WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.04 | 25 February 2021

Principal's Message

Kia ora - welcome again to the Wakatipu High School newsletter. It’s been a good week here, with relatively few students or staff away in the last few days, and things feeling relatively normal. The NCEA evening was on Tuesday night, see below if you missed it; Mayor Jim Boult kicked off a great new initiative - the Leadership Speaker Series yesterday morning; and today the staff won the staff versus students touch rugby game on the field :). Once again, teaching and learning has been looking good.

Covid:

• the students and staff identified as close contacts last week returned to school this week, and while we have been informed of a couple of other confirmed cases none of them generated close contacts at school. 
• With over 700 schools now having dealt with cases, that we have got through Phases 1 and 2 with only one event and relatively little disruption has been fantastic, but with case numbers climbing, as per my words last week, we are prepared and ready to deal with increasing numbers of staff and/or students absent.
• Phase 3 does bring some differences - the most significant of which of course is that schools no longer generate close contacts, but some things have not changed: mask-wearing is still required, with the focus now on avoiding transmission. Schools are still awaiting guidance and clarification from the MoE re some Phase 3 matters, and today there has been an announcement re vaccines and school sport which we also await clarification on.
• See below for a great Phase 3 ‘are you a contact’ diagram.
• Key reminders:
• if you are unwell do not come to school (and if you are symptomatic isolate and get tested).
• Please do let us know if your student is confirmed positive.

Learning Engagement (LE) Reports – are important, and the first one for the year will be available on the Portal by this evening. Parents will also receive an email which explains the LE Report and how to access it. 

For new parents, LE Reports come out three times per term and are an important snapshot of your child’s engagement with their learning. We hope that you find them informative and enable you to engage with and support your child’s learning.

For all parents, this LE report is an important indicator of how things are going, and any 2s or 1s should be cause for conversation - with an expectation and strategies for improvement by the next LE report. If students feel they do not know why they have got a certain score then they (rather than parents - in the interests of supporting our students to take responsibility for their learning) should contact their teacher. If you have any technical questions please email reports@wakatipu.school.nz.

Parenting - click here for a link to some great pieces on parenting from the ‘Nine to Noon’ programme on Radio NZ, including re unmotivated boys, and ‘know it all’ and stroppy teens. Parenting is certainly an interesting journey and some of these may be useful.

Greenstone Camp - in its revised one-day format goes ahead next week. At this stage the weather is looking pretty good, and we hope the Year 9 students enjoy and make the most of it.

Finally, a piece of news from me. This week I advised the Board that I will finish up at WHS at the end of the year after 10 years as principal. It has been a carefully-considered decision, and I believe it is a good time to transition to the next principal - the Phase 2 expansion will be complete, the school is performing well, and is financially sound and well-supported, with a strong leadership team - WHS is well-placed to continue to grow and move forward successfully. The Board now has time to select the next principal, which they will do in due course. There will be time to reflect at the end of the year, but for me 2022 is another important year for every student at WHS and it will be business as usual until the end of the year.

Re this, the Chairman, Mr Charlie Phillips, has asked that I include the following words from him:

While there will be time at the end of the year to acknowledge Steve’s immense contribution to our school, I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his outstanding commitment in leading the transformation of WHS into a high-performing New Zealand secondary school. As Steve has mentioned, the school is in great shape and in a perfect position to manage a leadership transition. On behalf of the school, I would like to pass on a sincere and genuine thank you to him.

Another mixed weekend of weather ahead, with some showers tomorrow and Sunday looking better for outdoor activities. Enjoy the last official weekend of summer :)

Steve Hall
Principal

Covid-19 Infographics

NCEA Information Evening

Thanks to all of the parents who attended the virtual NCEA Information evening held on Tuesday. For those parents and students who are new to NCEA, there can be quite a lot of information to take in. We hope that you will look through the information below and discuss with your student and/or contact the school, including subject teachers, Kaiārahi, Deans or SLT, should you have any questions. 

