WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.03 | 18 February 2022

Principal's Message

Kia ora - welcome to the Wakatipu High School newsletter at the end of Week 3. An interesting week here, and I am mindful that you’ve already heard from me quite a bit this week so will endeavour to keep it concise, but as per usual there is plenty going on and lots to cover.

The week started with our Pounamu Assemblies. These assemblies acknowledge students who have achieved Merit and Excellence endorsements in NCEA. Unfortunately being in Red meant that we couldn't run them as normal but we had a schoolwide ‘intercom assembly’ before badges were presented to by Kaiarahi and Deans spoke virtually to their Houses - a potpourri of modes in Covid times. Please see below for a list of recipients, and our congratulations to all of them on their efforts and achievements.

Covid - in terms of this week’s events there’s not much to add or update, but I do have some more general comments to make:

• Mask-wearing - in general our students are actually being really good about mask-wearing, however when you get a case the Medical Officer of Health has a high bar on whether a student is consistently wearing a mask correctly or not (eg do they let it slip down below their nose), and if not then that results in a lot of close contacts. This is not news - but this week made it very real, and it does seem to have had an impact on students and staff.
• As we are all aware, Omicron is on the move in Queenstown and we expect to see more cases and contacts associated with school. We have Business Continuity plans for how we will deal with a range of scenarios which include various combinations of both staff and students at school and/or at home. This includes using our digital technology platforms and ‘hybrid’ models of teaching and learning, which include combinations of our normal pedagogy and online modes for those working or studying from home - which we are already starting to use, particularly in some senior classes, following this week's event. It does also potentially include going to remote teaching and learning as a school or just for some year levels for a period of time, as we have seen schools in Auckland do this week. We will have to be flexible and adapt, but we feel that we are well-placed to be able to deliver teaching and learning in these fast-changing and unpredictable times.
  
• Extracurricular activities are an important part of our all-round education and as much as possible we are continuing to offer and deliver these in Red. Different to curriculum, particularly when they involve competitions, certain venues and groups of more than 25, a number of these activities require Vaccine Passes - please see the Sports section below for more.
• Greenstone Camp in its normal form is unfortunately a Covid casualty but please see below for more.
• Not just for Covid, but it would be great if parents could please use the WHS App to notify absences (see below for App info). 
• Similarly, a reminder to please check your contact details in the Portal and update any changes as necessary so you are receiving important information from us.
• The Southern DHB have a released a Southern Health Update (16 Feb 22) with lots of good information and links to useful resources.

Reminders:

NCEA - parent information evening next Tuesday 22nd, and please see the important section below re NCEA.
PUM - also next Tuesday the 22nd, the PPTA’s paid union meeting means that school will finish and buses will run at 1.50pm.
WHS App - is a key communication channel, please ensure you’ve got the WHS App on your device.

Our first five-day week draws to a close, and despite Covid it has been a good one. I have walked around the school a couple of times and things have been looking great with students settled and engaged in their learning (and I even got to taste-test some great scones and jam from a Year 11 Food Tech class this morning :).  The House touch competition on the field at lunchtimes this week has been a roaring success with lots of students out on the field playing and supporting their Houses - classic WHS.

Another good newsletter below, including some great words from Deputy Head Girl, Alix Long, and sport and arts updates including some wonderful student success - check it out.

The weather is a game of two halves this weekend with tomorrow cloudy and wet but Sunday looking good - make the most of it as we move through summer :)

Steve Hall
Principal

Pounamu Assembly Awards

This week we celebrated student academic success for 2021 in five House Pounamu Assemblies. Students who received NCEA endorsements at Merit of Excellence level as well as scholarship were recognised. 

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.

Goal Setting and Planning

Goal-setting and strategic planning is the first stage of self-regulated learning and precedes the 'performance' stage, enabling students to achieve to their maximum potential. Setting goals can also be an effective way to support your health and wellbeing. 

Senior students have recently been asked to reflect on last year and to set goals for 2022, pertaining to their academic achievement, learning dispositions, extra-curricular involvement and wellbeing. 

Similarly, students should now have received a course outline and assessment calendar from their respective teachers. Students should make their own assessment calendar that comprises all their subjects so that they can prepare and plan accordingly, particularly identifying any pinch points that may lie ahead. 

School Calendar 
While there is a lot of uncertainty with events and activities continuing to run at the moment, you can click here for the full year calendar that includes the various events and trips that are currently planned for WHS. We recommend that students look at this calendar in conjunction with their 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) they can add the WHS School Calendar to your GCal here.

