News and events for the week ending 3rd May 2019 Friday 3rd May 2019 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 Pinehurst is particularly beautiful in autumn. Russet, red and yellow leaves flutter and tumble to the ground, creating a carpet of colour to welcome our community back into school. I’m not sure the property team are quite so enthusiastic about this stage of the cycle – they spend a fair chunk of every day keeping the school tidy – but I’m sure you’ll agree that the school is a wonderful place to be when the mornings start to turn cold. Welcome back to everyone. If you are new to our community, a huge welcome to you. It was great to see so many parents at our põwhiri on Tuesday, and I’m delighted that the school continues its planned growth. There are 935 children at Pinehurst now: we are full in most years between 1 and 8, and there is competition for places at our main entry points in Years 1 and 7. Our new children have started brilliantly, and it’s lovely to see new happy faces around the school. To all of our returning students: it’s also lovely to see your smiling faces too! If you are in Years 10-13, the Mid Year Exams are approaching soon, so you will need to be doing some revision over the next few weeks: remember not to worry too much about them and to keep working steadily. A few updates: over the holidays, we built a new basketball facility between Junior College and College 1, to the rear of the Number One football pitch. It should be completed by the start of next week, and will be a great place for the growing number of basketball players in our school to shoot some hoops. We have also added a little additional concrete to the path by the After School Care facility, and will have an additional path along the side of the top field in place in the next two to three weeks. Around the grounds, we have done some additional gardening, continuing to maintain and develop the environment. You should’ve received the latest addition of Panorama magazine in the last few days. Please take the time to have a flick through. It celebrates some of the fantastic academic achievements of our students; and it offers a vibrant and colourful snapshot of the camps, tramps and other outdoor activities that are so much a part of Pinehurst. A huge thanks to Nicki Williams, our Communications and Marketing Manager who has designed and produced Panorama so well. We welcome Mrs Susan Boniface to our teaching staff. Mrs Boniface is a talented, experienced primary teacher who has settled into her New Entrants class brilliantly, and has very quickly got to know the new and existing students in the class. We also welcome Mr Ronald Feng to the school. His is a new position: database administrator, part of our developing ICT team to develop the way we use ICT to support both the school’s administration and its learning. Mr Feng joins us from Westlake Boys High School, where he has done superb work for several years. Other than that, the main thing to report is that the school feels very settled and focused. Year 4 students are at MOTAT as I write, enjoying a morning coding and doing some robotics; we had two netball players from the Northern Mystics in school on Wednesday, helping our students get ready for the season; the fields have been full of rippa, tackle rugby and football training; the hockey season started up on Wednesday; netball gets going next week; and every classroom I’ve been to has been full of really focused, interesting work. I know I haven’t even scratched the surface of different things happening around the school this week, but the rest of the newsletter should give you a fuller picture. It’s a busy place! A final comment from me: I wrote home to all College parents yesterday about the changes we’re going to make to study leave this year. Thank you to everyone who participated in the consultation – it was really useful for us as we shaped the programme. In summary: Year 11 students will be at school for an extra week (until the end of Week 3) before their study leave begins; Year 12 and 13 students will have a published tutorial programme which will not be compulsory, but we will encourage attendance. And this will be carefully structured to fit in with the examination timetable. I’ve reprinted the email we sent in the College section of the newsletter, so please scroll down for more details. We listened to students, parents and staff, and I think our solution will work for pretty much everyone. Have a lovely weekend. WEEK 2 Monday 6th May
Tuesday 7th May
Wednesday 8th May
Thursday 9th May
Friday 10th May
WEEK 3 Tuesday 14th May
Wednesday 15th May
Friday 17th May
