WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.6 | 12 March 2021

Associate Principal's Message

Kia ora and welcome to the end of another action-packed week at Wakatipu High School, that showcased the school’s vision of a ‘great all-round education’. 

Summer sport was in full-swing (see below for some amazing results), the school musical Grease had its first full rehearsal, and a number of outdoor excursions were had, including Geography trips to Cardrona and The Remarkables (see below for more details). Additionally, the last of the five Year 9 Greenstone Camps was held this week with Duncan finishing on Sunday and Fox House on Tuesday. Last week I had the privilege of going to the Greenstone Camp with a group of Year 12 and 13 STARS Peer Mentors and it was great to see the Year 9s engaged in a range of activities and also to see the new friendships and connections that were made. 

Many thanks to all the staff, businesses and people in the community that volunteer much of their time to create these amazing opportunities - we certainly appreciate it, as do our students!

School Value of Respect/Te Whakaute
This morning we had the final assembly in a series of year level assemblies focused on school culture and the importance of being respectful at school, which includes: following instructions, taking care of our school, and using good language. While it sounds simple, these behaviours will go a long way to ensuring that we have the culture that we all want at school.

Attendance
Our new attendance processes are showing positive results with a significant drop in the number of truant/unexplained lessons as compared to 2019 and 2020. With these attendance processes, we have been able to more quickly identify the small group of students who need additional support, which has led to improved retention and engagement for students.  A reminder to parents/caregivers to please endeavour to make appointments for students outside of school time, and to contact the school for any student absences. 

2020 Academic Results
The final 2020 academic results have come through and we are very pleased to announce that 80% of our 2020 graduates achieved University Entrance, 91% of Year 12 students achieved Level 2, and 23% of Year 12 students achieved Level 2 endorsed with Excellence. These are outstanding results and we are very proud to see such a large number of students achieving these very significant qualifications in 2020. 

Goal Setting 
All senior students should have now set their academic goals for 2021 and should have a plan to achieve their lofty goals.  Junior students have also been asked to set their goals by next Friday 19 March. If you haven’t already done so, please make sure you discuss your student's goals over the coming week. As a school we have set our 2021 Annual Goals and these have been updated on the Plinth in the foyer (see photo above). 

Junior Next Steps 
This important event is being held on the afternoon of Tuesday 30 March. Students are expected to come with their parents/guardians to meet with their Kaiārahi for 15 minutes (not with subject teachers). We strongly encourage all to attend. Details on how to book will be emailed out next week, but please mark this date in your calendar.

Awhi
We know that some students and families may struggle with the cost associated with school items such as uniform and BYOD, and/or extra-curricular activities, and so we would like to remind you that, due to the generous support of the WHS Foundation and its Business Partners, we have an Awhi fund that allows parents and caregivers to confidentially apply for financial support. If you would like to access Awhi funds, please fill out this form or contact our Guidance Counsellors to arrange a confidential meeting. 

With Teacher Only Day next Friday 19 March, there will be no newsletter next week, and so this is the last opportunity for us to wish luck to all the sports teams and athletes going away to Tournament Week. Additionally, the 2021 Musical - Grease is just around the corner with opening night on Wednesday 24 March. Tickets are on sale now, so make sure you purchase your tickets before they’re sold out. To all the Cast and Crew involved with the Musical and all the athletes involved with Tournament Week - Ad Alta, Reach for your Heights, Ka Mauka Whakatipu!

Oded Nathan
Associate Principal

Musical Tickets Are On Sale Now

Wakatipu High School Presents “Grease” The Musical

Travel back with us to 1959, where the Rydell High School’s senior class is in rare form. The too-cool-for-school “Burger Palace Boys” are stealing hub-caps and acting tough and their gum-snapping, chain-smoking “Pink Ladies” are looking hot in bobby sox and pedal pushers. The 1950s high school dream is about to explode in this rip-roaring musical that is both a homage to the idealism of the fifties and a satire of high schoolers’ age-old desire to be provocative and rebellious.

At the heart of the story is the romance between hot-rodding gangster Danny Zuko and the sweet new girl in town, Sandy Dumbrowski. The whole gang sings and dances around Danny and Sandy’s romance, with hit songs such as “Summer Nights”, “Greased Lightnin” and “You’re the One That I Want”. 

Wakatipu High School’s 2021 production of Grease, written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, is directed by Jake Hansen with musical direction from Alison Price, vocal direction from Margaret O’Hanlon and choreography by Zoe Barham, Brooklyn McLeod and Carmen Woodhouse.

