| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES Term 4Week 8 Tuesday 3rd December - Parent Teacher Conferences (dates vary, check below) Wednesday 4th December - Parent Teacher Conferences Thursday 5th December -Tribe Afternoon Thursday 5th December - WPS Disco (see flyer below) Friday 6th December - 'Taste of MAC' Year 6 Transition Visit Friday 6th December - POD 1 Assembly - 2.15pm - Hall Week 9 Tuesday 10th December - Matinee Performance of Pantomime 1pm Wednesday 11th December - Evening Performance of Pantomime 6pm Friday 13th December - Wendy's Farewell Week 10 Monday 16th December - Tribe Water Fun Afternoon Tuesday 17th December - Year 6 Graduation Assembly 1pm Wednesday 18th December - Student Leadership Celebration Day Wednesday 18th December - Last day of school 2024 School closes at 3pm, buses run as usual Term 1, 2025Monday 3rd February - First day for students 2025 Monday 10th February - 'Meet the Teacher and The New Principal' Picnic - 5pm IMPORTANT NOTICES Parent Teacher Conferences Parent teacher conferences are Tuesday 3rd December and Wednesday 4th December from 3.20pm - 5.00pm for most classes. This is a chance to catch up with your child's teacher to find out more information about progress and achievement and how you as a parent can help support your child's learning over the holidays. These will only be face-to-face, if you are away and would prefer a video meeting, please make arrangements directly with the classroom teacher on a different day. Bookings are now open - Please visit this link to book for Rooms 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 Please note the following changes to these dates: - Room 1 (Sharon): Tuesday 3rd December and Tuesday 10th December
- Room 2 (Charlotte): Tuesday 3rd December and Tuesday 10th December
- Room 4 (Sophie): Tuesday 3rd December and Tuesday 10th December
- Room 7 (Megan): Wednesday 4th December and Monday 9th December
- Room 10 (Kelly): Tuesday 10th December and Thursday 12th December
Please click here to book for Rooms 1, 2, 4, 7 and 10 Lost Property Just a reminder that all of the unnamed lost property will be heading to Wastebusters at the end of term. Please come in and claim your belongings before Wednesday 18th December. |
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Wendy's Retirement Farewell
Wānaka Primary School is farewelling Wendy at the end of the year. She is a much respected, loved and inspiring leader who after 50 years in education and 20 years at our amazing school is retiring. To list all the achievements, accolades, roles would take too long, so come along and farewell our amazing principal.
Public Farewell Assembly
When: Friday 13th November 11am
Where: School Hall
Who: All welcome
What: All Pods are sharing an item with a few short speeches
Private Farewell
When: Friday 13th November 2 pm
Where: School Hall
Who: Invited Guests Only |
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10...9...8...7... the countdown is on Next Tuesday, 10th December, will be our last newsletter for the year. In that last newsletter we will inform you in more detail about beginning of year arrangements for 2025. As we have managed to confirm more staffing for 2025 we are now in the process of finalising classes for your children for 2025. We will let you know in the last week of term, starting the 16th December which class/teacher/pod your child will be assigned to. Children can then report to these pods on the first day back next year, which is Monday 3rd February.
Another date for your 2025 calendar, is the 'Meet the Teacher and The New Principal' picnic which is on Monday 10th February. This is planned for 5pm and will begin, as usual, with a mihi whakatau. Bring a picnic tea (no Jump Jam this time as we are having this meeting early to introduce Rob Rush WPS's new principal) and then you will get a chance to explore your child's classroom, and meet the staff and in particular the teachers in your child's pod.
New Entrants for 2025 If you have a 5 year old starting at Wānaka Primary School throughout the year in 2025, we need you to contact our school office as soon as possible to ensure you gain a placement for your 5 year old next year, and also go on the list for our 10 week transition to school programme, Te Ara Hono. Even if your child is not starting until term 3 or 4 next year we still need to know they will be arriving so we can sort staffing and a classroom placement for them. Please contact the school office (office@wanaka.school.nz) as soon as possible or give the office a ring on 443 7687.
