Wānaka Primary School Newsletter for Term 4 Week 1

Newsletter Term 4 Week 1

13th October 2020

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

IMPORTANT DATES

Term 4
Week 1
Monday 12th October - First Day of Term 4
Wednesday 14th October - PTA Meeting 7:00pm Staffroom
Thursday 15th October - Shake Out
Thursday 15th October - Year 6 Camp Meeting 5:30 - 6:00pm
(Meetings will be held in your child's POD)
Week 2
Tuesday 20th October - Year 5 Camp Meeting 5:00pm - Rm 21

Thursday 22nd October - Year 2 Camp Sleepover at School
Friday 23rd October - Rippa Rugby Competition
Week 3
Monday 26th October - Labour Day School Closed
Tuesday 27th October - School Photos
Wednesday 28th October - Year 3 Overnight Camp at School
Thursday 29th October - Year 3 Overnight Camp at School
Friday 30th October - Pod Artwork Unveiling 1:30 - 3:00pm TBC
(Further information below)
Week 4
Swim week - Pod 4
Monday 2nd November - BOT Meeting 5:00pm - Staffroom
Year 4 Camp - Bannockburn
Year 5 Camp - Columba
Year 6 Camp (Pod 7) - Waiora
Week 5
Swim week - Pod 1
Wednesday 11th November - PTA Meeting
Wednesday 11th November - Central Otago Orienteering
Week 6
Swim week - Pod 2
Tuesday 17th November - Science Roadshow
Wednesday 18th November - Science Roadshow
Wednesday 18th November - Central Otago Triathlon
Thursday 19th November - Tribe Fun Run 11:00am

IMPORTANT NOTICES

School Banking

Westpac School Banking is Tuesday mornings - come and see Jodie in the School Office 8:30 - 9:00am

Found - Scooter and Helmet

If either of these are yours, please collect from the School Office.

BOARD BUZZ

Wānaka Primary School Board of Trustees’ Election

Nominations are invited for the election of two parent representatives to the Board of Trustees.

A nomination form and a notice calling for nominations has been posted to all eligible voters.

You can nominate another person to stand as a candidate, or you can nominate yourself. Both parts of the form must be signed.

Additional nomination forms can be obtained from the school office.

Nominations close at 4pm on Sunday 1st November 2020 and may be accompanied by a signed candidate statement and photograph.

The voting roll is open for inspection at the school and can be viewed during normal school hours.

There will also be a list of candidates’ names, as they come to hand, for inspection at the school.

Voting closes at 4pm on Friday 4th December 2020.

Lucy Jewell
Returning Officer

CURRICULUM COMMENT

Sun Hats

Just a reminder that over term 4 , as in term 1, sun hats are a compulsory part of our school uniform, see our Sunsafe policy which can be found by following this link. Please ensure that your child has a brimmed hat that covers the ears and neck. It does not have to be in school colours and to make it easier for children to find amidst 600 other hats it can be brightly coloured and patterned to make it easily identifiable. No caps please, they are not sunsafe.

Well done Room 1 for all having your sunhats!

Camp Fees

In the next day or so classroom teachers will be contacting families who have not yet paid their camp fees. The Central Lakes Trust has funded 20% of the cost, and for those who have got in touch we have sought extra support for camp. If you have not paid for camp and would like to set up weekly payments please contact Lucy or Wendy. If your child is not attending camp please let us know that as well, and the reason why. It is getting too late now to access extra funding if it's needed so if you need funding support, Lucy or Wendy need to know by this Wednesday 3pm. Our funders usually expect the family to have raised at least half of the amount required.

Science Roadshow

The Science Roadshow is happening on Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th November and this year all of our Year 5 and 6 students will be attending at no additional cost to parents (it is usually $8 per student), thanks to the Board who will fund this amazing live show that brings all things science to the fore. Brendan and the rest of the Board do an amazing job of working with Melissa and I to manage our funds and we thank them for enabling all of our senior students to be involved in this Roadshow this year.

School House

Our brand new school house is completed apart from a bit of landscaping and we have had tenants in it for a couple of weeks. Another great initiative of the Board which ensures teacher housing is available when we need it and offers additional income to the school. We have room at the front of the section to build a second house, but that is a project for a couple of years' time. Well done Mitch and Howie on the Board who have spearheaded this build.

St Johns

Helen and Kate from St John's are in school this week working with a number of classes on basic first aid before we head off to our various camps.

They are also working with staff after school today to go over essential first aid that we need to be aware of in our workplace.

