News and events for the week ending 9th November 2018 Friday 9th November 2018 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalGood afternoon, Kia ora tatou, 你好 I’m going to start with buses this week. As promised, we are reducing the fares for school buses in 2019 in the hope of encouraging more students to take the bus to school. The new fares are available here and you will see that we have also significantly increased our sibling discount. We feel that the whole school community will benefit if more students catch the bus, as it will have the added effect of reducing some of our car park congestion. We are also reviewing the way we support students on the bus, aiming for a team of senior monitors on each one. I hear too that at least one of the buses will be upgraded! I have been very impressed by our Year 4, 7 and 8 students this week, who have negotiated their examinations exceptionally well. Well done! It’s the turn of Year 9 and 10 students next week, so I’m going to say, for the final time: it’s important to study, and it’s also important to look after mind, body and soul. We always need to keep a sense of proportion, and to combine work with play. On that, the Year 2 and 3 students returned very happily from their trips to the Art Gallery and Stardome last week, we have a Senior Year 1 trip to the Botanic Gardens next week as well as Athletics Days in school and Zone days in Athletics, Golf and Equestrian events in the next ten days. There’s a Wet and Wild sailing expedition in Junior College, and a Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh qualifier to the Pinnacles. Year 4 are going to MOTAT, Year 11 and 12 students are heading to Great Barrier Island… I’m not going to go on, but the next few weeks are full of exciting and interesting experiences for students of all ages (including Prizegivings, of course), so please make sure that you check the calendar and dates for your diary very carefully. And just ask us if you have any questions or anything isn’t clear. I mustn’t forget the Christmas Picnic too: mark December 5th in your diaries! We are continuing to plan for next year at school, and are making the final couple of appointments for next year as we do so. I’m delighted by the quality of the enthusiastic, well-qualified staff that we continue to attract to our school, especially in what remains a difficult recruitment environment in education. We are working on our new courses, and teachers are thinking hard about how they plan to respond to individual students’ needs: extension and support are two words we use a great deal in our planning, and I’ve been very impressed by the way our teachers continually adapt and tweak to meet the needs of all of our students. In College, teachers are also working hard to structure courses on Schoolbox for the start of next year – we will be ready to give all parents access at the beginning of next term – and our Primary staff are also gearing themselves up for our new coding curriculum. Digital technologies are a central part of our programme next year. Have a lovely weekend. WEEK 5: Monday 12th November
Tuesday 13th November
Wednesday 14th November
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Friday 16th November
WEEK 6: Monday 19th November
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Thursday 22nd November
Friday 23rd November
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, Two weeks ago I outlined some of the curriculum changes that will be implemented in 2019. Within this newsletter I would like to focus on an exciting new development that will be introduced to our Year 9 curriculum. Currently in Year 9 the students complete Checkpoint English, Mathematics and Science programmes. In 2019 we will be adding Global Perspectives. This course provides opportunities for inquiry into, and reflection on, key global issues from different perspectives: personal, local/national and global. Following this programme, students will develop their skills of research, analysis, evaluation, reflection, collaboration and communication. These skills are developed to help learning across all other subject areas. This course is not about getting students to think identically; rather it is a matter of opening minds to the complexity of the world and encouraging empathy for the diversity of human experience and feeling. Students will develop their ability to think critically through a series of challenges. The range of topics include, poverty and inequality, migration, sport and recreation, globalisation, family, language and communication. For anyone wishing to learn more about Global Perspectives I would encourage you to visit the Cambridge website, the direct link is here. Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College NH Zone Day BadmintonLast week four of our Junior College students took part in the NH Zone Day Badminton events. At the Boys Zone Day, Jamie Cheng won silver in the Boys Singles event, and Jamie & Andrew Qin finished top 4 in the Boys Double - losing their semi-final by just 2 to the eventual doubles winners. Congratulations! Our girls team of Yasmin Baldwin (Year 7) and Sunny Chen (Year 8) enjoyed the experience of playing Badminton at this level, and although they didn’t place on the day we look forward to seeing these young players continue to develop their Badminton skills in 2019. A huge thank you to parent managers Jeanette Ma & Nora Baldwin for supporting the students at these events. Young Enterprise North Shore: Start Up Company of the YearYouCan, a company owned and run by two Year 13 Pinehurst Students was named Start Up Company of the year at their awards night last Friday. YouCan was one of 10 top companies in the region who were pitted against each other in a Shark-Tank style competition. While they did not progress into the national finals, their hard work, passion, and perseverance was acknowledged through this special award. Mikayla O’Brien and Mackenzie Cooper continue their studies in Business and Humanities at university next year, where they are excited to continue their involvement in case and business competitions. The skills students learn through the Young Enterprise Scheme will be invaluable to both their tertiary studies and future careers. The 2019 YES programme is open to all Year 11-13 students. We also welcome parents as business mentors for our teams. If you or your child would like to be involved, please email hillary.mann@pinehurst.school.nz. Sweets for Diwali8AS were treated to some yummy Diwali sweets this week. Ashu Nand kindly brought them in to share with the class and explained that it was to celebrate the start of the Indian Hindu Festival. Camps and DoEIt is a busy term for tramps and camps. On the 22nd/23rd November, 8 staff will be taking 71 Year 10’s to the Pinnacles Hut in the Coromandel for their DoE Bronze Qualifying Tramp. On Sunday 25th November, 59 Year 11 and Year 12’s will be going to the Great Barrier Leadership Senior Camp for 6 days and 5 nights, accompanied by 6 staff. This is possibly the ‘best’ outdoor camp in NZ with the most qualified instructors. At the same time Mr Rossin and Miss Murray will be taking the ‘Goldies’ to Lake Waikaremoana for their Gold Qualifying Tramp which will be 5 days, 4 nights and over 50km of tramping through beautiful native NZ bush. Look out for the reports and pictures in the forthcoming newsletters. Kia Ora, There were times this week when it felt just a little like summer was on its way and we headed outside and made plans for spending some time away from the classroom. Education Outside The Classroom or EOTC as it is more commonly known is a very important part of Kiwi life and a New Zealand education. When I arrived from the UK many years ago I absolutely loved all of the opportunities to learn in the outdoors and within a couple of weeks of arriving was spending every Friday sailing around Murray’s Bay on an IRB during the Waterwise programme. Being in the outdoors pushes you out of your comfort zone and is one of the aims of outdoor education by providing children with opportunities to take sensible risks in a secure but challenging environment. Our teachers have been busily planning camps for 2019 and parent meetings were held this week for Year 5 and Year 6 who will be attending camps in Week 2 of next year. We like to hold our camps as early as possible so that students can spend time getting to know each other and forge friendships they can develop for the rest of the year. Our Year 3 students will go to Camp Maynard in Paremoremo for two days but no overnight stay. Year 4 go to Peter Snell Camp at Whangaparoa for two nights and three days. Year 5 go to Carey Park in Henderson for three nights and four days and Year 6 go to Lakewood Lodge in Huntly for a full week. All camps involve age appropriate levels of challenge and various activities including confidence courses, climbing, cycling, archery, cooking, orienteering for younger students and the addition of kayaking, flying fox, swimming and horse riding for those who are