WHS Newsletter | Issue 3.05 | 18 August | 2023

Principal's Message

Kia ora koutou katoa and welcome to the end of a really good week here at Wakatipu High School, in which WHS’ great all-round education was on full-display. 

After a special edition newsletter last week from the WHS Foundation, this week’s newsletter is packed with lots of great news from the Arts and Sporting arenas, Scholarships for Year 13’s, overseas exchanges, and much, much more, so be sure to have a read.

Our senior school exams concluded on Tuesday and it was great to see all the students back at school on Wednesday. The school exams provide an excellent opportunity for students to practise studying, consolidate their learning from the first two-thirds of the year, and to practise ‘performing under pressure’. Achieving well in external exams is something that takes practice and determination, and with final exams beginning in November, the school exams signal the time for students to ramp up their study and start preparing. Results from exams will be available by 1 September at the latest. 

Last Friday, our teacher only day was focused on the explicit teaching of structured literacy to support students with learning how to read. It was a useful and important day for our staff, as this is not something that most trained secondary teachers are currently familiar with. As a staff, we are making good progress and while we were pleased to see a relatively large number of Year 10 students achieve their literacy and numeracy co-requisite exams, there is still more work to do, and students need to continue developing their numeracy and literacy skills both at school and at home. A comprehensive email will be sent to parents/caregivers of Year 10 students regarding both the numeracy and literacy (reading and writing) co-requisite next week. 

On Sunday, our WHS Jazz band did the long drive back from Blenheim, where they competed in the Southern Jam Jazz Festival. Our Jazz band is truly incredible and they came back with a Gold and Silver grading, despite half the band consisting of juniors. They also won the Invercargill Jazz Festival last night. A massive thank you to the Year 13’s for whom this was their last tour up north, and also to the staff and supporters of our amazing band.  The ‘Showing Off’ exhibition at the Arrowtown Museum is now finished, a massive congratulations to all the artists for their stunning work, and congratulations to those students who won the ‘people’s choice’ awards. See below for more details.

Also on Sunday, the WHS Foundation, in conjunction with St Moritz Hotel, hosted The Whiffenpoofs at Te Atamira. This famous a capella band from Yale University showcased their skill and talents for two hours at a packed-out show. A huge thanks to everyone who was in attendance and to all the people and businesses that support the WHS Foundation. Your contributions make a huge difference to students, families and the school. 

In the sporting arena, last Saturday I had the privilege of presenting the ‘Ritchies’ Cup’ to our 1st XV rugby team after they won the middle-four playoff to finish 5th overall in the Otago Premier Schools Rugby competition. Our 1st XV had an outstanding season finishing as the top co-ed school in Otago/Southland. A massive congratulations to all the players, coaches and supporters. A warm welcome back to Marley King Smith who made WHS and NZ proud with his rowing performance at the under-19 world rowing championships in Paris. Also, yesterday was our annual sports exchange with Mt Aspiring College which we hosted. It was very special to be able to host our exchange in our new gymnasium - Pouākai. We are very fortunate to have such amazing facilities. See below for more amazing highlights from our student-athletes, as well as information regarding the final draft of the 2026 Sports Strategic Plan.

Strategic planning is a very important part of setting the direction and aspirations of Wakatipu High School. The School's current strategic plan was reviewed in 2021 and is currently set to run through 2024. Every year, we set annual priorities and action plans to achieve our objectives and key results, all of which fall under the broad strategic headings of the strategic plan.

This year, the Ministry of Education is requiring all schools to review their strategic plans and have them run through 2025. As we are currently midstream with our strategic plan, the Board and Senior Leadership Team have reviewed our strategic plan and believe that it encapsulates the wants and needs of the community and that there is the flexibility to adapt and modify our annual priorities within the current strategic plan. With that said, we believe it is in the best interest of the school and the community to extend the current plan through to 2025.

You can find our strategic plan here and our 2023 annual priorities here, which include the objectives and key results.

