News and events for the week ending 16th August 2019 Friday 16th August 2019 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 I had a good afternoon on Monday, even as the raw wind whipped up roofs and hurtled through the trees. It started with a meeting of the Executive Board of the Association of Cambridge Schools in New Zealand, and an interesting discussion with other Principals about the Global Perspectives courses we are developing from Years 1-13. It was a good meeting. But the highlight was watching the wonderful Pinehurst Orchestra perform in the KBB High Schools’ music competition in Parnell. We had 48 students in the orchestra, from Years 6 to 13, and they were simply wonderful. We have the youngest orchestra in the competition by some distance, and I was captivated by the enthusiasm, skill and dedication of every single one of the musicians. I sat there listening to our very eclectic set of tunes with a huge, proud grin on my face. Kairu Han and Catherine Franicevic deserve special mention for their church-filling voices. Thank you to Marija Naumovska for her outstanding work in arranging the music and conducting the orchestra, who will be receiving an award in the Gala Concert on Saturday evening. I didn’t make it to the Jazz Band’s performance on Wednesday, but I hear they were also brilliant. Well done to all those involved. I received this week some good news about a few recent Pinehurst graduates: congratulations to Zoe Exon for being awarded a very generous Scholarship to support her studies at Barts and The London School of Medicine. Zoe, who is studying to become a doctor, will be able to meet up with Louie Holgate-Simpson, who is about to begin his Politics, Philosophy and Education course at King’s College, London. Congratulations too to Weston Cowley, Lucy Harbers and Nicole Vaughan, all of whom have recently graduated from Victoria University, Wellington. I have been asked a few times about whether our students go overseas to university recently, as it happens: the answer is that most of our students attend New Zealand universities for their first degrees, and that they do exceptionally well there, in some cases taking higher degrees overseas. In recent years, though, more of our students have headed to other countries for their first degrees: 9 out of a graduating class of 63 in 2018. We currently have 7 Pinehurst graduates studying in the UK, 5 in the US, 2 in Korea and 9 in Australia, all of whom have been supported by Kaye Griffiths, our Career Counsellor. Future pathways have been a big subject of conversation this week in College: it’s been our annual Careers week, and students have been talking about the wide, wide world they will be heading into shortly. We also had a well-attended IGCSE Options Evening on Monday, with our AS and A Level one to come next Monday. Our focus is always to open students’ eyes to the opportunities ahead, thinking about a range of options, and I’ve been delighted to hear such a varied collection of ambitions from our young people. They’re so well-informed in comparison to when I was at school: I didn’t decide to become a teacher until after I’d graduated from my first degree, and I had little idea of the options available to me (being a rock star / famous writer sounded quite appealing, but as my guitar playing was atrocious and I had nothing to write about, they weren’t exactly realistic ambitions). Our students may often not have decided what they want to do, but it’s because they are so aware of the possibilities they have. In the Primary School, I want to mention the quality of the writing I am seeing from our youngest students. I have been amazed by the confidence and vigour of the extended writing of students as young as 6 years old, and I’d like to thank our wonderful Junior Primary teachers for the work they’re doing with the children. We have also had the excitement of a visit from the police, as well as our netball fun days. Our basketball, hockey and netball seasons continue to go really well, and I’m hoping for a big turnout for our spring league netball teams. A quick note to finish on. We heard this week from the local District Health Board that the measles outbreak is now very widespread, and they have asked us to remind our community that the best defence against catching what can be a serious illness is to ensure that you and your children are immunised. Finally: this week’s newsletter has been translated into Chinese by Yuyi Li in Year 12. She heard that we would be without a translator for a week and volunteered to do it for me! A huge thank you to Yuyi for doing this: I’m very grateful. Have a lovely weekend. Chris Maraj, Pinehurst Graduate of 2015After Pinehurst, Chris went to study Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. We recently caught up with him to hear how things are going...Has the university experience lived up to your expectations? WEEK 5 Monday 19 August
Tuesday 20 August
Wednesday 21 August
Friday 23 August
WEEK 6 Monday 26 August
Tuesday 27 August
Wednesday 28 August
Thursday 29 August
