| | | | | | IMPORTANT DATES Week 2
Wednesday 10th February - PTA Meeting 7pm - Staffroom
Thursday 11th February - Bike Ready Programme Year 6
Friday 12th February - Bike Ready Programme Year 6
Week 3
Monday 15th February - Bike Ready Programme Year 6
Tuesday 16th February - Bike Ready Programme Year 6
Friday 19th February - Wānaka Primary School Triathlon in
conjunction with the Puzzling World Junior Challenge Triathlon
Week 4
Monday 22nd February - Board Meeting 5PM - Staffroom
Wednesday 24th February - Welcome to WPS 2021 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Week 8
Monday 22nd March - Otago Anniversary Day - School Closed
Saturday 27th March - Wānaka Trail Ride
Week 9
Monday 29th March - Board Meeting 5pm - Staffroom
Friday 2nd April - Easter Friday - School Closed
Week 10
Monday 5th April - Easter Monday - School Closed
Tuesday 6th April - Easter Tuesday - School Closed
Week 11
Friday 16th April - Term 1 Ends
IMPORTANT NOTICES Wānaka Primary School Triathlon Friday 19th February - we will update you with details and timings as soon as they are announced.
Scholastic Book Brochures The first brochure for 2021 is available from classrooms now. If you wish to place an order, please follow the instructions on the inside back cover of the brochure - Option 1 Credit Card/Loop System.
If you wish your order to be a 'gift', please tick the "Gift" option and advise Katrina also as a back-up. Orders close at 3pm on Tuesday 23rd February. All orders when received are handed out to the children unless the office is notified.
2021 Annual School Activity Fee The annual activity fee is $40.00 per child for 2021. This is a compulsory fee which covers extra-curricular costs, such as those incurred by bringing visiting performers/specialists to Wānaka, for example, sports coaching, dance/music/drama performances and special events. Collecting this annual fee avoids the time consuming exercise of collecting 600 plus entry fees each time there is a performance or activity. The $40.00 payment is required by 26th February 2021, please make your payment as soon as possible, as participation in such activities is on a user pays basis.
Payments can be made by:
Direct credit to Wanaka Primary School - account 02-0673-0023784-001
Eftpos - available at the school office
Cash - please ensure you provide your child's name and room number with payment.
School Donations for 2021 The school donation for 2021 is $150.00. The BOT requests the donation annually to assist with costs (not covered by the MOE operations grant), these include providing specialist teaching tutors (eg. Maori and Music), extra resources and teaching / learning enrichment and extension programmes, as well as employing extra staff to address teacher / student ratios. Our 2021 class sizes are smaller in comparison with Ministry staffing levels because the Board employ extra teachers. This is not sustainable without your school donation.
Tax deductible receipts are issued for all donations. Bus Standing Orders Thank you to the parents who have updated their children’s bus standing orders.
For those that still need to update their children’s bus standing order please contact the office as soon as possible. |
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Welcome to 2021 at Wānaka Primary School We hope you have had a great summer break and you are looking forward to whatever comes our way in 2021...we are. What a fantastic week we had last week ...it was a happy, calm buzz emanating from every pod and the staffroom. It is as if we had not had a 6 week break.
Introductions As we have asked our pod leaders and teachers to introduce themselves, myself and the leadership team will do the same.
Wendy Bamford - Principal
I have a brother (in Brazil) and sister (in Melbourne) and my dad is still with us at 93. I have inherited his Pekinese called Princess, who spends winter days at school in my office as she is approaching 20 years old. My dad lives in Cromwell, and is a big part of my life. I have been married to Graham for 45 years and we have a son and a daughter and recently we became grandparents. I am privileged to have been principal at Wānaka Primary School for 15 years and love my job and the amazing children and the talented adults with whom I work. I have been involved in the design of our current campus and the move of our school 10 years ago from the old site at Tenby Street to Ironside Drive. I play the piano and guitar and love music, crafts such as scrapbooking, quilting, sewing, and knitting, gardening, walking with Poppy our dog and I am a writer of poetry, plays and pantomimes. I have a couple of postgraduate theses under my belt. I have gained a Trained Teachers Certificate (with distinction), a Bachelor of Education (Hons), a Diploma in Education (Hons), Masters in Education (Hons), and a doctorate in Educational Leadership. Wānaka Primary School and the people there are my happy place. Wānaka Primary School is a high performing school and I am honoured to work with the wonderful people on the Board, PTA and staff to ensure we continue to provide the best possible learning environment for our children.
