| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES Term 2
Week 1
Wednesday 4th May - BSLA Parent Session 3:15pm-4:00pm - Staffroom
Week 2
Wednesday 11th May - PTA Meeting 7pm - Staffroom
Week 3
Monday 16th May - ChessPower Chess Tournament
Tuesday 17th May - Marae Visit Senior Kapahaka - overnight
Friday 20th May - Pink Shirt Day - Tribe Afternoon
Week 4
Monday 23rd May - Top Bike Competition
Monday 23rd May - Board of Trustees Meeting 5:00pm - Staffroom
Tuesday 24th May - Upper Clutha Rippa Rugby Competition
Thursday 26th May - Family Maths Evening 6:00 - 7:30pm - more in next newsletter
Week 6
Monday 6th June - Queens Birthday - School Closed
Tuesday 7th June - COPSSA Rippa Rugby Competition
Thursday 9th June - WPS Swim Competition
Week 8
Book Week
Friday 24th June - Matariki Holiday - School Closed
Week 10
Friday 8th July - Last Day of Term
First Day of Term 3 Monday 25th July
IMPORTANT NOTICES
Scholastic NZ Brochure
The latest Scholastic NZ brochure is available from classrooms. If you wish to place an order, please follow the instructions on the inside back cover using Option 1 – Credit Card / LOOP. No cash / orders are accepted at school.
If your order is a gift, please tick the ‘GIFT’ option, otherwise all orders are handed out to the children.
Orders will close at 3pm on Wednesday 18th May. |
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Welcome to Term 2 at Wānaka Primary School The sun has been shining and the Autumn colours are at their best to welcome all of our excited and smiling students back to school. It felt strange coming back as I had the last 2 weeks of term 1 away with my daughter who has been unwell (...hooray I am expecting...another grandchild!!!) with her second pregnancy and the school holidays after that. It is so nice to be back in my happy place with our great staff and amazing kids. We have been hearing all of the adventures of children over the holidays at our pick up/drop off areas and it is obvious many of you have taken full advantage of the lovely weather and quality time with your kids. Fingers crossed for a more settled term 2.
Masks are no longer mandatory however the school staff and Board still recommend mask wearing for students in close contact situations inside the class, but this is only our preference given the news that there are more bugs, colds, flus and perhaps more Covid strains out there that may impact over the winter. We have advised staff to wear masks in class to keep themselves free from any bugs lurking around, but your children's wearing of masks is your responsibility as we are not 'policing' the wearing of masks. We will however continue to encourage the usual hand washing, coughing into the elbow, and staying home when unwell or with symptoms of any cold, sniffles, sore throats, flu, Covid etc. We really appreciate your support with this as it has made a huge difference over the last 2 winters. Thanks for your continued vigilance.
Staff Changes Clair Winslade who has been a teacher at Wānaka Primary School for over 10 years has won a full time teaching position at Omarama Primary School and started her new position this week. Congratulations Clair and we wish you the best in your new job. We will miss Clair as not only is she a great teacher but also contributed so much to the PTA and school events, Trail Ride and many of the non-teaching activities at school. She was always so willing to offer her many talents in anyway that she could.
Mel Hewson has started her maternity leave and also leaves us for a year or so, but hopefully we will see her back later next year.
We have Moira Hughes and Kirsty Hendry taking on the positions vacated. Moira will be teaching 2 and a bit days with Kirsty taking on an extra teacher release day. Welcome ladies. We know you will both do an amazing job. It is so great to have a talented pool of teachers as relievers and in fixed term positions.
Better Start Literacy Approach Parent Session We would like to invite parents to come and hear about the Better Start Literacy Approach that Pod 1 and Pod 3 are using in their classrooms and find out about how to use the new books with your child at home.
This approach is supported by the Ministry of Education and developed by Professors Gail Gillon, Brigid McNeill and their team from the Child Well-Being Research Institute and School of Teacher Education at Canterbury University.
When: Wednesday 4th May 3:15pm - 4:00pm
Where: Staffroom
Childcare: There will be staff members to watch whanau in the courtyard whilst you are in the meeting
Seasons for Growth This is a programme that helps support children impacted by loss or grief caused through separation of parents, a change in life circumstances or loss of some form. See more information here.
We have 2 groups starting the term long Seasons for Growth programme next Monday. The junior group is from 9.30 - 10.30 and working with Hannah in Pod 2 and the senior group is working with Mandy Greer, the co-ordinator for Seasons for Growth from REAP, in Pod 6 from 11.15 - 12.15 every Monday.
Parents of children who asked for their child to be placed in this programme have been advised of the details - if you did complete a form and have heard nothing please ring or email Wendy. If you have not filled in a form to register your interest in your child taking part, here is the link and your last chance for this term for your child to take part, it must be submitted by THIS FRIDAY.
St Johns Helen our St John's trainer is in school this week working with our Year 5 and 6 classes. This is a fabulous programme delivered so well by Helen that teaches students emergency and 'need to know' first aid. Thanks Helen. We love having you in school. The cost for this training comes out of your school activity fee.
