News and events for the week ending 1st February 2019 Friday 1st February 2019 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalKia Ora everyone: Welcome to 2019 at Pinehurst I’m going to begin by formally welcoming the whole community to the new school year at Pinehurst. The students have been here for four days now, and the new school community has knitted together so quickly it feels as if we’ve been together for far longer than a week. Welcome to our new students and our new parents, and welcome back to those of you who were here last year. I know many of the children (and a fair number of the adults) will have been nervous on Monday night, but I hope that by now friendships are being built and strengthened, and children are happily looking forward to the day ahead when they go to sleep at night. Please let us know if you have any concerns at all as your children settle in: most wrinkles iron themselves out, but we can certainly help to make things easier. Welcome too to our new teachers: Miss Zandbergen in Year 3, Miss Ahn in Year 4, Mr Taylor in Primary PE, Mr Hoang in College Maths, Mrs Blackwell in College Science, Mrs Hawthorn in College Commerce and Mrs Heslop in College Art. They are joined by Mrs Coombridge as our Library Manager, and Mr Saul as our new Chief Information Officer. They have all made a fabulous start to their time at the school, and I know will make a huge contribution to the school in the years to come. Many of you will have seen the photos of our powhiri on our Facebook group. It was a lovely way to start the week. Yes, it was a tad warm, but it was at 9.30 in the morning and we kept it short. I was very impressed that all the Primary students had their hats on too. We had some excellent news earlier this week: seven of our students have been awarded prestigious Cambridge prizes for their examination performances last year. Congratulations to Linda Tang, Nina Ivancevic, Darius Lehmann, James Corles, John Baroutsos and Cynthia Wu. And a special congratulations to Subin Wui, who will receive a certificate for being joint Top in the World at AS Level Mathematics, a remarkable achievement. She answered every single question correctly in the exam, so I know who to go to if I have a Maths conundrum to solve! Other quick pieces of news: the new After School Care facility will be up and running from next week, so head to the Year 3, 4 and 5 playing field for pick-ups. We are also using a new online booking system for this that you can access here, let us know how you find it so we can resolve any teething issues. The Library is well underway, and there’s lots of action on the building site. We do, by the way, have additional fencing in place along the drive to keep the children safe. Please also make sure that you are keeping an eye out for news about registrations for sports and music: some of these have now opened, and we do encourage all of the children to get involved in extra-curricular activities. Schoolbox is now live for all parents. This is largely a tool for College parents, as Primary parents use Seesaw for most communications. Please log on and have a look around: you will be able to see some information about your child and his or her work, and there are course details available through the College Course Details button on your Home page. We have a Schoolbox Information Evening on Thursday next week for parents in Years 10-13, and information evenings for Year 9 and Years 7 and 8 the week after which will cover Schoolbox as well. It’s looking pretty good, your children are all using it, and I think you’ll find it useful too. We’re still working on it and developing it, though, so please just ask questions and make suggestions if you have thoughts or concerns. We have three big community events coming up this term: a golf fun day, a Yum Cha event, and our annual wine and cheese evening. Please scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for more details. All welcome! Finally, a reminder please to be courteous and considerate as you drop off and pick up your children. Our car park is a busy place, but it’s important that we’re all patient and careful. That includes the students, of course, who should use the pedestrian crossings at all time. We have dropped our bus prices and significantly increased sibling subsidies this year, so I would encourage as many children as possible to use one of our buses and to get to know one of our charming bus drivers. Have a lovely weekend. WEEK 2 Monday 4th February
Tuesday 5th February
Wednesday 6th February
Thursday 7th February
WEEK 3 Monday 11th February
Tuesday 12th February
Wednesday 13th February
Thursday 14th and Friday 15th February
如需阅读校长的中文留言和重要事件日期,请点击此处 Kia Ora, Welcome back to a new school year. It’s always great to welcome the students back full of energy and excited about the new year. Over the summer break there has been a lot happening as we plan classes, organise timetables and get the school ready for a new academic year. In particular, senior college students receive their Cambridge examination results. Once again our students were able to celebrate outstanding success at both IGCSE and Advanced Level. We do have a number of different ways with which we measure success. At IGCSE level 63% of the 584 papers taken by Year 11 students achieved a grade B or above. The highest proportion for 3 years. 206 grade A or A* were awarded and 127 grade B’s. Eighteen students achieved 5 or more A or A* IGCSE qualifications. Special mention must go to 4 outstanding set of results. James Corles and Erin Williams both achieved 10 high IGCSE passes which included 6 A and 3 A* grades. Jessica Ma achieved 4 A grades, 5A* grades at IGCSE Level and then also passed AS Mathematics with an A grade. Sofia Cradwick, Nikkita Murray and Linda Tang achieved the maximum number of 10 A / A* grades. Linda’s achievement was truly outstanding with a perfect collection of 10 A* grades. Linda is the second student to achieve this level of success. I’d like to congratulate all the students who were successful with their IGCSE results. Our 2018 graduating students were able to build on last year’s excellent AS grades achieving an outstanding set of Advanced Level results. More A and A* grades were awarded than ever before. 75% of all Advanced Level papers taken achieved a grade C or above. There are too many successes to mention each individually but I do want to give special congratulations to the following 5 students. Zain Bhally our 2018 school DUX achieved 4 A* grades, followed closely by Joseph Cheong achieving 3 A* grades and 1 A grade. Karmen Sulaiman achieved 1 A* and 3 A grades, Peter Zhong 2 A*, 1 A and 1 C and last year’s Head Boy Louie Holgate Simpson 1 A*, 2 A and 1 B. Congratulations to the following students who will receive special prizes at the upcoming Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards.
Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College First Week in the Junior CollegeFind out what our new Year 7 students think of the Junior College (unsolicited of course) Chinese Essay Writing Award WinnersCongratulations to the following 13 students for winning awards at the 2018 New Zealand Chinese Essay Writing Competition.
The prize giving ceremony will take place at Westlake Boys High School, 30 Forrest Hill Road on Sunday, February 3rd from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm(2月3日 14.30-16.30) Leadership Training DayLast Friday, all of the 2019 student leaders travelled up north to Action Matakana for a fun-filled day of learning about leadership, team building, complicated puzzles and construction activities. They learnt the vital aspects of being effective leaders, the importance of team work and co-operation and how to deal with the challenges ahead of them as a team in 2019. Overall, both students and staff enjoyed the challenging and thought-provoking day and are excited for the year ahead. International Student Orientation DayOn Friday 24th January, Director of International Students, Patrick Ryoo, Admission Assistant, June Wang and Home-stay Coordinator, Vicky Kenny took 29 of our International students, including new students, out for an orientation day visiting Auckland landmarks. The day started with enjoying the sights from Bastion Point in Mission Bay before a delicious lunch in the city and then was followed wita ferry ride to Devonport where they could take in the stunning views of Auckland from Mount Victoria. Round the Bays for YouthlineA group of Pinehurst Matai teachers and students have signed up to complete this year’s Ports of Auckland Round the Bays. Since Matai supports the work of Youthline, we wanted to support our house charity by raising money as part of our participation in this year’s Round the Bays 2019. Please help us help Youthline by giving whatever you can here using the following link - heres://roundthebays2019.everydayhero.com/nz/pinehurst-matai-team. The more people that know about Youthline Auckland, the greater their impact, so please also spread the word by sharing this page with your friends and family. Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot! Junior College Dance Sport 2019The Junior College is excited to offer Dance Sport tuition on Tuesday lunchtimes in the Arena. This is a student-led activity, coached by our very own accomplished dancers, Ryan Hughes (Year 11) and Gabriella Beecroft (Year 9). Students are welcome to join by coming down to the Arena on Tuesday the 6th to sign up. Kia Ora Tatou, What a wonderful week we have had in the Primary! The weather has been suitably stunning and we are very impressed that our students are following the SunSmart rules of wearing hats and sunscreen, thanks parents for your support with this. Even though I have been in education for more years than I care to count I never sleep well the night before a new school year. A mixture of excitement and anticipation are probably what keeps me awake rather than worrying that I have forgotten to do something, as we having been working hard for a number of weeks to ensure we are ready from the very first day. Everything ran like clockwork though and it was so lovely to welcome familiar faces as well as new families and see classrooms and playgrounds full again with so many smiling faces. I read a great quote during the holidays from an unknown author which said, ‘A comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there.’ Whilst as humans we often resist change preferring what is familiar, it is actually quite good for us and opens us up to new opportunities, meeting new people and making new friends. New teachers, new classmates and new learning will test the resilience levels of our students in these first few weeks as they settle into class, attend camps and swimming programmes, try a new language and take a step out of their personal comfort zone in order to grow. Next week our Year 5 and Year 6 students are off to Camp, Y5 to Carey Park in Henderson for four days and Y6 to Lakewood Lodge in Huntly for the full week, we know they will have heaps of fun, build strong relationships and work on their teamwork before they officially begin their classroom programmes in earnest. We have introduced more After School activities from this year which includes Performance Net drama classes on Mondays and Chinese classes on Wednesday and Thursday nights. New to Pinehurst this year is Bricks4kidz on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights this is a Lego building programme and is sure to be very popular. It starts in Week 3 and flyers will be coming home next week. Also Art4kids on Tuesday and Wednesday nights which is an art programme that runs from 3:30pm to 4:30pm for 5 to 8 year olds and 4:45pm to 5:45pm on the same nights for 8 to 