WHS Newsletter | Issue 1.07 | 25 March 2022

Principal's Message

Kia ora and welcome to the Wakatipu High School newsletter at the end of Week 8, another short week.

I’m going to open with a brief word on a matter that some of you may have been aware of, which is that yesterday a junior student made a serious threat. We engaged the police this morning to address the matter.

I trust that you have all read my Covid Update email sent earlier this afternoon. As I noted, while rostering home is working well in the circumstances we are very aware that this whole situation is impacting students’ learning and education. While we are disappointed to be rostering home again for all of next week we continue to do our best in these challenging times. We encourage students who are not sick to ensure that they do the work that is set on their rosterded home days - it should not be a day off school. A reminder re the rostering home days next week:

• Mon 28/3 - Yr 9
• Tues 29/3 - Yr 10
• Wed 30/3 - Yr 11
• Thurs 31/3 - Yr 13
• Fri 1/4 - Yr 12

Our fingers are very crossed that we will be able to have everyone back at school in Week 10.

Some Covid reminders:

• Please let us know if your student is positive or isolating or absent via the WHS App or attendance@wakatipu.school.nz.
• If your student is unwell please do not send them to school.

School Goals - if you do happen to be in the foyer, which I know far fewer than normal of you are these days, you will see that our plinth has been updated with our 2022 school goals. There is a long process to set the goals and targets each year, which includes reviewing last year’s results, considering our strategic objectives and considering the cohorts (students) for each year level. Once again, in the spirit of enabling our students to achieve their best possible qualification, we have some ambitious goals for 2022 and we are doing our best to support them to achieve them.

Junior Next Steps (Parent-Teacher-Student) - meetings are on next week. Hopefully junior parents have made a booking with their student’s Kaiārahi (Ako teacher). These meetings are very important and we do expect all junior parents to attend (see below).

Bullying Prevention - as well as our academic goals we have other strategic priorities for 2022, one of which is bullying prevention. We have taken expert advice on the steps to take to reduce and prevent bullying at WHS. These include reviewing and improving our processes around bullying (which include reporting, prevention, intervention, monitoring), and increasing awareness re bullying in the whole school community. As part of this, this week we sent out the first (after last year’s pilot) termly survey of students re bullying. In due course we will update you re this area.

Sports Website - an exciting development for us this year is the launch of our new sports website. Based on a powerful platform, the new site really is now the one-stop shop for all things sport, including draws and results, registration, payments, information on various sports and how to get involved. Sport is an integral part of our great all-round education and we have invested in this website as we think it  is going to be a real asset to support students participation in sport - click here to check it out!   

A great newsletter below including links to the recent NCEA Level 2 with Excellence parent evening, House competition results and upcoming events, a great piece from Lead Prefect Ivy Barker, including wellbeing tips, as well as an opportunity to input to the MoE’s consultation on students with high needs, and in our Community Notices opportunities to learn Te Reo and support Neurodiverse students.

Next week is summer tournament week, and despite Covid and its impacts, we do still have some students going to compete in a range of regional and national competitions, including rowing, golf volleyball, touch and bowls - we wish them safe travels and all the very best!

A really nice late summer weekend of weather ahead - I hope you are able to make the most of it before daylight saving ends next week. Take care :)

Steve Hall
Principal

Junior Next Steps

Junior Next Steps meetings are coming up in the week starting 28 March and this year, will be held virtually through Google Meet.

The meetings are for Year 9 and 10 students only and are an important opportunity for parents and students to meet virtually with their Kaiārahi for 10 minutes. The discussion will centre around how the year has started, as well as their goals, Learning Engagement Reports, Progress and Achievement Grades and involvement in extra and co-curricular activities. This is a really important opportunity to connect with the school and Kaiārahi and all parents are strongly encouraged to attend.

To make a booking please go to https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/uzxjc

Bookings will close at midday Monday 28 March.

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Mackenzie who were crowned as champions of the inaugural House spelling bee competition on Tuesday last week. It was a battle of the titans between Arthur and Mackenzie in the final but ultimately Mackenzie took the win. Duncan ended in third, followed by Fox, and with Hay taking home the coveted wooden spoon. All eyes now turn to our new 'Relay for Life' even and the House wearable arts extravaganza towards the end of the term.

On the overall standings front we have Mackenzie in the lead (12 points) followed by Arthur (9) and then a log jam of Duncan, Fox, and Hay all on 8 points.

