Friday 11 September 2020Opening Words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 I thought I’d talk a little about our planning for Term 4 in today’s newsletter. Despite our bubbles, and the face coverings, and the hygiene routines, and the lack of sports games, it has actually felt as though we are pretty much back to normal in school at the moment. There’s lots of hard work, a good sprinkling of classes taking learning outside, making the most of the Spring weather, and busy sports practices before the day starts. Teachers are telling me that learning is progressing almost exactly as it usually does, and the students are happy and settled in every classroom I walk into. We also have extraordinary attendance: we actually hit 97% yesterday, which is brilliant, especially at this time of year. It shows how enthusiastic our students are, as well as how few bugs are around at the moment: long may it last! In the holidays, we are again running revision classes for Year 11 to 13 students. You will remember that we started doing this last year, and then ran some ‘catch-up’ classes in the last holidays. We have expanded the number of sessions this year, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to the staff who will be teaching the tutorials. Please make sure that your children are signing up for these classes. We also have the Senior Ball in the middle weekend of the holidays, and we have our fingers crossed that we will be at Level 1 by then. If we are not, we have a couple of additional dates we can use in Term 4. We will do everything possible to make sure that the students can celebrate in style after such a disjointed year. Our Events team have been busy, actually, trying to cram as much as possible into what we hope will be an unaffected Term 4. We’ve rescheduled our New Parent Wine and Canapes Evening and the Ladies Lunch for the second week of Term 4, rapidly followed by the Quiz Night. There are Open Days sprinkled throughout the first half of the term, and then a deluge of Prizegivings, Valedictory Dinners and Picnics to round things off. The Primary Production (Year 5 / 6 this year) is scheduled for Term 4 as well, and we will make sure that we enjoy as much celebration and activity as possible. At the same time, of course, we have the serious matter of examinations for all of our students. I know there’s some concern about these, but we’re actually on track for these at all levels: Year 6 and Year 9 Checkpoint exams will be taking place at the start of next term, and our IGCSE, AS and A Level exams are also going to run in exactly the same way as usual. If we have to make special arrangements to enable the exams to take place as planned – extra spaces and physical distance and more supervision, for example – we will simply do that. Our internal exams for other year groups are also going ahead in the normal way. We’re going to make sure that there’s perhaps even more activity going on around them, and we will continue to be especially alert for children and young adults who are finding things difficult, but I’m expecting the “business end” of the school year to look pretty much the same as it does every year. Busy, largely happy and ultimately very fulfilling too! Have a lovely weekend and see you on Monday! Ka kite anō au i a koutou 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 Kaye GriffithsWith a previous background in teaching, I was looking for a new challenge so 10 years ago I moved into the role of Career Counsellor at my previous school. I supported this move by completing a Post Grad qualification in Career Development. In 2015, I lept at the opportunity to take this on as a full-time role when I moved to Pinehurst. I find that being full time in a school of this size, gives me the opportunity to really get to know each student throughout their time in college. From Year 9 upwards I spend time with each student looking at their subject choices, interests and skills and devote as much time as they each need when it comes to firming up their thinking and planning their next steps. I help our students with practical employment skills such as CV preparation and interview techniques and when they are ready to apply for university I help them with the application process, whether that be looking at higher education within NZ or internationally. I aim to make sure their transition to university is as smooth as possible, providing them with the most up-to-date information available and opportunities to engage in experience days, conferences and workshops. I have always loved working with teenagers and in this role I particularly enjoy that I am helping students to consider what their life after Pinehurst might look like. My plan is to encourage them to cast their net widely in their initial research and to discover opportunities and courses of study that they may not have thought of or even heard of. And to not worry about making the “wrong” decision! "The decision you make about your future today is not likely to be your last decision!” I love to hear from our alumni, it is so rewarding when a student you have worked with is successful in their studies and career, knowing you helped them to start on that journey. My other involvements here at Pinehurst currently include Orienteering and Production Administration. I always enjoy the opportunity to interact with the students in a different setting and with a different focus. Kia Ora, This