No images? Click here 15 April 2021Pinehurst School NewsletterOpening Words from the Executive Principal...Kia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요It’s the end of term! Our students head off today, ready to return on Tuesday 4th May. Our teachers have training days tomorrow – we’re looking at the new Privacy Act, having a refresher on Child Protection, and departments and syndicates have some time to work and plan together – and on Monday 3rd May as well. In between, they will also be getting some rest and family time. ANZAC Day falls in the middle of the holidays this year, and Mr Verryt and I will be at separate services in Coatesville and Albany, with some of our Student Leaders, to commemorate the day. This is actually the first time in three years that we have been able to commemorate the day in our usual way (last year, of course, we were in the middle of a lockdown, and the previous year saw the cancellation of many services in the wake of the Christchurch shootings), and I’m looking forward to the chance to reflect and remember in our community. Thank you to all the parents who attended the College Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday and Tuesday this week: some of you were here both evenings to manage the number of bookings generated by having multiple children in school, and I hope you found the process both useful and enlightening. Our teachers enjoy these evenings – we like to get to know parents as well as our students, and we enjoy building relationships – and one of the reasons they enjoy it so much is because the conferences are so positive and engaging. Please keep building on these connections with teachers, asking any and every question you may have. This term has been a long one, I know, and an unusual one. The short lockdowns we had at the start of term feel a long time ago now, but they certainly had an impact on the start of the year. I thought, though, that I’d offer a couple of personal snapshots from different ends of the school as the term comes to a close. This morning, our Term 2 New Entrants are enjoying their second ‘taster’ morning, getting ready for the beginning of their educational journey. Last week, the new parents met with Sylvia Lum, our Community Liaison, and there were many questions asked and many questions answered. Some of our new students are the younger siblings of children who are already in school, and their parents helped out Sylvia, supporting our new parents. In the classroom, Miss Dobbins, Miss Viskovioch, Ms Speirs and Mrs Prance all told me how brilliantly settled and enthusiastic the new children were: virtually no tears! When I nipped around the classes, I could see that the new children, most of whom are not even five years old yet, were making friends, working(!) and already building great relationships with their teachers. At the other end of the age range, I’ve been lucky enough to teach a Year 13 English Literature class this term. We explored King Lear for the first few weeks, tackling ideas connected with filial duty, truth and honesty, and what it means to be a human. “Reason not the need”, Lear exclaims, “Our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous”. As humans, he says, we “need” more than the simple needs of shelter, food and warmth. It’s these “superfluous” desires that separate us from animals. I don’t know how far I agree with him, but the discussions we had around ideas like this were reflective, warm and sometimes passionate. We’re currently reading the poetry of Jackie Kay, looking at the ways she reflects on her own life and explores the lives of others who are marginalised. We’ve been looking at identity, racism, resilience and a host of other ideas: again, the class have been a pleasure to work with. They support each other, contribute ideas, challenge themselves and – of course! – work hard to develop their skills of literary analysis. I also had the pleasure of watching 30 students from Year 10 to 13 run their own Model UN during Tuesday lunchtime. The best moment, I think, was when the delegates representing China decided to define their country in a particular way and manipulate the delegates representing North Korea into supporting an amendment to the main resolution. In a few short minutes, Michelle and Sarah showed a grasp of global politics that our politicians in Wellington don’t always demonstrate. In other words, I’ve had a great time with children yet to turn five; and with young adults about to head out into the world beyond school. They are relentlessly enthusiastic, committed, good-humoured and brilliant at building relationships with other young people and with the adults around them. And my experiences are matched by those of all of the staff who work at Pinehurst. It may have been a long term with a few disruptions, but it’s been a great one. Oh! And well done to Minghan Xiao, who has just received an unconditional offer to Imperial College, London; and to Jessica Ma, who has accepted a place at NYU (Abu Dhabi). We’ll write home properly next term with some updates about our 2020 leavers: there are so many to celebrate, both in NZ – and I’m very proud that so many of our students are studying the courses they wanted to study in NZ universities – and overseas. The school office will be open throughout the holiday except for Monday 26th April, and I’ll be in school most of that time as well, so please feel free to contact us as usual. Ka kite anō au i a koutou. And have a wonderful holiday! Alex Reed 如需阅读校长的中文留言和重要事件日期,请点击此处 Dates for your Diary Kia Ora, With the end of term one later than normal, our school holidays have not coincided with mid semester break for the universities as it normally would. This has meant that over the past week we have been lucky to have a few of last year’s graduating students return to school to catch up with teachers, and in some cases talk to classes. It is great to hear how they have settled into university, making new friends and enjoying their studies. We view the move beyond school as one of the key transitions that we support as a school and it pleasing to get positive feedback from the students, and also great that they still feel connected to our school and want to visit us. Yesterday saw our first student vs staff sporting competition. The staff compete with the students over three events throughout the year in the battle for the cup. The staff are yet to lose the cup, the fact that we umpire all of the events may assist this. The ultimate frisbee game that took place between the rain showers yesterday was great fun and actually had its own commentary team with a few students keeping us updated from the side-lines with their views of the action. Hopefully the next two events are as equally competitive. As we move into the holidays, we have a slightly different approach for the different year groups. Our younger college students will not have much work set so that they can rest and refresh in preparation for next term. Our more senior classes will have work to continue with as we are a significant part of the way through their academic programmes this year. They will also need to ensure that they enjoy some rest though, so perhaps they will need a bit of gentle encouragement to avoid procrastinating over the tasks that they have to complete. This afternoon we finish our school term with our first POD Challenge Competition. The POD Mentors have worked well to create this event with the support of staff. It should be a great way to finish the term for all of our Year 9-13 students. Thank you very much to all of the parents that were able to make it to conferences. I spent most of the two evenings catching up with parents and gauging how you felt about how the conferences were going for you. If you have any further questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me. I hope that you enjoy the next two weeks with your children, and we look forward to welcoming them back next term rested and ready to go. A reminder that we move to our winter uniform at the start of next term. If you need any new items, please check the website for the uniform shop open hours over the holidays. Nga Mihi, Kieran Verryt, Principal of College Orienteering Sprint Series Finals Last Sunday 10 Pinehurst students competed against students from across Auckland, having qualified from the North Shore Zone. The students had two events and the times were combined to work out final placings. To add to the tension of the afternoon, those who made the top 10 in their grade in the morning race, raced at the end of everyone else and in reverse place order. Well done to Charlotte, Zach and Lucas who were in this position as they raced in the afternoon. Final results: congratulations to Charlotte 3rd, Zach 4th and Austin 10th who finished in the Top 10 of their grade once the two events were combined. Futsal This week both our Boys & Girls Futsal teams attended the NH Zone Day events at Onewa Netball Centre. On Tuesday, the girls had some outstanding games in pool play, with wins over Northcross, TNIS & Orewa to see them finish top of their pool and progress to the Semi Finals. After an incredibly close game against Belmont, the team went down 0-1. With only one loss all day, the team were awarded 3rd overall! The boys team had a tougher day with the very experienced Northcross & Belmont teams in their pool, and they had 2 losses along with a win to Wairau. The team finished the day with a tough close loss against Orewa, but showed heart and effort right to the end! A huge thank you to Coaches Mr Reynolds & Jack Vaughan, and also to Mr Boden, for all supporting the students at these events. Year 8 Physical Education In Year 8 Physical Education, we have been participating in a range of striking & fielding games including tee-ball and cricket. The aim of this unit is for students to think tactically about what strategies they can use and how they might apply them in game settings. This unit also encourages interpersonal skills and the ability to work with a variety of students. It’s been great seeing the student’s enthusiasm and willingness to learn throughout this unit and them being able to improve their fundamental skills but also their tactical awareness.
