WHS Newsletter | Issue 4.03 | 05 November 2021

Associate Principal's Message

The third week of Term 4 was another stellar and action-packed week, as it marked the beginning of our end of year ‘award ceremonies’. As you know, we have amazing students who accomplish extraordinary things, and it was humbling to celebrate some of these achievements at our annual Cultural and Sporting Blues Awards, which were held on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. These important and significant events were held under Level 2 Guidelines, which meant that the theatre was spaced with approximately 100 students and teachers present. Though it was a bit strange to have only the prizewinners and teachers in the theatre, we were pleased to be able to hold them at all, and we were also able to livestream both events to parents and caregivers, which we hope you enjoyed.  A huge congratulations to all of our Blues Awards winners, and be sure to look  below for the full list of recipients, including photos of the premiere award winners for 2021.

Speaking of significant end of year events, our Senior Prizegiving is being held on Thursday 11 November. All students are expected at school until midday, and we will hold a virtual full-school assembly from 11:30 am, in which we will announce the Dux and a few other of the most significant prizes. See below for more details about Thursday’s prizegiving, but it is really important that all students are at school that day. 

A reminder that senior students will be on study leave from Friday 12 November, with tutorials being offered in classes from 15 - 19 November. Senior Exams begin on Monday 22 November, the full exam timetable can be found here, and students should print this off and highlight the days and times of their exams. 

Junior students will also begin their end of year exams in the week starting 15 November. Please see below for more details. 

Work on Phase II has been progressing well, and will ramp up again once the seniors are on exam leave, including remediation of our fields, to ensure proper drainage during the winter season. This remediation work is expected to be completed for the start of the 2022 Academic Year. Calendar dates for 2022 have been set and are available through our website and on the left hand bar of this newsletter under 'Upcoming Events'. 

Next week is a really important week for students and for the school, and it is imperative that students are focused on their learning and that senior students are finishing off their internal assessments and turning their attention towards preparing for their external examinations. Please encourage your students to see out the year in a positive and productive fashion as they strive to achieve to their potential, and achieve their best possible qualification.

Ka Mauka Whakatipu, Reach for your Heights!

Oded Nathan
Associate Principal

Senior Prizegiving

We will be holding Senior Prizegiving on Thursday 11 November in the afternoon. During Level 2 we are only able to have prizewinners and staff attend. We will be livestreaming so whanau of prizewinners can watch and celebrate the success of their students. On Monday, an email will go out to all prizewinners and their whanau. This will include a form to register for the livestream. On completion of this registration form a link to the livestream will be emailed to you. Registration will be open right up until the event. The livestream link will remain active until 11:59pm on the day meaning you may watch the event delayed.

We are looking forward to celebrating the success of our senior students.

Branches Camp

Branches Camps are only 3 weeks away (NB: the camps can run if we are at Alert Level 2 or Alert Level 1). The next  Student Meeting will be on Monday 8th November to prepare for the Pre-Branches Tramps on Friday. The Branches Camp Gear List has been posted on the Branches Google Classroom and emailed to parents. Essential items are highlighted on the gear list. These are fundamental for personal safety for many of the activities at camp and will be checked before students go to Branches Camp. 

Transport for students into and out of Branches is provided by parents with suitable 4WD vehicles. The Google Form was sent out to all parents/caregivers and all parents need to complete this form, even if you do not have a 4WD. This is to establish how many students need a ride into and out of camp.  

Key dates
This years' two 7-day camp dates are: Camp 1 - Monday 29 November to Sunday 5 December, and Camp 2 - Monday 6 to Sunday 12 December. 
Other important Branches dates to note are:
Monday 8 Nov - Transport Google Form due 
Friday 12 Nov - Pre-Branches day tramps, essential gear check, incl Activity Groups

Branches Student Workdays
Every year students going to Branches Camp have a ‘Branches Workday’ where they spend a day working to raise money for Branches Trust who support students and the school with Branches Camp. Depending on which camp students are on, their Workday is either: Camp 2 - Friday 3 December or Camp 1 - Friday 10 December.

