| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES
Term 4
Week 6
Scholastic Book Fair - proceeds provide funding for new library books
Thursday 25th November - Junior Run, Jump, Throw Celebration
Week 7
Monday 29th November - Strategic Plan Parent Review 3:00 - 5:00pm
Tuesday 30th November - Strategic Plan Parent Review 5:30 - 7:30pm
Thursday 2nd December - CO Orienteering (note new date)
Week 8
Monday 6th December Board Meeting 5:00pm - Staffroom
Tuesday 7th December - Pantomime - Full Dress Rehearsal 1:00pm
Wednesday 8th December - Matinee Pantomime Performance 1:00pm
Thursday 9th December - Pantomime Performance 6:00pm
Friday 10th December - Reports sent home via Portal
Week 9
Tuesday 14th December - Year 6 Graduation 1:00pm
Wednesday 15th December - School finishes at 3:00pm for 2021
Term 1 2022
Week 1
Wednesday 2nd February - First Day of Term 1 2021 IMPORTANT NOTICES
Scholastic Book Fair
The library is open every day from 8.30am until 4.30pm this week for our annual Scholastic Book Fair. We will also be having a late night tomorrow, Wednesday 24th November, until 7pm.
All parents must wear a mask, scan in and maintain physical distancing.
School Photos The last day for receiving school photo orders was yesterday (Monday). We can no longer accept orders. If you have missed this deadline please contact Heritage Productions directly at 03 3653 554 or by email: support@heritagephotosnz.com. |
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Strategic Plan The Board of Trustees will be reviewing our strategic plan over the coming weeks. We have already surveyed our teachers, children, and caregivers and would now like to invite you to a face to face drop in session. This will be a chance to meet with Board members and give your view on what is going well and what we need to focus on over the coming years. If you want to see a copy of the current Strategic Plan you can see it on our website under 'Charter'.
We will be holding sessions on Monday 29th November at 3 to 5pm and Tuesday 30th November from 5:30 to 7:30pm. If you are not able to make these times but would still like to comment please email me directly on boardchair@wanaka.school.nz. |
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Book Fair The Book Fair display looks amazing so come in and have a look. There is something there for everyone and the children have been making their lists. A great place to get some of those Christmas pressies and help the school library at the same time. I bought 4 books for my granddaughter, an old favourite and a couple of titles I haven't seen before. They are all wrapped and ready for under the Xmas tree.
EOY Reporting on Student Progress and Achievement In accordance with Level 2 restrictions we will not hold our student reporting to parents sessions as planned in Week 8 as we had many more than 100 in each pod during the day last year. Instead we will send the student reports home via our Edge portal on Friday 10th December, and invite you to book a parent/teacher interview from now, right up to the end of the school year (15th December) by emailing your child's teacher directly.
Pantomime The pantomime 'Rock Bottom' is being staged on Wednesday 8th at 1pm and Thursday 9th at 6pm. Tickets will be strictly limited so we do not breach level 2 restrictions. More about how to get tickets in next week's newsletter.
Please could all actors bring a brown paper bag or similar for their costumes. We have planned a dress rehearsal for Sunday 5th December 9am - 12pm. It would be great to have everyone there as there isn't much spare time during the day at school.
Bike Stands The bike stands besides the courts are over flowing with bikes just dumped in the morning. Reminder to children in Pods 3,4 and 5 that their bikes and scooters should be stored in the Pod 5 bike stands.
Y6 Graduation Year 6 graduation is planned for Tuesday 14th December but we are still considering whether to hold it live or stream/video it.
End of Term
School finishes for the 2021 year on Wednesday 15th December at 3pm. Buses will be running on the last day. School starts for students on Wednesday 2nd February 2022.
2022 Organisation
We have sorted the organisation of pods/classes for next year. As our roll numbers have dropped we will be only having 19 classrooms in action at the start of next year, with 3 teachers and 3 'classroom hubs' per pod, except for Pod 5 which will have 4. We are having composite classes to allow class numbers to be spread evenly and to cater for children's needs.
