Wānaka Primary School Newsletter for Term 4 Week 9

Newsletter Term 4 Week 9

10th December 2024

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

IMPORTANT DATES

Term 4
Week 9
Wednesday 11th December - Tribe Day Tomorrow
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, 2025
Monday 3rd February - First day for students 2025
Thursday 6th February - Waitangi Day - School Closed
Monday 10th February - 'Meet the Teacher and the New Principal' - Picnic 5pm

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Tribe Day Tomorrow

The postponed Tribe Day will be happening tomorrow. The session tomorrow will be to select leaders for 2025 from our Year 5 cohort. Children can come dressed in tribe colours.

Year 6 Graduation Assembly

A warm invitation is extended to parents/caregivers of our Year 6 students who are graduating at the end of the term.

This will take place on Tuesday 17th December, at 1pm in our school hall. We look forward to seeing you there.

Please make sure all graduates are dressed in full school uniform, hair done and teeth ready to smile for that graduation photo.

Trinity Piano Exam

Well done to Amelie Wilson who sat her Trinity Piano initial exam this year and gained a Distinction pass.

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.

Also please take all bikes and scooters home on the last day of school. Any leftover will be taken to Wastebusters. This scooter has been here for quite some time, be nice if it could return home.

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 December 11am
Where: School Hall
Who: All welcome
What: All Pods are sharing an item with a few short speeches

Private Farewell
When: Friday 13th December 2pm
Where: School Hall
Who: Invited Guests Only

CURRICULUM COMMENT

Last Newsletter for 2024

This is the last newsletter for 2024 and unfortunately Wendy is busy busy busy with Pantomime and has not been able to say a few last words. However, she will be sending out an email at the beginning of next week as her last hoorah!

Classroom Placement

Our staff are currently working hard on class organisation. We try our hardest for each child and this process takes a long time for teachers to consider best placement and for parental requests to be considered. We make the best decision with the child in mind. Parents will be notified next week about the pod their child will be placed in for 2025. Actual class decisions will be made after consideration of any new enrolments that arrive in January.

TERM 1 2025 begins on Monday 3rd February

Students are requested to assemble outside their allocated pods by 9.00am – dressed in full uniform, including a sunhat.

New enrolments are welcome at 10.00am on Wednesday 29th January to complete enrolment and participate in a tour of the school.

Stationery lists are available on the school website. Stationery should be brought to school on Monday 3rd February.

SCHOOL NOTICES

Christmas Raffle

Tickets available by clicking here - it's that easy

Pantomime - Pirates of the Curry Bean

Tickets on sale at the school office - $10 per seat
Evening Performance - Wednesday 11th December 6pm

Enviroschools Hui

Last week, six of our junior children attended a day of enviro activities organised by Damian, our Enviroschools co-ordinator. We met up with teachers and pupils from all our local schools and two of our pre-schools. Year 1 student, Fletcher, and Year 2 student, Magnus, loved being out and about by the Scout Den. They particularly enjoyed meeting Billy (who has a business controlling rabbits), his dog Suzy and his ferrets "Itchy" and "Scratchy". Year 3 pupils Chloe, Freya, Albie and Lachlan showed great responsibility, looking after some of the pre-school children and helping them on a teddy bear hunt. They also enjoyed the mini hut building activity, flax weaving and learning about our waterways. All the children represented Wānaka Primary beautifully and showed their understanding of the five Guiding Principles of Enviroschools. Ka pai everyone!

Tribe Water Fun Afternoon

Our last tribe day will be a fun water day! Children will have the opportunity to play water games, have a go on a water slide and have a water gun fight to name but a few activities. We will also have some dry activities planned for those who would rather not get as wet :)

When: Monday 16th December
Where: All over school
MUST bring: togs (including a t-shirt or rash vest to cover shoulders), towel, brimmed hat, sunscreen - all named please
Can bring: water gun, water shoes / trainers that would be okay to get wet - all named please

YEAR 6 END OF SCHOOL PARTY

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.

PB4L SCHOOL-WIDE GOAL

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'.

LIBRARY NEWS

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

COMMUNITY NOTICES

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

Wānaka Preschool Cheese Fundraiser

Click here to order

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!

Wai Wānaka Cleaning Up the Cardrona

Wai Wānaka Stocking Fillers

Christmas Gift Donations

Tri Wanaka - Swim/Run Series

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.