| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES
Week 8
Wednesday 4th December - Reporting to Parents 1.30-3.00pm and 5.00-6.00pm
(Refer to Curriculum Comment for more information)
Friday 6th December - Pod 1 Assembly - 2.15pm - School Hall
Week 9
Monday 9th December - Junior and Senior Choirs singing for
Senior Citizen's Christmas Party
Wednesday 11th December - Pantomime 1pm Matinee Performance
Wednesday 11th December - 6.30pm PTA Meeting followed by
Christmas Pot Luck Dinner at 7pm in the school staffroom
Thursday 12th December - Pantomime 6pm Evening Performance
Thursday 12th December - Year 2 School Camp - Rms 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14
Friday 13th December - Bring-A-Can to support the Wānaka Foodbank
Week 10
Monday 16th December - Student Leaders Celebration Day
Tuesday 17th December - Year 6 Graduation Assembly - 1pm
Wednesday 18th December - Last day of school for 2019 - 3pm finish
2020
Monday 3rd February - School commences for 2020
Saturday 28th March - Wānaka Trail Ride
IMPORTANT NOTICES Bus Stops Please remind your children to get off the bus at their own regular stop. Drivers are concerned about the safety of children changing stops when parents are unaware. Please talk to your children about this safety issue. |
|
|
Cossie's Team Day Thank you to all the students and staff who dressed up and made a donation - $1710.00 has been raised for Cossie.
Cossie and Marj are very grateful to everyone for their kindness. |
|
|
End of Year Interactive Reporting Expos End of Year Interactive Reporting IS TOMORROW! YAY! Someone creative suggested we call it 'ROCK UP FOR REPORTING'. Sounds much more exciting doesn't it?
We are looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow as students and teachers share the learning and progress and achievement that your children have been making. A reminder that Pods 2, 3, and 4 kick off at 1.30pm and Pods 5, 6, 7 and 8 at 2.15pm. - this is to allow parents with children in different parts of the school to see them all. For any parents who cannot make the afternoon sessions there is the 5pm slot. Please bring your child with you at 5pm. If you have more then one child presenting, you will need to portion out this hour to see all children within that time. We only expect children to present once - preferably at the afternoon session. The evening session is really only for families where neither parent can make the afternoon session.
Tomorrow we will email out an evaluation form to families so you can give feedback on our new reporting process. We are excited about taking on this new reporting process and we have gained the interest of the main NPDL gurus who want to follow up on our process and share it as part of the Deep Learning processes as it fits so well with student agency and partnerships with parents. Thanks to the amazing teachers at Wānaka Primary School who have been so open to rethinking how we do things. You all rock!
Drama Club Pantomime - Ali Baba and the Bongo Bandits The drama club spent all of Saturday practising for the pantomime as students have been so busy it has been difficult to find time to practice during the school day. Thanks to the actors and dancers, and to teachers Kerry and Mel who joined me, and have given up many a lunch break and their Saturday to put on this panto.
The Pantomime has the following performance times next week: - Wednesday 11th December at 1pm is the matinee and parents and members of the community are welcome to come. Some of the school will be watching this performance as well.
- Thursday 12th December at 6pm - parents and community invited to this.
The cost of admission for the matinee and evening performance is $5 at the door - tickets are available at the door only. This is to cover costs of makeup and costume hire.
New Digitech Curriculum Our lead digitech teachers, Katie and Nic, have led workshops and have worked with classes and teachers on this new curriculum. Nic and Katie have developed the draft of our local digitec documentation and Katie is doing some more 'training' this week so that next year, all teachers and their classes will be embedding digitech into their teaching and learning. Katie will be mentoring teachers and working with them and their classes to build teacher and student capability in this area. We will have a parent information evening in term 1 to share the work we are doing and what this Digitech curriculum looks like in action.
New Extension Programme for 2020 Next year we are introducing Mandarin tuition as part of extension opportunities for our senior students. The 'lessons' are provided via webinar from a teacher in China. Kerry, Anna and I have experienced being a student taking part in the webinar and they were fun as well as educational. The children in this extension group take part in an online lesson once a week and also have follow up work to do with the teacher (Anna is taking this on next year) in another session during the week. We are really excited about this opportunity and thank the Board for their support in this endeavour.
