| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES
Term 3
Week 1
Dance week for all classes
Friday 30th July - Dance Performances - times below
Friday 30th July - Red Nose Mufti Day
Week 3
Thursday 12th August - First Snow / EOTC Day
Friday 13th August - Teacher Only Day - School Closed
Week 4
Monday 16th August - Chess Tournament - Hall
Thursday 19th August - Snow / EOTC Day 2
Friday 20th August - Pod 3 Assembly 2:15pm - Hall
Week 5
Thursday 26th August - Snow / EOTC Day 3
Week 6
Thursday 2nd September - Snow / EOTC Day 4
Friday 3rd September - Fathers Day Breakfast
Friday 3rd September - Pod 1 Assembly 2:15pm - Hall
IMPORTANT NOTICES
Dance Performances - Friday 30th July in the Hall
Performance One - 1:30 - 2:10pm - Pods 1, 2, 4 and 8
Performance Two - 2:10 - 2:50pm - Pods 3, 5 and 7
Snow Day Procedure If snow occurs overnight, a decision regarding school closure, or a delayed start, will be made in the morning – we will notify you by the following methods: - Radio Wanaka – 92.2FM
- Our school website – home page
- Bulk email
- Our School App
If the school closes during the day due to snow, we will notify you via the methods above – please refrain from phoning the office. Buses will not run. Children can be collected and signed out from their classrooms where they will remain under the supervision of a teacher. If you are personally unable to collect your child, then other arrangements should be made for collection.
If a parent wishes to have someone that is recorded as an emergency contact collect their child, the pick up person should go to the classroom, provide identification (if not known to the teacher) and sign the child out.
Now is a good time to consider your emergency contacts and ensure that the office has recorded the details of at least two people, living locally, who you trust to collect your child if the school closes due to snow. |
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School Review Over the next 4 weeks our school will be collecting data, perceptions and opinions from students, parents and teachers as part of our school review process. To do this we are using two student surveys, one parent survey and a teacher survey.
The first student survey, based on collecting student perspectives of their engagement in learning and the quality of the learning opportunities they have experienced, has been developed by the New Zealand Council of Education Research (NZCER). All Year 4-6 students will complete this survey online and NZCER produces graphs and summaries of the results. This survey will be administered in the next 3 weeks.
The second student survey has been developed to gather data on how well our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) framework has impacted on how safe, happy and engaged children feel at school. This has been developed by our own PB4L team. All students from Year 0-6 will be asked these questions, in different ways according to their class level or pod group.
The parent survey has been designed to seek data on how parents perceive student engagement, teacher interactions with staff and with parents, teaching quality, school processes and students feeling safe and happiness levels at school. This survey has been put together using suggested consultation questions by NZCER and ERO. There will be questions about resourcing, learning areas, curriculum coverage and how satisfied parents feel overall with school performance. Once again this survey is focused on the learning and teaching aspects of school.
The teacher survey is also an NZCER developed survey which has online analysis of results. This is a TSP (Teacher, School and Principal Leadership) survey which encourages teachers (and we have included our teacher aides as well) to reflect on the quality of teaching practices, student wellbeing, student support, school leadership, and the level of impact of the learning environment and culture we are providing, on student learning, achievement, wellbeing and happiness and success at school. Teachers are already working on these at the moment.
This time the surveys are all focused on teaching, learning and leadership. We hope to have all the survey information completed within 4-5 weeks so we can spend the next couple of weeks analysing the data which will be written up by the leadership team, with the Board and will of course also be shared with our school community. ERO are also working in the school this year to review our performance and compliance (e.g. legislation, health and safety, etc) and the survey data will be shared with them as well.
Parent Consultation for Strategic Planning to cover the next 3 years Parents will be given the opportunity to give feedback on processes and procedures, school goals and strengths and development areas of the school, in order to prepare a strategic plan to move us forward over the next three years. Added to this we will also be holding meetings or discussions with parents to further unpack some of the info gained from this strategic planning survey. As a Board we are required to consult in depth with our parent community, staff and students, to develop goals and aspirations for the school, every 3 years.
So watch out for these opportunities to help us build our school performance to ensure all of our children are offered the best learning environment, learning opportunities, the most fitting dispositions, skills, values and competencies to prepare them all with a futures approach so our children can flourish in a rapidly changing, uncertain world.
