News and events for the week ending 15th November 2019 Friday 15th November 2019 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 I’ve started to feel a little sorry for Jon Horne, our Business Manager. We are closer to the finish line with our Library, just days away now, we have even stocked the shelves in the Junior Library, and the whole thing looks fabulous. I’ve been bombarding Jon with extra questions about what’s left to do, and making generally unreasonable requests about, well, just about everything. He’s been very patient with me, and the end result is a facility that our students and parents will love. Primary classes will be able to re-start their Library lessons by Tuesday next week, we hope. We’ve finalised the design for the fancy and funky new Junior Primary playground, which should be completed over the coming holidays. We’ve also started the consent process for College 5, which will contain both classrooms and an auditorium / performance space. There’s a lot of development going on. There’s a great deal of curriculum planning and timetabling going on at the moment. We have increased our staffing in College a little next year, allowing us to run extra classes in Year 7-9 Science and enabling us to reduce some of our senior class sizes. The average class size in Years 7-9 is now around 19; in Years 10 and 11 it’s about 16; and in Years 12 and 13 it’s around 12. These are, in our view, the perfect class sizes for learning, and I’m delighted that we’ve managed to do this at the same time as increasing the overall roll a little. In Primary, our class sizes remain at 22 or 23 in each class: again, this is an excellent class size for learning. I’ll talk more about curriculum developments early next year, but I’m excited by some of the work our teachers are doing at the moment. It’s the time of year when we get ready to say goodbye to a few staff and hello to a few more. I know that some of you would like to be able to contact some of our departing staff and wish them well, so I thought I’d give you a few weeks to do so. At the end of this term, Ms Fisher, who currently teaches Year 6 and has led the development of our technology education in Primary, is leaving us to go to St Kentigern’s School, where she will be teaching Year 7 and 8 English, drawing on her excellent literacy skills. Mr Rossin and Mr Monk will be leaving the Science department: Mr Rossin will be a Dean at Rutherford College, closer to his home, and Mr Monk has yet to decide exactly where his path next lies. They’ve both made real contributions to the school, and Mr Rossin has also made a real mark as the teacher in charge of our Duke of Edinburgh programme. We also say goodbye to four long-serving staff: Suzy Aston is retiring from full-time teaching after 24 years as a brilliant teacher of many of our youngest children; Julie Koopen, our wonderful Head of College Science and Examinations Officer, is leaving teaching to explore new possibilities after 13 outstanding years; Sue McPherson, our Year 7 Dean, is retiring from teaching after 20 years committed service in a range of roles; and Viv O’Connell, who was the second College teacher the school employed 24 years ago, is also retiring from full-time teaching. We will miss them all, and wish them the very best of luck in their futures. I am sure they will all welcome any messages of goodwill from parents and students. We have, as you would expect, made a number of outstanding appointments to replace our departing teachers, and I will introduce them to you over the coming weeks. You may have noticed that we have introduced a new feature to our newsletter: each week, we feature one of our staff and offer a little information about them. We’ve decided to do this because I talk a great deal about how we build relationships with students and parents, and about how it’s our relationships that make our school special. So it’s a good idea for you to know a bit more about us as well. We’ll keep doing this until we’ve featured everyone in the school, which means you can expect us to carry on with it for about four years! You may be aware that I was overseas for ten days, returning at the end of last week. I was in Korea with Patrick Ryoo, our Director of International Students. It was the first time we had visited Korea for a few years: we spent some time in Seoul and Busan, talking to some parents of current students about how their children are getting on at school and explaining our curriculum; and we also met some parents of prospective students. We have around 70 international students in school – around 8% of our school population – which is a number that we are happy with. Our international students bring a diversity of experiences to the school, which enriches our school community. We’re not looking to increase the number of international students at school, I should point out, but we do want to make sure that anyone who comes to us understands us well as a school, and will benefit from a Pinehurst education. It was a good trip, and I’m glad to be back in sunny/wet/windy/warm (delete as appropriate) Auckland. On mentioning time away from school: can I just remind everyone that students are not allowed to take more than two weeks holiday in any year, and that I am not permitted to authorise any more than this. Please try to limit holidays to the term breaks. And finally: today is the last day of IGCSE, AS and A Level exams. The Year 9 students also finish their exams today, Year 10 have had theirs this week, and Year 7 and 8 completed theirs last week. Years 4, 5 and 6 have also completed their assessments. I’m so proud of the way all of the students have studied hard and conducted themselves maturely in these exams. I know many schools are moving away from formal assessments, including some of our neighbours, but we know that gentle, consistent, low-pressure but formal assessments throughout a young person’s school life are excellent preparation for the bigger tests to come. So well done to all of the students, and well done too to all of the parents who have evidently managed their children’s peaks and troughs so well. Have a lovely weekend, enjoy the school sports that are still continuing, and bask in the promised sunshine. WEEK 6 Monday 18 November
