA Works - This is a short video that describes standards, credits, internal and external assessment, NCEA Qualifications and Endorsements. As a school, we highly recommend that Year 11 students strive to achieve NCEA Level 1 with either a Merit or Excellence endorsement, as this lays a good foundation for success at NCEA Level 2 and beyond. It is also very important for students to aim for course endorsements, which requires achievement to be from both internal and external assessments. 

Internal Assessment Calendar - This calendar, when copied, enables students to create a calendar with just their internal assessments.  We highly recommend that parents ask their children to create their individual assessment calendar to better enable them to organise and plan so that they may ultimately achieve their academic goals. (NB. Students will also have external practice exams that can be added to the calendar. Ask to see the ‘Course Outline’ for each of their subjects).

• Level 1 Internal Assessment Calendar
• Level 2 Internal Assessment Calendar
• Level 3 Internal Assessment Calendar

NZQA Website - Here you can find information about NCEA as well as subject specific resources, including exemplars of student work. 

Assessment Policy - Each school is responsible for ensuring that robust and quality assured assessments are provided, so that the qualifications and marks that students achieve are consistent across the country. To support this, we have an Assessment Policy that must be adhered to. Students have been explained this policy, and it is important that parents are also somewhat familiar with the policy. 

Top Tips for Parents

1. Ask student what their academic goals are for the year
2. Have student make an Internal Assessment Calendar (and share with you), and help them make a plan if needed
3. Check the Portal regularly
4. Check LE and other reports, as they come
1. If a student gets a 2, ask the student why. If they can’t explain, ask them to email the teacher and cc you in.
2. If a student has a 1, it’s urgent, it’s worth contacting the teacher directly.
5. Ask to see their Google Classroom
6. Contact us (Kaiārahi, Subject Teacher, Dean, Careers, Guidance, SLT, etc) if you have any questions. We communicate regularly with you and value you communicating with us too. 

Junior Literacy Parents' Evening

Save the date! 
Wednesday, March 15 · 7:00 – 8:30pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/oib-vzar-kzb

The meeting will introduce the new NCEA Literacy requirements to parents of our junior students (especially those in Y10)

Leadership Speaker Series

Our 2023 Leadership Speaker Series commenced this Thursday with Victoria Boult. Victoria, an ex-student of WHS and 2015 Head Student, is a writer, director and development executive working in the NZ film industry. She spoke to the students about coping with failure, being true to oneself and the value of kindness. Thanks Victoria for your inspiring talk! 

The next talk will be in two weeks time at 8:00am on Thursday 9 March, all students are welcome to attend.

STARS Peer Mentor

Our awesome peer mentors delivered their first session to our Year 9’s, following the theme of creating group contacts together.  Setting the tone for expectations from everyone and agreeing key values moving forward such as respect, listening and other useful everyday skills.

Kudos going out to our peer mentors!  A new experience for (almost) everyone.  Our peer mentors appreciated from this early how much careful consideration, planning and effort is needed to ensure the programme's success - they have learnt so much already!  One peer mentor even said “I have a greater appreciation for your job after that.  It’s not easy!”.

Our year 9’s are fortunate to have such engaged leaders guiding them through their transition into WHS.  Well done and keep up the great work.  Next week…Greenstone Camp.  Exciting!  

Melisse Haarer
STARS coordinator

Fundraising for Cure Kids

The Community and Service Council participated in a fundraiser for Cure Kids at the Highlanders vs Moana Pasifika game last Friday. It was a great day out and the team raised over $1000 for the Cure Kids Charity! Amazing effort!!

Cure Kids raised over a total of 32K from the entire two days with the Highlanders which will go towards funding vital child health research projects in Aotearoa. Our student leaders look forward to working with them again later in the year for Red Nose Day.

www.curekids.org.nz

Spirit of Adventure

Kia Ora everyone, Lachy here.

I was recently given the privilege and opportunity to go on a 10-day development voyage onboard the Spirit of New Zealand based out of the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland. This was thanks to a sponsorship I received last year from Triple Star. 

The Spirit of New Zealand is a 45-metre-long, 3-masted sailing ship based out of Auckland and sails around the Hauraki Gulf. Aboard the voyage there were 39 other trainees aged between 16-18 years of age and 12 crew members. None of us knew each other, we were going into this voyage completely alone. At first, we had calm seas and we were able to enjoy many new experiences like climbing the masts, 30 metres above the deck, hoisting the sails and actually sailing the ship unassisted by the motor. Then the weather took a drastic turn.