10 year olds. Scroll down to Community News for information on both of these programmes. We are also able to provide more Gifted and Talented (GATE) classes this year with more opportunities for Lego Dacta and Robotics in addition to our normal programmes. Selections will be made for these groups after observations in the next few weeks and after camps and swimming programmes have finished. All Primary students will also learn coding skills from this year. As always there is plenty to learn and plenty to do in the Primary school and we look forward to what 2019 will bring! Nga Mihi Nui, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Welcome BackHeading back to school after six weeks of fun, sun and excitement can bring about a mixture of emotions. For some it is met with eager excitement and for others ……. a source of much anticipation and dread. A new class, new teacher, new friends, new subjects – all of this together can feel a little overwhelming for our children and for parents. How can you best support your child to settle back into the routines of school?
We have seen many happy faces coming through our school gates and can feel the excitement of a new year ahead. Don’t forget to pack that sunblock and hat. In Junior Primary this week...The Junior Primary has been a flurry of excitement all week. Lots of new students have arrived in each class, not to mention our New Entrants in P2 and P4. Everyone has had a chance to meet their new teachers and make new friends, as well as see their old friends. Emily and Indie love their new class and teacher Mrs Aston, “She is the best teacher ever!” There has been a lot of fun this week as students and teachers get to know each other. Senior Year One have been busy mapping out their ideas and telling each other some facts about themselves, before writing. Also, ahead of Waitangi Day next week, they worked collaboratively to create a class ‘treaty’…which they promise to follow. The Year Two classes have also been engaged in story writing, using a ‘back to school’ story as a stimulus. P7 produced fantastic story maps and then practised orally rehearsing their stories, using some ambitious vocabulary. Before their Big Writing session on Thursday, they co-created a list of criteria that helped them to stay on task, focus on the learning intention and ultimately be successful. Our newest students in the Junior Primary have also made a great start to their learning. Already, in their first few days, they have learned several different sounds, through our phonics approach to reading and writing. There was great enthusiasm in P2 as the students tried to compete with Mrs Brown to remember the different sounds and words. The Pinehurst Year 3-4 SyndicateThe Year 3-4 syndicate has a wonderful group of teachers. In Year 3 we have Mrs Stacey McIntosh in P10, Miss Kayla Zandbergen in P11 and Mrs Dallas Chadkirk in P12. The Year 4 teachers are Mrs Penny Donald in P13, Mrs Dee Rodrigues in P14 and Miss Seran Ahn in P15. We also have two Specialist teachers in our team, Mrs Jacqui Herbert, our Science teacher in P22 and Mrs Kate Du Toit who is one of our Music teachers. It is always great to see the students back in school and have the playgrounds full of noise and laughter once again. We are looking forward to another fun filled year of learning in the Year 3-4 syndicate. Year 5 and 6 SyndicateWe have had a busy week getting to know each other and settling into our classroom timetable and routines before we head off to our camps next week. Students have been setting placement tests in Maths Whizz and Reading Eggspress which will be used for homework this year. All homework tasks in Year 5 and 6 will be digitally based with activities being set on SeeSaw and Reading Eggspress being used for both reading and spelling homework lessons. The benefit of this for the students is that their homework will be set at their ability level and be easily accessible to complete. Both year levels head off to camp next week with Year 6 going away for 5 days to Lakewood Lodge and Year 5 having 4 days at Carey Park. This is a great way to start the year for new friendships to be formed and the teachers have the chance to really get to know all the students in their year level. The weather should also be fantastic too! I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy....P2 learning Spanish! I Spy....Year 5 students in Science measuring time, volume, length and temperature. I Spy....Year 1 students doing Maths. I Spy....Year 2 doing PE with new Primary PE Teacher, Mr Taylor. PowhiriOn Tuesday, the first day of school, there was an amazing opportunity for parents to join our staff and students and participate in a pōwhiri (welcome ceremony). As the sun (ra), spread rays of gold over Pinehurst school, our new staff, students and families gathered in front of reception. First the Kaikaranga called the manuhiri (visitors) welcoming them to our kura (school). Our 3 rangatahi (teenagers) returned the call. There were over one hundred manuhiri and as we waited for them to be seated, the school sat respectfully. Mr Reed who was our tangata whenua Kaikōrero (speaker), began with a whaikōrero (speech), followed by a supporting waiata (song) from the school. Mr Taylor who is a new staff member, represented the manuhiri and delivered a whaikōrero on behalf of everyone new, this was then followed by a waiata. Mr Reed then indicated that it was time for the hariru (shaking of hands) and hongi (press noses). When we hongi, the ha (breath of life) is exchanged in a symbolic show of unity. Through the exchange of this greeting, one is no longer considered manuhiri, a visitor, but rather tangata whenua, one of the people of the land. The pōwhiri is viewed as a process of removing the “tapu” and making everyone “noa” (equal). The sharing of food is the final act of this process and therefore the pōwhiri was concluded with light refreshments. Music in 2019 - Co-Curricular Groups and Itinerants LessonsLatest neurological research indicated that learning to play an instrument develops and engages all aspects of the brain. See here to find out more... Pinehurst School is proud to offer a wide range of instrumental tuition to students this year. While Ms Naumovska, Ms Du Toit and Ms Watters are looking after your child’s musical education inside and outside of the classroom full time, nineteen other part-time, instrumental specialists offer individual tuition for the following instruments:
Itinerant lessons begin from Monday the 4th of February and if already enrolled, you can check your child’s lesson time via the link provided on this page. A great range of music co-curricular groups is also available during lunchtimes or after school and also begin from Monday . The exact times and locations will be published in the student notices on weekly basis.
To complete an application form for either itinerant or co-curricular groups and find out the finer details, please click on here. Introducing Neville Grenfell Neville is an accomplished Trumpet, Flugel, Brass and Arranging Teacher and Musical Director. He holds a Diploma of Performance and Arranging and has extensive performing experience in New Zealand and Internationally. Some musicians he has performed with are: Shirley Bassey, Ray Charles, Dave Dobbyn, James Morrison, Bonnie Tyler and Michael Crawford. He has recorded on many albums, television, radio commercials, movies and performed in professional theatre shows. If you would like to enrol your child with Neville, please complete the enrolment form here. New Parent Wine & Cheese EveningIt is a pleasure to invite you as a new parent to attend a wine and cheese evening. This is a parent only event which gives you an opportunity to mix and mingle with other new parents across all levels of the school. Please RSVP your acceptance with names of attendees to judy.wallace@pinehurst.school.nz by Monday 11 February, 2019.
Pinehurst Yum ChaAll Pinehurst families are invited to come along and enjoy our first ever Yum Cha lunch. To be held at The Asian Wok in Henderson.
This is a great opportunity to get a group together or you can make up class groups to enjoy one of the best Yum Cha’s in Auckland. There is also a bus from Pinehurst going to and returning from the restaurant. (Please book this at the same time as your ticket). BOOK NOW! Email: sylvia.lum@pinehurst.school.nz or judy.wallace@pinehurst.school.nz Look forward to seeing you there. Tennis Coaching
For further information or to confirm a position for coaching please contact Liz. A Kind Reminder....Uniform and personal belongings Please remember to label clothing, bags and any items such as hats, pencil cases etc which can easily be misplaced. As a reminder if your child is missing something, the 'Lost Property' is kept in the Gymnasium foyer. Chess Success for Kenny!A couple of weeks ago Year 5 student Kenny Zhang achieved two silver medals for both rapid and standard chess in the under 10 group of the Oceania Youth Championship, which is a world chess federation tournament in Oceania. He achieved CM (candidate master) title as well. There are 144 players from 4 countries and the tournament lasts for 9 days (9 rapid and 9 standard games), it's roughly 6-7 hours of play every day and quite tough and stressful. Well done Kenny! Trampoline LessonsNorth Shore Trampoline Club is taking enrolments for Term 1 classes. Learn how to do flips, pass badges and maybe even enter competitions. See our website to enrol: northshoretrampoline.co.nz Georgia ErskineCongratulations to Georgia Erskine (2017 Pinehurst graduate), who has been accepted into medical school: Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programme for 2019 after a huge year in 2018, dedicated to hours of study, to be accepted. |