week we completed the last of our information evenings, albeit in the form of online meetings. Thank you to the parents who attended the meetings live for the A level information, and translated IGCSE information sessions. For those that were not able to attend, the meetings were recorded and can be accessed via a link on the email sent to parents of Year 11 and Year 12 today. This means that we have now reached the point where all students have been informed of the various curriculum options available to them next year. Students will have until the 24th of September to make their selections. All selections need to be completed before the end of this term to allow us to continue building the 2021 timetable. Today the school is full of colour with our mufti day. It is great to see a bit of the student’s character coming through in what they are wearing. The proceeds from today's mufti day will go to the four House charities: Kauri – The Cancer Society, Matai – Youthline, Rimu – Barnardos, Totara – Ronald McDonald House. This afternoon our Year 9 students will start their mock checkpoint examinations. The students seem confident and well prepared. All Year 11-13 students should have their mock examination results back now. In many cases teachers will have been in contact with parents about results, and teachers are now busy writing reports with further feedback and guidance. If you have any questions or concerns about any of your child’s results please get in contact. At this time of year our students are all working hard. We are also looking ahead to next year and ensuring that students are supported in the transition that they need to make. Yesterday the Year 13 cohort were out of classes for the day as they had a University transition day. This involved a mixture of seminars, one of the most useful of which was a panel of last years graduates covering the first year of the university experience. We know that our students are very successful when they move on to university and as a school we place a high priority on supporting the students through the transition beyond school. In Year 8, staff are busy creating an outdoor education week to fill the place left by the cancelled Ski camp. We will be in contact shortly to outline the plan for these students. Nga Mihi, Kieran Verryt, Principal of College. Case CompetitionCongratulations to Douglas, Gabriella, Michael and Tim who made it through to the national finals of the University of Auckland Management Consulting Club’s (UofA MCC) Schools Case Competition and came 2nd place in the Junior Division. They worked tirelessly through Level 3 to prepare a written strategy for iconic Kiwi juice company, Charlie’s. Year 8 Social ScienceIn Year 8 Social Science the students of 8JCD have been creating scripts for a news report covering the damage after the 2015 Nepalese Earthquake. They have been filming and editing these in class to present them next week. Can’t wait to see them! Year 9 CommerceYear 9 Commerce students are working through the programme “Like a Boss”. In the current module, the students have identified a United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goal that they would like to find a solution to, by coming up with a business solution. Here the groups are brainstorming and developing their storyboards, with one group explaining their storyboard to the class. Design Thinking - CommerceThe process we are currently teaching Year 9 comes from the Design School at Standford University and has been widely adapted for use in both education and industry. These photos show students presenting their prototypes to gain some feedback from their classmates. Maisie, Ian and Thomas present a buy-one-give-one notebook. Danielle, Dylan, and Andy present an educational video platform. Claudia, Jax, John, Stanley and Rosanne present a cotton shopping bag. Alex, Leo and Ben present a wooden drink bottle. All of our ideas are social enterprises targeting one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Year 10 GeographyIn Year 10 Geography, we are learning about Deltas. The students have worked in groups to investigate a river of their choice and the reasons people live in areas that can be prone to severe flooding. Farming, fishing, transport, hygiene and tourism are just some of the reasons why over 20 million people choose the Mekong Delta in Vietnam as their place to call home. A2 Physical EducationA2 PE students have been refining their CPR skills as part of their Life Saving assessment this week. The assessment also required them to show their skills in the pool, completing a range of rescues, tows and timed swims. Year 13 Transition to Tertiary DayThe Year 13 Transition to Tertiary Day was on held on Thursday this week. For the morning, the Head Prefects organised two speakers – Jeff Stangl from Massey University Business School on “Managing Finances” and Gabrielle Orr/Pamela Chia (Dieticians) on “Keeping Well at University”. In the afternoon, we welcomed back four ex-students to help facilitate this workshop for the current Year 13 students as they prepare for life after Pinehurst. Our visitors were:
The current Year 13 students valued their voices of experience as they discussed how to settle in to university, strategies for surviving the academic side, the differences to expect and, most importantly, what they wish they had known this time last year Kia Ora, It has been a busy week with almost everyone back at school full time and enjoying life in their class and syndicate bubbles. As a Primary team we are continuing to up-skill and learn new ways of teaching online in case we ever have to go back into some level of a lockdown. We hope that won’t be the case but we will be ready to provide an even better programme if it happens again. We are determined to get the most out of the year and running as many planned events as we can even if we have had to change them slightly. Our wonderful Library staff are getting very excited about Book Week next week and planning fun activities, stories, a book fair, Kahoots and dress ups. We will miss having parents involved but our students will have lots of fun and be inspired to read. We are really looking forward to seeing lots of children dressed up as favourite book characters on Friday 18th! There have been quite a few birthdays this week and discussions about ages and in particular how old some of the teachers are. I was told I was 99 and I must admit to feeling it by Thursday afternoon especially when I joined in with some Year 1 yoga, although I did agree to being 21 when it was suggested. I was very impressed by some of our Year 2 students who were writing about older people they knew. They were learning to use paragraphs which is very impressive for 6 year olds and they were using them correctly! A pirate theme for writing is being well and truly explored in our New to 2 syndicate with sea shanties, parrots and rhyming words. Adjectives are important and a focus for P5 and P6 this week along with understanding the concepts of full, half full and empty. In P1 I was thrilled to be told that learning is about making mistakes and trying again. What a fantastic thing to know when you are five so that you can continue to develop your confidence to try new things and not be afraid to fail. In Year 5 our writers are learning to write persuasively and to consider the audience, purpose and language features of persuasive text. They have been learning to make writing flow and to paint a picture for the reader. In Science there have been scavenger hunts in Year 3 and Year 4 and a very sophisticated revision test for Year 6 where they were outside and rotating around questions on scientific concepts. The focus was intense and it was very clear that they have learned a great deal. Don’t forget to book a conference time with your child’s teacher for next week, it is the last one of the year. We are looking forward to sharing your child’s progress with you and some next steps for the rest of the year. Have a great weekend. Nga Mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary İHola amigos! Welcome to Senior Primary Spanish!It has been lovely to be back in the classroom again. All the Senior Primary students put incredible effort into their work during the second lockdown. ¡Bien hecho, amigos! This term Year 4 have been learning the vocabulary for the rooms in a house through a variety of activities ranging from drawing and labeling a simple house plan; watching videos and singing songs to everyone’s favourite: the Memory game on Rockalingua! Year 5 are studying “La Ropa” = “Clothing”. During Lockdown they drew pictures of what they were wearing and labeled the items in Spanish. It was interesting to see how many of them were still in their pyjamas “in class”! To finish the term they will be categorising their new clothing vocabulary into the seasons that they would most likely be worn. When we returned to online classes, Year 6 had just started to learn the topic that many of them had been asking for since Year 3: “Los Deportes y Los Pasatiempos” = “Sports and Hobbies”! They were all able to produce a poster outlining their favourite sport and what clothing and equipment they need to be able to play that sport – all in Spanish! Now we are learning how to survey each other to investigate which sports we like or dislike, before moving onto learning about hobbies and playing musical instruments next term. Everyone has been making great progress. ¡Fantástico Primary MandarinThroughout Primary this week, we have used a variety of games and activities to help us revise and learn Chinese characters. Some of these were similar to the digital ones we played during Lockdown, but there are many more choices for us, now that we are back in the classroom together! For example, we've had a variety of card games, board games and playdough. Our current favourite game in the Junior Primary is 'Around the World'. The seniors have been busy writing and creating posters. Mandarin Foreign Language students have produced their food and drink posters and Chinese First Language (CFL) students have made posters about their favourite countries. In Year 6, CFL students have been busy practicing their informative speeches. The topics covered are mind boggling! They range from how to bake a cake to how Einstein contributed to science, and of course there are speeches on a variety of animals. Global Perspectives in Year 2In Year 2, for Global Perspectives, we are learning about different stages in people’s lives. The students learnt to identify important ‘milestones’ in a person’s life, such as starting or leaving school, moving away from home, getting a job, getting married, starting a family, retiring, etc. Next, the students used this new knowledge to construct a timeline of a typical person’s life. We discussed the ages which significant events in a