If you’d like to provide feedback on what is proposed above and/or any aspect of our current strategic plan and/or strategic priorities, please complete this form by Friday, 1st September.

Planning for 2024 is well underway, including that all students option selections should now be complete. We now start to roll out our 2024 student leadership opportunities, including student representatives on the Board of Trustees (please see below for more details). A huge thanks to Daphne Ricketts, who is the current student representative. She has done a fantastic job of representing the student body at Board meetings. 

A great and full newsletter follows, please be sure to have a read.

Ngā mihi nui,

Oded Nathan
Principal

Student Representative Election for the WHS Board 2023-2024

Nominations are invited for the election of one Student Representative on the Wakatipu High School Board. All students enrolled full-time in Year 9 and above and under 20 years old, are eligible to be placed on the electoral roll, stand for election and vote in the school’s election for the Student Representative on the Wakatipu High School Board. The Student Representative has equal standing, voice, accountabilities and vote as other board members and the term of office is 12 months.  Information on who is not eligible to be a board member is provided with the nomination form.  Further information may be found in the Student Representative Handbook and in the Student Board Member video.

Nominations
A nomination form and copy of this notice are being distributed to all eligible voters on the student roll by email.

Candidates
If you are considering standing for the election, you need to print the nomination form or collect one from Reception. The nomination form is to be completed and returned to Florentyna Sue, Principal’s PA and Returning Officer, at ground floor Reception before noon on Wednesday 23 August, along with a short candidate statement (400 words max, also to be emailed to nbrown@wakatipu.school.nz) and may include a photograph.  The Returning Officer may remove or edit any part of the candidate’s statement if it exceeds 400 words or if it is offensive or defamatory. Candidate statements will be printed as part of the voting paper. There will be a list of candidates' names as they come to hand displayed at Reception.

Voting roll
The voting roll will be open for inspection at Reception during opening hours.

Voting
Voting closes at 4pm on Friday 8 September.

The timeline for the student election are as follows:
- Nomination forms available – Monday 17 August
- Nominations close – noon Monday 23 August
- Voting papers issued in Ako Time – Friday 25 August
- Voting closes - 4pm Friday 8 September
- Announcement during Friday Features, new trustee takes office – Friday 15 September
* First Board meeting Monday 18 September.

Annual Sports Exchange With Mount Aspiring College

Yesterday WHS hosted the annual MAC Sports Exchange. Students involved in different sports teams from Mount Aspiring College came over the hill and played WHS in a number of different matches. This exchange is always a lot of fun for both schools, and it was awesome to see the sportsmanship shown from both sides throughout the whole day. During break times, WHS students not involved in the exchange were able to watch the games. It seemed this cheering and support from a home crowd helped a lot, as WHS won the exchange for the first time since 2019! The overall score from the day was 12 – 4, meaning WHS won 12 games, resulting in an absolutely dominant win! 

While there were a lot of impressive wins, there were definitely some standout performances. The Senior A Boys Basketball won  87 - 31, having complete control over the game from start to finish. The 1st XI Girls Football won 5 - 1, while both Volleyball teams won 3 - 0, some very impressive margins! Meanwhile, the 1st XV Rugby team also won, taking home the Battle of the Range Shield for the second year in a row. Lastly, the 1st XI Mixed Hockey team took their revenge over the MAC team, and after losing to them last Friday in the final, managed to secure a 5 - 0 win! 

These are only a few of the awesome performances that took place yesterday, so be sure to check out the sports section of the newsletter to see the full list of results! Overall, WHS had an amazing day of sport and it was so cool to see the support from teammates and other students displayed throughout all of the games. 

We look forward to supporting our teams as they gear up for the upcoming tournament week.

