WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.3 | 19 February 2021

Principal's Message

Kia ora - welcome to a very big Wakatipu High School newsletter as the school settles into its groove for the year. Going back into Alert Level 2 at the start of the week was a sharp reminder of the reality of Covid, and the importance of making the most of our educational opportunities every day - that in fact was a key message in my words at our House Pounamu Assemblies this week. 

These assemblies acknowledge students who have achieved Merit and Excellence endorsements in NCEA, and it was great to acknowledge their efforts and achievements by presenting them with their badges. Please see below for a list of recipients. 

The rapid move to Alert Level 2 also reinforced how important it is for parents and students to have the WHS App installed and running on their devices as this is the channel we will use for urgent communications (including things like snow days in winter). Please see below if you have not yet done this, including some hot tips for installing it.

At our Pounamu Assemblies we also flagged key initiatives that are coming for students this year re our school culture and wellbeing. Related to this we had some words on bullying, including that it is not OK at WHS, as well as what is bullying, what to do if you are being bullied or are aware of bullying. Click here for Mr Rassmussen’s presentation.

The Extracurricular Expo on Tuesday was another highlight of the week. It was awesome to see so many students in the gym and theatre and signing up for activities. As I’ve said previously, we really believe that sport, arts, culture, community and leadership opportunities are not only great fun but are an important medium for students to learn about themselves and others and grow holistically, and hence are a critical part of our all-round education. Do speak with your student to see what they were interested in and have signed up for so that they are engaged and make the most of these all-round opportunities.

Donations - it will soon be the time of year when we send out our invoices for our school donations. School fees and donations have changed quite a lot over the last few years with the Government’s work in this area. Some points to note: 

• as a Decile 10 (ie high socio-economic area) school we receive the lowest amount of Government funding; 
• as a Decile 10, we are also ineligible for the scheme whereby schools can take Government funding in lieu of asking parents for donations; 
• we do not charge course fees but we do still ask for donations for many subjects (but NB these are voluntary, and tax deductible); 
• this year, fees for junior camps have been removed and are now also voluntary donations.

In terms of the junior camps (ie Greenstone, Journeys and Branches) becoming voluntary donations, it is a very interesting position for us. While we understand the Government's aspiration for a free education, the reality is that those camps cost significant sums of money for us to run (eg Branches costs approx $100k) and as a school community we think that they are very important opportunities for our students. 

Accordingly, while course, camp and our general school donations are voluntary, they are very important sources of income which enable us to provide those opportunities and the all-round education that we and the community want for our students. If families are able to pay the donation - or even part of it, we would very much appreciate it.

NCEA Assessment - there is an important section on NCEA below. This includes information on our Assessment Policy and our NCEA Parent information evening next Tuesday - especially important for parents new to NCEA.

It also includes links to the all-important NCEA Assessment Calendars - these are very important parts of planning for seniors, where ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’.

Related, students have recently been setting their goals for the year, which include academic, learning disposition, extracurricular and wellbeing goals, and it is great to see how many of our students have high aspirations, but to achieve this they need to start as they mean to go on - that is right from the very first assessments.

Ākonga Passport - below is a piece on the Ākonga Passport, which is up and running for junior students. This is a really important system to give positive acknowledgement to our junior students for the all-round elements of our Ākonga Profile - please see below for more.

COYEP - the Central Otago Youth Employment Programme is another one of our new strategic initiatives this year. We did a lot of homework on this last year and have decided to introduce it at WHS this year. We think it’s a great initiative and another important opportunity for our students. Please see below for more, including a call to any employers who could be willing to offer work placements to our students.

Attendance - following my words last week, attendance at school is essential for students to successfully learn, progress and achieve, and hence is a key focus of the MoE and other organisations as well as schools themselves. Again, we have made some changes to our attendance system this year including centralising elements of it so that it works more effectively. While we are really happy with how that's going - including that many students are responding very well and taking responsibility for their attendance (as we want them to), there are definitely some glitches in the system that we are working through. Our apologies when we get it wrong but please do let us know so we can get it fully sorted, and please do note that while some problems may be systematic others definitely sit with students. Please see below for a piece from Mrs Hiestand.

A very big newsletter below with lots of interesting and important information, including Pounamu recipients and sections on the Ākonga Profile and Junior Passport as well as another new initiative we’ve established this year in partnership with SIT.

A stunning summer weekend ahead with light winds and warm temps forecast. Don't forget to slip, slop, slap and wrap if you’re out and about, and make the most of the summer weather as March approaches.

Steve Hall
Principal

Pounamu Assemblies

This week we celebrated student academic success for 2020 in the five House Pounamu Assemblies. Students who received NCEA endorsements at Merit of Excellence level as well as scholarship were recognised. 
Unfortunately due to Covid aleart levels, Arthur, Duncan and Fox were unable to have parents/caregivers in attendance, however, Hay and Mackenzie had parents attend on Friday. 
The following is a list of students, in alphabetical order, who received awards at these important assemblies. Congratulations to all students who have been recognised this week.