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, What a wonderful first week of term it has been. The air was crisp but the days were sunny and we still spent plenty of time outdoors. The leaves are falling rapidly and providing endless amounts of fun with great piles being made at break times which are jumped on, rolled in and thrown in the air. I spent a very pleasant 10 minutes looking for ‘crunchy’ leaves with some Year 1’s who had very specific requirements for the types of leaves they needed. This week we welcomed 20 new entrants, 10 in each class and a new teacher, Susan Boniface. Susan is joined by Debbie Lay who is the second teacher now that the class has additional members, and Sue Aston joins Katie Lewandowski as the second teacher in P4. Both classes are really settled and enjoying their learning. This term will see the arrival of Harold and the Life Education van, as well as Science lessons from Vector, a visit from some animals at Auckland Zoo and Year 4 have enjoyed a morning at Motat already this week. Giving our students these experiences and access to outside providers really helps them to consolidate their learning as they explore their world. A full and exciting programme has been planned by all year groups and you can see what your child will be learning by looking at the termly overview on Seesaw. Today sees the Year 5 and 6 syndicate competing in the Inter-house Cross Country at Rosedale Park and 70 students will head to the slopes of SnowPlanet to further their skills on skis or boards. With 8 weeks to go we are looking forward to an action packed term of learning! Ngā mihi Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Year 1 & 2 Basketball Term 2We have had a one space become available in our Year 1/2 Pirates Basketball team. Please email Stacey McIntosh – Teacher in charge of basketball if your child is interested. As we only have one space available for the team it will be given to the first family to respond. staceymcintosh@pinehurst.school.nz Senior Primary Music ConcertThis year, the Pinehurst Annual Senior Primary Music Concert will be held on Tuesday the 28th of May from 3.30pm in the Arena. We would like to invite you to attend this hour long event to showcase the musically talented students of our Senior Primary School. To register your child for an audition, please click here to complete the enrolment form. Applications for this event will close on Friday 10 May. Auditions will be held in JC8 at lunchtimes during Week 3, Monday 13th – Thursday 16th May. If you have any questions or queries please contact Kate du Toit on Kate.DuToit@pinehurst.school.nz. Primary CouncilThe Primary School Council is made up of the following groups:
Term 1 saw the school council involved in organising and running a range of activities across the Primary School. It was an action-packed term with the following promotions and activities taking place: Tabloid Sports, Bubbles Day, Peer Mediator Training, Junior Lunchtime Soccer league, Netball Fun Day, Yummy Apple Sticker Promotion, Wheels Week, Junior Class Buddies, Sports Café, Peer Mediator lunchtime duty. This year we have changed the way we run these events, with all members of the school council responsible for one area of an activity. When we held the popular Bubble Day we divided up the event into the following sections:
At the end of Term 1 we surveyed the School Council to gather feedback on how they felt about being part of the council, which activities they enjoyed being involved in, and how we could make it even better. Here are some of their responses: “You can help younger years in Pinehurst, and just helping the school is really enjoyable.” - Chelsea Xu “I like being in groups with other people.” Tilly Wells “We can help people and get to know more people.” Jenny Ren Here are some ideas they came up with for future events:
In Term 2 we have two exciting events coming up as well as continuing to collect our Yummy Apple Stickers. The School Council is keen to hear from any student who has an idea for a school wide event we could organise – just talk to your class representative. Year 5-6 NetballThe Year 5/6 Pinehurst Team attended the Junior Pre-Season Tournament on Sunday 28th April at Netball North Harbour. This team had never played together before. They worked really hard, making sure their passes were delivered to each other and creating triangles around the passer. They surpassed expectations and displayed some amazing netball which gave them 3 wins in a row. Unfortunately their 4th game was defaulted by the opposition and they had a long wait to go through to the finals. They were up against Kristin in the final and played well but unfortunately lost the game. Well done girls for making the finals. Thank you to all the parents who were cheering and supporting the girls, to Kelly Clark for helping with the team and injuries, Victoria Clark for scoring and Paige Bell for doing an excellent job of umpiring all the games. Questa GameThe Year 4 students are undertaking a Citizen Science project. Citizen Science is where the general public gather data for scientists to use. There is a range of ways to do this. The students are recording via photograph examples of the biodiversity in their environment. This is via a game called Questa Game where they compete against other teams. This information is then passed on to scientists who are identifying and mapping the biodiversity around the world. So far they have been uploading photographs of specimens. The next step for the students is to now research and try to identify their specimens before they upload them to the site. This will give the students bonus points. The points awarded vary according to the species and the likelihood of spotting them. We had some very keen students (and a teacher) who uploaded items during