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WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.04 | 21 February 2025

Principal's Message

Kia ora koutou and welcome to the end of Week 4.

Today was our annual Participation Day, which sees our Houses compete for a top placing on the House Competition leaderboard. A huge thank you to the House Leaders and Deans and to all the students who exemplified the 'Wakatipu Way' and showcased the positive and inclusive values that we are wanting to consistently see. Take a look below to see photos and videos of the 'House March', and we look forward to announcing the winning House at a full school assembly next Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening, we held our annual NCEA information evening for parents of senior students and you can see below for all the details including the all-important Internal Assessment Calendars. Please ensure that your senior student creates their own Assessment Calendar and that you support them to plan accordingly for the weeks ahead. Speaking of senior students, all senior students should by now have set their academic and extracurricular goals for 2025 and we look forward to sharing those with parents and caregivers in the upcoming weeks.

Wakatipu High School's Strategic Plan vision is to deliver Aotearoa/New Zealand's best all-round education and the aspirations of the community are set out in the 2025 Strategic Plan, which will see us through to the end of this year.

This year we have ten Strategic Annual Priorities, with 2 key changes from last year. 2025 will see us exploring our Qualification Framework, and deciding whether to include a Cambridge or IB pathway to complement NCEA. The second key change is the addition of 'Future Proofing for Growth', which looks to ensure the ongoing success of WHS into the future.

The full list of strategic goals and annual priorities can be found below and includes links to the objectives and metrics that will drive our decision-making in 2025.

WHS STRATEGIC PLAN 2025 AND ANNUAL PRIORITIES

Lastly, the WHS Foundation (WHSF) plays a very important role in supporting Wakatipu High School with its aspirations of delivering Aotearoa/New Zealand's best all-round education. The Foundation's annual contribution to the school enables WHS to offer a range of programmes and initiatives, including Literacy Support, Wellbeing and Guidance Support, additional staff (which sees us with average class size of 21.8), Stars Peer Mentoring, and much, much more. Additionally, the WHS Foundations supports the Āwhina fund (financial support), which ensures students and families can apply for support with getting a device (BYOD), uniform or to assist with participation in the extra and co-curricular life of school. These contributions make a significant difference to the education that WHS can offer our students in our community and ensure that all students can access WHS' great all-round education. Click here if you'd like to know more about the WHS Foundation and how you can support. Once again, a huge thank you to the WHS Foundation and all the businesses and individuals who support WHS.

Another informative and great newsletter follows, including information about our Student Wellbeing Programme and much, much more, so please be sure to have a read.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and be sure to get your tickets for Mamma Mia! before they sell out!

Ngā mihi nui

Oded Nathan
Principal/Tumuaki

Participation Day

Today we held our annual Participation Day, where students in their Houses competed in activities throughout the day to win points.

The House themes were:

Hay - 80s

Fox - Christmas

Mackenzie - Basketball

Arthur - Smurfs

Duncan - Star Wars

Here’s what the House Leaders had to say on Thursday, in anticipation of the big day:

Ava Rona - Hay House Leader: “Hay House is ready to rock the stage on Participation Day”

Elsbeth Purdue - Fox House Leader: “Fox is absolutely ecstatic to gift a winning performance and give our best efforts tomorrow”

Trinity Jones - Mackenzie House Leader: “Mackenzie is ready to dunk on all the other houses”

Cameron Bates - Arthur House Leader: “Arthur is very hyped and ready to take out the competition tomorrow”

Bede Dawson - Duncan House Leader: “Duncan’s here to bring it home again and keep the streak going”

The Participation Day points make a huge contribution to the overall House points for the year, so stay tuned for results! The purpose of Participation Day is to get all students involved and participating with their Houses. Shoutout to all the students who gave it their all today and showed awesome House spirit.

