WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.1 | 31 January 2025

Principal's Message

Kia ora and welcome to the first newsletter of the 2025 academic year. An especially warm welcome to the parents and caregivers of students new to WHS. With nearly 300 Year 9 students and more than 30 students from Year 10 - 13 newly enrolled, WHS continues to grow and now has a roll approaching 1500 students and nearly 160 staff.

It has been a busy and excellent week at WHS. Academic counselling and course confirmation was completed on Monday and all students should now have full timetables that support their engagement, learning, progress and achievement, though there may be a few teacher changes over the weekend as we do the final balancing of classes.

It was lovely to see and meet so many of our Year 9 parents at the start of year Parent Information afternoon on Tuesday, and it was great to see our new entrants smiling and happy to be at high school. Year 9 parents will receive an email from Mr Field-Mitchell detailing lots of useful information to help get you underway at WHS, including the Year 9 Parent Handbook that was shared with parents on the day.  

On Wednesday, we welcomed all the students back for their first day and held a junior and senior school assembly in our wonderful gymnasium, Pouākai. At the assemblies, I outlined the outstanding academic achievements of WHS students from 2024 (a summary of which you’ll see in next week’s newsletter), and I also talked about the importance of students striving to live the ‘Wakatipu Way’ - which is to embrace the school’s values of Excellence, Inclusion, Respect, Responsibility and Resilience and to have Pride in the school. I emphasised the importance of being kind and inclusive and encouraged students to embrace the high expectations that we have of them when it comes to engagement, learning, progress and achievement. 

We have a very comprehensive and informative newsletter below, including important information regarding Cellphones, Buses, Āwhina/Support, Student Leadership, Uniform, Attendance, Inclusion (anti-bullying), and more, plus some outstanding achievements from the Arts and sporting arenas, and much, much more, so be sure to have a read.

A reminder to download the WHS App to your device, as it is a key communication channel for us, where you can do everything from read the newsletter to notify us of your student’s absence. (Please see below for details on how to download).

Once again, we hope that everyone has had a fantastic summer. We really value the relationship that we have with all of our students and parents, so please make sure that you keep in touch with us throughout the year. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Nāku noa, nā
Yours Sincerely,

Oded Nathan
Principal/Tumuaki

Key Dates

A Message From the Head Students

Kia ora koutou, welcome back, we hope you had a great summer and are back ready for the school year ahead. We wanted to take this opportunity to remind you all about the Wakatipu Way, our school’s five values: Excellence, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Inclusion. At Wakatipu they’re the foundation of what makes our school a thriving community and a place where each of us can grow into well-rounded individuals.

So what does our strong, thriving community look like? Well, that’s up to all of us to decide, but here are a few ideas to get us thinking. One where we all have pride in our school, our environment and ourselves and seek opportunities. Opportunities await around every corner, embracing those which are right for you gives our community diversity and encourages success, something we celebrate at Wakatipu. As a community, we value people and we welcome our new teachers and students joining our waka this year. This is achieved through Kindness and Inclusion, “the strongest part of a community, is the connection between its people”.

If you are looking for a new opportunity to grow within our school community, we encourage you to look at signing up to a school council. Applications are now open via the link below and further detail was sent on Sunday in the weekly student email from Matua Gilbertson. Applications close on Monday 10th Feb. 

Communities are ever-changing, adapting and evolving, this is how we grow. Learning how to overcome any wero (any challenges) we face personally and collectively is an important life skill and school is our safe place to develop it. So this year, early doors, let’s ask ourselves, what kind of community would we like to create? 

McKellar Thornton, Manuella Sanches Pedrosa, Kieran Leftley, Lukas McChlery, and Ava Weston
2025  Head Student Team

NZQA Reviews and Reconsiderations

Return of external assessment material from 2024

• Most examination material is now submitted in a digital format or scanned. Details about the return of examination material can be found here.
• Information for students viewing their exam answers can be found here.
• An example of a results record and marks for a learner can be found here. Students can access their summary of marks and exam scripts from 21 January.

Please contact Mr Richards as soon as possible if material is missing so that we can endeavour to locate this.

Review and Reconsideration applications for 2024 external exam results

• Students can access information on reviews and reconsiderations in their logins, but you can also share the link with students who may be considering a review or reconsideration of their results for NCEA and NZ Scholarship external assessments. This includes exams, submitted subjects, and portfolios.
• Financial assistance to waive the fee for reconsiderations is available for eligible students. There is no longer a separate form for this, students request a waiver as part of their reconsideration application.
• The reviews and reconsiderations links appear in the Learner login on 21 January for NCEA and 11 February for NZ Scholarship.
• The last date a student can send the online application is:
• NCEA: Wednesday, 19 February
• NZ Scholarship: Friday, 7 March

Cut scores will be released on February 3, and may be found at the relevant subject link  https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/subjects/cut-scores/ These scores may assist students in their decision about whether to request a Review or Reconsideration. 

