News and events for the week ending 30th August 2019 Friday 30th August 2019 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 Many thanks to those parents who came along to our Parent Consultation meeting on Tuesday evening. It was good to talk through our current plans around property, a little about the curriculum, and about community engagement in the school. We also had a robust discussion about food (always a favourite subject), and about aspects of our after school programmes. On food: we are listening, and we know there are things we can improve. We actually make changes quite regularly, and we now offer a far wider variety of food, both onsite and online, than we used to. But we are also aware that there have been some concerns about quality and how hot the meals are. We will keep working on this. We are also doing some additional work with after school care, and increasing the amount of supervision we have in place. We now have performance.net, chess, art, robotics and Chinese language after school classes for students, as well as all the sports activities we run, and are always interested in talking with high quality outside providers. If you know anyone, feel free to suggest they get in touch with me. This week has been a fairly tense one for Year 11 to 13 students: the mock examinations have been run very efficiently, as always, by Mrs Koopen and Mr Wiggin, and we have been very pleased by the attitude displayed by all the students. We’ve had nearly 100% attendance, and it’s been great to see students around school studying before and after exams. The students will start to receive their marks next week, along with some guidance on how to improve. If you have any questions or concerns, please just contact your child’s teacher, who will be very happy to help. The holiday and Term 4 tutorial programmes are now complete, and Mr Wiggin will be making them available next week. I’m very conscious, too, that Year 6 and Year 9 are preparing for their Checkpoint exams. These take place in the first week of Term 4. I wandered into a couple of Year 6 rooms on Wednesday, and saw hardworking young people practising a past paper, talking through their responses, and thinking hard about how they can develop. I also, by the way, popped into Mrs Roberts’ Year 5 class, and left feeling inspired! The class had been doing some work on “levelling up” their writing, and were using ambitious vocabulary and imaginative sentence structures to take their writing to a new level. I was especially impressed by the way they could talk about their writing. I’ll finish with sport, I think: we’re in the last week or so of the winter sports programme, and one or two codes have already finished. Good luck to our teams competing next week in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Winter Tournament week. The teams will be playing around the country: Golf in Cromwell, Girls’ Hockey in Hamilton, Table Tennis in Tauranga and Netball in Auckland. The following week, we have around 60 Year 7 and 8 students taking part in AIMS in Tauranga. Both weeks will be a great experience for everyone involved. Thank you to all of the staff and parents for the hard work and commitment that makes these events possible Have a lovely weekend. Brian Park, Pinehurst Graduate of 2015After Pinehurst, Brian went on to study at Yonsei University, one of Korea's most prestigious universities. We recently caught up with him to hear how things are going...
My university life has been very enjoyable, and it certainly was more than I had expected! In terms of academics, university tends to focus a lot on the major. I am majoring in economics, and what I have been learning is not easy. Because there are so many different subjects, even under one major, you have the opportunity to take lots of different courses and then narrow down on what you wish to study. In terms of campus life, the best experience was living life in a dormitory during my first year. Yonsei University has a residential college system where all students are required to live in dorms during their freshmen year (first year) and surprisingly, part of this curriculum requires us to attend parties and concerts to pass! I believe that the heart of university life lies in student club activities. There are over 250 student clubs to choose from, and this is a great opportunity to meet people who have similar interests as you.
I think the biggest benefit of studying abroad is the opportunity to meet people from various countries. My department is called Underwood International College, and as the name implies the department has various people from different countries who all study courses in English. I have met people from China, Brazil, Russia, US and many more. It’s good to make friends from different countries as it helps you understand different cultures and whenever you decide to travel, they have very good tips on where to go. Another advantage of studying abroad is that it is a brand-new experience, and you get to see the world from a different perspective. Korea is well known for their internet technology and sophisticated but well-structured public transport. Most relevant benefit to me currently would be that studying in Korea opens up wide range of job opportunities. Since there are both Korean companies and foreign companies for which I am eligible, I think I will have better chance (hopefully) to be employed at the best work environment possible.
Currently, I have 2 things in mind. One of them is getting a job at a financial institution and another is starting up a golf coaching firm in Korea. With both choices, I will have to see what I can prepare after I graduate university and finish my obligatory military service, and then decide which of the two is feasible. There are some firms that require more than undergraduate’s degree like certain licenses.
