| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES Term 1 2024
Week 5
Pod 6 Swimming all week
Thursday 29th February - Athletics (Years 3-6)
Friday 1st March - Athletics (Years 3-6)
Week 6
Pod 7 Swimming all week
Tuesday 5th March - Tutus on Tour Performance - Lake Wānaka Centre
Thursday 7th March - Upper Clutha Athletics
Thursday 7th March - PTA Social Meeting - 6.30pm - Pembroke Wines
Friday 8th March - Ballet Workshops with RNZ Ballet
Friday 8th March - Pod 6 Assembly 2.15pm - Hall
Week 7
Thursday 14th March - Little Heart Day - wear red and bring a gold coin donation
Friday 15th March - Pod 7 Assembly 2.15pm - Hall
Week 8
Monday 18th March - Life Education Trust with Harold the Giraffe here until 5th April
Monday 18th March - Board of Trustees Meeting - 5pm - Staffroom
Wednesday 20th March - Author Visit - Steve Mushin - 1.30pm
Week 9
Monday 25th March - Otago Anniversary - School Closed
Wednesday 27th March - COPSSA Athletics (Years 5&6)
Friday 29th March - Good Friday - School Closed
Week 10
Monday 1st April - Easter Monday - School Closed
Tuesday 2nd April - Easter Tuesday - School Closed
Wednesday 3rd April - Top Bike (Year 6)
Friday 5th April - Life Education Trust with Harold the Giraffe last day
Friday 5th April - GRIP Student Leadership Training
Week 11
Friday 12th April - Pod 4 Assembly 2.15pm - Hall
Friday 12th April - Last Day of Term 1 - School Finishes at 3pm
Term 2
Week 1
Monday 29th April - First Day of Term 2
Monday 29th April - School Photos
Tuesday 30th April - Thursday 2nd May - EPro8 Challenge
IMPORTANT NOTICES Little Heart Day Come to school dressed in red for Little Heart Day!
Who: Everyone!
When: Thursday 14th March 2024
What: Raising money for Heart Kids NZ
How: Bring a gold coin and dress in red for the day :)
Tribe T-Shirts Come along to Athletics Day this Thursday 29th February and check out our newly designed tribe t-shirts! We have managed to source great quality, affordable 100% cotton t-shirts in all the tribe colours. Each design features a bird and the name of the tribe on the back of the t-shirt, printed locally here in Wānaka. We will have sample sizes for kids to try on and order sheets ready. Thanks! The PTA crew.
School Furniture and Paver Sale We still have some items left outside the Hall. It is now free to a good home before it goes to Wastebusters at the weekend.
Photo from our Parent Welcome Picnic and Jump Jam last Tuesday.
Thanks to everyone who came and supported this, it was great to see you all. |
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Selectrix Wānaka WPS BYOD Deal LENOVO - 100E G3 11.6" HD INTEL N4500 4GB 32GB SSD CHROME OS MAORI KB ZTE 1YR WTY 82V00000NZ - $419 RRP (Special Price = $356 inc GST) Targus - Work-in Essentials Carrying Case (Slipcase) for 29.5 cm (11.6") Google Chromebook, Notebook - Black, Grey - Scuff Resistant - Elastic Body - 25 mm Height x 320 mm Width x 220 mm Depth – Unisex TED006GL-71 - $49 RRP Belkin - SoundForm Mini Wired On-Ear Headphones for Kids – Black / Blue / Pink AUD004BT - $39 RRP TOTAL PACKAGE PRICE = $415 inc GST
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2024 Annual School Fees Activity Fee The annual activity fee is $60.00 per child for 2024. This is a compulsory fee which covers extra-curricular costs, such as those incurred by bringing visiting performers/specialists to Wānaka, for example, sports coaches, dance/music/drama performances and special events. Collecting this annual fee avoids the time consuming exercise of collecting 450 plus entry fees each time there is a performance or activity. The $60.00 payment is required by 20th February 2024. Please make your payment as soon as possible, as participation in such
activities is on a user pays basis.