the holidays. Currently P13, the Kiwi Rangers, are in third place in the current schools quest. We are aiming to get to first place. All about Animals in P5P5 have dived straight into their new topic ‘Wonder Zoo’ this term with enthusiasm and excitement. The topic focuses on animals from around the world and animals that are local to us with a strong emphasis on conservation. This week we have focused on animals that are native to New Zealand. The students have used researching skills to find out information and plot where the native animals live around the country. In the pictures you can see the children researching where the animals are found before finding where in New Zealand the places are located on a map. Impressive map skills P5! The topic of animals links nicely with our writing this term too, Antarctic Adventures! We have spent this week researching Antarctica for facts to help us write a report. We started our enquiry by thinking of some questions we wanted to find the answers to. Here are a few of those questions the students would like to find answers to: How many different types of animals live there? - Iona. How tall is the tallest iceberg? - Lexi. How cold is it in Antarctica? - Aria. How do animals live in the cold? - Amelia. How big is Antarctica? - Austin. P7 DrawingsYear 2 students in P7 are learning how to draw by observation. We have started Term 2 with observational drawings using pencil. We had to look closely at what we were drawing and try to include details. To begin with, we looked at overall shapes to help us plan our drawing. We used shading to show light and dark. We used our finger to blend the shading. What do you think of our teddy bears? Poetry in P16In P16 we have been using our brand new Acer laptops to write our 'Remember' poems about our holidays. We have been working on writing WOW sentences that create a picture in our mind when we read them. Enjoy reading our poems! The Inquiry ProcessIn P19 we are investigating “the cost of our stuff” using the inquiry process. This is a fluid process of questioning, researching, problem solving and reflection. We are beginning with questioning the origins of the ‘things’ we use every day. For one of our first activities we looked at a t-shirt. How did this T-shirt get to the shop it was bought from? Where was the T-shirt made and by who? What is the fabric and where did it come from? How was it made? Was the entire process sustainable? Then, through these questions we started to investigate and created a K W L chart (What I Know, Want to know and what I Learned) to record some of our findings. This is the first out of many different avenues we will be exploring in to the sustainability behind the things that we own and what we can do to help ourselves, others and our planet. I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy....Year 1 Cross Country training! I Spy …. Rainbow Readers demonstrating their understanding of the story! I Spy....Pinehurst looking beautiful on a sunny Autumn day! I Spy...reading and writing in P4! I Spy....Year 5 & 6 enjoying their P.E lesson in the sunshine! Kia Ora, Welcome back to the start of a new term. Yesterday the students and staff who went to Europe returned to school. During the school break 3 new basketball hoops have been installed. Basketball is a growing sport at our school with increasing participation in competitive Basketball teams and students playing during breaks and lunchtimes. As usual this term will be a busy 9 weeks. The first significant event was today's cross country. It is always a pleasure to experience the enthusiasm and energy of students from all areas of our school. Well done to everyone who took part and gave it their best effort. The Winter sports programme has already started. Well done to everyone who has committed to a sports team and good luck to all the students who will be representing our school in Badminton, Basketball, Hockey, Lacrosse, Netball, Soccer and Table Tennis. This will be a very busy period for everyone involved in this year’s school production. Half way through this term (27th May) we begin our mid-year examination session for Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 students. Now that all students know their examination schedule I would encourage everyone to now plan a 4 week study/revision programme. One of the final events of the term is Pinehurst School Ball. This year we have a large number of students involved with it’s organisation and planning. The school ball takes place at the Crowne Plaza hotel on 22nd June. Students in Year 11-13 should receive their invites next week. Though this is the first newsletter of the term I have no doubt that the time will race along and we’ll soon be preparing for mid Winter school break. I encourage all students to make full use of this term to study hard and involve yourself in activities and leadership opportunities. Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College Study Leave and Holiday ProgrammeThank you to everyone for your responses to the survey we sent out in the last week of term about study leave and about potential holiday programmes. The consultation was an important part of the process, and we had well over 300 responses from students, parents and staff. In broad terms, the large majority of students and staff, and around two-thirds of parents felt it was important that we continued to encourage students’ ability to manage their own learning. In other words, removing study leave completely, and making attendance at school compulsory was a step too far, especially for the Year 12 and 13 students. There were also some strong feelings from parents about a paid, extensive holiday programme: there were some questions about its usefulness and purpose as well. Year 11 students Study leave will begin for Year 11 students at the end of the third week of term, and there will be a full timetable until the end of the third week. This is a week later than we have started study leave in the past. When students have an exam in the first three weeks, they will be entitled to study leave for the morning before an afternoon exam or the whole day before a morning exam. When an exam is finished, students will return to their classes. During this period the classes will focus on helping and preparing the students for their IGCSE examinations. After study leave begins, there will be a range of tutorials arranged by individual teachers with their students. During the September/October holidays, there will be a number of tutorials run by teachers for subjects which take place early in the exam schedule. Many of these will focus on the subjects scheduled towards the beginning of the examination period. There will be no charge for these. These tutorials are not compulsory, though we would hope that students make effective use of them. Year 12 and 13 students Study leave will begin at the start of Term 4, as has previously been the case, but we will also run a published tutorial programme for all students. This programme will involve sessions in school that are run by teachers. In some cases, these will be students’ class teachers, and in others, they will be other teachers of the subjects. All students who take that subject will be able to come to all sessions that are available. Attendance will not be compulsory, but we will encourage students to come in, and may talk with parents directly if we feel that individual students would particularly benefit from the tutorial sessions. The tutorial sessions will be timetabled to be useful for exams that are about to take place. For example, we might run a Physics Practical the day before the Physics Practical exam, or a Maths session the morning before a Maths exam. The sessions will all be revision sessions: they will not be replacing the taught programme, which will be completed by the end of Term 3, as is always the case. Individual teachers will continue to run tutorial sessions. Teachers will also always be available in their classrooms during the two regular weekly timetabled double periods. This is a time when students can maintain regular contact with their teacher either by coming in to school or via email. The published tutorial programme will begin during the September/October holidays, as the exams also start during the holidays. There will be no charge for these. We will write to all parents and students with the full details of the programme towards the end of Term 3. Europe Trip 2019The Easter holidays were an action-packed memorable experience for 23 students and 3 staff who traveled to Rome, London, Ypres and Paris. This was the first time that Pinehurst have sent a cultural tour to Europe and although exhausting, was very much enjoyed by everyone. In Rome, everyone had a lot of fun at a pasta cooking class, devoured delicious gelato and navigating through the ancient, very narrow cobbled Roman roads. Definite highlights of the whole trip was seeing the Colosseum and Roman Forum, Pantheon and the Piazza Navona. London saw the hottest Easter in 75 years, so the group were able to spend a lot of time walking the London streets and parks. They got up close and personal with the climate change protesters, numerous police officers and the very energetic buskers on the Tubes. Some of the highlights were touring the Tower of London, Camden Markets, Natural History Museum, the Tate Modern Gallery, the London Eye and Parliament Buildings and nipping up to Stratford-Upon-Avon for a day. The final night’s highlight was seeing The Lion King at the famous Lyceum Theatre. The group were lucky enough to experience ANZAC Day in Ypres. This was extremely moving and quite powerful for both the staff and students as it really hit home just how many lives were lost, how terrible the conditions were and how much of an impact the New Zealand soldiers had in World War One. Everyone was up early to attend a dawn service at Polygon Wood and were honoured to be at the unveiling of a pou maumahara, (an 8 metre Maori carving) in the Passchendaele Memorial Park to commemorate the Maori Battalion and other New Zealand soldiers killed in WW1. Jemma Goeldner gave a thoughtful and moving speech (see video). Attending The Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate was an apt way to end such a memorable, unforgettable day. Paris was the last stop for the group, where they fought the crowds to see the Mona Lisa and braved the cold winds on a Seine River Cruise to see the heart-breaking