James Rasmussen
Deputy Principal

Arthur House
Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Zoe Barham
Stella Charnley
Will Cooper
Annabelle Ferguson
Alice Gilbert
Lucy Glover
Sakshi Pal
Olivia Read

Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Ivy Barker
Mikayla Evans
Jack McBeth
Bella Middleton
Jacob Stokes
Eli Tregidga
Esther Vile

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Amber Jarvis
Ruby Kirk
Harry Reed
Viki Schiele
Jacob Shannon
Timo Souness
Tsuki Struthers

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Ben Blewitt
Mia Burgess
Keely Erskine
Maz Gregory
Lara Gutierrez
Holly Hanckel
Jack Harman
Charlotte Hogan
Caitlin Hollyer
Davin Hong
Sam Little
Harvey Manumbas
Fletcher Marshall
Naomi Mitchell
Ruby Morgan
Jesse Murray
Abby Phillips
Lottie Reed
Jasmine Savage
Nicki Waring
Logan Willard-Squire

Duncan House
Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 3
Fineen Hingston

Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Hannah Battrick
Dillon Bouchier
Izzy Cheifetz
Aimee Clark
Fineen Hingston
Elke Koehn
Sienna Lodge
Paige Loggenberg
Alix Long
Niki Nakao
Linus Ritchie
Carmen Woodhouse

Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Sam Davis
Jett Fa'amalepe
Alix Long
Megan McCulloch
Olive Ritchie
Rachel Scobie
Sophie Thompson
Lily Wang

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Maya Bunting
Lucas Daish
Ruby Finlay
Tessa Jones
Poppi Robertson-Gray
Cameron Scobie
Lexie Weaver
Henry Wikstrom

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Lewis Adamson
Ollie Bailey
Ben Barke
Emily Clearwater
Zoe Crawford
Daniel Davy
Katelyn Greer
Eliza Herron
Saskia Learmonth
Stella McBride
Ethan Mendoza
Miles Numaguchi
Jake Pankhurst
Charlotte Payne
Hazel Read
Jacinta Ricketts
Lucca Spring
Ana Tapper
Jack Tucker
Micah Walther
Katie Westphall

Fox House
Scholarship - Calculus
Jacob Wilkinson

Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Mia Crawshay
Jasmine Crichton
Grace Hall
Michaela McLister
Jacob Wilkinson

Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Pippa Bashford
Luke Crichton
Liv Flight
Sade Kaihe
Georgia Key
Jacob Marriott
Harry McVicar
Amelie Saint-Pere
Sofia Taquet
Jonty Vaivars
Minna Zhu

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 3
Kira Almquist

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Jaycob Baker
Paulo Bjorck
Amelia Grufferty
Oto Higuchi
Yu Bin Lee
Ruby McKenzie
Marcus Millan
Charlotte Ralston
Martin Saa Soto
Hannah White

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Vince Alzaga
Frankie Cairns
Sydney Kay
Jake Lawrence
Olivia Whibley
Nina Williams
Bruce Zheng

Hay House
Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Grace Arnott-Hill
Emily Bisset
Imogen Christopher
Millie Jamieson-Gough
Ollie McLean

Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Cole Bramwell
Sebastian Cera
Jasper Cusiel
Paige Cusiel
Jess Dredge
Tannin Heeley
Jack Higgins
Helena Hornbacher
Samantha Johnston
Julia Morrison
Axel Ruski-Jones
Ruby Savidge
Olive Watherston

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Allegra Boyd Slawson
Camille Daull
Finley Husheer
Riley Jones
Liam Judkins
Ruby McKellow
Brooklyn McLeod
Matthew Moore
Rochelle Quiozon
Alicia Robert
Julia Salonga
Harry Thomas
Todd Vermeir
Phoebe Wallace

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Jenna Braun
Brooklyn Crow
Caleb Graf
Ted Kerr
Uzma Khan
Jess MacDonald
Aliyah McPherson
Toby Meek
Aurelien Pons
Ollie Ridd
Isabelle Stuart
Kayla Wallace
Charlotte Woods

Mackenzie House
Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Bella Archibald
Kate Edmonds
Toby Hart
Marigold Kunath

Excellence Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Nadia Burns
Kaiya Collins
Finn Hyndman
Yebin Kim
Charli McLeod
Ollie Pope
James Scoles
Iroha Shimizu
Hannah Winter

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 2
Hanna Cerecke
Sam Clark
Scarlet Devereux
Maxime Ehmann
Jorja Frewen
Hannah Gaboda
Fiona Loew
Cameron Marshall
Amelia Peasey
Bryn Rasmussen
Max Sinclair
Emily Spicer
Lucy Viggers
Ally Wilkinson

Merit Endorsement - NCEA Level 1
Ruby Andrews
Ollie Denney
Libby Emanuel
Ed Forrest
Georgia Hay
Rowan Liu
Kulani Malmezac
Joshua Nyberg
Ruby Phelon
Ella St John
Loretta Steyn
Sonya Sunder
Gigi Thomson
Millie Walker-Smith

NCEA Information

NCEA Internal Assessment Calendars
Senior students have recently been asked to set goals for 2021, pertaining to their academic achievement, learning dispositions, extra-curricular involvement and wellbeing. A critical component to achieving these goals is preparation and planning. 

