WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.07 | 24 March 2023

Principal's Message

Kia ora and welcome to a short but excellent week. With the first of four WHS Foundation newsletters having gone out last week (click here if you didn’t read it), there is a lot to cover since the last WHS newsletter two weeks ago.

This week marks the end of Week 8 and next week we have our annual school Musical - Rock Apocalypse. Our students and staff have been putting in the mahi and long hours since the start of the year and the opening night is next Wednesday 29 March. The Musical showcases so much of the talent and efforts of our students and is always a great show. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, be sure to do so, as there are only 4 nights and the show tends to sell out. A huge thanks to the staff and volunteers who support and guide our students to put on a fantastic show. 

Next week is also our Summer Tournament Week, which marks the pinnacle of the summer sport season. This year we have more than 80 students representing WHS across the country at the South Island or National Championships in Rowing, Volleyball, Touch, Athletics and Mountain Biking. Be sure to read the sports section below for more details, including how our rowers won the South Island Championships in Twizel two weeks ago, receiving the Bell Cup as the top rowing school. We wish all the students competing next week the very best. Karawhiua - give it heaps!

For seniors, the last two weeks of the term invariably represent an uptick in school workload with lots of internal assessments being due. As mentioned in previous newsletters, we publish an internal assessment calendar with the assessments for all classes at all senior levels. These can be found below, and it would be worthwhile for students to look at this again at the end of this term, in anticipation of Term 2 (see below for links to the internal assessment calendars). 

Next Tuesday 28 March, we have the first of our Junior Next Steps Conferences. These are being held with junior students (and their parents) and the Kaiārahi (Ako teacher). We strongly encourage all parents and students to attend these important meetings, and if you haven’t yet done so, please make sure you book an appointment before Monday. School finishes for all students at 12:30 pm with buses running at this time. 

With eight weeks completed in the term, all students and parents will have received two sets of Learning Engagement (LE) reports and plenty of academic marks and comments, including next steps for learning. These reports, which are all available through the Portal, enable parents and caregivers to have a fair idea of how the year has started for their student. If senior students are not tracking the way that students (or parents) would like, then please be sure to get in touch with your student's Kaiārahi or subject teacher.

Just a few hours ago, we were given notice by the PPTA that there is a planned strike day for next Wednesday 29 March. While we hope that a resolution and agreement will be reached soon, unfortunately, the strike means that students will not have school next Wednesday. Similar to last week, if parents/caregivers would like to send their students to school to be supervised next Wednesday, please could they complete the form here. (Please note that the School Musical, Summer Tournament Week and Portobello Trip will proceed as planned)

A great and very full newsletter follows, including a nice piece from the students who are returning from their Waitangi Trip. Be sure to have a read. 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and we look forward to seeing you at Junior Next Steps and/or the Musical next week.

Ngā mihi nui,

Oded Nathan
Principal

Internal Assessment Calendar

The 2023 internal assessment calendar provides the due dates for all internal assessments that students undertake throughout the year for each course in Years 11-13.  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

Literacy Information Evening

We held a Literacy information evening recently for our Junior school parents. Please see video and slideshow linked below for all parents that missed this important information evening.

Waitangi 2023

With the help of great students and even greater staff, our journey to Te Ika-a-Māui has been nothing short of spectacular. With our kete roro filled with mātauranga, and our eyes opened widely to te ao Māori and hearts full of mana, the Wakatipu High School students can safely say it has been the most mīharo trip. Some key highlights were:

• Khierssynn - Reliving the moment as a tuakana has been like following in the footsteps of my own tuakana.
• Haru - It was amazing to see that back in the 1940’s Māori culture was sparked back to life, and the ahi continues to grow.
• Finn - Sandboarding has been my absolute favourite activity!
• Nicole - Connecting to the whenua and learning things that help to deepen my understanding of my own New Zealand culture has been emotional (in a good way).
• Thomasin - Singing the waiata and feeling connected to my peers.
• Maddy - Sandboarding and visiting the Waitangi grounds.
• Tallulah - Being in the waka, because I have been told about it my whole life by my whānau, and I finally got to experience it. 
• Zara - Sand boarding. It was really fun, hot, and amazing to be at the ocean.
• Kierah - Swimming in the moana.
• Cleo - The long drives and the views out the windows. I enjoyed them so much, even though I was asleep for lots of them 🙂
• Gideon - The hole in the rock ferry (I got completely soaked).
• Amelia - The waka trip was awesome, I learnt alot, including why it is called Waitangi.
• Ivan - My highlight has been the Footsteps of Manaea, and Opononi in general, it was a great day.
• Rayne - Hole in the Rock, because last year we didn’t get to go because of rough ocean conditions.
• Jessica - The sandboarding, because it was a great activity on a beautiful day.
• Jalia - The waka tour because it was so much fun and Tāne Mahuta was so cool.
• Millie - Making new friends for life.
• Mr Matamua - Just seeing the students enjoying learning outside the classroom (and the LOUD tunes in the van).
• Mr Jackson - The Manaea Footsteps and learning all around Kupe (and watching Mrs Duncan’s reaction to the octopus tentacles).
• Mrs Duncan - Swimming in the pristine waters of Long Beach was a close second to visiting the Treaty Grounds. An incredible experience, one I am already planning to repeat with my own children.

Leadership Speaker Series: Erin Jackson

We had a wonderful speaker this morning, Erin Jackson. Erin was at university when the Christchurch earthquakes happened — which led to her being a co-founder of the Student Volunteer Army in 2010. She then became the President of the Students’ Association and has been involved with the SVA ever since. She moved to Queenstown five years ago, and runs two businesses, working all around Aotearoa. 

Erin gave some great advice particularly around how to mobilise people for volunteering; make it fun, create a team environment, give people food, and make the timing work for people's lives. The student leaders will definitely be putting some of her wise words into action!

Volunteering on TOD

Last Friday on Teacher Only Day, a group of our students spent their day off volunteering in the community with Plunket, the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust and Friends of Tucker Beach. We also had some students help community members at a digital help drop-in centre at the Library, as well as some ex-QPS students who helped out at their old school. Thanks to Volunteer South for organising these opportunities on our TOD days. It's wonderful to see our students getting involved and contributing to causes that they care about.

Art Department News

Wakatipu High School presents "Rock Apocalypse". Tickets on sale now.
Wakatipu High School students are set to return to the mainstage with their annual musical production, Rock Apocalypse which opens next week.

This year’s show is a hilarious rock ‘n’ roll parody of classic horror and sci-fi B-Movies. Join us for this annual evening of talent as our students dive into the life and times of rockstar Ricky Valiant and his big band of misfit doctors and “deadhead” zombies. 

About the Musical: The story follows megalomaniac rockstar Ricky Valiant who sets up an evil laboratory turning unsuspecting victims into zombie-like creatures called deadheads. Married couple Dawn and Ash are lured to the institute for counselling but find themselves embroiled in Ricky’s evil plans to take over the world by broadcasting his concert and turning anyone watching into deadheads. Will Ash and Dawn help the FBI take down Ricky? Will the planet be saved? Watch the show to find out!

Director: Jake Hansen
Musical Director: Alison Price
Choreographer: Genevieve Foster
Student Directors: Rochelle Tickle and Jack Speedy
Student Choreographer: Ruby Rose
Lead Roles: Stefan Hall in the role of Ricky Valiant, Bethany Graf as Dawn Raimi and Jack Speedy as Ash Raimi. 
Dates: Wednesday 29 March to Saturday 01 April
Run Time: Approximately 2 hours plus a 30 minute intermission
Opening Night: Wednesday 29 March, doors open at 7:15pm, with show commencing at 7:30pm
Venue: Wakatipu High School Theatre, 47 Red Oaks Drive, Frankton

Tickets: Tickets are General Admission only and are on sale now via iTicket.
Click on the link below for tickets.