School Donation for 2024 Since 2010, the Ministry of Education has frozen core funding to schools. This has increased the reliance on receiving a donation from parents to adequately staff and resource the school.
Your donation assists the Board to fund items or activities that the Ministry of Education do not fund, for example: Specialist Music (e.g. band, instrumental) Extension programmes Kapa Haka Programmes Digital Technology Specialised equipment for the classrooms School Shows (e.g. Pantomimes) Unfortunately, Wānaka Primary only receives the bare minimum in operational funding due to the school being a Decile 10 as determined by the Ministry of Education, hence the donations received truly make a difference to your child’s experience at Wānaka Primary School.
The suggested School Donation is $150.00 per child for 2024. Tax deductible receipts are issued for all donations.
Payment of the Activity Fee and School Donation can be made by:
Direct Credit to Wānaka Primary School – account 02-0673-0023784-001
Eftpos (cheque or savings no credit) available at the school office
Cash – please ensure you provide your child’s name and room number with payment
Brendan Hearle
Board Chair
Wanaka Primary School Board of Trustees |
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Tutus on Tour We have managed to get free tickets for 100 of our Year 5 & 6 students (Pod 6 & 7) to go to this ballet performance next Tuesday 5th March 12.30-1.30pm. Children who were keen to go were selected. For some children there may be conflict with the swimming programme. There is also a conflict for those going to the Pink Concert so let teachers know if this is the case for your child. The group will walk down to the Lake Wānaka Centre from school with teachers and parents ready to be seated by 12.15pm and will walk back to school after the performance. Please watch out for an email from classroom teachers about this.
We are fortunate also to have one of the RNZ ballet dancers run workshops on Friday 8th March for 100 Year 3 & 4 students (Pods 3 & 4). These workshops are $5, which will be covered by these children's school activity fee. These dance workshops will be held in the hall from 9.00am through to 12.30pm.
School Assemblies All pods present at two whole school assemblies a year. Pod 6 is the first pod to kick off this year with an assembly, showcasing their learning and life at school on Friday 8th March. This date is also the postponement day for the UC Athletics so if the weather doesn't play it's part on Thursday 7th March we may have to be a bit flexible.
Pod 7's assembly is planned for Friday 15th March and Pod 4's will be in the last week of term.
Swimming Pod 6 are swimming this week, next week will be Pod 7's turn. Hall Floor Upgrade Our school hall floor is being sanded and sealed this Friday to fix up 14 years of wear and tear. The hall will not be in use from Friday morning and over the weekend.
WPS Athletics The weather is meant to be glorious on Thursday 29th February, for our Year 3-6 Run, Jump, and Throw Athletics day. Due to the number of events and children taking part the athletics will spill over into Friday morning as well. Check out the information included later in this newsletter.
The PTA will be selling BBQ sausages wrapped in bread ($2), ice blocks ($1) and chilled Vibe no sugar fizzy drinks ($2). Please bring the correct change. We only have 4 offers of help in total to help the PTA with this fundraiser and we need at least 4 more to help for an hour, either from 11.00-12.00 or 12.00-1.00pm. We do not have many fundraisers planned this year as we struggled to get helpers last year. Let's hope we can rouse up enough help for our sausage sizzles as the kids love them. We would love your help with this one! Please fill in this form here to help or ring the office to let them know.
Life Education Trust Life Education Trust mobile classroom is heading to Wānaka Primary School from Monday 18th March through to Friday 5th April.
