No images? Click here 3 September 2021Pinehurst School NewsletterOpening Words from the Executive Principal...Kia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 I’m indulging myself while I write this week’s newsletter. One of my first albums – vinyl, naturally, which immediately gives away my age – was Paul Young’s The Secret of Association. For the uninitiated, Paul Young was an early 80s pop star / heartthrob (my sister was smitten, and had his posters all over her wall), with a great soul voice, and I particularly liked a song of his called “Everything Must Change”. It spoke to me when I was 14: deeply stubborn and romantic at the same time, I heard myself in its anguished lyrics. So I’m playing the album now, revisiting my teenage self, remembering sitting next to the record player in my grandparents’ house one cold Christmas afternoon in 1985, huge wired headphones over my ears, deaf to the family bustle around me. I may not have changed very much! We all like revisiting our younger selves from time to time. We change, we grow, and our experiences shape our future selves, connecting who we have become with who we once were. Sometimes our impulse to make the connection is casually dismissed as “nostalgia”, and it’s certainly true that we all put on our rose-tinted spectacles from time to time. But this impulse is also essential to our identity, and it strikes me that maintaining our connection to our younger selves is an important part of being a parent. My children have both left school but, as I talked with them last night, stand-up comedians on Netflix in the background, they seemed younger to me. Like most young people, they are at the stage where they are striking out, finding an uncertain balance between their identities as children, part of the family home, and young adults with a pathway yet to fully emerge. The last 18 months have been hard for this age group, I think, the current lockdown even harder than last year, abbreviating their lives for a second year. They’re connected to the rest of the world, in turns passionate and angry about what they see happening, but they also lack the breadth of experiences that we, their parents can call upon. So, if you’re the parent of a teenager, and they’re currently doing things (or not doing things!) that are causing you to shake your head in bemused wonder, put on an old record and picture yourself with bad hair (or hair of any description if you’ve become follically-challenged in the intervening years) and questionable clothes, retreating into your own space as a way of understanding your place in the world. Then give your confused teenager a big hug. That’s what I did last night. Forgive me my indulgence! We are probably about half way through the current lockdown, and I remember feeling the same way at this stage when we last had such a long time at home. I’m conscious that we are all having different experiences of lockdown. Parents of younger children will, I’m sure, be feeling the need for some space and release; parents of senior students will be worrying about the future, managing their children’s nervousness alongside their own. And I’m full of admiration for the way all of our parents are supporting their children. So just to recap a few bits of information:
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter. It was a truly wacky Wednesday, as you can see, and I’d like to thank all of the teachers, children and parents who made it such fun. Thank you as well for all the entries in our first competition, and look out for the next one next week! Thank you to all the teachers and parents who are continuing to support our tamariki in their online programmes. Keep supporting each other and have a lovely weekend. There will hopefully be some sun! 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, Without the interactions and the hustle and bustle of a normal school week it is becoming somewhat of a challenge to write for the newsletter. More often than not, I write about the events of the week that have just passed and am able to talk about student-led activities and opportunities that our students have engaged in. This week we have managed one event outside of our normal classroom schedule which was our transition to university afternoon for our Year 13 students, and those from Year 12 who are looking to begin their university studies early. Mrs Griffiths managed to get some of our graduate students from last year to present via Teams. This is always a valuable experience for our students that are about to leave us, as they get a good insight into some of the challenges, rewards, and pitfalls of that first step into university life. In my Year 9 classes this week we took a break from continuing with content and instead each student took a turn to give us a glance into their lockdown life. We met a lot of pets, a few younger siblings, heard tales of first vaccinations, and generally heard about what students have been up to outside of their lesson time; a little bit of exercise, not much cooking, and some progress in art and music skills. I brought my 10-week-old daughter along to one of the classes, that lasted about 30 seconds as she made it very clear that she did not want to be there and I had to turn my microphone off quickly to save the students from the noise. One positive of the lockdown experience is that generally students have taken the opportunity to get out and walk or bike around their own neighbourhoods discovering parts that they did not know existed. Studies have shown that over the years the distance that young people explore and roam away from their home has reduced significantly. I know that throughout the past three weeks I have discovered new parts to my surrounding suburb and have enjoyed the friendliness of people as you pass them, socially distanced of course. I would hope that post lockdown our young people continue to explore their surrounding areas and enjoy the different opportunities that are nearby. I hope that today’s sunshine continues throughout the weekend and that people enjoy the chance to get out into their gardens. Nga mihi, Kieran Verryt, Principal of College Year 8 Social ScienceIn Year 8 Social Science we are learning about ecotourism and about Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbing Mt. Everest. The Auckland Museum website has an amazing online collection of photos about Sir Edmund Hillary’s life and we had a lot of fun recreating our favourites. By Blake By Lucas By Gloria By Liam By Tilly By Sophie Y13 Transition to Tertiary WorkshopOn Thursday afternoon we held our scheduled Transition to Tertiary Workshop, but