Zara Mackley
Sports Prefect

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Triple Star Scholarship for the Spirit of Adventure Announcement

We are thrilled to announce that Ashton White has been chosen as the recipient of the highly coveted 2023 Triple Star Scholarship for the Spirit of Adventure! Thank you to Pete Campbell and Amy Kirk from Triple Star for their generous sponsorship making this unforgettable opportunity possible. Congratulations, Ashton!

House Gaming Competition - Mario Kart

Aspen, Colorado Sister City Exchange Opportunity - Expressions of Interest

Aspen, Colorado and Queenstown have been sister cities for over 30 years. We are excited to begin planning the return of our sister city student exchange programme taking place in January 2025 after a 4 year hiatus.  

This opportunity is being offered to students who will be entering Year 12 or Year 13 held in 2025, so for students currently in Year 10 and Year 11 at Wakatipu High.  Students will have the opportunity to experience Aspen like a true local, stay with host families, attend the local high school, and ski at the world famous Aspen ski resort. Other opportunities may include attending sporting events, learning about Native American Culture, visiting the local council, volunteering and giving back to the community. Each student will be expected to participate in these four areas:

• Global Citizenship (including civics)
• Environment & Sustainability 
• Personal Development
• Volunteering and service to the community

We are looking to hear from students who may be interested in taking part in this exchange programme.  Some key responsibilities will include hosting students from Aspen during their time in Queenstown for approximately 10 days in July 2024, working or fundraising to raise money for their trip, and joining in the educational and local government opportunities prior to travel.  Please contact mkoslenridd@wakatipu.school.nz or gigihollyer@wakatipu.school.nz to put your name forward for this amazing opportunity and include why you are interested by August 31. Students can expect an interview process, a check of previous behaviour and conduct while on school activities and a willingness for the students to engage in a presentation upon their return. We will contact people in mid-September once we have gauged interest.  Ngā Mihi!

Japan Trip 2024

Year 11 and 12 students of Japanese Language in 2024 and their whānau are invited to attend an information evening for a trip to Japan next year.

The meeting will be held in Mātuitui on Tuesday the 29th of August at 7pm. We will be covering the proposed plan, reasons for the trip being held, cost and expectations. Any questions can be addressed to Juliette Cooke jcooke@wakatipu.school.nz

EP Languages Championship Results

The results are in! Congratulations to everyone who participated in this years EP Languages Championship. Keep up with your language learning!

Top 3 in each subject as follows: 

Japanese - Dylan Lelievre, Jake McGirr, and Oscar Childs
Spanish - Cameron Hall, Leo Devlin, and Matheus Zanon Moreira
French - Toby Remnant, Zofia Dixon, Finn Worthington
Keep your eyes peeled for the Te Reo Māori Championships next month!

Below are our results within Aotearoa.

Day Tramp for International Students

This week, 8 Year 12 International OED students put their day tramp preparedness, weather assessment, and navigational skills into action by hiking the Mt Crichton Loop. They even got to experience off-track navigation using maps and compasses. It was a beautiful day and a successful outing as all students came prepared and successfully applied the skills they practiced in the classroom. The students are already looking forward to their next adventure, which will be snow caving.

Girls Who Grow Imagination Challenge

A select group of talented girls from Year 10-13 recently participated in a “Girls who Grow Imagination Challenge” along with students from Mt Aspiring College and Dunstan High School. The context of the challenge was how climate change may increase water scarcity, particularly in dry areas of New Zealand. The consequence of which will be felt in the agricultural sector and in food provisions for the planet. Their focus was to come up with innovative ideas on how to preserve fresh water quality, store and recycle water. Our students worked alongside mentors from the agricultural sector such as Landpro, University of Otago, Future Farmers NZ, Fruit minder, The Whole Story, Thriving Farming Woman and WAO- where the students could ask them questions to open up their thinking. 

Their ideas of innovations were awesome! Improving soil health, silver pasture, genetically engineered plants, filtration devices, water transportation blimps, monitoring devices, relocation of rain clouds, construction of wetlands alongside vegetable gardens and amazing electronic water management systems. The work was judged by members of the CODC, Ministry of Primary Industries, Otago Polytechnic, Landpro and Pamu Farms of NZ. 