Pinehurst gave me a great studying environment for new experiences and vital help for my university admission. Pinehurst has great teachers who helped me lift my academic ability. When I had trouble with the curriculum, teachers made lunch time sessions, morning sessions, emails – all sorts of effort to help my studies. Not only did Pinehurst support me academic wise but also it offered many activities such as Shadow a Leader, golf, Duke of Edinburgh etc. These activities allowed me not just to spend my high school life studying but try new experiences and enjoy my extracurricular time. Pinehurst helped me with university documents, recommendations, and I couldn’t thank more every single teacher that gave me their support for my admission.
Studying overseas has many advantages, and my university life has been very enjoyable. If you are willing to meet new people and experience new lifestyle, I highly recommend applying overseas. Especially if you love sports, it would be great to look into NCAA and aim for US universities. They offer a lot of scholarships and it is a great opportunity to compete against many talented people around the world. Pinehurst offers great academic support as well as extracurricular support, and I think everyone should seize this support and try their best both in academics and extracurricular activities. WEEK 7 Monday 2 September
Friday 6 September
WEEK 8 Monday 9 September
Tuesday 10 September
Thursday 12 September
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, This has been a busy week of mock examinations for senior students. I am sure these students will be looking forward to a more relaxed weekend. We understand that the timetable for mock examinations is far more demanding than the schedule for external IGCSE and A Level examinations in October and November. In Term 4 this examination period extends over 5 weeks. A student who manages their study time effectively during this period will make a significant impact on their final results. I have been encouraging students to enter all the dates and times of their external examinations into a calendar. Once this is clarified they can then plan a study schedule that begins at the start of October and then ends with their final Cambridge examination. For Year 11 students this is the first time they experience an extended study period. In order to help and support students, teachers will be organising tutorials during the October school holiday and then during the time that students are on study leave. Although these tutorials are optional, I would recommend that all students take full advantage of these sessions. Details of the tutorial sessions will be made available to students and parents within the next few weeks. Also, the Term 4 classes will focus on exam preparation and questions from past papers. Throughout next week students will receive feedback from their teachers. By the end of the week each student will know the grade that they will have achieved for each subject. Students are encouraged to take the time and trouble to review and reflect on how they have performed within each subject. Then, with the help of their teachers, they can utilise this information to develop a plan leading into their final examinations. All Year 9, 11 and 12 students have now received their login details enabling them to make their subject choices for next year. Next week is NZSS Winter Tournament Week. This is the highlight of the sporting year for many secondary school students. Pinehurst will have 4 teams competing in these national tournaments. Our Girls Hockey team will be competing in Hamilton, Table Tennis travel to Tauranga, Golf are playing in Cromwell and Netball will be based in Auckland. Good luck to all the students taking part, we look forward to hearing of your progress throughout the week. Tournament Week is always followed by AIMS Games. There is already much excitement amongst the Year 7 and 8 students who will be travelling to Tauranga. Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College Year 7-8 Touch Rugby Players Wanted!We are seeking 3 additional players to join our Year 7/8 Touch Rugby team in Term 4, so that we can confirm our Pinehurst team entry. Register here! NZSS Winter Sport Tournament WeekNext week 36 of our Year 9-13 students will head off to play in a variety of NZSS Winter Sport Tournaments. Events are held around the country, involves more than 25,000 secondary school students and is one of the biggest weeks in the NZ sporting calendar. Our Premier Golf team head to Cromwell, Girls Hockey to Hamilton, Table Tennis teams to Tauranga and our Netball team will play in Auckland. We wish all our teams well and hope they have enjoyable week! Senior College Table TennisAnother good weekly result for Senior College Table Tennis:
