WHS Newsletter | Issue 4.05 | 19 November 2021

Principal's Message

Kia ora and welcome to the Wakatipu High School newsletter at the end of tutorial and junior exams week. 

The day began early today for some of us with breakfast on Frankton Beach with the Rite Journey boys. It was good to mark the end of this programme, and it has been good to pilot it this year.

We have had a steady stream of seniors in at school this week attending tutorials and studying, as well enjoying the more adult flexibility that tutorial week affords them to have coffee and lunch breaks when they feel like it - all good stuff :)

Junior exams this week went well too. As I wrote last week, there are many reasons why exams are important for juniors but a key one is that they are an important opportunity for students to ‘rehearse’ the experience of exams - which are not that far away for real for them.

NCEA exams begin on Monday and run until mid-December. Again, please support seniors to be their best including having a study plan and good routines which balance study with wellbeing (and see Mr King’s piece re study and wellbeing from last week).

I do want to briefly mention last Friday’s pre-Branches tramps. Staff were very positive about the day, including how great the groups and the students were - a good sign for the camp itself. It is now only one week until the first camp goes in and so, if you haven't already, this weekend is time to be going through the gear list and ensuring students have what they need.

Phase 2 has seen visible progress again this week with the steel structure for the new gym really taking shape. We have been informed that the hard technology work on the south side is going very well, and a few of us are going to take a tour through the new extension wings on Monday which will be great.

For 2022 Year 9’s, today you should have received an important email with your student’s House - an important part of life at WHS so be sure to look out for that.

A smaller newsletter below, as is the way at this time of year, but some good items nonetheless including one on our first steps in a bullying prevention programme we are introducing next year.

Next Friday 26th is another in the series of national Accord (Teacher Only) Days for schools to work on the upcoming NCEA changes. While NCEA exams will continue as normal for seniors that day, there will be no school for juniors.

Another mixed weekend of weather ahead unfortunately - but hopefully it won't be too bad. It will be a good weekend for seniors to be studying and Year 10s to start getting their Branches gear together. Mr Nathan will do the honours on this piece next week. Enjoy the weekend :).

Steve Hall
Principal

Bullying Prevention Pilot Survey

Following research around the current best practice in bullying prevention for schools, we are looking at our prevention and response to bullying at WHS. 

Today Year 9 and 10 students had the opportunity to complete a short pilot survey on their experiences around bullying this year. The purpose of this survey was to give a baseline of data to inform prevention programmes in 2022.  This survey has been left open and students are able to add to their responses. It is anonymous - we are not collecting names or email addresses to encourage students to be more forthcoming about their experiences. The way students respond will also help us refine the design of the survey to be used as a part of a regular monitoring programme across all year levels. There was no introduction to this survey for students. This is a conscious decision to better understand how students currently understand bullying.  

This is the first stage in a larger programme for 2022 which includes refining our whole school prevention initiatives, reevaluating our intervention when bullying occurs, and a longer term regular monitoring programme. We will summarise the key findings in future newsletters so we can share with whanau what we are learning. There will also be opportunities next year for whanau to contribute to this. 

If your child has experienced bullying we encourage them to report this by contacting their Dean or the guidance team. 

If you are interested in understanding more to better support your child, two great places to start are bullyingfree.nz for general information, and www.netsafe.org.nz for more specific information about digital bullying. 

Lee Hiestand
Assistant Principal

The Rite Journey

Kia ora whanau,

Today The Rite Journey group ended our programme with an awesome breakfast and chat at Frankton Beach. Thanks to Mr Hall and Mr Rasmussen for their work on the grills, support and wise words for the boys. 

A massive thank you to Ms Panapa for all her work leading and supporting the programme this year and for organising the breakfast, the sausages and bacon and egg butties were gratefully and ravenously consumed and appreciated by all!

Best of luck to everyone for their exams, Branches Camp and any remaining endeavours for the year.

Ngā mihi 

Sam King

Branches Camp

On Monday afternoon we had a student meeting and each activity group selected a name for their group from a place on the map of the Branches area. Tent groups were discussed for when students are at Branches Camp and not out on activities. There are separate male and female tent areas. Students are required to organise themselves into tent groups, and try to source a solid weatherproof tent. These tents will be pitched for six nights and students will sleep in them for three nights. A maximum of four people per tent, with the student supplying the tent bringing a form home for parents to sign.  Completed forms should be handed into the HPE office by Monday.

The final student gear check for essential gear items will be on Monday 22 November for students who were missing some essential items on Friday. The school has some items it can issue to students at camp (rain jacket, thermal top/bottom, sleeping mat, fleece top, tramping packs). If you have any concerns about gear please get in contact.