The Portal

The Portal 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. The first LE report comes out late next week and can be viewed via the Portal. For those parents who do not yet have login details (or have forgotten them), an email will also be sent with instructions for how to access the Portal including all user name(s) and password(s).

Yr 9 Greenstone Camp

Unforunately due to the uncertainty with the current COVID outbreak we have had to cancel our upcoming Greenstone Camp. We still plan to have 5 House days in the first week of March where  students will be able to participate in river safety activities (river crossing, river swimming and kayaking) and practice river safety and swimming skills. 

More information on this will be emailed to parents and students directly.

Ken McIntyre
Greenstone Camp Coordinator

Gifted Student's Parent Evening

Kia ora koutou,

Every year Wakatipu High School usually invites all of our parents to attend an evening to discuss how we look after our gifted students. However, due to still being in red, we've decided to cancel that event - instead, we will produce a video for everyone, look out for this video in upcoming newsletters. 

As always if you have any questions regarding how we care for gifted students, please get in touch!

Ngā mihi nui,

Kyle Jackson
GIfted Coordinator
kylejackson@wakatipu.school.nz

WHS SZ App

All parents, caregivers and students should download the SZapp to your device as this is how we will communicate urgent and important school alerts and our weekly newsletter. The app also features an absence form, the online school cafe, a calendar and some handy links! See below information on how to download the WHS SZ app. 

 Apple Devices

1. On your device, open the App Store.
2. Search the App Store for SZapp.
3. Download and install SZapp.

 Android Devices

1. On your device, open the Play Store.
2. Search the Play Store for SZapp.
3. Download and install SZapp.

SAT 2023 Test Dates

WHS is one of the New Zealand testing centres for students taking the SATs, the standardized test for college admission in the United States.  If you wish to take the test please register online at https://www.collegeboard.org/ and the test will be delivered here at the school.

2023 SAT dates are as follows:

• 6 May
• 26 August
• 2 December

If you need any further information, please contact Marcelo Carneiro: mcarneiro@wakatipu.school.nz

Marcelo Carneiro
Director of International Students

Branches Camp 2021 - Lost Property

A number of items were left behind at Branches Camp last year - clothing, footwear, towels, camp chairs, etc.
If you wish to come and look through the items, these will be available next Wednesday 23rd February 3.15pm - 3.45pm at the OE Shed (last driveway on the left past the bus shelters).

Bridget Janse

Deputy Head Girl Message

Kia ora,

I know that the world has felt a little bit crazy these past couple of days. The dreaded week that COVID-19 would hit the bubble of Queenstown (that has felt like such a safe haven for so many of us these past couple of years), has finally arrived. For many in the school community, this new reality is already setting in with friends and family becoming close contacts. With this of course comes anxious waits for test results, the unpleasant experience of tests themselves and all round heightened emotions and fear. It is so important in the coming months to remember to be kind to ourselves and to those around us. This includes respecting restrictions in order to do as much as we can to protect those in our community who are particularly vulnerable. 

To those of us in the school community that are already experiencing the effects of this new wave, and to those who have already lost so much in this pandemic, I trust that the Queenstown community will rally as it always does and that we will all continue to be kind to each other.

On a more positive note, I would like to reiterate the message of my speech on Monday morning, congratulating the Year 12s and 13s for their achievements in NCEA last year. One of our goals as student leaders in 2022 is to continue to support and develop Wakatipu High School’s culture of success - whatever success may look or feel like for every single one of you. Remember, you do not have to be the smartest in the room to achieve the best results for yourself, it simply requires hard work, passion and dedication - you will always thank yourself later for the work you put in now.

Good on everyone for getting out on the field and giving house touch a go this week. It’s great to see the house spirit and friendly competition building up as our house competition gets underway, especially after disappointment we all felt without Participation Day. Good luck to all the houses (though especially Duncan!!). 

Lastly, a quick reminder to all students that the student council application closes on Monday. From sports, to the arts and community service, we have 11 councils that cover all aspects of life at Wakatipu High School. The lead prefects have some brilliant initiatives planned for this year, and we are looking forward to seeing as many students as possible looking to get involved and put themselves out there for whatever they are passionate about. The link to the application is here! 

Remember, always be kind and patient to yourself and everyone around you.

Have a great weekend!

