WHS Newsletter | Issue 2.09 | 27 June 2024

Principal's Message

Welcome to the end of a short but extraordinarily vibrant week at WHS, filled with outstanding success from a wide range of students across a range of disciplines! 

WHS successes began on Saturday with WHS winning 1st and 2nd in the band section, 1st in the solo acts and was also awarded the top songwriting group at the regional Rockquest. This means that both bands and the solo artist move onto the next round as they pursue National Rockquest fame. 

Congratulations to:
1st place Band: Atomica - Ted Coutts, Bethany Graf,  Haru Kuroe, Alfie Cameron
2nd place band: 4BLU - Jan Vavera, Hugh Hodgson, Alex Scoles, Emanuel Gedrick Cardeno
1st place - Solo/Duo - Mala Januszkiewicz
Best Song award: ten:37 - Mia Ralph, Isaac Ralph, Luana Kirchoff Pereira, Luc Theron, Tyler Simpson

On Monday, our two Readers Cup teams came back from Invercargill with the 1st and 2nd place trophy, with our 1st place team also qualifying for Nationals. 

On Tuesday, a large group of students headed south for the annual Showquest and Toi Wearable Arts. Our Showquest group finished 3rd and our Toi Wearable Arts brought home the top prize for the 2nd year in a row. 

On Wednesday after school, I got to see the Science Buskers in full-action. It was humbling to see the passion for Science among our students, staff and the parents and grandparents that were in attendance. After the Science spectacular, I popped out to see our u14 rugby team handily dismantle John McGlashan and then made my way to the gym to see our girls playing in the weekly netball competition. 

And today, our students really began to refine their skills in haka and waiata under the guidance of kapa haka tutors, as they prepare for our Matatū Assembly and the hotly contested manaia trophy, which is a big part of our House Competition. 

Also on Tuesday, we held our annual Open and Enrolment evening, where we welcomed more than 300 new entrant students and parents through WHS. In my speech to the incoming parents, I explained WHS vision for a great all-round education and emphasised the importance of achieving great academic outcomes AND engaging with the extra and co-curricular opportunities that the school has on offer and also commented on the consistent success of students and the school in both aspects. Abby and Mason talked about the plethora of opportunities on offer both in and out of the classroom and Bethany and Jack gave their top tips for thriving at WHS, which included ‘being true to yourself’ and ‘asking for help, when needed’. It is truly humbling to work at WHS and to be able to engage with our wonderful students and families on a daily basis, and to have such amazing support from the community. 

Just a note, that we’re still working on putting together the video and snapshot from last Thursday’s ‘Parenting Adolescents’ and will aim to have this in next week’s newsletter. We anticipate a bumper edition to next week’s newsletter with results from our Matatū assembly and more information regarding our Next Steps meetings scheduled for August 6. Parents and students will also have their mid-year reports, including Kaiārahi comments published on the Portal shortly after the end of term.

I do hope that everyone has a great long weekend and takes some time to celebrate Matariki with friends and family.

Ngā mihi nui,

Oded Nathan
Principal/Tumuaki

Key Dates

Matatū: Expression of Interest for Whānau

Kia ora koutou,

A reminder that our annual Matatū (haka and waiata house competition) will take place next Friday from 1.30 pm. 

Matatū is an important part of our school culture as well as one of the most special days on the calendar so all students should be participating and in attendance at school that day. It is an important school day with several periods of class time in the morning so whānau shouldn’t be allowing their students to finish a day early or leave school early that day in advance of the holidays.

This year, we will be hosting it in Pouākai (our large gym space) with all students performing able to watch the whole event. Those students not performing will be in the Theatre watching the livestream.  We have limited capacity for whānau to attend. So, if you would like to attend please fill out the Google Form linked below by Monday afternoon. Please note that this is on a first come first served basis, you will be emailed in the days prior to confirm that seats are available for you.

We will also have a livestream available for whānau to watch so keep an eye on our Wakatipu High School Facebook page and the Schoolzine app in particular to access the livestream in due course.

Kaua e whakamā, kia kaha! | Don't be shy, give it a try!