Harold the Giraffe, and Roshelle the educator, provide education to support the health and wellbeing of tamariki and rangatahi, delivered through interactive learning experiences. In primary and intermediate schools, the mobile classroom's specialist health teachers provide engaging and memorable lessons through the Healthy Harold Programme. They visit more than 1400 schools and kura each year in their unique mobile classrooms, where students learn about their body, friendships, their identity, food and nutrition, and helpful and harmful substances. They take a co-design approach, working with schools to ensure each lesson meets the unique needs of their community. They are coming to us to talk about food and nutrition and healthy eating. This focus is to support a need expressed by parents, via the parent survey the Board sent home last year, as part of our strategic planning process. Today children and young people face a lot of challenges, including: obesity, substance use, bullying, mental health and wellbeing. The decisions they make as young people can dramatically affect how they live their lives in the future – this is why Life Education exists. Through education young people are helped to understand how decisions they make today can affect their future health and wellbeing. Together with Wānaka Primary School teachers, Roshelle and Harold will educate our tamariki and whānau about food and nutrition to support healthy, happy and sustainable lifestyles, including these goals in programmes: Develop life skills relating to their health and wellbeing Understand how to make healthy choices Gain knowledge about health and their bodies Develop self esteem and a positive understanding of themselves Develop strategies for relating to others. The Life Education programmes cover content across five major strands: food and nutrition, human biology, relationships and communities, identity and resilience and substances. Our focus for 2024 is Food and Nutrition so our children learn to make healthy eating decisions. This also fits nicely with our throughline Ka Tipu - to grow and flourish, our Garden to Table programme and our health focus in curriculum this year.
PTA Update URGENT: Sausage sizzle helpers needed for the WPS athletics day on Thursday 29th February - can you give the gift of your time for an hour to feed our hungry athletes and raise funds to develop our school's Garden to Table/Enviro programmes.
There is a social PTA meeting at 6.30pm on Thursday 7th March at Pembroke Wines and Spirits (back room). Please see the invitation in the PTA notices below.
Keep Our Children Safe We have noticed there are continually a number of children, including preschoolers, who are unrestrained in the car. Please buckle all children in.
The law says:
The use of mobile phones is also a concern, whilst drivers are coming into Ironside Drive and Totara Terrace, whilst navigating the car parking areas and during pick up and drop off. We also see parents walking with their children and tapping away on their mobiles. Please keep those phones in your pocket or bag whilst you are navigating the roads and drop off points around school. Children are unpredictable and can run out at any time in front of an oncoming car. Using a mobile phone whilst you are driving at any time is dangerous, around our energetic, unpredictable tamariki it could end in heartbreak!
OUR CHILDREN ARE PRECIOUS - PLEASE KEEP THEM SAFE! |
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Athletics Day (Years 3-6) Thursday 29th February (PP - Friday 1st March)
The weather forecast is looking great, if not a little hot, for this Thursday as our students take to the top field to participate in a range of running, jumping and throwing events.
Sunhats, sunscreen and named drink bottles of water will be essential!
Children will also need: trainers (closed shoes are compulsory for the throws) athletics clothes - tribe colours are encouraged plenty of lunch and snacks After discussing the options with their teachers, students have chosen to participate in either the non-competitive or competitive divisions for the events. Both divisions encourage students to strive for their personal best but the main differences are:
Competitive
- competing for individual and overall placings in their year groups
- eligibility for qualification to the Upper Clutha event - year 5&6 only
Non-competitive
- has a participation focus while earning points for their tribes
Students were able to choose to be in the competitive division for individual events (eg. discus and sprints, non-competitive in the others).
Have a chat with your child to find out what their preference was. If you have any questions, please check in with their classroom teacher.
WE DO NEED PARENT HELP - We would really appreciate parent support for the event - we are stretched to 'man' all the events and supervise students.
If you are able to offer to help for the morning or afternoon rotations, please could you email me: [email protected]
Alternatively, while watching your child(ren) take part, please let teachers know that you are happy to roll back shot puts, rake the long jump pit or put a high jump bar in place, etc. Thank you!
Below is the timetable for Thursday.