Learning Languages - Ngā Reo Languages Learning Area

Monolingualism can be cured!
Life is too short to learn only one language.
Here at Wakatipu High School we believe that the ability to speak more than one language is an asset to the individual, our community and the world at large. Many adults who know only one language often lament the fact that they never had an opportunity to learn another language. Monolingualism can be cured! With so many languages and experts in our Kura there is definitely no excuse to not discover other languages, and to not embrace them and being able to become confident in speaking and understanding other languages and their cultures. Learning languages is an amazing super power!

Mr Guillaume Charton - HOLA Languages 

Ed Perfect Languages Championships 2022 - Amazing Results
HUGE congrats to all the students who took part in the 2022 Ed Perfect Languages Championships last week, there was sweat, laughter, dedication and all of this in the name of learning languages, so a big bravo the 298 student who competed this year.

Numbers speaks louder, and this year students answered a staggering  111,426 questions and spent over 240 hours on this championship. Thanks to students' motivation our school finished 8th out 109 schools in its category.

The list is long and therefore we will congratulate here those who have received a credit, bronze, silver or gold award. Hat off to Ben Jordan for being the Wakatipu High School winner for this year with 4011 points, Oscar Childs (2nd place) and Holly Gane (3rd place).

Learning about Japanese Culture
In Year 10 Japanese, students have been learning about clothes in Japanese and were given the opportunity to try on a traditional summer kimono called a yukata in class. Freddie and George are modelling the yukata, with Dom, Cooper, Jed and Dylan acting as assistants to dress them with the obi (belt). 

Miss Juliette Cooke - Teacher of Japanese.

NCEA Level 2 with Excellence - Parent Evening

On Thursday 17 March we held an information evening for parents of Year 12's wanting to support their child achieve NCEA Level 2 with Excellence. While we had a great turnout, we are aware that a number of parents had other commitments and could not attend. Please find below a summary of the key discussion points, a copy of the slideshow and a recording of the Google Meet session.

Overview

• Why the focus on Level 2 with Excellence?
• Review of NCEA and how an Excellence endorsement is achieved
• Brief review of 2021 Y11 results
• Students - What they can / should be doing
• WHS - What we are / will be doing to support students
• Home - What parents / caregivers can do to support students
• The impact of COVID
• Q&A
  

Justine Duncan
Assistant Principal

Relay For Life

Thousands of rangatahi / young people across Aotearoa are impacted by cancer each year, whether it’s their own diagnosis or that of an immediate family member. 

Next Friday 1st April at 12pm, our new House event will kick off. The 'Relay For Life' is an inspiring experience that gives everyone a chance to celebrate/whakanui cancer survivors and carers; remember/maumaharatia loved ones lost to cancer; and fight back/tū atu by raising awareness and funds for the Cancer Society. 

The event will start at break 2 with Houses facing off in a junior and then senior (and staff) 4 × 100 metre relay followed by the inaugural laps of the relay for life. The event will run until 4.30pm that same afternoon so that you can join and run laps for your house after school. Apologies but due to Covid restrictions no external visitors or parents are allowed at the event.

Dress in your House colours, it’s a mufti day and bring a gold coin to Ako time in the morning to support the cause. Our aim as a school is to raise at least $1,500 for the Cancer Society. If you would like to make a donation to support this fantastic cause or a student walking or running laps on Friday then please access this link below to our Wakatipu High School 'Relay For Life Profile'.

Ryan Gilbertson
Acting Deputy Principal l Kaihāpai Māori

Student Highest Learning Needs Consultation

In October last year the Ministry of Education announced that it would be reviewing supports for children and young people with the highest level of learning support need. This is part of their ongoing commitment to ensuring all children and young people can access high-quality education and receive the support they need to succeed in education. 

The purpose of the review is to ensure that children and young people, and their families, whānau and aiga, receive the right learning support they need, when they need it, and for as long as they need it. The scope will focus on children and young people from early childhood through to the end of secondary schooling.

At this stage of the review the Ministry are now seeking feedback and online submissions from the school community. Submissions can be made via their portal at link below. The link to the portal will remain open until 31 March 2022.

It is important that as many people as possible know about the Highest Needs Review so they can engage and share their opinions on how the services provided to children and young people can be improved.  We encourage you to have your say by making an online submission at the link below.

For more information on the review please visit: https://conversation.education.govt.nz/conversations/highest-needs-review/

Lead Prefect Message

Kia ora everyone, 

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. Coming back from the extra extended weekend, we continue adapting to the ‘new normal’ with students rostering home, mask-wearing and continuing to learn the best ways to overcome the challenges of these unusual times. We are still taking in all that the first term of 2022 has to offer, and despite some curveballs, usual school activities are continuing to proceed in full swing. Extracurricular and Council-led activities are starting to fill up our weeks as the end of the first term approaches. 