Year 10 Design Technology The Year 10 design technology students have been hard at work learning some basic sheet metal working techniques and using this to make containers and bowls. They have been finding out about the tools used for measuring and marking, cutting, shaping and joining sheet steel, copper brass and aluminium. The result was a handy metal box and a small bowl, in all cases there was an opportunity to add a personal flavour to the design and experiment with techniques and processes. Staff vs Students Ultimate Frisbee Admittedly, Wednesday lunch time was not the best weather for ultimate frisbee, but the long awaited first game in the staff’s defence of the Staff vs Student Sport Shield was going to go ahead rain or shine. Playing with the wind, the staff team took an early lead. Ben Hailes made it difficult, with his long throws almost finding his team mates a few times but the staff’s solid defence and pressure took them into half time 2-0 up. The staff team quickly realised that playing into the wind was a totally different story and the score was levelled within the first couple of plays. Leopold took some awesome dives and there were some near misses that could have left the staff team with a lot to do in the dying stages of the game. When the rain came down and both the frisbee and field got slippery, both teams battled for control and a near miss saw the student team tantalisingly close to winning the game when they caught the frisbee just outside the designated area. The game ended 3-3 with it all still to play for over the rest of the year. Pinehurst Tennis We have just concluded the tennis season with plenty of highlights and memorable moments coming from it. On Monday, we had our last session with the foundation group. The aim of this session was for students to apply all the different skills they’ve learnt in the term into fun activities and challenges. It was great to see the enthusiasm and enjoyment students had and I look forward to continuing to see them progress and enjoy their tennis. We also had success with the advanced group and had our Pinehurst Boys team win the North Harbour Secondary School Competition. This was a great achievement and reflected the hard work that these students have put in over many years. I would also like to thank the parents and individuals who have helped in terms of transporting students to games and supporting them along the way. I look forward to seeing many of these students continuing in their tennis journey. Year 10 Global Citizenship This term in Year 10 Global Citizenship students have been learning about climate change and sustainability and how they can make a difference. Students had a class debate on the topic "Will school climate change protests make a difference?" There were some interesting points made during the debate and overall the winning argument was that yes climate change protests would make a difference! Students worked collaboratively, studying newspaper articles, and trying to analyse information critically for their arguments. Pinehurst/Kristin/ Vanguard Schools Composite Rugby Team Pinehurst student Sione Ofakineiafu, plays rugby on a composite team with Kristin and Vanguard Schools. They recently were given the opportunity to attend a training session with the Auckland Blues which they all thoroughly enjoyed. AKSS Climbing Series Ava Tillick recently participated in the Auckland Secondary Schools Climbing competition placing 11th overall in her age group. This is a new event being offered and is open to all levels of abilities. Appropriate climbing gear, including shoes and harness, are provided if required. If you are interested in attending the next event being held Sunday 27 June at Northern Rocks, Wairau, please email Cyndie Augustin Cyndie.Augustin@pinehurst.school.nz for further information. AKSS Swimming Champ of Champs Jasmine Lyles qualified at the NHSS Swimming Zone Day to compete in the AKSS Champ of Champs competition held yesterday. She competed in three events and placed 2nd overall in the Girls 13 & U Breaststroke. Congratulations and well done Jasmine! Kia Ora, Our Primary students are definitely ready for a holiday, the first term is the longest of the year and has been action packed inside the classroom and out. The first week of Term 2 will see our last camp of the year with Year 3 visiting Camp Maynard and they are all very excited already. A few weeks later and Year 6 have plans to visit the Arts centre in Orewa to create clay sculptures and our Year 3 and 4 syndicate will hold auditions and begin rehearsals for this year’s production. Term 2 overviews will be sent out on Seesaw on the first day of next term which will detail our programmes and what your child will learn over the nine week term. Visiting classes this week, I have been so impressed with the exceptional levels of engagement in learning. Each lesson starts with a learning intention which is a clear direction to both the student and teacher of the focus of the lesson. The next 50 minutes are spent exploring the learning intention and engaging in activities that help students to demonstrate their understanding. Together with the teacher, children decide what makes them successful in their learning and measure themselves against success criteria. It is a focussed and specific method of teaching which is ensuring that our students get the most out of their learning and make so much progress. Today we will say goodbye to a much loved teacher and celebrate everything she has given to our