Tuesday 19 November
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Friday 22 November
WEEK 7 Monday 25 November
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Thursday 28 November
如需阅读校长的中文留言和重要事件日期,请点击此处 Angela Smith, College TeacherAngela started her teaching career in Rotorua at Western Heights High School after graduating from Waikato University with a double major in English and Sociology. After earning her teaching registration and with her new husband, left New Zealand for England for the next several years. During this time, she was a relief teacher for a few months before getting a permanent job teaching at a convent high school in North East London right in the middle of the Arsenal and Tottenham football clubs. This was a great opportunity for her to travel extensively in the long weekends and holidays. Her first daughter Mackenzie was born in England but the family returned not long after when Madison was born and a few years later Kelly came along. After taking several years off to raise her daughters, she went back to teaching English at Long Bay College for a few years before coming to Pinehurst in 2011. She has been a homeroom teacher and taught a range of subjects: Science, History, General Studies, Eudemology and English. She is currently in charge of English in Years 7-9 and is the SENCO for Years 7-13 but next year is moving into a pastoral Dean’s role in the College for Year 7-8 students. She spends her spare time being a taxi driver to her girls’ various sports and activities and in her spare time is a fire fighter at the Silverdale Volunteer Fire Brigade. Kia Ora, I have just returned from a visit to the movies with Year 6 which was what they chose to do for their graduation event. It was a lovely evening and a great way to celebrate the end of their Primary years. It is always a pleasure to take our students to events such as this as they represent the school beautifully, having fun and enjoying each other’s company. The end of the year is bittersweet, a great opportunity to reflect on the learning that has taken place but it will be sad to farewell our Year 6 students, many of whom we have known as siblings even before they started school at 5 years old. There are lots of events still to come, the famous Teddy Bears Picnic takes place next week, a real highlight of the year for all of us and Year 5 and 6 will enjoy a disco and games on Friday night. Last week we held our Year 1-2 and Year 3-4 athletics events at Pinehurst and this week Year 5-6 went to the Millennium stadium to compete. Whilst each event has a different flavour, from giving everything a go to full on competition, it was really impressive to watch the levels of determination and persistence from even our youngest people. 5 year olds running in straight lines is actually an achievement in itself so we were all very impressed. Transition is a key theme throughout the year and especially at this time as we prepare to handover to next year’s teachers. One of the benefits of being in a Year 1-13 school is that some of the most important transitions such as Primary to College can be focused and ongoing with next year’s teachers all on the same site over an extended period of time. Next week we will also hold a meeting for parents of Year 3 students going into Year 4 in 2020. This is an important time, as students begin to mature, take more responsibility for themselves and develop resilience in their learning. The more prepared we are for these important times the easier it will be for our students. Please keep an eye on the school calendar for the events coming up over the next few weeks. 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. Primary AthleticsOver the past week, our Primary students have all taken part in an Athletics event, putting into practice the Athletics skills they have been learning this term. Last Friday, our Year 1 & 2 students had a ‘Athletics Taster’ morning, where they moved around 8 different Athletics activities, practicing fundamental Athletics skills with their classmates. Assisted by Year 5 students, everyone had a great morning out on the field at Pinehurst in the spring sunshine. After morning tea, our Year 3 & 4 students came out and completed 4 field events (High Jump/Long Jump/Discus & Shotput), with the top jumps & throws being measured to help us find our Athletics champions for these year levels. The Year 3 & 4 students returned to the field again after lunch, where they took part in sprints & relays, finishing the day with exciting sprint finals to find our fastest runners for Year 3 & 4. Thank you to both our Year 5 & 6 students who helped with these events last Friday. Our Year 5 & 6 students travelled to the AUT Millennium Athletics Stadium on Wednesday. There were some outstanding Athletics skills on display, with amazing track and field results. Congratulations to all students who took part, with a special mention to our medal winners (below) and to Kauri who were the winning house for this year for Athletics. Thank you to all the teachers involved in both Athletics Days and to our wonderful group of parents and Year 8 students who helped at Millennium this week. For additional photos, please