The Spelling bee has come to a thrilling close after an exciting past couple of weeks. Drawing in lots of attention from each of the five houses, they battled their way for the top spot and being named the 2022 Spelling Bee Champions. Throughout the competition, five students from each house would meet in the theatre to compete against another house. As the rivalry between the five houses carried on throughout the past weeks, they all fought their way to the finals. Last week, Duncan and Fox faced off for third and fourth while Mackenzie and Arthur went neck to neck for the top spot. Both the semi-finals and the finals were something to watch! The houses put their best students forward determined to get the victory for their House. As the finals finished off the 2022 Spelling Bee came to an end, Mackenzie took the win, Arthur 2nd, Duncan 3rd, Fox 4th and finally Hay in 5th. Well Done to Mackenzie! 

On April 1st, we will be hosting a ‘Relay For Life’ to celebrate/whakanui cancer survivors and carers; remember/maumaharatia loved ones lost to cancer; and fight back/tū atu by raising awareness and funds for the Cancer Society'. From 12 pm - 4:30 pm, students will be encouraged to take part in fundraising by walking/running around our school's field. While the relay is Wakatipu High School’s way of showing support, house points will also be given out to students participating in the relay. Added to this, the school will have its first mufti day for 2022. With a goal of $1,500, it would be great if all students joined in supporting this worthy cause. Whether it's bringing a gold coin donation and dressing up in your house colours for the day, or joining friends and participating in the relay, anything that you can do to help show support for the Cancer Society will be greatly appreciated. 

With these very unusual times, keeping up with your wellbeing is essential. This year the school will be following the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ model: Connect, Give, Be Active, Keep Learning and Take Notice. If you are having to isolate for seven days, keeping up with these five methods can help you make the most of the uncertain times. Connect, by reaching out to friends and family you haven’t talked to in a while, here and overseas. Give support to others in your household or beyond who are affected by the virus and be grateful for the good things around you. Be active, by going on daily walks, or home-based gym or yoga routines, refreshing your mind and body. Keep Learning with your school work and aim to learn something new each day, a language, cooking, games, art, a hobby or sport. Take notice of what's happening around you, as well as in friends' and families' worlds, and make self care a priority. 

That's all from me! Hope you are all well, take care of yourself and others. 

Enjoy your weekend. 

Ivy Barker
Wellbeing Lead Prefect 

Sport and Active Recreation News

New WHS Sports Website
Today we are excited to launch our new sports website that is jam packed with great information for students and parents about all things related to sports and active recreation. It is a one stop shop for information on each sport, getting involved, draws and results, registration, payments and more. We encourage everyone to take the time to check it out and become familiar with the site: https://www.sporty.co.nz/wakatipu

Summer Tournament Week
Summer tournament week has been significantly scaled back this year due to COVID but we are very pleased that a number of our teams and athletes are still able to compete next week. We wish the following teams and competitors all the very best for their competitions. Kā Mauka Whakatipu!
Rowing - Maadi Cup 
Volleyball - Senior A and B Girls - South Island Satellite Tournament
Touch - Mixed A Team - Otago Champs
Golf - Southland Champs 
Lawn Bowls - Southland Champs

SISS Rowing Champs
The WHS rowers put on an awesome performance at the South Island Secondary School Champs in Twizel from 11th-13th March. WHS finished runners up to Rangi Ruru in the Points Bell competition, an incredible achievement with 36 schools in attendance. The whole squad had a great time and enjoyed themselves immensely. A massive thank you to the Whakatipu Rowing Club, parent volunteers and the coaching team. Congratulations to the following  medal winners:
Gold:
Boys U17 Single Sculls - Marley King Smith
Boys U16 Coxed Quad - Toby Rorrison, Marley King Smith, Ashton White, Logan Noton & Emily Howick
Boys U17 Double - Sam McAtamney & Marley King Smith
Boys U18 Novice Double - Xavier Small & Keegan Green
Boys U17 Coxed Quad - Sam McAtamney, Marley King Smith, Will Donovan, Tiwai Saxton & Emily Howick 
Boys U16 Single Sculls - Ashton White
Silver:
Girls U18 Double Sculls - Neve Bates & Olivia Key 
Boys U16 Double Sculls - Toby Rorrison & Ashton White
Girls U18 Coxed Quad - Keely Erskine, Olivia Key, Neve Bates, Phoebe Cavanagh & Emily Howick 
Bronze:
Girls U15 Coxed Four - Molly Shuttleworth, Lucy Clark, April Bentley, Maddie Harvey & Katie Battrick
Girls U15 Octuple Sculls - Kate Woods, Pippa McAtamney, Molly Shuttleworth, Lucy Clark, April Bentley, Tessa Phillips, Emma Andrew, Evie Snow & Emily Howick