Below are the Internal Assessment Calendars for students in NCEA Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Students should make a copy of the appropriate calendar and then highlight the assessments that are associated with their classes so that they can plan and accordingly, achieve to their potential. 

• Level 1 Assessment Calendar 
• Level 2 Assessment Calendar
• Level 3 Assessment Calendar 

Wakatipu High School has its own internal assessment policies that have been shared with students and it is really important that they, and parents, are familiar with these. Please click here to view.

Term Calendar 
Click here for the full year calendar that includes the various events and trips that are planned for WHS. We recommend that students look at this calendar in conjunction with the Assessment Calendar above, to identify pinch points and times that are extraordinarily busy and plan accordingly. Additionally, for those students that use Google Calendar (GCal) you can add the WHS School Calendar to your GCal here.

NCEA Parent/Student Information Evening - Save the Date
Next Tuesday 23 February at 7:00pm in the Theatre, there will be an NCEA information evening where we will go through everything parents need to know about NCEA and how parents can best support their students. This is an essential evening for parents and students who are new to NCEA.

WHS Portal 
This app enables students (and parents) to view students academic results, feedback and feed-forward comments for next steps for learning, as well as attendance, Learning Engagement (LE) Reports and much more. All parents/caregivers were emailed their login and password last week and if you haven’t yet accessed the Portal, we highly recommend that you do. The first LE report comes out next week.

Oded Nathan
Associate Principal

Attendance

The update of attendance processes are overall going well - with a few teething issues. We are aiming for greater accuracy and responsibility within our processes.  It is also important our processes continue to work effectively as the school grows. This will allow us to target the right students more effectively to support them to be in class and engaged in learning. 

Every day we make over 4500 attendance entries (each student has 4 or 5 entries) and we are continuing to refine our processes, thank you for your support and patience. There have been questions from some parents regarding us emailing when their student has an absence marked - the purpose of this is to keep parents informed and to have their support in clearing ‘question marks’. Thank you to the parents who have helped highlight areas for improvement. We are working through each type of issue as it arises (and please note the error rate is a very small percentage of overall attendance - less than 1%).

Please note our ‘signing out’ process: When a student needs to leave before the school day has finished they must ‘sign out’ at front reception. Students generally do this for appointments, driving lessons and family reasons. For example today there were a lot of students leaving for orthodontist appointments. 

Reception is sometimes a busy place. Patience is needed to ensure we can all do our part. 
NB: Kamar is our student management system. The Portal reads data from Kamar.

Years 9 - 12
Student needs to:

• Sign out on the tablet at reception (for emergencies)
• Speak with the staff member at reception
• If parent has already communicated and this is logged into Kamar, student will be allowed to leave
• If parent is with student, reception will log this into Kamar (or note on clipboard if reception busy at the time)
• If no previous communication and parent not with student, student will need to get parent on phone and parent will talk with reception. This will be logged.
• If there is no communication from parents, students may not leave.

Note: text messages presented by students are not sufficient due to the ease these can be forged.

Year 13

Student needs to:

• Sign out on the tablet at reception (for emergencies)

During breaks - Year 13s may leave. They need to sign back in on return.

During lesson time if a student leaves it is up to the student to ensure parent contact takes place and their absence is explained. 

Year 13s may ask reception to check if parents have already made contact or get their parents to talk to reception to explain their absence at the time.

The main difference with Year 13 is that they will be allowed to depart and the responsibility to explain their absence falls on the student.

Lee Hiestand
Assistant Principal

Student Councils

Following a written application process and meeting by the student executive team, students were selected on various councils this week. Congratulations to the following students who have been successful. The names are in alphabetical order by first name and those in bold indicate the lead prefect for each of the councils.