school. Kate Du Toit started out at Pinehurst as a Year 3 teacher for many years before leaving briefly to work in educational resources and another school before joining us again as our music specialist. Kate is a very talented teacher who has brought music alive in assemblies, productions and prizegivings as well as in the classroom. Teaching Year 1 to Year 7 requires a great deal of skill and Kate has always managed to make music so much fun. We will miss her and wish her all the very best in the next part of her journey. We will be in winter uniform when we return to school on Tuesday May 4, it is already starting to get a little cooler so I am sure our students will adjust quite easily. Please take some time out with your children if you can, they need a break and time for play so that they can come back refreshed and ready for learning in Term 2. As always, thanks so much for your support and making sure that your children are ready to learn each day. Ngā mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Amzaing Results from Primary Swimming Team In the past week, our Primary swimming team attended both the North Shore Primary Swimming Championships (24 schools) and our Mid Bays Swimming event (4 schools). The team were placed a very close 2nd overall at Mid Bays Swimming (just a handful of points behind Murrays Bay) – an outstanding result for this young team. We had some amazing podium results, and a number of records were broken by our Pinehurst swimmers on the day! Life in P15 Year 5 students in P15 have been super busy thinking of creative ways to present our research for Global Perspectives. Some of us decided to use Minecraft Education, PowerPoint, a poster, or a website to communicate our findings. Whilst researching we were thinking about using keywords to search and reliable websites to use. This week students presented their research into NZ and a country of their choice that they identify with. We have also been working hard on finishing our artwork, which represents a cultural aspect of NZ. Artwork by Harry, Bonnie, and Vanessa. Students finished our Big Write mission this week, which explored the Sumatran forest and conservation of orangutans. In the last Big Write students wrote a biographical article about a naturalist Dan Johnson. Here is Alice’s writing. P15 wishes you all a Happy Holiday! Primary Music We’ve had a delightfully busy term in the Primary Music room. We started off the year going online for a bit which is always interesting for music (you no doubt heard us!) However, we made our homemade instruments, sang, and wrote our own compositions and learnt a little bit of theory. Since we’ve been back in school it’s been great to play our classroom instruments again, write and perform our own compositions using specific time signatures and generally make music together which is always fun! Symbols and Patterns In Art, we have been exploring the meaning behind symbols and patterns used in various cultures. We started by examining art from different countries around the world, then shared artifacts from home and discussed some symbols that represented our own culture. From there, we brought our focus to traditional Maori symbols and their meanings. The original use of Maori symbols started hundreds of years ago to visually represent parts of the culture and history of Maori. This was before there was written language as we know today. After researching work from well-known Maori artists for inspiration, we selected Maori symbols to use in our own pastel art. Fun & Learning in P6 What a wonderful time we had at our one day camp run by Conscious Kids. There were lots of wheels, ropes, boxes, pipes, balls, tarpaulins and other pieces of equipment to explore. It wasn’t just a day of playing, as important skills were being refined throughout the day. These skills in turn help children to be better in the classroom. Skills such as hand-eye coordination, language, gross motor and social and emotional skills. The children needed to collaborate, imagine, share, negotiate and develop their skills using the right words to help them. They thought it was just fun but so much more was occurring behind the scenes. In Maths we have been discovering position and movement. We are recognising whole, half and quarter turns, both clockwise and anti-clock wise. Also describing direction using Mathematical language such as North, South, East and West. We explored geometric shapes and named and labelled the number of sides and vertices. Exploring the 10x table was also something that we engaged in with a range of games and activities. In our literacy programme we have been describing what characters are saying using speech marks and describing the setting using expanded noun phrases. In art we have been continuing with our exploration of 2 dimensional geometric shapes and creating our own impression of famous artist Paul Klee’s work. Mind Mapping and Collaboration in P17 Year 5 students in P17 have been studying the work of mind mapping expert Tony Buzan. He describes mind mapping as a “super tool” for unlocking the brains potential to think and connect ideas together. Mind mapping involves the use of key words and images. As we have practiced our maps, we have found that our ideas