The Musical involves around 100 students in both on stage and off stage roles. Local talent Ollie McLean and Hannah White along with rising star Kira Almquist are featured in the roles of Danny, Rizzo and Sandy, respectively.

Grease will run from the 24th to the 27th of March at the Wakatipu High School Theatre, with doors opening at 7pm. Get your tickets from www.iticket.co.nz now as door sales will be limited. General admission is $15 for students and $30 for adults *plus transaction fee. $10 programmes will be available on the night along with snacks and drinks that you can purchase before the show and during intermission. A silent auction fundraiser will also be running if you would like to bid for some amazing prizes. Don’t miss out!

Zoe Barham - WHS Student

School Photos

Parents have been emailed information about purchasing school photos and students have been provided with their photo codes to use on the website.  Visit www.photolife.co.nz to order yours - the free delivery offer expires at midnight this Sunday 14 March.

Geography in action!

The Year 12 Geography students ventured out of school this week to explore the sustainability challenges currently being addressed in local ski fields, Cardrona and The Remarkables.

The aim of the students' research was to assess the sustainability of NZSKI’s commercial operations in the Rastus Burn Recreational Reserve (Remarkables). This required students to interview Ross Lawerence, Ski Area Manager from NZSKI and Dawn Palmer, ecologist and independent monitor for the area. Students ran vegetation transects in three different locations in the reserve to assess the effectiveness of a range of different revegetation methods employed by NZSKI.

The second part of the students' research was to compare The Remarkables to Cardrona in terms of sustainability for the future. For this, students interviewed Ewan Mackie, Head of Operations from Cardrona, to understand how they use the environment and mitigate human impacts. Students also got the chance to participate in one of Cardrona’s summer activities on offer, Mountain Carting. It was great for our geographers to experience first hand how ski fields are diversifying their operations.

A special thanks to Dawn Palmer, NZSKI and Cardrona for their ongoing support, and making both field trips possible. Also thanks to teachers Ms Wood, Mr King, Mr Tweddell and student teacher Miss Te Whata.

Josh Kendall
Teacher of 7GEO

LUMA concepts approved

The planning for LUMA 2021 has been in full swing since Term 4 2020. Students from Wakatipu High School were the first to have their work selected for the four night exhibition which runs at the end of May. The Directors were given the work of over 60 students who chose to enter their designs for one of the LUMA exhibitions. Four have been selected to be created with the help of their Hard Materials teacher, Rebecca Hembrow, and the international artist Angus Muir. Angus has begun work creating the 'canvas' for the work which will be 1.2m high ovals where the student light designs will appear. 

Wakatipu High School will also have another exhibition which focuses on the aspect of the five pillars of  wellbeing. Students have reflected on how they use the five pillars of wellbeing in the different aspects of their own lives. They drilled down into what they do and what they perhaps need to do more of to enhance their own wellbeing inorder to keep working and enjoying life at their optimal level. In their Hard Materials lessons, students have been creating pieces using plywood that will be painted neon and lit using a black light during the exhibition. 

Rebecca Hembrow
Hard Materials teacher

Youth Enterprise Project on The Hits

This week saw Deegan Scully, Year 12 Hard Materials student, get a boost for his business concept. ‘Scully’s Calls’ as he has decided to name his business makes one off duck callers. Ferg from The Hits radio station got wind of the idea [no pun intended] and asked for more details to help promote Scully’s Calls to potential customers. The duck callers are priced at $85, made from walnut and cedar wood. His business will be part of the YES which is a Young Enterprise Scheme whose purpose is to build a pipeline of entrepreneurial-minded young people who will boost the prosperity in NZ.

Students form a YES business at the start of the school year, create their own unique product or service and take it to market. Throughout the year they attend events that mirror the process start-up businesses go through – including developing business and marketing plans; and receiving guidance and mentoring from business people.

The goal is to help young people thrive in business and in life, inspire students to be innovative and creative, develop work-ready skills and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Deegan has begun production and will be taking orders via his teacher's email: rhembrow@wakatipu.school.nz.

Rebecca Hembrow
Hard Materials Teacher

Head Student Message

Kia ora, 

Another good end to a busy week. Last Sunday brought about our move from Covid Alert Level 2 back down to Alert Level 1. Although not a lot of change for the school we all need to remember to wash our hands and cover our coughs and sneezes. 

This week marked the start of the school culture reboot. We started with assemblies in year levels and discussed the value of Respect, one of the five school values.  We can’t wait to see a more positive school culture at Wakatipu High School.