James Rasmussen 
Deputy Principal

Academic Council
Aimee Clark
Cole Bramwell
Cybella Briscoe
Daphne Ricketts
Harriet Blundell
Jonty Vaivars
Judy Ye
Helena Hornbacher
Minna Zhu
Ricky Webster
Sam Glover
Sorcha Wilkinson

Arts And Cultural Council
Billie Comer
Imogen Christopher
Isabelle Davis
Jack Smillie
Jacob Marriott
James Scoles
Kira Almquist
Maggie Watts
Mila Lanuel
Rochelle Tickle
Sophie Clark
Tess Vermeir
Yu Lee

Community and Service Council
Alix Long
Ella McKinney
Ethan Walker
Hannah Battrick
Marite Balzarini
Mikaela Patterson
Olivia Read
Paige Jones
Rachel Scobie
Sam Davis
Sammy Fookes
Zara Mackley

Environmental Council
Charlotte Hogan
Eva Hemingway
Harry McVicar
Jasmine Crichton
Kate Woods
Katie Westphall
Mia Pagan
Molly Roberts
Olive Ritchie
Paige Cusiel
Pippa McAtamney
Zoe Grant

International Student Council
Eanna Tanghal
Jorja Lane
Kate Edmonds
Keerthiga Vickenswaran
Kokoro Kawashima
Lucas Haas
Mary Navasca
Sebastian Cera
Sofia Taquet
Zali Vaivars

Junior Council
Daniel Davies
Gabrielle Oakden
Hannah Eade
Isabella McCord
Jemima Mckay- Lund
Jess Hudson
Linus Ritchie
Madeleine Harvey
Maya Stiven
Rehaan Khan
Taylor Breen
Tessa Phillips
Linus Ritchie

Maori Student Council
Jett Fa'amalepe
Jorja Dawson
Julia Morrison
Katherine Read
Meronea Watson
Phoebe Wallace
Polly Bennetts
Ruby Kirk
Ruby Pitama
Samantha Johnston

Peer Support Council
Alisha Messingham
Ed Forrest
Evie England-Hall
Hannah Winter
Imogen Olliver
Jess Dredge
Joel Paterson
Sophie Thompson
Violet Smillie
Wardah Sahib
Zara Martin

Sports Council
Eliana Collins
Jack Harman
Jude Deaker
Lachy Boniface
Lucy Boniface
Lucy Viggers
Maisie Grufferty
Nico Cheifetz
Olivia Flight
Rohil Prasad
Siena Mackley
Will Cooper

Wellbeing Council
Annika Thornton
Emily Howick
Georgia Key
Ivy Barker
Johannes Mackay
Megan McCulloch
Morgan Adams
Phoebe Ide
Ruby Rose
Stella Swaffield
Viki Schiele

Whanaungatanga Council
Bella Middleton
Elise Edmonds
Emma McQuoid
Grace Hall
Isabella Burt
Isadora Figueroa
Jenna Braun
Katie Battrick
Lucy Thompson
Michaela McLister
Sonya Sunder
Venuk Bandara

WHS Schoolzine App

Please ensure you (all parents, caregivers and students) have download the WHS Schoolzine App to your device as this is how we will communicate important school alerts, student notices and our weekly newsletter.  The app also features an absence form, the online school cafe shop, a calendar and some handy links! 

Top tips and helpful information at this link: www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation

A reminder also for students to also check the Student Noticeboard regularly.

Ākonga Profile

Wakatipu High School’s vision is to ‘Deliver Aotearoa/New Zealand’s best all-round education’, and as part of that vision we have developed an Ākonga Profile (or Graduate Profile), that lays out the values, essential skills, holistic development and qualifications that are important for all students at WHS to learn and develop. 

Student involvement with the extra and co-curricular life of school plays an integral role in the holistic development of students and also supports competency development, such as collaboration and self-management, both of which are integral to the Ākonga Profile. Additionally, extracurricular activities offer students an opportunity to connect with their peers and the school and is especially important for students new to WHS, therefore as a school, we have set the goal for all students new to WHS, including Year 9s, to get involved with an extracurricular activity.

On Tuesday, we held our annual Extracurricular Expo which provided all students with the opportunity to see and register for one or more of the amazing opportunities on offer at WHS. Click here for the full list of opportunities and contact details. If your student is not involved with an extracurricular activity or has not yet registered for an extracurricular activity, please discuss the importance of doing so, and students can email staff now to register. 

Oded Nathan
Associate Principal

Central Otago Youth Employment Programme (COYEP)

At Wakatipu High School, we believe all students should have the opportunity to learn and experience success in education. For some students, doing this in the mainstream system can be more challenging and therefore we are always looking at ways that we can support ALL students to achieve their best qualification possible and leave school on a pathway that they are passionate about. 

This year we have started the ‘Central Otago Youth Employment Programme’ (COYEP), an initiative that was piloted in Cromwell and Dunstan High School, that has successfully brought the school and the community together to support students into meaningful career pathways. We know how important it is to have our teenagers engaged in education for as long as possible and through the support of employers throughout the basin, we believe we can make a real difference for students and therefore the community as a whole. 

