News and events for the week ending 8th November 2019 Friday 8th November 2019 Kia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요With the stunning weather this week, students have made the most of the grounds during their break times. They have been spread to all corners of the school site either playing games or sitting under the trees enjoying the shade. Despite the fine weather our Year 7 and Year 8 students have maintained a high level of focus and have worked hard to complete their end of year examinations. Next week our Year 9 and Year 10 students will complete their end of year assessments. Our Primary Athletics Day took place today with Year 1 – 4 students competing on the school fields while our Year 5 – 6 students ventured to the Millennium Stadium. It is a great opportunity for our students to enjoy a bit of fun competition and for parents to get involved in cajoling and encouraging their sons and daughters. Our New Entrants enjoyed their field trip to the Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium this week whilst our Year 5 students set off to the recycling centre to further their understanding on their work around sustainability. Sustainability is a key area of focus for the school next year as we look to weave it into what we do both within the curriculum and around the school. We want all our students to develop their knowledge and understanding. We also want to empower them to understand the difference that they can make and the change that they can bring about through their actions. We have two weeks remaining in our Cambridge examination schedule. As the examinations near an end we will have a series of subject specific cluster meetings for our college teachers. These meetings are a great opportunity for our teachers to learn about any changes to their syllabus to ensure that they are well prepared for 2020 and beyond. It also gives teachers an opportunity to meet with colleagues from other schools to share ideas and continue to develop their practice. As an institution we are one of the leading CAIE schools in New Zealand and have established expertise. Many of our teachers and senior leadership are key people in promoting Cambridge Assessment International Education and supporting teachers to develop their knowledge and understanding. In addition to our internal professional learning sessions and the short courses that we encourage our staff to take advantage of, we also promote opportunities to further learning. We have five teachers from across the school who have enrolled to undertake postgraduate study through Auckland University starting next year. The teachers involved have enrolled in either a Master of Educational Leadership or Master of Education Practice. Whilst this will be a significant challenge for those involved, we support this as a school as we know it will further develop their skills and expertise. It will also strengthen our staff and further improve student outcomes. WEEK 5 Monday 11 November
Tuesday 12 November
Wednesday 13 November
Thursday 14 November
Friday 15 November
WEEK 6 Monday 18 November
Tuesday 19 November
Wednesday 20 November
Thursday 21 November
Friday 22 November
如需阅读校长的中文留言和重要事件日期,请点击此处 Kate Du Toit, Primary Music TeacherKate started her teaching career at Chelsea Primary School and after completing her two years of certification embarked on her OE, first travelling through the US and South America. Five months later she settled in London and worked as a classroom teacher for seven years, even teaching a young Prince Harry as a six year old. She enjoyed further traveling opportunities during school holidays and weekends. On returning from London, Kate joined Pinehurst School in 1998 as a Year 3 teacher. She later worked for Price Milburn, a publishing company before having children and returning to Pinehurst. Music has always been Kate’s passion. As a young woman she played the violin in the Auckland Youth orchestra, sang in the National Youth choir and conducted “Shore Sounds”. She continues to play several instruments, still sings in a choir and is a strong advocate for music education. She thoroughly enjoys being a music specialist, putting on concerts, being involved in productions and taking the “Petite Elite” choir. Kia Ora, The sun has continued to shine and our Primary students are taking on board the SunSmart message. One of our admin staff was briefly walking across the playground this week and she was offered sunscreen and asked to put her hat on. Go Junior Primary, you are being super safe and responsible in the sunshine! We continued to get out and about this week and Monday in particular was a busy day for learning outside of the classroom. Mrs Clark was making us all jealous with amazing pictures of the beach at Waterwise as our last two groups went out for a sail. Continuing the water theme, New Entrants went to Kelly Tarlton's to study marine life. One of our 5 year olds wanted to know if they would see whales but we didn’t think there were tanks quite big enough for that! They were all shattered, including the adults, by the time they got back in the afternoon. Year 5 continue to explore the very important theme of sustainability with a