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, Thank you to everyone who attended Monday IGCSE option evening. Over 100 parents and students attended. Copies of the information distributed during the evening, along with the presentation, will be available on Schoolbox from Monday. Year 9 students now have 6 weeks to decide on their combination of subjects for Years 10 and 11. Students will select their subjects online. Year 9 students will receive their login details at the beginning of next week. This coming Monday (19th August) at 6.30pm we will be hosting our A Level Information Evening. We will present the subject options, explain the nature of A Level qualifications and how they lead to university entrance. Although this meeting is primarily aimed at Year 11 and 12 students and parents, we welcome anyone who is keen to understand our senior school curriculum. The meeting will take place downstairs in the College 4 building. This week we have had a careers focus around the school. Yesterday, senior students hosted a subject fair. This was an opportunity for Year 12 and 13 students to pass on information about different A Level subjects to Year 11 students. Congratulations to all the Orchestra and Jazz Band students that competed in this weeks' KBB Festival. Our orchestra of over 50 students is unique as it includes both Primary and Secondary students. This will be a busy weekend of study for Year 11, 12 and 13 students. The first mock IGCSE examinations begin at the end of next week. All Year 11 students will have their English Language papers on Thursday afternoon and then Mathematics and English Literature on Friday. Year 11 classes will run as normal on Thursday morning. Mock examination week for all Year 11, 12 and 13 students will begin on Monday 26th. During this week students are on study leave when not attending an examination. Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College 2018 Academic CupsIf you received an Academic Cup in 2018, please would you return it to reception, thank you. Information evening – Cambridge Advanced Level
Mr Chris Wiggin (Head of College Curriculum and Assessment) will present information regarding:
Mrs Kaye Griffiths our Careers Counsellor will also give a short presentation. SC Table Tennis AKSS ResultCongratulations to the Pinehurst Table Tennis Team 2 (Brian Park, Lachlan Burnell, Yumin Kim) who won the A Reserve Championship last night by beating Liston College 5-2 then again beating Botany Downs Senior College 4-3. Auckland Regional Robocup Junior CompetitionOn Saturday the 10th October two teams of Year 7 & 8 students attended the 2019 Auckland Regional Robocup Junior competition held at St Cuthbert's College. This competition was the culmination of three terms of work in our after-school Robotics Club. The members of our teams who attended the event were:
At the event there were three different competitions running with a total of 70 teams entered from primary through to secondary schools around Auckland. That means there were 70 robots and probably three times that number of team members crammed into the St Cuthbert’s hall. Our teams were entered in the Robosocer event where they played against teams from other schools to score goals with an infra-red emitting “soccer ball”. Each team used two robots which played autonomously within the arena. Upon arriving we registered and set up our equipment in the soccer “pits”. We then re-calibrated out robots compass sensors to the soccer fields that they were playing on and then had a practice game amongst ourselves. There was some adjustment of the ultrasonic sensors to be done as the goals on the official fields were shorter than the ones we had at school and so the robots could not “see” them. Once we were happy with our robots and settings, we put the robots on to charge. The competition began with all parents and adults being asked to leave the hall and the teams being interviewed by the judges on the construction and programming of their robots. This was to verify that the students themselves had constructed and programmed the robots with a minimum of guidance from teachers. The students then played several rounds of soccer against the other schools. At the end of the day Team 4 came 3rd in the competition closely followed by Team A in 4th place. The breakdown of wins, losses and draws is given below: Team Win Lose Draw
The RoboSoccer club will reconvene in Term 1 next year. Subject FairTo assist with subject selection, a student run subject fair was held on Thursday this week with each AS subject represented by Year 12 & 13 students. Year 11 students were invited to wander around and chat about the various subjects on offer. The level of engagement was high as students enjoyed learning valuable information from their fellow students. Rotary Interact of PinehurstWith the end of Term 3 approaching quickly, the Pinehurst Rotary Interact Club continues to work behind the scenes organising fundraising for their chosen International and Domestic charities. Meeting every Friday, they have already organised a Trivial Pursuit Evening and raised close to $3,000. These funds were used to help with the schooling and living expenses of two orphans in Africa (pictured). In Term 2, they organised a successful clothing drive for Women’s Refuge and later this term will be holding a Food Drive to lend support to the same families that suffer from domestic violence. Nearing the end of Term 3, Rotary Interact will be holding a Pinehurst Movie Night in the Arena to further raise awareness among the community and funds for their charities. Last week Mrs Monica Webb from East Coast Bays Rotary visited the Rotary Interact Club to lend support, to talk on the International Rotary Student Exchange Programme and to comment on the humanitarian work Pinehurst Interact Club has been undertaking on their own initiative. Pinehurst Rotary Interact Club has been led by Chantelle Baldwin, Isabel Horne and Jessica Ma. Year 8 MathsThis week as part of measurement, the class have investigated Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. After taking measurements of each other we were able to compare these to the dimensions that Da Vinci discovered through his years of research and experimentation. While the dimension proportions calculated by Da Vinci are for adults, a fair percentage of the students discovered that their body measurements were remarkably similar to the proportions of Vitruvian Man. NH Zone Day BasketballThis