| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES
Term 4
Week 1
Wednesday 19th October - Central Lakes Polyfest - Senior Kapa Haka Performing
Wednesday 19th October - NO CODING CLUB this Wednesday
Wednesday 19th October - PTA Meeting - 7pm - School Staffroom
Week 2
Monday 24th October - Labour Day - School Closed
Tuesday 25th October - SCHOOL PHOTOS
Wednesday 26th October - Cricket Coaching Years 3 and 4
Wednesday 26th October - Year 5 Camp Parent Info Evening - 5.30pm in Pod 8
Thursday 27th October - Cricket Coaching Years 5 and 6
Friday 28th October - Cricket Coaching Years 1 and 2
Week 3
Y5 Camp Columba
Friday 4th November - Gumboot Friday (info below)
Week 4
Pod 1 Swimming Lessons
Y3 Camp - School
Monday 7th November - Board of Trustees Meeting - 5pm - Staffroom
Wednesday 9th November - Year 6 Camp Parent Info Evening - 5.00pm in Pod 7
Saturday 12th November - PTA Kiwiana Quiz - 7pm - Hall
Week 5
Y6 Camp - Dunedin - Waiora
Week 6
Y4 Camp - Bannockburn
OUR SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR - ALL WEEK
Thursday 24th November - Junior Athletics - Years 0 to 3
Week 7
Monday 28th November - Teacher Only Day - School closed for instruction
Week 8
Monday 5th December - Board of Trustees Meeting - 5pm - Staffroom
Wednesday 7th December - Matinee performance of Pantomime 'Super Stan'
Thursday 8th December - 6pm evening performance of Pantomime 'Super Stan'
Friday 9th December - Final tribe afternoon - Water based fun!
Week 9
Monday 12th December - End of year students reports sent home
Wednesday 14th December - Year 6 Graduation Assembly - 1pm
Thursday 15th December - Last day of school 2022 - 3pm finish
First Day of Term 1 2023 - Wednesday 1st February IMPORTANT NOTICES Camp Information Evenings
All interested parents are invited to come to:
- A Year 5 Camp parent information evening on Wednesday 26th October at 5:30pm in Pod 8.
- A Year 6 Camp parent information evening on Wednesday 9th November at 5:00pm in Pod 7.
We will be going through the camp itineraries and answering any questions that you have.
The meetings will last approximately 30 minutes. It would be great if all camp parent helpers could attend their relevant information meeting as we will ask you to stay on for a little bit at the end for extra information.
Please note that these meetings are for parents, not for students.
The Worms are Biting The hungry little worms in our compost bins and worm farm would love to nibble on your green waste. They like to eat most is fruit, vegetables and leaves. No citrus fruits or onions. There is a bucket in each area where children eat their lunch that they can leave their food waste. You are also welcome to bring food waste from home if you don’t have a composting system.
Scholastic Brochure The latest Scholastic Brochure is available from classrooms, this is the last brochure for the year. 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 2nd November.
Are You Missing a Guitar This guitar was left on one of the buses at the end of last term. If it looks like yours please come to the office to collect it.
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Kiwiana Quiz Night - Tickets Now On Sale
Ticket purchases at the school office
Please provide a 'Team Name'
Grab a group of six friends and join a night of fun and laughter. Kiwiana theme with costumes a must!
We have some fantastic sponsors who have donated some awesome prizes for the Quiz winners and a raffle. There will presale tickets also available for the raffle and more details around the prizes will come out in the next couple of weeks. |
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| Our Scholastic Book Fair - Save the Date Monday 21st November to Friday 25th November
Before / After School in the Library
Parents welcome to come and shop during the day as well
This is our main fundraiser for our school library
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Welcome Back Welcome back to Term 4 at Wānaka Primary School everyone. We have only 9 weeks this term and we finish for the year on Thursday 15th December at 3pm.
Also a reminder that Monday 28th November is a teacher only day where teachers will focus on assessment and reporting. School will be closed for instruction on this day, so please make alternative arrangements for your children.
We have a fun term ahead; string players, camps, cricket coaching, DSO orchestra, COPSSA Orienteering Challenge, Senior School Drama Club Panto SUPER STAN, a water fun Tribe day...and somewhere in between all of that, we will fit in some learning in the basics and of course also work on our Deep Learning topics.
Remember to look at the 'Important Dates' in the newsletter each week which has upcoming events, and you can also consult the school calendar on our website to keep updated with what is coming up each week. There is a lot going on and you need to make sure you are actively checking to see what is happening. We endeavour to keep you well informed but we can only feed the information out, parents need to actively access this.
Sun's Out - Sunhats and Sunscreen In Term 4 and again in Term 1 all children, and staff, are expected to wear sunsafe (with brims that cover the ears, neck and face) sunhats anytime they are outside whether it is sunny or cloudy (as we know the UV can be dangerous even when it is not bright sun). We do not expect children to wear only the school sun hats, as often, with over 560 children at school, it can be difficult to spot your own sunhat in a sea of navy ones. No caps please unless they have a flap that covers the neck. Also when parents are attending school events, especially those outside, we would love to see you wearing your sun safe hats too as positive role models for our kids. Sun safety is a huge health issue we need to instill sun safe practices in our kids at an early age.
