Friday 29th May 2020Opening Words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 We started this week by taking down the red tape around the posts at the front of the Green; we will end it by removing the last bits of tape at the top of the school, and moving the dividing tape that currently runs down the middle of the netball courts in front of the Library. These seem like small things to do, but they have a significance for us as we cautiously move back to normality. Our Reception will still feel different; we still have strict sign in and contract tracing procedures in place; we still have strong cleaning and hand-washing procedures in place; we will still not be holding large Assemblies for the moment too; and if we have to increase our health and safety arrangements again, we will. But, while we have no community transmission, we will otherwise feel pretty much back to normal. The full details are on our website, and I’ve already sent them home, so please refer there if you have any questions, or just write directly to me. I want to talk about other things! I want to start with our new entrants: 20 bright-eyed five year olds started their school life two weeks ago, and they have settled incredibly quickly into school life. Their start has not been the usual start – no pre-school visits, and their parents have had to leave them at the gate and not take them to class – but they have done brilliantly. We’re already at the point where I walk into P1 or P2 and I’m not completely sure which students are new to the school, and which students are the old hands. As some of you will know, we have a fresh-looking New Entrants team, so I’d like to thank Ms Dobbins, Mrs Prance, Mrs Wakefield and Ms Howells, who have very quickly gelled together, forming an outstanding team of expert teachers. It’s also a good time to talk a little about our Year 6 students. They set a wonderful, positive tone in our Primary School and, even though they haven’t had the usual opportunities for leadership yet, we will make sure that this part of their school experience returns to normal over the coming months. I saw some of their work in Maths yesterday as well: we had five different classes running when I visited, and in every single group, students were working hard, challenging themselves and having fun while they did it. Our Year 11 to 13 students set the tone in College: at the moment, these year groups are studying hard for their mid-year tests next week. It’s been an absolute pleasure to see complicated discussions about gender in Tennessee Williams, or to visit the Library after school to see students working together on quadratic equations, or to wander into a Year 11 Business Studies class to see the impressive detail of the students’ work. There’s a real sense of focus and commitment here, and it’s these qualities, of course, that enable our students to continue to achieve such superb results. I do hope, though, that we are all continuing to look after our senior students. We have all been delighted by the adaptability of our children, and the way they’ve resumed their school lives. That doesn’t, though, mean that we’re not aware that things are not straightforward for some students, and this can be particularly pronounced with those in the last couple of years of school. This year has been a shock for all of us, and I think every person reading this will be reflecting on at least one aspect of their lives, or on how they have managed their relationships and emotions in a shifting world. For our young people on the cusp of moving from school to the wider world, it can sometimes feel that the rug has been pulled out from under them, and that the world they assumed was there may not be the same world after all when they eventually step into it. I think we need to be aware of this, and I would encourage all parents to continue talking to our children, even as our lives start to take familiar shapes. And please let us know if you’re concerned, or if you need support or information that may help you in your conversations. Finally, we have a (temporary) farewell to say next week. Ms Speir will begin her parental leave next Friday, and her replacement, Mrs Spicer, will be in all of next week to make sure that we have a smooth handover. We are very fortunate indeed that Mrs Spicer has joined our staff: she brings with her a wide range of teaching, school leadership and teacher-training experience, and I know that her Year 5 students will continue to flourish in her class. Our best wishes to Ms Speir as she begins her family, and we look forward to seeing her back in the classroom next year. Have a lovely long weekend. I look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Tuesday. 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 Kia Ora, We enjoyed the sunshine when it came this week and dodged the raindrops to make the most of the beautiful outdoor setting in the Primary. It has been a busy week and our programmes are back to normal in the classrooms. I did wonder if P2 were breaking the Level 2 rules though when they took a safari to Africa. Fortunately this all happened in the classroom on their make believe trip. They even flew on a plane made from their chairs. It was wonderful to hear about their favourite safari animals and the new vocabulary they were learning. I also did some hip hop dancing in P7’s assembly, it has been a while but I don’t think I embarrassed myself too much! Children make wonderful teachers, they are very earnest when they are trying to show their peers how to do something. When we teach something to another person it actually helps our own understanding of how or why we do something and we often