Junior World Freeski Success
Former WHS student, Ruby Andrews blew the world away with her win in the Slopestyle event at the Junior World Freeski Champs two weeks ago, a magnificent achievement for Ruby as she has suffered a number of injury setbacks over the past two years. Year 12 student Harper Souness finished 5th in the Slopestyle final and was the top kiwi finisher amongst a very high level of competition, suprising even himself. Harper also placed 16th in the Junior World Big Air finals amongst Olympians and World Cup finalists. He also competed in the Europa Cup last week in Laax and will finish with his European trip with a solid focus on training until mid April. Congratulations Harper!

Girls Cricket
The Girls 1st XI Cricket team played against Dunstan High School last Tuesday afternoon at the Event Centre. With the Gillette Venus Cup being postponed until Term 4 and constant COVID disruption it is important the team is able to play whenever the opportunity presents itself. It was a close match and unfortunately WHS fell three runs shy of DHS on this occasion. Thanks very much to our dedicated coach Simon Wilkinson for leading the team over the past four weeks.

Southland Swimming Champs
The Southland Secondary School Swimming Championships took place on Sunday the 13th of March in Invercargill. There was some awesome action in the pool with Year 9 students Finn Henderson and Avril Song participating as exhibition swimmers. Although their times didn't officially count, Finn and Avril had a lot of fun and raced well, with Finn's 50m Fly time ranking him 2nd. Some awesome interschool teamwork was also on display with Finn and Avril joining Menzies College students Dylan and Sophie for the relays. The combined team placed 2nd in the free relay and 3rd in the medley. Great work team!

Get2Go National Finals Video
Hillary Outdoors has produced an awesome video of the National Get2Go finals that Wakatipu High School competed in and won for the first time in January this year. It is a great summary of the incredible experiences, opportunities and learnings that took place across the five days at the Tongariro Outdoor Pursuits Centre. It has some great snippets from our very own Abby Fookes. Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvomHL5RJiU

Boys Boxing Session
It was great to have Rob from Industrial Fitness come in to run a taster boxing session for boys last Tuesday. This provided an opportunity for students to have a go at a new sport and a pathway to youth boxing sessions at Industrial Fitness for those keen to pursue it further for fitness or as a sport. The session for girls is taking place on Tuesday 5th April after school. Feel free to also join the Boxing Google Classroom with the code: hvo3yng.
Girls Taster Session: Tuesday 5th April 3:30-4:30pm in dance studio 
Registration Form: https://forms.gle/N182NqtHRFPq7pnw9

Opportunities Available to Get Involved

Friday Night Basketball Registrations are Open
Registrations are now open for the Queenstown Basketball Friday Night Social Competition. These opened this morning and spaces are limited due to facility availability. If you are keen to play in this league, please click the link to register: https://qjbc.wordpress.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

Arts News & Information

The Youthtown Songwriting Competition - Aotearoa
This annual competition is open and organisers are keen to receive entries from Year 9, 10 & 11 songwriting students.  There will be at least 65 finalists chosen to record their song professionally in a recording studio.  The mastered tracks will go on all platforms including Spotify and Bandcamp.  Come one board!!  Here is the link with all the details therein.
https://www.playitstrange.org.nz/competitions-3/competition-info/youthtown-songwriting-competition-2022

ROCKQUEST
New Zealand's nationwide, live, original music, youth event giving young musicians the opportunity to perform live in a professional setting, in venues from Northland to Southland. Information is out and entries are open. 
https://www.smokefreerockquest.co.nz/

Itinerant Music Lessons
These are now all up and running and students involved should have the times in their calendars so they are in the right place at the right time. There is still some space in brass/woodwind instruments but at this point, any additional students wanting guitar or drum lessons will need to be on a waiting list.

Artist of the week: Jade Symons Year 11 6ARD
Jade has recently completed a series of fantastic sculptures for our 6ARD course. Jade sculpts all his figures from plasticine and is beginning to transform these figures into a photographic form. He has amazing skills and it is a real pleasure working with him in the Arts space. Well done Jade, what a fantastic start to this course.