Alix Long
Deputy Head Girl
Junior Council Lead Prefect 

Sports and Active Recreation News

Junior Boys Cricket Final 
Well it wasn't quite the result our Junior Boys Cricket Team were looking for in the Otago final of the Junior Boys NZC Tournament but it was awesome to have made it to the final for the first time. The team played Otago Boys High School in Alex on Sunday in a 40 over match. OBHS as winner of the final has qualified through to the national champs that is scheduled to take place in Palmerston North at the end of March. There were still some great highlights from the game which included Hugo Bogue's epic 111 off 118 balls as well as WHS debuts for Year 9 students Liam Clarke and Toby Gallie. It was also a final farewell to Mr McNamara who came down from Wellington for the match. Thank you very much to our coaches Reuben Bogue and Mark O'Neill for all of their support with the Junior Boys campaign from Term 2021 until now. 

National Rowing Champs
A huge congratulations to a group of WHS rowers who have won medals at the NZ Rowing Champs currently being held at Lake Ruataniwha in Twizel - an outstanding result!! 
- Abby Phillips won two gold medals rowing for Dunstan Rowing Club in the Women's Intermediate Coxed Eight and Intermediate Women's Coxed Quad.

- Charlotte Muir was the Dunstan Rowing Club cox and won a gold medal in the Women's Intermediate Coxed Quad and a silver medal in the Women's Intermediate Coxed Four.

- Ashton White, Marley King Smith, Will Donovan, Toby Rorrison and cox Ava McIntyre placed 2nd in NZ in the Boys U18 Coxed Quad Sculls. 

- Keely Erskine, Olivia Key, Neve Bates, Phoebe Cavanagh and cox Emily Howick placed second in NZ in the Girls U18 Coxed Quad Sculls. 

Round 4 NZ MTB Series Results
Treacherous conditions in Dunedin last weekend made it difficult for the riders in Round 4 of the MTBNZ Downhill series. Nevertheless it was great to see two WHS riders on top of the podium once again, including Malik Boatwright who has now secured the U15 Male national title having won four of five events. Well done Malik!
1st - Rory Meek - U17
1st - Malik Boatwright - U15
4th - Noah Miller - U15
15th - Reon Fernandez - U17
21st - Murphy Sutton - U17

Waka Ama - National Club Champs
The Junior Girls Waka Ama crew competed at the Maitahi national club champs at Lake Rotoiti last weekend where they competed in the J16 Women’s 500m sprint and 5km races. The crew were the only one in their specific category but had very competitive times against other rangatahi crews. Congratulations to Year 11 student, Mia Bulling-Eady who was awarded the Rangatahi Steerer trophy, Te ara kura o Tane for leadership. Tino pai rawa atu!

House Touch
The house touch competition started this week and is running at Break 2 for Juniors and Seniors. It is awesome to sees students supporting the competition on the field by competing or watching the action. Great weather this week has made this an awesome spectacle. Finals will take place on Monday before the Staff vs Students game at Break 2 on Tuesday.

Forward Foundation
Congratulations to Year 10 student Siena Mackley who has just been selected as one of 32 ambassadors by the Forward Foundation. The foundation strives to assist young female athletes by creating development and leadership opportunities in a sporting environment by empowering and inspiring girls to lead active and healthy lifestyles. Well done Siena!

Online Extracurricular Sign Ups
We had awesome engagement as a school last Friday with our students signing up to over 70 activities offered at WHS and more through the local community. It is not too late to get involved in the wider life of the school, make new friends and try new activities. Please click here UPDATED Extra Curricular Flyer 2022 to see what is on offer and follow the instructions to join. The teachers in charge of activities are beginning to post out details on the google classrooms and are getting things underway. This will be the main way that we communicate opportunities and activities to students with more formal information sent in an email to parents/caregivers when necessary. Opportunities may vary a bit at the moment due to COVID disruption and regulations. 

Vaccine Certificates Required for Many Sports
A large number of sports, competitions and tournaments require students to have vaccine certificates in order to compete in 2022 at a local, regional, South Island and national level. As a school we are required to cite and declare that all participants have vaccine certificates before we can enter teams and individuals into competitions, tournaments and events. As such we ask that all students load their vaccine certificates onto the school Portal as soon as possible. This can be done through the student Portal, click on the Details section and then the COVID Vaccination Status tab. Please load your certificate here. This will also be required for some onsite activities after school. 

