| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES Term 2
Week 12
Tuesday 30th June - Whānau Hui Invitation - 2:00 pm - School Hall
(information in school notices)
Tuesday 30th June - Gifted Awareness Evening - 7:00 pm - School Staffroom
Friday 3rd July - Last day to complete Community Survey
Friday 3rd July - Last day of Term 2 - School Holidays
Term 3
Week 1
Monday 20th July - First day of Term 3 - PTA Welcome Morning Tea 9:00 am
Ezra Dance Programme - all week
Friday 24th July - Ezra Dance Performance
Week 2
Friday 31st July - Written Reports will be sent home digitally
Week 3
Tuesday 4th August - Students Sharing Evidence of their Learning to Parents
Week 4
Monday 10th August - Parent / Teacher Interviews
Tuesday 11th August - Parent / Teacher Interviews
Pod Assemblies
Pod assemblies for the remainder of this term will be online - classroom teachers will notify you of the dates, times and how to access.
IMPORTANT NOTICES Children with Allergies We have several children enrolled at Wānaka Primary School who have potentially life-threatening allergies to both eggs and all nuts. Whilst the children are aware of the need not to share any food or drink - and all staff are informed of their medical condition – it would be helpful if all parents could consider not sending food to school with their children which contain egg or peanut butter fillings or nuts of any kind.
This is a request for your support and understanding to help us minimise the likelihood of an adverse reaction.
Safety at Drop Off and Pick Up To ensure everyone's safety please make sure that: - Students and Parents are using the designated crossings.
- No cell phones are being used whilst driving.
- Students are behaving safely around traffic.
Please help us keep our children safe. Thank you.
Bus Children Lanyards Over the next week we are issuing identification lanyards to all the bus children. This has been initiated by GoBus in order to ensure eligibility on bus routes. Please assist us by securing these lanyards to your children's school bag. |
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School Review Survey Today parents will receive an email with a link and a password to enable you to log in and complete the parent survey. We would love everyone to complete the survey as a high response rate gives us more reliable data. It is simply ticking boxes so it doesn't take long. The survey needs to be completed by Friday 3rd July, which is the last day of this term. Thank you in anticipation of your response.
Year 4 to 6 students also have separate surveys which they will complete online at school. Staff will also be surveyed. The data (parent, student and staff) is triangulated and the results are collated and analysed by NZCER (NZ Council of Educational Research). All responses are confidential. The results will be shared with the Board, staff and parents early next term.
If there are any questions that you can't answer, please don't hesitate to ring (443 7687), or email me (wendyb@wanaka.school.nz), so I can explain what actually happens at school e.g. "The Principal and senior staff work well with students and parents from different cultures and backgrounds" - there is no "don't know" response - my reaction would be to either find out by talking to a staff member or ESOL family, or agree as you haven't heard anything contrary to this...if the school was not effective at this you would probably know about it.
Thank you to one of our Mum's who has already started the survey and asked this very sensible question.
Pick Up Drop Off...we love it - you love it...but We continue to have positive feedback from parents, who are using the Pick Up Drop Off and most of you sound like you will continue with this, especially in the mornings. Children are enjoying it too and like being greeted by myself, Jason, Kerry and Jennie, and having extra time to themselves to play or socialise before school. There are less traffic issues and it is great catching up with mums and dads face to face. We are going to continue meeting children at the gates next term as it has been such a positive move for all.
I have been reading a few news articles and see that schools nationally are finding, with Pick Up and and Drop Offs particularly in the morning, the level of worry children have coming into school has decreased. Some schools are looking at 'prohibiting' (what a terrible word to use) classroom pick-up and drop-off. We will NOT be doing this - we love our families' involvement in school too much.
However, in the mornings we have found the school to be calmer without adults rushing in and out. Even though there are many positives, we do not want parents to feel disconnected from their children, teachers or school. We value our sense of community and don't want you to feel you are not welcome. The afternoon is the best time to come in and connect with the teacher - if you need to talk to a teacher it's a good idea to email them first so they know you are coming and can make sure they don't have other obligations. If you just want to pop into the classroom to see something with your child, please do this as well...but best in the afternoon. If you are coming in the gates and not picking up straight away, please park out of the school grounds so you can leave parks for those only picking up.
A reminder if you are coming into school at any time please use the QR code at the gate to sign in or pop into the office. If you are a parent help at school, or coming in for a school purpose (e.g. PTA helper) please make sure you sign in and out at the office as we need to know this information for school drills and evacuation purposes. We just want to keep everyone safe.
In summary, we do not want you to feel unloved or excluded, we do want you to be involved in your child's learning and we want you to feel part of the school. If you need to come in or want to catch up on classroom happenings then please do so. We do love catching up with our parents as we value our school/home partnerships and the positive impacts these relationships have on children's learning.
Illness...Green Snotty Noses (thought that would get your attention!) Please, please do not send your child to school with any signs of illness from a slight sniffle, sore throat, cough, right through to sore tummies, headaches and snotty noses. We sent a number of children home yesterday who felt unwell and some deteriorated as the day wore on - we hope to stop everyday bugs spreading by keeping unwell people away. Please err on the side of caution - any signs of being unwell best to keep them home.
