| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES
Term 3
Week 2
Friday 6th August - Pod 4 Assembly 2:15pm - Hall
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
Monday 16th August - Board Meeting - 5pm
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
Week 7
Tuesday 7th September - WPS Cross Country
Week 8
Monday 13th September - Board Meeting - 5pm
Tuesday 14th September - UC Cross Country
Thursday 16th September - Pod 8 Assembly 2.15pm - Hall
(Please note Assembly on Thursday not Friday)
Friday 17th September - Friday Night Lights
IMPORTANT NOTICES
School Uniform Merino Jerseys
The WPS Merino jerseys are now available to be purchased directly from Apparel Studios at 11 Frederick Street.
Scholastic NZ Brochures The latest Scholastic brochure is available from classrooms. If you wish to place an order, please turn to the inside back page and use Option 1 - Credit Card LOOP system. No cash orders are accepted at school.
If you wish purchases to be a gift, please tick GIFT option, otherwise all orders are handed out to students.
Orders will close Tuesday 17th August at 3:00pm. |
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Seasons for Growth Programmes Central Otago REAP offer Seasons for Growth Programmes plus a range of information to support local families and professionals.
Seasons for Growth is an innovative grief and loss education programme that uses the imagery of the season to illustrate the experience of grief. It aims to strengthen the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people (aged 6-18) who are dealing with significant life changes.
Trained adult 'Companions' facilitate the small group programme, where participants support and learn from each other in age appropriate and engaging activities. Our Pod 5 teacher, Hannah Chisholm, is a trained facilitator in Seasons for Growth.
Young people learn that they are not alone in dealing with the effects of change, loss and grief, and build their communication, decision making and problem solving skills within a supportive peer group.
If you think that your child would benefit from the Seasons for Growth programme running this term you can find out more information here and register your interest by emailing lucyj@wanaka.school.nz by Friday 13th August. The programme is held in a private classroom here at Wānaka Primary and usually runs for 40 minutes in the afternoon between 1.30 - 3.00pm on Thursdays. |
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Concerns and Complaints Policy and Procedures We are required to regularly promote this policy and we do it once a term.
Please see it here. Any questions please contact Wendy. |
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Great Start to Term 3 Term 3 started off with a blast. Right from day 1 students settled back into school life happily and Friday was so much fun with our Red Nose Day to raise funds ($794.80) for Cure Kids and then our dance performances. Music, synergy, smiles and laughter were everywhere. Staff have had a good break and we are looking forward to working with you and your children with their learning this term.
Dance Week Once again another great week with Mark from the Dance Company, which was enjoyed by everybody. Thank you so much for all the support at the performance day on Friday and for getting in behind the dancers with your enthusiasm and participation. They loved performing for you.
Friday Night Lights - September 17th Entries for the entertainment and the Cat Walk fashion sections are now open. - Our theme for the fashion parade is 'Light up History'. So get those imaginations going and start designing. Registrations will close 3pm on Friday 3rd September. So get your entry in by filling in this form.
- So far in the entertainment section we have our Kapahaka groups, our junior and senior choir and of course our school band. If your child(ren) would like to perform on our stage please fill in the form here also by Friday 3rd September.
If you have any questions please contact Wendy.
