News and events for the week ending 16th November 2018 Friday 16th November 2018 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalGood afternoon, Kia ora tatou, 你好 We have been making the most of some fabulous weather this week: the Senior Year 1 students had a wonderful time at the Botanical Gardens, entertaining the accompanying teachers with their enthusiasm and excitement; the Year 5 and 6 students enjoyed a very successful Athletics Day at the Millennium in Rosedale; and Year 7 students have been impressing their Year 8 leaders with their spirit in the annual Junior College Leadership Challenge. And, while we don’t yet run examinations in the shades of the trees, it’s always a nicer experience to see the dappled sunlight peep into the exam room, a promise just a few minutes away. This week has marked the end of our examination season: Year 10 have now finished their exams, as have Year 9 (a very busy Friday!), and all IGCSE, AS and A Level papers came to an end this week as well, allowing some happy Maths teachers back into their classrooms. I’ve been impressed by the attitude displayed by all the students, from Year 4 upwards, over the last few weeks, and I hope the results and the reports reflect the effort they have put in. Well done to everyone! Earlier this week, the parents of the 2019 Year 4 students came into school to listen to Mrs Coxon, Mrs Jones-Hill and Mrs Donald talk about what to expect in Senior Primary: thank you to all those who came, and I hope you found it a useful evening. Transition is very much on our minds at the moment: students moving into Years 7 and 9 next year have a transition day on Monday, and behind the scenes there are all sorts of conversations taking place as we get students and staff ready for next year. Please talk to us if you have any questions about next year: we know that there are always questions, and although we try to make sure that we have anticipated these, and to tell you what we think you need to know, we also know that we can’t cover everything. You may have unanswered questions, so please just ask them! Next week is a busy one: there are Sports Prizegivings, trips, tramps and a teddy bear’s picnic to attend. We are just three weeks away from the end of term as well, which is the time of year when the life of a school is varied and full of activities. I hope everyone takes the chance to be as involved as they can be: we talk a great deal about a ‘holistic’ education, and by that we often mean that sport and music and other activities need to be part of a young person’s education alongside their academic studies. It also, though, means that an education takes place within the context of a community. In our case, of course, this is the Pinehurst community, and the events we hold at this time of year help glue us together. So I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the picnic, at the Prizegivings, at the Christmas concert… and just around school in general! Have a lovely weekend. WEEK 6: Monday 19th November
Tuesday 20th November
Wednesday 21st November
Thursday 22nd November
Friday 23rd November
WEEK 7: Monday 26th November
Tuesday 27th November
Wednesday 28th November
Thursday 29th November
Friday 30th 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, As I write this we come to the end of a week of glorious sunshine. There is a real buzz around the College as our Year 11 – 13 students finish their last Cambridge Examinations, after the best part of two months of rigorous study. Students have conducted themselves superbly throughout the extensive examination session and we are proud of the effort and endeavour that we have seen. At Pinehurst, our staff invigilate the examination sessions. It is so pleasing to see the students utilising every single minute that is available to them in an examination. We hope that in January they get the results that they have worked so hard for. Today also sees the conclusion of the Year 10 examinations. With the Maths examination this morning being the last exam, the students will enjoy their afternoon off-site in their House groups, doing some fun team building activities. The Year 10 cohort can also look forward to their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze qualifying trek to the Pinnacles in the Coromandel next Thursday and Friday. At this time of year, we are also looking at student leadership positions for 2019. Yesterday our Year 7 students enjoyed their leadership challenge morning. They were put through some challenging activities to foster team work skills and communication. They were ably overseen by the current Year 8 students leaders, with staff in the background taking some notes. Next Tuesday our senior students have interviews for their leadership positions for 2019. We are looking forward to hearing from the 35 students that have applied. This part of the process is a real highlight as we hear from the students how proud they are of being Pinehurst students and how they aspire to make the school an even better place for all students. The next few weeks of term are positively busy as teachers mark examinations and prepare reports for the end of year. With field trips, camps and prize-giving all happening, it is a great time of year for the students and we hope that they enjoy it. Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College College Sport Auckland – Young Sportsperson of the Year AwardsCongratulations and best wishes to Sung Jin Yeo who has been selected as a golf finalist for the College Sport Auckland - Young Sportsperson of the Year Awards. He will attend the event next Thursday. Gold Medal for Yeonsoo at NH Zone Day GolfA huge congratulations to Year 8 student Yeonsoo Son, who won GOLD in the girls division at the NH Zone Day Golf event. Yeonsoo had an outstanding 18 holes at Warkworth Golf Club, shooting the lowest round Gross overall on the day (Boys & Girls!) Year 7 Leadership ChallengeTowards the end of each year, all Year 7 students participate and compete for their House in the Year 7 Leadership Challenge. Each group work their way around the eight activities all run by our current Year 8 student leaders. These activities require creativity, problem solving, mathematical knowledge, and good old fashioned teamwork. Mr Johansen and our Year 7 and 8 Deans, Mrs McPherson and Mr Reynolds, were suitably impressed by the way in which our future leaders conducted themselves. They had a lot of fun and showed lots of energy, teamwork and respect for the Year 8 student leaders and each other as they negotiated each challenge stationed around the Junior College. We will now conduct student and teacher voting for our Year 8 leaders for 2019. This event has proven we are fortunate to have a wealth of strong, confident and passionate leaders in Year 7 and 8. Our future leaders will be announced at our Academic Prize-giving in the final week of term. Robo SoccerYear 8 students have been busy in Robotics again this week, continuing to develop their robots, working out how their infrared sensors can be used to locate the infrared (soccer) ball, whilst a compass sensor measures directional angles to find the right goal. MusicFinal Informal Music Concert of the Year The Final Informal Music Concert will be held in C2 on Wednesday the 28th of November from 4.30pm. Students of any age and ability are welcome to perform at this event. Christmas Picnic Musical Numbers Wanted On Wednesday the 5th of December is the Pinehurst Family Christmas Picnic from 5pm-8pm. Musical items are needed from College students who would like to contribute towards the Christmassy feel of the event. Students could audition to present solo, duet or small group item/s vocally or on instruments. Students should contact marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz by the 23rd of November if they would like to perform at either of these events. Orchestral Final Rehearsal The Orchestra will meet on Friday the 30th for a final rehearsal, periods 5 and 6 (from 1.35 to 3.15) in C2, to run through the selection of repertoire the group will be performing for the Prize Giving Ceremonies and the Christmas Concert. This rehearsal will include all the senior students as well and we would appreciate your assistance in insuring all orchestra members arrive on time, with their music and instrument ready. Polly Sussex – Meet one of our Itinerant Tutors Polly Sussex performs, teaches and researches Baroque Cello and Viola da Gamba music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She trained initially in traditional cello playing at the Akademie musickych umeni in Prague and in London at the Royal Academy of Music, then privately with William Pleeth . After obtaining her Ph. D in Music at the University of Otago, Polly performed freelance. In 2007 and 2008, Polly undertook further study in the Viol and Early Music at the Hochschule fuer Kuenste, Bremen, North Germany and in Basel, Switzerland. She plays all sizes of Viol, including the tiny Pardessus. Click here if you wish to see Polly perform with her viol quartet. If you would like to enrol your child with Polly and learn to play the violoncello, viola da Gamba, viol or acoustic double bass from next year or would like a sample lesson this term, please complete the form at the bottom of this link. 2019 College ProductionNext year the college will be presenting a production of Shakespeare's works revisited. This will involve students from Year 7 - Year 10. Next week we will be holding auditions from current Year 7 - Year 9 students. Current Year 6 students can audition at the beginning of next year. For all those students who are interested in being part of this fast paced, comedic and innovative work, rehearsal materials can be collected from the Drama room on Friday 16th. There will also be sheets available to make a time for auditions. Make sure you are a part of this fantastic production family! Kia Ora, We have been out and about a lot in the past week enjoying the sun and making the most of our beautiful environment. As we have grown almost to capacity now, we made the decision to hold separate Athletics competitions in syndicates this year. Our