visit to the recycling centre. This is the first time we have visited the centre and we were invited as part of the work Mrs Roberts has been doing in this area. Apparently it was very hot but very interesting and well worth it. Good job Year 5 for your efforts to save our natural resources. Touch teams and gymnasts were also competing this week and we got some great overall podium placings in the gymnastics competitions. Gymnastics is very popular and our Pinehurst teams have gone from strength to strength over the last few years. Lunchtime practices are well attended and Mrs Vein and Miss Zandbergen are very proud of the achievements of our students. Please check the school calendar and the newsletter weekly as we have lots of events coming up before the end of the year. Planning is well underway for 2020 and it was wonderful to see so many parents at the Year 6 Lakewood Lodge camp information evening. Lakewood is my very favourite camp, it has a special feel and I always enjoy visiting Year 6 each year with Mrs Jones-Hill. If your child is in Year 6 next year please return your electronic camp forms as soon as possible. We will be sending all permission slips out this way in future in our bid to act sustainably. Just a note about electronic devices at school. We do allow students to bring phones but they must stay in their bags and are only for use when calling parents to arrange to pick up at the end of the day. Many students are wearing smart watches and using them to message home or receiving calls during lessons. If you want your child to wear them at school then please make sure that message and phone functions are disabled during the day. We are finding that increasing numbers of students have access to social media accounts. Put simply, they are too young. They are not mature enough yet to handle the downside of possible exposure to inappropriate content. Please talk to your children about this and make sure that they don’t have access to these sites until they are old enough. Have a lovely weekend. Ngā Mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Pinehurst Primary Sports Prizegiving 2019Date: Tuesday 19th November 2019 Time: 9:15am start (Doors open at 9:00am) All Year 4-6 students will attend Primary Sports Prizegiving. Award recipients ONLY in Years 1-3 will attend (they will be collected from their class at 9am on the day of the prizegiving, and escorted by Ms Jones-Hill to the Arena for the first part of the event) All parents, caregivers, family and friends are invited to attend to celebrate Pinehurst Primary Sport in 2019. Award recipients have been notified, via email invitation. Plants in P5Year 1 have had a wonderful time learning about plants in Science this term. In particular, how to grow a magic bean plant from a bean. Every week, the children have observed and noted the changes in their plants and recorded their findings in their Magic Bean Diaries. Year 1 know that we have to look after these plants and they take turns in making sure they have enough water and sunlight every day. The children have also learnt about the structure of a plant: leaves, flowers, petals, seeds, trunk, branches and stem. They have been dissecting a flower and using the information on the interactive board to find out more about the different parts. It has been wonderful to see the children so engaged in their learning and we look forward to seeing how big our beans will grow! PrEP in P21P21 has been busy, Year 6 students have applied for jobs, entered business plans and agreed on sustainable products to sell on PrEP day. Now they are making prototypes, a mix of Christmas cards, decorations and bookmarks to appeal to the buyers! They are all confident they will be a hit. It’s been an interesting few weeks as they work out the pitfalls of paying rent to secure work space and their weekly pay entering their bank accounts. They have navigated it all incredibly! Even as some of them went into their overdraft for the first time. There were a few pupils certain mum and dad would pay to help them out! But as you can see the businesses are working well together, all determined to be the most successful business and we are currently all in the green! P21 can’t wait to share the final products. Year 5 Waitakere Refuse and Recycling Centre TripsThis week Year 5 traveled to the Waitakere Refuse and Recycling Centre to learn about where our rubbish goes to and what we could do to take more care of our environment. We spent a bit of time exploring The Zero Waste Zone, which was a fun, interactive trail made entirely of waste. We also took part in the Zero Waste Programme where we had lots of discussion about waste, learnt where it goes and most importantly how to reduce it. Some of the activities included sorting waste, learning about recycling and how to make good choices to look after the environment. Also included in the trip was a tour around the transfer station where we got to see the volume and types of waste that are dropped off at the site. One very scary fact is that in Auckland alone, every single week, we create enough rubbish to fill up a rugby field that goes as high as the rugby goal posts! WaterwiseAuckland weather is always