Rock Acopalypse Tickets

Door sales will be available unless sold out. Refreshments will be available before the show and during intermission. 
Contact:
Monica Parker, Arts Co-ordinator
mparker@wakatipu.school.nz

JAZZ BANDS
Information about the Blenheim Jazz trip and workshops is in the process of being sent to parents. We will be looking to fundraise for these events and would welcome any further suggestions.

SONGWRITING GROUP
This is underway on Thursdays at 8.00am in the music area. Anyone interested in developing their songwriting skills is welcome to join us.

DIGITAL MUSIC
Sessions with Mr Jefferson are underway on Tuesdays at break 2 in the Music area. New members welcome.

D.J SESSIONS
We have a tutor available and keen to run some D.J. workshops during a Break time at school. We just need some students to sign up.

OTHER GROUPS
The following groups are in the process of being set up but we still need to confirm student numbers.
Chamber Music
Junior Jazz
Please contact Alison Price at aprice@wakatipu.school.nz if you have any questions about these groups. 
Alison Price
TIC Music/Hola Arts

Riversdale Arts Emerging Artist Award 2023
$1000 Prize awarded on opening night from a limited selection of work displayed for the duration of the exhibition. Artists between the ages of 13 and 25 (at 21 July 2023) who have not exhibited their work in a commercial or public gallery (excluding exhibitions specifically for students or young and emerging artists) are invited to apply. Please see further details in the application form below.

Artist of the Week
This week's artist of the week is Stella Stretch, Year 12 student in 7ARD. Stella has created a set of posters to market a 50’s Arts Fashion Exhibition, Amazing work Stella!

Photography
This week we celebrate the success of Hazel Read. Hazel gained Scholarship success in Photogrpahy last year, with her work on childhood innocence. Her panels explored the aspects of growing up too quickly, losing your innocence and subjectivity around young females. Her unique approach to capturing these images was refreshing, which undoubtably gained her the success she so deserved. Hazel is a talented artist and one to watch out for in the future. 
Abbey Brown
TIC Photography

Sports and Active Recreation News

Summer Tournament Week 
WHS wishes the 110 students competing during Summer Tournament Week all the very best as they depart over the next few days for their various competitions throughout the country. We are incredibly proud to have these students representing our school at regional, South Island and National Championships. WHS has students involved in the following competitions:

• NZSS Rowing Champs (Maadi Cup) - Cambridge
• NZSS Volleyball Champs - Palmerston North
• SISS Touch Champs - Christchurch
• SISS Athletic Champs - Invercargill
• Satellite Volleyball Tournament - Christchurch
• SISS Mountain Biking Champs - Queenstown
  
• NZSS Triathlon Champs - Wanaka
• Southland Golf Champs - Winton
• Gillette Venus Cup Playoffs - Dunedin

Sports Muster
On Wednesday we held a muster for all students at WHS who play sport for the school. This was a great opportunity for us to discuss the vision for sport at WHS and how to live our school values through sport. All students have been sent the Great Sportsperson document through the various sports google classrooms and all coaches have a copy as well. It would be great to have our parents and caregivers supporting and encouraging their young person to live these values through sport as well. A copy of the document is below.
The Wakatipu Way - What A Great Sportsperson Does:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hok-0twiSSXfvqbvfnn0n717pFBRy06dmbz_CR00m3o/edit?usp=sharing

NZ U18 Ice Hockey Gold Medalists
Congratulations to Lachy Boniface and Joel Gerard who won gold with the New Zealand U18 Men's Ice Hockey Team in South Africa. NZ took out the Division III Group B tournament. Well done boys!