In a Review, all sections of a booklet or portfolio are checked to make sure they have been marked and results correctly recorded and transferred. A review does not involve re-marking and there is no charge.  
A Reconsideration involves re-marking all answers in the answer booklet and checking mechanical processes (such as transferring grades). NCEA Reconsiderations cost $20.40 for each standard. The fee for Design and Visual Communication (DVC) and Technology portfolios is $20.40 for each external achievement standard, not each portfolio. The fee for Scholarship Reconsiderations is $30.70 per standard (subject). NZQA will waive the fee for students meeting income criteria who wish to apply for a reconsideration of an NCEA or Scholarship result. Where the Reconsideration leads to a grade change, the fee is refunded. 

NCEA Parents Evening

Tuesday, February 18

This information evening is specifically for parents who are new to the experience of NCEA. We will provide information on the recent NCEA changes, how NCEA works, and how parents can best support their students. This is an essential evening for parents and students in Year 11 but is open to any parent of a senior student. Wakatipu High School has its own internal assessment policies, some of which will also be covered at the session and it is really important that students and parents are familiar with these.

The event will be held in the Theatre at school and is expected to be run from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  Any presentations made on the night will also be shared via the following week's newsletter and will linked to the school's website.

Attendance

One of the things we are continuing to focus on in 2025 is student attendance. If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent/caregiver, you play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and are engaged in learning at school.

If your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, please let us know. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are deemed unjustified reasons for being absent.

Knowing if your child is well enough to go to school can be tricky. If you are unsure please get in touch with us and let’s work together to support your childs learning.

If you are finding it hard to get your child to school, please talk with us so we can work together. Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school.

Our school continues to build a culture that fosters attendance every day by having:

• School staff who have strong relationships with students and family.
• A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who you are, where you come from and what you value.
• A school whānau that takes all practical steps to make sure your child is at school and progressing in their learning.
• A school that is safe and welcoming for everyone in our school community

For more detailed information please refer to the WHS attendance policies link and the link from the Ministry of Education below.

James Field-Mitchell
Assistant Principal

Uniform Expectations

We believe that wearing the school uniform correctly is an important way in which students can represent our school with pride, and is an expectation of students attending WHS.  Accordingly, this week we carried out a school-wide audit of essential items of the uniform (blazers, socks, shoes, skirts/shorts, shirts, etc.) during Ako Time.  A number of students were identified as having either missing or non-regulation uniform items - in particular non-polishable shoes, hi-top boots and black socks.  Many students are also without a blazer, which is a compulsory part of the uniform.

Please click here for uniform requirements, and Uniform Shop hours.

We would appreciate you please taking the time to check that your student has the full correct complement of uniform items. If you wish to seek financial support through our Āwhina Fund for uniform items please see our website or contact our Guidance Counsellor Ms Vicki Patton, vpatton@wakatipu.school.nz, or phone her through the school office on 03 442 7370.

We know that there may be legitimate reasons for students to be in non-regulation uniform items. In such cases however, students should bring a note from parents which they can provide to their Kaiārahi for a Uniform Pass.

Our expectation is that all uniform issues are resolved by the end of this week (7th February), after which we will begin to enforce our uniform expectations with students.  If there are ongoing issues or you're awaiting orders please give your student a note explaining this to give to their Kaiārahi. 

School Operations: Important information for parents

Welcome to the 2025 school year. This section contains some important information about school operations. Parents of new students in particular need to review, but there's some good reminder information for everyone.

Parking
Parents should not park in the staff and student car parks at any time during school hours (9.00 am - 3.30 pm) as these parks are for registered vehicles only. Parking enforcement applies and unauthorised vehicles will be ticketed. There are approx 25 visitor parks available at the front entrance to the school.  There are a number of public car parks available within a 1 block radius of the school with 2 hours free parking, if you are coming to the school for an event - these should be where you park.

There is very limited parking for students on site at school. The available student parks are offered to Student Leaders.  As there is limited on street parking in the vicinity we strongly encourage students who may drive to register for the discounted public parking offered by Remarkables Park to WHS students. Remarkables Park Limited will clamp vehicles parking illegally in adjacent paddocks and business car parking areas.

BYOD Devices
Students need to bring their devices to school fully charged ready for the school day.  The school will assist students with connecting to the school network but does not repair student devices. If your student does not have a device and you require financial assistance, please see our BYOD page on the school website which has a section on Financial Support. There are a good number of online vendors who sell refurbished laptops at reduced prices that are also worth looking at.

Loan Laptops
We have a limited number of loan devices that can be borrowed and returned on a daily basis.  This year we have introduced a hire charge for these devices which will be added to your student account should a laptop be requested. Note that the daily charge will be waived under certain circumstances (eg for max of 3 weeks whilst laptops are away being repaired).

Café
The School Café is CASHLESS. For students that do not have an EFTPOS card, parents can choose to pay in advance (at Reception) and an account will be held in credit for the student at the Café that they can draw down on. If you are unable to come into the school to pay at Reception, please email accounts@wakatipu.school.nz and advise them of the value you wish to pay in advance. The Accounts team will add the charge to your students' account which you can go onto the student portal and pay. Note that your student will be unable to access the credit at the cafe until payment is made.