Transport for students into and out of Branches is provided by parents with suitable 4WD vehicles.  It is a huge logisitical task, and we still need more assistance with transport. Please contact Kayleigh Murray,  kmurray@wakatipu.school.nz if you are able to able to assist with transport. Transport details will be emailed to  parents/caregivers early next week. 

Branches Trust, which fund raises to support Branches Camp, has arranged Camp Merchandise for this year. Any profits will go directly to supporting the cost of running this year's camp. Orders and payments are due by 12pm Monday 22 November.  Note - Branches Trust is organising the merchandise not the school, so payments cannot be loaded onto school accounts but must be made directly to Branches Trust.  

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:
Mon 22 Nov - Student meeting - Final essential gear check
Thurs 25 Nov - Final student meeting
Mon 29 Nov - Camp 1 in
Mon 29 Nov - Thurs 2 Dec - Camp 2 in school programme
Fri 3 Dec - Camp 2 - Work Day
Sun 5 Dec - Camp 1 out
Mon 6 Dec - Camp 2 in;  Camp 1 rest day
Tues 7 Dec - Thurs 9 Dec - Camp 1 in school programme
Fri 10 Dec - Camp 1 Work Day
Sun 12 Dec - Camp 2 out
Mon 13 Dec - Yr10 Rest Day
Tues 14 Dec - Yr10 Prizegiving

Bridget Janse
Branches Camp Coordinator

Head Boy's Message

Kia Ora, 

Today marks the end of Tutorial Week for Senior Students, the last week of serenity before exams hit. I trust that everyone made the most of this week, clearing up any fuzzy areas regarding learning and utilising their teacher’s help to the fullest. 

This week also marked the end of a busy time in our Junior Student’s schooling life, their own exams. These exams give a really good indication of what studying NCEA will look like and feel like, granting junior students valuable experience. 

Last week wrapped up mine and my fellow Year 13’s last week of high school ever. To say the least, it was definitely an eventful one. On Monday we continued the long-standing tradition of 'gender swap' before spending Tuesday dressed as if we were in the tropics. This was followed up by 'tradie day' on Wednesday, where Year 13’s donned hard hats and high vis, before ending the year with a barbecue, graciously provided by the SLT. The celebration ended with another milestone event, our annual Senior Prizegiving. I’d like to give my heartfelt congratulations to everyone who walked across that stage, and to those who didn’t, you should also feel proud of yourselves for making it through yet another unpredictable year.

This will most likely be my final newsletter piece and I would like to touch upon the topic of my senior prizegiving speech which was the concept of success. As I mentioned in my speech, our views of success are often influenced by the country we live in, most of us would believe that success is measured by one’s wealth or status. It should, however, be based entirely on your conscience, you should define what success looks like to you. Don’t be limited by society's definition of success, you’ll find yourself much happier and ‘successful’ if you define what success means to you. 

It has been an honour being Head Boy of Wakatipu High School this year. Like last year, this one was also filled with uncertainty, a period that could be considered as one of the most unpredictable in mankind’s modern history. This period has taught us not to take the things we consider most dear for granted and to embrace change, to embrace uncertainty. I for one am proud of how we have managed to pull through, not just as a school, but as a community. 

To the incoming leaders, my best wishes as you aim to make your stamp on this amazing school.

To my fellow Year 13’s, thank you for all the memories. I will remember high school as some of the best years of my life. 

To the rest of the students and teachers, I wish you all luck with your exams and wherever life may take you. 

I hope you all have a great end to the year. 

Todd Vermeir
Head Boy

Arts News and Information

That's a Wrap
The Visual Arts teachers and students have been wrapping up - literally - a fabulous year. We are extremely proud of all our students for the completion of their External portfolios. A year full of surprises, our Art students have remained dedicated and committed to completing their own personal art submissions. It has been a couple of weeks of printing, placing, taping, wrapping, and sending off work.

The Arts Department is hoping to be able to showcase these panels early next year once the Level 2 restrictions are lifted. We hope all our Art students have a well-deserved break and a restful summer. 

Sports News and Information

Southland Beach and Indoor Volleyball Champs
WHS dominated last weekend’s beach and indoor volleyball champs in both team entries and results. 54 students represented Wakatipu High School across the two events with 17 teams playing in the beach champs for the first time. WHS won all three grades. Congratulations to the following pairs:
Senior Girls - Paige Loggenberg and Jordan Boland 
Junior Boys - Louis Denney and Alex Scoles
Junior Girls - Eliana Collins and Maggie Watts
Seven teams then competed in the indoor champs on Sunday with the Senior A Girls and 10A Junior Girls teams winning their grades and the 10A Junior Boys finishing runners up. A huge congratulations to all of these teams and players on a massive weekend of volleyball! A huge thank you to Mrs Panapa, Mr Lowe, Steve Henderson, Rachel Vermeir, Charmaine Denney and Nicola McDowell for all of their support over a massive weekend.

