Wānaka Primary School Newsletter for Term 4 Week 6
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Newsletter Term 4 Week 6
19th November 2024

IN THIS NEWSLETTER


 

IMPORTANT DATES


Term 4
Week 6
Book Week - all week
Thursday 21st November - COPSSA Orienteering (postponement 22 Nov)
Friday 22nd November - POD 2 Assembly - 2.15pm - Hall
Week 7
Tuesday 26th November - End of Year Parent Deep Dives
Thursday 28th November - COPSSA Triathlon (postponement 29 Nov)
Friday 29th November - End of Year Reports emailed out
Week 8
Monday 2nd December - Final Board Meeting of the year
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
Wednesday 11th December - Evening Performance of Pantomime
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
 

IMPORTANT NOTICES

 

Leaving Wānaka Primary School

Please, we urgently need to know if your child/ren will not be attending WPS next year as we are finalising numbers for class placements.
 

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent teacher conferences are Tuesday 3rd December and Wednesday 4th December from 3.20pm - 5.00pm.  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. The code is fhbhq.

Please note the following changes to these dates, bookings for these classes will open next Tuesday:
  • Rooms 1 (Sharon), 2 (Charlotte) and 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
 

Calendar Art Fundraiser

Completed calendar art orders have been distributed to classrooms today and should be coming home in the next couple of days.  If you have any problem with your order please contact the office by this Friday 22nd November.

This is the Week for Our Annual Book Fair!

 

Monday 11th Nov - Thursday 14th Nov  8.30am- 4.30pm

Friday 15th Nov 8.30am - 9.30am

Eftpos and credit cards welcome
This is our biggest fundraiser for our school library.
This is a great time to do some Christmas shopping!

Christmas Raffle
CURRICULUM COMMENT

End of the Year is Looming

Wow, I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by.  With Year 6 transition to MAC, end of year reports, Parent Deep Dives, parent/teacher conferences, school excursions, sports, Pod 1 & 2 assemblies, Pantomime, Tribe Day, Year 6 graduation, the school water fun day, the student leaders' celebration day; it is a full-on end of year, but such fun as well!

This morning a lot of children used active transport to get to school and they arrived with big smiles and laughter.  Many arrived on scooters, and bikes along with a parent, and many more seem to be walking as well, which was great to see with the weather warming up.  I am impressed too with the way they cycled or scootered down over the crossing and into school.  Active transport to school rocks!

Parent Deep Dives are next week on Tuesday 26th November with pop in sessions at 11am-12.30pm, 1.30-3pm and 4-5pm.  We look forward to seeing you all at these so your child can share their learning for the year with you.  Students' reports are emailed out to you on Friday 29th November and parent/teachers conferences are available the following week.  Please ensure you book your preferred time slot and day; the booking form link is here for most classes (see above).
 

Class Organisation

We have started looking at class placements for next year.  If you have any information that may impact on a class placement please email your child's DP;  jasonc@wanaka.school for Pods 4, 6 & 7 and jenniec@wanaka.school.nz for Pods 1, 2 & 3 and of course feel free to cc me in wendyb@wanaka.school.nz as well.  Please do this by the end of this week as we will then start moulding these into tentative classrooms.  

This is currently a fast changing landscape as we have had 15 new enrolments in the last week and if this continues we may have to look at numbers again and again to update our initial plans, which is what happens every year in fact.  Sadly it becomes all about roll numbers and staffing allocation.  This is a further challenge as we peer into our crystal balls, with just over 4 weeks left of school and we always get new enrolments over the Xmas holiday break as families move into Wānaka.  This is often in the last week of the holidays.  Because of this, rather than confirming classes we will just confirm the pod your child will be in, with final classes being confirmed in late January, because of the growth and the likely changes.  So when children arrive at school on Monday 3rd February, they will head to their pod to be greeted by the pod team. 

As I said last week, remember not only do we have to consider which teacher would suit each individual, taking into consideration their personality and learning style, we also need to look at children who need to stay together and those who don't learn well together.  On top of that there is balancing class size.  It is a complex puzzle putting it all together and we don't do it lightly.  We make it very personal for each child and this process consumes a lot of time and heartfelt decisions from teachers who take on this part of their role very seriously.  And I have to say we do a damned good job of it.  Please don't wait to let your DP know of any info that may help with this decision making.  It is so hard to change them as a change of one child later on can impact on the whole class makeup.  Please note, this is not an opportunity for you to pick your child's teacher, it is an opportunity to help us to choose the best teacher and class fit for your child.  I am here if you want to have a chat through anything that may be niggling away at you with class placement for 2025.

Because we value children staying with a teacher for 2 years, as much as possible, Year 3 students in 2024, will stay with the same teacher in the same class to become Year 4 students in 2025.  The same will happen with most of our Year 5s, although due to there being less Year 5s next year, as the 2024 Year 6s are our last large cohort over 100, (due to Take Kārara opening and zoning being implemented), we have to drop down from 7 Year 5/6 classes, to only 6 next year.
 

