Indigo from LS7 is spending Term 3 in Wanaka and is reporting to Westmere about life there...

The uniform:

At Wanaka Primary there is a uniform. At some schools uniforms are ties for boys and dresses for girls but at Wanaka everybody wears a navy t’shirt and/or a fleece, sweatshirt or jumper. Also you have to wear navy pants or shorts.

The classes:

At school the classes operate in what people call ‘pods’. In a pod there are four home room spaces, each can close with a sliding door. In the middle of the pod there is a kitchen and a few tables. Altogether there are seven pods. Pod 7 is the newest pod and operates just like a learning studio, it goes from years 4-6. In Pod 7 is where Anna the old Westmere teacher teaches. At Wanaka Primary there are 30 students in a home room, 120 in a pod and 700 students in the school, so with all the new students coming for the winter there would be approximately 33 students a class! So all the students from year 1 to 6 are in pod 1 called the ski class. This class is a great class with a great range of learning because of the age range. In the new entrant pod there are 18 students in the class and two teachers (one teaches just on Monday).

The other stuff:

Library is a nice and quiet place for everybody, with books that are easy to find and lots of seats and cushions. There are also three playgrounds one for junior one for middle and one for senior school. The field is equipped with two rugby posts and a path around the edge. Sometimes the playgrounds are shut due to ice! The school is planning to create a marble roll and the fitness trail.

By Indigo