older. The infamous survivor night and mud run are the stuff of legends in Year 6 and a rite of passage for the final Primary year. The benefits are enormous and pay dividends throughout the year in terms of confidence, relationships, socialisation, maturity and being part of a team. Camps take a huge amount of preparation and require staff to take time away from their families but we continue to offer them because the value far outweighs the effort required. We look forward to a challenging and exciting camp season in 2019. Ngā mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Junior Primary Music ConcertWe are looking forward to the Junior Primary Music Concert next Tuesday 13 November at 3.30pm in the Arena. Just a reminder that all students participating will need to be in their Pinehurst Summer uniform please. A reminder that the Petite Elite choir will also be performing at this concert. We look forward to a fun afternoon of music making. Year 2 trip to Stardome
By Mia P9
By Hayley P9 P13 PoetryYear 4 are writing a range of poetry in English. Here are some examples of the poems from P13. WaterwiseTerm 4 Waterwise for Year 6 students has been slightly challenging in terms of the weather. However, we have managed to get some magic days out on the ocean with two of the classes and we are hopeful that P19 will be out sailing next week. This second day of sailing in an optimist builds on the skills the children learned earlier this year in Term 1. Many have now successfully sailed an optimist on their own around a basic course and had the experience of learning how to capsize. To be able to run a Waterwise session we always need 3 trained instructors. We would like to congratulate Ashbjorn Aakjaer, one of our parents, who successfully completed the training and passed the Waterwise exam. We would also like to thank Craig Williams and Stuart Bannatyne who have been instructors on many Waterwise sessions. If there are any keen parents who would also like to complete the training, please contact Kelly.clark@pinehurst.school.nz The Perceptual Motor ProgrammeThe Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP) was introduced to all New Entrant and
P18 Poetry and PrEPWe have been very creative in P18, writing poetry in various forms. One of our favourites so far has been writing limericks. Our focus has been writing about our memories of the Pinehurst Primary, so our limericks naturally became odes to our teachers. Here are a few for you to read. We have also busy developing our technological skills creating products to sell at our PrEP market day. There are 5 businesses running in P18. We have the Radical Rockets, Nom Noms, Squish meh Bows, Balloon Knights and Bathroom Bombers. Our businesses have been carefully considering supply and demand. Do they create a high supply of products which are in demand at a low price? Or should they have a low supply to increase demand, but at a high price? These are all factors to consider as they develop their business plan. Primary BasketballPinehurst All Stars versus Milford Primary. Wow, what an awesome game of basketball to watch. The first half did not go the All Stars way, Milford had the run of the court and played a good defensive game. The half time score was evidence of this, the All Stars were down 8-22. With the first half over, and some magical words from the coaches, the Pinehurst All Stars dug deep and came out to play. Their defence and rebounding kept them in the game. Playing as a team, they were able to get the ball to the hoop and make their shot. Nothing seemed to be able to stop this incredible comeback. In an exciting second half, the All Stars scored a fantastic 28 points bringing the final score to 36-30 to the All Stars. A tremendous effort from a team that wanted to win - great team work All Stars. Mid Bays TouchThis week Pinehurst hosted the annual Mid Bays Touch event on our beautiful school fields. The day started off with some light rain and cloud, and ended with beautiful sunshine! Primary Gymnastics42 Year 3 - Year 6 boys and girls competed in the North Harbour Gymnastics Zone Day this week. Excellent achievements were made in all year levels with the Year 3 girls winning the Team Spirit trophy. A trophy awarded at this competition for the first time. Medals and placements achieved from the competition are: Year 3 - 4:
Year 5 - 6: Gold: Girls Team - Abby Wendelborn, Victoria Clark, Isabelle Wilcox and Astrid Hebbink Bronze: Girls Team - Olivia Buxton, Sabrina Liu, Rena Wang and Sienna Williams.
