Kia ora everyone!

Welcome back / Nau mai hoki mai

A very warm welcome to Term 2, especially to all of our new children and families. It's been a great start and fantastic to see everyone again.

Today is the 1st of May and we have woken up to some fresh snow on the surrounding hills. The temperature has dropped, the heaters are on, sunlight hours are becoming shorter and Winter is on the way...which I know is super exciting for many of you because Winter = snow sports!

Term 2 is shaping up to be another busy term. Next week we have school photos as well as the school cross country. Please take note of the Term 2 calendar of events in this newsletter and make a note of any relevant dates and events.

Attendance

I have included a separate article in this week's newsletter about school attendance and the importance of regular attendance at school. The Government has set a goal to have 80% of students attending 90% or more by the year 2030.

As of the end of Term 1, our data shows that we have 77% of students attending +90%. I encourage you to please take a moment to read the article and check how your child's attendance is tracking so far this year.

EPro8

EPro8 stands for Engineering - Problem Solving - Innovating. Its a competition where teams of four work together to design and build something that solves a problem.

On Wednesday this week, we had two teams of Year 5/6 children represent WPS at the Upper Clutha EPro8 competition, held in Cromwell. Both teams had a fantastic event finishing 2nd=. They progressed onto the Central Otago competition being held today (Thursday). Congratulations to these children and all the best for today/tonight.

Deepest Sympathies to MAC

Our good neighbour and friend Te Kura O Tititea / Mount Aspiring College (MAC) are in mourning. They were told of some incredibly sad news earlier this week - Konstantin Shiya, a Year 10 boy at MAC, sadly passed away. I spoke with Nicola Jacobson, MAC's Principal and passed on our condolences on behalf of Wānaka Primary School. Our hearts go out to Konstantin's family and friends as well as all of the staff, and students at MAC and we send them much aroha (love).

Ngā mihi nui

Rob Rush