Time to Get to School A reminder that we do not expect children to be at school until 8.30am at the earliest and 8.50am at the latest. We have had some children arrive at 8.00am already this term and often teachers are not in their room as they are off collecting resources or setting up for the day. We do have buses that arrive just after 8.15am, these children have no choice but to be at school at this time, however, anyone walking, biking or being dropped off should not arrive at school before 8.30am, without previously organising this with their teacher, or because it's a one off or an emergency and you have let the office know. Teachers need this time in the morning to get set up for the day and we cannot have children roaming the playground or in pods not being supervised as this can cause a health and safety issue.
Bus Lane is Only for Buses Please remember that vehicles are NOT PERMITTED to use the bus lane that links the Ironside Drive Pick Up Drop Off through to the carpark by the dental clinic. This week so far 4 cars headed down there, 2 of them at great speed. This is a health and safety issue with buses and children along this narrow stretch. We cannot leave the gates closed as buses come in from 8.15am through to 8.50am and our signs requesting that no vehicles enter are still at the signwriters, even though we hoped to have them up and ready for the first day of term.
No Dogs on the School Grounds Please Thanks to the parent who brought their gorgeous dog into school to pick up their new entrant, after his first day, who let me know that our NO DOG statement is not on the website. (He was allowed to take the dog over to pick up his child as he, and his dog, were so polite and well behaved.) We ask that dogs are not brought into the school during school time as some children are not comfortable around dogs, and some dogs are not as well behaved as our furry friend from yesterday morning. We do love dogs but we have had health and safety issues in the past so please keep your dog out of the school grounds unless they are coming in for a Show and Tell or something similar.
Monday 24th October - Labour Day - No School Just a reminder that next Monday 24th October is Labour Day and we all get a holiday - no school!
Tuesday 25th October - School Photos For school photos please send children along well groomed, in full school uniform, preferably in the navy blue polo shirts.
Shake Out - National Earthquake Drill This a national earthquake drill that is happening next week on Thursday 27th October at 9.30am. All students will be taking part in this, as they have done in other years, as part of our term 4 drill. We invite you to take part too and talk to your children about what to do if there is an earthquake whilst children are at home, inside or outside, or out in the community.
Cricket Coaching Cricket coaching for all students is happening next week: - Year 3 and 4 class sessions on Wednesday 26th October
- Year 5 and 6 classes on Thursday 27th October
- Year 1 and 2 classes on Friday 28th October
Please ensure children are dressed sensibly for this and have sensible footwear.
Attendance for the Year...Read This Yesterday all schools in the Upper Clutha area met to consider the attendance stats for Terms 1 to 3 this year. The results are not great, due to lots of absences related to; Covid isolation and illness, other illnesses, skiing days and many other 'explained', justified and unjustified reasons. I suggest that you go into the Edge Portal (the same one you use for accessing your children's mid and end of year reports) and have a look at your child's attendance stats. You may be surprised, some of you may even be shocked. The Ministry of Education has set 90% as the minimum expected attendance rate for any year - how does your child compare?
To access your parent portal, please follow this link to the site below. Enter your email address and password. Here you can view, student details, attendance, student reports, and payments. If you have trouble please email Jason - Jasonc@wanaka.school.nz
As we are concerned that full attendance is not yet back to where it was, our UC schools are reviewing attendance processes and over the next term and into term 1 next year we will all be sharing with you what these processes, expectations, supports and agencies are that will be supporting families and schools to raise student attendance rates. As you will see on the news, this has become a huge national issue. So watch this space, these approaches will be consistent across our schools with lots of information being passed onto parents at each transition point - new entrants coming from preschools and our year 6 students heading to MAC.
Our Pod Reclad Has Begun Over the holidays the builders, Cook Brothers Construction, set up for the reclad and yesterday the hammers were in action. Pod 2 is the first pod to be fenced off and at the moment the cladding is being removed. Pod 6 will start shortly; they are seeing how long it takes to remove the cladding so they can make a plan around getting two pods done per term. Hopefully the Makerspaces will be added as we go, but due to increases in materials etc (as these were priced over 2 years ago) we are not sure if we can afford to have a Makerspace on each end of the pods along with the roller doors we were hoping for. Our designers have the pencils out redesigning and the powers that be, their pencils sharpened...we hope.
The building materials, container and the smoko hut are being stored behind the hall and tennis courts, and this area is fenced off as is Pod 2, and then Pod 6 will be in a couple of weeks, so remember we are essentially a building site for a year or so. Make sure your children are supervised when they are playing at school in the weekends or holidays and that includes even older children. We don't want any nasty accidents to happen, as sometimes children play in areas they should not be playing in when there are no adults in sight! |
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School Camps 2022 - Term 4 Confirmed costs for Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 camps Payment for these camps is now overdue
Please pay immediately if you have not yet paid 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 or Lucy as soon as possible. More information will follow about each individual camp.