flow with greater ease and we are able to group ideas into paragraphs more easily. As we have made connections, we are aware that patterns do emerge after we sit back and contemplate the thinking on our paper. Therefore, the mind map can be seen as a reflective tool also. In P17 we have been focussing on finding hidden clues in the text where authors give subtle information or ideas for readers to connect with. We have been looking for these clues in our reading and we have been highlighting exactly where the information in the text appears. We have then shared with others where the evidence is and how we know that this evidence supports a question or a character’s actions. By pointing out to other learners which page, paragraph and line the evidence is on, others can agree or disagree that this evidence is relevant. Finding relevant information is very important and has allowed us to improve our research skills. By sharing our point of view, we are being asked to justify our thoughts and opinions. This then leads to deeper discussion where children can challenge each other’s thinking and point of view. P17 children are learning to state clearly why they believe something to be true and then when challenged, firm up or alter their thinking. This is where our collaborative learning comes from. When we collaborate, we don’t just work together, we listen and build on each other’s ideas. Writing Wizards in P8 In writing, Year 2 students in P8 have been looking at the story ‘The Night Zookeeper’. After discussing the different types of characters in the story with the children, they needed to create and describe their own animal character as well as give it a name. In pairs the children brainstormed their ideas and identified different characteristics of their characters. Next they had to write about where their character lived, what it liked, disliked, it’s special powers and had to list an interesting fact. Here are a few characters the children drew and created. A busy term for P9! After some interesting reflection and much discussion, the P9 students couldn't come up with just one highlight or memorable moment from this term as there have been so many! (as well as a few challenging ones of course). So, here's a snapshot of Term 1 in P9.... - Observing the functions of plants in Science! - Using interesting adverbial openers in Writing! - Making a 'magnificent thing' in Reading out of paper and cardboard, and making connections between how we felt when things didn't go to plan and how the character in the text felt! - In Global Perspectives, interviewing Terry, Patrick, Mrs Jones-Hill, Mr Reed and Nicki Williams about the different teams they belong to in our Pinehurst community and their different roles and responsibilities! I Spy...Term 2 New entrants making new friends and settling in! I Spy... Year 4 P.E! Year 10-12 Music Classes tackle their first Performances This week the Year 10-12 Music students performed for the first time this term, after preparing the work with their private/ itinerant music teachers. For the Year 10s, in particular, it is always a slightly challenging task as they are often at the beginning stages of developing their confidence in performance which is 30% worth of their coursework grade. The students get the chance to self-assess their performances and receive formative feedback in order to gain a better understanding of the marking criteria which will be applied to their end-of-course performance. This year we have a wide range of instrumental and technical skills within our group of students. Despite all the differences, the syllabus is designed to acknowledge the students’ strengths on the instruments according to their individual ability. To view Yu Zhang’s performance of Rachmaninov’s Prelude see below. Lacrosse coach needed We are looking for a Lacrosse coach who will be required for Term 2 & part of Term 3 (Determined by number of teams entered as to when competition finishes) term time only. Ideally coaching will be on Tuesday 3.30pm – 5pm. Games commence Thursday 13 May 2021 – Home and away. All games start at 4pm but are played all over Auckland. Away games students leave school at 3pm. There is also the Auckland Lacrosse Champs one day event held Thursday 12 August 2021 9am – 3pm. This is a paid coaching position with an average of 3.5 to 4.5 hours per week in total including training and games. Applications should be submitted to michelle.thomson@pinehurst.school.nz by Friday 23 April. Weightlifting Year 13 students Anthony, Ryan and Kaius took part in a club weightlifting competition on Saturday held at Functional Strength. The boys, who attend our Pinehurst weightlifting club on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, completed both the snatch and clean and jerk movements in their respective weight categories. Badminton Winner Congratulations to Elsa in Year 7 who did brilliantly in her badminton competition recently, she won the Single, Double and Mix in U15. Speech and Drama Lessons In an ever-changing and fast-paced, technology-addicted world, it can be difficult to guesstimate what skills our children need in order to prepare them for an uncertain future. Pinehurst students doing an activity as grumpy old men or cheeky clowns! |