Harper Souness NZ Freeski Selection
Congratulations to Year 11 student Harper Souness who has been selected for the New Zealand National Development Freeski team. Harper will represent NZ at the Junior World Championships in Switzerland over the upcoming summer holidays and early next year. This is a huge achievement for Harper and the most amazing opportunity to represent New Zealand on the international stage. We wish you all the very best for this Harper, Ka Mauka Whakatipu!

Wakatipu Wild
Four WHS students represented the Wakatipu Wild women’s ice hockey team over the weekend in a series of friendly games against the Canterbury Inferno. The team lost 7-2 to Canterbury Inferno first up, then won 5-2, forcing a playoff in game three. There was no score in the first three periods before the Inferno scored in the last period. The Wild fought hard and only scored a second after the final buzzer. The Inferno won the last game 1-0. Caitlin Hollyer played some great D and got lots of ice time. Inge Kemp was threatening on the wing. Jesse Strain and Polly Bennetts debuted for the Wild sharing the left wing position. Jesse and Polly played with passion and got involved fighting for the puck every shift. This was the last New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League for the season as the finals were cancelled due to COVID 19. Well done girls!

Junior Girls Cricket
Congratulations to the Junior Girls Development Cricket team who have remained unbeaten in the Central Otago Girls cricket competition this term with a win over Maniototo in Cromwell on Wednesday afternoon.

Kings Cricket Exchange and Otago Girls High School Match
The annual Junior Boys Cricket exchange is taking place against Kings High School on Monday and Tuesday next week on field 2a (the hole) at the Event Centre. The first ball will be bowled at 11am on Monday. The teams will play a two day declaration match and WHS will be looking to win the exchange for the first time after a narrow defeat last year. All the best to our boys! On Tuesday our Junior Girls team have the opportunity to take on Otago Girls High School in an 8 aside T20 game in Alex. This is an awesome opportunity for our girls to play some quality competition locally, go well!

Athletic Development Programme
ADP will be back up and running from Week 3 of Term 1 next year and we are taking expressions of interest now. There will be a junior and senior programme run for eight weeks, twice a week with space for around 10 students in each intake. Please email Matua Brad for more details and/or if you have questions and to register your interest; bfleming@wakatipu.school.nz.

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

Fundraising to represent NZ

Harper Souness, Year 11 has been selected for the NZ National Development Freeski team representing NZ at the Junior World Championships in Switzerland next year. This is a huge achievement for him, and the most amazing opportunity to be able to represent NZ on the international stage. The team will be away for 3 months to train and compete in several competitions, including the Junior World Champs, leaving mid January and returning mid April 2022.  This is super exciting, as he has worked REALLY hard this season and gained some incredible results.

Harper has a massive fundraising drive ahead of him to make this all possible. He needs to raise at least $22K to go on his own, and $34K for his Mum to be able to take him and be there to support him. The Souness family are seeking your support to help Harper. They are hopeful that through various grants, fundraising events and hopefully some private and corporate funding they will at least raise enough to get him over there on his own. 

A Give-a-Little page has been set up to help raise money for Harper. Please see link below.

Harper is also looking for corporate sponsorship, and has a Sponsorship Proposal available on request at pipsouness@gmail.com

Branches Trust

BRANCHES TRUST QUIZ NIGHT – What a great success!
Our inaugural Quiz night, which we themed ‘Beginning with B’, went off with a hiss and a roar last Friday night!  11 teams fought it out with only their brain power, pen and paper.  It was anyone’s guess which team would win, ‘Breaking Bad’ looked, well .... bad, the ‘Blonde Bombshells’ looked, well .... gorgeous, ‘The Bee Team’ brought their own beekeeper and cardboard beehive, very impressive, meanwhile ‘The Butchers of Branches’ had a scary assortment of fingers and ears on their outfits, all plastic .... so I’m told!   In the end the misnamed team ‘No Idea’ took out the top prize with ‘The Bob Marleys’ a close second. 

The Branches Trust would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the evening.  Andrew Grey, Quizmaster extraordinaire, all those who donated the many and varied prizes, QLDC, Southern Lakes Laundry, Otago Business Solutions, Maryann Bailey our Duty Manager, Super Liquor, Bid Food, the lovely parent helpers and of course the quizzers. 

 We raised $11,200.00 a fantastic amount of money, all of it going to pay towards this years Branches Camp.  

Thank you again,
Branches Trust

WHS Foundation

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

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