Students have completed a survey to indicate whether they can find their own job, or need help finding a job. For students who need assistance finding a job, Jane Bamford (Volunteer Branches Trust Workday Coordinator) will arrange a job for the student and advise students directly.  All parents/caregivers will receive an email from Jane with their students job details, requirements and a consent form. If you have any questions regarding Work Day please contact Jane (021 949916 or by email: jbamfordqt@gmail.com )

Bridget Janse
Branches Camp Coordinator

Lake Hayes Field Trip

This week 119 Year 9 students on the semester 2 class participated in our scientific monitoring of Mill Creek, the Lake and the Spring. Measurements to assess the water quality were taken and monitoring of the macroinvertebrates at each site were carried out. Did you know there are exotic Freshwater jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbii) present in the Lake? Earlier in the year we detected their DNA when we sampled the creek but this is the first time we have seen specimens in our sampling.  Don't worry though, they reach a full-grown size of only 25mm and their stinging cells won't hurt humans.  The students enjoyed engaging with the local community groups and making links between the science and the wetland restoration they participated in last week.  Our thanks go to Mike Hanff from the Friends of Lake Hayes for his support and expertise.

Dawn Aspin
Assistant HoLA Science

Deputy Head Girl's Message

Another good week comes to a close. 

This week saw the well loved breast cancer brunch, with all proceeds going to the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation. 

A big congratulations to all cultural and sporting blues award recipients! These are amazing achievements and you should each be so proud of yourselves. 

Internals are starting to wind down and seniors will soon be on study leave. It can be hard to focus with this heat so I encourage you to try keep some kind of study routine and push to finish this year as well as possible - but also reserve some time for yourselves and enjoy this great weather! 

That’s all from me, 

Kate Edmonds
Deputy Head Girl 

Arts News and Information

Cultural Blues
The Arts Department would like to thank all the students who attended the Cultural Blues afternoon on Tuesday. It was an afternoon of music, performances and awards. Thank you to all the parents who were able to watch the live stream, we hope you enjoyed it. 

We would like to give a special thank you to Hannah White, the WHS Kapa Haka, No Man’s Land, the Jazz Combo, leads of the 2021 musical, Billie Comer, Kira Almquist and (special guest) Ollie McLean for performing and/or speaking during the show.

Lastly, we would also like to say a huge thank you to Jacob Marriott, Luke Crichton, Riley Tenquist and Wren Glover for helping to set up and run the sound and lighting for the event. It wouldn’t be possible without their support.

We have attached a video that gives a lovely overview of what extra-curricular opportunities the students had in the Arts throughout the year. 

Below are the winners of the Cultural Blue Awards. Congratulations to these hardworking and talented students! 

Central Sounds Waves
Several WHS rocks bands and solo acts will be performing at Yonder Queenstown this Sunday. Visitors are welcome to support the groups. Performances begin at 5.30pm and will run until approximately 9.30pm.

Bands Playing 
Estrogen
Cherry Garden
No Man's Land
The Goose Pies
Train Surfers
Good Days

Solo Act
Billie Comer

Mīharo Central Lakes Art Exhibition
Well done to our creative artists who took part and won prizes at the Mīharo Central Lakes Art Exhibition. This year’s theme ‘Tangaroa/Tangaloa, ancestor of the sea’ inspired a wonderful range of visual art currently on display at the Frankton Library. Be sure to visit - the exhibition is on until Friday the 19th of November.

We had several students receive awards for their work:
Jorja Lane and Lexie Hughes received the Kaitiaki Award
Mia Pagan received the Aspiring Artist Award
Bella Taylor received the Māori Culture and Heritage Award
Leyna van Beers received the Judges Choice Award
Taylor Breen and Madi Wallace received the Mīharo Supreme Art Award

Congratulations to all the winners and a special thanks to Abbey Brown, Acting Assistant HoLa of the Arts, for supporting these students to strive for excellence. 