Hooray Our Mini Vans Have Arrived Our two brand new mini vans have arrived in the country and we are arranging for them to be sign-written with our logo and name. They will be stored safely over the upcoming holidays and then early next year we are erecting a two bay garage to house them. So next year, swimming will not be the huge expense it has been this year as we now have the capability to get a class sized group to and from the pool. SO exciting also for our trips around Wānaka.
Many thanks to the following groups who have helped with the funding of these minvans: - The Lion Foundation $10,000
- Otago Community Trust (Dollar for Dollar scheme) $31,750
- The Wānaka Trail Ride Fundraiser $13,000
- PTA $15,000
- Wānaka Primary School's Future Trust $5,000
- And of course to the Board who have made up the remainder of the cost from their very efficient handling of our funds
Start of 2020 If you are enrolling your child at Take Kārara for 2020, please do this as soon as possible so that Jodie and her team at Take Kārara can get their organisation tailored to meet the needs of the year levels who will be attending. If you are waiting to look at the school layout or class sizes make contact with Jodie and she will explain more about the school layout and you can also go to the Take Kārara website and be walked through the buildings on a virtual tour. With regard to class size, Take Kārara will have less students at each level. It would be best to make your decision, if you are in Take Kārara's zone as soon as possible. It is not in your child's best interest to move schools at the beginning or mid way of term 1.
If you have enrolled at Take Kārara or intend to enrol for 2020, please could you also advise our team in the Wānaka Primary School office as soon as possible. We will not be organising 2020 classes until enrolments have settled down and we know how many students we have at each level. For the beginning of next year, we will be asking children to go to pods according to their year levels. Our first 2 weeks will see a lot of pod based and school based activities around our through-line for next year - 'Be the Change'.
Many Thanks to Those Who Paid The School Donation Many thanks to the wonderful families who have paid their school donation this year. As you are aware, we are a decile 10 school, so we do not qualify for the $150 per child given by the government and we also receive less base operational funding per child because of our decile rating. This makes us even more grateful to those of you who have paid your school donation. This has enabled us this year to engage Mary-Anne Tamati as our Te Reo and Tikanga tutor, to engage Pete and Helen to teach and lead our school band, to provide various extension programmes and LIteracy Lift programmes, to purchase the vans and top up the money needed for the Pod 2 turf from the year before and pay for the buses for things such as swimming. The school donation also allows us to have a better teacher-student ratio with small group pick ups happening and smaller class sizes overall. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Your donation makes a huge difference to our kids. |
|
|
Junior Challenge (Duathlon/Triathlon) Friday 14th February 2020 This event is our school duathlon/triathlon and all children are expected to participate. Take the opportunity to get your kids on their bikes and training during the holidays. The event provides a safe opportunity for children to be part of a large event. It is a wonderful way to build resilience, risk taking and perseverance, all incredibly important life skills.
This is for school ages from Year 1 through to Year 6. This event will also provide the opportunity for the Upper Clutha Zone Schools to qualify to compete in the Central Otago Primary Schools Triathlon Championships in Term 4, 2020 (Year 5 and 6).
Further information is available at the Challenge Website. Please do not register on the website. There is no charge for Wānaka Primary School students.
Please note: registrations will happen early next year - you will receive an email from us detailing how to register. |
|
|
Dress Up As Your Favourite Book Character The photos show the fun that was had! |
|
|
School Community Herb Garden Thanks goes out to everyone who brought in herbs for the 'School Community Herb Garden'. The rain is keeping them well watered so they are starting to flourish. Please remember you are welcome to come and help yourself - the garden is between Pod 5 and the field. |
|
|
Writing Instruments and Colgate Recycling Programme Wānaka Primary School is a collection point for the 'Writing Instruments' and the 'Colgate Oral Care' Recycling Programme. Bins are located in the library foyer and the following products can be placed in the 'Writing Instruments' bin: - pens, felt tips, highlighters, markers, mechanical pencils, fountain pens, ink cartridges, correction tape and white out pots.
And in the 'Colgate Oral Care' bin: - toothpaste tube and caps, floss containers, toothbrushes, toothbrush, toothpaste and floss outer packaging and mouthwash bottles.
The waste is recycled and we can get recycled benches and tables for our efforts.