Siena Mackley and Oliver Carian

Student Leaders

Click here for Arthur House march
Click here for Duncan House march
Click here for Fox House march
Click here for Hay House march
Click here for Mackenzie House march

NCEA Information Evening

We had a great turn out for our parents information evening last Tuesday. There were plenty of questions asked and lots of information that was shared. Here is the presentation that was shared on the evening which also contains links to key resources that are useful for parents to access. We encourage you to read this and be confident in your understanding on how the qualification works, what resources are available to you and your student, and how the school helps keeping you informed with their progress.

Key takeaways for parents:

Ask your student about their academic goals for the year and their plan for achieving these.
Talk with them about their Internal Assessment calendar (which they will be developing next week in Ako). Use the guideline that each credit means about 10 hours of work in and out of class. They should be working on assessments well before they are due! The links to each Year Level's assessment calendar are also in this newsletter.
Check the Portal reguarly for progress and final grades. If you are unsure about your Portal login, contact the school.
Check their weekly Learning Engagement reports. While not directly linked to their academic achievement, they show your student's progress against the Wakatipu Way which are the skills students' need to be able to achieve highly.
Ask to see their google classroom and access the weekly summary to see what they should have completed that week.
If you are concerned about their progress, make contact with their kaiārahi, subject teacher, Dean, the careers team, Guidance, or a member of SLT). We are all here to help.

As a school, we urge students to strive to achieve their NCEA Level with either a Merit or Excellence endorsement, as this lays a good foundation for success at the next NCEA level and beyond. It is also very important for students to aim for course endorsements, which requires achievement to be from both internal and external assessments.

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

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

Key contacts:

Mr Richards for NZQA and NCEA drichards@wakatipu.school.nz

Mrs Hearn for Special Assessment Conditions phearn@wakatipu.school.nz

If further information is required or you have questions regarding the NCEA qualification system, please contact cmorrison@wakatipu.school.nz.

Craig Morrison

Deputy Principal - Curriculum

NCEA Level 1,2, and 3 Internal Assessment Calendars and WHS Term Calendar

Internal Assessment Calendar
The internal assessment calendar provides the due dates for all internal assessments being sat by students throughout the year for each course in Years 11-13. We highly recommend that students note the dates of their internal assessments on their calendars and plan their term and year accordingly to ensure their academic goals are achieved. Kaiārahi and parents are encouraged to support this.

Students should use the assessment and school calendar to identify all their assessments - particularly noting pinch points when several fall due at the same time, and then put this beside their other commitments eg sport, work, family and plan accordingly.

These calendars are live and will be updated regularly.
Level 1 NCEA Assessment Calendar
Level 2 NCEA Assessment Calendar
Level 3 NCEA Assessment Calendar

WHS School Calendar

The WHS School calendar is always jam-packed and is a feature of WHS' great all-round education. As such, we want students to be looking at the calendar and understanding when they are going to be away for any school related activity. The calendar linked below can be used with the NCEA Internal Assessment Calendar (above) to assist with planning for the term.

WHS School Calendar

GoodSpace - A digital screening tool for monitoring student wellbeing

Once again this year we will be running a confidential survey with our Yr 10- 13 students, one year level at a time, to gauge their wellbeing and offer early intervention particularly for students who may be struggling in silence.

The GoodSpace survey is a youth-friendly, secure online survey, based on an evidence-based framework for schools to be able to identify students who may need targeted support.

Prior to each Year group beginning the survey, we will send an email to parents and students and hold a year level assembly to explain the survey, the opt-out options and the limits of confidentiality of their answers.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email our Guidance Team: guidance@wakatipu.school.nz

Supporting Student Wellbeing at Wakatipu High School

Wakatipu High School continues to keep student wellbeing at the forefront of what we do.

This year, we will roll out a new initiative to help support our students' mental health and overall wellbeing. Student’s will create personal wellbeing plans and complete accompanying learning modules, designed to promote self-awareness among students, offering them valuable tools to understand and manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviours more effectively.