Picking up and dropping off your student(s)
QLDC have CCTV monitoring the bike lane/bus stop outside the school on Red Oaks Drive directly in front of the school. QLDC advises: “The cameras have been installed to monitor the area for vehicles that stop, stand or park on broken yellow lines or in bus stops, vehicles that double park and other offences under the Land Transport Act 1998.” We would therefore encourage you to continue to use the drop-off areas within the school site for dropping off and picking up students.

School hours and school security
The school building is open from 7.45 am - 4.00 pm on school days. Any students arriving before or after these times must only be at school for a supervised activity. Any unsupervised students remaining in the building at 4.00 pm will be requested to leave when the onsite facility team do their daily lock up. Students cannot stay at school waiting for other activities after 4.00 pm unless they are participating in a supervised activity.

Options available to students include the QLDC Frankton Library at Remarkables House which is open until 5.30 pm and "The Loft" at the Wakatipu Youth Trust across the road on Red Oaks Drive. The Youth Trust Drop-In is open from 3.00 pm - 5.30 pm Monday to Thursday and 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm on Fridays. www.wakatipuyouthtrust.co.nz/programmes/the-loft/

Andrea Wilton-Connell
Business Manager

Buses

Start of Year

Reviewing and sorting the bus routes is a key task at the start of every school year. Due to changes in numbers of students travelling from different locations, new routes can be created and others changed. As with last year, we are operating under a mixed-model for school transport, meaning only some areas are serviced by the Ministry of Education, while students from other areas are to catch public buses.  Students catching public buses need to use Bee cards or cash for payment ($1.50 each way).

 At the start of the school year there can be a settling period for numbers of students taking the buses, particularly after school as we find the numbers drop off as students start after school activities etc. For this reason, no changes will be made in the first couple of weeks. The only change to Ministry provided buses at this stage is to the Arthur's Point bus which has slightly later pick up times in the mornings - please see the school website for timetables.

Students who are not eligible to travel on school buses should not be using buses to catch rides to friends houses, 5 Mile etc.

Student Expectations for Travelling on Buses

Use of the school bus system is a privilege, not a right. Poor behaviour, or exploiting the system by travelling on ineligible routes, may mean that students are stood down from using the bus service. Students MUST exemplify all elements of the Wakatipu Way while travelling to and from the school on buses, either MOE or Public. That involves following the rules and expectations, including:

• No eating, drinking, vaping or smoking on the bus. 
• Verbal or physical harassment of any sort will not be tolerated.
• Vandalism will be treated as a significant breach of school rules, and any costs incurred in the process of repairing damage will be passed on to the family
  
• Please be patient, respectful and courteous towards your bus drivers at all times.

Any student to be found in breach of these rules will be subject to the WHS Disciplinary Process.

Andrea Wilton-Connell
Business Manager

Āwhina Financial Support

We understand that sending your child to a new school is expensive and on occasion, families may need assistance in meeting the costs of various aspects of school life. Through the very generous community support via the WHS Foundation we may be able to provide some assistance to eligible families. Click the link below for more details:

Inclusion: Building a Safe and Supportive Community

Every student deserves to feel safe and supported at school. The most common reason students don’t report bullying is a fear of making it worse - being labelled as someone that tells. While this is a legitimate concern, it is really important that your students feel safe, which means dealing with any instances of bullying needs to be done very carefully and will be addressed confidentially. 

If you hear your child is being bullied please talk to the school. There are different ways to do this. You can contact your child’s Kaiārahi or Dean, or you can let us know by completing a bullying reporting form from our website (https://www.wakatipu.school.nz/reportbullying.html).

If you complete the bullying reporting form, a Dean or Senior Leader will get in contact as soon as possible. The first step is to arrange a meeting to talk about what the student is experiencing. The meeting can be just with the student or with the student and family. Sometimes the student will bring a friend along for support. We can do this out of school hours if there is concern over being seen talking with staff. 

Once we have a picture of what is happening, the Dean or Senior Leader will talk through possible options. We will also talk through what to do if anything else occurs. There are many considerations depending on the circumstances. Often the student or family will take some time to think about what they want to do. Sometimes the student will want to take time to see if small changes have an impact, sometimes we head straight into talking with the alleged bully and looking at discipline. 

Whatever next steps are agreed, there will be a component for checking in with the student. This can be with one of our guidance team, or another staff member, or sometimes it is via email with the family. 

We can’t act if we don’t know. It is heartbreaking to hear a student is feeling intimidated or unsafe weeks or months after it began. There are always steps we can take to improve the situation. As much as staff try to look out for any bullying it can be hidden.

It is our view that any bullying is not acceptable and we are working to get our school bully free, building a truly inclusive environment. There will be future newsletter articles to explain more about what we are doing for prevention, intervention, and monitoring. 

Please talk to us if you have any concerns.

Sarah Hill
Deputy Principal
shill@wakatipu.school.nz

Gifted Education - Information Evening

We are pleased to invite all parents to attend the Gifted Education Information Evening on Thursday 20 February at 7pm in the Theatre. 

The purpose of the Information Evening is to highlight our strategies and policies regarding Gifted Education at WHS, and answer any questions you may have about how we can extend, challenge, and guide your child.

