WHS Newsletter | Issue 3.03 | 13 August 2021

Associate Principal's Message

Wakatipu High School’s vision is to deliver Aotearoa/New Zealand’s best all-round education, and  you don’t need to look too far to see how well students at WHS are achieving in the all-round.

The week began with our Mid-Year Junior Prizegivings and Senior Excellence and Ad Alta Assemblies on Monday. It was certainly a big day with four significant ceremonies back-to-back but it was wonderful to acknowledge and celebrate the effort and achievements of our students - from the huge numbers of juniors who achieved bronze or silver Akonga Passports, to the Ad Alta awards, junior academic Commendations and Distinction awards and the 153 bronze and silver Excellence awards. We know how hard so many of our students work, and our congratulations to all recipients. A big thanks to the large number of parents who also joined us. 

Also on Monday, there were 21 snowsports athletes dominating the podium at the Otago-Southland Snowsports Championships which was held in Cardrona, 11 students were partaking in the NZ Spelling Bee Semifinals down in Dunedin, and the WHS Jazz Band was filling up the trophy cabinet following their triumphant return from the Blenheim Jazz Fest. See more below and once again, congratulations to all the students involved.

This week also saw the conclusion of the House Basketball competition - congratulations to Duncan and Hay who won the Junior and Senior competitions, respectively and good luck to the Year 13’s who take on the teachers in the ‘big game’ next Monday. 

A few reminders from me - 

LE Reports - are available now, number seven for seniors and the first of the new semester for juniors.  A reminder to parents, that the LE Reports are a key mechanism for teacher feedback to students and parents, and if students are getting 1’s then the matter is urgent and requires immediate attention and likely intervention. Similarly, a 2 suggests that a conversation is required. Please take the time to look through them and have celebratory or other conversations as appropriate.

Mount Aspiring College MAC Sports Exchange - is on Wednesday 18 August.

Senior School Exams - begin next Thursday 19 August. These are very important, including for the opportunity to rehearse the exam process, including studying effectively. Results from the school exams are often used as ‘derived grades’ in the case where a student is unable to sit the end of year exam, which is particularly material given the planned government response should a covid outbreak occur. Please see below for more information.

Junior Teacher Only Day - as normal during senior exams, is next Friday 20 August. Seniors will have their exams but juniors will not have any school next Friday. Buses are running as normal.

Junior Next Steps - are on Tuesday 24 August, please see below for more information, including how to book your meeting with your student’s Kaiārahi.

Principal’s Awards - are awarded to ‘great all-round students’ who have demonstrated outstanding effort and academic achievement, as well as participation in extracurricular activities. These follow mid-year reports and recognition has been emailed directly to parents and guardians. My congratulations to all of them - well done!

Course Option Selection  - subject selection for 2022 was due today at 4 pm, however we are keeping Schoolpoint open until 10 am on Monday 16 August for students to complete their choices so that Kaiarahi can have any last conversations with students at Ako time on Monday. We hope that students and parents have spent time considering the options before making these important decisions.

Branches Trust Art Auction - is tonight Friday 13 August at the Memorial Hall. Come along to support the Trust and Branches Camp

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Oded Nathan
Associate Principal

Mid-Year Junior Prizegiving & Year Level Ad Alta/Excellence

On Monday 9 August we celebrated the hard work and efforts at our Senior Excellence and Ad Alta Assemblies, as well as our Ākonga Passport and Semester 1 Prizegiving for junior students. See below for a list of all the award winners. 

Congratulations to all the prizewinners and to everyone who received an awards. It is always a pleasure for us to recognise and celebrate not only the academic achievements and excellence of our students, but the consistent engagement and efforts with learning too. 

Well done all. Kā mauka whakatipu!