A huge thank you goes out to Donnelle Dunlop as she has instigated and is managing this project on behalf of the school.
 |
|
|
Scholastic Book Fair I wish to express a huge thanks to all parents who came along and supported our Scholastic Book Fair. This year we topped last year and a generous portion of the proceeds are given back to the school to buy books. This is our one and only annual fundraiser for our library, so once again a huge thanks.
For summer reading our school eLibrary will still be operating. Please see below for instructions.
Installing ePlatform on Tablet/Ipad/Phone
Go to Playstore, Itunes or Appstore and download the app: ePlatform by Wheelers.
Find your Library: Search for Wānaka Primary School Library in the search bar.
You will need to sign in before you can borrow. Use your school email and password.
Accessing ePlatform on Chromebook/Laptop/eReader
In your browser type in: wpslibrary.wheelers.co
This will bring up the Wānaka Primary School E-books.
Save this to your bookmarks bar.
Click on the “sign in” at the top right, then click on the blue “sign in” using your school email and password - then you will be ready to browse the e-library.
Over the next week I will be handing out 'Summer Reading Bingo Cards' from the Wānaka Public Library - there are some great prizes up for grabs.
I will take this opportunity to wish all families a safe and merry Christmas and holiday season.
Melissa Ashby
School Librarian |
|
|
Wānaka Trail Ride - Volunteer Registration is Open Saturday 28th March 2020
Head on over to the volunteers registration here and secure your spot in the 2020 Wānaka Trail Ride. Volunteer roles and time slots are varied to suit a range of skills and availability. Parking, registration, marshaling, track set up and break down, catering or pre-event baking. Don't worry if you don't know anything about trail rides - many of the roles don't need knowledge of riding, whilst those with great riding skills will love joining the marshal team. If you have kids who you want to ride with then sign up for a half day shift as a marshal and ride with your family for the rest of the day.
We work hard to ensure volunteers enjoy themselves and feedback from previous rides has been really positive:
“Was such a buzz to be able to help at this extremely well run event, making money for our local kids! Thank you for involving me.”
“It was an awesome event and it was great to be involved with it. It was so well organised – everything to me ran like clockwork and a wonderful bunch of people to work with.”
“Baking was delicious!!! And hot drink super welcome. Lovely to enjoy with fellow vollies after shift finished.”
If you have any questions pop in and see Lucy Jewell at WPS office, Anne Marie Love at MCHW office or speak to Gillian 021 500 394. Thanks. www.wanakatrailride.org - Facebook@WanakaTrailRide
Photo credit and thanks to Stu Tooley Meantime Images |
|
|
Congrats Go Out To Charlotte Sheppard Charlotte has passed her Grade 2 British Ballet Organisation exam with a Distinction result - well done. |
|
|
Treasurer Required for The Wānaka Guide and Scout Group Help!! The Wānaka Guide and Scout Group are desperate for a new treasurer to help look after the Wānaka Scout Den and the local Cub and Scout groups. It is estimated 2 hours per week with full training provided. The role could be filled by a retired person with accounting skills and community spirit. It’s a crucial role and essential to all den activities. Please consider joining the team and either message, call or email if you would like further information:
Emily 021 984 336 or wanaka@group.scouts.nz. |
|
|
Happy Holidays At The Library |
|
|
Christmas Show Come and join the children and families of our region on a diverse journey discovering with Luke, Isabelle and yule cat the traditions of Christmas and how the rest of the world celebrates Christmas. |
|
|
Who Is This Baby? - The Christmas Story |
|
|
 Warbirds Over Wānaka 2020: Schools Programme All students aged 0-16 are FREE to attend on Friday 10th April 2020. - One of WOW’s fundamental objectives is the education of young New Zealanders about our country’s aviation history. We aim to inspire young people to take an active interest in all facets of aviation at the Airshow.
- This year we are excited to welcome the Royal New Zealand Air Force who will be partnering with Air New Zealand to present School to Skies: On the Road. This programme travels all around the country and is a fully interactive and fun hands-on experience.
- The Air Training Corps, 50th (Alexandra) Squadron Cadets will be running tours throughout the morning of the 10th April.
- Student tickets can be collected on the Friday morning at a collection point beside the ticket boxes at the entrances to the Airshow.
- We hope all students will enjoy their day at the Warbirds Over Wānaka International Airshow!
|
|
|
| Delicious, nutritious and popular with kids, Subway delivers school lunches every Friday. Order online at subwayexpress.co.nz. by 9am. |
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