Because of the large number of children taking part, we are not able to hold all events on Thursday. The 800m and discus events for the seniors (Y5-6) will be held on Friday.
Please come along to enjoy watching and supporting your children participate, but we ask you to respect our policy for school events by not bringing dogs. Please also be respectful of areas that are designated for participants only.
If the event is postponed, notification will be placed on the school website and app by 8.00am. |
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Local History Learning in Pod 3 Pod 3 were lucky to have visits from Amanda at the Arrowtown Musuem and Damian from Enviro Schools to look at local artifacts and begin thinking about our local history and how people impact a place. |
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Fern Fuel for Schools Thank you to the following local businesses who have nominated Wānaka Primary School in The Fuel for Schools sponsorship programme. We have $1265.09 to redeem from a range of sports, technology, literacy, music and Vegepod packages. Run 505 Ltd Evergreen Homes & Construction Ltd Aspiring Earthmoving Ltd Golden Plains Orchard Ltd Partnership Whistler Orchards Ltd Diverse Works Ltd Aspiring Earthmoving Ltd |
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Seasons for Growth Please click here for a brochure
We intend to run the Seasons for Growth programme in term 2.
Please use this link to register. |
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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 interact with others and their property in an appropriate way'. |
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PTA Social Are you bored now that the children are back at school? Do you need wine to fill the void? Then come on over to our PTA social! Join us for a drink (the first one is on us) and meet some new people. WHERE: Pembroke Wines and Spirits WHEN: Thursday 7th March @ 6.30pm We hope to see you there!
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WPS Netball 2024 - Registrations are Open NETBALL REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW OPEN! Sign up now to play netball this year, open to Years 3-6.
Be quick – registrations close 14th March, 2024.
If you can help with coaching, please let us know! We are in urgent need of coaches for the season to go ahead. Plenty of coaching resources and online modules are available, and there will be a junior coaching clinic held in Wanaka. Email [email protected] to register your interest. |
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Puzzling World Junior Challenge Congratulations to our WPS athletes who placed in their races: Sam Morris placed 2nd in the Y5 boys race Jacob Heathorn placed 2nd and Rio Carnie 3rd in the Y6 boys race Ally Moir placed 3rd in Y6 girls race From the Organisers...
Wow, what an amazing few days we have had!
Friday the sun came out in full and the lake was still, which set us up for a great race day for Puzzling World Junior Challenge 2024.
It was fantastic to see so many local students, as well as those from further afield, come along to participate. Congratulations to all students for your efforts and for 'challenging' yourselves.
Firstly, we want to say a big thank you to all the teachers who gave up their time to help organise their students and get them to the event.
The other group of people who need a huge thank you are all the volunteers who gave up their time (some all week) to ensure all the bikes made it to the event site (a huge job on its own), got them all lined up in the right order, set the course and marshalled over the racing days. This event couldn't happen without these people!
Thank you to all the parents who helped on the day directing children and marshalling the event.
We felt that both days went as smoothly as they could (considering the number of children and the tight timeframes) and we did the best we could with the resources we had available to us. With a new Race Director as well as a new Junior and Intermediate Event Manager for 2024, we made some changes this year that have been positive. Looking forward to the Intermediate and Junior Challenge 2025 we are excited to review this year's races and implement further changes that will enhance the experience for competitors, teachers, parents and volunteers.
We look forward to seeing you all in 2025! Many Thanks
Integrity Homes Challenge Wanaka
Junior and Intermediate Event Manager |
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Backyard Trapping A big thanks to Gerad McArthur for coming and showing the children how backyard trapping works. The traps were checked and re-baited as needed. |
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Library News Click the image below to view our wonderful Library Webapp.
Please feel free to email me if you want to ask anything related to books and your child's reading interests in our school library. 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
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Jennian Homes Junior Trail Run |
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Wānaka A&P Show
wanakashow.co.nz |
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Food For Love Charity Auction |
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Upper Clutha Rugby Registrations |
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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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