Spelling Bee

This year we were so excited to have 24 students qualify for the Semi-finals of the 2021 Aotearoa Spelling Bee. It was a particularly large group. On 9 August a team of 11 semi-finalists travelled to Dunedin to compete for a spot in the finals. There were only two spots available from the lower South Island and 40 competitors on the day. The stakes were high, the tension even higher. With only one chance to verbally spell your given word right, everyone was hanging on every letter as the competitors called them out, and you could not hear a pin drop in that audience. Round after round the students went,and our contingent can hold their head’s high as they represented us very well. While we didn’t make it to the finals, one of our team placed third after a high tension spell off with the eventual winner. Seven rounds of word after word saw the two battle it out for the final spot, and although Ben Jordan showed himself calm under pressure, and an excellent speller, in the end “perjury” was the word that tripped him up. An excellent effort by the whole team, a fun and exciting learning adventure was had by all.

All Semi- finalists:
Abby Fookes, Anthony Hollyer, Baylee Fish, Ben Jordan, Daniel Wright, Daphne Ricketts, Georgia Chinn, Jack Smillie, Lexi Lavertyd , Logan Bramwell, Louenne Allemand, Mace Korani, Maggie Watts, Maya Stiven, Mia Pagan, Milky Tam, Nethumdi Galla Palliya Guruge, Olivia Bisset, Taylah Cooney, Toby Tregidga, Valentina Balzarini.

Travelling Competitors on 9 August:
Abby Fookes, Anthony Hollyer, Ben Jordan, Daphne Ricketts, Georgia Chinn, Maggie Watts, Mia Pagan, Milky Tam, Nethumdi Galla Palliya Guruge, Olivia Bisset, Valentina Balzarini.

40 Hour Famine

We have the final total for this year's 40 Hour Famine! As a school, we raised an outstanding $12,770, almost more than the past 3 years combined! This is a true reflection of everyone's hard work this year for the Famine. We had some super dedicated students who really went the extra mile to support those in Sub-Saharan Africa this year. We have very kindly been donated a number of prizes for the top fundraisers this year. A big thank you to AJ Hacket Bungy, the Hilton, Real Journeys and Patagonia for their generous prize donations. The prize recipients this year are:

Zoe Johnston (raised an exceptional $1,252!)
Mya Mckee 
Tara Rooney 
Alice Davis 
Elena Badenhop 
Izzy McCord 
Jentie Newell

A huge congratulations to everyone who got involved in the 40 Hour Famine this year. The impact Wakatipu High School’s fundraising will have on people in Sub-Saharan Africa is huge. 

Jasmine Crichton

Meet one of our Lead Prefects: Grace Hall

At WHS our student leadership team do a wonderful job supporting our student community. Grace is the Lead Prefect of the Whanaungatanga Council at WHS. Whanaungatanga means support, the council's vision is to "develop an inclusive school culture by making students feel supported and happy through events.” As Whanaungatanga Lead Prefect, Grace has been running some great initiatives to promote inclusion at the school. 

Hello, My name is Grace Hall. I’ve lived in Queenstown for roughly 7 years now, and in 2021 had the privilege of being the Whanaungatanga Lead Prefect. I’ve always had a passion for helping those around me, and because of this I’ve tried to capture all opportunities that have come my way.

For me, becoming a prefect was the perfect opportunity to give back to WHS. In the past I’ve looked up to the leaders of the school, their spark and passion for leading a council seemed contagious, and therefore applying for lead prefect seemed like the natural next step. Becoming a prefect has helped me in my path of gaining many valuable skills and experiences, public speaking and confidence just being two of the copious things I’ve learnt along the way. 

An initiative myself and the Community and Service council run is Breakfast Club. This was a programme initiated to support students who couldn’t have breakfast at home, didn’t have time to have breakfast (ie morning training) or simply still showed up to school hungry. Breakfast Club is increasingly popular at WHS, and with the support of Kiwi Harvest and The European Bakery, we ensure students are nourished and energised for a full day of learning. 

I have also supported the Whanaungatanga council in running Pink Shirt Day, and soon-to-be Pride Week, where student involvement and culture are our key focuses for Wakatipu High School. 

Another great initiative that the council plan to run for the first time is F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Club. This will be an opportunity for a whole range of students to get together, enjoy some popcorn and watch the show FRIENDS. By doing this, we hope that students can get to know new people and hopefully make new friends! 