Key Elements of the Programme:

Jazz Thornton and Gen Mora from Voices of Hope: On Monday, March 3rd, both Jazz Thornton and Gen Mora will speak to all students, sharing their inspiring journeys and insights into mental health. Their powerful message will serve as a reminder that support is always available and that self-care is essential.
Education Perfect Modules: To further support the initiative, Education Perfect modules will be made available for junior students. These modules, which focus on mental health awareness, can be completed both in class and at home, encouraging students to take an active role in their own wellbeing journey.
5 Ways in 5 Weeks Awareness Events: From Weeks 7 to 11, students will participate in a series of awareness events. These events will provide practical tips and strategies to support mental health, with each week focusing on a different aspect of wellbeing.

We are excited to see the positive impact of this programme on our students, empowering them with the skills and knowledge to prioritise their mental health and wellbeing. Together, we can create a supportive environment where all students thrive.

Mamma Mia! - Get Your Tickets Now!

Get ready to dance, jive, and have the time of your life – Mamma Mia! is coming to Wakatipu High School!
Tickets are now on sale on Iticket. Last year's musical sold out weeks in advance, so don't miss your chance to experience the magic – grab your tickets now.

Please make sure to purchase your tickets exclusively through iTicket for a safe and secure transaction.

https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2025/apr/wakatipu-high-school-mamma-mia

Get your tickets now!

Leadership Speaker Series

We are excited to invite students to a very special and unique opportunity.

This year we are running the 'Leadership Speaker Series' where we invite a range of inspirational leaders to speak to our wider student leadership body. This is an opportunity for students to understand how leadership can look in a variety of ways in the world, while hearing some great stories and the opportunity to ask valid questions.

If parents and members of the community would like to know more, and/or have leadership skills that they'd like to share, please get in contact with Sarah Hill, Deputy Principal: shill@wakatipu.school.nz

Inspiring_Leaders_1_.pdf

Sport and Active Recreation News

Triathlon

Last Friday year 10 student Rilee Young took the start line at Challenge Wanaka, competing in the U16 individual triathlon. This event consisted of a 300m swim, 10km bike and 3.5km run. It was a stunning day over the hill with perfect race conditions. Rilee finished in a respectable 6th place, awesome work!

Tennis

It was a Milburn v Milburn final at the Queenstown Tennis Open held a couple of weekends ago. Brothers Dan and Noa made it to the Men’s Singles final, with Dan taking the win in some closely fought sets. The duo then joined forces to take out the Men’s Doubles title. This follows an awesome summer for Noa, who competed at the world’s most prestigious junior tournaments - Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl - in the United States.

Equestrian

It has been a busy equestrian season with a number of WHS students competing in events around the South Island. Congratulations to Heidi Green (and Pioneer Class Clown) who won the CCN105S Class at the John Jones Steel Eventing Canterbury Two Day Event held in Christchurch last weekend. Heidi led in all three phases: dressage, cross country jumping and show jumping.

Down South, Kendra van Leeuwen (and Cuba Cuba) won the 1.10m class at the Southland Show Jumping Circuit Show in Gore. Also in Gore Zara Hazledine won the Pony Grand Prix 1.20-1.30cm. In the Mini Prix 1.15cm Coco Cameron placed 2nd with Zara in 3rd place. These two classes are the top for ponies and riders must qualify to compete. Well done to all!

Best of luck to Zara and Kendra competing at the Show Jumping Canterbury Jumping Champs this weekend.

Snowsports

A number of snowsports athletes are currently overseas for the European Winter season. Congratulations to Charlee Hill who competed at the Livigno World Rookie Fest 2025, Italy. Charlee placed 4th in the Snowboard Grom Women’s Category. You can also follow along with the Alpine Ski Racing FIS results via the link below.

NZ Alpine Ski Racing

Rob Moore Q&A Session x Coach Connect

Calling WHS coaching community; past, present and future.

Wakatipu High School, in collaboration with Academy Southland, are excited to announce a WHS Coach Connect x Q&A Session with Rob Moore on Monday 3rd March.