Please regularly check your emails. |
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It’s Gumboot Friday on 4th November 2022! Please wear your best gumboots and bring a gold coin donation
to school for this awesome charity! What is Gumboot Friday? A fun way to raise money for kids' mental health through I AM HOPE which is a brand owned by The Key To Life Charitable Trust. Having depression is like walking through mud every day. So, on 4th November 4th, we are asking Aotearoa to show support, by putting on your gumboots, finding exciting ways to fundraise and taking a walk in their shoes for just one day. It's a fun way for kiwis to join in the mental health conversation, while raising money to provide FREE and timely counselling for any young person in need. |
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Central Otago Cross Country - Results On 22nd September, 17 Wanaka Primary School qualifiers arrived at the Cromwell Equestrian Centre ready to run the challenging and steep1.8km cross country course.
They were nervous and excited before their races. Emily Boswell was thinking about how she would run the race. Going through John Quirke's head was the motivational agreement he'd made with his mum. The races were soon underway. During the race, Sam Taylor was feeling hot and sweaty. All he could think about to help him get to the end faster, was 'ice cream, ice cream, ice cream'. Janey Mavor concentrated on her speed for the terrain, keeping her speed up while leaning back, when running downhill. As Theo Taylor crossed the finish line, he was filled with joy and relief. "It was a gruelling course, with changing terrain", agreed Theo and John.
The students would like to thank all the volunteers and organisers and they really appreciated the Menlove Berries truck being there.
By Theo, Sam, Janey, Emily and John
Congratulations to all the runners who helped achieve the following school team results: - 1st: WPS Year Five Boys
- 1st: WPS Year Six Boys
- 2nd: WPS Year Six Girls
- 5th: WPS Year Five Girls
And to the top ten individual place getters:
Year Five Boys - 6th Holden O'Brien
- 7th Athur Searle
- 8th Owen Burford
Year Five Girls Year Six Boys - 3rd Sam Taylor
- 6th John Quirke
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PE Activities with Year 12 MAC Students
Last term, Pod 7 and Pod 8 Year 6 students enjoyed participating in games and sports with Year 12 MAC PE students.
Our students commented: - Issy and Raven - "Thank you for encouraging us to go outside our comfort zones while having a great time"
- Indie and Isabella - "They helped us to learn new skills and how to play as a team"
- Kelly - "I liked how they showed attention to everyone"
- Sofia - "I liked how they had a variety of games and encouraged you even though you may not be keen to play"
- Lucca - "I liked how they treated everyone equally and made it fun"
- Sam - "I like how they didn't care if you made a mistake, they showed you how to do it better but in a polite way"
Thank you very much to the awesome MAC students - we will look forward to our sessions again next year! |
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Fun we had at the end of Term 3
Cultural Week
POD 1
Pod 1 held their cultural week in week 10 of Term 3. All the children brought in something to show that was important to them and their family. We had all sorts of wonderful treasures and objects that had been passed down through the generations or represented where the children were from. Later in the week we invited parents to join us for a shared lunch. The children explained their dish and why they had brought it. We learnt so much about each other and our family cultures. POD 3
Pod 3 celebrated all our different cultures by having a shared lunch and inviting parents in to watch our folk dancing from different countries. We made a timeline to show important dates in New Zealand history and put up world maps to share all of the places that our families have connections with.  POD 4Mountain View High School Jazz Band Visited |
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Library News Click the image below to view our wonderful Library Webapp.
Feel free to email Melissa at any time if you have any questions. Well it's a start! 
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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Aspiring Athletes Season Information |
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Wanaka Junior Touch 2022 Season – Term 4
Wanaka Junior Touch will be played in Term 4 on Friday nights at Kellys Flat (Aubrey Road) and MAC for Year 5 through to Year 10 (see below for Year 3 & 4*).
Last year all teams were mixed, but this year we are looking to have separate girls and boys divisions. The focus will be on fun, participation, skill development, and learning the game.
Registrations close: 19 October 2022
Times: Subject to final registration numbers, we are planning to play all games at 3.45pm to 4.45pm (as we have access to fields at Kellys Flat & MAC).
Season Start: Friday 21 October 2022 (first week of term)
Season End: Friday 9 December 2022 (last week of term)
Grades: Grades will be determined by the number of registrations received but we are looking to have separate teams for girls and boys for i) Years 5 & 6 ii) Years 7 & 8 and iii) Years 9 & 10.
Teams: We will allocate players into even teams, so players may get moved during the first weeks if games are lopsided.
Playing Uniform: Everyone will be allocated a team playing singlet. No bare feet, spikes, and rugby boots with removable sprigs are allowed.
Cost: $40 per child and payment will be online.
* For Years 3 & 4 Tiny from Sport Central will run 45-minute sessions. The sessions are about learning the skills and playing games, as the kids work towards playing Touch. There will be no fee payable, but parent help will be required to help. Please email Tiny at tiny@sportotago.co.nz to register your child and offer Tiny a helping hand.
Please email wanakatouch@gmail.com if you have any questions. |
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After School Arts & Crafts & Watercolour Fun
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Art Play - Joyful Creativity |
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Brainwave - What Does Your Child Really Need? |
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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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