COYEP offers an opportunity to bring the student, their whānau, the school and employers together in a partnership to plan for the student’s future learning pathway. The programme is targeted at students between the ages of 13-16 years who require something a little different within the education system. The  model allows for flexibility for each student and involves a weekly timetable that can include mainstream classes, industry based learning, Trades Academy (pre-apprenticeship) and work placements. The initiative is about reigniting students' interests in learning through an individual plan that enables them to work towards their qualifications and future aspirations.

Click here for a great article on how this programme has been successful for Cromwell and Dunstan students.

We’re really keen to engage with employers who may be able to offer work placements for our COYEP students, as the hands-on experience is often the critical part in getting students’ engaged and excited about their programme. Together we work out how much time is appropriate, which could be from a couple of hours to several days per week. We have students ready and willing to try out a number of different job opportunities in areas ranging from construction and civil engineering, to plumbing, automotive and hospitality.

If you are an employer who could be interested in supporting this programme please contact Lea (llawniczak@wakatipu.school.nz or 02102451381 - she'd love to hear from you!

Trades Academy SIT and WHS in Partnership

We are very excited to announce a new partnership with SIT (Southern Institute of Technology) in 2021. The purpose of this partnership is to provide industry inspired trades programmes. The courses are designed to expose students to, and help them develop a range of skill sets from different trades including engineering, automotive and construction. These courses are run off site at a purpose built workshop on Glenda Drive. Transport to and from the Polytechnic is provided. 

"Long Drops and Hard Knocks" book review on Radio New Zealand

This Monday morning the award winning Radio New Zealand current affairs programme Nine to Noon with Catherine Ryan interviewed Mr McIntyre about our fabulous book, 'Long Drops and Hard Knocks' and the Branches Camp.  They have named the interview 'High Country Camps for Townie Kids' and below is the link to the 30 minute interview.  Mr Mac did a wonderful job of explaining the history of the camp and the benefits he sees of it as well as the reason he and Wakatipu High School continues the legacy of the Branches Camp.  It is well worth a listen if you have the time.  
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018783610/high-country-camps-for-townie-kids 

Warm regards

Belinda Crichton
Branches Trust Trusteee

Kapa haka

Kia ora koutou!

A huge thank you to all that were invlolved in the Wānanga last weekend. The weekend had almost 30 students spend the evening getting to know each other, their tutors and associated whānau that help support the group, as well as starting to learn their first waiata.  

Practices have now begun and take place in TC16 every Monday and Wednesday after school until 5 pm. If you or your child would like to get involved in kapa haka - it's not too late! Please get in touch.

Ngā mihi nui,

Kyle Jackson
TIC Kapa haka

Gifted Education

A big thanks to all the parents who attended the Gifted Education information evening on Wednesday. If you missed the meeting and would like to see the presentation, please click on the link below. 
If you have any other questions about how we are providing for your gifted children here at WHS, please feel free to email me and I'll find a time to discuss this further. 

Kyle Jackson
Gifted Education Coordinator

Wargames 2021

Hello soon to be nerds. 

I am sure that by this point you have heard of Wargames, one of the largest extra-curricular clubs in the school, with 75+ members on our roll and counting! You may have even caught a glimpse of the swords, hoodies or even the invisible man, and pondered to yourself;  What on earth are those kids doing?

Well, Wargames is an after school club where you can slay a dragon, unite Japan, or even run a resistance movement. We play a wide range of board, card, and tabletop games. Come along! You can join a game of Dungeons & Dragons, play traditional wargames such as Warhammer 40k, betray your friends in social deception games like Codenames and Coup, or even conquer the world in Risk (plus much much more).

You will find us in the TCs until 6pm after school on Thursdays. Take a seat, roll some dice and tell your life story. We can’t wait to see you there! (Warning, side effects may include: crippling dice addiction, affinity for swords, and an overall increase in the use of the word “nerds”).

Google Classroom Code: mxzifob

Alice Gilbert
Year 12

Opportunity for Year 11 - 12 girls

Calling all Year 11- 12 girls who are interested in a career in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Manufacturing)! Innovative Young Minds (IYM) Online 2021 has an opportunity for you!

IYM Online 2021 will cover a diverse range of science and technology fields and this content will be presented via panel discussions, virtual tours, interactive experiences and presentations. We have some fantastic contributors on board for IYM Online 2021 covering a varied range of exciting STEMM topics including astronomy, virtual reality technology, climate change research, food production technology, marine science and geographic information systems to name a few!

Participants will also take part in an Innovation Challenge where they will work collaboratively in an online break-out group with other Year 11 and 12 young women from around New Zealand to create a 'pitch' which will be delivered on the final afternoon of the programme. Each group will be accompanied by a female mentor working in the STEMM industry who will offer support and guidance.

We are looking for students who show potential in STEMM subjects, not necessarily those who have performed at the top of their class in the past. We want to inspire students that have not had exposure to STEMM subjects previously or who need to build their confidence to pursue these subjects further. IYM Online will also give these young women the opportunity to make lasting friendships with others who share a passion for STEMM!