We also saw the end of the Year 9 Greenstone Camps for 2021. These camps were a fantastic opportunity for the Year 9s as well as the Year 12/13 Peer Mentors. It has been great hearing all of the stories from everyone about the fun experiences they had, the new people they met and the bonds that were made. A huge thank you to Go Orange for providing the transport to the Peer Mentors so that they could be a part of this experience.  

Keen for some Milo and Weetbix to start your day? The Breakfast Club, as of Monday, is now running thanks to the Community and Service Council as well as the Whanaungatanga Council. Come over to the Duncan Social Space on Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 8:15am - 9:00am every week. 

Grease tickets are on sale now! The crew, cast and band have been working super hard to put on a great show and are all very excited for everyone to come and see the Musical.

Finally, make sure you go and follow the Wakatipu High School Students Instagram page, (@wakatipustudents). This is a great way to know about some of the events that will be happening throughout the year straight from the student leaders. It will be great to look at new opportunities to get involved in.  

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Sophie Thompson
STARS/Peer Support Lead Prefect 

Environmental Council

Hi guys and welcome to the 2021 Environmental Council’s environmental topic of the week! These will be coming out weekly and will have some great information in them surrounding environmental issues we are facing both here in the Wakatipu Basin and globally and will provide some really awesome tips on how to be more friendly to our Papatuanuku (mother nature).

This week's topic is... plastic pollution. 

I’m sure everyone has seen the photos of the baby turtles caught in the plastic bags or of plastic waste covering the ocean for as far as the eye can see. What often doesn’t register, however, is the exact scale of this issue, so here are some facts to put the issue into perspective: About 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since the 1950s – the weight of roughly a billion elephants or 47 million blue whales. The equivalent of a truckload of plastic enters the oceans every minute. There are five trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans – enough to circle the earth over 400 times. Plastic takes around 500 years to decompose in landfills, however it takes much longer than this to fully decompose as it turns into microplastics which pollute the environment further. It’s pretty clear that plastic is a big part of all of our lives and that it creates serious problems for the environment. So here are some ways you can help reduce your plastic consumption:

1. Use reusable bags, straws, cutlery and takeaway cups 
2. Reuse containers for storing leftovers or shopping in bulk.
3. Buy from local shops; they usually use less plastic packaging, have less carbon miles and you’re supporting local businesses!
4. Buy boxes or bars or bottles. Often, products like laundry powder come in cardboard which is more easily recycled than plastic and shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer come as a bar rather than in a bottle. 
5. Buy food, like cereal, pasta, and nuts from bulk bins and fill a reusable bag or container. You save money and unnecessary packaging. 
6. Just generally being more aware of what you’re buying, the packaging it comes in and if there are any alternatives you could use that are more eco-friendly

The Environmental Council

Sports News and Results

Toby Hart Selected for Otago A Cricket Team
A huge congratulations to our very own Toby Hart who has just been selected into the Otago A Men’s cricket team to take on the Canterbury Men’s A team next week. This is a massive achievement for a secondary school student, well done Toby! All the very best for next week’s three day match in Dunedin. 

South Island Triathlon Champs
WHS had four students compete at the South Island Secondary School Triathlon and Duathlon Champs in Oamaru last Sunday. All competitors raced well. Congratulations to the following athletes:
Logan Campbell - 1st Intermediate Boys Triathlon
Siena Mackley - 1st Junior Girls Duathlon
Sam Davis - 2nd Senior Boys Triathlon
Pete Davis - 6th Intermediate Boys Duathlon

Southland Touch Champs
WHS had two teams compete in the Southland Secondary School Touch Champs in Winton on Tuesday. This was a great hit out in the lead up to the SISS Champs next weekend in Christchurch. Both teams improved significantly throughout the day with the Blue team going through unbeaten to win the tournament. The gold team had two wins and two losses for the day. A huge thank you to coach Jerram Hill and manager Steve McIsaac. 