Here is the powerpoint and here is a recording of the evening. Below are some other useful links. 

How NCEA Works - This is a short video that describes standards, credits, internal and external assessment, NCEA Qualifications and Endorsements. As a school, we highly recommend that Year 11 students strive to achieve NCEA Level 1 with either a Merit or Excellence endorsement, as this lays a good foundation for success at NCEA Level 2 and beyond. It is also very important for students to aim for course endorsements, which requires achievement to be from both internal and external assessments. 

NZQA Website - Here you can find information about NCEA as well as subject specific resources, including exemplars of student work. 

Assessment Policy - Each school is responsible for ensuring that robust and quality assured assessments are provided, so that the qualifications and marks that students achieve are consistent across the country. To support this, we have an Assessment Policy that must be adhered to. Students have been explained this policy, and it is important that parents are also somewhat familiar with the policy. 

What's on at Ako time for Year 10's and how can parents help

Hoki mai anō ki te whānau, Welcome back to the family of Year 10 students

It is great to have the year underway and to see all the Year 10 students settling into what many of us describe as a foundation year for future success in NCEA. Certainly a time for our Year 10 students to mature, demonstrate our school values, and step up so to speak in preparation for transition into the senior school. 

This newsletter piece is to give you an update on what Year 10’s are doing, particularly in Ako time so that we can mahi tahi (work together) to support them. As you can imagine, there’s a lot going on at Ako time (silent reading, assemblies, and students wanting to complete certain aspects of their classwork) so it’s always a balancing act of what we focus on. Although we started the year with settling back in and whakawhanaungatanga (building and strengthening relationships with kaiārahi), we have now transitioned into a focus on developing good habits. The specifics of this zoom in on what a student who makes the most of their learning opportunities would do in different situations. 

We are using research based methods on how to create effective habits to show students how they can become more organised and maximise learning. We have started with a particular example to help learn the process: When I get home I will look at what I have tomorrow, reset my school bag and decide when I will complete any homework. This is a short, simple habit that applies to all students and can really help students keep up with their school work and lower anxiety by not letting things get on top of them. You can help with this by talking to your child about what their strategies are for implementing this habit. In time students will focus on a habit of their choosing related to their learning. Knowing your child better than anyone, you might have some suggestions for them to support this. If we can imbed some great learning habits in the junior school, this will support the students as they move into the senior qualifications part of their high school journey - and some skills in how to change habits to support the life they want. 

If you want to read more behind this there are some great podcasts, articles and clips on ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, and ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey (including his teenage version). 

In due course at Ako time, we’ll begin to focus on whakapapa which looks at belonging and finding out about ex-students of WHS and what they’ve achieved. The idea of this being that students can ‘look up to’ and ‘learn’ from their experiences. The likes of Matty McLean, Alice Robinson, and Curtis McGrath are just some of the examples.

Ryan Gilbertson
Acting Deputy Principal

Debating

It is exciting to see so many people sign up for debating at our recent online Co-curricular drive! Developing the ability to logically frame an argument, and consider other points of view at the same time, is a fantastic skill to develop. Now more than ever. More than that though, it is fun and a great way to meet like minded people. We are hoping to engage in inter school debating competitions this year, as well as our ever popular House competitions, and are lucky enough to secure the support of the Otago Debating Association and Southland Debating to support our young debaters.

Our first major session is an online workshop that we can help facilitate here at school, or can be attended online at home. The workshop runs on the 1st of March, running from 4pm until approximately 6pm. For the Zoom link please email krainham@wakatipu.school.nz.

NB :If you were on the fence about joining debating this year, it is not too late! Get in touch!

Karlene Rainham
TIC Debating

Deputy Head Boy Message

Kia ora,

This week has been relatively more tame than last week, we have pretty much the whole school back and things are running as smoothly as possible. Being four weeks into our first Term, work loads and extracurricular activities are starting to ramp up, a reminder to those who have not yet signed up for the link to do so here.