Our very own Lucy Thompson was in the winning team, whilst Tru Russell and Ellie Kerr were in the team that got a close second place. Our students yet again remind us that our futures are in great hands, as they have the passion to contribute in a positive way to help the planet. 

Rose Kidd

Branches Trust

Helpers Required!

Helpers required for our Branches quiz night fundraiser. We need volunteers to help us set up beforehand, 4 markers during the evening as well as 8 floor staff on the night. If you're able to help your year ten student please email Lisa: lisa.pond@valuationpartners.co.nz

Sport and Active Recreation News

Mt Aspiring College Exchange
WHS had an incredibly successful day yesterday at the annual MAC exchange which we hosted on site in stunning winter weather. It was wonderful to welcome our neighbours into Pouākai with a great mihi whakatau which set the standard for what was a wonderful day of school sport. We are super proud of how our 185 rangatahi represented our kura yesterday both on and off the court and field and it was great to see lots of students supporting our teams as well. WHS had a very dominant day winning the exchange overall 12-4 with a number of significant wins including in the 1st XV rugby securing the Battle of the Range Shield for the second year in a row. A huge thank you to Ti Iti O Tāhuna who supported our teams with the mihi whakatau, all of our coaches and referees and umpires. It was a superb day for WHS sport, full results below:
Junior A Boys Basketball - won 73-39
Junior A Girls Basketball - won 46-21
Senior A Boys Basketball - won 87-31
Senior A Girls Basketball - won 38-27
Sport Climbing - won 58-41 (averages)
Junior Boys Football - lost 1-5
1st XI Girls Football - won 5-1
1st XI Boys Football - lost 1-3
1st XI Mixed Hockey - won 5-0
9A Netball - won 32-17
10A Netball - won 33-28
Senior B Netball - lost 29-24
Senior A Netball - lost 29-20
1st XV Rugby - won 62-14
Senior A Boys Volleyball - won 3-0
Senior A Girls Volleyball - won 3-0

 Photos by Leigh Jeffery.

1st XV Win Middle Four Final
Congratulations to our 1st XV who won the Ritchies Cup on Saturday against Otago Boys High School 2nd XV. It was a very competitive game of footy which our boys won 34-26. Winning the middle 4 playoff has meant the team has finished 5th overall in the Otago Premier Schools Competition, our highest ever finish! We are so proud of this group of players, their achievements and the bar they have set for future teams. They took an opportunity to move to division one this year and never took a backwards step. A huge thank you to coach John Morrison and his side kicks Malcolm Sutherland and Blair Foster as well as our tireless manager Steve McIsaac and an incredibly supportive parent group. Kā Mauka Whakatipu!

Otago Country U18 Reps
This year WHS has a large number of players selected into the Otago Country U18 Rugby squad. A huge congratulations to these players, all listed in the image below.

NZSS Duathlon Champs
Siena Mackley competed at the NZSS Duathlon Champs held at Ambury Park in Auckland on Sunday. Siena finished 2nd in the U16 age group event which comprised of a 3.5km run, a 15km road bike and a 2.5km run to finish. Well done Siena!

Central Otago Hockey Finals
Our 1st and 2nd XI Mixed Hockey teams both played their respective finals for the Central Otago Hockey Competition last week. Both teams enjoyed incredibly close matches against their opponents with scores all tied up 1-1 at full time and had to move to penalty shoot outs. The 1st XI unfortunately lost on penalties 4-5 against Mt Aspiring College while the 2nd XI won their penalty shoot out against Dunstan High School in sudden death on the 12th shot! We are so stoked that both of our hockey teams did well making their respective finals this season! The 1st XI now look ahead to competing at the South Island Secondary School Mixed Hockey Champs in Winter Tournament Week. Great stuff to all of our players and a huge thank you to our coaches and managers; 1st XI: Curtis Luff, Oliver Jolly, Karyn Battrick and Beth Fookes and 2nd XI: Jonathan Rooney and Cisca McNay.