NZSS Orienteering ChampionshipsLast weekend 4 students (Savannah Finlay-Scott, Lilly Stanborough, Elizabeth Francis and Charli Spence) competed in the NZ Secondary School Orienteering Championships held in Auckland. With 450 competitors from all over NZ it was a step up from previous events in which they have competed. The first event was a forest race in Woodhill Forest. Congratulations to Charli for placing 8th out of 36 Year 7-8 girls who entered the competitive championship grade. On Sunday, the competition moved to an urban setting with a sprint event at Glenfield College. Congratulations to Charli for placing 11th and to Lilly and Savannah for placing in the top 1/3 of the field of 76 Year 7-8 girls. Year 7-8 Gymnastics Zone DayThis week a team of nine Year 7-8 gymnastics enthusiasts competed in the North Harbour Zone Day along with two hundred and fifty other intermediate students on the North Shore. Over the term, the girls have worked hard in developing their strengths through conditioning exercises at home plus training at lunchtime to perfect their routines. Their hard work and determination paid off on the day with each gymnast scoring an average ranging from eight to nine out of ten. Well done girls! Team 3 NetballThe girls had a convincing win on Saturday against HPSS. The team have focused this year on 100% effort on court, driving onto the ball and 3 foot marking. Specific techniques in the last two weeks of training included moving on a 45 degree angle, creating space and using footwork to block opposition movement. Some of the team played in new positions, showcasing a range of skills, adaptability and teamwork. Putting it all together on the court led to a stunning result in beautiful weather. With one more competition game left for the season the team is in good spirits and looking forward to regrouping next season. MathexPinehurst Mathex teams had a great time taking part in the Auckland-wide Mathex competitions last Wednesday and Thursday. We entered 2 teams at each year level - 7, 9 and 10 (Year 8 were unfortunately at camp). See the photos and time-lapse video to get some idea of the intensity, competitiveness and energy of the event itself. A big congratulations to one of the Year 10 teams (Langkee Hong, Beomsoo Park, Jun Yang Ma and Tim Xie) who came second in their competition, reaching 100 points within 30 minutes. All teams gained a score of 80 or more, which is an excellent set of results. See the photos and time-lapse video to get some idea of the intensity, competitiveness and energy of the event itself! Year 9 MeasurementRecently our Year 9's were involved in a practical Measurement Unit of work in which they were able to combine their creative forces with their mathematical skills in such a way to design a mask out of one piece of card. Measurements and cut-outs had to be carefully planned and designed. The masks were fabulous as you can see! IGCSE PhysicsIn the Year 10 Physics class this week we have been learning about convection, conduction, and radiation. We explored convection using two balloons, one filled with air and one filled with 1/3 water and 2/3 air. Students predicted that both balloons would pop. They did not predict that the air balloon would explode due to the increased kinetic energy of the air molecules causing them to hit the balloon walls everywhere, resulting in lots of little blue balloon pieces. The balloon with water remained cool at the bottom, even when the sides and top of the balloon were hot, defying "common sense." Students felt for themselves that the denser air sunk and the less dense air rose, keeping the cooler water at the bottom and preventing the balloon from popping! Kia Ora, We have been thinking about play this week especially in the Junior Primary, and how we can create spaces that inspire young children to use their imaginations. Whilst I very much enjoyed my Primary school days and the learning that took place in the classroom I also have very fond memories of playtime adventures. We built dens, played Top Trumps card games, French cricket and turned the climbing frame into a jungle world. We lived for playtime and couldn’t wait to get out and run around. In the Primary we have decided to make some changes to the Year 1-2 playground by replacing the areas that tend to become muddy in the winter with a bright and cheerful play surface. I have been talking to some playground designers today and they are going to put together some ideas which will create imaginative spaces for our youngest people. This will blend with the ideas we have for the Butterfly Garden and the work that the New Entrants are doing to make the playground more exciting. They have been talking about the things they can do to make the space more interactive and will soon be painting river stones to look like cars, ladybirds and insects that they can play with. They are turning some of the pavers into race tracks and roads and we are planning an outdoor kitchen with some pots and pans for pretend play. The New Entrants thought it would be a good idea to pay it forward in terms of the opportunities they have for their play space and organised a bake sale this week to raise money towards the play areas at our sister school, Yendarra, in South Auckland. There were a lot of yummy treats on sale and they loved to help their parents to sell the items at their lunchtime stall. Being able to get so many students, staff and families engaged in the development of our communal spaces is amazing to see and is as exciting as the thought of what will be the final product. We are planning to unveil our new playground at the start of next year. We will also plan to extend some of the ideas created by the huts that children have built on the field. As I have mentioned before it has been fascinating to watch how students have interacted so creatively. There was a bit of a crunch point this week and Mrs Jones Hill had to create a treaty for the hut users to follow so that they could continue to enjoy playing together, but it is all part of a learning journey where students learn the skills of negotiation and compromise. We will be thinking about building tepees and large nests for children to play in early next year. Creative play develops imaginations which in turn helps a child to develop their literacy skills and whilst it all looks and feels like great fun