see the Pinehurst Sports page on Facebook here. NH Gymnastics Zone DayIn Week 4, forty five primary students competed in the annual North Harbour Gymnastics Zone Day. Over the two days of competition and with nearly four hundred students competing, Pinehurst was awarded with the Overall School prize of third place! What’s more for each year group competed, Pinehurst had at least one team with a podium finish. An achievement we are all very proud of! In the table below is a list of our individual podium finishes. A number of students came back with an overall placement, which meant they had consistently scored high across all apparatus. Our team had been working tirelessly throughout Term 3 at lunch time, practising their routines and at home, building their strengths and flexibility. We also managed two holiday sessions with the pro-coaches at North Harbour Gymnastics. It was very rewarding for the coaches to see how far the students had come. For example, at the beginning of the season only a handful of students could do a bridge and most struggled to do two or more press-ups. Now, every student is able to do a bridge and most do ten or more press-ups and can do them slowly! Gymnasts your dedication and determination to achieve your goals is inspiring! Thank you to all the parents who supported us on the day of the competitions and parents who allowed the gymnasts to practice their routines in your lounge! A special thank you to the eight College student coaches who gave up their lunch time each week for most of this year to help us train and practice. Without you we would not be able to practice at school. Primary SpanishYear 4 have been enjoying practising their numbers from 0-20, with activities such as ‘Uno más, uno menos’ (shake 3 dice, add up the total, then give the number that comes 1 before and 1 after that total) and ‘Cinco en Raya’ (try to outwit your partner by claiming 5 number squares in a row, while your partner tries to block you out). Next, we will be learning weather expressions. Year 6 have been learning about animals – pets, zoo and wild animals. We have covered descriptions, their names and what noises they make. We have listened to animal songs and even made up our own verses. We have also done a writing passage describing our actual or imaginary pet. Next, we will learn about fruits and vegetables and buying food at a market. All the classes will finish the year with some Navidad (Christmas) activities. Primary ScienceYear 3 'Rush to brush' Year 3 have been investigating toothpaste as part of our unit on ‘Healthy Eating’. We found out about the functions of toothpaste and how it assists in preventing cavities. Lots of fun while we smelt, tasted, and squeezed a variety of toothpastes to determine whether they would appeal. Next, we tested the toothpastes in a scratch test. We brushed and timed to compare how effective the toothpaste would be at removing plaque. The objective of conducting a fair test where only one variable was changed was understood by all. As with most science testing collecting more data would be needed before we could agree on the best toothpaste. Year 3 are now keen to ‘Rush to brush’! Year 6 Rubber Band Potential Energy Investigation What were the objectives during our rubber band firing investigation? Lots of fun and learning about potential and kinetic energy was the focus while flinging rubber bands across the courts. The key focus was in the investigation process and interpreting results. Below is a check list of our objectives: Science Inquiry Objectives:
Fairy Tales and Magic Beans in P6P6 are having an exciting term reading and participating in their all-time favourite Fairy Tale Stories. This week our class got to act like reporters working at ‘Fairy Tales Time’ newspaper, reporting on the true Wolf’s story from Little Red Riding Hood, although some of us are still not convinced that the Wolf is a goodie! To add to our fun, we have had a great time learning about plants this term. We first planted magic beans in a small sack, and curiously observed them grow roots, a stem and tiny leaves. This got even more exciting, when we transferred our little shoots and planted it in the soil. We are great at watering our bean plants and making sure they get enough sunlight throughout the day. We can’t wait for harvest time. Our young inquirers decided to go to the library and research further on plants, and the job for the different parts of the plants. Laughter is the Best Medicine in P14Year 4 are exploring humour and how it makes a positive impact on our lives. They say laughter is the best medicine, and for good reason. We have been learning that a sense of humour can help you build resilience, self-esteem, and critical thinking skills. When you can tell or understand a joke, you will be happier, more optimistic and show that you can handle change. We hope you enjoy our acrostic poems about humour... Happy humour makes us laugh. Unique humour helps us to heal. My mind needs humour. Our society needs humour. Unhappiness is no more. Reminds people to smile. - Homin Lee Humour is good for you. Unique sense of humour is the best kind! Makes a frown upside down. Our life needs humour. Use humour to make life fun! Reminding everyone to laugh. - Lena Chen P18 PoetryIn P18 we have been busy learning about poems and plays. Our anthology of poetry so far includes; Kennings, Shape, Acrostic and Alphabet poems. We would like to share some of our poems with you. By Lucas Garcia-Curtis Our teachers name is Mrs Clark She likes to think we are very smart She gave us a test We tried our very best Unfortunately she was not happy with our mark By Blake & Sue