Central Otago Girls Football Winners
A big congratulations to our Girls 1st XI Football team who won the Central Otago Secondary School Girls Competition on Monday night with a great 4-1 win over Mt Aspiring College. Captain Madi McLean picked up a hattrick of goals and Cara Quinn made it 4. Well done girls! A huge thank you to coach Jamie Whitmarsh, all our parent drivers this year and the fantastic referees who blow the whistle each week in Cromwell. Bring on Winter Tournament Week!

Southland Badminton Champs
WHS entered two junior boys teams in the Southland Badminton Champs on Thursday 10th August. It was a great day of badminton, with both teams coming away with wins and some solid matches against experienced senior boys teams. Congratulations to the WHS Gold team of Mark Panyasirapat, Zen Biebangkerd, Louis Dela Cruz and Luke McPherson who played off for 3rd and 4th against Northern Southland College, ultimately going down 4-2. A huge thank you to Mrs Hearn, Mr Bruce, and Miss Kwan for all of their hard work with our badminton players this year. It is awesome to see around 30 students on a Friday afternoon in Pouākai developing their badminton skills and having fun!

Southland Climbing Champs
Three WHS teams took on the Southland Climbing Champs at The Y in Invercargill on Tuesday. Our climbers had a fun day on the climbing wall and achieved some awesome results; taking out 1st and 3rd in the junior teams category and 2nd in the seniors. Results are below.
- Ben Clark, Caelan Briscoe, Quinn Nicoll and Louis Dela Cruz - 1st Junior Team
- India Hodge, Indy Coe and Alisa Schenk - 3rd Junior Team
- Cybella Briscoe, Tayah Vivian, Alisha Messingham - 2nd Senior Team
Top 3 individual placings are also set out below.
- Alisa Schenk - 1st Junior Girls (with a perfect score!)
- India Hodge - 3rd Junior Girls
- Ben Clark - 2nd Junior Boys
- Cybella Briscoe - 1st Senior Girls
- Tayah Vivian - 2nd Senior Girls
- Alisha Messingham - 3rd Senior Girls
Thank you to Janet Briscoe and Steve Clark for their help taking the teams down. We are looking forward to the second event in the series, which will be held in Te Anau on the 9th of September.

Alpine Skiing National Points Race
WHS had a very successful weekend at the National Points races at Coronet Peak at the weekend. A number of athletes took part and many placed and those that did not, did well and have progressed from last year. There are quite a few internationals which made the U14 boys and girls and U16 boys fields quite competitive. Overall placings were:
U16 girls:
- April Bentley - 3rd GS, 1st SL
- Sasha Key - 2nd SL
- Violet Smillie - 3rd SL
U14 boys:
- Ollie Wilkins - 3rd GS, 2nd SL
U16 boys:
- Finn McCaw - 1st SL

National Ice Figure Skating Qualifications
Congratulations to Georgia Chinn, Sabine Edmonds and Meghan Carr who have qualified for the national ice figure skating champs which will be held in Dunedin in the Term 3 holidays. Sabine also made the selection for the national development squad.  Well done!

Imogen’s FIFA Experience
Year 11 student Imogen Olliver was selected to participate in the Youth Programme for the FIFA Women’s World Cup at Forsyth Barr Stadium. What an awesome opportunity to get close to the highest level of performance sport. Good on you Imogen!

Summer Sports Expo - Wednesday 23rd August Break 2
The annual summer sports expo is taking place on Wednesday 23rd August at Break 2 in the gym. This is your chance to sign up for involvement in summer sports and activities. A great chance to check out what is on offer and get involved if you are yet to do an extracurricular activity this year!