South Island Secondary School Rowing Champs
A huge congratulations to all of the WHS rowers who competed at the SISS Rowing Champs in Twizel. An incredible number of students qualified for A and B finals. Wakatipu High School was awarded the Bell Trophy for top school in the South Island, an amazing achievement! Below are a list of medalists from the regatta. A huge thank you to the Whakatipu Rowing Club and all coaches and house parents for their mahi at this event.
Gold - U17 Boys Single Sculls - Marley King Smith
Gold - U17 Boys Coxed Quad Sculls - Toby Rorrison, Xavier Small, Keegan Green, Ashton White + Emily Howick
Gold - U18 Double Sculls - Xavier Small, Marley King Smith
Gold - U17 Boys Double Sculls - Xavier Small, Ashton White
Gold - U18 Single Sculls - Marley King Smith
Gold - U18 Coxed Quad Sculls - Toby Rorrison, Marley King Smith, Xavier Small, Ashton White + Emily Howick
Silver - U18 Girls Double Sculls - Neve Bates, Olivia Key
Silver - U18 Girls Novice Double Sculls - Sasha Key, Amy Paterson
Silver - U17 Girls Single Sculls - Neve Bates
Bronze - U15 Girls Coxed Quad Sculls - Eve Pagan, Amy Paterson, Sasha Key, Madeline McNay + Jessie Glover
Bronze - U15 Boys Coxed Octuple Sculls - McKellar Thornton, Jasper Crawford, Charlie Manser, Max Davis, Hagan Brown, Harry McNay, Finley Woods, Mike Perry + Cameron Hall
Bronze - U15 Girls Double Sculls - Sasha Key, Amy Paterson
Bronze - U15 Boys Coxed Quad - Charlie Manser, Hagan Brown, Max Davis, Jasper Crawford + Cameron Hall
Bronze - U18 Boys Novice Coxed Quadruple Sculls - Toby Tregidga, Hagan Brown, Max Davis, Mike Perry + Cameron Brown

Sail GP
Congratulations to Year 11 student Blake Jackson who was selected as one of 35 crews throughout New Zealand to compete in the Sail GP Inspire Feva Championships that took place in Christchurch last weekend. This was part of the International Sail GP Championship. 

Southland Athletic Champs
Congratulations to all of our students who competed in the Southland Secondary School Athletic Champs in Invercargill. WHS finished 5th overall in the schools competition. A number of students competed well and won their events.
Sienna Watson - 1st Senior Girls Triple Jump, Long Jump and High Jump
Jude Deaker - 1st U16 Boys 1500m, 3000m and 2000m Steeplechase
Siena Mackley - 1st U16 Girls 1500m and 3000m
Kiera Redden - 1st U14 Girls 1500m and 3000m
Jude Deaker set a new record for the U16 Boys 1500m race and Siena Mackley set a new time for the U16 Girls 3000m race. 

Southland Volleyball Champs
Congratulations to the Senior A Boys Volleyball team who won the Boys grade of the Southland Indoor Champs for the first time. This is an awesome milestone for the team who are in their second year of competing. The Senior A Girls finished runners up to James Hargest High School while the Senior B team finished 6th in division 1. The Senior C team were unable to secure a win but enjoyed some great games. A big thank you to our coaching team of Jeremias Romero, Steve Henderson, Mrs Panapa and Eva Bogue!

Otago Mixed Touch Champions
Wakatipu High School took out the Mixed grade of the Otago Touch Champs last Friday in Dunedin. What started out as a Dunner Stunner on Friday, sun shining and 24 degrees in the first round had turned into torrential downpour by the time WHS had beaten South Otago High School 8-5 in the final. Regardless, it was a great day at the office for the Mixed A Touch team who head to Christchurch this weekend to compete in the South Island Secondary School Champs. 

Southland Surf Champs
A big congratulations to Year 9 student Angus Roberts who won both the Junior and Senior Male categories at the Southland Secondary Schools Surfing Champs at Colac Bay last weekend with the highest scoring waves. Great stuff Angus!

Cromwell Swim Meet
WHS had a number of students compete last Saturday at the Cromwell Swim Meet which included 13 swim clubs from around the South Island. Queenstown Swim Club did well winning the meet and our students finished with at least two podiums each and many PBs. Well done to Sydney Alva, Bailey MacKay, Finn Henderson and Bella Marshall.