Recapitation As promised last term, after our 2 parent meetings regarding Recapitation, we have information regarding the benefits of transition to MAC of students at Year 9, rather than Year 7. Eighty parents in total attended the meetings to discuss recapitation and the majority affirmed they wanted the Board to continue to seek the retaining of future Year 7 and 8 students within the full primary setting. More information was sought through reading, research and talking to experts such as Nathan Wallis. Please find the information here. |
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Welcome Back Welcome back to term 3 everyone. The staff have all reported a very relaxing holiday and many children I greeted yesterday morning said they are happy to be back to school. We have been delighted to welcome 31 new students to school, 3 of these are new entrants, with 9 permanent children enrolling and 18 enrolments of children with families coming to Wānaka for a term of skiing experience. We also have some of our Aussie neighbours choosing to be in Wānaka until the Lockdown over there is lifted or the travel situation improves. Our current roll is 589 students.
Dance Week A reminder that this week is Dance Week and Mark from the Dance Company is here again (we love Mark) working with all pods on a couple of dance routines which involve the whole pod performing at the same time. So make sure you keep this Friday free to come and have a look at your child's dance performance. The timing of the dance performances are below. We had so many parents come along last year to watch so make sure you turn up on time. If you miss out on your child's performance you may be in big trouble when they get you home or on your own! I love dance week, the children love dance week and it is so great to see students get up there and enjoy performing their dance. Thanks to teacher Anne Jenkins for organising this again for us this year. And thanks Mark for being so awesome in what you do.
Dance Performance One - 1:30 - 2:10pm - Pods 1, 2, 4 and 8
Dance Performance Two - 2:10 - 2:50pm - Pods 3, 5 and 7
Red Nose Day Also on Friday it is our Red Nose Day to raise funds for research into a wide range of health conditions to improve, extend and save the lives of children in Aotearoa. Everyone has been invited to wear something red on Friday and bring a gold coin donation. Please make sure whatever children wear, particularly on their feet, is suitable for their dance performances the same day.
Maths Over the next few weeks pods are working with our Maths Specialist, Viv Thompson, to enhance the teaching of maths. Each pod has identified areas they would like more learning in and Viv is very pragmatic in that she provides lots of good ideas about practical maths pedagogy as well as resources, games, and tools for teachers to use to keep maths interesting with a bit of challenge for students as well. With the reading PLD and the maths PLD provided this year we are keeping the staff updated on what a quality maths programme looks like.
Check Out BOARD BUZZ in newsletter Check out the Board Buzz as over the next 4-5 weeks we are asking parents, students and teachers to complete a survey to provide us with perceptions, observations and data as part of our 2021 school review process. This year our review is targeting teaching and learning and school culture. Once all of the surveys are in and analysed we will provide a comprehensive report for parents.
Property Projects At the moment we have 3 projects which are up for tender (on GETS MoE tender site) and will most likely start in term 4. The Ministry of Education is providing the funding to reclad the exterior of Pods 1 to 6 and the administration block and part funding the hall as it is Board owned. This is because the Shadow Clad has deteriorated and it is greatly at risk of making the buildings leaky-buildings. So there may be a bit of disruption. Whoever gets the tender will aim to get a lot of the work done in the holidays. However we will also have to shift students and teachers out of their pods into one of our spare pods for 6 weeks or so, to allow their own pods to be reclad. We will have a clear plan in place once we know our preferred tenderer. At the same time the outdoor learning spaces, our Maker Spaces, will be built - this may or may not be the builder who wins the GETS tender. The administration block is not only being reclad, but also the interior repainted and refreshed as needed. We have planned for this to be done over the holiday breaks even if different parts are done in different holiday times.
Friday Night Lights We are busy planning this year's Friday Night Lights entertainment and will provide you with more information next week.
Extra Programmes Outside Of The Classroom WPS Provide This week we are outlining the Learning Support Programmes that are provided for children with specific learning needs.
Leah Allison is the SENCO at Wānaka Primary School, it is her role to set up and oversee learning support programmes and to supervise the teacher aides and teachers who are working within these roles. The different support programmes are as follows.
ORS (Ongoing Resource Scheme) / ICS (In-Class Support) programmes:
These are programmes for our children in the school with the highest learning needs. These children receive funding for teacher aide support. The teacher aides work with the children in class with instruction given by the classroom teacher.