give children opportunities to demonstrate their learning by explaining or showing something to a group. This week we have had some visits from Harold and the Life Education programme in our Year 5/6 classes and next week Harold will travel to the rest of the Primary. He will be teaching us all about the brain and our emotions. We chose this programme because after Lockdown it is a really great way to teach children to understand how their mind works and what they can do to manage their own well-being. We have all had to show large amounts of resilience over the last few months and whilst some people seem to have more natural resilience than others it is actually a skill that can be learned. Try to look for ways at home that you can give your child some opportunities to be independent, dress themselves if they are little, pack and carry their own bag and if they are a bit older pack their own lunch. No one wants to see their child fail but it can be done in a safe way so that children are given the opportunities to grow and to learn from their mistakes, making them more resilient and able to deal with problems when they are older. We have been really proud of our students for the way they have adapted to the classroom again and how they have handled being waved to at the gate in the morning without being able to have mum and dad take them to class. We have noticed that whilst it is sad for parents to miss that time in the morning our children have been remarkably settled and able to cope, especially New Entrants. There were tears at first from some but now they walk in confidently and go straight to class to get ready for the day. Well done New Entrants and well done parents, you have done a brilliant job! I hope you enjoy the long Queen’s Birthday weekend and have some time to spend together as a family in the great outdoors. Have a great weekend. Nga Mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Year 2 Lego-DactaIn Lego-Dacta we have been exploring gears. The students have been learning about the function of a gear and how to increase or decrease speed and force depending on the size of the gear that is doing the driving and the size of the gear that is being driven. We have explored the gears teeth and how gears interconnect with each other to provide motion when turned. The students have learned that there are different types of gears and crown gears have proved popular. Crown gears allow for gears to function on a corner/angle. We have had great fun building merry-go-rounds, popcorn carts with rotating signs and even providing the chance for students to design and build their own simple machine with gears, displaying their knowledge and understanding of this mechanism. So much exploration and discovery! Leafy Lions and HedgehogsP10 have been out collecting beautiful autumn leaves from around the Year 3 playground. When we had a container full, we headed back to class. First, we used the leaves to make leaf rubbings. Students used a variety of colours to create vibrant autumn leaves and rainbow coloured leaves. In our next art lesson, we discussed what we could make next with the leaves we collected. After looking at some pictures, the students copied a lion’s face and a hedgehog on to paper. They then were able to use the leaves to make a shaggy mane for their lion and thorny quills for their hedgehog. Pretty cats in P13In P13 we have been learning about the American artist Laurel Burch. Her bright and cheerful artwork has such appeal and was the perfect choice after coming back to the classroom after Lockdown. We practiced how to draw one of her cat designs. Warm and cold coloured pastels were used. We learnt how to blend the colours together. Here are just some of our amazing cats, the rest you’ll have to come and visit in P13! Primary MandarinBeing back in class with everyone is so much fun, we can once again do some of the things we were not able to do when we were learning online. For example, we can play games racing each other to be the first to write or say the correct answers, we can write and present our hand written work, we can practice writing on different surfaces like the concrete outside our classrooms, we can play card games and have a sing-along together. I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy... Impressive artwork in P18! I Spy...Reading and writing in Year 2! I Spy... measuring weight in Year 3 Science! I Spy...Storytime in the library for P14! Kia Ora, While the world outside might be disrupted, and I am sure that many of you as parents are still feeling this disruption, in school we are continuing very much as normal. Students have been working hard this week and our attendance levels are better than normal for this time of year. Next week we take another step toward routine with our sports, production and music practices returning to their full practice schedule. Our timetable is still working within bubbles for one more week as this assists us to better facilitate our midyear tests for Years 11 – 13. After the short week next week, we will return to our full timetable, reinstating vertical PODs in Years 9 - 13 and restarting all our lunchtime activities, including House sports. Our Year 11 – 13 midyear tests have been shaped differently for this set. We have placed more restrictions on the length of tests and the range of content assessed to allow students a narrower focus with their revision at this point in time. The focus for students should be on the feedback that they receive from their teachers from this set of tests. Of course, this should be the focus of all the internal assessments that the students engage in, but this can sometimes be lost as the students