Year 0-2 and Year 3-4 students competed on site and on Wednesday we took our Year 5-6 students to Millennium Stadium. All students competed in both track and field events and everyone enjoyed an amazing day of competition. One of the highlights was the Year 6 girls high jump which was tense and mesmerising and felt at times almost like an Olympic level event. Each competitor had two jumps at each height and they breathed a sigh of relief every time the bar stayed put. After stiff competition we were eventually down to two competitors, Nina Munro and Bailey Benshaw. They were neck and neck until the height reached 1.3 metres and Bailey just made it over the bar. The girls were quick to congratulate each other, both pleased to have been part of such a thrilling competition. Our Senior Year 1’s took a trip to the Botanical Gardens to discover more about plant life. The excitement was palpable, most had never been on a bus before and we wondered if that was actually going to be the most exciting part of the day. When they arrived back at school there was lots of talk of the plants they saw, the flowers they ate, all edible of course, and the bus trip! Some looked like they could quite happily curl up in a corner and go to sleep but a great day was had by all. We took delivery of more iPads and coding equipment this week and there was great excitement as they were added to our existing devices. From 2019 all Primary classes will incorporate coding as part of their I.T. programme, we are really looking forward to seeing their skills develop. Thanks to our Year 3 parents who were able to attend the Year 3 to Year 4 transition meeting this week, as we head to the end of the year I will spend some time next week talking about how we are preparing for 2019 so that your child will have a smooth transition when they start in Term 1. Ngā mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Primary Athletics 2018Over the last week, all our Primary students were involved in an age specific Athletics Sports event. Last Friday, our Year 1 and 2 students spent the morning at Pinehurst taking part in 7 non-competitive Athletics based activities. Later that day, our Year 3 and 4 students enjoyed more traditional Athletics events, taking part in High Jump, Long Jump, Discus, Shotput and 100M Sprint rotations. Thank you to all the Year 5 & Year 6 students who did an amazing job of supporting these events. On Wednesday, our Year 5 and 6 students traveled to Millennium Stadium, where they competed across 7 events (High Jump, Long Jump, Discus, Shotput, 100M, 200M, 800M). Thank you to the Year 5/6 staff and to our wonderful parent helpers for all your help! Congratulations to all students for taking part in Athletics this year, with a special mention to the Year 3-6 students (below) who finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd overall for 2018. A select group of Year 4-6 students will go on to represent Pinehurst at the Mid Bays Athletics (Super Cluster) event in Week 7, where they'll compete against 7 other schools. We look forward to sharing the results with you at the end of term. Junior Primary Music ConcertOn the 13th of November the Junior Primary students presented musical items in our Annual Formal Music Concert. A number of talented students auditioned to present 20 items in a 50min concert featuring the piano, guitar, drums, recorder and violin. The audience was treated with two items from the Petite Elite choir comprised of Year 2 and 3 students. Thank you to all the parents for the support and encouragement of their child’s musical development this year and thank you to the teachers involved in organizing this event – Ms Du Toit, Ms Watters and Mr Nagy. If your child enjoyed performing or missed out on this event, there is a final Informal Music Concert Wednesday the 28th of November, in C2 from 4.30pm. If you would like to sign up your child to perform at this concert, email marija.naumovska@pinehurst.school.nz by the 23rd of November. Year 1 Trip to the Botanic GardensIn Science this term the Year 1’s have been learning about plants. On Wednesday, the Senior Year 1’s were lucky enough to go and visit the Botanic Gardens to deepen their understanding of plants. Once we all arrived at school we quickly made our way to the bus – which in itself was very exciting! After a little morning tea, we headed through the gardens and into our own special garden where we could dig and plant. The children learnt about the various parts of plants we eat and the plant heroes that make up our everyday foods. Then it was time to dig! We got the opportunity to be gardeners and learnt the basics of veggie growing. You can see in the photos the children are having great fun planting dill in the veggie patch as well as being able to plant their own seed that they got to take away with them. To finish the day we enjoyed a lovely picnic in the sun before heading back to school. We all had such a great day, with lots learnt. Thank you again to all of our parent helpers, we couldn’t have done it without you! “My favourite part of the day was planting the seeds” Larena & Sasha “I enjoyed learning that a potato is a tuber” Andrew “My favourite part was getting to try different plants and even a flower that was a bit spicy but I liked it!” Ivy “My favourite part of the trip was all of it!!” Yee