Pantomime

Weekend Rehearsals 
The first of our Sunday morning practices to run through all of the scenes of the panto is scheduled for this Sunday 24th November, from 9am through till noon.  Please send children along with a morning snack and a drink bottle of water.

Costuming and Props for Panto
Thanks to those people who have sent along props and costume articles for the panto.  Some of you have even scoured Wastebusters on our behalf.  We are well into getting these sorted.  If you have any of the following please name them if you want them back, and send them along.
  • For our pirate crew, we are looking for pirate cutlasses or knives. We already have plenty of hats, scarves and eye patches  
  • A big chest or box that looks like a pirate treasure chest
  • Old floor mops - any type and hopefully we get one or two with the string head
  • A large fish - soft toy or plastic
  • An old large outdoor rubbish bin lid (we are making it into a gigantic plug)
  • Any props you think would make our stage look more like a pirate ship or docks

What's Up?

  • It's the BOOK FAIR this week and we welcome you all along...your children have been making lists I see!  Talk about pressure!
  • Some Year 6 students had their first transition visit to MAC today
  • We have a team of 20 competing in the COPSSA Orienteering Challenge on Thursday 21st, being held in Queenstown
  • Pod 4 is visiting the Clyde Dam as part of their Deep Learning studies on Wednesday 27th November
  • The Year 4s have their Scooter Skills week next week
  • The COPSSA Triathlon is Thursday 28th November in Queenstown
  • Last Board meeting for 2024 is Monday 2nd December.
  • Tribe day now on Thursday 5th December
  • School Disco 5th December 
SCHOOL NOTICES

WPS PTA School Disco

Pod 1's Deep Learning

Pod 1's Deep Learning focus this term is around living things in the environment.  In Room 1 we have been learning about our native birds.  Last Tuesday, Petrina Duncan from Southern Lakes Sanctuary came in to tell us all about the introduced pests that are a threat to our precious birds.  Ferrets, stoats, weasels, hedgehogs and possums are some of the predators that kill birds or eat their eggs.  We learnt about the volunteers in our community who help to set up and monitor traps so we can keep the predator numbers down and help to save our native birds.  Thanks so much Petrina for giving up your time to teach us.

Congratulations George Campbell

Congratulations to George Campbell, 10 yrs old, who placed 3rd in the 11-12 year old group of the Future Champions Golf Tournament - 3 days of 18 holes at Russley Golf Course in Christchurch. 
SPORT NOTICES

Challenge Wānaka 2025

You should have recently received an email from Jason to register your child(ren) for the 2025 Challenge Wānaka.  If you have missed the email please visit the link below.  Information will be emailed and put on the sport page of the school website as it becomes available.
 
PTA NEWS

PTA Thank you

We would like to thank one of our long-serving PTA members, Emma Davidson, for her contribution to our Wānaka Primary School PTA over the last few years.  She has been invaluable in helping us organise events and raise funds for our tamariki.  Many thanks Emma!  You will be sorely missed as you have supported WPS so well over the years and taken on PTA roles with dedication, efficiency and in your usual calm manner.
 

New PTA Members Wanted

The PTA will be seeking a new chairperson and other event leadership roles for 2025.  Anna Speak, Pod 6 Leader and mum, has kindly stepped up into the Chair/liaison role for the latter half of this year as the PTA committee have struggled to secure a Chairperson or people to help lead our major events.  They now need new people with drive and determination to join the committee.  Thanks to the people who have given up their precious time to carry out PTA events this year.  We do not want to lose our PTA, so we urge you to consider standing for the PTA Exec positions and other roles.  Let the PTA know you are prepared to take on a role or attend the first meeting next year.  All parents are urged to support the PTA in 2025 as the work over the last couple of years has sat on the shoulders of a few.
Wendy B
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 ignore distractions'.
ENVIRO SCHOOLS

Seedlings for Sale at our Garden to Table Cart
LIBRARY NEWS

Scholastic Book Club / Loop Instructions


This is the final Scholastic Book Club for 2024.  Because we have our big Book Fair in Week 6, I haven't handed out the brochures to the classes. However if you want one they are available from the office or let me know and I will send one home with your child - melissaa@wanaka.school.nz.

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 9am on Friday 22nd November.

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.
 

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

 
HEALTH SNIPPETS

Oral Health Snippet
COMMUNITY NOTICES

Wānaka Rainbow Run - Friday 22nd November

Alpha Challenge - Obstacle Course Event

Te Reo Māori Course

Summerdaze Picnic in the Park

Wānaka Swim Club Have-A-Go Event

Help Decorate Community Link's Produce Stand

Dance Wānaka Presents The Christmas Nutcracker

Kāhu Skate Jam

Santa's Grotto

Centralpoint Dance Studios End of Year Show 2024

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!

Christmas Gift Donations
Delicious, nutritious and popular with kids, Subway delivers school lunches every Friday.  Order online at subwayexpress.co.nz by 9am.
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