Pod 8 and Pod 7 will be home for the Year 5 & 6s, Pod 4 and 5 for the Year 3 & 4s, Pod 3 for the Year 2s and Pod 1 for the Year 1s and New Entrants. As recladding is happening for Pods 1-6 and the admin block next year there will be a bit of pod hopping. We have left Pod 6 and 2 spare so they can be reclad first and once they are finished we can move two pods of children and teachers into these pods.
Anna, Kath and Hannah are teaching in Pod 8, Karina, Dave and Charlotte L in Pod 7, Lisa, Anne, Coral and Kelly in Pod 5, Kylie, Robyn and Danielle in Pod 4, Jo/Marj, Megan and Casey in Pod 3 and Sharon, Charlotte B and Jen in Pod 1.
Jen is undertaking Reading Recovery training and taking on 4 children with Jo also taking some children for Reading Recovery. Markus is taking on the Reading Recovery Release in Pod 1 for Jen along with Classroom Release across the school. At this stage we do not have enough staffing from the Ministry to keep on all of our current staff - Belinda and Rosie are leaving us but we hope to see them back relieving. Next year Leeanne is having a year's personal leave, Katie and Mel will be in 2 days a week each, and we hope to see Andrena back picking up another new entrant class, as she has done for the last 3 years.
Emma, Marg and Marj are continuing with the Literacy Lift small group programme for literacy next year. Kerry, Jennie and Jason will be taking literacy and maths groups in pods to further reduce the teacher/student ratio and attend to different learning needs. They are beginning the screening process currently to identify students who need this extra support.
As our roll has dropped, with a start roll of approximately 500 we have had to reduce the number of teachers and/or the number of hours they work, through a surplus staffing process, with our support staff and admin staff also affected. Given the low rates of school donations received and operational grant cut, we are still unsure as to whether we can afford to have our Board funded Te Reo, music or language tutors next year. |
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Hives in Schools We are very excited to announce that Tiaki Bees have teamed up with Honeysticks to place sponsored beehives into Wānaka Primary School and Te Kura O Take Kārara. “The idea is that these schools will have a wonderful educational experience, with none of the work, and all of the benefits. Students will be able to immerse themselves in the full lifecycle of the bees, understand how they make honey and why they are so important. They will learn to be relaxed around bees and be able to don children's bee suits, come close to the hive and look inside the boxes.” Barna Szocs, Tiaki Bees Founder Will Radford, owner of Honeysticks agrees and says the importance of bees need to be showcased more to the younger generation. “Bees are vital to the local ecosystem and we support any initiative that focuses on educating people around that,” says Will. The hives will be placed on specific areas so the flight path of the bees does not disrupt or impact on any of the students playing outside. Careful thought has gone into the location of the bees, so there is no greater risk for those with allergies. We are thrilled to be able to offer this experience for the younger community, and are excited to grow our local awareness for these very important creatures. Colouring Competition To celebrate our collaboration with Wānaka Primary School we are launching a colouring competition! Click here to download a copy. We have some great prizes to give away including 2kgs of honey and a Honeysticks Ultimate Activity Pack for each age group. Entries close on the 8th of December and completed entries can be dropped off to THE CELL - 34 Anderson Road, Wānaka 
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Garden To Table Available after school Monday outside reception:
- Small tomato plants - Rhubarb plants - Herbs
For a small donation for Garden to Table Project. Thank you! |
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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 listen, follow instructions and speak and listen to each other appropriately'. |
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Bite - Cookbook for Sale We still have copies of our new cookbook - Bite -
available to purchase at the office. They make great Christmas presents!
If you have ordered and paid for a cookbook you can collect from the office. |
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Junior Run, Jump, Throw Celebration Thursday 25th November
This Thursday, all junior students in years 0-3 will take part in activities and events using the skills they have learned and practised in their P.E. lessons. They will be outside for most of the day, so please could you make sure your child comes to school with: - a sunhat and sunscreen applied
- a water bottle
- extra food in their lunch box
and wearing tribe-coloured sports clothes and sneakers.