Sports Blues Nomination Form and Details
Nominations are now open for the 2023 Sports Blues Awards. All information can be found on the form and criteria document below. Nominations close at 5pm on Thursday 31st August. Students, parents/caregivers, coaches can all make nominations.
Sports Blues Nomination Form: here
Sports Blues Criteria: here

Sports Strategic Plan Feedback Form
The WHS Sports Department has been in the process of developing a strategic plan to run from 2024-2026. Earlier this year a consultation process was run with all our stakeholders. Below is the draft version of the strategic plan that we are seeking feedback on as well as a quick form to provide comments if you are interested. The feedback form closes on Thursday 31st August.
Draft Strategic Plan: here
Feedback Form: here

Sports Photo Order Form
Sports team photos are ready to be ordered. The link for this and instructions are below. These details have also been sent directly to students and parents/caregivers. Photo Order: https://photosbyleigh.pixieset.com/whsteamphotos/

• Photos are $20.00 each, you can pay by credit card at the end of the order form
• Orders close 5 pm on 1st of September
• Use Student Name to order (not parent name) on billing form
• Use student AKO group instead of Zip/postal code
• Photos will be delivered to students at school mid September through AKO groups
  

What to Watch - Home Games
Saturday 19th August
U14 Rugby vs Cromwell - 11:15 am at WHS (U14 Plate Final)
10A Netball vs Whakatipu Flames - 12pm at the Event Centre (Senior A Final for the Wakatipu Netball Centre)
WHS Material Goals v Glenorchy - 11am at the Event Centre (Senior B Final for the Wakatipu Netball Centre)
Monday 21st August
Junior Gold Boys Basketball vs Maniototo - 5 pm in Pouākai

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

Arts Department News

Arts and Culture Expo - Break 2 - Monday, 21 August - Performing Arts Area

Are you looking for an extracurricular activity involved with Visual Arts, Performing Arts and/or cultural groups? Well, we have something special for you! This coming Monday, there will be an Arts & Culture Expo that will showcase all the different opportunities at WHS. All students are encouraged to come to the Performing Arts area (the top floor above the cafe towards the English area) to meet the teachers in charge, join the classroom and ask any questions you may have. There will be flyers handed out that have all extracurricular activities involving academics, sports, community service, and others for those students looking for opportunities elsewhere. 

"Best Served Chilled" - WHS Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo Come Home With Wins

The WHS Jazz Bands had a successful trip to Blenheim for the Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival  - with the Combo gaining the Runner Up Combo award and a Gold grading while the  Ensemble group gained a Silver grading. In addition, Hugh Hodgson received the overall guitar Excellence award and was named a member of the All Stars band. This group recognises the top musicians across all the schools competing. Given almost half this band are Y9/10 students and two-thirds were new to the bands, these results were extremely pleasing. A huge thanks to Vince Leahy and Alistair Monteath for their work with the bands and also to Chris Fitzpatrick, Justine Duncan, Debbie Jamieson and Vivienne Jamieson for their support on the trip.

Showing Off Exhibition Winners

Showing Off is an annual senior exhibition that features a collection of Paintings, Designs, and Photographic work. The work is selected based on the last year’s external folio exam grades and all the students involved in the exhibition received Excellence for their final submissions in 2022. All artworks were eligible for a prize, one for each discipline. The winners were chosen by the number of votes received from visitors to the exhibition. This exhibition receives visitors from all around the world who visit Arrowtown’s Lakes District Museum, so there is a wide range of votes that come in. 

This year’s  “People’s Choice” awards go to: 

• Frida Rylev - Design 
• Zoe Grant - Painting
• Elise Edmonds - Photography

Each student received a prize of $265 which was donated by our generous sponsor Trinity Developments. 