IYM Online 2021 will take place in the first week of the April school holidays over five half-day sessions. Places are limited to 100 and thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, the cost to attend is only $30 per student. If you have any students who will require assistance with the programme fee, please get in touch as we may be able to assist with this. Applications close on 15 March 2021 and students can register online here. To ensure fair representation from high schools across New Zealand, participant numbers from each school will be limited to three initially. Any applications over this will be waitlisted and students offered spaces if there is availability after applications close.

Please see Mrs Richards at Careers for more details and information on how to sign up.

Head Student Message

Kia ora all,

Week 3, and finally the first full five day week for our students. It started off with quite the scare with ol’ COVID-19 bringing Auckland to a halt this week, fortunately enough it seems New Zealand’s got a handle on it and we should remain largely unaffected down here in the mighty South. 

Tuesday brought about the annual Extracurricular Expo which as always was an excellent opportunity for everyone to explore everything WHS has to offer. I myself was stationed at the basketball stall and from what I saw everyone was loving it. I’m sure many people like myself managed to get involved in activities that wouldn’t have otherwise been on their radar, or, perhaps they might’ve rediscovered an old one.

I’d love to give a shout out to our junior Gillette team consisting of Year 9 and 10 students as they beat out St Kevin’s and Waitaki Boys this past week and quite convincingly at that. They now proceed on to play against King’s High School in the quarterfinals for a shot at playing in the semis against Otago Boys.

After some heavy deliberation between the heads of councils, the selection process for councils has concluded with all successful candidates being notified this week and from the looks of things we’re in for a whopper of a school year.

Lastly I’d like to congratulate everyone who received an award at their respective houses Pounamu Assembly. On that note I hope everyone had a terrific Week 3 and a great weekend. Kia Kaha. 

Will Cooper
Deputy Head Boy

Arts News and Information

Extracurricular Expo
There was a great turn out of students in the Theatre this week at the annual Extracurricular Expo. Students were able to join classrooms that give upcoming arts, music, tech and performing arts information that happen at the school. Click here for the contacts for all the activities. 

If your son or daughter was unable to attend and would like more information, then please contact Monica Parker, Arts Coordinator, at mparker@wakatipu.school.nz.  

Musical Crews
Thank you to all the students who applied to be in a musical crew. The application form has now closed and successful applicants will be notified as soon as possible. 

Visual Arts  Instagram Page
The Visual Arts department has an Instagram page that celebrates the artwork of WHS students. Please follow us and enjoy the amazing artwork on display. 

Music On The Village Green
It was great to see past and present WHS bands performing on the Village Green over the past few weeks. Thanks to Rockformation for once again providing these opportunities for our students.

Year 9 Music Students
We are in the process of re-establishing the Band Hub and once we know the numbers and who is interested, then we can sort an afternoon that best fits for everyone. The aim of this is to provide a transition for Year 9 students interested in being in bands within WHS to meet as an all-comers group for 4-5 sessions in Term 1. From there, students can move into standalone bands in Terms 2/3. Students already in bands that wish to continue in their present format need to see Mrs Price.

Choir/Singing Groups
We are in the process of gathering names of students interested in being in singing groups. Students need to contact Mrs Price and join the classroom.  Class Code: wwwb4fq

Muso's Classroom
All things related to music events etc are regularly updated in the Musos's Classroom. Students should join this group on the following link if they are interested: Class Code: sijw2gw 

Musical

2021 WHS Musical - Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities

WHS is excited to announce that this year’s Musical is Grease! Set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School, Grease follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values and love. The Musical will run from 24 to 27 March in our Theatre.

Our musicals are fantastic shows with wonderful opportunities for our students, but significant undertakings to put on. Because of their popularity with students, families and the local community, they provide a great opportunity for the community to support our students. 

Businesses or families can sponsor the musical, please click here for options and details. Businesses can also advertise in the musical programme - a great way to support the musical and promote your business at the same time! Advertising includes a range of options, each with complimentary Thursday night tickets, please click here for options and details. As always, we are very appreciative of other support including supplies and paint, props, costumes, makeup, as well as adult support for the various production crews.

Please contact me if you wish to be a sponsor or advertiser or have any queries at mparker@wakatipu.school.nz - many thanks in anticipation!

Monica Parker
Arts Coordinator

Sports News and Information

Coast to Coast
The annual Kathmandu Coast to Coast event took place last weekend and the WHS mixed team of Linus Ritchie, Jess MacDonald and Sam Davis finished the 243km journey in 13 hours, 33 minutes and 42 seconds. They finished 11th out of 83 teams in total, 6th out of 52 mixed teams,  and second in the mixed schools team category. What an amazing achievement in a sport that requires a serious commitment and attitude to training. Well done Linus, Jess and Sam!