Kerry Guise - Deputy Principal
I am the Deputy Principal and have the privilege of leading Pod 7 & 8. This is my 25th year at WPS and prior to this, taught in an intermediate school and a private girls’ school in Dunedin.
With a love of all things technology, I took on the role of facilitator for ICT for the Upper Clutha and Queenstown Lakes which meant lots of new learning, travelling and presenting to large groups of educators not just in our area but also at a national level. I spent 6 years in this role, part-time for the Ministry of Education and the rest back at school, where my first love is.
I am married to Nev and we have two children, one of whom lives in Perth and I have three wonderful grandchildren. We have spent lots of time flying across the ditch and with this pandemic are so glad to have the technology to communicate with them in a more personal manner. My Wānaka family was boosted by the arrival of a puppy called Nell, a border terrier, back at the beginning of 2020 and she definitely keeps us on our toes.
Every year we are faced with change and challenges, this is definitely what keeps me in education as I love to work with a fantastic group of like-minded people with children at the heart of everything we do.
Jason Cowan - Deputy Principal
I grew up in Dunedin and spent many years as a child holidaying between Wānaka and Twizel. I have been working at Wānaka Primary School since 2011 and teaching since 1996, mainly in the junior school. Life moves in circles as I started my career at Wānaka Primary School before a short stint in Invercargill then overseas for 5 years. When we returned to NZ we lived in Wellington for 8 years where I taught at Seatoun Primary School. I have a passion for the junior school as change happens so quickly!
During our time in Wellington my partner, Estelle, and I started our small family. I have 2 brothers, one of which is my identical twin who still lives in Wellington, we used to live a few houses apart and really confused the neighbours! We moved to Wānaka in 2011 to get back to the mountains and lakes where we spent so many great years in our youth. This also brought us back to our parents who live here, Twizel and Dunedin.
My wife, Estelle is working at Te Kura o te Take Kārara, also in the junior school. We have one son, Luka who is Y8 at Mount Aspiring College and a 3 legged cat called Mika. I have a passion for mountain biking and skiing so when I am not in the office I can be found roaming the tracks around Wānaka on my bike or blasting around TC during the winter.
Jennie Croxford - Team Leader
I moved to Wānaka in 2002 with my husband, Will, after living, working and travelling overseas for 6 years. While away we spent 3 years in India where I worked in an International school. This was an amazing experience and we developed a love of the Indian culture. As my husband is able to work from home when we decided to return to New Zealand we could choose anywhere to live and Wānaka was our choice. We love the mountains, lake and all the varied outdoor activities on our doorstep.
I was a classroom teacher for 24 years before joining the school management team and I am enjoying working with and supporting the lovely Wānaka Primary staff. I lead the deep learning within the school and love seeing how motivated the staff are when they can see the passion the children have for their learning. Over the years I have reviewed and extended the school camp experience for our children. I love camping and school camps are an amazing experience for all involved.
My hobbies include playing and listening to music. I learnt the piano and flute for many years and enjoy sharing my musical knowledge with others especially when we have school pantomimes. I also enjoy watching and playing many sports. I grew up playing tennis and netball and still enjoy playing netball with the Silverthreads team although we play at a very social level now.
I have a huge, fluffy cat called George and enjoy spending any spare time in my garden or reading a book.
Languages for our Senior Students
Kia Ora, Salut, Guten Tag, Ni Hao, Konnichi Wa, Hola
All of our Year 5 and 6 students are learning one of these languages this year; Mandarin (level 1 or level 2 with Kerry and Anna), Spanish (with Belinda and Teresa), French (with Kath, Jennie and Wendy), Te Reo (with Karina and Beth), Japanese (with Clair and Dave) and German (with Markus and Charlotte). Thank you to our amazing Board who have provided the support and financial backing to enable us to undertake these programmes. Please look for information over the next week or so from our language teachers. Sessions will be held on a Tuesday afternoon and we had our first session today from 1:30 to 2:15pm.
Some Year 5 and 6 students may have a clash with One Day School and Senior Kapa Haka on Tuesdays and thus need to talk to Danielle.