Rob Moore is Climbing NZ’s High Performance Director and Speed Programme Head Coach. Rob has a wealth of knowledge in the high performance space, and took NZ’s first Olympic climbers to the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The Q&A session will be held at WHS at 7pm, with an opportunity to connect with other coaches from 6.30pm. Small nibbles will be provided.

Please RSVP via the form below.

https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLScrtNOac.../viewform

Opportunities to Get Involved

Preseason sessions and trials for some winter sports teams are coming up over the next couple of weeks. See below for more details. Rugby and Football information is still to come, watch this space! There is also a social tennis opportunity and some upcoming events.

Tennis

Wanting to learn Tennis or develop your game? WHS is offering a fantastic opportunity to come along on Monday afternoons and learn from Coach Li Ying Zhong and some of our Senior Tennis players at the School Courts. These free sessions will run on Mondays 3.30-5pm from the 24th of Feb until the end of term (no session Otago Anniversary Day) on the WHS tennis courts. These are open for any students wanting to give tennis a go and learn some new skills. Rackets and balls will be provided, but you can bring your own if you have one. Please sign up via the link below.

Tennis Sign Ups

WHS Netball

On Monday the 24th of February at 8pm we will be running an online netball meeting for anyone new to WHS netball, This session will outline how the netball programme works and other key information. The link to join the meeting is below.
https://meet.google.com/bhh-niwb-dhv

All students interested in playing netball at WHS need to complete the sign up form, linked below. More details on the season are in the Netball Google Classroom - students can join using the code au7uqbs

- Junior Sign Up Form (years 9-10)

- Senior Sign Up Form (years 11-13, competitive and social players)

WHS Hockey

Hockey preseason sessions are starting up next week for any interested players. See the form below for more details. Trials for the Wakatipu High School 1st XI and 2nd XI Boys and Girls teams will run on Thursday 13, 20th and 27th of March at the Events Centre Turf - the trial sign up form will be sent out next week. Make sure students are in the Hockey Google Classroom to stay up to date with information - code bw7qhtg. For more details contact Bel bstrano@wakatipu.school.nz

Hockey Preseason Sign Up

WHS Basketball

Trials for all players interested in representing the top WHS teams will be running on Monday 3rd and 10th March in Pouākai. Timings below. Opportunities for all other Senior and Junior teams will be coming later this term (with the Seniors competition in Term 2 and Juniors in Term 3). Make sure students are in the Basketball Google Classroom to stay up to date with information - code so5wtvc.

- 3:20 - 4:45 Girls - Senior & Junior

- 5:00 - 6:30 Boys - Junior A

- 6:45 - 8:15 Boys - Senior A & Intermediate A

Mountain Biking - South Island Champs

The South Island School MTB champs will be held at the Mt Hutt Bike Park in Methven from the 26th March till the 29th of March. There are strict dates and entry processes for this event, particularly for downhill. Please email Bel at bstrano@wakatipu.school.nz for more details. Registrations close Thursday 27th February.

Surfing - Southland Champs

The Southland Secondary School Surfing Championships are coming up on Saturday 8th March at Colac Bay. If you would like to complete please complete the entry and permission form below. Entries close 12pm Friday 28th February 2025.

Surfing Entry

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

Whakatipu Music Festival

Congratulations to the following students who have been accepted as part of the Training Ground Programme for the Whakatipu Music Festival in the areas of Production and Stage Management . These are paid apprenticeship positions designed to give individuals entering the related industries hands-on experience. They are generally pitched at poeple 18 years of age and over so this is a great opportunity which well reflects the abilities of these students:

Baxter Bamford, Hunter Cotterill and Kieran Leftley

Scholarships Results

Congratulations to all our Art students who have recently received Scholarships:

Samuel Muir - Photography	Zoe Grant - Photography
Harriet Blundell - Painting	Bethany Graf - Drama

This week we celebrate Zoe Grant who gained Scholarship Photography in 2024. Zoe's work explores the idea of travel, memories, and linking the moments we may forget. Zoe recognises the patterns of how we exist and makes note of how the experiences we gather along the way are more important than the destination. We congratulate Zoe on her excellent work and wish her all the best for her future studies.