We experienced the full force of Cyclone Gabrielle which was absolutely amazing to see. To be caught out in the middle of the ocean in a 45 metre boat while one of the worst cyclones in New Zealand's recorded history devastated the North Island was an incredible experience and something that I will not forget for a long time. 

I made many great connections with people aboard the Spirit of New Zealand, it was such an amazing experience filled with some of the nicest people I have ever met. I definitely have come out of the voyage with some life long friends. I learnt so many different life skills aboard the boat and the voyage helped me to grow my communication, courage, resilience and my determination to give everything a go. 

One key memory of the voyage I have was on the second to last day, we were putting the sails up while being slammed by 3-metre waves. The boat was rocking from side to side. I had to climb three-quarters of the way up the 30-metre mast and then out the end in order to untangle the sail. The feeling of accomplishment that I got once I untangled the sail and looked out over the ocean was unparalleled by anything else as I had just conquered my fear of heights. 

Thank you Triple Star for giving me the opportunity to go on the Spirit of New Zealand. It was an incredible way for me to develop new leadership skills, overcome fears, learn about courage and resilience and make lifelong friends. It was an absolutely incredible adventure.

Lachy Boniface
Head Student

Duke of Edinburgh's International Award

Want more information?

• Have a look on the school information site: https://sites.google.com/wakatipu.school.nz/duke-of-ed-whs/home 
• Drop-in sessions for students are on Monday Break 2 in Coronet
• Watch the recording of the parent information evening:

How to sign up
You need to register on the website: https://dofehillary.org.nz/

Put Wakatipu High School as your Award Unit, the fee will be charged through the school portal.

Tramp dates 2023
Please put these dates in your diaries and let me know ASAP if you can come to the first tramp in March (email hdixon@wakatipu.school.nz)

You need to attend 2 tramps to complete your Level.  The dates are below. Exact dates will be decided closer to the time depending on weather:

• March 18 - March 21
• May 27 - May 29
• July 21- July 23

This year practice tramps are all 2 days/1 night. Qualifying tramps are: Bronze - 2 days/1 night, Silver - 3 days/2 nights, Gold - 4 days/3 nights.

Heather Dixon
TIC Duke of Ed Award

Sports and Active Recreation News

National Rowing Club Champs
A number of students competed for the Whakatipu Rowing Club at last week's National Club Champs in Twizel. There were a number of great results with many making A and B finals as well as winning three medals! Listed below are the three medalists and A finalists. Congratulations to all involved on this top effort.
Medal Winners:
Silver - Men’s Intermediate Coxed Quad: Seb Watson, McKellar Thornton, Harry Lightfoot, Toby Tregidga & Emily Howick
Bronze - Men’s Intermediate Double: Seb Watson & Toby Tregidga 
Bronze - Senior Men’s Double Sculls: Marley King Smith
A Finalists:
Men’s Club Double - Xavier Small & Ashton White
Women’s Senior Double - Neve Bates & Olivia Key
Men’s Senior Double - Marley King Smith & Xavier Small
Women’s U22 Double - Phoebe Cavanagh & Neve Bates
Novice Double - Hagen Brown & Toby Tregidga

Challenge Wanaka
Congratulations to our Junior Girls triathlon team of Sydney Alva, Mollie Burgess and Bailey MacKay who competed in last week’s Challenge Wanaka secondary school triathlon event. The girls won their event category which was an awesome effort. Keira Redden also placed 5th in the U14 Girls individual category, and was 5th overall in the U14 section. Congratulations to these four girls.

Senior House Touch
The Senior House Touch finals took place on Monday with the mighty Fox House edging out Mackenzie in a tight win 3-2. Arthur also had a close win over Duncan 1-0 to claim the bronze. That wraps the first house competition of the year, final results are below. A huge thank you to the senior house leaders and senior touch players for their organisation and refereeing over the past two weeks. 
Final Results for Senior Touch were:
1st - Fox
2nd - Mackenzie
3rd - Arthur
4th - Duncan
5th - Hay

Otago/Southland Waterski Champs
The 2023 Otago-Southland Secondary School Water Ski champs were held on Sunday 19th of Feb at Perkins Pond. A huge congratulations to Poppy Wearing who placed 2nd in the Novice Girls U16. Awesome work Poppy!

Equestrian
Congratulations to Neve Cruikshank and Jessica Buchanan who were selected into the Otago/Southland team which competed at the New Zealand Pony Club Championship held in Gore in late January. The girls were in the dressage team that was made up of six riders. The team placed 3rd in the South Island and 8th overall in New Zealand. Well done Neve and Jessica.