there is so much learning happening too! Ngā Mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Super Cluster HockeyLast Friday, selected Primary Hockey boys and girls teams competed in the inaugural Super Cluster Hockey Tournament at North Harbour Hockey. The event, comprising of 8 boys and 6 girls teams was a new format in 2019, and the day was organised and run by Pinehurst School. Congratulations to both teams, who both placed 3rd on the day in the boys and the girls competition! Thank you to Coaches Brooke & William, umpires Ione, Kohtaro & Zachary and to Mrs Heighton & Tarnya for supervising & supporting the teams on the day. Primary PEThis term we have been focusing on two main sports; Touch Rugby and Cricket, as well as looking into competition within sports and how this may affect the way we play and handle ourselves within a competitive environment. Within Touch we have been focusing on basic skills such as passing, running, tagging and catching as well as ways to better improve your teams defensive and offensive play. Just starting Cricket this week, we are lucky to be assisted by East Coast Bays Cricket Club who are helping to teach a range of cricketing skills in our lessons to further enhance each child’s hand eye coordination. An article in this week’s paper looked at the importance of physical activity and healthy eating as an enabler of students learning, the ministry of education says children aged between 5-17 should have an hour of moderate to vigorous exercise a day as well as three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit to keep them healthy. So, keep encouraging your students to eat healthy and participate in regular physical activity whether that’s in school or at home, a healthy lifestyle enables them to better succeed in all areas of their life. St John Visit Year 2In Health the Year 2’s are learning about Community Resources - police, ambulance and firefighters. The students are learning how to identify when emergency assistance might be required and how to access this. On Thursday, Nikoli from the St John’s ambulance organisation visited us. We practised what we should do in an emergency, including what to do if someone was unconscious. Nikoli taught us the five finger rule (1- Is it safe? 2- Look at the injured person, 3- Touch and talk to the injured person, 4- If the injured person doesn’t respond, put them on their side, 5- Call 111. Nikoli helped us to practise the five finger rule with a partner, including how to turn our partner safely onto their side. Nikoli then demonstrated the best way to calmly call 111 and we practised together. Action Adventures in P8P8 began this term, engaging with a story titled, Traction Man is Here by Mini Grey, in which the main character goes on a series of adventures to defeat enemies such as Poisonous Dishcloth, Evil Pillow and Professor Spade. Together, we looked at the structure of the story and the vocabulary the author used. We completed a series of writing activities, such as creating a Wanted Poster for the villains, describing each one in detail. We used the structure of the original story to create our own Traction Man inspired adventure. Firstly, we invented the new characters and created a Gallery of Villains, then we drew story maps before writing our own story. In Reading lessons, we worked on our prediction skills to work out what might happen in the sequel, Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey. We learned that we must use our prior knowledge and our understanding of similar stories to make plausible guesses. We used our newly written masterpieces during our I.T. lessons. We learnt to use shape, line and colour to create images which could be moved on a background. Using an app called Toontastic, we each recreated our stories in cartoon format. Please enjoy watching one of our cartoons in the video. One thing we found, was that in each adventure Traction Man wore a different outfit, which the author always described in detail. This linked perfectly to our Science lessons, where we were learning all about the properties of materials. We investigated which materials would allow Traction Man the most stretch and which ones would be best for making him a diving suit. Through our investigations we learned how to make a hypothesis, what a fair test was and how to record our results. Superhero Goal Setting in P12In P12, Year 3 have been setting goals. We made super heroes to do a role play about our goals because everyone knows Superheroes complete their goals. Here are some of the students and their goals. “I want to write really neatly” - Bella “I want to improve my Maths” - Daniel "I want to reach multiplication and division by 12” - Jaden "I want to speak Spanish fluently” - Suki “Learn the correct way to hit a golf ball” - Annie “I want to paint beautiful paintings” - Sylvia “I want to be better at playing golf” - Margaret “I want to be better at roller skating” - Chelsea P17 WritingYear 5 students in P17 have been learning how to entertain their audience through narrative. One important focus is sentence-openers. They have been learning about the use of -ly and -ing words as well as fronted adverbials to start their sentences. Have a read of these excerpts and see what you think! Curiously he unsealed the large wooden doors with ancient carvings on it. Laying there was the golden tombstone, settled on the floor. Slowly he stepped inside as he searched for his camera in his bag. He couldn’t believe his eyes. As he was about to take his first picture, the doors slammed. - By Peter Shivering with