Great Start to Term 3 Term 3 started off with a blast. Right from day 1 students settled back into school life happily and Friday was so much fun with our Red Nose Day to raise funds ($794.80) for Cure Kids and then our dance performances. Music, synergy, smiles and laughter were everywhere. Staff have had a good break and we are looking forward to working with you and your children with their learning this term.
Dance Week Once again another great week with Mark from the Dance Company, which was enjoyed by everybody. Thank you so much for all the support at the performance day on Friday and for getting in behind the dancers with your enthusiasm and participation. They loved performing for you.
Friday Night Lights - September 17th Entries for the entertainment and the Cat Walk fashion sections are now open. Our theme for the fashion parade is 'Light up History'. So get those imaginations going and start designing. Registrations will close 3pm on Friday 3rd September. So get your entry in by filling in this form. So far in the entertainment section we have our Kapahaka groups, our junior and senior choir and of course our school band. If your child(ren) would like to perform on our stage please fill in the form here also by Friday 3rd September. If you have any questions please contact Wendy.
Extension and Gifted and Talented Programmes This follows on from last week's inclusion in the newsletter about Learning Support Programmes that are provided for children with specific learning needs. One of Kerry Guise’s roles is to support teachers planning for differentiation in the classroom to cater for children with a variety of learning styles and talents. Kerry also oversees the extra curricular activities. There are opportunities for children with interests in the Arts - (Dance, Drama, Music, Singing), Science, Technology, Enviro Schools, Writing and more. All teachers actively look out for opportunities to continue to develop the passions and interests of our children. Extra curricular activities are run at various times of the day and year and include: Kapahaka - junior and senior. An invitation is offered to all children early in the year to become a member of the junior or senior group with practices every Tuesday with Anne and Beth. These practices culminate in many different performances throughout the year. Sing Squad - junior and senior. Beth and Anne take the senior Sing Squad with practices also held each Tuesday. Megan takes the junior Sing Squad group. Two itinerant music teachers are employed to teach music once a week. These include keyboard, guitar and wind instruments. Pete and Helen also work with children who are part of the WPS band. We have opportunities for children to participate in yearly panto productions. Wendy leads this with support from staff. Initial trials are held during lunch times but as time progresses practices take up some school time. Year 5 & 6 children look forward to this as it is an opportunity for them to develop their performance skills through dance, singing and drama. Year 6 children have the opportunity to be part of leadership groups with Anna Speak and Hannah Chisholm working with these children to develop their leadership skills in many different areas. More about this will follow in further newsletters. Each year a group of Year 5 & 6 students take part in Computer Capers. A competition with a different theme each year requiring the children to present work online using any of the many publishing tools available. This year’s theme was ‘How has COVID 19 impacted on your community?’ This competition is open to all Year 5 & 6 children who express an interest in participating. It is a mix of some in-school time and also requires some independent work during out of school hours. EP - Education Perfect is an online platform designed to make learning fun, engaging and effective. Education Perfect blends engaging content, cutting edge pedagogy and a world-class learning platform to deliver teaching and learning experiences. Our school pays for each student to have a log on to this platform for learning anytime anywhere. Our teachers are all currently using EP for upskilling in Te Reo. Our senior language classes also make use of EP. Journal Club - run by Belinda Sides and Anna Speak. Year 5 & 6 children interested in writing get together to write articles for the weekly newsletter and work towards publishing the Year Book for the Year 6 children. Kerry oversees the Literacy Lift STEPS groups for tier two children from Year 4 - 6 working with the teacher aides 3 sessions per week for 40 minutes each session. Jennie Croxford oversees the running of the Year 4 group. This addresses spelling, dictation, online work and book work with an emphasis on phonics. Our Year 5 & 6 students have language classes each Tuesday afternoon; French, Spanish,Japanese, Mandarin, German and extension Te Reo Māori. Some of the classes are with teachers ‘zooming’ in from China or South America, the others use Education Perfect and Ministry of Education resources for their classes. All classes have access to LEARNZ - field