WHS Newsletter | Issue 4.7 | 27 November 2020

Branches Camp

The convoy left for Brances Camp this morning! Click here to view the video on the WHS Facebook page. 

We have 219 Year 10 students heading to Branches Camp this year - we hope they all have a great time! A huge thanks to our staff, The Branches Trust and our community for their support. 

Photos from the 2020 Branches Camp will be available to per order from the Branches Trust website. The collection of photos on a USB stick is a fantastic souvenir for you and your child of this iconic camp. Once you have pre ordered, you will be notified by email of when and where the photos will be availible for collection following the camp. The cost of the USB stick will be $20. 

Branches Trust

It’s such a wonderfully Branches time of year!!  Good luck to all involved and a huge thank you to the teaching staff who pull this off!  No mean feat, your work is hugely appreciated.

FERG FOR BREAKFAST ON THE HITS 6-9am each weekday morning
While the Year 10s are away make sure you listen into Ferg on The Hits, there are some great stories from the book read by some talented students!   The readings will play at 6.50am and again at 8.05am each week day.
Mon 30 Nov – Greta Balfour
Tues 1 Dec – Sophie Thompson
Wed 2 Dec – James Scoles
Thur 3 Dec – Ryan Connaghan
Fri 4 Dec – Helena Hornbacher

LONG DROPS AND HARD KNOCKS
Our fabulous book will be an excellent Christmas present for anyone who has been or is still to go into Branches.  And remember the words of Craig Smith, author of The Wonky Donkey and past Branches Camper when he said ‘Every Queenstown family and business should have one’ .... so have you got yours yet?  

You can buy a book from these locations and remember, ALL proceeds go to fund future Branches Camps: 
WHS front desk, Summerfields Pharmacy, Arrowtown Museum, Halo, The Exchange, Odelay, Provisions, Dorothy Browns, Brandlands, Paper Plus, Bound and the Event Centre or online at www.branchestrust.co.nz.  
Now priced at $49.95 or 2 for $90 .... Have you got yours yet?!

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Belinda Crichton
Branches Trust

Maths University Course

The Mathematics and Statistics Learning Area has been accelerating students for many years and this year seven students attempted Stage 1 University Maths through the University of Canterbury. Four students completed the whole year and final grades have just been released.  The students are: 
Jacob Wilkinson (A+ with 95%)
Angus Forrest (A+ with 94%)
Micky Nguyen (A+ with 92%)
Max Vang (A with 89%)
Congratulations to all the students for these superb results.

Dax Richards
Maths Teacher

Calling all English books!

As English exams wrap up this week, please ensure that all copies of class texts are returned. We need complete class sets to begin the year in 2021 so students who have not returned the book that was issued to them will be charged for the replacement cost.

It's time to dig through bags and bedrooms to haul them out, folks! Thanks in advance for supporting us to take care of our teaching resources.

Ms Jen Smart
HoLA English & Media Studies

Chicken Pox

Please note that Chicken Pox has been doing the rounds at one of the local primary schools and we now have our first reported case. A timely reminder to check your childrens vaccinations are up to date.

Symptoms to look out for;  mild fever, loss of appetite, headache and feeling tired, followed by the appearance of a red rash that becomes blistered and itch, mostly on the trunk, head and face with some of the arms and legs.

Andrea Wilton-Connell
Executive Officer

Kahui Ako o Wakatipu events

Impact Stories

On the 19th November, educators from around the Basin came together to attend a range of workshops at a Kahui Ako event, ‘Staff Impact Stories’. The work that was shared had one of two foci: ‘Resilience’/‘Writing’: sharing and embedding effective practice.

The Kahui Ako as a network of learning organisations has a mission to collaborate, to enhance and sustain learning, and to have a collective moral purpose to provide dynamic, future-focused learning opportunities to shift achievement.  Our ultimate goal is to enhance student learning. To do this, we are committed to collaborate, share information and resources, and identify, develop, and embed effective practice. 

The sessions were about possibility and an opportunity to share resources and information gathered through the Within-school Lead inquiries and the work that has been done to date. This was a move beyond our blue sky thinking to action. Workshops included a focus on grammar (Years’ 7-10), the writing process, and practical strategies to help our ākonga to improve their writing skills. Workshops on ‘Resilience’ included a look at a pathway to identify the practice that builds resilient dispositions, ‘Zones of Regulation’ and the explicit teaching of a growth-mindset. 