Year 10 Music Afternoon
The Year 10 Music Afternoon will run at 4pm in the Performing Arts Room on 18 November. This is an assessment for Year 10 music students so they are all expected to attend. 

At Covid-19 Alert Level 2, parents will not be allowed to attend but must be prepared to pick the students up afterward. 

Artist  of the Week - Ollie Ridd
This week our senior art students have been finishing off their external folio panels. Ollie features here with his Yr 12 Photography portfolio. A beautiful display of photographic practice mixed with some impressive Photoshop skills. Well done, Ollie - you have a very successful artistic career ahead of you.

Sports News and Information

Sports Blues Awards
Yesterday afternoon the annual Sports Blues were held after school with staff and students. While it was significant not to have parents and grandparents attend this year, it was great to be able to recognise the fantastic achievements of our athletes in person. It is incredible to see the vast array of sports our students involve themselves in and how well many of them do at a regional, South Island and national level. The Sports Blues is always an event that generates a real sense of pride in WHS and yesterday was no exception. A full list of the 2021 Sports Code Awards, Service Blues and Achievement Blues can be found below. A huge congratulations to the following students who won the major awards for this year.
Bruce Grant Youth Trust Encouragement Award - Ruby Kirk
Bruce Grant Youth Trust Excellence Award - Toby Hart
Team of the Year - U16 Boys Double Sculls (Marley King Smith and Sam McAtamney)
Performance of the Year - Sammy Fookes 
Junior Sportsman of the Year - Josh Viana
Junior Sportswomen of the Year - Eliana Collins
Senior Sportsman of the Year - Will Cooper
Senior Sportswomen of the Year - Olive Watherston

Southland Secondary Sports Awards
The Southland Secondary School Sports awards took place last night in Invercargill. A number of WHS students were recognised for their achievements this past year. Congratulations to the following students below, it is awesome to see so many acknowledged at a regional level! A very special mention to Sam McAtamney and Marley King Smith who won the Team of the Year category, for their gold in the U16 Boys Double Sculls at Maadi Cup.
Regional Sports Organisation Awards:
Toby Hart - Cricket
Marley King Smith - Rowing
Charlotte Muir - Rowing
Olive Watherston - Rugby
Eliana Collins - Volleyball 
Toby Hart - Senior Sportsman of the Year Finalist
Olive Watherston - Senior Sportswoman of the Year Finalist
U16 Boys Double Sculls - Team of the Year

Climbing NZ National Youth Bouldering Champs
Resident WHS Sport Climbing athletes, Lucy Sincalir and Azaria Briscoe achieved fantastic results at last weekend’s NZ Youth Bouldering Champs at Basecamp in Queenstown. Lucy won the Youth A Female division and Azaria placed third. Both students attended the Climbing New Zealand National Development Youth squad training on Monday. Congratulations girls!

Water Polo 
On Monday WHS competed in our first ever game of competitive water polo against Verdon College at the Event Centre. The 16 strong WHS mixed team took on a far more experienced Verdon side in a tense and exciting game. The final result was a 15 all draw. Our students loved being able to put the skills they have learnt this year into a game and are looking forward to attending a tournament early next year. Thank you to Ms Webster for making water polo a sport at WHS and to the coaches from the Queenstown Water Polo Club for all of their passion, effort and support in getting secondary school water polo up and running.

Mixed A Touch
Last weekend the Mixed A Touch team competed in a quad tournament against Otago Co-ed Schools in Mosgiel as part of the planned build up for nationals, which unfortunately was cancelled last week. The team came away with one win, one draw and two losses to finish up third. A huge thanks to South Otago High School, St Kevin's College and Taieri College for the awesome hit out. Thanks to coaches Jerram Hill and Jamie Natapu and manager Steve McIsaac.