Otago Intercollegiate Golf Champs
Congratulations to the WHS golf teams who competed in the Otago Intercollegiate Golf Champs in Cromwell on Monday and finished first and second. Out of 35 competitors the six WHS golfers all finished in the top 10 dominating the individual leader board. The WHS Gold team of Nico Cheifetz, Liam Judkins and Jan Ebbinge won the schools competition with a combined score of 216, 17 shots ahead of second place. WHS Blue; Sumin Kang, Noah Novecek and Jack Harman finished second. Congratulations to Nico who finished with a new personal best of 2 under par! This result means WHS qualifies for the National Golf Champs Schools event that takes place during winter tournament week at the end of August. Well done!
1st - Nico Cheifetz
2nd - Liam Judkins
3rd - Jan Ebbinge
4th - Sumin Kang
5th - Noah Novecek
10th - Jack Harman

Gillette Venus Cup
It has been a massive week for the WHS Girls 1st XI Cricket team. It started on Monday when they beat Dunstan High School in the first round of the Gillette Venus Cup with the game coming down to the final over before WHS sealed the win to progress through to the quarterfinals. Paige Loggenberg and Abby Fookes both top scored with over 30 runs a piece while Sorcha Wilkinson snaffled three wickets. A young team travelled to Dunedin bright and early on Thursday and beat Bayfield High School in the quarterfinal by four wickets, reaching the target of 85 to win. Sorcha Wilkinson and Mia Williamson had the best bowling figures with 2/10 and 2/16 respectively and Beth Pick top scored with 17. It was straight into a semifinal against Columba College in the afternoon. Columba set a target of 103 to win and WHS finished with 105/6, winning the semifinal by four wickets to progress through to the Gillette Venus Cup Otago final. Abby Fookes kept her composure and held the team together with an incredible 49 not out and Sorcha topped the bowling again with 3/11. This is the first time ever that WHS will contest for the Bates Cup and the opportunity to progress through to the National Championships. The team will play the final next Friday 19th March. A huge thank you to Matt Hollyer, Mr McNamara and Ms Needham for the incredible contributions this week. 

Rowing
The Wakatipu Rowing Club held a regatta on Lake Hayes last Saturday for WHS rowers following the suspension of the South Island Secondary Rowing Championships in Twizel due to Covid Level 2.  All crews competed in mostly calm conditions with a couple of fastest race times of the season being recorded!  This was a great experience and training day leading up to the Maadi Cup which starts next weekend.

Climbing
The WHS Climbing Team saw its first meeting last Tuesday Break 2 by our school bouldering wall. With over 50 students showing interest in climbing this year we decided that:
- Year 9s will climb on the school bouldering wall on Tuesdays odd week (e.g week 3,5,7,9,11 )
- Year 10s and up will climb on the school bouldering wall on Tuesdays even week (e.g week 2,4,6,8,10 )

Massive thank you to Basecamp Adventures for supporting the WHS Climbing Team, we will head there from next term from 330pm until 5pm every Wednesday (climbing members, all info will be in Google Classroom).
Basecamp Adventures has a great facility which is just across the road from school and this weekly trip will be highly beneficial to students. 

Email Mr Guillaume Charton for more info: gcharton@wakatipu.school.nz 

Central Otago Volleyball Update
Our Senior B Girls team are midway through the Central Otago Secondary Schools Senior Volleyball competition and have so far beaten Cromwell College, Roxburgh Area School and Dunstan High School. The team has had one loss to Mt Aspiring College. Keep up the great work team!

Gillette Cup Action
Come on down to the Event Centre this Sunday at 11am to watch the WHS 1st XI Boys Cricket team take on the John McGlashan 1st XI in the first round of the Gillette Cup. Go well lads!

South Island MTB Champs
Nine WHS riders will compete at the South Island School MTB Champs in Methven this weekend across three disciplines. All the very best!

Southland Athletics
All the best to the 24 students competing at tomorrow’s Southland Athletic Champs at Surrey Park in Invercargill. This is a qualification event for South Island Champs later in the month. Go well!

Summer Tournament Week 2021
Summer Tournament week is fast approaching and WHS has a number of athletes and teams competing at a variety of events across the region and country. As there is no newsletter next week we want to wish our teams all the very best!
Rowing - NZSS Maadi Cup - Lake Karapiro
Senior A Girls Volleyball - NZSS Volleyball Champs - Palmerston North
NZSS Triathlon Champs - New Plymouth
Senior B Girls Volleyball - South Island Satellite Volleyball Champs - Christchurch
Senior A Mixed Touch - South Island Champs - Christchurch
Athletics - South Island Champs - Timaru
Southland Golf Champs - Winton
Otago/Southland Road Cycling - Invercargill
Southland Bowls Champs - Invercargill