damage to the Notre Dame Cathedral. A hardy few climbed the Eiffel Tower in the rain and hail, several ate escargot and many shopped till they dropped down Avenue des Champs-Élysées before climbing the Arc de Triomphe. This was the experience of a life-time and the students would like to express their thanks to Mrs Smith, Mr O’Connell and Mrs Cannan for leading the group. Northern Mystic Players Join in Pinehurst Netball Training SessionOn Wednesday our Year 7-8 Netball teams had a surprise visit from two Northern Mystic players, Erena Mikaere and Emma Iversen, who joined in their early morning training session. Triumph for Siblings in GolfYeonsoo and Jaewoo Son recently played at the Top of the Harbour Tournament, a 1-day/18 holes tournament held at Waipu Golf Club. Yeonsoo placed first in the girls division and Jaewoo placed 2nd in division 1 boys. Yeonsoo shot 4 under par 69 (par73) to win by 2 strokes and Jaewoo shot 1 over par (par 72) to place 2nd by 1 stroke. It was a pretty tight match for both the girls and boys divisions. Hockey Boys VictoriousThe Pinehurst boys made a flying start to the hockey season with a 5:1 victory over an extremely pleasant and sportsmanlike team from Massey. The result was a true reflection of the match and of the ability and dedication shown by all members of our team. The old guard were there to provide leadership and strong positive play and the young fellows turned up with eager anticipation and their fair share of talent. CJ opened the scoring with a fine goal mid-way through the first half. Having been away from hockey for over 1000 days this was a appropriate jump back into the fray. Toby then joined the party with a hat trick of goals, which was also a return to the team after a break. Ollie then sealed the match with his goal. With all this action from the ‘old fellas’ we must not overlook the substantial contributions made by the entire crew, and we are particularly pleased to see the youngsters, Will, Jake and Antony mixing it up with the opposition all across the paddock. As the sunset and the shadows lengthened, the team extended their dominance to all corners of the field and this has been an exciting and memorable start to the 2019 season. Bravo! Hockey Girls Off to a Good StartThis week saw the start of the winter Hockey competition in the Senior College. The 1st XI Boys kicked us off with a 5-1 win and our 1st XI girls managed a 2-nil win over Northcote on Thursday afternoon. Captained by Aimee Fletcher, the girls communicated well and stepped up in the second half after a shaky start. Cenedra Waddel making excellent saves in the goal. Our 2nd XI Girls also had a good start to the season, scoring two goals. The new Year 9's making a positive difference, bringing energy and enthusiasm to the game. It is looking like another great year for Pinehurst Hockey. MusicShuan Liu in the Semi-finals of the Wallace National Piano Competition Congratulations to Shuan in Year 12 for being selected to compete in the Semi-finals of the Wallace National competition. The biennial competition is a premiere platform for tomorrow’s musicians, bringing together 15 of New Zealand’s best young pianists and is adjudicated by Charles Owen (Professor of Piano, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London). Four Grand Finalists will then be selected to compete for prizes totaling over $20,000. We wish her all the best in the mid July semi-finals. If you wish to know more about this event, click here. Music Itinerant and Performance Coaching lessons Term 2 is a great time to enrol your child itinerant lessons, now that they have settled into the new year. Limited spaces are available on the following instruments:
Click here for more information and to find out how to apply. Music Co-Curricular Group The following musical groups are free to join and students are welcome to do so at any point in year. Although all of them are already well under way, committed and positive students are always of value. The groups meet once a week at a lunchtime or after-school session. To find out more click here.
Ezlunch Menu for Term 2Ezlunch is a convenient and affordable way for your child to have healthy, hot and cold lunches delivered directly to Pinehurst. Create an account with Ezlunch, order online, and a freshly prepared lunch will be delivered to your child’s class. You will need to join Ezlunch to create an account and to view Pinehurst School’s menu. Orders must be placed before 9am. This term, our supplier Tofuman has merged with Go-Deli and will continue to offer a selection of popular items through Go-Deli. Term 2 Tennis CoachingAfter-school tennis coaching will commence in Week 2. If you would like to enroll your child or would like further information please feel free to contact Liz Daly.
Sofia Dances Her Way to 1st PlaceCongratulations to Sofia Cradwick (Year 12) who danced at the Kiwi Classic International Dance Competition last month. She danced Pro Am with her teacher in several Ballroom & New Vogue dances, gaining 1st place in all events. Well done Sofia! Gold for Harry in Karate CompetitionYear 4 student Harry Ellin competed at the NZ Open in Christchurch on the 20th of April and won the following medals:
Well done Harry! |