P12 Keeping You in Suspense!Our Year 3 students in P12 have been reading, enjoying and discussing mystery and adventure stories. They have been identifying and discussing the main characters, settings, plots and themes to decide what they liked or disliked. Whilst reading these stories they discovered that they contain an element of excitement and there always seems to be a bad character or enemy. The stories have increasing tension until the towards the end when there is a resolution. Their challenge was to plan and write a sequel to an adventure or mystery story recognising the impact they could achieve in their choice of powerful verbs and precise nouns. They were challenged to include dialogue as a way of bringing our characters to life. Here are some excerpts from the sequels: “When Meows walked through the chef’s emergency exit he was immediately transported to S.O.N.A. An agent walked up to Meows and he said, “Hello Black Caper, go up to level 9, room 14.” (Dylan Morgan) "Once upon a time there was a very scary and haunted girl. Her name was … duh, duh, duh…Creepster. She was the scariest girl in the world. Every time people saw that girl they would RUN!" (Sofia Baumann) "One day Coco was taken by a dragon. Then the boys went to find Coco. They climbed a mountain. They saw the dragon’s tail and said, ‘wait here!” (Amber Kim) "One day Maui and his four brothers went exploring on the sea. They found lots of islands but there was one they particularly liked. It was beautiful. It had everything they needed." (Isaac Goss) Lots of Fun and Learning in P4!This term in P4, we welcomed 10 new students into our classroom. We have been very busy adjusting to school life and building new friendships. We are learning all our phonics sounds, where to put our capital letters and full stops when writing,and recognizing 2D shapes in Maths. As part of our Science topic, we have been learning about plants, seasons and the weather. The students in P4 got to plant their own grass seeds and watch them grow. They must water them every day in order to see the beautiful, long green grass before their eyes. They have really enjoyed checking up on them each day and looking at the roots forming inside the cups. In Writing, we have started to talk about nouns and adjectives. Going along with our weather and seasons topic, we went outside to have a look at all the clouds in the sky. We talked about their shapes, sizes and colours. The students went back into the room to make their very own cloud! The students each shared their cloud with the class and they came up with some describing words. They described their clouds as fluffy, soft, big and white. We are really looking forward to the end of the term where we get to learn about growing different fruits and vegetables. I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy....P1 getting colourful in their creations for the upcoming PrEP Market Day. I Spy....Year 6 also working hard on their PrEP Market items! I Spy....Year 3 & 4 at their Athletics Day last Friday! I Spy.....Scientists making balloon powered race cars. I Spy....P4 in their PE class. Prompt Payment DiscountThe Board of Governors has agreed a 2.5% prompt payment discount for 2019 Tuition Fees paid in advance before 30th November 2018 by Internet banking/cheque and 2.0% by credit card. These discounts represent an equivalent return of 2.5% / 2.0% (credit card) on fees advanced for an average of six months, which equates to 5% / 4% (credit card) per annum after tax. At the highest tax rate of 33% the annual saving would be even higher at 7.46% / 5.97 (credit card). This is very favourable compared to other means of return in New Zealand at present. Term 3 New Entrants DeadlineA reminder that the deadline date for Term 3, 2019 New Entrant applications is 6th December. Parent Thank You Morning TeaThis is a 'thank you' morning tea for any parents who have helped with school activities throughout the year. Please come along on Wednesday 28th November at 10am. RSVP by 21st November: judy.wallace@pinehurst.school.nz Pinehurst Christmas 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 6 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. Christmas Family PicnicYou are warmly invited to our Christmas Picnic Wednesday 5th December 5–8pm on the lower fields. (See poster below) This is a fun evening for the children with rides for all ages (cash only), music, performances, face painting, lolly scramble and more. Santa will be there!! A wonderful end to the school year. There will be Market Stalls. This a great opportunity to buy Christmas gifts or 'stocking stuffers'. Food vans available (no eftpos) but feel free to bring along your picnic and your friends. Relax with a wine and socialize with other parents. A great evening not to be missed. Hope to see you there! |