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Weekly Wrap Up

The Wrap Up (Term 1, Week 4, 2025)

Step into the shoes of our intrepid Year 9 students who have all returned from an amazing camp experience at El Ranco.  Perfect your auditioning skills for Guys & Dolls and shout out a big welcome to our new Sports Captains and Sports Ambassadors.  This and much more in this week’s Wrap Up.

We at McKelvey 1 cracked the way to a good life balance.

Important Dates

  • Thursday 20 February – Aroha Day
  • Monday 24 February – Athletics Day
  • Monday 10 March – Board Meeting 6.00pm
  • Monday 7 April – Board Meeting 6.00pm
  • Friday 11 April – End of Term 1

Important Information

Athletics Carnival 2025

On Monday 24 February, we will hold our annual WHS Athletics Carnival Day at Newtown Park.

All Year 9 and 10 students, plus Peer Supporters and those in Years 11-13 who are competing must be there to have their name marked on the roll by 8.45am.  As it is not possible to run a normal school day in conjunction with athletics day, all students in Years 11 to 13 who do not wish to attend will have a Home Learning Day. Teachers will talk to students about their expectations for the day, and we encourage students to make good use of their time if they are not going to attend.

The athletics programme will start at 8.45am with the 1500m. Those competing in the 1500m need to be at the track at 8.30am to get ready. The day should conclude by 3.00pm. Entries for all events are taken on the day and students are encouraged to participate actively and to support their whānau group by wearing their colours: Riley – red; Kelly – yellow; Howell – green; Royal – blue; McKelvey – purple and Bradwell – orange.

Students should bring water, wear a hat and have sunscreen. Students should bring food for the day and may like to bring cash to purchase food from stalls run by senior students.

Should the event need to be cancelled for any reason, we will communicate this through the WHS website, school app and Facebook.

What’s Happening?

Whānau Workshops

‘Supporting the Mental Health of Neurodivergent Teens: Tackling the Double Empathy Problem and Finding Practical Ways to Guide and Support them on their Journey’ with Shannon Hennig.

Our next free whānau workshop is on Monday 3 March 2025, 6:30pm – 8:00pm at school.  The Counselling Team and Learning Services are facilitating this event for parents and caregivers. Shannon Hennig is a speech-language therapist by training with over 20 years of experience supporting neurodivergent teenagers with the academic, linguistic, and social challenges of high school.  Shannon is known for her ability to weave evidence-based practices with practical strategies that don’t expect stressed parents to do even more. Topics covered will focus on ways to think about practical ways to support your young person, focusing on how anxiety, executive functioning, literacy skills, language skills, and social skills all interact. This session will include time for questions and answers.

There are 50 places available for this in-person event (there is no online option for attendance). To book please visit: https://www.trybooking.com/nz/VUE  Please note that bookings will close on Friday 28 February at 4pm for final planning before the event on Monday 3 March. 

Poetry in the Garden

Three of our recent alumni, Cadence Chung, Joshua Tomua’a, and Nadezhda Macey, are among the seven readers at this weekend’s Poetry in the Garden at Katherine Mansfield House on Tinakori Road. This event is free and those attending are encouraged to bring a picnic and sit on the lawn to hear readings from a group of young, published poets. 

Year 9 Camps

A beautifully balanced Kelly 1!

Our new cohort of Year 9 students recently attended their camp at El Rancho, with four classes participating in each of the three camps held over the past three weeks. Over three action-packed days, students participated in exciting activities such as going down the slip ‘n’ slide and a very fast water slide, kayaking, river floating, raft-making, rock climbing, crate stacking and slingshot paintball. While making lasting memories and building friendships, they also got to know their teachers better and enjoyed working in teams. Below are a few selected photos (chat with the rōpū teachers for more camp photos). 

Amazing teamwork by McKelvey 2 on the ninja wall!
Excellent bravery from everyone in Kelly 1 that stepped up and tried the crate stacking challenge!
Bradwell happily bouncing down the Waikanae River.
A 9Bradwell1 student testing out the kayak he made – support was nearby in case he capsized!
We at McKelvey 1 cracked the way to a good life balance.

WHS Musical 2025: Guys & Dolls

Auditions will be in Week 7. If you are interested in performing, playing in the band, or being part of the crew sign up here and we will email you with more details in a couple of weeks.  Production Info Sign-up   

Sport

Sports Captains and Sports Ambassadors

Say Hello to your 2025 sports captains and sports ambassadors.  As sports grows in WHS we want our young people leading sports in a direction that suits the future generations. This is a great opportunity for these amazing Rangatahi and we look forward to the great sporting growth at WHS.

Careers

Pathways newsletter

Check out our Week 4 pathways newsletter HERE.  If you require further information regarding any of these opportunities please contact Chuni Bhikha at bac@whs.school.nz or drop into S502.

Learner Licence Workshops

The workshops have been running since 2016 and have supported 100+ young people to get their Learner Licence.  If you are keen to get involved, please get in touch with us. You don’t have to be registered with Evolve to join our groups. https://www.evolveyouth.org.nz/learner-licence

Contact:  Projects@evolveyouth.org.nz

When and Where: Thursdays: 3.30 pm – 5.00 pm @ Evolve Youth Service.

These times and locations may vary during school holidays. Please contact us, or check out our social media, to stay up-to-date.