Abby Wendelborn's 9.85 Floor score won her the Sash for the highest points scored for Girls in the entire competition. In a few days, photos will be uploaded to the Pinehurst School Sport Facebook page Please visit the page to view these photos. If you would like to know your child’s score for the day please email Ms Vien at biec.vien@pinehurst.school.nz I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy....'ck' detectives in P8, looking for words with the letters c and k together. I Spy....P1 learning to skip in PE, working with some very patient Year 6 girls! I Spy....Year 2 practicing their throwing and catching skills. I Spy.....creative ideas come to fruition in our Year 5 Thinking Skills class! Jessica TownsendYear 5-8 students and staff were incredibly fortunate to have award winning international author, Jessica Townsend, talk to them on Monday about her books and her development as a writer. Ms Mackie had been reading chapters of Nevermoor and Wundersmith to classes in the library, but there was lots more they all wanted to know. Everyone enjoyed listening to her, with Soraya Su saying Jessica was fascinating, and Kelly Smith declaring she wanted to be a writer like Jessica! Many students had purchased books and were excited to get those signed, with the signing queue over a hour long. Ms Mackie and Mrs Webb would like to thank all the families who purchased books to donate to our Christmas hamper recipient - Grandparents Raising Grandchildren - as 43 books have been donated. Pinehurst’s Return to the Forbidden Planet and The Showdown AwardsOn the 3rd of November, staff and student representatives from Pinehurst were privileged to attend the Showdown Awards. The Showdown Awards are held annually to celebrate Auckland’s top secondary school productions. Run by the Auckland Community Theatre Trust (ACTT) the aim of Showdown is to encourage young performers and foster excellence in the performing arts, to promote the performing arts as an option for tertiary study and as a career, to raise the profile of performing arts in school and to build links between school performing arts programmes and Auckland community theatres. This year 28 musicals and plays were judged in various technical, acting and singing related categories. Pinehurst’s Production of Return to The Forbidden Planet was nominated in the following five categories:
Devon Alexander (Yr 12) who played the Captain in the production attended the awards. “…We were surrounded by like-minded performers, and a large host of talent. When talking to the cast of other productions, it was so much fun discussing how differently they had undergone the process of putting together their various plays and musicals. The awards ceremony itself was hosted by talented individuals that had been involved in the industry and were eager to pass on their knowledge and experience to us young budding actors and actresses. The award winners gave everyone some insight to the hard work and persistence that was required to make their production successful…” Thank you to all who were involved with this year’s production and we are already looking forward to next year’s one! Upcoming Concert - Cheryl GriceSee one of our itinerant in concert this weekend.
Please R.S.V.P by email rod@capperguitars.com or phone Rod on 09 473 2226 The Pinehurst Enviro-groupWe have been working hard on solutions to reduce the amount of landfill we produce. The staffroom and Junior College have been trialing new recycling bins which are also going to be introduced in the Primary School soon. Keep an eye out for them, and start thinking about which bin your waste is going to go into! The blue bin is for hard plastics and tins/cans. Soft plastics (like glad-wrap and plastic bags) cannot be recycled at school. The grey bin is for clean paper and cardboard, no paper towels. The green bin is for all food waste and paper towels. The red bin is for all other waste. Help us reduce our landfill waste! Uniform Shop School Holiday Opening HoursMonday 14th - Friday 18th January: 10am – 2pm
North Harbour Touch RepresentativeCongratulations to Ariana Hebden (Year 8) who was yesterday named in the Touch North Harbour U14 Girls Elite team for the 2018/19 season. Ariana will travel with the team to Rotorua in January to contest the Northern Region IPS tournament. Congratulations and good luck Ariana! Pinehurst Senior College Girls Named in Lacrosse Regional Representative TeamsCongratulations to the following Pinehurst Senior College students who were recently named in the Harbour Hawks Regional Representative teams: Harbour Hawks
Sparrow Hawks
Daniel CradwickWell done to Year 9 student Daniel Cradwick, who recently competed at the NZ Open Dance Championships in Hamilton. He danced a number of Ballroom, Latin and New Vogue events with his partner Kate, alongside the best Junior dancing couples in New Zealand. It was his first time at 'The Nationals', and was an amazing experience after many hours of practice. Great dancing Daniel! Cheerleading Champions!A couple of weeks ago, Maddi Smith from Year 8, competed alongside her cheerleading team at a big competition called the Majors. It was a two day competition in Australia. Maddi’s team came first and achieved the highest score of the whole competition, making them Grand Champions. Congratulations Maddi! Yeonsoo at the NZ Amateur ChampionshipLast week, Yeonsoo participated in the NZ Amateur Championship which is one of the most prestigious golf events in NZ. The tournament consisted of players with the handicap of 3 or under, from all around NZ. This year, the tournament was held in Taupo at Wairakei golf course. Coming into the year, making the team for North Harbour in the TORO women's inter provincials was Yeonsoo's main goal. It is a tournament run by NZ golf where over 10 districts from all over NZ compete to determine the best team. Each district selects 5 of their best players and a reserve player. Yeonsoo played consistently throughout the year and fortunately made the team as number 4. |