If you are unable to attend the Information Evening, feel free to contact lrae@wakatipu.school.nz with any questions regarding Gifted Education at Wakatipu High School. All students are welcome to join the Curious Minds Hunga Māhirahira Google Classroom (class code: 4oq3bvh), which is where many enrichment opportunities at WHS and in the wider community are communicated.

Kā mihi nui,
Mr Logan Rae - Gifted Coordinator

Stars Peer Mentoring

Our impressive Stars Peer Mentors received their first two days of induction and training this week. 

Stars is a Graeme Dingle Foundation mentoring programme that provides leadership opportunities to senior students and supports a positive transition for Year 9 students during their first year at secondary school. Year 12 and 13 students are trained to be Peer Mentors and follow a programme that addresses key life skills such as goal setting, good communication skills and building positive relationships.

Over the two days the Peer Mentors learnt skills, tips and tricks that will help them deliver their first session to the Year 9’s next Friday.

I am already blown away by the Peer Mentors' participation and positive mindset to learn and grow. Thank you in advance also to all our Ako teachers for supporting Stars this year.  

Paula Denton
Stars Coordinator
GRAEME DINGLE FOUNDATION

Join Us for the Aotearoa Bike Challenge 2025!

This February we are participating in the Aotearoa Bike Challenge, and we want you to join us! Cycling is a fantastic way to enjoy the outdoors, and we encourage everyone in the WHS community—whether you’re an experienced cyclist or just getting started—to hop on a bike and take part.

The Aotearoa Bike Challenge is all about getting people moving, improving fitness and wellbeing, and having a positive impact on our environment with an added bonus of cars off the road. Our staff will be pedalling along and sharing our progress, so you can follow along and cheer us on. We’d love to see our students and WHS community support and join us hitting the roads and trails! Interested in joining? Register here!

The challenge is run locally by The Lightfoot Initiative who are putting on events over the course of the month. There is something for everyone, come and get involved!

An Incredible Aspen Exchange

On the 5th of January, 12 excited students and two teachers arrived mid-afternoon at Queenstown Airport, eager to experience what was ahead: a 15-hour journey to Denver, Colorado, before making their way to Aspen, nestled in the Rocky Mountains, and absolutely covered in snow. Queenstown is the sister city of Aspen, which made all of this Sister City Exchange possible. The 12-day adventure was a life-changing chance to experience a winter wonderland with gondolas and chairlifts taking off from the town and the thick blanket of snow smothering all in sight – its soft, fluffy-looking surface encouraging us to want to jump in. 

The Sister Cities Exchange lets you reconnect with the students who came to Queenstown last June, and meet their families. We got to learn about Aspen and its history, its similarities and differences to Queenstown, and we explored the school and all the different activities Aspen has to offer.  We got to experience everything such as going to school, seeing classrooms, riding in the yellow school bus, and understanding how American classes work.  Outside of school, we got to experience many outdoor activities, such as skiing (three or four different mountains) with more snow than you can imagine, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing (...sorry Mrs Hollyer for getting us lost!).  We also got to meet with the Mayor of Aspen and we discussed the similarities between our two cities, and we went to an art museum, shopping, an elementary school, and the Aspen Institute.

On our second night in Denver, we went to an NHL Ice Hockey game which was one of our highlights.  The train trip from Denver to Glenwood Springs was also a highlight, with the beautiful scenery with snow everywhere. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the shops in America, and America enjoyed them spending the money! On the way home to NZ, we had a stopover in LA, where we went to a NBA game between the Clippers and the Lakers which was really fun. We also enjoyed dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co and we had a tour on the Hop On- Hop Off bus which took us to Beverly Hills, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Venice Beach, The Grove and the Farmers Market.

Another highlight of the exchange was skiing and everything to do with snowsports, with the stunning views and the world-class slopes that inspired the group to go back one day. The mix of challenging runs and powder-filled, double-black diamond bowls made the mountains vastly different to our hard packed ice mountains in New Zealand where you can break a bone with a simple fall. If you like the outdoors with the mix of learning as well as always being on the move doing an activity, then this is the exchange for you. I definitely recommend the trip as a great experience to socialise with different people from around the world and make friends with really cool people.

Harvey Clarke
Year 13 Student

Friday the 17th 
Woke up late and in a rush,
No time to fool, no time to fuss.

Another day for skiing was on the table, 
Going to Snowmass, the plan was stable.

Such good music happening in the car, 
Sweet Child O’ Mine, Even Flow, raising the bar. 

 Time to get rentals everyone says, 
boots, poles, skis and you don’t even have to pay. 

 Salomons were the one I chose, wide and thick, 
great for play they’ll do the trick! 

 Great conditions and a big blue sky, 
And so much snow, I can’t even lie.

 A massive mountain, imagine that, 
Ski lifts everywhere so it wasn’t that flat.

Snow way better than Queenstown and especially now the mountain made me think, my goggles made the snow pink, little bits of ice let me rethink, no time to blink, from groomed to moguls the snow would change and going for lunch only made me feel caged as I craved for outside the weather so good you couldn’t waste time.

Two pieces of pizza, and a refillable drink cup, thanks for the shout, when I was done my brain was racing out, out, out!
But the birthday boy rocked up as I thought to go, Blake, he brought cookies although I desired for snow.