focus more on the grade. For this reason, we have changed how we report to parents this term to try to encourage students to focus more on the progress they have made and the feedback that they receive from this assessment, rather than on the grade that they achieve. Students in Years 7 – 10 have been completing various assessments in subjects this week and this will continue for the remainder of the term. We carefully monitor this to ensure that students have assessments over a range of dates to assist them to manage their workload. I hope that you all have an enjoyable long weekend. For those that take the opportunity to get away from home and explore a different part of New Zealand, travel safe. Nga Mihi, Kieran Verryt Service and Leadership - World VisionThe Service and Leadership programme in Years 7-9 helps to provide an outlet for pupils to experience the rewarding nature of service to others. As part of this programme, pupils typically give up something for the 40hr famine and classes have been looking at ways to support this charity this year. Some of the Year 7 and 8 council members decided to create a video to help promote this worthy cause. Check out their video HERE. Well done Zoe and Leah. This year’s date for the 40hr Famine is 5th-7th of June. More information on the 40hr Famine is available HERE. Pupils simply create an account and join the Pinehurst Team. Year 8 ScientistsStudents in Mrs Liang's Year 8 Science class investigated separation techniques this week. Using filtration to separate liquid and solid, and using chromatography to separate soluble liquids. A2 MathematicsStudents have been hard at work doing experiments to more fully understand the content of the Mechanics part of the course. Here we were testing a pulley with 2 unequal weights on each side of the string. One weight went down and one went up. We timed how long it took for the larger weight to hit the ground from a height of 1.47m and used this information to work out how much frictional force the pulley was exerting. We also measured the height of the railing from the ground by dropping a block to the ground below (Mark and Nathan’s suggestion). Our measurements and calculations gave 5.30m while our tape measure said it was 5.03m. This is an impressive error rate of only 5% so top marks to the A2 Mathematics class! AccountingThe AS Accounting students have been doing revision for the upcoming test week. Here they are working through an exercise that they will discuss and analyse in class shortly. LacrosseThe Lacrosse season is underway. We had our first practice on Tuesday here at school. The team will be coached by past student Tegan Edmonds who is an experienced player and has represented New Zealand in international competitions. We are always looking for more players in trying to build the team. Currently it is only a girls team but we would like to start a boys team as well. If any student, boy or girl, is interested in joining a team please email jacqueline.rea@pinehurst.school.nz Senior College Art & DesignOur IGCSE and A Level students are busy creating artwork for their coursework portfolios. Here are a few exceptional examples of the work being produced by our dedicated, and very talented students. In Music this WeekItinerant lessons resume on-site and live from next week Our wonderful itinerant teachers will be returning on-site at Pinehurst to resume their itinerant lessons with our students from next week. It has been challenging to learn online but our students have navigated those challenges impressively. If you would like to find out what instrumental tuition is available at Pinehurst, please click here for all the relevant information. To enrol your child, complete the enrolment form at the bottom of the page. If you have any questions, please contact Marija Naumovska on marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz Practical Sessions begin for Year 8 and 9To finish up the semester in Music, Year 8 and 9 have begun their practical session. These sessions allow students to choose if they wish to work in a group or individually to develop their practical performance skills, no matter their starting ability. Groups and individual students can choose the song/piece they wish to work on and the instrument they wish to perform on. This unit focuses on developing not just their practical skills but also their ability to problem solve, use their initiative and work productively towards a goal. Addams Family rehearsals are back underwayThese are starting next Wednesday 3rd June for Year 7-10 and then full cast from Tuesday 9th June. We are continuing with our normal rehearsal days of Tuesday (3:30 - 4:30 in C2 for singing) and Wednesdays (3:30- 5 in either the Arena or Drama room for singing and dancing). There is also now a new Friday lunch time rehearsal for leading characters. New Dates for Cross CountryThe College Interhouse Cross Country (Years 7-13) will be held on Thursday 18th June at Pinehurst School. Further details will be sent home next week. The Primary Interhouse Cross Country (Years 1-6) will be held on Friday 19th June at Pinehurst School. Further details will be sent home next week. Pinehurst ’Blunt’ Umbrellas AvailableWe currently have some new Pinehurst merchandising that is available for purchase from the Uniform Shop or via the online store. You may have noticed our newest addition; the Pinehurst branded ‘Blunt’ umbrellas. Blunt is a NZ brand and designed by a Kiwi engineer who wanted to reinvent the umbrella - they are now recognised as a world leading umbrella brand. We currently have limited stock of 2 sizes in Navy Blue.
Pop into the Uniform Shop during opening hours or order online. |