If you are a junior student looking to be a prefect I would advise you to just jump into it. If you don’t try, you can’t be successful. What I’ve learnt is that the more you get involved in, the more experience and skills you can gain. This isn’t to say you need to apply for everything under the sun as a successful leader must have balance, however trying new things and applying for extra-curriculars is so beneficial for success going forward. 

Grace Hall
Whanaungatanga Lead Prefect

Southbase Careers Expo

Friday 6 August saw 20 students engage with Southbase's Career Presentation at Wakatipu High School. The purpose of the talk was to profile the different layers and opportunities within the construction industry - from quantity surveying, to the design aspects of building a project, to project management. 

The students were treated to a tour of the new extensions currently being built at Wakatipu High School. They also were able to experience the latest technology and augmented reality that is currently being utilized in the construction industry. 

Thanks Southbase for the awesome opportunity!

Lead Prefect Message

Kia ora, welcome to the end of Week 3. This week started with our annual mid-year junior prizegiving and senior excellence & Ad Alta assemblies. My congratulations to everyone who crossed the stage. This week also saw the end of the Tokoyo 2020 Olympics, with New Zealand placing 13th on the medal table after an incredible amount of hard work put in by the amazing athletes. Finally, the Sports Council ran the annual House Basketball competition over the last couple of weeks. Well done to everyone who participated.

Next week sees the start of senior school exams. I wish everyone all the best with these. Although these are only ‘mock’ exams, I still encourge everyone to try their best for these exams as they may be all you can use at the end of the year. Good luck to everyone participating in the MAC exchange next week.

Good luck with exams and enjoy the remaining weeks left at school.

Johannes Mackay
Lead Prefect of Wellbeing

Arts News and Information

Fabulous Results at the Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival in Blenheim
A great couple of weeks for the music students. Off the back of No Man's Land Top 20 place out of 750 bands in the national Rockquest, the jazz band followed up with excellent results in the recent Southern Jam event in Blenheim. Out of the 16 schools and 22 bands that attended, WHS achieved the following:

• Runner Up Ensemble band
• Gold Grading across both bands
• 4 students in the All-Stars band (which is made up of the top 20 students from across the week) Dillon Bouchier/Alto Saxophone, Lucy Glover/Trombone, Harry Thomas/Guitar, Helena Hornbacher/Baritone Saxophone.
• Individual awards:
  •  Hannah White - Best Vocalist and Best Young Musician
  • Ollie McLean - Best compere and Performance on a non-traditional jazz instrument (Harmonica)

This couldn't happen without lots of support so huge thanks to the following:

• Vince Leahy and Alistair Moneath for their work in supporting the students to reach that level of playing.
• Matt Rhodes, our fabulous driver who got us there, back and everywhere in between.
• Toni Glover, Pauline White and Marion Hornbacher who organised all the food and ensured nobody starved.
• The parents for providing meals and huge amounts of home baking. The teachers are now on diets.

Monica Parker for the organisation
Alison Price - HoLa of The Arts

Listen to the Jazz Combo at the Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival

One Act Play
On Sunday 8 August, 13 Performing Arts students went to Dunedin to compete in the regional Theatrefest competition. WHS had two performances entered in this year's competition and both were successful in moving onto the Lower South Island Theatrefest at the Athenaeum Hall in Arrowtown on 22 August. All students did a fantastic job. James Scoles, Zoe Percy and Alex Scoles walked away with acting awards. A special mention to Finn Hyndman who directed a piece from scratch and did a fantastic job. We hope to see you at the next event on the 22 August at the Athenaeum Hall.

Level 3 Design - A Selection of Final Poster Work

Sports News and Information

Otago/Southland Ski and Board Champs
It was a strong showing from the WHS snow sports athletes at Monday's Otago/Southland Ski and Board Champs at Cardrona. The fresh snow was awesome but the poor visibility made for a tough day and forced the cancellation of the slopestyle event. 21 students represented WHS incredibly well, winning all of the events on the schedule and dominating the podium. A huge thank you to Mr Kendall, Anthony Seeto and our parents who assisted with transport. Below are the results highlights:

Wakatipu Wild
Wakatipu Wild, the Queenstown based women’s ice hockey team competed in round one of the New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League last weekend. The team had a win over Dunedin Thunder 8-0, then beat last year's winners, Canterbury Inferno 4-3 in a tight game. The team unfortunately lost the third and final game to Auckland 3-5. Inge Kemp was a game MVP with two goals and an assist while Caitlin Hollyer got two assists. 