a challenge for Term 4 Waterwise and this year was no different. However, patience paid off for our three Year 6 classes who all ended up getting their turn out on the water despite several postponements. Not sailing until wind and sea conditions were more favourable enabled our students to have more positive and memorable experiences out on the water. We had some magic days out on the ocean and P19 even managed to sail from Murrays Bay, past Mairangi Bay to Campbells Bay in pristine sailing conditions on Tuesday. This was our second day of sailing this year and it aims to builds on the skills the children learned back in Term 1. Nearly every Year 6 student has now successfully sailed an optimist either on their own or with a buddy, while some getting experience of learning how to capsize (on purpose, of course). To be able to run a Waterwise session we always need 3 trained instructors who are usually either parents or teachers. We are very lucky that we have two amazing dads who help us out every year even when they don’t have a child in Year 6. Thank you so much Ashbjorn Aakjaer and Craig Williams for giving up your time to run the waterwise programme for our students. We look forward to your continued support next year. We would also like to thank all the other parents who came along to help. Your support is invaluable and important in ensuring we meet our adult to student ratios for water safety. It would be wonderful to train more parents to help us keep running this programme in the future. You don’t have to be an experienced sailor, you just need to be willing to learn how to drive an IRB and to be out on the water helping our students to have a safe, positive experience on the ocean. If there are any parents who would like to complete the training in 2020, please contact Kelly.clark@pinehurst.school.nz I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy...children looking particularly photogenic in the sunshine! I Spy...netball skills training at lunchtime! I Spy...Year 3 practicing their high jump! I Spy...Lego Mindstorms creations! Kia Ora, Well done to all the Year 7 and 8 students who this week completed their end of year examinations. Year 9 and 10 students will complete their examinations next week. The aim of these assessments is to help students more clearly understand their level of understanding and achievement. The feedback enables a student to successfully move forward within each of their subject areas. The outcome of these assessments does not determine a student’s future class or whether we will allow them to study a specific subject. Within English and Mathematics, we do group and stream classes. The classes are based on a wide range of evidence accumulated throughout the school year. In 2020 current Year 7 and 8 students will continue to follow the same curriculum, building and expanding on the work of the previous year. Current Year 9 students moving on to Year 10 will begin their new IGCSE courses and current Year 10 students will continue with the same group of subjects, studying the second year of their IGCSE courses. We carefully consider student transitions through the school. As a student moves through to Year 13 there are several key changes. At Pinehurst we are fortunate that these changes can be managed within the same school. We aim to provide a curriculum which is based on progressive academic programmes leading to a clearly defined path from Primary School through to Year 13. For most New Zealand students one of the most significant changes occurs between Years 8 and 9 when a student moves between Intermediate School and College. At Pinehurst we are in the fortunate position that this transition occurs within the same school. Fortunately for our students, the organisation of the Year 9 curriculum is planned carefully so that the work followed in English, Mathematics, PE & Health, Science, Social Science and Digital Technologies builds on the work from Year 8. Year 9 students continue with Art and Design and Music. Design Technology, Drama and Commerce are added and students choose to study either Mandarin or Spanish. The organisation of the school day is similar, and students are already familiar with many of the teachers. The most significant curriculum change occurs when a student transitions from Year 9 to Year 10. Towards the end of Year 9, students have the opportunity to select their subjects and begin choosing the direction of their academic pathway. Many students welcome this opportunity feeling that they can spend more time studying the subjects that best suit them. Fortunately, the choices are selected from a broad base. This ensures that academic pathways, are maintained across a wide range of subject areas. The academic programmes studied in Years 7, 8 and 9 prepare students for these IGCSE courses. The teachers teaching Years 7, 8 and 9 classes understand the requirements needed to be successful at IGCSE level. Term 4 is not just all about examinations. We have added a wide variety of education outside the classroom (EOTC) experiences. These include Year 7 and 8 Girls and Boys vs WILD, Year 9 Commerce and Social Sciences trips, Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh tramp to Pinnacles and senior student Great Barrier camp. I encourage all students to take full advantage of these EOTC experiences. Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College Pinehurst Sports Prizegiving (Year 7-8) - 2019Date: Tuesday 19th November 2019 Time: 1:45pm start (Doors open at 1:30pm) All parents, caregivers, family and friends are invited to attend to celebrate Pinehurst Sports for Year 7-8 in 2019. Award recipients have been notified, via email invitation. Year 7 – 8 ExaminationsOur Year 7 and 8 students have just completed their end of year examinations. For many of our students, this was their first experience of sitting exams, let alone the study and revision that took place earlier this term. As a school we continually strive to find a healthy balance between academic rigour and wider extracurricular involvement, whilst maintaining our student driven and globally connected culture. We place importance on these examinations because they provide opportunities for our students to thrive, grow, improve, and ultimately prepare for higher stake assessments in their future years in the College. This year’s results will provide evidence of student achievement, indicate areas for growth, along with any examination techniques or revision habits and techniques that can be sharpened for next year. As we tell the students, these results will not determine their future academic programmes. It’s an opportunity to reflect and develop. Staff have been busy marking exams. Once all catch-up exams have been administered for any absent students and students have had the opportunity to look over their papers to check marks, we will share the final results with parents. Year 9 ScienceEarlier this week in Science, Year 9 science were busy doing a range of food tests. The class were looking at the composition of crisps and identifying fats, sugars and proteins. As well as testing the foods directly they were also checking research online and were surprised to find if the ratio of salt to fat is just right it can lead to an almost addictive craving for crisps. Their study continues and even includes marketing strategies and packaging of the crisps and how this affects our choices. Year 9 Commerce Students Dream BigAs a final project in the Year 9 Commerce class, the students got a chance to test their budgeting skills by designing and comparing two dream holiday scenarios. They not only got to test their budgeting and math skills during this project, but they also got the chance to see how much an overseas holiday actually cost. he range of vacations varied from finding out how much it cost to travel around Tokyo, Japan in first class to how much it would cost to fly to Los Angeles and rent a Lamborghini for a week. With budgeting for food and accommodation also a project requirement, the Year 9 Commerce students will get a realistic understanding of how much it costs to take a dream vacation. Year 9 Commerce and Social Sciences TripsOn 21 and 22 November, all Year 9 students will be participating in a two-day excursion. They will alternate between a ‘Factory Experience’ and the ‘Maritime Museum and Sailing Trip’, with half doing one activity on Thursday and then participating in the other activity on Friday. A letter home to Year 9 parents will be sent out soon that will contain more details about each trip. The Factory Experience Day, organised by the Commerce department, will allow students an insight into how businesses operate, organise production and add value. They will visit the Tip Top factory in Mt Wellington where they will learn how Tip Top ice cream is made, watch the production process, learn about the history of this iconic business, and sample their products. At Sylvia Park, students will consider consumer shopping patterns, factors that determine retail success, placement of retail shops, seasonal marketing campaigns and evaluate foot traffic observations. The Maritime Museum and Sailing Trip, organised by the Social Sciences department, will allow students a deeper and richer understanding of our local history and geography. A trip on the sailing ship, Ted Ashby in the morning will allow the students to experience what travel was like for the early settlers while seeing from the water the development of the Auckland waterfront. In the afternoon the students will tour the Maritime Museum and will learn about Auckland's marine environment and the development past, present and future of the Auckland waterfront. May I take your order?Our Year 10 Spanish are having a lot of fun doing restaurant role plays in order to prepare for our trip to El Humero in Takapuna. Students will be required to order their food and drink with the Spanish speaking staff using vocabulary learnt this term! Pinehurst is excited to announce... The Addams Family Musical as next year’s College production. Year 7-13 students of 2020 are able to access the production dates and rehearsals as well as play synopsis, character briefs and audition material on Schoolbox’s Addams Family page. If you have Schoolbox access, click here to view the page. Information packs will be emailed to current Year 6 students. To view the trailer for the show, please click here. Auditions for the production will be held after school on Monday 18th November at 3:30pm in the Drama room (C1). The auditions will be run by Cherie Moore, who has extensive acting, dancing and singing experience. We are very lucky to have her expertise on board and Cherie will be also rehearsing the Chorus and Leads with their vocal numbers from next year. Monday 18th November:
Monday 2nd December:
We will also be looking for student helpers for stage management and props, as well as music band members. All students involved with the production will need to be able to attend:
If you have any questions please email marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz In Music this WeekPinehurst Orchestra Performing at the Prize Giving Ceremonies and Christmas Concert As many of the more senior members of the Orchestra have been away this term, due to external exams, a Dress Rehearsal will be held on Monday the 2nd of December, from 12.40pm – 3.15pm in C1 (the usual place we meet for Orchestra rehearsals). Members who have recently joined the Orchestra, after the KBB competition held at the start of term 3, do not have not attend the rehearsal or performances. All members need to bring their orchestra folder and instruments for the Dress Rehearsal, containing the following pieces:
If you Orchestra Members and soloists cannot attend either the Prizegiving Ceremonies, held on the 4th of December (AM and PM) or the Christmas Concert held on the 5th of December, please let Ms Naumovska know as soon as possible, on marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz Shuan Liu (Year 12) Scholarship Winner Congratulations to Shuan Liu (pictured far right) who is a recipient of the Chiron Charitable Trust Scholarship, providing her with $8000 in piano tuition. The Chiron Charitable Trust (CCT), established in 2019 to encourage and support talented music students, offers scholarships and awards to deserving musicians serious about and committed to their musical education. The scholarship is open to students of 14 years and above. To see further details of the criteria, click here. To see Shuan in action, click here Drop Your Boss (Teacher!)On Wednesday Mr Johansen and Mr Elliot leapt of the SkyTower to raise money for the Graeme Dingle Foundation. Despite sweaty palms and wobbly knees at the start, the College teachers thoroughly enjoyed their leap of faith, and it just goes to show, things aren't always as bad as they might seem! The Graeme Dingle Foundation run programmes to help young people develop confidence and encourage self-belief. Thank you to everyone who donated to this great cause! If you would still like to donate you can do so here. Pinehurst Connection UpdatePinehurst Connection had their first 'Dad’s Get Together' on Thursday. After various events held this year at Pinehurst, we thought we would try something a little different. This term we invited a small group of Pinehurst fathers to a ‘Dad’s Get Together’ at the Goodside – Fantail & Turtle, in Smales Farm, Takapuna. “Fantail & Turtle is a bar and eatery founded on core values of friendship, community, manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga and whanaungatanga..." (manaakitanga – hospitality, kindness, generosity, support - the process of showing respect, generosity and care for others. kaitiakitanga – Sharing of food. whanaungatanga - Relationship, kinship, sense of family connection – a relationship through shared experiences). With the this above statement in mind, it presented itself to be the perfect place to hold the first Pinehurst event just for the Dads! The evening started at 6pm, there was lots of talking and as usual the 3-degrees of separation found many people had come across each other - through sport, work or mutual friends! There was fantastic energy with the group of Dads, and they were entertained with great food and drink, great company and great conversation – not to mention an amazing venue. It all ended at 10.30pm – so it was a decent evening and no debauchery tales to report…not this time anyway! Thank you to all our Dads who took the time to support this ‘Get-Together’ and to Adrian Soh, Michael Beale, Dave Crowther and Ian Mendonca for volunteering to be our first host Dads to ensure the evening flowed smoothly. We look forward to the next Dad’s Get Together which will be held in Term 1, 2020! If you are interested in this event, please contact Sylvia.lum@pinehurst.school.nz Pinehurst Xmas HampersMany thanks to those of you who have already contributed donations for our Xmas Hampers. It is tradition for Pinehurst to present these at our Pinehurst Christmas Celebration on the last day of the school year, Thursday 5 December (2.00pm-3.15pm). Contributions of non-perishable food, Xmas treats, vouchers, new toiletries, toys and games would be greatly appreciated. Please bring donations to your son/daughter’s homeroom. If you have access to good quality cardboard boxes which you can donate, please contact Nicole Webb directly (nicole.webb@pinehurst.school.nz). Thank you again for your support with this. Families in need will greatly appreciate your kind donations in what can be a stressful time of the year. |