The big 17 congratulations, a day of joy and celebrations. Laughter, smiles and a loud song to wish it to be great, I do hope it was good and that it was enjoyable to be out with us skiing although your ankle was sore. But now back to the rhymes because you’d like to hear more.

A rush to do runs as the clock was running out, 
Which run to do and where to go everyone would shout.

The deadline was three so one more hour, ask chaperones for more time since the mountain didn’t close, so the confirmation felt like an urge of power, and no words from anyone was not bitter nor sour.

We split into smaller groups, I was skiing with the guys, going everywhere and to the park a couple of times, 
 with people’s legs feeling sore and tender, people headed back to the base time to relax not follow and chase.

As the mountain closed and everyone started to depart, I wanted to go back, I wish the day would restart.

An Unforgettable Expedition Exploring Nepal

Over the holidays, a group of students from Wakatipu High School including Ms Gabb and Mr Rae set out on an expedition to explore Nepal. While enjoying their time, the group, led by Ivor Levin, World Challenge guide, embarked on multiple journeys which included summiting Annapurna Base Camp (4310 meters above sea level), stepping off the third largest zipline in the world, and getting dirty by helping a village at the foot of some of the largest mountains in the world.

To kick off this adventure, the team flew well over 12,000km from Queenstown to the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, with stops in Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. After their long and tiresome trip, a day and a half was devoted to walking the streets of one of the most densely populated cities in the world; a huge culture shock. As can be seen, the streets were bustling with life. The unique scents filling the air, the honking of horns, and the seemingly hectic flood of people caught the group by surprise, with one kid even saying, “When we get back to Queenstown, it’s going to feel like a ghost town.” 

Once the group had adjusted to the new culture in Kathmandu, it was time to catch a flight to another city in Nepal, Pokhara. The first impressions of Pokhara were definitely positive: the air was fresh and the streets were clean. After the initial exploration of Pokhara, the group took a step back from all the chaos of the city and embarked on their 8-day day trek to the glorious Annapurna Base Camp. After engaging with the locals in some bartering, at a village 2 hours out of Pokhara, the group took their first steps on the famous Annapurna circuit. The days were long, often ranging from 3 to 6 hours of walking, thankfully a significant amount of pressure was alleviated with the help of our trekking guides and porters. The porters carried up an insane amount of 35 kg, with most of that weight in the bags of multiple students, all carried at once. The trekking guides helped to set the pace as well as provide quick history and culture lessons as we passed by points of interest. At night, the group found themselves staying at tea houses, simple structures typically consisting of 8-10 rooms for shared sleeping, a dining area, and a kitchen worked by people who lived there, who cooked food and took our needs into consideration. It was a lengthy mission, accompanied by persisting moments of adversity, facing issues such as altitude sickness. Most members of the group managed to make it to the top, successfully reaching an altitude of 4,310 meters — an incredible achievement.

Taking a step back from all of the challenges, the team took the opportunity to explore Nepal from the skies, going on a zip line over 1,800 meters long, the third biggest zip line in the world! Other adventures also included going to the famous World Peace Pagoda and white water rafting in the tricky rapids of the Trishuli River.

After taking a break and exploring Pokhara, the team set out in 4-wheel drives into the crest of the Annapurna range to their destination, Tangting. Tangting was one of the many small villages the team had come across during their expedition, and they were here to help. During their four day stay, the group were tasked with helping develop the local facilities. Through hard work and cooperation, their work made a massive impact on the quality of life for individuals living in Tangting. To show their immense gratitude, locals made the groups stay one to remember, providing guides to go and see beautiful views suffuse in the glistening sunrise, provide new and exciting foods, and, a group highlight, host a ceremony thanking the group, followed inviting them to partake in some cultural activities such as dancing.

For all the preparation and fundraising to make this expedition to Nepal possible, the group definitely says that it was worth it. By indulging in new experiences and taking new opportunities halfway around the world, new memories and friends have been made, and lessons have been gained that will last a lifetime.

James Weber
Year 12 Student

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Sport and Active Recreation News

Hoki mai anō, a warm welcome back for 2025! The Sports Department is excited for another fantastic year of sport at Wakatipu High School. We encourage all students to get involved in the wide range of sporting activities on offer across the summer and winter seasons.  You can get in touch with the Sports Department via the below contacts. Also check out the weekly WHS newsletter to stay up to date with upcoming opportunities and celebrate the incredible achievements of our student-athletes!

• Sian Horn - Director of Sport - shorn@wakatipu.school.nz / directorofsport@wakatipu.school.nz
• Belinda Strano - Sports Coordinator - bstrano@wakatipu.school.nz / sportscoordinator@wakatipu.school.nz
• Simon Boland - Sports Coordinator - sboland@wakatipu.school.nz / sportscoordinator@wakatipu.school.nz
• Kate Ferguson - Sports & Arts Administrator - kferguson@wakatipu.school.nz

There have been a number of sporting selections and achievements over the summer break, check out all of the action below!