Junior Boys Cricket XI - Australian Tour Fundraiser
WHS Junior XI in conjunction with the Queenstown Cricket Club are hosting a bingo night fundraising event at the Queenstown Memorial Centre. Proceeds will go towards sending a playing team to Australia in 2022 as part of a biannual school exchange. To support them, please get together with your mates, dress in sporting attire and get ready to shout bingo! Ticket price includes bingo tickets plus food on the tables. A cash bar will be operating along with silent auction and some crazy games. To book, click the link below and complete the booking form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfX17qosSzFUqxyWzYKwnTDiyj6WGYwCf4purMioHmx58pgw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Queenstown Junior Basketball AGM and Referees Courses
Queenstown Junior Basketball AGM
Tuesday 23 March 2021 7.00pm at the Events Centre room (upstairs)
All welcome, new helpers needed to help keep the club going, see volunteer form on
www.qjbc.wordpress.com
QJBC are also on the hunt for volunteer referees and are holding two referee courses 26th March and 9th April 6-7:30pm. Details here: https://qjbc.wordpress.com/2021/03/06/referee-course-qjbc/

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/

Arts News and Information

Youthtown Songwriting Competition
Open to Years 9 to 11 students. Entries close on the 23rd of April. Please see Mrs Price if you wish to enter. 

Rockquest Entries
The 2021 Rockquest entries are now open and close on May 12. The regional heats for Central Otago occur on May 23 with the regional final on June 13. Bands who wish to enter should have seen Mrs Price by now to get their practices underway. Those who are still intending to enter the Solo/Duo or Band sections should see her as soon as possible.

Be a Languages Champion!

EP Languages Championships 2021 - 16 - 23 March
Do you have what it takes to be a world champion? Learn. Compete. Win. Let the Championships begin!
Junior and senior languages students at Wakatipu High School are welcome to partake in this great championship, not only students will have fun competing but they will also further their learning in Languages.

What are the EP Languages Championships?

• EP’s largest, global-scale Languages competition
• A celebration of all Language learning
• A great chance to learn and revise curriculum-aligned content
• An engaging experience for students of all ability levels
• Registration and participation is completely free

Let's put Wakatipu High School on the map! 
Parents, be part of the languages learning journey by competing in this event, just ask your child their EP login!

Prizes: 

• 1st Place: $500 GiftPay/Amazon Voucher 
• 2nd Place: $350 GiftPay Voucher 
• 3rd Place: $250 GiftPay Voucher 
• 4th - 10th Place: $50 GiftPay Voucher

Languages Community Champion of the Week
Jennifer Smart - WHS Teacher

Hola! Me llamo Jennifer Smart y soy profesora de ingles. However, my other teaching subject is Spanish, which I learned while I was travelling in Argentina for a ski season in Patagonia.
I lived in Bariloche which is an alpine town very similar to Queenstown. I took a book with me called "Teach Yourself Spanish" and reading that, while attending many, many asados (wood-fired BBQ; like they do at Meat Preachers) where I just sat and listened, I managed to get a handle on the language.

Having studied French at school really helped me learn Spanish quickly as the grammar rules were similar. Next, I took myself to Cantabria in Spain, where I lived for a year and taught English in a language school. My Argentinean accent was a great novelty over there! Knowing the language helped me see and understand Spanish culture on a much deeper level. I was lucky enough to be granted a Language Immersion Award in 2014 and returned to Argentina as an exchange teacher.

Choosing to study a language at school opened up the world for me. If you're serious about learning though, look for any opportunity to immerse yourself. Obviously travel is difficult at the moment but why not try transporting yourself through a film instead?

Picture above:  Teaching a lesson about the All Blacks in San Luis, Argentina.

Careers Department

Key Dates

Community Notices

Aorere Film Academy established in 2013, is a co-curricular club led by Aorere College past students/alumni and myself. The academy creates an opportunity for young people to collaborate and produce Live Cinema Productions - a combination of film and live theatre. This is a year-long project where students attend after school and holiday workshops to learn about each aspect of the creative process. Our students are challenged to meet very high expectations and work closely with mentors and leaders in the community to learn about filmmaking and innovation in the arts.

The production comprises an original script written by our young writers which incorporates local stories and experiences allowing them to express themselves in this unique art form.  These shows present a great opportunity to showcase young Pasifika and Māori talents that may otherwise go unheard, we are particularly invested in highlighting and growing their perspectives.

”Code Switch” intertwines themes that revolve around social class, white-washing and code switching. This is the adaptation of language and behaviour based on differing social environments in order to fit in with different demographics. The story follows low-decile students Hemi and Anna who are finding their way to success in the ‘real world’.

The length of the family friendly show is 1 hour and 40 mins with an intermission of 20 mins. Tickets from $10.

There is more information about us and ticketing on our website: www.afaproductions.com and here is a short doco done by Tagata Pasifika about us: https://youtu.be/YRTf10dr8zc