Unfortunately we’ve had another opportunity taken away from us due to Covid, the Year 9 Greenstone Camp which is commonly viewed as a rite of passage camp into high school has been cancelled. Fortunately secondary plans have been arranged with students spending a day inside their House group doing water activities on the Kawaru and the Frankton shore front.

It was a great start to the Leadership - External Speaker Series yesterday morning with Mayor Jim Boult. 40 odd leaders in the theatre or 'zooming' in, including one student who is currently in Italy. Mayor Boult spoke about his eight principles of leadership and told some great stories to drive home those principles. Lots was learned about leadership that will be useful for current and future students leadership teams. A big thanks to Mayor Boult.

The Heads of Councils have been going through all 119 Council applications and we expect to have a response out to all successful applicants sometime soon. The calibre of applicants has been great and the student leaders are stoked with the high levels of uptake.

Over the last two weeks the Sport Council has been running our first House competition of the year - House touch rugby. Hay House won the junior competition with Duncan coming in second and Fox won the senior competition with Mackenzie coming in second place. We are in the process of finalising all of our House competitions so keep an eye on your emails to make sure you don’t miss out.

I hope that everyone’s first month of school has gone well, and you’re all looking forward to the next week of the Term.

Sam Davis
Deputy Head Boy

Summit Challenge - 1st to 31st March

Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust is challenging you to climb your own Everest during March. Click on the link below!

It would be great to see students and staff reaching their own summit (it can be Aoraki Mount Cook or Everest or even higher!) -  note you are welcome to go 'solo' or as a 'team'.

Pick your challenge - Accept the challenge and register yourself today. Get your very own fundraising page and start clocking up vertical metres!

Make a difference - Get your family and friends to sponsor your challenge and raise money for the remote mountain communities of the Everest region.

From mentalhealth.org.nz: Physical activity has a huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. All forms of physical activity rate highly when it comes to promoting good health and mental wellbeing. 

Kia kaha and join the Summit Challenge in March!
Guillaume Charton (DGCH)

Arts News and Information

Y9 BAND HUB
We are in the process of planning our Y9 Band Hub sessions that occur after school 1-2 days a week depending on interest. This is an opportunity for students who wish to be in bands to meet other like-minded students and work with a tutor for 4-5 weeks in Term 1.  By the end of these sessions, students will have a better idea of who they want to work with in specific bands which will then get underway in Term 2.

2022 Musical Crews Sign Up
Please complete the form below if you would like to be considered for a crew in the WHS 2022 Musical. The Musical will be held in Week 9 of Term 3. Students must think of availability when filling out this interest form. 
Some crews will be chosen earlier than others so they can begin preparing. If you are interested in costume, set design or set building then you will be contacted in Term 1. Other crews won't start up until Term 3. Thanks for your interest to be involved in "Footloose" the Musical.
https://forms.gle/VZDPUzVji2KrLdiT9

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

Sports and Active Recreation News

House Touch Competition
It has been many years since WHS has run a House touch competition and it was awesome to see it back over the past two weeks. A combination of great weather and the need for students to be outside at the moment provide a nice atmosphere and some good crowds for games. Well done to the Hay House Juniors and Fox House Seniors who took out the top points.

Senior students suffered a close loss in the staff vs students game this morning. While students were the fan-favourites, the final score was 2-3 with an impressive final try from the staff in the last minutes of the game. Thanks to all who took part!

Results are below.