Ryan Gilbertson
Deputy Principal / Kaihāpai Māori

Mid-Year Reports Available End of Term

Parents and caregivers will receive an email notification at the end of next week, letting them know that their student's Mid-Year Report is available to view via the Portal.  For Junior students, these reports summarise learning, progress and achievement over Semester 1.  For Senior students, these reports provide a summary of current progress towards NCEA, including credits gained to date and grades awarded for specific Achievement Standards. There are also formative grades for work that is still in process, including learning for externally assessed standards. All reports will also include comments from Kaiārahi.

As always, we strongly encourage parents to review these reports with their student: celebrate their success and also discuss any areas for improvement.  Any immediate questions can be directed to the subject teacher, Kaiārahi, or Dean in the first instance.

Within the end of term email, there will also be a link for booking an interview time for the Junior and Senior Next Steps day on Tuesday, August 6.  This day is an important opportunity for you and your student to meet with their Kaiārahi to gain a clear, shared understanding of how they are progressing towards their goals and their next steps towards achieving to the best of their ability.

Success at Southland Readers' Cup

The Readers' Cup is a reading competition designed for Year 9 students. Competing in teams of four, students work collaboratively to read and study six novels, and compete against other schools in a literary quiz on content from the novels.

Two Year 9 teams represented Wakatipu High School on Monday 24 June at the Ascot Park Hotel in Waihōpai Invercargill for the Southland Regional competition . The WHS Gold team, consisting of Emily Messingham, Hector Tanner, James Taylor, and Amy Wards, won the competition, and the WHS Blue team, consisting of Liberty Hide, Ruby Thornburgh, Matthew Winstone, and Rilee Young, finished in second place (and have an incredible comeback story). This was an outstanding outcome and we are immensely proud of both teams!

WHS Gold will now represent Southland at the National Readers' Cup competition, taking place at Dilworth School in Auckland on 24 September, and requiring the students to study a new set of novels. We wish the team all the best as they prepare for nationals!

Mr Logan Rae
Gifted Coordinator | Assistant Head of English

Showquest Success

Showquest is Aotearoa’s biggest performing arts platform for schools around New Zealand, on Tuesday 25th of June Showquest students got the opportunity to perform at this year’s Southland Showquest event in Invercargill. Wakatipu High School ended up placing 3rd out of 11 schools from Otago and Southland, as well as winning Highly Commended awards for their soundtrack and props.

As student leaders, we had to decide on a theme, create and choreograph a performance, organise rehearsal schedules, lighting, props, soundtrack, storyline, theme, script, the video wall, and costume and makeup. 

Our theme this year was “The Decision is Ours”, this theme followed the issues we are facing in Queenstown with the environment, explaining that the decisions we make have a large impact on our future. We decided to show both the positive and negative effects of these decisions using the sliding doors theory.  

We are so proud of everyone who took place in the 2024 Southland Showquest event this year and can’t believe how far we have come. From all of the rehearsals and hard work that was put in for the past few months, placing 3rd is such a huge achievement, and makes us leaders so unbelievably proud of everyone who participated in this year’s Showquest event representing Wakatipu High School. Also thanks to our teachers, backstage and makeup team who made this all happen. 

Jessica Fitzgerald, Lila McIntyre, Josie Mitchell, Indy Hamilton and Brianna Andrews

Science Buskers Family Night

This week  Science Buskers hosted a family night that was a blend of hands-on exploration and eye-opening demonstrations, designed to ignite curiosity and learning among our community members. The evening featured a mix of interactive experiments and 'Big Wow' demonstrations. Participants had the chance to witness exciting reactions that included a chemical clock and a thermite reaction. One of the standout moments was 'Big Bertha', a thrilling demonstration that showcased the principles of physics in action entertainingly presented by Hunter Wilson.

One of the many highlights of the night was Leo and Halia's unforgettable opportunity to demonstrate the flaming hands experiment, where they taught everyone about the science of combustion in a safe and controlled environment. 

Parents and children alike enjoyed the chance to engage with science in a fun and educational setting. "It was wonderful to see my daughter so engaged and excited about learning science," remarked one parent. "They're still talking about setting fire to Mr. Nathan!"