Gillette Venus Cup and Gillette Cup Progress
1st XI Girls:
It was a big weekend of cricket for Wakatipu High School with a mix of results. A great outcome for the Girls 1st XI who beat Blue Mountain College in the quarter final of the Gillette Venus Cup last Friday. The weather held for the match at Jacks Point and it was awesome to see the girls in the school colours for the first time this year! The girls now move through to the semi-final stage of this competition. 

1st XI Boys:
The 1st XI played Southland Boys High School in the semi-final of the Gillette Cup on Sunday at Queens Park in Invercargill. WHS had a low scoring game reaching 106 runs. It was a close game considering the low score which Southland Boys reached for 6 down. That result knocks WHS out of the Gillette Cup for this year. Thomas Hulsman scored a high of 21 runs followed by Harry Walker-Leach on 20 runs. Harry also took 2 wickets for 20 runs and was named Player of the Match.

2nd XI Boys:
To cap off a trifecta of games the 2nd XI took on a good SBHS 2nd XI in Invercargill across two T20 matches. It was an excellent day's cricket for the 2nd XI who all acquitted themselves very well. Our young team took a much more experienced SBHS side to the death in two close loses. Leading the way with the bat was captain Liam Clarke, while Harry Baker was the pick of the bowlers with key wickets in both games. An excellent learning experience and the boys really enjoyed the 1st XI coming along to watch the close finish to the second game.

Opportunities to Get Involved

Queenstown Junior Squash
The Queenstown Squash Club is starting a junior programme with the renowned Tracy Flux. This will take place  every Friday 4pm - 5:30pm at the Queenstown Squash Club on Memorial Ave. This is a free programme so go along and check it out. There are opportunities to compete in regional secondary school events later in the year.

CARDRONA / TREBLE LOCAL SCHOOL CHILD SEASON PASS 2023 
Our local school seasons passes are available to purchase online by following the link  - https://secure.cardrona-treblecone.com/s/local-school-child-season-pass/p/local-school-child-season-pass-2023

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

Girls who Grow

"Girls who Grow" led by Catherine van der Meulen (entrepreneur) are on a mission to grow the next generation of wāhine changemakers, leaders and environmental guardians in the agricultural sector. As a pilot school for the "Girls who Grow" programme our girls at WHS were privileged to participate in numerous creative problem solving activities and be inspired by the stories of Becks Smith (Veterinarian), Aimee Blake (Masters student of Agriculture Commerce at Lincoln University) and Justine Ross (Owner of Lake Hawea Station). This is the first stage of the programme, the next stage involves a visit to a local farm, and then a three day experience at Lake Hawea Station which is known to be highly successful in carbon sequestration and developing healthy ecosystems in an agricultural setting. Our girls enjoyed the programme and felt uplifted to think of ways to problem solve for the future.
Ngā mihi,
Rose Kidd 

Redemption Song Y12 Biology Field Trip

Last week, our year 12 Biology students visited the “Redemption Song” restorative forest in Dalefield. The students learnt practical Ecology skills including how to measure tree growth using transect lines, determine the population density of skinks and perform bird counts. Local Ecologist Dawn Palmer also discussed how abiotic and biotic factors influence communities in a restorative forest. The weather was stunning, the environment amazing and our students outstanding.
Ngā mihi,
Rose Kidd 

Vertical Horizonz Level 3 Workshop

I am looking to engage with a building apprenticeship when I leave school. For me I love learning opportunities that occur beyond the classroom.  The 'Working from Heights' course  provided myself and a range of my fellow Level 3 Gateway students with the opportunity to learn key skills, most importantly how to use a safety harness for personal fall prevention when working at heights. Not only was this course hands on and practical, the certification I have earned from this course will last for 3 years....well into my apprenticeship.

I would like to thank Mrs Adolph for organising the course and Terry the instructor - who made the course fun.  