as an online event. Six ex-students helped facilitate this workshop for the current Y13 students to help them prepare for life after Pinehurst: The current Y13 students valued the voices of experience as our alumni discussed how to settle into university, strategies for surviving the academic side, the differences to expect and, most importantly, what they wish they had known this time last year! Subject Selection and Career Coaching Resources for ParentsAs you help your son/daughter choose subjects for next year, inevitably the conversations will often lead into discussions about their life after Pinehurst. There are some good resources here which can help parents navigate this. https://www.cate.co.nz/parent-resources/ One of the resources is NCEA specific (Understanding NCEA and Subject Selection), however the second part of that document has some interesting thoughts on the Future of Work. Please remember too, Kaye Griffiths is available and it is easy to set up an meeting on Teams to chat. You just need to send her an email: kaye.griffiths@pinehurst.school.nz Also, on the Careers page on Schoolbox, there is a specific section on resources to assist High School students with school subject selection. https://schoolbox.pinehurst.school.nz/homepage/1678 Kia Ora, It is nice to see the sun towards the end of the week, even if it is largely through the window of my makeshift classroom/ office. The weather has been interesting to say the least and whilst we need some rain to replenish the lakes and reservoirs we weren’t planning on quite so much, especially in West Auckland. The storm had clearly made for a restless night for some but once we had shared our storm stories in class we were ready to go. We have been trying to inject some fun into lockdown learning, for a number of reasons. One of the challenges of online classes, especially with young children is to maintain high levels of engagement. As the weeks roll on this can get harder and as many of us are parents ourselves we are very mindful that you are supporting your children in your home based classrooms every day of the week as well as working yourselves and running a home. The Wednesday and Friday afternoon fun activities give students a break from online learning whilst still keeping them engaged in a meaningful way. Wacky Wednesday based on the Dr. Seuss story of the same name was probably the weirdest experience I have had for a while to be honest! I don’t particularly love dressing up and was scrambling around the house for something strange to wear. Others clearly have plenty of outfits and whacky clothes to choose from and you will see lots of photos of what we got up to in this newsletter. By all accounts everyone had enormous amounts of fun and we made lots of happy lockdown memories together. This afternoon there are some learning a new skill sessions, and a variety of instructions on how to do something new. Lockdown may not be ideal but it is giving us lots of opportunities that we may not otherwise have had. Today we say farewell and best wishes to Hannah Dobbins as she takes maternity leave. We all will miss her but we are excited to see her and her husband’s new baby and look forward to her being back again at some point next year. Have a fun afternoon and a great weekend. Ngā mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Learning online in P1All the children in P1 have taken to online learning with enthusiasm and excitement! As always, the photos of the amazing work produced at home, put a big smile on our faces! In Science we have been learning about forces. We found out that a push and a pull is a force. Daniel is answering the question ‘What makes it move?’ by testing different things in his house to find out if a push or pull force is needed to make them move. In Maths we have been describing positions and have been getting creative at home to show our learning. These students built a LEGO maze and have written directions for how to move around the maze. During our ‘Health’ lessons this term P1 has been learning all about healthy eating. They have had fun with practical activities during the lockdown, identifying healthy and non-healthy food items from Mrs Prances’ fridge and designing their own healthy lunch box. After learning briefly about the food pyramid and the five different categories of food groups, they listened to a fruit and vegetables story in which, the vegetable characters formed a club for carrots! The children’s task was then to design (and label) their very own vegetable character. Some of the students went one stage further than the design stage! They actually built their own vegetable characters. We have also written some wonderful Spring acrostic poems during Topic on a Friday. Super work as always, P1! Wacky and wonderful things in P5 this week!All systems go in P11!The students of P11 have made the move to the online classroom and have been doing tremendously. Although we may not have all our belongings from school, we still have our can-do attitude! The students have been participating in a range of online learning activities and have really shown their creativity in doing so. We have been learning about various climates around the world and the different homes that provide shelters in each climate. One case study we delved into was the Polar climate and looked in detail at using igloos as a form of shelter. We researched how igloos are built, how the inside stays warm and we even made our own from different materials. Amy's Igloo made from clay, paper plate and cotton. Oskar's Igloo made from paper, cotton featuring little penguins! During our usual assembly time, the students of P11 took the opportunity to discuss gratitude and how we can show this. Despite being in lockdown and missing our friends at school, we were able to think about the things that we are lucky to have. We discussed what we are thankful for and the ways we can display this thankfulness. Below are just a few of the student responses that are guaranteed to fill your heart.
On Wednesday, the primary students enjoyed a Wacky Wednesday! Things got pretty wacky in P11! In the morning, we did some wacky writing challenges. Read below for some wonderful wackiness! Wacky Wednesday Wacky Wednesday is just so wacky! With our wonderful teacher Ms Waw and A wonderful wacky class, Wacky writing is very exciting. A wacky alliteration poem by Lavender Wei
The Ginger Cat Once there was a ginger cat It wore a stripy red and black hat It was sitting on a fluffy mat Then it saw a spooky black bat But the bat couldn't chase it because it was fat. A wacky rhyming poem by Charlotte.