Developments at school The mini vans are now parked in our garage...hooray! Brad the Brickie will be busy over the next few weeks concreting the entrance to the garage, extending the base of the ball wall (this will then have targets and lines etc painted on it) and installing outdoor seating over at Pod 8, in front of Pod 7 and in the outdoor library area. There will be fencing to keep children away - please be aware of this if your children are playing at school in the weekends.
Dave Spedding will start installing the irrigation on the hill behind Pod 8 next term, as soon as the weather allows. In term 3 we will be planting natives and trees on the hill and installing reading shelters, seating and games, such as a giant chess board.
A Huge Thank You to Central Lakes Trust (CLT) Last week I applied to the CLT for a fund they have offered to all schools, post COVID, to assist families and children (this was successful and $15,000 is being deposited into our account). We will use these funds to help subsidise our school camps in term 4, which will in effect help all of our children. Thank you once again Central Lakes Trust for your ongoing support of schools - you are tumeke!
Reporting to Parents Will Happen Early Next Term Based on the feedback from parents, students and teachers at the end of last year, we have further progressed and refined our reporting process. This will reflect our Deep Learning philosophy around students providing evidence of their learning, active parent involvement, teacher/parent interaction and the provision of a written report.
The reporting to parents process is as follows: - We will send home written reports digitally via the Parent Portal on Edge (our student management system). This will happen on Friday 31st July which is the end of week two next term. We have included a general comment and a more formalised design to the written report based on last year's feedback.
- Students sharing evidence of their learning and progress with their parents will happen on Tuesday 4th August. Parents will come into the pod and children will share their learning with them. Parents will be given a talking strip or guiding questions to support this process. Parents can go in to classes at any time between 11.00-12.30pm, or 1.30-3.00pm, or 4.30-6.30pm. This will allow more flexibility for parents and less people in one place at one time. Parents should allow 20-30 minutes per child for this. Please mark this date on your calendar. If this day is not possible for any reason please make other arrangements with your child's teacher.
- Parents are invited to book an interview slot with their child's teacher. Bookings will be done digitally and this information will be sent out next term. The 2 interview dates are in week 4 - Monday 10th August and Tuesday 11th August from 3.30-5.00pm each day. Interviews are 10 minutes long. Another date to mark in your diary.
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Snow Day Procedure If snow occurs overnight, a decision regarding school closure, or a delayed start, will be made in the morning – we will notify you by the following methods: - Radio Wanaka – 92.2FM
- Our school website – home page
- Bulk email
- Our Flexibuzz School App
If the school closes during the day due to snow, we will notify you via the methods above – please refrain from phoning the office. Buses will not run. Children can be collected and signed out from their classrooms where they will remain under the supervision of a teacher. If you are personally unable to collect your child, then other arrangements should be made for collection.
If a parent wishes to have someone that is recorded as an emergency contact collect their child, the pick up person should go to the classroom, provide identification (if not known to the teacher) and sign the child out.
Now is a good time to consider your emergency contacts – and ensure that the office has recorded the details of at least two people, living locally, who you trust to collect your child if the school closes due to snow. |
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Room 1 Role Models We have had a few colds and illnesses over the past couple of weeks. Room 1 children have been very responsible and have stayed home when sick. Some of them have even been continuing their work whilst at home. Here is Chloe teaching her teddies how to spell and Caleb working on his STEPs programme. Well done to these 5 year olds!
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Makey Makey in Pod 7  |
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Gifted Awareness Information Evening |
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PTA Welcome Morning Tea The PTA would like to welcome you all back to school at the start of term 3 (especially new parents!) with a morning tea. This will be held in the staffroom on the first day of Term 3 (Monday 20th July) from 9am. Please come and join us for a cuppa and get together - see you there! |
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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!!!
Congratulations to Fleur Jansen for winning a great prize from Erik's Fish & Chips for the month of May. Fleur won a $30 voucher for Erik's, a family pass to the Kiwi park in Queenstown and a $10 Wastebusters voucher! Well done Fleur! |
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WPS Netball Uniforms Wānaka Primary netball uniform pickup is to be next Tuesday 23rd June, outside the entrance to the school hall, at 3pm. Please come and collect your netball dress for the season. Parents please remember to keep clear of the pick up drop off areas and park legally. |
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Wānaka Kids Club School Holiday Programme |
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Parents Night Out - Aspiring Gym Sports |
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Kids Disco - Wānaka Trampoline & Tumbling Sports Inc |
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Wānaka Football Club - Quiz Night |
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Subway Are Now Delivering Subway Wānaka is now delivering lunch (10am – 2pm) and dinner (5pm – 7pm) to your work site, office or home.
Getting your favourite sub, wrap or salad delivered fresh every day has never been easier. In the month of June for every delivery made we will donate $2 to Wānaka Primary School. Order at www.subwayexpress.co.nz or download our updated app; subway express from your app store. |
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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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