week Pinehurst Year 7 & 8 students took part in the annual Basketball Zone Day events at North Shore Events Centre. Our girls team was a mix of existing, former and just keen to give it a go Basketball players, and although they didn’t have a win in pool play they won their final game of the day against Kingsway 16-4! Our boys AIMS Basketball team had an outstanding day, albeit in a tough pool. After losses in pool play to eventual semi finalists Birkdale & Northcote, the team also finished the day with a strong convincing performance and a win over Wairau to finish 9th out of 17 teams. Thanks to Coach Cam Kelly, Tarnya, May, Bruce and Mike for supporting the teams at these events. Hockey 1st XIAn early depiction of a hockey game is recorded in Ancient Greece dating to circa 510 BC. The game may have been played with a horn and a ball. The game is also recorded in the Beni Hasan tomb, an Ancient Egyptian administrator of the 11th Dynasty (circa 2000 BCE). With such mythical roots it is not difficult to imagine a deity must be linked to this antique sport. With this in mind we must surely recognize that the god of hockey was not smiling on the Pinehurst team this week. Last week Pinehurst nailed Kristin in a 6, nil victory. This week the score was 3:1 and Pinehurst only gained the one goal. Pinehurst were probably over confident but there was definitely a lack of urgency and this resulted in their opposition gaining three goals by half-time. After the break Pinehurst did play a much more exciting game. Oli Benson scored a fine goal from close range and then a possible goal-fest was aborted by some very lucky saves and a catalogue of good fortune. If Pinehurst had played with the intensity of the final 12 minutes the score would have been in double figures in their favour. On aggregate the final score was 7:3 to Pinehurst but the deity from this ancient game was definitely distracted for this crucial match. Kia Ora, We have had a super busy week in the Primary learning about all kinds of wonderful topics. Year 2 are exploring people in our community who help us and were full of questions for our community constable who came to visit with her police car on Thursday morning. Next they will be learning about the St. Johns Ambulance service who are bringing an ambulance for us to have a look inside. On the courts our juniors have been ‘having a go’ at netball and learning some basic skills of the game. We are very proud of how our Primary teams have been performing and can see that all of the extra training and activities are really paying off. In Science, Year 4 have been learning about the skeleton and have very impressive knowledge of the number of bones, joints and sockets we all have plus they can understand the function of the skeleton and it’s role in protecting organs and allowing us to move. Being able to offer specialist science is one of the aspects of our programme that we are very proud of and it means that our students are well prepared for their College years. Our Open Day visitors were very impressed with the way our students spoke about their learning and how they can articulate what they know. We use the system of two stars and a wish to encourage students to take responsibility for their learning rather than sitting passively whilst information is given to them. When students have spent time learning how to write in a particular style they will display what they have learned in an assessment piece. When they have finished they use two stars, which means two things they did well and a wish which means what they need to work on next. In this way they are engaging with their learning and thinking carefully about it so they can apply what they have learned to new situations. As teachers we are life long learners and we got together this week to learn more about spelling. This is in preparation for the introduction of a new spelling programme which links with the reading programme we are already offering in the juniors. Even if we don’t all teach juniors it is very important for us all to know the stages of learning our students have gone through before they get to us so we can understand how best to support them. Our programme of professional development covers all aspects of the curriculum and takes place on a weekly basis, enabling us to up-skill continuously and offer teaching techniques that add the most value to learning. Stay warm this weekend! Ngā Mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Police Visit for Year 2One aspect of our Health focus this term is on people who help us in our community. Last week we enjoyed an informative session with some Kea Crossing Monitors, who explained their role in helping to keep us safe. This week, Year 2 students had a visit from our Police Liaison Officer, Constable Louise Nicholas. She visited each class and explained her role in keeping everyone in the community safe. Her demonstration and explanation of all the special equipment and tools she wears was hugely engaging for all the children. It was a great opportunity for the students to clarify and deepen their knowledge and understanding about what Police Officers actually do. At the end of the classroom session, the students had the opportunity to see inside a Police car and hear the different types of sirens, which of course was a highlight for many! The students in Year 2 are also learning that they too, need to take some responsibility for keeping themselves safe by identifying possible hazards and preventing injury through appropriate behaviours, both at home and at school. Terrific Work with Time in P5Last week we started our unit Time in Maths. In Year 1 much of the work on time involves the understanding and use of the vocabulary related to time. We have been ordering the