Ice Hockey - NZ U18 Women’s 

Congratulations to Aoife Orr, Lucy Boniface, Manuella Sanches Pedrosa and Jessie Strain who have been representing the New Zealand Women's Under 18 Ice Hockey Team at the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship Division IIA in Riga, Latvia. Aofie Orr captained the team, with Lucy Boniface as an Assistant Captain. It was a big week of ice hockey action, with the team scoring their first Div 2A win against Chinese Taipei. See the team's Facebook page below for more details.

https://www.facebook.com/NZU18W

Cricket - National Age Group Cricket Tournaments

A number of WHS students have been competing at representative National Cricket Tournaments over the summer holidays. Hugo Bogue, Angus O’Neil, and Harry Walker-Leach represented the Otago U17 Men’s team at their National Tournament from the 17th - 24th Jan in Lincoln. Toby Gallie was a named non-travelling reserve. Special shout out to Hugo who scored two centuries at the tournament. Earlier in the month Hugo and Harry also represented the Otago U19 Men’s team at the U19 National event also held in Lincoln - where Hugo put away another century. In the women’s events, Honor Gilbert and Kara Trounce represented the Otago U17 Women’s side in Palmerston North from the 20th - 23rd Jan. Well done all!

2025 Te iti Kahuraki Programme Athletes

Whakamihi (congratulations) to Finn Henderson and Rosa Dawson who have been selected as the 2025 Te iti Kahuraki Programme Athletes. The programme, run by Shotover Jet, supports young tamariki (children) and their whānau as they strive to achieve their sporting goals. Click here to read more about the programme and Finn and Rosa’s sporting endeavours. Mahi tika ana!

Volleyball - Aoraki Preseason

The Senior Girls volleyball season kicked off last weekend with a mini Aoraki preseason tournament held in Timaru. Our Senior A and B Girls teams headed north to play Craighead Diocesan and Roncalli College. It was a great day of learning, with the Seniors A’s taking the win against Roncalli 3-1 (after losing the first set) and a tight loss to Craighead 3-2. Thank you to Andrew Jones from Craighead for putting together the day, as well as coaches Steve Henderson and Ksena Muddle, and parent helpers Sasha McLeod, Aroha Solomon and Patricia Kirchoff for their support!

Swimming Ruby Swim

The Ruby Swim was held last Saturday in Wānaka. Year 11 student Billie Druett swam the 1.2km Return of the Jetty race and was the first female overall to finish! Billie also came in 3rd overall out of the 94 swimmers who started the race. Awesome work!

Cricket - Queenstown Cricket Carnival

Wakatipu High School cricketers joined forces with Otago Country in this year's Queenstown Cricket Carnival, held in January. Hugo Mawdsley, Harry Baker, Conor Clark, Liam Clarke, Ty Walker and Jake Wards all represented the combined team in the week-long event played at various venues around the Wakatipu Basin. Strong contributions with the bat from Liam Clark and Hugo Mawdsley helped the team pick up two wins during the week, in which the team played against teams from across the South Island and Australia. Special thank you to Otago Country Cricket and Fiona Ryall for supporting the boys at this event, as well as the event organisers, sponsors, umpires, and volunteers.

Golf - North Island Age Group Champs

The North Island Age Group Champs were held at the Centennial Course in Taupo recently, with 3 WHS students competing. Noah Novacek was in contention for a medal heading into the final round of the U19 boys but unfortunately was unable to keep pace with the leaders late in his round, eventually finishing a very respectable 6th place. Toby Gallie also had a good event making the cut in the highly competitive U16 Age Group, while Josh Harris just missed the cut in the U19s.

Touch - Southland Representative Selections

Congratulations to the following players who have been selected to represent Southland at the Touch NZ Youth National Tournament, which runs from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th February in Auckland!

• U18 Boys: Cooper Deaker
• 16 Girls: Nina Matulino, Tahlia Wheeler, Bailey Tiananga
• U16 Mixed: Finn Wallis, Deacon Bolt, Matt Murray, Logan Harrison, Cooper Swaffield, Sheana Solomon, Daisy Rule, Ara Hibbett and Kelly Tulafono

Opportunities to Get Involved

Softball - calling all interested students!

We are hoping to get a WHS team together to enter the Central Otago Softball competition again this term. We will teach you all you need to know and provide all the gear and transport needed for a small cost. Games are played in Alexandra on a Tuesday evening (starting 11th Feb until 11th March) - travelling straight after school in a school van, back about 7 pm each week. Trainings are on Thursdays at school from 3.30-5 pm. Please contact Mrs Hollyer at ghollyer@wakatipu.school.nz as soon as possible if you are interested in getting involved, it’s a lot of fun!

WHS House Touch

The annual WHS House Touch Competition starts up next Monday. Held at break 2 on the WHS fields, the first house comp of the season will see our Senior Mixed, Junior Boys and Junior Girls teams battle it out for the first house points of the year! Open to all students, grab your friends for some fun action in the sun.