We are a Sun Safe School Please ensure your child has a NAMED sunsafe sunhat (brims to protect face, ears and neck), sunscreen (we will prompt your children to apply this), a bottle full of water, and arrives at school in the correct uniform, looking smart and ready to learn.
We have had a concern from a parent about lunches in school bags being exposed to the sun. Please advise children and let teachers know to put their lunches into their tote trays or in the awhina area away from the sun. We thought our shaded pod areas would sort this...if we don't know we can't help!
Special health/physical needs Please let classroom teachers and the office know of any health/physical needs we need to consider with your child.
Band Starts Tomorrow (Wednesday 10th February) Helen and Pete will be visiting and talking to all of our Year 4, 5, and 6 students about our school band and inviting those who have a basic skill in playing an instrument to audition for a place in the band. If you would like your child to audition please send them along with their instrument tomorrow and flick an email to their classroom teacher to let them know so they can pass this onto Helen and Pete.
Welcome Back and Come and Meet the Teachers Jump Jam Jump Off 5-6pm-ish We invite you all along to our welcome back to school event in week 4 on Wednesday 24th February. Our pods are busy learning a Jump Jam routine ready for a Pod Jump Off. We will welcome you with a powhiri, bring along a picnic, fish and chips or take away tea, and we will showcase our Jump Jam routines. Afterwards you are welcome to wander around the pods having a look at your child's learning environment for 2021.
Allergies We do have children at school at all levels who are allergic to nuts and eggs - there are some children who have serious reactions. To limit the stress and effects of these on other children please do not send along foods containing nuts or whole eggs/egg sandwiches. These children know not to eat foods unless they know they do not contain such ingredients. It is the smear of peanut butter or a scotch egg on a hold rail, pencil or tap that could set off a reaction that could be life threatening for an allergic child. We have systems set up just in case, but parents helping us to avoid too much risk is essential.
Thank you in anticipation of your support with this. |
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Bike Ready Programme - Year 6 This cycle safety programme for Y6 will be run at school over the 10th, 11th,12th, 15th, 16th and 17th February. This will be planned, delivered and evaluated by Matty Graham (QLDC), Constable Phil Vink (School Community Officer, Wānaka) and the QLDC team of Cycle Skills instructors.
The Bike Ready programme consists of two major components
Grade 1
What and where: Will run on school courts or field. Students learn good bike control, how to tell if something needs fixing and what to wear when riding.
Learning outcomes: Grade 1 outcomes give the confidence to ride more often.
Students develop balance and bike control skills for:
● starting/stopping and turning
● riding with one hand to signal
● looking all around (including behind)
Students start to learn about what makes a safe bike and helmet. They learn the legal requirements for cycling on-road, and learn to cooperate with other people walking and riding around them. Those students who do not have the required skill or comprehension at the end of the Grade 1 course will not progress on to Grade 2 but instead will move on to an Advanced Grade 1 course in which they will be provided more time and tuition to help develop skills needed to progress on to
Grade 2 when ready.
Grade 2
What and where: Instructors will take students out on local roads. Students gain skills to deal with traffic on short journeys such as cycling to school or the local shops. Participants will understand how to see, be seen, and how to communicate and cooperate with other road users.
Learning outcomes: Grade 2 outcomes give the confidence to use bikes on local roads via road positioning, signalling, turning at intersections, hazard awareness. |
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PTA Meeting - Wednesday 10th February A PTA Meeting is being held at 7pm in the staffroom tomorrow - Wednesday 10th February. Come and share ideas, and meet new people. Everyone is welcome to attend. |
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Library News
We have lots of new books - come and check them out! 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. |
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Wānaka Samurai Karate Club Start your journey to black belt this year at the Wānaka Primary School Hall on Tuesday's and Wednesday's from 4:30pm.
Check us out on Facebook: Wanaka Samurai Karate
and contact Sensei Gabriela on 027 2106459 or [email protected] |
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Origami at Wānaka Library |
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Dance Wānaka Dance Wanaka - taking enrolments for Term 1 dance classes. Lot's of fun & choice - Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Tap, Acro & Adult classes.
Cliff Wilson Street studios. All enquiries to 021 575 569. More info & to enrol, visit www.dancewanaka.co.nz |
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Valentines Day Card Making at Wānaka Library |
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QLDC - Whānau Wellbeing Day |
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Wānaka Community Hub - Recycled Art Sale |
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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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