Taj Johnson
Y13 Student

Aspen Institute Forum 2023

At the beginning of this year a group of Year 13 Geography students were invited to attend a series of geopolitical forums run by the Aspen Institute New Zealand. Over the course of the three forums, students heard from experts about the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific, North Asia and finally the great power rivalry within the Indo-Pacific region. Students were lucky enough to hear from experts such as John McKinnion (Former ambassador to Beijing and Chair of the NZ China council), Simon Draper (former NZ consulate general to French Pacific and Chair of the Asia NZ Foundation), Professor Robert Patman (Professor of international relations and US foreign Policy, UoO), Sir Don McKinnon (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Rosemary Banks (Former ambassador to the United States and chair of the NZUS Council). 

These forums really opened up the geopolitical minds of our students, encouraging them to delve deeper into the importance of political relations globally and within our own Pacific region. It helped them to understand New Zealand’s position on a range of different issues and critically analyse what might happen in the future as a result of some of these long standing rivalries. Wakatipu High School and the Geography department are very grateful to have had the opportunity for students to discover and learn about concepts, topics and politics that goes beyond the normal reaches of a classroom. 

Business and Banter

Last Friday,  two Wakatipu High School students, Grace Freemantle and Madi McLean attended the 2degrees Business and Banter Conference. This was a highly informative experience regarding how businesses are developing and being shaped around our growing economy. There were four guest speakers, Lizzi Whaley (CEO of Spaceworks), Paul Spain (Futurist & CEO tech commentator) Jehan Casinader (award winning journalist) and Hayden Paddon (NZ 4 x World Rally champion). All of these speakers were extremely interesting to listen to and learn about their successful careers in commerce. As well as how they have adapted their businesses to the changing times. This was a great opportunity and we are very thankful for the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce and 2degrees for sponsoring us with the tickets to attend this  conference. 

Madi McLean - Year 13 Business Studies 

Food Tech - Apricot Jam

This week the Level 1 Food Technology class completed their first assessment for the year. With the very kind and generous donation of apricots from Webb's Fruit, which are located in Cromwell, the students implemented procedures to produce a specified product; apricot jam. We are very privileged to live in Central Otago, where students can experience producing an authentic product with locally grown ingredients, which are used in the same apricot jam products we find on our supermarket shelves. Thank you very much Webb's Fruit. 

Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award Practice Tramp

Last weekend, students completed a practice Tramp for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award.

The Bronze group started from Arthur's Point and walked to Moke Lake via the Moonlight Track.  The Silver/Gold group started from One Mile and walked over the Ben Lomond saddle to reach the Moonlight Track.  We all camped at Moke Lake campsite for the night.  On the second day, we all walked out via Lake Dispute and the Mt Crichton track.

This was a challenging walk; students hiked roughly 10 km each day carrying tents, sleeping bags, food and cooking equipment.

Thank you to Ms Kay Holst, Ms Sarah File and Ms Vicki Patton for volunteering their time over the long weekend to take these groups.

All students must attend two school tramps in order to complete each level of the Award.  The next tramps are planned for 27-29 May and 21-23 July (exact dates depending on the weather).

What is the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award?
The Adventurous Journey is just one aspect of the Duke of Ed Award.  Students also complete a Physical Activity, Voluntary Service and commit time to learning a Skill.  

For more information, have a look at the WHS Duke of Ed website linked below.  Students can also come to the Monday Break 2 drop-in sessions in Coronet.

Heather Dixon
TIC Duke of Ed

Careers

Click link below to view latest job listings.

School Policies and Procedures

Did you know that all the WHS policy and process documents are accessible from the school website and a link to these can be found here: Policies and Processes (The username and password to access the site are on the same page.)

WHS leverages a platform called SchoolDocs and the link will take you to this site.  There is a great search function on the left hand side that allows you to enter key words and it will bring up all the related policy documents. There is also a review function. In the "Current Review" section you will see all the policies that are currently under review and who is able to input into them (see screen shot below). 

Please bear in mind that policy and procedure documents are usually fairly high level, additionally the content is often dictated by regulatory or legislative requirements, so, whilst all feedback will be reviewed, not all feedback will necessarily be included.