Ben McAuliffe’s Las Vegas Tournament
Year 13 student Ben McAuliffe was a member of the Waikato University New Zealand team that competed in Las Vegas as part of the Mayor's Cup Tournament. Ben’s team made it all the way to the semi finals unbeaten, finishing 2-2 at full time before going to penalties and unfortunately losing. The team placed third which is an amazing achievement for an International Tournament. Great stuff Ben!

Opportunities to Get Involved

Social Sports are About to Get Underway
Following on from the Extracurricular Expo there are a number of social sports opportunities about to get underway for the remainder of Term 1, all onsite at WHS. The summary of these are below. You can still join and find out more details through each sports google classroom.
Boxing - Girls - after school Monday, Boys - after school Tuesday - starting week 5
Table Tennis - after school drop in sessions on Mondays - starting week 5
Junior Touch - after school Wednesday - starting week 5
Social Volleyball - after school Wednesday - starting week 5
Tennis - Break 2 Tuesday - Juniors, Break 2 Wednesday - Seniors - starting week 5
Hockey - social sixes after school Tuesday - starting week 6

Basketball Meeting - 8pm Wednesday 1st March
There will be an online basketball meeting for any students (and parents) interested in playing this season taking place on Wednesday night at 8pm via the google meet link below. This will be followed up with more information. Topics will include teams, competition structures, trials and tournaments for 2023.
Online Meeting Link: meet.google.com/xgm-gywq-zzc

Southland Surf Champs Details
The annual Southland Surf Champs are taking place on Saturday 18th March at Colac Bay. If you are interested in entering you can find out more details here: https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/228929

Coaches, Managers and Referees - We Need You!
Like many sports clubs in New Zealand we rely solely on volunteer coaches, managers and referees. We do have a few awesome teachers who coach teams but the majority of our sports teams are still coached by parents and/or community volunteers. We are on the hunt for winter sports coaches for the upcoming season for;
Basketball
Football
Hockey
Netball
Rugby
If you have any knowledge, skills and passion in this area and are keen to join the WHS sports community by helping coach or manage one of our sports teams, please reach out to me for further details. We have an awesome group of passionate volunteers on board and support available. Please email me if you are interested; lnathan@wakatipu.school.nz or check out our sports website, the link can be found below.

Keep Us Informed
The sports department would love to hear from you if you know of any awesome achievements from our students so that we can celebrate these as a school. Please send through details and photos to lnathan@wakatipu.school.nz.

Support Sport at WHS
Jump on board and support the team by liking or following the Wakatipu High School Sports Facebook page. This is the best way to stay informed and up to date with the successes of our athletes and teams and help celebrate their great achievements. https://www.facebook.com/WakatipuHighSchoolSports/ 

Laura Nathan
Director of Sport

WHS Climbing Team

Welcome to the 40 students who have joined the climbing team this year, lots on this year so please check our Google Classroom in regards to events and key information for 2023.
Kia kaha - climb hard -
Mr Guillaume Charton (TIC Climbing)

Local Climbing Crag of the Week - Wye Creek
Wye Creek is one of the best crags in New Zealand and just around the corner from the school, it hosts hundreds of climbs from easy to very challenging overhanging routes. It takes 45min to access climbs from the bottom car park. Surrounded by native flora Wye Creek is also the back door of the Remarkables Conservation Area.

The Queenstown Climbing Club has set up over 200 traps around Wye Creek with the aim to eradicate pests from this special place.

Details of climbs around Queenstown inc Wye Creek can be found in the local New Zealand Alpine Club guidebook Queenstown Rock, Ice and Boulders guidebook.

The video below features some of the great climbs that Wye Creek has on offer.

Want to learn lead climbing for free? Sign in for a great opportunity for students and parents!
NZOIA has a Sport climbing model client opportunity coming up in Queenstown on Sunday 2 April.

The day will cover basic day introductory session on lead climbing. Learn about lead belaying, safe clipping techniques and if time allows, how to clean the route.

Age 15 yrs and above
Knowledge of climbing basics. Can tie in and comfortably climb Grade 15 Competent with top roping and belaying (using an ATC or similar, not a GriGri) May have started to learn lead climbing. Possible climbing wall entry fee if wet (usually $15).

There are 14 spaces available. 

If you would like to attend as a model client, please register your interest for this course online.