Extension and Gifted and Talented Programmes This follows on from last week's inclusion in the newsletter about Learning Support Programmes that are provided for children with specific learning needs. One of Kerry Guise’s roles is to support teachers planning for differentiation in the classroom to cater for children with a variety of learning styles and talents. Kerry also oversees the extra curricular activities. There are opportunities for children with interests in the Arts - (Dance, Drama, Music, Singing), Science, Technology, Enviro Schools, Writing and more. All teachers actively look out for opportunities to continue to develop the passions and interests of our children. Extra curricular activities are run at various times of the day and year and include: -
Kapahaka - junior and senior. An invitation is offered to all children early in the year to become a member of the junior or senior group with practices every Tuesday with Anne and Beth. These practices culminate in many different performances throughout the year. -
Sing Squad - junior and senior. Beth and Anne take the senior Sing Squad with practices also held each Tuesday. Megan takes the junior Sing Squad group. -
Two itinerant music teachers are employed to teach music once a week. These include keyboard, guitar and wind instruments. Pete and Helen also work with children who are part of the WPS band. -
We have opportunities for children to participate in yearly panto productions. Wendy leads this with support from staff. Initial trials are held during lunch times but as time progresses practices take up some school time. Year 5 & 6 children look forward to this as it is an opportunity for them to develop their performance skills through dance, singing and drama. -
Year 6 children have the opportunity to be part of leadership groups with Anna Speak and Hannah Chisholm working with these children to develop their leadership skills in many different areas. More about this will follow in further newsletters. -
Each year a group of Year 5 & 6 students take part in Computer Capers. A competition with a different theme each year requiring the children to present work online using any of the many publishing tools available. This year’s theme was ‘How has COVID 19 impacted on your community?’ This competition is open to all Year 5 & 6 children who express an interest in participating. It is a mix of some in-school time and also requires some independent work during out of school hours. -
EP - Education Perfect is an online platform designed to make learning fun, engaging and effective. Education Perfect blends engaging content, cutting edge pedagogy and a world-class learning platform to deliver teaching and learning experiences. Our school pays for each student to have a log on to this platform for learning anytime anywhere. Our teachers are all currently using EP for upskilling in Te Reo. Our senior language classes also make use of EP. -
Journal Club - run by Belinda Sides and Anna Speak. Year 5 & 6 children interested in writing get together to write articles for the weekly newsletter and work towards publishing the Year Book for the Year 6 children. -
Kerry oversees the Literacy Lift STEPS groups for tier two children from Year 4 - 6 working with the teacher aides 3 sessions per week for 40 minutes each session. Jennie Croxford oversees the running of the Year 4 group. This addresses spelling, dictation, online work and book work with an emphasis on phonics. -
Our Year 5 & 6 students have language classes each Tuesday afternoon; French, Spanish,Japanese, Mandarin, German and extension Te Reo Māori. Some of the classes are with teachers ‘zooming’ in from China or South America, the others use Education Perfect and Ministry of Education resources for their classes. -
All classes have access to LEARNZ - field trips; virtual, accessible, engaging, and meaningful learning for the real world. Online field trips allow students to connect with people and places all around New Zealand and beyond. Children can visit all kinds of places, across a range of learning areas, from the comfort of their classroom or home. LEARNZ enables engagement with experts in LIVE daily interactive web conferences. This complements our deep learning in classes. -
For the analytical thinkers and problem solvers we have Chess Club running at lunchtimes taken by Markus. Children also have the opportunity to take part in competitions. -
A weekly after school Robotics club runs in Pod 7 with students from Mount Aspiring College assisting Dave Fitzgerald with this popular programme. - ODS - One Day School is a parent funded option for children who have been assessed and identified as gifted. Danielle Nicholson teaches these classes in our board owned spaces behind pod 3. This programme is run through REAP, (Rural Education Activities Programme) in Alexandra.
Enviro Projects at WPS (leading to Enviro Schools Bronze)
Touchstone and Grebes
For six years groups of interested senior students from WPS have participated in a local citizen science project called The Touchstone Project. The Touchstone Project is a direct action initiative to support those concerned about the Lake Wānaka water catchment, raise awareness of impacts around the lake, and how you can have a positive influence on the water in the lake. On several field trips over the years, WPS students supported Touchstone by taking water samples, analysing freshwater invertebrates, monitoring stormwater drains and checking on local wetlands. Recently, the Grebe breeding programme at the Wānaka Marina got added to this involvement as well.