Natural Selection Bike Tour - WHS Meet the Athletes

The Natural Selection Tour is heading to Queenstown! The Bike Final will be held on Saturday, February 15th at Mt Dewar, with the world's best female and male riders from big mountain, slopestyle, freeride, and downhill competing. We are excited to host a Meet the Athletes drop in for WHS students on Tuesday 4th February at break 2 (11.45am) in the main foyer with pro rider Carson Storch (USA) and 1 more TBA! Hope to see you there.

https://www.naturalselectiontour.com/nst-bike/

WHS Sports Expo - Weds 12th Feb

The annual WHS Sports Expo will be held on Wednesday 12th February at Break 2 (11.45am) in Pouākai. This is a key opportunity to see what sports and physical activities are on offer through WHS and in the basin, and to sign up for any activity students may be interested in. We encourage all students at WHS to be involved in some form of extracurricular activity at or outside of school, as these are a key way for students to connect with peers, staff and the community and have significant benefits to students wellbeing and holistic development. If you are keen to find out more information about sport and active recreation opportunities please visit our website.

Coaches - We Need You!

Wakatipu High School, like many sporting clubs, relies solely on volunteer coaches, managers and referees. While we have some incredible staff members involved with sport at WHS, the majority of our teams are coached by parents and/or community volunteers. The number of students involved with sport grows each year - so we need you! In particular we need support with volleyball, touch, basketball, netball, rugby and hockey teams. If you have any knowledge, skills, and passion in coaching or managing and are keen to join the WHS sports community please reach out to Sian, Director of Sport, at shorn@wakatipu.school.nz. We have an awesome group of passionate volunteers on board and support available.

Sport Scholarships, Funds and Courses

 Whakatipu Junior Golf Development Fund

Application Date Extended! Are you a young golfer looking to take your skills to the next level? The Whakatipu Junior Golf Development Fund is now open for applications! This fund is dedicated to supporting junior golfers in the Wakatipu region, helping them develop their talent and passion for the sport. The main focus of the fund is to cover coaching, Futures Whakatipu membership or competition costs with a maximum of $500 per person round. In some cases equipment will be funded.  Applications close: Friday 7th February 2025.  

Learn more and apply here: https://bit.ly/4gXnIYH

Te Mahi Ako Coaching Scholarship

Te Mahi Ako is offering a chance for free enrolment into their NZC Sport Coaching L3 through a scholarship. This scholarship is open to anyone 16 years or older who is involved with coaching sport through a local or community club (not school). Expressions of Interest close Sun 16 Feb 2025. Click here for more details.

Mental Health First Aid Course

Learn to be a Mental Health First Aider! We are looking for passionate humans to become certified Youth Mental Health First Aiders. Whether it’s a sports coach, a parent, Nana, Aunty, employer, or employee – if you want to support young people to have good mental health, we want to hear from you. The 2022/23 New Zealand Health Survey found that over a quarter of our young people experience high mental health need before the age of 24. We can all be doing something to prevent, support and educate, so that our young people have the best shot at wellbeing. This Youth Mental Health First Aid course is brand new to New Zealand and our region is the first to get a chance at proving our commitment to our future leader’s mental health. It is two days and leaves you with the skills to prevent, recognise and support mental health challenges in young people and builds confidence knowing how to get help in our local communities. It is a course not to be missed. Thanks to Te Hau Toka & Central Lakes Family Services for bringing this to our community.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, check out the link here to see the dates for Jan and March coming up.

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

Issy Hudson, year 13, has been announced the Future Designers Champion for the Creativity Competition hosted by Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington.

Issy’s design brief was to promote Vision and Hope about blindness and create awareness about blindness in a double page magazine spread called Life Beyond Sight. Additionally, Issy had to create a logo and a poster. 

The judges comments were “Your work demonstrates a tremendous amount of iteration and refinement to reach some exceptional final designs. There is a keen eye for colour, composition and form in this work with a clear vision (no pun intended) of what you want the work to be.”

Congratulations to Issy for such a great achievement. 

Looking for Student Leader Set Designer Superstar!

We are looking for one Senior student that is interested to become Set Design Crew Leader and support Mr Hansen and the team in creating the set. If this is something you would like or if you want to know more please get in touch with Mr Hansen jhansen@wakatipu.school.nz. This role will commence this term. 

Opportunity for parents to help

The Mamma Mia! set design includes a fair bit of construction and resourcing materials. We are reaching out to our wonderful parent community to check if there might be anyone interested to either help with the building/construction of the set or to support in supplying the set materials. If you are interested or have ideas to this please contact Mr Hansen  jhansen@wakatipu.school.nz

Rodger Fox Workshop - Bethany Argyle

In mid-December, four members of Wakatipu High School including Anna Argyle, Louis Buchanan, Phineas Thomas and myself, made our way to Wellington to attend the Roger Fox Workshops. These workshops focused on us growing our jazz skills through playing with other people we have never met before and learning from jazz tutors who had traveled around the world with different bands and have released many great albums. 

On day 1 at the Roger Fox Workshops, we began with introductions meeting talented new people by learning their favourite chip flavours. Then we started auditions to be put into combos (small jazz band groups). Throughout the four days we were there, we spent three hours a day led by a different tutor for each combo and we learnt songs for the final performance which would be on the last day. Personally, I think the combos were the best part of the workshop as we were able to make close friends within these combos, play tunes that we had never heard before and learn from an amazing combo tutor who had a wealth of musical knowledge. 