Future Problem Solving Achievement

The Future Problem Solving Global Issues programme involves students researching and analysing real-world issues using a six-step problem-solving method to develop relevant action plans. Students apply this knowledge plus convergent and divergent thinking skills to imagined future scenarios in the competition. 

Our 2024 Middle Division team consists of Audrey Austin, Leo Devlin, Dylan Lelievre, and Ethan Morphett (all Year 10). The Term 1 future scenario focused on Tourism and is one of two practice problems (alongside Urbanisation) ahead of the qualification problem (on Antarctica) in September. Impressively, for this problem the team finished first in their scoring group and was recognised by the markers for their exemplary research and applied investigation. Winning an Achievement Award is a particularly impressive accomplishment for a new team. One of the markers commented that "big things are on the way for this team."

We wish the Year 10 team, as well as our two senior individual competitors (Sabine Edmonds and Ankita Pilo), all the best leading up to the qualification problem in September. 

Mr Logan Rae
Gifted Coordinator

Creatives in Schools

Ten students are participating in a project designed to encourage rangatahi Māori to shape the school culture and identity through mahi Toi (Māori art). These ākonga have been working with local artists from Tuatahi Creatives . Over the past four sessions, they have been developing their skills and understanding through learning basic Māori patterns and motifs, visiting culturally significant places in Tāhuna, creating tukutuku, and collaborating on a group project to create art for the school.

'Nāia ētahi ākonga e ako ana i ngā āhua o te kōwhaiwhai. Nā te mōteatea, nā te kōrerorero e rere nei kei waenganui i a mātou e wānanga ana ā ka tau ngā whakaaro hei kōwhaiwhai mō te kura nei'

'Here are some shots from students who have been learning about Māori symbolism. From laments that hold wisdom, from open discussions stem ideas. We will come upon a system of symbols that speak to Tāhuna and will be for this school'

The Showcase for their mahi will take place on 23 August. 

Ways to Reduce Lunch Box Waste

One simple yet effective step to helping reduce your overall waste is reducing your lunchbox waste. Here are 3 easy tips on how you can pack an eco-friendly lunch and contribute to a greener planet!

Ditch Disposable Bags
Instead of using single use plastic bags at school everyday opt for reusable containers or bags. These alternatives are more durable and can be used repeatedly, ensuring your food stays fresh and reducing plastic waste.

Trade the Gladwrap
Make the trade and swap wrapping your muffins and sandwiches in gladwrap to eco friendly beeswax wraps. 

Reusable Cutlery
With winter here, I know that many of us are bringing lunches to heat up in the school microwaves. While this is great, consider the cutlery you are using. Rather than single use, disposable cutlery, bring your own reusable knives and forks from home. If this isn’t an option you can easily buy second hand utensils from places like the Cancer Society. This is a great option as you are not only reducing your waste but also supporting a great cause at the same time!

By making these simple changes, you can greatly reduce the amount of waste your lunch generates. It’s a small step that can make a big difference, showing that every action counts when it comes to protecting our planet!

Lucy Boniface
Environmental Council

Sport and Active Recreation News

Snowsports

Year 9 student Emily Harris was recently selected for the 2024 Snow Sports New Zealand Alpine Youth Tech Camp. The Camp will take place from July 24th-26th at Coronet Peak. Former WHS student and NZL World Cup athlete Alice Robinson will also be supporting the camp, working with selected Youth National Points athletes (along with her coaching team of Nils Coberger and Tim Cafe). Well done Emily!

Swimming

Billie Druett, Finn Henderson, Jake Burkett-Murillo and Xanthe Spence spent last weekend swimming at the Otago Short Course Champs. They all achieved some great results with lots of PBs, medals and top 10 placings. Billie, Jake and Finn also achieved National qualifying times. Well done to all swimmers on a massive effort! Results below:

• Billie - 1st 1500 Free, 3rd 50 Fly, 5th 50 Free, 7th 100 Free and 9th 50 Breast. Achieved DivII qualifying time for 1500 Free.
• Finn - 1st 50 Back, 200 Back & 200 Fly, 2nd 100 Back, 50 Fly & 400 Free, 4th 100 Free. Achieved DivII qualifying times for 200 Fly and 400 Free.
• Jake - 3rd 50 Breast, 100IM, 5th 50 Free, 100 Free and 50 Fly. Achieved DivII qualifying time for 50 Free
• Xanthe - 2nd 200IM, 3rd 100IM &100 Back, 4th 50 Fly & 6th 50 Free.