days of the week, months of the year as well as sequencing events in chronological order using a variety of language including; before and after, now, soon, early, late. We have now moved on to telling the time to o’clock. In the photos you can see the students involved in some hands on activities to help them to understand the concept. In Topic, we have also drawn comic strips linked to our theme of Pirates, and have drawn the times on the clocks to show when each event happens on board a ship. A super start to the unit – keep up the hard work P5! P9's Beautiful Fruit BowlsIn P9 we have been creating artworks using the collage technique. Collage is a technique of art production, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. We used a variety of coloured and patterned papers to create a fruit bowl still life. We started by discussing the colour wheel and identifying which colours compliment each other. We also looked at how 'cold' colours contrast well with 'hot' fruit colours - red, yellow and orange. We then selected background and foreground colours which complement one another. After we had constructed our backgrounds we practiced sketching the shapes of different fruits on mini-whiteboards. Once the students were confident at sketching the shapes they were able to sketch their fruit on coloured paper. We then cut out our fruits and added detail using vivid. Next, the students chose a piece of patterned paper for the bowl. The students drew their bowls freehand again, this resulted in a variety of different and unique shaped bowls. Finally, it was time to arrange the composition of the fruit. The students had to ensure that their fruit sat in the bowl nicely, in order to do this we used blue tack so we could test different compositions before glueing. Year 4 SpeechesThis term, the Year 4 students have been working hard on their speeches. They brainstormed their ideas, researched on their topic and organised their thoughts. They then had the difficult task to present their speeches to their friends and persuade them on their topic. Speeches are a great way for children to build their confidence and this is an essential skill for their future. Through the speech writing process, students developed their understanding of persuasive languages like alliteration, rhetorical question and repetition. Students also worked on advancing their presentation skills by using an effective voice, eye contact and body language. The Year 4 students were a little nervous as this was their very first time presenting a speech to a large crowd. All the Year 4 teachers were impressed as all the students participated in their classroom speeches with courage and growing confidence. We are happy to announce that Anthony (P15), Blake (P14), Dylan (P13), Jenny D (P14) and Isaac (P14) will be representing the Year 4 students in the Senior Primary Speech Competition which will be held next Wednesday in the Arena. Well done everyone and we look forward to hearing more of your speeches in Year 5. I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy...Netball 'Have a go' Day! I Spy…the Primary Council hosting an obstacle course for Senior Year 1 at lunchtime! Parent Consultation Evening with AlexTuesday 27th August, 6:30pm, Alex's office Discussion will be about the 5 year property plan, curriculum and parent engagement. In Music this WeekPinehurst Orchestra at the KBB On Monday, The Pinehurst Orchestra of 50 students competed at the KBB competition in the Symphonic Orchestra category. From the small numbers in the original Auckland Secondary Schools Band and Orchestra Festival, the KBB Music Festival has now grown to see over 135 groups competing from more than 50 schools across the greater Auckland region and beyond. The Pinehurst Orchestra over the past two terms met every Thursday lunchtime to prepare a programme of the following pieces:
The judges were impressed with the wide range of repertoire and will award the Orchestra an award at the Gala Concert held this Saturday from 6.30pm at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Our Orchestra is one of a kind in the competition as it comprises of Primary - Senior College students. Congratulations to all the students who participated and a big thank you to the parents and teachers who supported and attended this event. Here is a little teaser of the Habanera piece. To view and download photos of the event, click here. Jazz Band at KBB Competition Our Jazz Band also competed at the KBB Competition in the Jazz Band category held on Wednesday morning at St Mary’s Church. Despite being first in the morning session, the Jazz Band played their best and featured impressive solos by JY Ren (Yr 13)on the Drums, Cory Peters (Yr 13) on the Tenor Saxophone, Daniel Cradwick (Yr 10) on the Alto Saxophone and Piano, Sofia Cradwick (Yr 12) on the Piano and Kate Le Lievre (Y10) on the clarinet. This year the Jazz Band was lucky to work with featured vocal soloists Jemma Goeldner (Yr 13) as well as Catherine Franicevic (Yr 11), Pearl Stretton (Yr 12) and Brooke Souproanuck. A big thank you to Ben Ferndez, their director who has been working with the band for the past 3 terms. Ben also wrote a piece for the band, titled Triple Star which will be considered for the NZ work special category. To view and download photos of the event, click here. Entertainment BookGet your 2019 | 2020 Entertainment™ Membership before midnight 1st of September 2019 for a chance to win 2 tickets to Fleetwood Mac at Spark Arena on the 14th of September 2019, along with one nights accommodation at the Stamford Plaza in Auckland AND a $400 Prezzy Gift Card! Support our fundraising and go in the draw to win this awesome prize by ordering your membership from us today: https://www.entbook.co.nz/950v99 |