Pod 8 Playscape / Sanctuary Hill Area

If you look at the hill behind Pod 8 you will see that we have installed irrigation, created a path around and over the top of the hill and there are holes there awaiting the planting of fruit trees, for our orchard area, and the native plantings from Matukituki Natives sponsored by Trees That Count. Over the next 2 weeks we will be inviting children and the community to come in and help us plant the hill area. We will also be putting seating in this area nearer the end of the term and we have a checkers and chess set and board, giant of course, ready to adorn the hill area as well.

We will be building reading huts, and little nooks in our sanctuary areas early in 2021, the lockdown delayed this project this year. Thanks to the Central Lakes Trust, PTA and the Board for their financial support of this project.

Weni and the Kowhai Tree Pod Art Work

The wonderful Chrissy Wickes has taken children's design ideas from our school story Weni and the Kowhai Tree and has completed some gorgeous works of art depicting different parts of the story as encapsulated in the pod names. The link to the Weni and the Kowhai Tree and the significance of our pod names that capture the learning journey of our students can be found on our website.

We are having an unveiling of these arty depictions of our school story in a couple of weeks and we will be inviting you along to this. We will start with a powhiri, where the kapahaka group will welcome everyone with our school song (which is about our pod names) and then pod by pod we will hear parts of the story and have the art work revealed.

The pod art is gorgeous and colourful - we are so delighted to have them here ready to put beneath our pod names. Thank you Chrissy! You are, as always, TUMEKE!

SCHOOL NOTICES

Year 6 Camp Parents Meeting

You are invited to come to a parent information evening on Thursday 15th October from 5.30pm until 6.00pm in your child's pod. We will be going through the week's itinerary and answering any questions that you have. Camp parent helpers will be asked to stay on at the end for extra information.

Planting Behind Pod 8

On Thursday we will be starting our planting for our long awaited orchard and native planting behind Pod 8. We would like to invite any parents who would like to come along and help.
Please sign in at the office anytime after 1:30pm

Year 5 Camp Parents Meeting

There will be a parent information evening on Tuesday 20th October from 5.00pm in room 21. We will explain the week's activities and be happy to answer any questions you may have. Camp parent helpers will be asked to stay on at the end for extra information.

Scholastic NZ Brochures

The latest Scholastic NZ brochure and last one for the year is available from classrooms. 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 3:00pm on Thursday 29th October.

PTA NOTICES

PTA Meeting

A PTA Meeting is being held at 7pm in the staffroom tomorrow - Wednesday 14th October. After such a disrupted year we will be looking at community events happening in the school for the rest of the year where the PTA can support our kids and families. Everyone is welcome to attend.

SPORT NOTICES

Cricket

During this term Sam Bastin from Otago County Cricket is having one session with all our classes. This is a fantastic opportunity for children to learn and develop their fundamental skills of catching, throwing and striking.

LIBRARY NEWS

Library News

Click here to view our Library Webapp which also gives access to our eLibrary and lots of useful links, activities and book recommendations. There are also lots of talking stories including ones from Melissa, our librarian.

Feel free to email Melissa at any time if you have any questions.

Erik's Reading Challenge

Register here to enter Erik's Reading Challenge

Remember you only have to read 5 books to get a voucher so everybody wins!!!

Scholastic Book Fair

Our annual Scholastic bookfair is coming up in term 4. Mark the dates on you calendar now: Monday 23rd November - Friday 27th November.

This is our biggest fundraiser for our library and literacy collections and is a great opportunity to do some Christmas shopping.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Community Oral Health News

In the age of COVID-19 and the upheaval of the lockdown parents may be wondering what’s happening with the Community Oral Health Service in Wānaka.

We’ve seen a few changes recently including dental services not being permitted during lockdown, and the resignation of our Wānaka Dental Therapist. We’re very pleased to be able to welcome Oral Health Therapist Brittany Dalziel to the Wānaka community as a permanent full time staff member. Brittany is loving her new role alongside Dental Assistant, Mairi-Ann who many of you will already know.

Pictured: Brittany Dalziel

She’s working really hard to see as many patients as possible to get the service back on track and is doing a fantastic job.

Please click here for some Q&As about the service

Pyjama Party at the Library

Repair Event

Are you ready for the Repair Revolution? Do you want to renew, revive, and repair your broken things to keep them out of landfill? Join Wastebusters for this FUN, FREE event! Next at Lake Hawea Community Centre, 10-2pm, Sunday 18 October. For more details, or to sign up as a volunteer repairer, visit our website: www.wastebusters.co.nz

Kids Race - Deans Bank

Take A Kid Fishing Day

The annual “TAKE A KID FISHING” day is coming up again on Saturday 31st October 2020.

Please click here for more information on this free annual event organised by the Upper Clutha Angling Club together with Fish and Game Otago.