person’s life might occur. The students also shared stories about their grandparents and older family members and discussed the important roles grandparents play in our lives. The students imagined what they would be like as a grandparent and created a collage styled portrait as themselves as a 64-year-old. One milestone the students learnt about in more detail was getting their first job. The students then shared what they thought they would like to be when they grew up and identified responsibilities for their chosen job. Sustainability in P14To help with sustainability at Pinehurst, the Year 4 students in P14 have been working through the design thinking process to create sustainable lunch packaging with recycled materials. During this process, designers brainstorm solutions, design a prototype and test their product. At any point during the task, designers may return to different parts of the process to fine-tune their work before eventually moving forward. To launch, students looked in bins around the school after lunchtime. They discovered that there was lots of packaging being thrown out and discussed the environmental impact this could have over time. Students wondered what they could do to change lunch boxes and packaging to help the environment. They put on their creative hats and were ready to start the design thinking process to help them find a solution. Each individual design team is at a different stage of their design thinking process at the moment. The students are excited about their products and believe in what they are creating. Look out for their sustainable lunch boxes and packaging in a school bag near you! P18 PhotographyThis term in Art, Year 6 have been creating a Photography portfolio. Each week the students focus on developing a different skill. Using the class i-Pads, students work with a buddy to capture images that fit the weekly focus. Luckily, they were able to continue this unit during the last lockdown by using devices at home. Here a few of the skills we have been developing.
The Addams FamilyYou are now able to reserve tickets for the Addams Family Musical Production, held from Thursday 24th – Saturday the 26th of September 2020, in the Pinehurst Arena, by completing this form: Reservation Form for The Addams Family Musical Because the details of the covid levels and their restrictions for the next few weeks are yet to be clarified
by the Government, your payment for the tickets will be automatically added to your schools’ account in the last week of this term and the purchased tickets distributed to your child by their Homeroom/POD teachers. DramaIGCSE Drama students have been busy completing both their devised and scripted work. Year 11 students adapted to the online environment and created backgrounds on teams to set the scene of their scripted pieces. You can see the results of them here. IGCSE AS and A Performance PortfolioThe Year 11-13 music students are busy recording their solo and group performances for the next three weeks. The performance aspect of the course is weighted anywhere between 30-50%, depending on the year level. It is a pleasure to observe their technical and musicianship skills develop over the year, despite all of the challenges 2020 has presented, and with a dash of adrenaline the outcome is often breath-taking. Click here to view Hunter Su and William Lin (Year 11) performing a short piano duet piece. JC Formal Music Concert goes digitalDue to the covid restrictions on event gatherings currently in place for the Auckland region, the JC Formal Music Concert originally scheduled to be held next week, has now been revamped into a digital submission audition event. Our talented Year 7 and 8 students can video their solo, duet or group performances and submit the video in a process detailed in the student notices by Friday the 25th of September. A collated concert video programme will be released next term. If you have any questions or queries please contact marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz The Arts ScarfThe Arts Council have worked tirelessly for the past 2 years, to design and create the criteria for the Pinehurst Arts Scarf. The intent is to recognise the talented Arts students who continually and consistently contribute to at least one music, drama, dance or art co-curricular group at Pinehurst School, for at least 3 years, and have represented the school in public performance events. Students who have met this criteria will be contacted and their scarf will be presented at the next Assembly. Inspired by the design of the Sports Scarf, the Arts Scarf’s colours are the same but reversed and it has the additional logo at the bottom. I Spy in the School....I Spy in the College...Year 9 studying hard and preparing for their Mock Checkpoint Examinations. I Spy in the Primary... Junior primary children having fun in the playground! I Spy in the Primary... Year 3 & 4 Syndicate Sports! I Spy in the Primary...Year 3 Coding! I Spy in the Primary...some great writing going on in Year 2! I Spy in the Primary...Maths in New Entrants and Year 1! I Spy in the College...Year 7 boys showing of their mufti! Ladies LunchWe have a new date for the Ladies Lunch - Friday 23rd October! There will be spot prizes and a raffle, a drink on arrival, a lovely lunch, splendid views across the water and the company of lovely ladies! This is a great opportunity to get a group of friends together and enjoy the day. |