Backyard Trapping
After receiving a $1000 grant from PredatorFreeNZ, WPS was able to purchase equipment to monitor and trap pests (like mice, rats, stoats, ferrets, hedgehogs, possums) who are a threat to the local native wildlife on our school grounds. Year 5 & 6 senior students can join a weekly group to learn about pests and actively monitor and trap them on our school grounds.
Native Gardens
WPS has two native gardens on the school grounds. We have a reference garden behind Pod 4 which was set up with the help of Te Kakano years ago. Recently, WPS students planted another native garden with around 450 native plants on the hill behind Pod 8. This was a student-driven project where senior students planned the development of the hill in class, organised the planting and then put all 450 plants in the ground themselves.
Annual Beach Clean Ups
For four years now, Senior students of WPS (in association with G.J. Gardner Homes) have taken part in an annual beach clean-up around Eely Point for the Keep New Zealand Beautiful initiative. Every year, around 100 WPS students collect rubbish for a couple of hours between the Scouts Den and the beach at Bremner Bay.
Garden to Table
WPS joined the Garden to Table programme in 2019. Garden to Table’s aim is to introduce New Zealand primary and intermediate school students to the joy of fresh, seasonal produce they have grown, harvested, cooked, and shared in their own school, with the help of peers, volunteers and teachers. The students become involved in all aspects of gardening in an environmentally sustainable garden, and cooking and then enjoying a delicious, seasonal meal they have produced themselves. Students’ knowledge, gained by being engaged in both the garden and kitchen, is taken back to their classroom where it is reinforced in their day-to-day learning.
School Gardens
We have been working on enriching the soil in the raised gardens ever since WPS moved here 11 years ago! We can now successfully grow a variety of produce. Last year Sharon Pendlebury worked with a group of students and parent volunteers to plant 12 fruit trees in our school orchard on the hill behind Pod 8. This was a long term plan of Sharon’s after taking part in the Science Teaching and Leadership Programme. This involved working alongside scientists at Plant and Food Research in Clyde. Once the fruit trees are established students will be able to learn more about the science of fruit cultivation and pest management. Gardening sessions are held on Monday lunchtimes and everyone is welcome to come along. Produce is: used in school cooking for Garden to Table, sold or donated to Food For Love. Our latest project includes developing the area behind Pod 3 into a fenced outdoor classroom which can be used throughout the year. It will include a polytunnel, composting system, rainwater harvesting and a covered seating area. Later this term we will be sending out brochures for King’s Seeds and holding a seedling sale in Term 4, to raise funds for this project. We are very grateful to the parents who volunteer their time to work in the gardens and would love to hear from you if you would like to help too! We would also be grateful if anyone has unwanted (but not broken) gardening tools that they would like to donate; wheelbarrows, hoes, etc. We also operate a Worm Farm and Bokashi Buckets at 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: 'We take ownership of our learning and behaviour'. |
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Pod 8 Donations Pod 8 made $800 from our Tuck Shop activity in term 1. In term 2 Pod 8 debated and agreed on donating $400 to the local SPCA and $400 to Bike Wānaka. We handed over the cheques to SPCA and Bike Wānaka representatives in our Pod 8 school assembly. Now, we have received feedback from both recipients.
SPCA sent us a thank you card which says the Wānaka Primary School is "pawesome" because of our "waggin' wonderful donation". The money went towards the surgery of an injured cat which got hit by a car. Thanks to the donation, the cat is on the road to recovery now. As a further thank you from SPCA, Pod 8 got mentioned in a newspaper article in the Wānaka Sun. Thanks for both acknowledgments!