Panto Tickets are For Sale If you would like to come and see our Year 6's on stage as they perform our hilarious panto 'Pirates of the Curry Bean', then grab a ticket for either the matinee, next Tuesday 10th December at 1pm or the evening performance on Wednesday 11th December at 6pm. They are $10 per seat and we hope they sell like hot cakes so get in quick.
Panto Practice Reminders We have a full rehearsal this Sunday morning, so would love as many of our actors here 9am - 1 pm as this is our first time practising with the lights and microphones, which we have not been able to set up until now as our hall is so busy with other things happening. So hopefully most of you can make it. We were hoping to do this full practice on Thursday but the disco has meant we cannot set everything up until the weekend. Mind you we are not complaining ... WHO DOESN'T LIKE A GOOD DISCO?
Monday 9th December we do makeup and a run through of some scenes in the morning with the whole school coming to see the full dress rehearsal complete with costumes, makeup and props, from 1-3pm.
As we need to apply makeup etc before the 6pm performance on Wednesday 11th December we will be asking actors to come in from 4pm, please watch out for a ping, email or a plain old piece of paper to let you know what children will be needed at what time. Please note that no audience members will be let into the hall on the Wednesday evening until 5.45pm. If there are any parents who could help with makeup (under the wonderful Claire Haskins direction), please let the office know. |
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Board Buzz
The Board held their final meeting for 2024. Wendy was formally farewelled by the Board. Brendan stood down in his role as Board chair, even though he will continue as a member until the next elections. Francis Jasper was nominated, and accepted the role as the next Board Chair.
Leah presented her Learning Support/SENCO report for the end of year and the Board congratulated her on the excellent work she has been doing with our most at risk students.
Jason submitted the end of year Achievement Report based on the OTJs (Overall Teacher Judgements), which Wendy led the Board through.
ERO REPORT was affirmed by the Board at last night's meeting:
The unconfirmed ERO Report was tabled and received very positively by the Board showing Wānaka Primary School continues to be a high performing school focused on a futures education, with strong leadership, high teacher capability, high achieving student outcomes and children having rich opportunities to engage in learning through consistently high-quality teaching.
Other quotes from the report include: - The greatest shift in response to the school's actions was in the strengthening of effective learning environments that have provided conditions where students are developing the confidence to build on their learning agency, take initiative and contribute in a meaningful way.
- Learner outcomes are positive and sustained over time. Most learners achieve at or above the expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics.
- The school is taking active steps to address disparity evident, for some, in writing and maths.
- Target groups of learners at risk of underachieving make significant progress in reading and writing through explicit teaching using a responsive literacy framework.
- Leaders' evidence-driven decision making aligns relevant goals and targets that achieve their shared vision for learner success.
- The use of current evidence based practice informs effective learning opportunities; as a result students have high levels of engagement.
- The school effectively collaborates with its community; it includes the ideas and perspectives of students, parents and teachers in its thinking about improvement needed and in the decisions it makes.
- High quality teaching and learning, including New Pedagogies for Deep Learning approaches, and behaviour and resilience programmes, have strengthened student well-being, engagement and achievement.
- Board members govern effectively for their community, ensuring resourcing decisions benefit outcomes for learners.
Next steps include continuing to: - Modify assessment so it aligns and is embedded with our own localised approach to teaching and learning and it aligns with the school's strategic direction.
- Further extend learning relationships with parents and the community to deepen connections with the local and global curriculum.
- Sustain levels of regular attendance.
The Board and staff are extremely pleased with such a positive ERO report. Well done everyone! A great legacy to leave for the school Wendy. |
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Pantomime - Pirates of the Curry Bean Tickets on sale at the school office - $10 per seat Matinee Performance - Tuesday 10th December 1pm Evening Performance - Wednesday 11th December 6pm  |
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Pod 3 Clyde Dam Trip As part of their Deep Learning on renewable energy sources, Pod 3 took a trip to the Clyde Dam last week. They were even lucky enough to see two of the Spillways open. |
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WPS PTA School Disco $2 entry at the door. Parents please drop your child/children off outside at the main entrance, where one of our disco helpers will welcome them in. Children please bring a named water bottle. We are asking parents, if you are not already designated as a helper, to not go into the hall. Please pick up your children at the finish times below from the tennis courts beside the hall. No children can leave the hall until their dance time is finished. This drop off and pick up zone allows us to move one group out quickly so we can move the next group in. Having extra parents in the mix just makes it too hard.