Rugby - Highlanders Camp

A huge congratulations to Angus O'Neill, Ben Hogan, Keegan Green and Xavier Small who have been selected to attend the Highlanders Schools Development Camp for 2024. This will take place during the July school holidays. The camp aims to support and enhance our secondary school programmes, giving them a comprehensive understanding of the dedication and skills required to become a Highlander.

Basketball

The B Grade of the Central Otago Senior Basketball comp wraps up next Monday night. Head along to WHS to support our teams playing off in the finals!

• Boys B Grade: WHS Dream Team vs Roxburgh  - 6 pm in Pouākai
• Girls B Grade: WHS Waka Dogs vs WHS Year 12 Girls - 7 pm in Pouākai

Keep Us Informed

The Sports Department would love to hear from you if you know of any awesome sporting achievements from our students! Please send through details/results and photos to Sian at shorn@wakatipu.school.nz so we can share and celebrate these as a school.

Support Sport at WHS
Support the team by liking the Wakatipu High School Sports Facebook page. This is the best way to stay up to date with the successes of our athletes and teams and celebrate their great achievements!

https://www.facebook.com/WakatipuHighSchoolSports/ 

Sian Horn
Director of Sport

Arts Department News

Artist of the Week:   Amelia Mackay  Year 12 Photography 

These images tell a story of my great, great, great grand dad who was in World War I and sadly died. The small holes represent the memories and stories we still discuss today.  This year I am using a lot of collage to add layers of meaning to my work.  I have loved doing photography this year because I can see my ideas developing and progressing in each shoot that I do.

ROCKQUEST

Last Saturday the Rockquest Regional finals were held at the Memorial Hall in Queenstown. There were 21 acts from around the region including 5 from Wakatipu High School. WHS was represented by Atomica, 4BLU, ten:37, Paranoia and Mala Januszkiewicz.  Two acts from the Band category and the Solo/Duo category advanced through to the next stage of a video submission. We had a great night taking out 1st and 2nd place in the Band category, first place in the Solo/Duo category and the Best Song award. All our acts performed extremely well on the night and well done to everyone for all the hard work that has gone into the students. Special thanks to Simon Lusby who took over from Dom as the guitar/bass/band tutor.

Congratulations to the following students:

1st place Band: Atomica - Ted Coutts, Bethany Graf,  Haru Kuroe, Alfie Cameron
2nd place band: 4BLU - Jan Vavera, Hugh Hodgson, Alex Scoles, Emanuel Gedrick Cardeno
1st place - Solo/Duo - Mala Januszkiewicz
Best Song award: ten:37 - Mia Ralph, Isaac Ralph, Luana Kirchoff Pereira, Luc Theron, Tyler Simpson

Showquest 

After months of dedicated mahi, a great group of students traveled down to Invercargill yesterday for a massive day of rehearsals culminating in Showquest! They aced it and came away with 3rd Place and were over the moon about it!!

Showquest:  Precious Amundo, Brianna Andrews, Abby Batstone, Julia Bothschafter, Nyah Buckland, Giuliana Cochrane, Renee Cottle, Jessica Fitzgerald, Gwen Gibbons, Charlotte Greer, Indy Hamilton, Hannah Johnston, Luana Kirchoff Periera, Halia Lampson, Isabelle Mahoney, Lila McIntyre, Amelia McLachlan, Josie Mitchell, Eden Prytherch, Ruby Pullar, Iman Shahbaz, Lucy Singleton and Holly-Leah Thomas 

Tech support from Leo Phillips 

Toi Wearable Arts:  After months of dedicated mahi, 6 groups of TOI  wearable arts students travelled down to Invercargill on Tuesday, in the early hours of the morning, for a massive day of rehearsals culminating in a Toi performance at the sold-out Civic Theatre.     They performed extremely well and walked away with 6 well-deserved awards for the Otago /Southland region.