Ms Shaw is so proud of the students of P11 for all their hard work and resilience. We are all looking forward to when we can return to the classroom to learn and play with one another once again. Archie's Igloo made on Minecraft. Archie added a fire to keep people warm, a research station and a sleeping bag! Lockdown Learning in P20We like to collaborate and have fun with our learning in P20. The students have been spending quite a bit of time working with others in small breakout rooms where they are able to have lots of social interaction with their classmates. Talking about their learning is important as it helps to consolidate their understanding. The students are also very helpful in solving their classmates IT issues! Our Art topic this term was photography. It’s been very easy for the students to carry on their photography portfolios at home. Each week they learn about a different aspect of photography. Last week the focus was on capturing colour and this week they were learning the rules for taking great landscape photos. You might be able to see the rule of thirds being applied in our photos. Primary SpanishThe Year 2 students have been learning to talk about the weather in Spanish and we have played songs and games to help us learn. Using the Spanish words for ‘its hot’/’its cold’ (hace calor/hace frío) we played the classic game hot or cold to look for an object in the classroom. We have also made comecocos/chatterboxes which we used to ask and answer questions about the weather. Since learning online, we have been playing online games like hangman, kahoots, songs as well as practicing our reading skills.
Year 6 this term are learning to say what sport or hobbies they like to do. It is great hearing from the students what activities they have been getting up to during lockdown in Spanish. When we were back at school we had fun playing Simon says, doing the different actions for sports. We also played a fun whole class game of memory. Students are learning how to use verbs like ‘jugar’/’hacer’ when talking about sports and ‘tocar’ when talking about playing music. Year 4 are learning to talk about food in Spanish. They are doing so well explaining at the start of class what they had for breakfast/lunch. Back at school we had fun playing a game of memory and bingo. We are now learning how to ask other people what they like to eat and drink in Spanish. Additional Language LearningALL in lockdown definitely comes with its challenges – from navigating around keyboards to some of the older students shyly hiding behind their icons and muted mics. This week some of the younger groups have had fun racing around their houses finding wacky things to wear, while the rest of us tried to guess the room they had got it from. Some of the other younger groups have been looking at staying in tense when writing. While some others have been using possessives correctly. A few of the older groups have been looking at adverbs and using these correctly in a sentence. Then others have been identifying and using the present perfect tense correctly. What has P7 been doing online?We learnt that Wacky Wednesday is an alliteration, so we wrote alliterations for the other days of the week One of the highlights was the hut building, P7 were very lucky to have such understanding parents as most of the students built huts around the house! It was so much fun, even Mrs Vien built a hut when she was at P7 for Mandarin! The students drew wacky art with Mrs Flemingcake which was a lot of fun. We love online learning! Wacky Wednesday in P8P9's Wacky WednesdayWacky Wednesday with P10Ms McIntosh couldn’t make Wacky Wednesday so a reliever called Mr Wcintosh had to cover for her! P15's Wacky WednesdayLockdown Scavenger HuntOur Pets in Lockdown! Lockdown Activities..... Year 7 Music classes travel through HistoryThe Year 7s were tasked to explore the music instruments, composers and general life of the Antiquities, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century music over the last couple of weeks. This week we were treated to the fantastic group presentations where the students presented their findings to the class. Music History is a topic which is examined at IGCSE Music level and our programme is designed to ensure that the students gradually finetune their music history skills as they lead up to Year 10. JC Music Concert featuring Nicholas on the GuitarA number of very talented year 7 and year 8 students auditioned and were selected to perform in the annual Junior College Music Concert, which was to be held in on the day we went into a lockdown. Those students will be featured in the newsletter over the next few weeks, to celebrate their talent and effort. Today’s feature is Nicholas who is performing Foggy Dew By Katya Skandera on the Classical Guitar. Colouring CompetitionA selection of entries are shown below Our Winners are:Year 0-3: Emmie Feng Year 7-9: Percy Kuang Year 4-6: Felisha Zhao Year 10-13: Skye Nisbet PhotolifePhotolife have extended their free photo deliveries to school offer until the 19th September 2021. If you have not yet received your Keycode to enable you to order your child's photos online then please contact dawn.edmonds@pinehurst.school.nz Sibling Photos will not be accessible using these Keycodes, more information will be advised on these shortly. Orders will be processed once we reach Level 3.
Pinehurst School Leavers MementoAs Pinehurst celebrates 30 years of memories and milestones, we are celebrating by launching a new range of NZ made jewellery that has been exclusively designed and handcrafted for Pinehurst by Meghan Balmer from 58 Facets Limited. Each item is made in NZ of sterling silver with a handcrafted pinecone pendant to represent our school and the seeds that come from ‘our Pinehurst’ – which is the name for a grove of pine trees. The necklace includes a 50cm cable chain and a solid pinecone pendant – both in sterling silver. A silver sterling pinecone lapel pin is also available, which arrived the week before lockdown. This has yet to be photographed but we will get this image to you as soon as we can. We are offering pre-orders for these items to our School Leavers as an initial launch to this exclusive range.
If you are interested in putting through an order, or have any queries, please contact sylvia.lum@pinehurst.school.nz |