Central Otago Junior Touch Tournament
The annual Central Otago Junior Touch tournament was held in Cromwell on Tuesday with six teams from across the region. WHS had a pretty good showing for the first time that this group of mainly Year 9 boys and Year 10 girls had played together. The team finished runners up to Cromwell based on points. A huge thanks to Matua Brad for coaching the team on the day.

Rep Volleyball
A lower South Island Volleyball age group rep tournament was held in Dunedin on Saturday and a number of WHS players competed in Queenstown based rep teams. Well done to Allyx Palacio, Mary Navasca, Roy Greer and Matheus Dos Santos for all making the U17 tournament teams. The results for the Queenstown Volley South teams were:
Under 15 girls - 3rd 
Under 17 girls - 5th
Under 15/17 boys - 5th

Year 9 Boys Cricket
Yesterday the Year 9 Boys cricket team began their journey in the NZCT Year 9 Boys knockout competition with wins over Cromwell College and Dunstan High School. The team chased down 92 in the first T20 match against Cromwell, with Angus O'Neill top scoring in an amazing run chase. Harry Walker-Leach took three wickets and the team progressed through to round two against Dunstan. Set 93 to win, Hugo Bogue went to task earning a half century and was ably supported by Samuel Stanton at the crease chasing down the total to secure the second win of the day and progress through to round three of this competition. A huge thank you to Reuban Bogue and Mr McNamara for coaching the team on the day. 

Central Otago Apples Basketball Tournament
The Central Otago Junior Apples Tournament was held over Labour weekend at the Event Centre. The WHS Year 9 and Year 10 boys teams competed in the U15 grade against other school teams from Central Otago. Congratulations to the Year 10 boys who won their grade. The Senior Apples tournament was held last weekend, Will Cooper, Aurelien Pons and Isaac Turoa all competed. Isaac was named Rookie of the Tournament. 

Eli Tregidga
Road cyclist Eli Tregidga is getting some big kms under his belt with the Southern Junior Development team. Eli competed in the Novice Tour of Manawatu last weekend. We are excited to watch Eli’s progress over the coming months.

Olympic Ice Speed Skating
The Olympic Ice Skating Club finished off the 2021 season with the Southern Spring Short Track Competition held on 31st of October in Dunedin. Four WHS students took part; Georgia Chinn, Eva Hemingway, Daphne Ricketts and Poppy Wearing.  All raced exceptionally well with all skaters having personal best times in at least three of the four distances. Daphne improved her times in every event and Georgia placed second overall in the sub junior women’s category. The team also raced together as NZ’s only all female relay team in short track ice speed skating.

Hockey Turf Opening
The WHS 1st XI Mixed Hockey team attended the opening of the new hockey turf at the Event Centre on Saturday morning. This is a very exciting development for sports facilities in Queenstown and will enable all hockey players to train on a full sized turf, host interschools and has allowed for the new social sixes league that begins tonight. The multipurpose turf will also host futsal and football and will enable training to continue throughout the winter if grounds are shut due to weather. It is a significant addition and we are very excited that it is here. 

2022 Local Schools Season Passes for Coronet Peak, The Remarkables or Mt Hutt available online now
3 Peak Season Pass Sale ends 11 November.
$109 -  Local Primary School 3 Peak Season Pass (available anytime)
$179 – Local Secondary School 3 Peak Season Pass (available anytime)
$699 – Adult Super Earlybird 3 Peak Season Pass renewal (only until Nov 11)
$799 – Adult Super Earlybird 3 Peak Season Pass (only until Nov 11)
A 3 Peak Local Schools Season Pass is required for any Local Schools programmes in 2022. Kids 7 & under ski free at all 3 mountains. All Season Passes available with $50 deposit now and the rest in 2022. For your peace of mind our no questions asked refund policy is back for 2022 NQA refund policy 2022. To contact the team at NZSki: Website: www.nzski.com Phone: 0800697547 Email: info@nzski.com

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

Library Books

Students leaving WHS

Students who intend to end their enrolment at WHS either by completing schooling or transferring to a new school are requested to complete the Leaving Form below.