ESOL programme (English for Speakers of Other Languages):
With 33 students at WPS getting support in this area, the BOT has helped to fund Clair Winslade, who works with these students in small groups. Clair has developed an exciting cultural programme where children are withdrawn from class to study and learn about aspects of the NZ culture, as well as other cultures that children in our school identify with. These groups have a strong language focus. Teacher aides also support some of these learners in their classroom in any learning area as directed by the classroom teacher.
Support for Health Issues:
Several students in our school have health issues that require care plans to be devised and carried out to ensure these children are kept safe while at school. Teacher aides attend meetings with myself and parents to ensure they are well trained to provide the necessary support for these children.
Planning for TA support for events such as Challenge and for camps, as well as other outside activities is also undertaken to support individuals who require it.
Social skills clubs such as Lego Club and the Boys Club and Girls Club (taken by Jo Murphy and Dave Fitzgerald), are designed to build confidence, social skills, personal competence and risk taking, are also extra programmes at Wānaka Primary.
The LIteracy Lift programme also comes under the Learning Support umbrella but these are overseen by the leadership team and SENCO (as teacher aides work with groups of children working on the STEPS Phonological programme) along with Jennie, Kerry and Jason who support them.
The children most at risk in decoding and encoding words, whether reading or writing, work in smaller groups out of the classroom with our specially trained teachers (SPELD and Phonological Awareness training). Marg Grieve, Emma Stewart and Marj Cosgrove facilitating these programmes. These children work within the ‘Literacy Lift’ programme 4 days a week for 45 minutes a day. This programme is additional to the literacy work they are doing in the classroom.
We have a Buddy Reading programme operating as well, where some of our senior students are trained by our RTLB (Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour), Margaret Chisholm in the ‘Prompt and Praise’ approach. These senior students work 3 days a week with a junior student who needs to do a lot of reading practice to build confidence and fluency. This programme benefits both the senior and junior students in the reading development. Margaret and Marj work together to support the Buddy Programme.
Overall, our school is lucky to have so many structured and well-run programmes that support our students in many different ways.
In our next newsletter we will outline the extensions and gifted and talented programmes in place at Wānaka Primary School. |
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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: 'I wear the correct uniform with pride'. |
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2021 Snow Sports / EOTC Programme Registration for the Wānaka Primary School Snow Sports programme that runs in conjunction with Cardrona/Treble Cone and Snow Farm has now closed.
A reminder to reread the information on the school website especially around notifications and postponements.
Supervising parent passes - a Google Form will be shared later this week for the discounted lift pass. Please fill this in by Friday 6th August.
Information on the 1-day experience at Cardrona will come home to families later in the week. Children who are participating in the school-based activities will be making choices on the options this week. Information will be emailed to parents this week about this. |
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Red Nose Mufti Day - This Friday 30th July On Friday 30th July (this Friday), we’re holding a RED Nose Day mufti day. The theme is RED, so incorporate the colour any way you like. You could dress in RED from top to toe, wear something with a splash of RED, or add a little RED accessory, bring a RED packed lunch etc. Please bring a gold coin donation to show your support. |
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School Camps 2021 - Term 4 Costs have been confirmed.
Payment is due for all year 4,5 & 6 camps by Wednesday 15th September.
 Payment details:
Online to Wānaka Primary School Account No: 02-0673-0023784-001
OR
Eftpos / cash at the office If there are challenges that would make payment of camps difficult please come in and see, ring or email Wendy (wendyb@wanaka.school.nz) or Lucy (office@wanaka.school.nz) as soon as possible. More information will follow shortly about each individual camp. |
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Netball Uniform Collection For all players who are not playing in tournaments this term, please drop your netball uniform into the box in the office NOW. Year 3/4 players who are taking part in the Holy Family Tournament on Saturday 31st July - your uniforms will be collected after the tournament. PLEASE BRING SPARE CLOTHES TO CHANGE INTO. Year 5/6 players, your uniforms will be collected after the Alexandra tournament on Tuesday 10th August. PLEASE BRING SPARE CLOTHES TO CHANGE INTO. |
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Erik's Reading Challenge Erik's Reading Challenge is back and there are more great prizes to be won. Last year Wānaka Primary School won the challenge and we received a great package of books worth $150 and what's great is that every child wins - when they read 5 chapter books they get a free kid's meal. As well as this 2 children won a weekend trip away with their family.  Click on the image above to register
Ebooks & Audio Books
The Wanaka Public Library has 2 fantastic Ebook Platforms. 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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Statement from Southern DHB re RSV in the Southern District Southern DHB is seeing presentations of patients at hospitals and reports of sick children leading to absences at Kōhunga Reo and early childhood centres across the district, according to Southern DHB’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nigel Millar.