Let Us Know
The Arts department would like to know about any artistic achievements that students have attained outside of school be it in drama, dance, music or visual arts. Please send through details and photos to mparker@wakatipu.school.nz

Support the Arts
are always looking for local professional performing and visual artists to visit our school and run workshops for our students. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact Monica Parker the Arts Coordinator at mparker@wakatipu.school.nz

Instagram Page
Follow our school’s Instagram page for recent successes or news within the school’s Arts Department at whsartdepartment

INZONE Careers Bus

The INZONE Careers Coach is a rolling careers expo, which provides a unique delivery method for the latest industry and training information. With its sides expanded, the Careers Coach creates an interactive presentation showcasing New Zealand industry training organisations, tertiary institutions aswell as information on New Zealand's defence forces.

Our Year 11 students were lucky enough to access this careers resource as a result of some generous sponsorship from the Ministry of Social Development. Logging into the kiosks using their cell phones, our students were able to  access videos and other information for careers, including tertiary education or apprenticeship pathways. If students clicked 'yes' they would like further information after watching the videos they automatically receive an automated txt showcasing the organizations website details and any affiliated scholarships. 

We hope that this experience will help to spark some ideas, further research and conversations over the dinner table!

Tertiary Liaison - Online Information Sessions

Year 13 students are invited to attend online information sessions from tertiary institutions around the country. These sessions are being held over the next few weeks. To see the schedule, register and join in on the meetings please visit the link below.

Careers - Job Vacancies for Students

Weekend work in Housekeeping, one day or two. Wanting to work the school holidays?   Flexible with number of days per week. $21.50 per hour.

Send your CV to Catherine -  h5308-hr1@accor.com

Harbour Fish is looking for a senior student to work part-time at our Frankton store. The job is every Saturday. A weekday afternoon and extra work in school holidays are also available. Please touch base with a little about yourself if you’re interested via queenstown@harbourfish.co.nz or drop your CV into the Frankton store at 9 McBride St.

Holiday Employment Opportunity
Calling all Year 13 Students who are looking for holiday work over the April school holidays.
Mana Tāhuna is looking to employ additional people during the school holidays to help plant new trees at Lake Hayes. A great opportunity to be a part of a three year project to plant natives, restore wetlands and make Lakes Hayes swimmable again!
You must be:

• Able to operate effectively and respectfully within a kaupapa Māori environment.
• Committed to maintaining a high safety standard in all aspects of work.
• Interested in achieving positive environmental outcomes.
• Fit, active and able to sustain long periods working in a variety of environments and outdoor
  conditions.
• Able to provide sturdy footwear with good tread and ankle support

We are offering:

• Employment starting on Tuesday April 19, ending Friday April 29. Days are Monday to Friday.
• Hours are from 8am to 4:30 pm, with two 15-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute unpaid meal break.
• Pay rate is $22.75 per hour

Please email Sarah Mukai, Environmental Projects Manager - Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust,
sarah.mukai@manatahuna.co.nz

WHS Foundation

Community Notices

Te reo Māori lessons for whānau

Our amazing kaiako Māori, Whaea Emily Chirnside is running some te reo Māori lessons for whānau every Tuesday from 4.30 - 5.30pm at the BuzzStop Cafe on Hansen Road if you're keen to brush up on your reo. All welcome, $15 per session for adults but no charge for bringing tamariki and rangatahi. For more information please email Tracy Cameron: tracy@icanmodels.com 

Kia ora

During this current outbreak of Covid19 as numbers increase and families are isolating we are trying to assist as much as possible. Did you know our Libraries team offer a click-and-collect service of books specially selected to match your tastes?

For those unable to visit the physical library we have set up our Click and Collect system My Book Bag. This service is available to all adult and junior patrons. Holds/reserves and My Book Bag items can be collected from your local QLDC library – please visit our library website: https://codc-qldc.govt.nz/services/queenstown-lakes-mybookbag   or telephone your home branch library when we contact you to advise your item(s) is/are available and arrange a collection time.

To view in-library collections :

New adult fiction
New adult non-fiction
New Movies
New Children’s

Otherwise the catalogue is an excellent browsing tool for subjects and genres to choose from. Our digital offerings remain freely available to all library members 24/7.

To view eLibrary collections and platforms:

Films/movies
eBooks and eAudiobooks
Magazines and newspapers
Online learning platforms
Tutorials to access eServices

Printing services can also be accessed at most libraries by sending your print job to your home library email contact as below. Special arrangements may be in place regarding print jobs, payment and pickup. Please enquire at your local library.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need assistance with memberships – joining or renewal, help to access our eLending or general enquiries regarding our libraries.

Queenstown.library@qldc.govt.nz 03 441 0600
Frankton.library@qldc.govt.nz 03 441 3680
Wanaka.library@qldc.govt.nz 03 44 30410
Hawea.library@qldc.govt.nz 03 443 9371
Arrowtown.library@qldc.govt.nz 03 442 160