Musical Rehearsal Updates: Rehearsals are progressing well with Band, Dancers and Main Leads all working hard on Sundays. There is still opportunity for involvement with the Crew for anyone who wants to join in the fun.

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

Y9 Band Hub

Y9 Band Hub starts on Tuesdays after school running from 3.30 - 4.30.

It takes place in the Music area and students will be working with ex-student David Bell.

There is still room for others to join so if any Y9 students are still keen to join please contact me at aprice@wakatipu.school.nz.

Itinerant lessons

Itinerant lessons are now up and running and all students have been emailed their days/times. Lessons are 30 mins long and students are to be back in their normal classes outside of these lessons. Students are sent an automated reminder of the lesson. Parents can help by checking their child's lesson schedule and reminding them to be on time.

Any queries to Alison Price at aprice@wakatipu.school.nz

Toi Wearable Arts

The Toi Wearable Arts Group would like to borrow sewing mannequins for our groups . We are hoping to find 5 to borrow or if any has one they would like to sell please let Mrs Brown know .

They can be brought into the school office but please make sure they are named so we can return them

Knitting & Crochet Club

If anyone has some wool lying around that they don't need anymore, we would love to have it for the new knitting/crochet group that's starting this term.

Wool donations can be dropped off at the office and would be gratefully received. Thank you.

Billie Carey

For Shortland Street fans, the 2024 Christmas cliffhanger episode featured a song by former Wakatipu High student Billie Carey, who left the school at the end of 2023. Billie has a strong connection with the national Play It Strange Songwriting trust, having featured on numerous albums and winning their national lyric writing competition in 2022. Shortland Street has partnered with Play It Strange for this musical collaboration. Billies's song “Best of Me” was the first song featured in the collaboration which you can hear in the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1APRjpHt3R/

Gigs on the Green

Thanks for Rock Formation for their ongoing support with the Gigs on the Green - this Friday 21 February is the last and features George Newhouse.

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

Junior Jazz / Jazz Full Band / Jazz Combo
Digital Music Production
Songwriting Group
Junior / Senior Singing
Social Art Club
Year 9 Band Hub
Knitting & Crochet Club

Check each of the Classroom Groups for more details and updates

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.

Upcoming Events

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

21 February - Tickets go on sale for Mamma Mia!

25 February - Year 9 Band Hub

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.

Careers - Tertiary Liaison Visits

Each year during Term 1, university and polytechnic liaison officers visit our school to introduce Year 13 students to the opportunities available at tertiary institutions.

If you are considering your study options after high school, these sessions are a must-attend! They are a great way to explore your options, ask questions about courses, campuses, career pathways and get helpful advice straight from the experts.

Click the link below for session details and to register.

Tertiary Liaison Visits:

Dunedin Tertiary Open Days

Thinking about studying at the University of Otago or Otago Polytechnic? Year 13 students are invited to join us for the Dunedin Tertiary Open Days on Sunday 4 May and Monday 5 May.

Come along to this two-day event and explore the campuses, learn more about the subjects you're interested in, and see first-hand the fantastic range of study options on offer.

Numbers are limited. For more information or to book your place on this trip, click here

UC Tertiary Trip

Here's your chance to explore what the University of Canterbury, Lincoln University, and Ara have to offer!

Join us for our tertiary trip to Christchurch on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 May. This is a fantastic opportunity for Year 13 students to explore their study options. You will gain valuable insights into courses, accommodation and student communities.

Spaces are limited! For more information or to secure your spot, click here.

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

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28 Apr	Start of Term Two All day

29 Apr	Corequisite Support Drop-In Evening for Parents (Library) 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

30 Apr	Corequisite Support Drop-In Evening for Parents (Library) 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

6 May	Senior Next Steps - School Finishes 1:50 pm All day

23 May	Writing Corequisite (Opportunity 1) All day

26 May	Numeracy Corequisite (Opportunity 1) All day