The feedback on the event was overwhelmingly positive and we hope to see growing numbers of our educators at future events.

‘Everyone I have spoken to was very positive about what they gained from the workshops they attended and wished they could have gone to more. There was so much good practice shared and a lot of work by each of the presenters….’

‘We need to do this more often!’

Rosalie Reiri

Facilitated by Rosalie Reiri (CORE Education), this event provided educators with a valuable opportunity to affirm our place in the Wakatipu Basin as a Kahui Ako. The day was a thought-provoking and emotional exploration of Tiriti o Waitangi and its four articles, whilst reflecting on your own practice. Together, we reframed the current thinking to allow for the consideration of a practical application of the Tiriti with one’s own school’s values.  

Rosalie led the day with passion and heart and attendees all agreed that it was a valuable and powerful professional learning experience. 

The Kahui Ako o Wakatipu looks forward to hosting future events that continue to offer learning opportunities to all educators in the Basin.

Sports News and Results

Toby Hart Plays for the New Zealand A Cricket Team
Toby Hart was given an amazing opportunity to train with the New Zealand A cricket team while they were in Queenstown, as they prepared to play against West Indies in a 3-day match last weekend. Then last Thursday night he was invited to be the 13th man for the game, due to one of the team members getting injured. He got very good at running the water bottles on whenever they got a wicket or a rest break, and managed to get on the field for 4 overs on the second day. An amazing opportunity to hang out with some of the best cricket players and coaches in NZ. Great stuff Toby!

South Island Junior Volleyball Champs
The Junior A Boys and Girls Volleyball teams competed at the South Island Volleyball Champs in Invercargill this week. This is a full on three days, with a large number of games, duties and long days in the stadium. It is the first time that WHS has sent both a boys and girls team to the South Islands. There were some big defeats and some exciting wins against teams they’d lost to at the Southland Champs and a huge amount of development and learning for both teams who do not have access to regular volleyball matches. A huge thank you to Mrs Panapa for all of her time, coaching expertise and organisation, Mr Jackson for being the number one supporter as well as Natsune Suzuki for coaching the girls, Rosiane Haas for coaching the boys and Steve Henderson for all of his support.
Boys Results (one division):
Lost 3-0 - Waimea College Gold
Lost 3-0 - Nelson College A
Lost 3-0 - Riccarton High School
Won 2-1 - Southland Boys B
Lost 3-0 - John McGlashan College
Lost 3-0 - Central Southland College
Won 3-0 - Roncalli College
Lost 3-0 - Southland Boys A
Finished 14th out of 17 teams

Girls Results (Division 2):
Lost 3-0 - Queens High School B
Won 2-1 - James Hargest B
Won 3-0 - Southland Girls High School C
Won 3-0 - Middleton Grange A
Lost 2-1 - James Hargest A - made top 8
Lost 3-0 - Bayfield High School A
Lost 2-1 - Southland Girls A
Lost 3-0 - Burnside High School A
Won 2-1 - James Hargest B
Finished 7th out of 19 teams in division two

Kings High School Junior Cricket Exchange
The annual Junior cricket exchange between WHS and Kings High School took place on Monday and Tuesday this week in Dunedin. The teams play a two day declaration match which requires a lot of strategic play and thinking. WHS won the toss and elected to bowl. Kings declared their first innings at 157 runs and the game was very competitive throughout with WHS needing 155 runs to win in the second and last innings. Unfortunately we ended up 40 runs short this year but a good sign of progress for WHS cricket with the game becoming closer year on year. A big thank you to coaches Tim Young and Greg Trounce for taking the team this year. We look forward to hosting Kings again in 2021 and trying to secure the Cushen-Mawhinney trophy for the first time.

Red Bull Ignite7s
All the best to Olive Watherston as she flies to Tauranga on Sunday to attend the Ignite Sevens camp from Monday to Friday with the very best of New Zealand's sevens rugby players. Next weekend Olive will be involved with and play on one of the four teams in the tournament as an apprentice. You can catch the action on Sky Sport next Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th December. Go well Olive!

Laura Nathan
Director of Sport

Careers Department - Student Job Vacancies

We are looking for  a mature animal loving senior student (with drivers licence) to assist us over the busy summer period.  Please contact Lyn  0272311197 or the website https://stardogwalks.co.nz

Key Dates

Community Notices