Junior Final: Hay v Duncan: Hay won 4-1
Junior 3rd playoff: Mackenzie v Arthur: Mackenzie won 3-0
Senior Final: Fox v Mackenzie: Fox won 2-0
Senior 3rd playoff: Hay v Arthur: Arthur won 2-1
Final rankings:
JUNIORS
1. Hay
2. Duncan
3. Mackenzie
4. Arthur
5. Fox
SENIORS
1. Fox
2. Mackenzie
3. Arthur
4. Hay
5. Duncan

Otago Southland Water Ski Championships
Some awesome results from Poppy Wearing who represented WHS at the Otago/Southland Water Ski Champs at Perkins Pond on Sunday. Poppy placed 5th in the 16 and under girls category and was awarded Most Improved Skier of the Day. Poppy also got a PB of 6 buoys (the whole course). Well done Poppy!

Round 5 MTB NZ Downhill Series
The fifth and final round of the MTB NZ Downhill series took place in Nelson over the weekend where two WHS students, who have competed in all races, completed their campaigns. Congratulations to Malik Boatwright who finished up second in the U15 Men's division in Nelson. Malik was also crowned the overall U15 series champion. Josh Bonnar finished 7th in the U19 race and awaits his final overall placing from the series. We wish all of our riders the very best for the upcoming National Downhill MTB Champs in Christchurch this weekend.

ILT Southland Tennis Teams Championships
A huge congratulations to Finn Almog and Kaito Lamond, and Tristan Walker and Wilem Wikstrom who competed at the Southland Tennis Champs in Invercargill on Wednesday. It was a great day of tennis, with Finn and Kaito placing 7th. Well done all!

Central Otago Volleyball Begins
The WHS A and B girls volleyball teams got a bit of game time under their belts this week with matches against themselves and Mt Aspiring College on Sunday. The A’s beat the B’s 3-0 before losing to MAC 3-1. They were great training games with plenty of positives moving forward. On Thursday the Girls B and C teams played each other in the first round of the Central Otago Senior Volleyball competition. Senior B won 3-0 with some close sets.

Social Tennis has Begun
Social tennis is the first in a number of social sport opportunities being offered to students at WHS this term and it was all go for the first session on Monday afternoon. It was great to see some of our junior students out enjoying the sun and keeping active. A huge thank you to Mrs Box for running these sessions. Make sure to keep an eye out for more social sport opportunities as they pop up throughout the year!

Opportunities for Sport/Activity

Coaches Wanted - Netball, Rugby, Hockey
As always we are looking for volunteer coaches to help us realise our vision of growing better people through sport and active recreation. Coaches play an incredibly vital role in the lives of our rangitahi. If you are interested in getting involved, we would love to hear from you! Below are Expression of Interest forms for different sports that are seeking coaches for the winter season, you do not need to have heaps of prior experience, especially if you are keen on the development and participation space. Like all clubs we rely solely on volunteers to help us deliver sport to our students.  Please complete these if you are wanting to be involved this year.
Netball: https://forms.gle/oFmWj2keRFwFaGLT9
Hockey: https://forms.gle/1NgDg8Jeue4JUuTSA
Rugby: https://forms.gle/c3k9JqJsJNL6CoRC7

Strong Girls Bootcamp
Lauren from Snap Fitness is running a 6-week Strong Girls bootcamp. Join her on a Tuesday and Thursday morning for a fun and educational strength training session. Learn about the different compound exercises, correct form cues and how they can be implemented into everyday life; while building confidence in and outside of the gym. All fitness and experience and levels welcome! More information is on the flyer below. Please email nzlaurenmac21@gmail.com to express your interest by the 12th of March.

Junior Social Touch Starts Tuesday
The WHS junior social touch module will get underway on Tuesday 1st March and run for six weeks. Teams and a draw have been sent out via google classroom and email today. See you there!

WHS Hockey Sign Ups
Please register your interest to play hockey this winter through this form. This opportunity is open to anyone who is interested in playing competitive or social hockey and there is an alternative to Cromwell based hockey on offer in Queenstown this year. A great opportunity to get involved if you are a beginner or want to play socially. The form closes on Thursday 3rd March with further details around team selection processes for competitive players to be communicated the following week.  

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

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.

Careers - Job Vacancies for Students

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.