House Basketball Competition
Over the last two weeks the annual house basketball competition has been in full swing at break times. A huge thanks to Sports Prefect Will Cooper and the sports council for putting on an awesome competition. There has been great support from students across both competitions. Next week the Year 13’s take on the staff in the final game of the competition. Congratulations to this year’s house basketball winners:
Juniors - Duncan House
Seniors - Hay House

MAC Exchange
The annual winter sports exchange with Mt Aspiring College is taking place this coming Wednesday 18th August at the Event Centre. All parent/caregiver support is welcome on the day. Only students competing for WHS on the day are able to attend and watch games. Please see below a copy of the draw:
MAC Exchange Draw 2021

Netball Umpire Qualifications
Congratulations to the students below who have all achieved umpiring qualifications this season. These umpires, along with a few others have made a significant contribution to both the Wakatipu Netball Centre competition and a number of secondary school netball tournaments this year. Thank you so much for all that you have done to ensure that netball is played in our area. Congratulations girls!

1st XV Rugby Caps
Four players were awarded their 1st XV rugby caps last Saturday. Congratulations to Ben Barke, Paddy Hogan, Will Cooper and Ben Boulton. It is a special moment to earn a cap and it was fantastic to have their parents present this to each of their sons and for their teammates to acknowledge the occasion with a haka. The boys earned their caps in the following games:
Ben Barke vs Mt Aspiring - 29/5-21
Paddy Hogan vs South Otago High School - 12/6/21
Will Cooper vs Waitaki Boys - 31/6/21
Ben Boulton vs Combined Co-ed - 7/8/21

Mixed Hockey
The WHS 1st XI Mixed Hockey team would like to thank the following businesses for their generous support with donations to their raffle fundraiser. Just over $3,000 was made which has helped to subsidise the team costs for their upcoming South Island Mixed Hockey Tournament as part of winter tournament week. A big thank you to:

Altitude Brewing, Nadi Yoga, Laser Electrical Queenstown, Elements Massage, Fergburger Ltd, The Flower Shop, Welcome Rock Gardens, Lakeside Heatpumps, The Golden Fleece, Lokal Kitchen and Bar, Blue Peak Lodge, Ricky B Good Photography, Lone Star, iFLY Queenstown,The-RemarkableSweet Shop, Hotel St Moritz, Summerfields Unichem Pharmacy, Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Spa, 5 Mile Pharmacy, Queenstown IT, AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand, Frankton Hair, Jucy Cruise Milford Sound, Alpine Aqualand, KJet Timetripper.

Thank you to Queenstown Print for sponsoring the design and print of the tickets, and Classic Builders for supplying the food for the sausage sizzles.

The winners of the hampers were: Chloe Bramley, Shahana Saud, Phil Newsome, Beth Fookes, Rochelle Peet, Jan Hunt.

Weekly Results
Basketball - Southland Basketball Association
Junior A Boys lost to Verdon Breakers 83-25
Central Otago Junior Competition
Year 10 Boys lost to MAC A 57-23
Year 9 Boys lost to Cromwell 79-18
Junior Girls lost to Roxburgh Mixed 64-24
Junior A Boys beat Dunstan 54-39

Football
Girls 1st XI beat Cromwell College 9-2
Boys 2nd XI beat Cromwell College 9-2

Hockey
WHS 1st XI beat DHS 2nd XI 3-1. Player of the Match: Hugo Bogue
Finished 5th in Senior Reserve A grade
WHS 2nd XI lost to Maniototo 2-0. Players of the match: Josh Watson and Hannah Gaboda
Finished 7th in Senior Reserve grade
WHS Gold lost to DHS Dodgers 2-1. Player of the match: Seb Watson
Finished 8th Senior Reserve grade
WHS Blue lost to Cromwell Blue 6-1. Player of the match: Venuk Bandara
Finished 11th in Senior Reserve grade