The day has a participation, rather than a competitive focus. Students will be encouraged to achieve their personal best and have the opportunity to earn tribe points for their effort and attitude, rather than for individual placings in different events and activities.
We regret that no parent supporters can be allowed. |
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Wānaka Trail Ride
So… you missed out on getting your business logo into the Bite Cookbook huh?
Don’t worry! Here’s your second chance to support the school by becoming a sponsor of WTR 2022! The Wānaka Trail Ride is the annual, major fundraising event for Wānaka Primary School and Montessori Children’s House. It’s a fantastic day for riders, the schools, and the community —and we couldn’t do it without our sponsors! WTR 2021 saw nearly 600 riders on-site, and raised $18,000 – now that’s somethin’ to be part of!
We are now inviting any businesses that would like to support the school community to become a WTR 2022 sponsor. Sponsorship packages start from $500. For any queries and more information, please contact Anne-Marie Love at annemarie.love@mchw.co.nz
For a full list of our wonderful sponsors, visit the supporters page on the WTR website https://www.wanakatrailride.org/supporters/.
Cheers and thanks, the WTR Team 😊 |
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Scholastic Book Fair THIS IS THE WEEK...
 Open everyday from 8:30am until 4:30pm
we are open all day for your convenience
and late night Wednesday until 7pm
Parents please sign in and wear a mask. This is a great opportunity to buy Christmas presents and all the
proceeds go into our school literacy. Our school is in the top 5 schools for the highest sales in NZ. |
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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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Seasons for Growth Parent Program |
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Part Time School Bus Driver Wanted |
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Hawea Christmas Wonderland |
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Christmas Show: A Rockin' Christmas  Lockdown, traffic lights and vaccinations are the key words of late 2021 and after careful considerations we can announce that this years Christmas Show will come to you! T HE 2021 CHRISTMAS SHOW- A ROCKING CHRISTMAS will premiere at
3pm, Sunday 12th December
available digitally for everyone in the world to view! To watch, simply register for the link via the Christmas Show website. You will be able to access the show until 26th December 2021 and watch as many times as you like! At any time of the day! REGISTER TO WATCH This year’s Christmas Show is supporting the new arts and culture facility in Remarkables Park, Queenstown - Te Atamira. Te Atamira features 21 fit for purpose spaces including dance, performance, visual art, music studios, a pottery workshop, recording studio, a curated art gallery, classroom workshop, youth space and café. https://www.teatamira.nz/ Donations towards the fit-out of the cultural hub will be accepted at registration. |
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Girls Smash and Boys Blast Cricket Competitions 2022   We are really happy to open our registrations for our 2022 girls smash and boys blast cricket programs! Please know that these are for any boys and girls that are in year 2-6! These are fast paced, fun cricket games that are played weekly at Wanaka Rec Centre - Wednesday nights at 4pm! Start date - 16th February! Every participant that registers online receives a free girls smash or boys blast t-shirt! These are social, fun and fast cricket matches for children where experience is not necessary, it's all about meeting friends and having fun! We will also be doing some fun social events for the kids including BBQ's, Lollie scrambles, water balloon fights and lots more!!The interest in these competitions are high so please register ASAP to make sure you do not miss out on this fun event! Registration links - Girls Smash - https://registrations.crichq.com/register/277915 Boys Blast- https://registrations.crichq.com/register/277914 All covid 19 protocols will be followed - we will have to limit the number of participants to stay within the framework, so to guarantee your place please register ASAP. Any questions please email - sam@otagocountrycricket.co.nz |
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Girls Only Football in 2022 Girls Only Football sessions will be running in Term 2, 2022 for 6 weeks on a week day (to be determined) from 4-5pm. Each session is FREE of charge and all participants will receive a free ball and t-shirt.
Each session will consist of football skills and games for girls aged 5-18 years. For anyone above the age of of 18 (as well as under) there will be the opportunity to train in and develop their coaching and refereeing skills.
Please follow the following link to see more specific information and to register your interest! |
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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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