“It is difficult to gauge how this season of viral infections will evolve. In Southern we tend to have a wave of presentations that occurs after those in the North Island. Generally, August and September are our busiest months for RSV and respiratory infections,” he says.
Meanwhile, Dr Susan Jack, Medical Officer of Health Southern DHB says Public Health are preparing information for Kōhanga Reo and early childhood centres, and she has the following advice for parents and caregivers:
“We urge parents and caregivers with sick children who have a cold or cough to keep them warm at home and to seek medical attention if they get worse.
“Some children who have been admitted to our hospitals have tested positive for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) which causes infections in the lungs and airways. It is a common illness among young children, but some do get very sick with pneumonia or bronchiolitis.”
Dr Jack says, “Keeping children warm and in a smokefree environment at home is important. If they don’t get better, then please seek medical advice from a GP or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 for advice.
“RSV and other viral respiratory illnesses usually clear up after a few days but can be severe in babies and smaller children.”
Whānau should seek urgent medical attention if their baby or child has:
• Audible wheezing sounds
• Breathing very fast
• Difficulty breathing – ribs seem to suck inwards when the child breathes in
• Seems very unwell
• Sluggish or lethargic
• Not feeding well – less than half their normal feeds
• Has not had a wet nappy for six hours
RSV and other respiratory viruses are contagious, so it is important to stay at home when sick and keep sick children at home, cough or sneeze into your elbow, and wash hands often, she says.
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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Second Hand Uniform Pop Up Shop |
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Wastebusters' 2021 Community Survey Findings You can find both the summary of results and the full report here. Thanks to everyone who took part.
In one of the most exciting discoveries, we're thrilled to find an outstanding 72% of Wānaka residents have given up take-away cups! With the recent launch of ‘Single-use-cup free (SUCfree) Queenstown’ we’re excited to see the impact they will have as the campaign takes off. Meanwhile, people in Central Otago are most likely to make their own healthcare products and snacks as a waste-reduction strategy.
We have gleaned some great insights into our community’s behaviours and concerns and will use this to inform our future campaigns, initiatives and resources.
This video covers the history of the Wanaka SUCfree (single-use cup free) project if you want to know more about the transformative behaviour change in Wānaka. |
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Wanaka Concert Society presents Vieux Amis A not-to-be-missed concert on Tuesday 3rd August at 7.30pm. Violinist Justine, pianist Sarah and cellist James are Old Mates and will be sharing their music with vim and elegance.
Book at Gifted Design, 19 Helwick Street, or Eventfinda.co.nz. Doorsales from 6:30pm. $35 adults, School pupils free. |
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Seasons for Growth - Adults Programme |
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Bike Glendhu Bike Glendhu’s Early Bird Season Passes are now available for purchase. Bike Glendhu is a primarily pedal-powered bike park located out in picturesque Glendhu Bay with world-class trails catering to all levels of mountain biker. Their long 10 month season gives you plenty of time to get your money’s worth for a season’s pass.
The gentle green Kākāriki trail loop is fantastic for beginner mountain bikers and will entertain the kids for hours. The more advanced blue and black trails are great for older kids or parents taking shifts with the kids. Van shuttles are available on weekends and holidays to help little legs get up the hill. The base area, Base 334, is fully equipped with Velo café, plenty of grassy space with a sandbox.
Bike Glendhu Early Bird Season Passes are available for a limited time only. Grab yours now before prices increase! Adult: $329, Student: $260, Youth: $199, Child: $115, Family: $829. For more info or to purchase, visit www.bikeglendhu.co.nz/ride/ |
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Junior Badminton - Year 6 |
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Meditation, Yoga, Mindfulness and Empowerment Activities |
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M!NT Activity Programme Term 3 |
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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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