Second Hand Uniforms

If you would like to donate any school uniform that is no longer needed, please take it to Student Services.  These items are much appreciated and will be given to families that need it. Alternatively you could donate it to a charity such as the Salvation Army or Happiness House.

Student Job Vacancies

Our Swanndri Queenstown Store is looking for a senior student that is full of enthusiasm for our iconic brand! What you need to join our team…..

 # Enthusiasm, an interest in fashion plus a love of the outdoors, seen Swanndri has been ‘Outdoors everyday since 1913’  

# You need to be available for a regular week end shift, plus keen on extra shifts during the term holiday breaks.

# You MUST be able to work over the entire holiday period including Boxing Day and New Years Day

 This is not a fixed term contract, the right candidate will have access to buying privileges, retail and sales training plus ongoing support to grow and learn in a positive and fun environment!

 How to apply… Email your CV and cover letter to Alicia McBeth - managerqt@swanndri.co.nz

Looking for work over Summer?            

Why not come and work in one of our local Orchards or Packhouses

Pure Pac Ltd is Cromwell’s newest state of the art Export Cherry Packhouse, operating for the first time in December 2017.  We grow, pick and pack all our own cherries and have a variety of positions available in both the Orchard and Packhouse.  Our positions start from Mid-December and finish end of January so perfect timing to earn some money over the school holidays!

Look us up at www.purepac.nz  then click on “Join Our Team” for more information on the opportunities available this season.

We welcome applications from any student from 15 years up.  Unfortunately due to our compliance regulations we cannot employ anyone under 15 years of age.

If any of these positions sounds like you and you are a keen, hard worker with the ability to work in a fast paced team environment flick us an email at hr@purepac.nz or give us a call to chat further on 0273877163

KINROSS  has an after school / weekend / school holiday job available, starting immediately.  This role is for a dish-hand in our kitchen team.  Hours can be to suit school and study commitments.  It would be on a casual contract at $20 per hour.

Any interested students can contact Christine on the below email christine@kinross.nz

New Zealand Cherry Corp in Cromwell are looking for Cherry Pickers, lifters, Quad bike drivers and Packhouse workers for the Cherry season. 
If you are age 14 or over and willing to work from mid-December to end of January, we would love to hear from you!

Starting pay rate $20 per hour! Contact Carol on carol@nzcherrycorp.com or apply on our website www.nzcherrycorp.com.

Branches Trust- B Quiz Night

‘Beginning with B’ BRANCHES QUIZ NIGHT – Friday 12 November 2021

I have two pieces of information regarding the upcoming Branches Trust Quiz Night, firstly that we have decided we will continue to run this event even at Level 2 with slightly fewer tables allowing for increased social distancing.  Secondly, as a result of that the Quiz is now SOLD OUT!! 

 The organising committee of Branches Trustees and Year 10 parents are working hard to put on a great night out!  We are still on the hunt for prizes, prizes, prizes ... we would be very happy with anything big or small, in fact small would be excellent given our current climate.  If you are a business that cannot give a voucher yourself why not consider buying a hospitality or excursion voucher to donate or perhaps a supermarket voucher, just about everyone would appreciate those!   This quiz and it’s proceeds are 100% for our Year 10 Branches kids, if you can donate anything then please contact Belinda at branchestrust@gmail.com to arrange for delivery or the item can be left at school with Erin Tapp.

Many thanks

BRANCHES TRUST

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

Otago Regional Council is developing a new Land and Water Regional Plan including rules and regulations for land and water use in your area and they would love your input. They will be in:

• Frankton on Wednesday 17 November at the Queenstown Events Centre
• Wanaka on Thursday 18 November at the Lake Wanaka Centre

Meeting times: 12:30-2pm or 7-8:30pm. Drop-in before or between the meetings to chat with them. For more  details and background information go to: www.orc.govt.nz/UpperLakes
NB: Please do not attend these meetings if you have cold or flu symptoms or waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test.