Netball
Senior A lost to Menzies 23-27
Senior A beat James Hargest 30-14

Rugby
1st XV beat Co-ed Combined Schools 30-15
U15 Cup lost to Otago Boys High School Blue 12-5
U14 drew with Taieri College 26-26
U15 Carnival beat U14 21-5

Weekly Draw

Basketball - Central Otago Junior Competition
Monday 16th August
Junior A Boys vs Year 10 Boys - 5pm WHS
Year 9 Boys vs Dunstan Red - 5pm Dunstan High School
Junior Girls vs Cromwell - 6pm WHS

Football
Tuesday 17th August
2nd XI Boys vs Dunstan High School - 4:45pm Cromwell (Alpha Street)
Wednesday 18th August
Girls 1st XI vs MAC - 11:30am Queenstown Event Centre (Exchange)
Boys 1st XI vs MAC - 1pm Queenstown Event Centre (Exchange)

Rugby
Friday 13th August
Girls 1st XV vs St Hilda’s - 3pm Roxburgh Rugby Club
Saturday 14th August
1st XV vs Dunstan High School - 12:45pm Dunstan High School - OSSRC Final

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

Chicken pox

Many of you will be aware that chicken pox has been doing the rounds at the primary schools for a few months. We now have two reported cases within our student population. Please ensure you are familiar with the signs of chicken pox and please do keep your student home for the recommended period if they develop symptoms.

Lost Property

The lost property is overflowing again, please ensure all belongings are clearly labelled. Naming all your belongings helps you find your lost items and also helps us to return them to you.

If you would like to purchase personalised labels, we are fundraising with Stuck on You. Make a purchase and we'll get 20% commision to go towards our annual Branches Camp.

Meaz Nathan
Student Services

Scholarships - Careers Department

Careers Department - Student Job Vacancies

Weekend Student Salesperson – H & J Smith
Love people, sales & teamwork? Vivacious, energetic & keen to learn? Have a passion for fashion and / or beautiful home wears? Let’s chat.

We’re looking for a Weekend Salesperson – which would be a perfect role for a senior school student in our Queenstown branch. A great entry level role to help grow and develop customer service skills. Variety is the spice of life & we are looking for someone who is flexible & keen to support all facets of our store. You will learn & assist across a range of areas e.g. apparel, Children, furniture, giftware, footwear or beauty. You will passionately promote our wide range of beautiful brands across all departments.

The purpose of our Salespeople is to ensure a consistently excellent experience for our customers all day, every day. You will be:

• A real team player & enjoy the variety of working in different areas of our business
• Able to maximise customer satisfaction
• A fast learner to pick up the needs of different departments
• Dynamic and driven with the ability to work solo and as part of a team

Varied daily tasks: customer service, drive sales achieving KPI’s, product knowledge & sales training, restocking, stock takes, maintain safety and security of staff & customers, cleaning & store presentation, proactively identify & implement improvements.

Hours: Variable but looking for someone that can work weekends & school holidays.

Non-negotiable: passion for people, previous sales or customer service experience, superb communication skills, drive to continuously improve & a positive attitude!

Benefits include: Store network discount, friendly & experienced team, in a family owned business.

Apply ASAP via email tanya.wallace@hjsmith.co.nz with Cover Letter & CV. (Please detail your availability for example if you have sports Saturday morning.) Applications will be considered as they arrive.

Branches Art Auction

ART AUCTION:  Friday 13 August, 2021

Friday 13 August is lucky for us!! Tonight is the night, our Art Auction takes off!  Please come along tonight between 5.30 – 9pm and support a great cause, socialise with other parents and enjoy some great art while you do!  We have some amazing art pieces, over 170 will be on display and there is something for every size pocket.  Here are a few teasers of what you might find there tonight! 
We hope to see you there!
Branches Trust Trustees

WHS Foundation

Community Notices