Mountain Biking Nationals Results
Round 4 of the New Zealand MTB Nationals were held at Coronet Peak last weekend and a number of WHS students finished with awesome results. Congratulations to the following riders.
Josh Bonnar - 1st U17 Men
Rory Meek - 1st U15 Boys
Ben Blewitt - 4th U19 Men
Reon Fernandez - 5th U15 Boys
All the best to a big crew of 15 riders representing WHS at the Otago/Southland Secondary School MTB Champs this weekend. Go well!

Junior Boys Cricket
The WHS Junior Boys Cricket team won their first round game in the Otago regional qualifiers against St Kevins on Sunday in a fantastic team-wide performance. St Kevins batted first and were bowled out in 38 overs for 103 runs with eight different bowlers taking wickets and excellent fielding. Mason Clarke’s 2 for 10 led the bowling performance. After showing great team unity in the field the run chase started shakily (8 for 3 after 4 overs) and more team work came together with good batting contributions from Anthony Hollyer, Oscar Pullar, Jack Trounce and Angus O’Neill ensuring a successful run chase with 4 wickets and 10 overs to spare.

The second round game was against Waitaki Boys High School, also played at the Event Centre. This game had an even stronger bowling performance with Jack Trounce taking 3 for 4 and Oscar Pullar taking 2 for 7, to dismiss WBHS for 63. Victory was again secured, this time losing only 3 wickets in 12 overs, with Oscar Pullar (17 not out) and Anthony Hollyer (18) continuing their good form. This is a fine squad of 13 players working together as a team and playing good cricket, they are looking forward to a trip to Kings High School for a quarter final game next week.
Matt Hollyer - Coach

Equestrian 
Tessa Jones had another successful outing in the weekend as her Otago Southland Dressage Team came third overall in the national dressage champs, the best result the regional team has seen for over two decades. Tessa was also the fourth placed senior rider nationally, which is a truly significant achievement, well done Tessa!

Athletics - Otago Club Champs
The Otago Club Track and Field Champs were held in Dunedin last weekend and a number of WHS students competed for Queenstown Athletic. As expected Sammy Fookes cleaned up in the U18 age grade in her 400m, 800m and 1500m races. Year 10 student Jude Deaker is hitting form after building nicely over the past few months and ran in the 800m event for the first time coming in at 2.08 minutes, which is seven seconds faster than the current U14 Boys Southland Secondary Schools record. Congratulations Jude and Sammy!

Southland Touch Reps
Congratulations to Year 13 George Reedy who was a member of the U18 Mixed Southland Touch Team that finished second at the National Touch Champs last weekend. Year 11 Tama Dix also bagged some silverware with his team winning the plate final and finishing fifth overall in the U16 Mixed competition. Congratulations boys. 

English Women’s Cricket Coaching Opportunity
A number of the WHS girls cricket players got to team up with members of the English Women's Cricket team on Saturday and run a skills sessions for local primary school girls. It was an amazing experience for our players to mix and mingle with players in the highest form of the women’s game. We are very fortunate to have opportunities like this in Queenstown!

Extracurricular Expo
The annual extracurricular expo was a huge hit on Tuesday and it was awesome to see how busy the gym was with students signing up to find out more about the sports and physical activities that interested them. It is not too late to sign up and we encourage you to do so if you have not yet. Please check out the contacts sheet which can also be found on the front page of the school website and email the teacher in charge in order to get added to the mailing list and the google classroom.

Southland Schools Surf Champs
If you are interested in competing in the annual Southland Secondary School Surf Champs at Colac Bay or finding out some more information, please email Matua Brad for the details; bfleming@wakatipu.school.nz. Entries close on 24th February and competition is on 27th February. 

WHS Social Touch Comp Starts
The WHS Mixed Social Touch Competition begins this Tuesday 23rd February and runs for 6 weeks on the WHS fields. This is a chance for students to pull a team of mates together, have fun, be active and enjoy playing sport. The draw will be posted to the Social Touch google classroom each weekend. Entries for this competition close on Monday at 10am. The cost is $20 per player and is a fundraiser for the WHS Mixed A team. Link to entry form: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-gxje0NgPcOpzFKXEUrZEd-4CPSpJbss/view?usp=sharing

Coaching Expressions of Interest
Winter sport is around the corner and a number of codes are looking for expressions of interest from potential coaches. The EoI includes a short statement about your previous coaching experience and what grade/level you would prefer to coach. If you are interested in any of the sports below, please send your expression of interest to Laura Nathan; lnathan@wakatipu.school.nz
Badminton
Hockey
Netball
Rugby

Swim School Job Opportunity
If you are a senior student who enjoys working with children, watching them learn and loves the water, exploring the option of being a swim instructor or a lifeguard may be for you. Alpine Aqualand are looking for people to join their swim school, become swim instructors and gain a worldwide recognised swim qualification. If you are interested in finding out more please email dot.legget@qldc.govt.nz 

WHS Sports Hoody Order 2021
This year there will be one sports hoody order being placed each term. The dates orders close are below. The WHS sports hoody is the outer garment for sports teams which is worn to games/tournaments and can also be worn for PE classes. It is not limited to sports and anyone can order one, however they are not a school uniform item and cannot be worn around school during the school day. 
Term 1 - 12th March
If you would like to order a school sports hoody please click this link: https://forms.gle/bRoaZ95YZZgzQ7qk6
If your child would like to size up a hoody before placing an order, they can pop into the sports office and try one on. Hoodies are $70.00 and will be charged to school accounts. 