Buying lunch at school

We have seen an increase in the number of students waiting in line to buy their lunch at the school cafe. Sometimes students are not getting much time to eat their lunch and/or are spending the bulk of their time queuing. This is not how we want the students to spend their break times.

Students and parents can pre-order their school lunches with lunchorders.co.nz and skip the queues. This saves your student having to wait in line and miss out on their break time. 

We strongly encourage parents and students to use the online ordering system. Students will still need to line up to collect their lunch but there is a dedicated line and it moves much faster as the lunches are pre-packed and there is no money being exchanged. Please see details below.

Administration Positions Vacant - Apply Now

We have two key Support Staff positions available at the school.  Support Staff roles are critical to the smooth operations of our very busy school. We are a large organisation that requires some efficient and talented individuals to keep it all running smoothly.

If working Term Time only (40 weeks a year) and having all the school holidays free to spend with your whānau sounds like your dream job then check out our two vacancies;

Student Records Officer

Communications Officer

Homestay Families Required

WHS Foundation

Key Dates

Community Notices

Andrew Gilhooly was one of 1600 Armed Constabulary and volunteers who invaded and occupied the pacifist settlement of Parihaka on November 5, 1881. Soon after, the landless Irish immigrant returned to Taranaki to run three family farms, all on land confiscated from Māori who were forced to leave their land, homes and possessions to seek refuge elsewhere.

Politics Professor Richard Shaw was 55 before he discovered his great-grandfather’s story, part of the “historic amnesia” which he says has allowed families like his to ignore the advantages given them by colonisation. His Catalyst Conversation will connect the erased ‘small stories’ of colonial settler families to the ‘big story’ of colonisation and discuss the necessity for Pākehā New Zealanders to “end the forgetting”.

Thursday, March 30, 6 -7.30pm at The Rees Hotel Queenstown’s conference room.
Registration required HERE as seats are limited. Please bring cash for your koha, which will be given to Te Tapu o Tane for Whakatipu community environmental projects.

Wild Dunedin Festival 14 – 23 April
Are you looking for things to do in the school holidays? Check out the Wild Dunedin
Festival. Free and fun activities about nature for all ages plus great deals on boat trips,
albatross and penguin viewing, Orokonui Ecosanctuary and Resistance Climbing Gym.
See the programme and book here:
www.wilddunedin.nz

Where does our food come from?
Wao Aotearoa would love your help! You may have noticed our supermarket shelves looking awfully bare in places. And this seems to be becoming commonplace and an accepted issue. So, what can we do about it? Well, with your help we can improve the food supply in our community!

Take 2 minutes to complete this short food survey and help Wao and the QLDC build a roadmap to improve our ability to feed our community into the future. Whether you buy all your groceries or you are an avid gardener, if you live locally, then your input is invaluable.

Lets go --------> https://www.wao.co.nz/food-resilience

Share with your friends and family too - the more we know about our local community food needs, the better the roadmap will be! 

Responses close 16th April 2022

Frankton Fire Brigade marks 50 years with open day Sunday, April 2, 11am to 2pm
Frankton Fire Brigade is inviting the public to an open day at the station as it commemorates 50 years of serving the community. The station traces its origins to a public meeting held on March 29, 1973, where the need for a new station to support the growing Frankton and Kelvin Heights communities was discussed. The first fire station was the original Queenstown Volunteer Fire Brigade tin shed, relocated in 1974 to a section in Douglas St Frankton, where the current station was built in 1979.

The open day will take place at the Douglas St station on Sunday, April 2, from 11am to 2pm.The public are invited to look around the station, chat with firefighters, get photos on the fire truck and purchase fundraising anniversary patches and challenge coins. A display of the car extrication equipment will be held during the day.

Entertainment is the easy-to-use App packed with incredible savings of up to 50% off and 2-for-1 offers, so you can save on takeaway, dining, shopping, groceries, gift cards, activities and more!

And what’s even better, 20% of every membership purchased goes to support Wakatipu High School!

Your purchase of an Entertainment Membership contributes to our fundraising. Help us achieve our goal by sharing this link with your friends and family. Thanks for your support!

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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