Year 5 and 6 Disco - Permission to leave without a parent
Please email the office prior to Thursday if you are giving your Y5 or Y6 child permission to walk or bike home without a parent. If no permission is received, your child will need a parent to collect them.
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COPSSA Triathlon
Last Thursday, 40 Year 5 and 6 students headed over to Frankton to represent our school and the Upper Clutha region at the Central Otago Primary Schools Triathlon.
We were super proud of all the students, who participated with 100% effort and enthusiasm. Due to illness, we had to make several changes in the lead up to, and on race day, so thank you very much to the students who stepped up to ensure all teams got to race
Congratulations to our placegetters: - Ally Moir who took out the Year 6 girls race
- Tom Taylor, Hadley McElrea and James Sheppard (aka the Invincibles) who placed 2nd in the boys Year 5 teams race.
Many thanks to our parents who helped to transport and support the students, and who marshalled on the course.
A shout out too, to Jason who did an awesome job co-organising the event, which ran super smoothly.
Full results can be found on the COPSSA website: https://copssa.nz/results/ |
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| YEAR 6 END OF SCHOOL PARTY |
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Year 6 End of School Party
This is a party organised by parents for the Y6 leavers to celebrate their last year at Primary School. This is not a school event. Please note: - There will be parents supervising the children and also two QLDC lifeguards present at the pool.
- Parents are welcome to drop children off, or stay and help.
- As we are limited on the number of children, this party is for Y6 WPS children only. No siblings allowed unfortunately.
- If you cannot add your name to the registration form, don't worry, we will add any missing names when we clear the envelope box.
- If you child has dietary requirements, please state this on the envelope when paying for the pizza.
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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 celebrate others success'. |
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Seedlings for Sale at our Garden to Table Cart |
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Library News Why Graphic Novels are an excellent transition from picture books
to chapter books for kids. Read on by clicking here ... Click the image below to view our wonderful Library Webapp.  Feel free to email Melissa at any time if you have any questions. Digital and Audio Resources Borrow box is an amazing resource which you can have free access to for digital reading and audio resources for your children. Click on the image below to look at the amazing range. You need a QLDC library membership (which is free) to borrow.  BookHub BookHub is an relatively new NZ based website where you can search for books you want to buy online from NZ based booksellers rather than from overseas sites. Obviously I support local booksellers as well but if you are an online shopper I fully support supporting NZ businesses before the likes of Amazon who charge exorbitant shipping fees. Click on the icon or this link : https://bookhub.co.nz/  Quote of the Week  |
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Centralpoint Dance Studios End of Year Show 2024
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Wānaka Yacht Club Community Open Day |
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Creating Christmas Cards - Workshop |
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Coastguard Wānaka Old 4 New Lifejacket Swap Saturday 14th December 8am - 3pm
Coastguard Base Eely Point Bring along your old lifejackets to save $30 on a new
fit-for-purpose Hutchwilco lifejacket |
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Wānaka Preschool Cheese Fundraiser |
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Kāhu Youth Y6 Info Event ● Explore the brand-new youth centre and all it has to offer.
● Meet the friendly, supportive youth workers who are there to help.
● Learn about the exciting activities and programmes available, including drop-in
sessions, after-school clubs, holiday programmes, youth mentoring, and more! |
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Tri Wanaka - Swim/Run Series |
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Cardrona Local School Summer Passes The cost for the Local School Summer Pass is $149.00 (ages 6-17yrs). Parents can purchase their child's Summer Season pass by calling Cardrona's Call Centre (open Mon-Fri 8:00am - 4:30pm) or heading into Cardrona's Wānaka based office, (open Mon-Fri 8:00am-5:00pm).
Parents will need to confirm their child's Full Name, DOB and what school they go to. If the child had a winter 24' season pass with Cardrona previously, they will be able to see that in their system and that will be proof enough for the Local School Summer Pass. If they did not have a winter 24' Local School Pass, they will need to see another form of proof. |
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Wānaka Kids Club Summer Holiday Programme |
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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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