Arts Department News

School musical Rock Apocalypse
Hey team! I’m Billie, student vocal coach and cast member in the upcoming Wakatipu High School musical Rock Apocalypse. Over the last four weeks our cast and directors have been putting in the hours and working hard to get the production in shape. As well as countless dance run-throughs and singing rehearsals, the rest of the leads and I have been stage blocking scenes, practising accents and learning lines. Crews have been decided on and organising and preparing for sound, set, and costume is already underway. The graphic design team is also already into designing posters and hoodies. From hair and makeup to lighting and sound, massive thanks to all the wonderful students who signed up for the crew - welcome to the musical family. Tickets will be out in no time and we can’t wait to put on this show for you. Five weeks to go!

Billie Carey Year 13

Gigs on the Green
Last Friday afternoon saw the first of the two Gigs on the Green run by Rockformation.This featured the Goose Pies and Estrogen from WHS as well as a band from Mt Aspiring and two bands that included ex WHS students. It was a great event on a lovely afternoon and we are hoping for the same this Friday which will again feature WHS students.
Performance Times
5.00pm Bethany Graf
5.15 Goose Pies
5.35 Mt Aspiring
6.00 Estrogen
6.30 Powder Chutes
7.00 Subfunction
7.30 Cellar Doors

Extracurricular music activities
We had a number of meetings this week for students wanting to be involved in extracurricular groups. These included: Junior and senior bands and solo-duo acts, Songwriting group, Junior jazz and Chamber music. Other meetings to be organised include: Digital music and Singing. Unfortunately, we didn't see many of the students who signed up.

Students do need to read the posts on the Performing Arts Classroom (Code sijw2gw) to ensure they get all the information. Specific group information is also attached to the specific group Classrooms. Students who missed the meetings need to come and talk to Mrs Price in the Music area to catch up on missed information

Rockquest
Entries are now open for this year's Rockquest and Tangata Beats. Entry forms at:https://www.smokefreerockquest.co.nz/

Showquest
Showquest preparation is underway and auditions start week 5 in break 2. To choose your slot and audition type, fill out the google form posted on the Showquest 2023 Google Classroom. There are multiple days to work around school trips and camps but if you have any questions email Ms Foster at gfoster@wakatipu.school.nz. The Showquest team cannot wait to see you! 

Scholarship Photography
This week we feature the work of Mikyla Eden Wishart who gained a scholarship in 2022 for her Photography portfolio based on anxiety.  This was a very special folio to work on but it did provide challenges in capturing the daily struggles that many people encounter.  We were very proud to see Mikyla rewarded with a scholarship for this journey and we look forward to seeing where her next step in photography will take her. 

Careers

Key dates for Year 13 students

TERM 1

Mon 6 Mar - Otago Polytechnic / Te Pūkenga | Liaison Visit & Presentation (9:00am - Library)
Fri 10 Mar - University of Otago | Liaison Visit & Presentation (9:00am - Theatre)
Fri 24 Mar - University of Canterbury | Liaison Visit & Presentation (9:00am - Boardroom)
Mon 27 Mar – University of Auckland | Online Liaison Visit & Presentation (9:00am - Mātuitui)
Fri 31 Mar – Massey University | Liaison Visit & Presentation (9:00am - Mātuitui)
Mon 3 Apr – Victoria University of Wellington | Liaison Visit & Presentation (9:00am - Mātuitui)

TERM 2

Mon 1 May – New Zealand Defence Force Presentation (11:45am - Mātuitui)
Wed 3 May - University of Canterbury Tertiary Trip 
Sun 7 & Mon 8 May - University of Otago | Otago Polytechnic Tertiary Trip
Mon 22 May – Lincoln University | Liaison Visit & Presentation (9:30am - Mātuitui)
Thu 8 Jun - University of Otago |Otago Polytechnic Info Evening (6:30pm - Mātuitui)

To register for any of these opportunities, please to go to our new Careers website to sign up.

To access, click on the link below or visit the school's website and find CareerWise under the Careers tab.

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

LEARNER & INTERMEDIATE DRIVING LESSONS

Dan Gerard Driving Instruction has professional male and female driving instructors, and members of the New Zealand Institute of Driver Educators. We offer high quality friendly driver training covering a range of driving lessons.

• Learner lessons for beginners
• Assessment for Learner drivers who have been taught by family and need their skills polished before sitting their Restricted Test
• Refresher lessons to brush up before sitting the Full Test
• Street Talk defensive driving courses

http://www.drivinginstruction.co.nz/ , E: info@drivinginstruction.co.nz

Rach Gerard: 027 273 9610,  Dan Gerard: 027 349 2447