Keep Us Informed
The sports department would love to hear from you if you know of any awesome achievements from our students so that we can celebrate these as a school. Please send through details and photos to lnathan@wakatipu.school.nz. 

Support Sport at WHS
Jump on board and support the team by liking or following the Wakatipu High School Sports Facebook page. This is the best way to stay informed and up to date with the successes of our athletes and teams and help celebrate their great achievements. https://www.facebook.com/WakatipuHighSchoolSports/ 

Laura Nathan
Director of Sport

Careers Department - Student Job Vacancies

Position Vacant

We're looking for someone with a communications and admin background to join our amazing WHS Support Staff team. Please see SEEK for details. Applications close Friday 26 February 2021 at midday.

Andrea Wilton-Connell
Executive Officer

Key Dates

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

Otago Gets Ready

New Civil Defence tool helps Otago Get Ready

Emergency Management Otago is encouraging residents across the region to sign up to Gets Ready, a two-way communication tool which helps people better prepare for emergencies and be more informed, co-ordinated and resilient when they occur.

Gets Ready is a well-established system that was set up in the Selwyn District after the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes. It has already been trialled in Central Otago and Queenstown's Kelvin Heights Peninsula for the past year and is now being rolled out across Otago as part of Emergency Management Otago's commitment to improving across the '4 Rs' - reduction, readiness, response and recovery.

Project co-ordinator Craig Gibson says that 'Otago Gets Ready' aims to increase community resilience, strengthen neighbourhood networks and build partnerships between emergency services and local communities.

"Emergencies can happen anywhere, anytime, and Gets Ready is a proven two-way tool which will both help get information to people and provide them with an opportunity to help," he said.

Gets Ready will better connect people in their neighbourhoods and help them look after each other by sharing resources, supporting those who are more vulnerable, and linking with Civil Defence to build a clear understanding of what a community needs during emergencies and what resources and skills Emergency Management Otago can draw on in any particular area.

"Rather than mass alerts, the Gets Ready email and text alert system will help us target and send localised information to residents about situations that directly affect them, from small-scale events (boil water notices or fire bans) to major emergencies like earthquakes, floods, fires, severe weather events, and tsunamis/seiches," said Mr Gibson.  "The targeting tool is particularly powerful - we can now pinpoint suburbs and streets, right down to the side of a street or a household."

Gets Ready not only keeps residents informed of what's happening through email and text alerts but also invites them to offer their assistance and be part of a co-ordinated community emergency response.

"Many people like to help out during an emergency and we can tap into their valuable skills and resources if they choose to register them in Gets Ready.  They can also register to any needs and vulnerabilities they have.

"All of this valuable intelligence is vital for effective response planning.  For example, we will be able to identify first aid-trained people in an area and ask them to check on an elderly neighbour with mobility or health issues and let us know what help is needed. Or link someone up to another community member who speaks their language and can help translate instructions. Or we may call people listed as having 4WD vehicles to help transport people or resources," said Mr Gibson.

Gets Ready also provides a channel for residents to pass on-the-ground intelligence back to the Emergency Operations Centre via their Community Response Groups.   This helps Civil Defence co-ordinate a targeted response and get information and help to where it's most needed, quickly and effectively

The Otago Emergency Management team will be out around the region in the coming months promoting Gets Ready to residents in different ways, from online channels to in-person events such as community association and emergency response group meetings, festivals, and via council, social agency, business and school networks.  Mr Gibson is aiming to register 20,000 Otago residents by the end of 2021 and hopes that once people sign up, they'll encourage others to do so as well.

The Gets Ready system does not supersede the National Emergency Alerts which are pushed through cell towers, or individual Council alerts, rather it supplements them by providing more detailed, localised information through additional channels.

To register for Gets Ready, follow the quick and easy three-step process:

  1.  Either scan the Otago Gets Ready QR code or go to www.getsready.net<http://www.getsready.net> to log your contact details.
  2.  Fill out the Resources, Skills and Needs section with any relevant details - you can choose to share as much or as little information as you wish.
  3.  Once you receive the activation email (check your Junk Mail if it doesn't come through within a few minutes) and click on the link to activate your profile.  All information is held privately and securely and is only accessible to authorised Civil Defence staff.