They received the Overall Toi Winner - Star of the Night- with the garment - The Rise of Te Ika-a-Māui.

Additional awards:
Excellent Garment Construction -The Rise of Te Ika-a-Māui
Best Creative Storytelling- Currency Couture 
Excellent Garment Construction- Currency Couture
Outstanding Stage Presence- Modern Growth 
Outstanding Stage Presence- Te Ahi Mārie

This group of students were inclusive, respectful and just outstanding throughout the lead up to all these performances and on the big day. They overcame challenges on stage and handled last-minute changes to garments with ease. Well done to all of those involved. We are very proud of you. Big thanks to our makeup and hair crews who worked tirelessly to help pull this event together. Outstanding results for an outstanding bunch of students!  

Teachers in charge  Abbey Brown and Kirsten Turner

Toi:  Anahera Ashby, Aria Ashby, Indiarose Berryman, Layla Bose Wood, Anja Dayman, Harper Fa'Amalepe, Michi Lamond, Isabella McCord, Ivy McKenzie, Taylah Miller, Evie Nickels, Lylla O'Brien, Alisa Pekhtereva, Manuella Sanches Pedrosa, Sokhra Sinclair, Amy Taylor, Zoe Thompson, Ruby Thornburgh and Rilee Young

Play It Strange:  Peace Song

Entry for the Play It Strange - Peace Song close on Sunday 30 June.

More details here:  https://www.playitstrange.org.nz/competitions

Please see Mrs Price for information and come along to the Songwriting Group that meet each Wednesday morning at 8.15 am with Solomon Crook.

Out and About

There are a number of Musicians in the school who are keen to play out and about in the Community, koha would be appreciated.  Please contact Alison Price for more information at aprice@wakatipu.school.nz

Extracurricular groups - Groups have restarted for the term and some have been adjusted, but students should be up to date with all updates as they are posted on the Performing Arts Classroom Group.  

• Jazz Combo - Monday 8 am / Wednesday 8 am
• Guitar - Monday Break 2
• Songwriting - Wednesday 8.15 am
• Digital Music Production - Wednesday Break 2
• Junior Jazz - Wednesday Break 2
• Jazz Full Band - Wednesday 3.20 pm
• Senior Singing - Thursday Break 2
• Chamber Music Group - Thursday Break 2

Keep checking each of the  Classroom Groups for more details and updates

Upcoming for Terms 2 and 3 - 

30 June - Entries for Play It Strange Peace Song Competition close

27-28 - Theatrefest Local Competition in Dunedin

31 July - Entries for Play It Strange Lion Foundation Competition close

1-25 August - Showing Off Student Art Exhibition

6-10 August - Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival in Blenheim

31 August - Entries for Strange Art (album cover art) Competition close

Te Atamira - is a multi-purpose arts and cultural space at Remarkables Park Town Centre - check out what is happening at Te Atamira here

Te Wahi Toi - Nau mai, haere mai, Te Wāhi Toi is the meeting place and online directory for Queenstown and Wānaka’s creative community.  Find them here

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 details and photos to artscoordinator@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 Mrs Cooper the Arts Coordinator at artscoordinator@wakatipu.school.nz

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

Spotlight on Cromwell's Trades Academy Programme

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

June campaign - Multi City Upgrade + School Holiday Bonus
Promotion Dates : Monday, 24 June 2024 at 8:00 pm - Tuesday, 2 July 2024 at 1:59 pm
Offer Name : Multi City Upgrade + School Holiday Bonus $20 eGift Card

The Offer : 
From 6pm AEST / 8pm NZST, Monday 24th June to 11:59am AEST / 1:59pm NZST, Tuesday 2nd July, your supporters will also receive a free Multi City upgrade PLUS a $20 eGift Card.

*Terms & Conditions Apply. Please visit www.entertainmentnz.com/promotions to view.

Order here – https://subscribe.entertainmentnz.com/fundraiser/260506v