Toi Wearable Arts - WHS Receives High Commended 

The Wave has received a Highly Commended certificate in the Toi Senior National Finals and features in the Senior Lookbook. Dame Suzie Moncrieff and Heather Palmer from World of WearableArt have commenced their judging, and you can view the Full National results on our Facebook page in the Lookbooks. The regional Toi showcases are now up on the Showquest Youtube channel. It is inspiring to see the bold ideas, outlandish creativity and powerful stories that inspired Toi garments. Each and every student should be very proud of what they have accomplished. Enjoy looking through 2023's top creations in the Lookbooks (click the link below).

Benji Watson-Palmer - Student Illustrator in Toitoi 32

Toitoi contains a national collection of students' poetry and stories that are joined with other students' illustrations to help communicate the text. Benji Watson-Palmer’s illustration of Māpua Wharf is a stunning piece that shows the emotion of the writing. 

Artist of the Week: Matheus Year 13 Photography

Matheus shows a beautiful, touching story through photography. He explains below. 

"I enjoy the way photography allows me to express my perspectives and ideas. Through photography, I am able to show others my emotions and perception of the world. My theme is about the feeling- saudade. Saudade is a Portuguese word that refers to a nostalgic longing or yearning for something or someone that is absent.  Saudade goes beyond a simple feeling of missing; it carries a depth of sentiment that is difficult to translate into other languages. It's a bittersweet emotion that holds both the joy of remembering and the sadness of the present absence. For my panels, I explore the idea of “missing my home country”. Touching on the themes of identity, family, culture, nature and loneliness. A strong young indigenous woman, determined to follow their dreams and pursue a better quality of living overseas. Leaving behind her family, friends, memories and culture. I have chosen this theme because it portrays some real aspects of my personal experiences and journey on moving to another country. I was inspired by my mother and sister to create this idea.
Some key artist models that have supported my ideas and photography skills were Fiona Paddington, Shannon Rankin, Caleb Cole and Abelardo Morell."

Art Club

This semester we will be starting a Social Art Club in the Puahuru Visual Arts space across from Sciences. This will take place every Tuesday and Friday during Break 2. All levels and ages of artists are welcome and invited to bring something they are working on or start a new piece during club times. Join the Classroom to receive notices at 5dgmnqq. Any questions to Monica Parker at mparker@wakatipu.school.nz

Play It Strange Songwriting Competition

Entries for the Lion Foundation songwriting competition close on August 25.
The link to enter is below
https://www.playitstrange.org.nz/competitions-3/competition-info/lion-foundation-songwriting-competition

Foyer Performance

Mirai Brown performed in the foyer on Wednesday. Mirai is an ex-student of WHS who composes and performs a range of music.

Let Us Know

The Arts department would like to know about any artistic achievements that students have attained outside of school be it in Drama, Dance, Music or Visual Arts. Please send through details and photos to mparker@wakatipu.school.nz

Support the Arts

We are always looking for local professional performing and visual artists to visit our school and run workshops for our students. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact Monica Parker the Arts Coordinator at  mparker@wakatipu.school.nz 

Instagram Page

Follow our school’s Instagram page for recent successes or news within the school’s Arts Department at whsartdepartment.

Careers

University of Canterbury  |  Course Planning  |  Monday 21 August - 9 am

On Monday 21st August, Keegan Taie, the liaison officer from the University of Canterbury will be here to assist students with course planning. This is a great opportunity for students to finalise their course papers for 2024 and check in on the progress of their application. Please register by completing the link below.

Otago Polytechnic  |  Course Planning  |  Wednesday 23 August - 9 am

Steph Kerslake, the liaison officer from Otago Polytechnic, will be here on Wednesday 23rd August to help students select the perfect course for their future and guide them through the application process.  If you are interested in attending this session, please sign up below.

Local Scholarships

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

• Go to HowtoPassExams.Com  and watch the welcome / overview video. 
• Register your details through to Innervate online and be sure to use the coupon code WTPU500.
• Once registered, Log in to Innervate Online and navigate to the Passing Exams course, click access content and go through to unit 1 of the programme.

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