Opportunities for Involvement

Queenstown Associated Football Club (QAFC)
Registrations are now open for our 2022 Junior Season. Full details are at the following link:
QAFC 2022 Registrations
Registrations close on Sunday 6th March. Register by 27th February to go into the draw to win your subs back! Full pre season info

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

Arts News & Information

Showquest Auditions
WHS is looking for students to join Showquest 2022 - a dance, drama and music competition. We need large numbers this year and are hoping to get this out to as many students as possible. Please fill out the attached form to show your interest. 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdy2if8L_eZTLmRnjmOn2FHhYmLOFb2V2HvP4jRkFAVNE3mA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Itinerant Lessons 
We have most of the Itinerant music lessons in place and these should be fully underway by next week. Students will need to check their lesson times in the music area and ensure they have these in their calendar so they can be in the right place at the right time. All lessons are 30 minutes. Students should be returning back to their normal classes after their lessons. Any questions please let me know at aprice@wakatipu.school.nz

Mild Orange
Great to see ex-student Josh Merhtens feature on the late TVNZ News last week.  As the frontman for Mild Orange, he was interviewed about the bands' upcoming tour overseas. If you missed it, the link is as follows:
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/02/10/why-being-stuck-in-nzs-a-blessing-and-a-curse-for-mild-orange/

Bands/Groups
COVID has slowed down some of the planning around bands and groups but we will continue to gather names and have meetings with interested students. We are hopeful that some of these will be able to run in some form or other over the coming weeks.

“Dance With Me” - song by Billie Comer
The 2021 Play It Strange albums are out which feature songwriting from around the country.  Billie Comer's composition "Dance With Me" can be found on the pink album. This was the song for which she won the national lyric writing award. The link as follows:
https://playitstrange.bandcamp.com/album/2021-lion-foundation-songwriting-competition-pink-album

Arts Students
With the current COVID situation students are strongly advised to take their equipment, instruments, folders etc home every night to ensure they have access to these resources if they end up in a "stay-at-home" situation.

Musical Update
The 2022 WHS musical “Footloose” will be postponed until the end of Term 3 because of Covid restrictions. Students and teachers will continue with rehearsals for both cast and band, but musical crews will be organised at a later date. We hope this will ensure that the show will go on in front of a live audience. Students interested in joining a musical crew should join the Performing Arts classroom located on the school website’s extra-curricular page.

New Photography Scholarship Opportunity - The Inaugural De Ruiter Young Photographer of the Year.
This scholarship has been created by DDB Group Aotearoa in memory of Marcel de Ruiter, who passed away in 2020. The scholarship recognises Marcel’s passion for photography and celebrates his legacy and contribution to the DDB whānau. It is open to all Year 9-13 students across Aotearoa and offers $5,000 towards tertiary institution fees or camera and photography hardware to the same value.

To enter, students must submit 1-3 original photographs that best showcase their craft, personal style and potential to: marcelsscholarship@nz.ddb.com by March 21, 2022. Winners will be announced in early April.
Submissions will be judged by a panel that includes DDB Aotearoa Chief Creative Officer Gary Steele, DDB Aotearoa Design Director Carla Shale, DDB Aotearoa Print Producer Julz Lane and Marcel’s daughter Annemieke de Ruiter, who shares her late father’s passion for photography.
For more information visit www.ddb.co.nz/marcel

Careers - Job Vacancies for Students

Gibbston Valley have some great part-time/casual roles available!

We have the following roles up for grabs:

HOUSEKEEPER:
Perform routine duties in cleaning and servicing of guest rooms and property under supervision of Housekeeping Manager/Supervisor.

• Hours: between 8:30am-5pm (shifts will be roughly 5 hours)
• Must be available to work at least one weekend day

GREETER/HOST:
We are looking for a friendly host to greet customers as they enter Gibbston Valley Wine and scan vaccine passes! You will need to be confident talking to people, making them feel welcome.

• Hours: 10am – 5pm
• Must be available to work at least one weekend day

KITCHEN HAND:
As the kitchen hand you will maintain the cleanliness of the kitchen by cleaning dishes and helping chefs where required.

• Hours: 10am – 5pm
• Must be available to work at least one weekend day

Reliable transport and proof of vaccination is essential for these roles!
To apply for the following roles please email you CV through to hr@gibbstonvalley.com
Or call Breslin Graham on 021 023 99004 for more information.

We look forward to hearing from you!

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

Learning to drive can be a stressful experience, not just for the learner but for the parent or coach too.

Waka Kotahi and ACC have teamed up to help educate parents on how to take the stress out of teaching someone to drive. A variety of free tools can be found via https://parents.drive.govt.nz/ to help you brush up on your knowledge or even learn the road rules from scratch.

You’ll also find stories, video tutorials and apps that can help you along the way.