Audition Starter Excitement Maker Singing Coacher Decision Chooser Set Builder Curtain Opener Prop User (A Show) Kennings Poem: By Tilly Waterwise Another boom crashing day, Enormous, fast, great and High incredible jumps, Kids Like multicolored Nemo's, Occasional people quivering, Rising super turning Unbelievable violet waves, X stream, yelling zooms. By Emilia Lotze Primary PEThis term we have focused on athletics and bat and ball games. During athletics we looked at the technique involved in all the throwing, running and jumping events which culminated in our athletics days which the students performed extremely well in. Within athletics the students were encouraged to challenge themselves and set goals they wanted to achieve which may of been to win certain events or beat their personal best, it taught them not only to strive for their goals but also to show resilience if they didn't achieve them. For the remainder of the term we will be looking at bat and ball games specifically softball and tennis to work on students hand eye coordination as well as their ability to strike a ball. Both these sports are important in developing a range of skills in our students to enable them to achieve more not only within sports but everyday life as well. As well as our normal PE schedule the New Entrants have EPIC Fit for the next couple of weeks to work and test each child's competency around their fundamental movement skills. So far they have worked on their balance, running and kicking skills with a number of students having stand out performances and earning prizes for their effort. I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy...Rainbow Readers working hard! I Spy...New Entrants learning to skip during their EPIC Fit programme! I Spy...Year 6 creating their products to sell at the upcoming PrEP Market Day! Kia Ora, Today was the final day of Cambridge examinations. I am sure this is a huge relief for all senior students and their families. Many of these students will now be looking forward to attending the Great Barrier leadership camp. For many students this will be the highlight of their school year. The camp provides an amazing opportunity to experience a wilderness tramp along with a wide range of water-based activities. On Wednesday evening we will be hosting our Valedictory Dinner for graduating Year 13 students and their families. This will be held at Markovina Vineyard. This is always a very special evening. For many of the students this is the point in the year when they finally realise they will no longer be attending school. A Level examination results are released by Cambridge at 7.00pm (NZ time) on Thursday 9th January and then IGCSE results at 7.00pm on 16th January. Students will be able to access their results on line. We will distribute passwords and access details following our Senior College prizegiving on 4th December. Any students who are unable to attend prizegiving will be emailed the details following the end of term. 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. Auditions for The Addams Family - Monday 18th NovemberOver the past week Year 7-13 2020 students and their parents should have received the information pack and links to the Audition material for The Addams Family, the Pinehurst College Musical held next year at the end of July. Monday 18th Nov
Monday 2nd Dec
If a student cannot make it to the audition day, for a valid reason, please let Ms Naumovska know: marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz. Auditions for the musical will be held in the Drama room on Monday, from 3.30-8pm. All audition forms need to be submitted on Schoolbox by Monday, by joining The Addams Family page or by emailing them to Ms Naumovska on marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz. Last Informal Music Concert of the Year – 26th of November in C2It has been a pleasure witnessing the incredible development of our musicians over this year and the Informal Concerts have continued to provide a low pressure environment for any student at Pinehurst, no matter their age and ability to showcase their performance skills. Our last Informal Concert will be held on Tuesday the 26th of November in C2. To register your child for this concert, please complete the following form. Golf Zone DayEarlier this week, four of our Year 7-8 students (Kalan, Kitty, Luna & Alan) attended the Golf Zone Day at Mahurangi Golf Course. Despite trying weather conditions, our students had fantastic results on the day – well done! Thank you to Mrs Augustin for supporting students at this event. GIRLS STABLEFORD: 3rd - Luna Cui, 24 points in 13 holes (1.85 points per hole) BOYS GROSS: 2nd - Alan Chen, 87 BOYS STABLEFORD: 2nd - Kalan Evans, 28 points Middle School Ethics OlympiadTwo teams of Year 7 & 8 students competed in the Middle School Ethics Olympiad in Western Springs this week. This is a relatively new event in New Zealand but has a long history in US universities under the name “Ethics Bowl”. The Ethics Olympiad involves students working closely in small groups to discuss ethical issues from multiple perspectives in a critical, yet respectful manner. This year’s Ethics Olympiad has seen more than 300 teams register in Australia and New Zealand at multi-school events hosted in state capitals. Our students were up against both private and state schools and colleges from across the greater Auckland area, most of which were in Year 9. They worked closely with their team to respond to ethical scenarios and listened to opposing views from other schools. Scenarios ranged from whether it is OK to exploit resources, or should parents be allowed to track their children, to when is it OK to lie, or end a relationship. Thinking critically and having the confidence to challenge others was a key part of the Olympiad. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They competed respectfully, voicing their views with conviction whilst having fun in the process. Team 1: Eloise Maclean, Jack Potier, Kohtaro Nozaki, Ava Tillick & Maisie Mendonca Third Place awarded to: Team 2: Tara Sabor, Kelly Liu, Goldie Moritz, Kevin Jeong & Natalie Raphael Differentiation in the ClassroomEvery student learns in a different way and teachers try to cover all the various approaches throughout the academic year. In Year 9 History, students were embarking upon a new unit titled “Marco Polo and China”. One student, Sharon Shen was so excited about learning and sharing her knowledge about China, she volunteered to design a seminar and teach the class. Presenting in front of a peer group is not always an easy task. However, Sharon rose to the occasion, spent a few weeks preparing her task and then delivering a fine PowerPoint presentation on the “Dynasties of Ancient China”. Her work included text, pictures and Ancient Chinese music. A highly commendable effort! In Year 10 History, a few students took it upon themselves to help their peers to revise by using collaborative pictorial representations and written notes. They used classroom technology by drawing on the 'Clevertouch', adding notes alongside the pictures and presenting their knowledge to the entire class in a fun and collaborative way. This class had been informed previously on the power of learning through ideograms, pictograms and how their brain processes specific details in patterns and colours resulting in pictorial imagery. Leaders in education have researched and demonstrated the power of such learning tools. To witness our students displaying their enthusiasm for such learning methods, applying them as individual learners and then to subsequently teach their peers using these same techniques, was very commendable and heart-warming to see. This form of differentiation in the classroom, empowers students to work independently, collaboratively when need be and enhances their individual love for learning. College Art DepartmentCongratulations to all the GCSE Art students who have successfully completed their course and exam work this year. The course work for students in the Art department is based on the theme of ‘guardianship’ and ‘sustainability’ of the planet or a ‘humanitarian issue’. Students investigate and research these and create a personal response. This year we had a variety of students looking at environmental issues such as the threat to the native Maui dolphins and pollution in the oceans. Students look at the influence of other artists’ within their work and can use any artist that is appropriate to their theme or ideas. Students look at three artists to get a diversity of additional inspiration and styles. They choose their own contemporary artist, one New Zealand Artist and one historical artist. We have had students using painting, digital drawing, collage, mixed media, installation, sculpture, textiles and digital photography. There are lots of different styles and approaches that students take in making their artwork. Through the development of their portfolio boards students arrive at a final piece, which is created in their chosen style and media. All together this work is 50% of their final grade and the exam is the other 50%. Our students have done well with their investigations and have had a journey through this process to arrive at the end with an improved and more mature knowledge in Art. Then after the exam is finished, which is completed during the third term, some will have the skills and understanding to continue onto AS Art and Design. Parent Thank You Morning TeaWe will be hosting a Parent Thank You Morning Tea on Wednesday 27 November at The Brigham Café, Whenuapai. This is to thank all parents who have helped out at the school through the year. If you would like to attend please RSVP to Judy Wallace by Wednesday 20 November. 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. Amelie WellsYear 8 student Amelie Wells recently travelled to Australia to compete in one of Australia’s largest competitions which had competitors from all over Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Amelie danced in both the jazz and tap categories and was pleased to be awarded a fourth place and a fifth place in large classes of over 30 competitors. Amelie enjoyed competing against other nationalities and making new friends over the week long competition. Surf Pool ChampsCongratulations to Cenedra and Paige Waddel who recently won ribbons at the Mairangi Bay Surf Pool Championships in the following individual events for the U19's:
Caro CupCaro Cup was held on 10 November where several Pinehurst students were selected to present the Auckland region. Caro Cup now runs as a Relay meet for junior swimmers aged 12 and under. Auckland took out the trophy this year but were made to work hard by the Waikato swimmers. The day is a tremendous success and the feedback from the swimmers, coaches and parents is hugely positive. Pictured: Riley Hurbuns (P17) represented the 11 year old Boys team. 2019 Harbour Basketball AwardsCongratulations and well done to Dong Ook (Jimmy) Kim who was awarded the Most Valuable Player for his efforts on the U15 Maroon Harbour Basketball representative team. Sports Performance and Prevention Pre-ConferenceFor the first time in 2020 there will be a Pre-Conference to support our everyday youth athletes, their parents and secondary schools. Bringing together an exceptional line up of expertise of sport and exercise physicians, sports physiotherapists and sports practitioners, from across New Zealand’s sporting spectrum. For more information go to our website or contact us directly. |