fear, I opened a nearby door which was wrapped with dusty bandages. Hoping that it would lead me back, I entered, but I was wrong... - By Ellie Surprisingly, the room had glittered with so much gold that even the richest archeologist was surprised. But that wasn’t the end yet, as quietly another group followed them in. “My gold now!” shouted the leader. Dan knew only one thing; she and her group were bounty hunters. - By Nathan This was the tomb that had been waiting and sitting here for millions of years. Jumping up and down, Dan gently blew the ancient dust off. Both Bob and Dan inspected the door; coconut husk was woven into strong tight ropes, engravings covering it. - By Celina Boom! Clatter! The doors exploded open. I peered inside and was about to take a step that would change my life forever. Stepping in, I was followed by my team and as we walked in further we found a fork in the path. - By John Primary Coding ClubThis week in the Year 3/4 coding club we have been challenging ourselves to follow a path using block coding. We must work out the angles, speed and direction to create a successful code. We are very lucky to have help from the college pupils as they work towards their Junior College service award. It is a great opportunity for the pupils to work together from across the school and share their learning. I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy...P1, P2 and P4 practicing for their Pirate assembly! I Spy... P2 Bake Sale raising money for our sister school Yendarra! I Spy...Mrs Coxon and Mrs Jones-Hill love working out (Maths) with their students! I Spy....Year 4 making Father's Day cards in Spanish! In Music this WeekAlthough Year 11-13 Music students have been focusing on their exams this week, in the upcoming weeks until the end of the term, the focus will be on their performance portfolio completion. Many of those students can use their performance within the Jazz Band and Orchestra at the recent KBB competition towards their portfolio. To see highlights of the KBB Festival performances, click here. Third Informal Music Concert The Third Informal Music Concert of the year will be held on Tuesday the 10th of September in C2 from 4pm. These concerts are designed to be a performance platform through which students can gain the experience of performing in public, in front of family, peers and friends in the cosy environment of C2. Students from year 0-13 are invited to perform no matter their level of ability. To sign up your child to perform at this event, please complete the following form. Junior College Formal Music Concert The Junior College Formal Music Concert will be held on Wednesday, the 25th of September from 3.30pm in the Arena. These concerts are designed to showcase the best of the best from each of different areas of schooling at Pinehurst. Students can audition to perform at this event by completing the following form. Join our Award winning Jazz Band and Orchestra If your child can play an orchestral or Jazz combo-appropriate instrument, these groups will be starting on new repertoire this week and are looking to expand their intake. The groups will work towards performing at the Prizegiving ceremonies, end-of-year Christmas Concert and next year’s KBB Competition. The Orchestra rehearses on Thursday lunchtimes in C2 and is open to Primary, Junior College and Senior Students. The Jazz Band rehearses on Mondays from 3.30-5pm in C2 and is open to Primary, Junior College and Senior College students. If you have any questions, please contact marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz CanonBall World Cup Rugby Scavenger Hunt ChallengePinehurst School are fortunate to have been chosen to participate in the 2019 Rugby World Cup ‘CanonBall’ Challenge event.
Students who find 1 of the 3 hidden rugby balls not only get to KEEP the official 2019 RWC ball, but are also invited to a special event on Sunday 15th September with Damian McKenzie, including a skills & drills session, BBQ, goodie bag, photos and more! Please note that photographs of the winning students will be taken, and may be used by Canon/Pinehurst for marketing purposes. Your child’s participation in this event is your acceptance of this should they be one of our 3 lucky winners! PhotoLifeYou can now access, view and order your child's photos online. Students have been given their online photo access key. If you do not have a credit card or access to online ordering you can pick up order forms from Chrissy on reception. Delivery deadline: Sunday 22 September. Student Job DirectoryMoneyHub has published a comprehensive directory of student jobs for summer 2019-2020. With 50+ well-known employers listed and links to their student job application details, there is something for everyone. Getting a summer job is a lot easier with this guide, exclusive to MoneyHub. To access the guide, visit the MoneyHub Student Job Directory. Golden GirlCongratulations to Year 8 Swimmer Jasmine Lyles, who won 3 Gold Medals at the Auckland Short Course Championships over the weekend in the 50, 100, and 200m Breaststroke events. We look forward to seeing Jasmine in action for Pinehurst at AIMS Games! 3 Medals for ElsaElsa Shu in Year 6 recently competed at the Auckland Short Course Championships over the weekend. Elsa won 3 medals – Gold in the 50m Back, Silver in the 50m Butterfly and Bronze in the 100m Individual Medley. This is the first time Elsa has won medals at an Auckland level swimming competition. Well done Elsa! YMCA October Holiday ProgrammeSee here for the upcoming school holiday programmes run by the YMCA. |