trips; virtual, accessible, engaging, and meaningful learning for the real world. Online field trips allow students to connect with people and places all around New Zealand and beyond. Children can visit all kinds of places, across a range of learning areas, from the comfort of their classroom or home. LEARNZ enables engagement with experts in LIVE daily interactive web conferences. This complements our deep learning in classes. For the analytical thinkers and problem solvers we have Chess Club running at lunchtimes taken by Markus. Children also have the opportunity to take part in competitions. A weekly after school Robotics club runs in Pod 7 with students from Mount Aspiring College assisting Dave Fitzgerald with this popular programme. ODS - One Day School is a parent funded option for children who have been assessed and identified as gifted. Danielle Nicholson teaches these classes in our board owned spaces behind pod 3. This programme is run through REAP, (Rural Education Activities Programme) in Alexandra. Enviro Projects at WPS (leading to Enviro Schools Bronze)
Touchstone and Grebes
For six years groups of interested senior students from WPS have participated in a local citizen science project called The Touchstone Project. The Touchstone Project is a direct action initiative to support those concerned about the Lake Wānaka water catchment, raise awareness of impacts around the lake, and how you can have a positive influence on the water in the lake. On several field trips over the years, WPS students supported Touchstone by taking water samples, analysing freshwater invertebrates, monitoring stormwater drains and checking on local wetlands. Recently, the Grebe breeding programme at the Wānaka Marina got added to this involvement as well.
Backyard Trapping
After receiving a $1000 grant from PredatorFreeNZ, WPS was able to purchase equipment to monitor and trap pests (like mice, rats, stoats, ferrets, hedgehogs, possums) who are a threat to the local native wildlife on our school grounds. Year 5 & 6 senior students can join a weekly group to learn about pests and actively monitor and trap them on our school grounds.
Native Gardens
WPS has two native gardens on the school grounds. We have a reference garden behind Pod 4 which was set up with the help of Te Kakano years ago. Recently, WPS students planted another native garden with around 450 native plants on the hill behind Pod 8. This was a student-driven project where senior students planned the development of the hill in class, organised the planting and then put all 450 plants in the ground themselves.
Annual Beach Clean Ups
For four years now, Senior students of WPS (in association with G.J. Gardner Homes) have taken part in an annual beach clean-up around Eely Point for the Keep New Zealand Beautiful initiative. Every year, around 100 WPS students collect rubbish for a couple of hours between the Scouts Den and the beach at Bremner Bay.
Garden to Table
WPS joined the Garden to Table programme in 2019. Garden to Table’s aim is to introduce New Zealand primary and intermediate school students to the joy of fresh, seasonal produce they have grown, harvested, cooked, and shared in their own school, with the help of peers, volunteers and teachers. The students become involved in all aspects of gardening in an environmentally sustainable garden, and cooking and then enjoying a delicious, seasonal meal they have produced themselves. Students’ knowledge, gained by being engaged in both the garden and kitchen, is taken back to their classroom where it is reinforced in their day-to-day learning.
School Gardens
We have been working on enriching the soil in the raised gardens ever since WPS moved here 11 years ago! We can now successfully grow a variety of produce. Last year Sharon Pendlebury worked with a group of students and parent volunteers to plant 12 fruit trees in our school orchard on the hill behind Pod 8. This was a long term plan of Sharon’s after taking part in the Science Teaching and Leadership Programme. This involved working alongside scientists at Plant and Food Research in Clyde. Once the fruit trees are established students will be able to learn more about the science of fruit cultivation and pest management. Gardening sessions are held on Monday lunchtimes and everyone is welcome to come along. Produce is: used in school cooking for Garden to Table, sold or donated to Food For Love. Our latest project includes developing the area behind Pod 3 into a fenced outdoor classroom which can be used throughout the year. It will include a polytunnel, composting system, rainwater harvesting and a covered seating area. Later this term we will be sending out brochures for King’s Seeds and holding a seedling sale in Term 4, to raise funds for this project. We are very grateful to the parents who volunteer their time to work in the gardens and would love to hear from you if you would like to help too! We would also be grateful if anyone has unwanted (but not broken) gardening tools that they would like to donate; wheelbarrows, hoes, etc. We also operate a Worm Farm and Bokashi Buckets at school. | 