Marae Visit for Senior Kapahaka Group is all go Our senior kapahaka group are off to an overnight stay at the Puketeraki in Karitane in week 3 of this term. Anne, Coral and Jason (as our male speaker) along with whaea Mary Anne, will be heading away with our group of 35 or so on 17th May, returning the next day. They are busy preparing their waiata and learning about the protocols they will need to know to stay on the marae. They are travelling using our school vans and cars. Thanks to the parents who have volunteered to help with this overnight visit.
Firewise Next week Pods 1 and 3 are working with staff from the Fire Brigade on the Firewise programme which teaches all the skills and understandings children need in case of a fire. We would appreciate parents checking in with children to ask what they have learnt, particularly exit routes and meeting points at your home that may be impacted by fire. Keep an eye out on Seesaw for info about their learning in Firewise.
PTA Meeting - Wednesday 11th May, 7pm in the staffroom Our first face to face PTA meeting is being held in the staffroom on Wednesday 11th May. Everyone is invited to hear what the executive are planning for the year. We have a few 'welcome back to school parents' activities in the melting pot, so watch out for information on these. |
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ChessPower Central Otago Regional Chess Tournament On Monday 16th May, Wānaka Primary School is hosting the annual ChessPower Central Otago Regional Chess Tournament in our school hall. We welcome students from various schools in the Upper Clutha region who compete in three different divisions against each other playing seven games of chess throughout the day. We are recruiting our players for this tournament from our WPS chess club which runs on Fridays in the lunch break in our hall. |
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Southfuels Fuel for Schools Update Fuels for Schools is a uniquely designed sponsorship programme which has helped put over $1.4 million of resources into more than 400 rural schools in the last fourteen years. Wānaka Primary has over the last year or so gained over $800 worth of credits to be used for technology, sports equipment or books. Thank you to Aspiring Earthmoving Ltd, Evergreen Homes & Construction, Mt Aspiring Station Ltd and Whistler Orchards Ltd for your continued support. If you are a bulk fuel purchaser as part of your business we would love you to support us with this programme. 'It's very simple. Customers can nominate a participating school to receive 50 cents for every 100L of bulk fuel they have delivered. So as we keep your wheels turning you are giving back to your local community too. Once a participating school reaches their $1,000 target / goal they can redeem from the variety of technology, sports or literature packages on offer. It’s just that simple. The more people involved and nominating a school the sooner they will be rewarded.' (From the Fuel for Schools website) We are notified every three months of progress towards reaching the goals - help us get to our $1000 target by signing up if you can. |
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Upgrade to Pirate Ship Playground Our much loved pirate ship playground has been enjoyed for many years as it was relocated from our previous school site. This holiday, extensive refurbishments began on the playground to give it a face lift, a new lease of life and to ensure it meets health and safety regulations so that our children can enjoy this playground for years to come. The playground should be open at the end of May, until then there are plenty of great spaces and activities behind Pods 1 and 2 for junior children to play. |
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Thank You THANK YOU to Dulux for their generous donation of paint, and to George Bridgewater for his expertise and time to paint our senior ball wall during the holidays. It is now ready for Pod 8 to unleash their creative talents on...
Pod 8 Screen Printing Creativity Last term, Pod 8 was learning about patterns and transformations. We put our creative minds to thinking of a cool way to show what we learnt.
It started with a beautiful drawing in our art book, then it was transferred to a piece of tracing paper and rotated to make rotational symmetry. After, we carefully traced it onto a clear plastic sheet and cut it out to create a stencil. Then we used a screen printing frame, squeegee and textile ink to transfer our art onto a piece of fabric like t-shirts, pillow cases, etc. By Ruby Hales and Issy Asberg |
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Kindling For Sale We are selling banana boxes of dry pine kindling to fundraise for our girls' and boys' clubs. Support our students and keep your home warm this Winter.
Available to collect from the school office. $10 per box or 2 for $15  A big thank you to Doug from Wood for Good and Dave Collett Contracting for the donation and delivery of the kindling. |
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Positive Behaviour For Learning - PB4L PB4L School-Wide looks at behaviour and learning from a whole-of-school as well as an individual child perspective. The framework is based on international evidence and is helping New Zealand schools build a culture where positive behaviour and learning is a way of life. Each fortnight we focus on a school wide goal to encourage positive behaviours. The current goal is: 'We manage our emotions'. |
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PTA Meeting - Wednesday 11th May, 7pm in the staffroom Our first PTA meeting of the term and first face to face meeting for a while is being held in the school staffroom at 7pm on Wednesday 11th May. Everyone is welcome to attend. |
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Library News 
Ebooks and Audio Books
The Wānaka Public Library has 2 fantastic Ebook Platforms which are highly recommended. All you need is a library membership which is free. Click on the image below to find out more and browse to see what is available: 
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Contact for our local Public Health Nurse Pip McLean is our local Public Health Nurse - should you wish to get in contact with Pip her contact details are: 03 440 4309 or 0272 839 395 or email Pip.McLean@southerndhb.govt.nz |
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NZ Youth Ballet Co. Presents Ripple |
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Meaningful Conversations - A Celebration of Local Youth |
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Mental Wellbeing Workshop |
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| Delicious, nutritious and popular with kids, Subway delivers school lunches every Friday. Order online at subwayexpress.co.nz by 9am. |
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