Bike Wānaka also sent us a lovely thank you email. To our big surprise, they even named a part of our local bike tracks after Pod 8. Now the 8th corner of the uphill track on the newly built Kirimoko Mountainbike Tracks is named after Pod 8 of Wānaka Primary School and has its own sign that states "Corner 8 by Pod 8" and that "Pod 8 Rules". Thanks so much for this special acknowledgment. |
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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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Girls and Boys Club Ice Skating Trip The Collective had a great time on our outing to Alexandra Ice Rink. The weather was chilly and the legs uneasy at the start. Our Instructor, Rebecca, was inspirational and supportive so the group were soon skating forwards and backwards. Everyone challenged themselves by getting out of their comfort zones and encouraged each other. It was a fantastic day and enjoyed by all. |
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PTA Treasurer Update We would like to say a huge thank you to Kim for all of her amazing work as the treasurer for the WPS PTA and extend a warm welcome to Annie who is going to fill the role as the new treasurer.
If anyone would like to come along to the PTA meetings or get involved in any of the fundraising events, please do get in touch with Adele on 0273484436. |
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Netball Tournament at Holy Family School On Saturday, 8 WPS Netball teams took part in the annual Holy Family School netball tournament and fundraiser. It was a wonderful day and all the players did brilliantly well. Not only did they all play great netball but played with great spirit and sportsmanship. We would particularly like to thank all our coaches for all your help. We had some great results with many of our teams placing extremely well. In particular we would like to congratulate Team Magic who won the Year 5 category and Team Steel who were the overall Year 6 winners. Big congratulations to all of you. A reminder that as the season has officially finished now for all year 3 and 4 players can you please return your netball uniform to the box in the school office this week. |
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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: 
Here is one of my favorite quotes from Roald Dahl:  Feel free to email Melissa at any time if you have any questions. |
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Chickenpox We do have some cases of chickenpox in our school community. Please be on the watch for symptoms. If in doubt, keep your children home and contact your doctor.
Chickenpox is contagious from 1–2 days before the blisters appear. Avoid close contact with other people, stay home from work and keep children home from school and early childhood education centres for 1 week from the appearance of the rash until all blisters have dried. Remember, chickenpox is serious for pregnant women and people who have a reduced immune response (eg, children with cancer).
The chickenpox virus is spread through the air by infected people when they sneeze or cough. - Always turn away from others and use tissues when you cough or sneeze.
- Always wash your hands after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.
Chickenpox can also spread through touching the blisters and then touching objects or other people. - Wash your hands often, especially if you’re the caregiver of a child with chickenpox – and make sure they do the same.
- Discourage children from scratching the blisters. People with chickenpox have small blisters (like a rash) on their skin. These can be very itchy.
- Other symptoms of chickenpox are tiredness, fever, general aches and pains.
- If there are no complications adults generally have the chickenpox infection for 3–7 days, children are usually ill for about 5–10 days.
- If in doubt please keep your children at home and seek medical advice. Further information can be found on the Ministry of Health website.
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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UPPER CLUTHA SCHOOLS – SKI & SNOWBOARD RACE
Tuesday 21st SEPTEMBER 2021 (postponement day Wednesday 22nd)
Registrations for this event are open NOW! close Friday 17th September 4pm Open to all Year 3 to Year 8 students of intermediate skiing/boarding ability, no racing experience required. Come and have FUN racing down a Giant Slalom and Gravity X course. Get a team of 3 or 4 together from your school. PRIMARY OR INTERMEDIATE - they will have to race in the category according to the corresponding school year of the eldest team member. Teams are either - all boys, all girls or mixed where the best 3 combined times count towards medal placings. NO MIXED DISCIPINES – EITHER SKI OR SNOWBOARD TEAMS ONLY CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION & HERE TO REGISTER Any queries please contact the Race Coordinator: Robyn Millar ucssevent@gmail.com or 0275 766 966 This event is brought to you by Wanaka Snowsports Club & Cardrona Alpine Resort |
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Teachers Only Day at Wānaka Kids Club |
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The Developing Athlete Presentation A thought-provoking evening with youth athlete development educator and coach, Dr Craig Harrison. A ‘must see’ for parents/caregivers with kids who love their sport, and professionals working with youth athletes. Door open 6:30 pm – Interactive presentation 7 pm Get your tickets now. It is a must-watch for parents! |
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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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