Other activities throughout the four days at the workshop included inclusive jam sessions where whoever wanted to go could meet at the end of the day and participate in a jam session. At this jam session we were challenged to use our ears and play what seemed like random notes and patterns on our instruments to make a full song. There were also listening exercises where we would get an hour to listen to a few songs and talk through what we heard and what we felt from the music. One of my favourite workshops of the week was the LAB horns section workshop where the three horn players of LAB talked to us about what it is like playing with LAB and explaining the process of how they come up with their parts in LAB songs and the process of getting on stage and performing. Another one of my favourites had to be a workshop run by Andrew Faleatua where he explained what Jazz fusion was and explained his experiences with fusing together Jazz and Pacifica music. 

Throughout the week we were able to digest a wealth of music information and experience which will stick with us for a long time. We all also made plenty of friends who we hope we will see again at the workshops this December or before then and be able to jam with them any time we see them. 

Whakatipu Music Festival (paid apprenticeship roles - Y13 students)

April 18 - 21. The Michael Hill Violin Competition combines top violinists competing from around the world with involvement of local musicians. Alongside this is a programme to mentor individuals keen being involved in the different aspects of this event. The roles include areas such as Marketing, Videography, Sounds, Artist Liaison, Stage Manager, Hospitality, Box Office. These roles are paid and it is an amazing opportunity for any Y13 students interested in being involved. 

Applications are due FEB 7.

The link to the application is: https://michaelhillviolincompetition.co.nz/training-ground/

The link to the event is: https://michaelhillviolincompetition.co.nz/whakatipu-music-festival/

Arts Extra Curricular Expo

SAVE THE DATE - Friday 14th February in the Theatre at Break 2.   Come along and sign up for some amazing extra curricular groups for 2025

YAMI

The bi-annual YAMI summit is on again this year on May 3 /4. The Early Bird enrollments have sold out but there are still tickets for this event. Another great opportunity for musicians to work alongside artists working in the industry and engage with other young musicians across the area. The link is below:

Apply here:  https://wanakasounz.nz/yami/

You can also follow them on Facebook: facebook.com/yamisounz or IG: instagram.com/yamisounz

Itinerant Lessons/Y9 Music students

Emails have been sent to parents of students enrolled in the Music courses this year. There is a meeting next Tuesday at Break 2 in the Music area for all Y9 Music students to give a brief overview of what’s happening and how to get involved.

Alongside that, we will be starting out itinerant music lessons in the next week/ten days with the following tutors:

Brass - Alistair Monteath                                                                                   Woodwind/beginner guitar - Chris Mason-Battley

Drums - Harrison Maguire                                                                                Guitar/Bass - Alex Pyle

Singing - David Partee                                                                                         Violin - TBC

Any questions, please email Alison Price at aprice@wakatipu.school.nz

Twilight Opera in the Garden

Sunday Feb 9 sees the return of the annual opera event with the added potential for 15 students to be at the rehearsal the day before from 2.30pm - 4.30pm. This is an amazing opportunity and we would fully encourage students with an interest in music to take advantage of this.

Any students keen to go should see Mrs Price in the Music area for more details. The link to the main event is below. 

 https://www.acas.nz/event-details/twilight-opera-in-the-garden

Gigs on the Green

Rockformation are running their annual Gigs on the Green in Queenstown over three successive Friday afternoons. The dates are Feb 7, 14, 21 and will run from approximately 5.00pm - 8.00pm. If you’re passing, enjoy the music with a number of current and ex-students involved.

Exciting visits in ART

Being able to access a visiting artist is an incredible opportunity for our students to get first hand input from established artists. We hope to welcome more artists and professionals in the arts space in the future. If you would like to share your experience and knowledge please get in touch with Arts Coordinator Stine Cooper scooper@wakatipu.school.nz.

Extracurricular groups - These will be starting in the next few weeks - all updates will be posted on the Performing Arts Classroom Group.  

• Junior Jazz / Jazz Full Band / Jazz Combo  
• Guitar 
• Digital Music Production
• Chamber Music Group
• Junior / Senior Singing
• Social Art Club

Check each of the  Classroom Groups for more details and updates

Upcoming for Term 1

7/14/21 February - Gigs on the Green - Friday afternoons on the Village Green in Queenstown.

14 February - Extra Curricular Arts Expo

2-5 April - Mamma Mia!  WHS Musical for 2025

3-4 May - YAMI

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 scooper@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 scooper@wakatipu.school.nz

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

Stay Informed with Our Dedicated Careers Website!

Did you know that WHS has its very own Careers website?

CareerWise is a one stop hub for sharing up-to-date information on student job vacancies, university open days, scholarships, career events and information evenings, workplace resources and much more.

All senior students at WHS, along with their whānau, are automatically subscribed to the site. This means you'll receive a fortnightly newsletter with all the latest news and events. We encourage parents and guardians to keep themselves updated with the opportunities available to their teens - now and in the future. If you prefer not to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe anytime.

No matter what direction you're heading in, we highly recommend bookmarking this page to take full advantage of this resource!

To access Careerwise, simply click on the button below or visit the school's website and find CareerWise under the careers tab.

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

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