News and events for the week ending 5th December 2019 Thursday 5th November 2019 Opening words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 It’s the last day of term! It’s been a wonderful week, dodging showers, enjoying the sun and celebrating students. The prizegivings on Tuesday and Wednesday were wonderful: congratulations to all of the prize winners. You should be very proud of all of your achievements. I’d like to mention the three young people who received the Dux Award: Sabrina Liu in Primary; Benen Sitarachiyanon in Junior College; and Subin Wui in Senior College. To be Dux in a school that is full of talented, smart young people is an amazing achievement. Well done! Well done too to all of our students. The prizegivings feature many awards for individual students and, as I said in the Primary Prizegiving, we do nothing alone, so the awards recognise all of the students, and the whole community that supports them. It’s important for all of our children to take responsibility for themselves, to work hard, and to be celebrated for what they achieve as individuals. And it is essential that they appreciate and celebrate and thank the community – parents, family, friends, classmates, school – that supports them and gives them such strong foundations. I promised last week a quick introduction to a couple more teachers who will be starting with us next year. In Science next year, we will have two fresh faces: Mr Boden, who comes from the same home town as me, actually (Nottingham, though he supports the wrong football club, despite living a stone’s throw from the City Ground), will be joining us from Rangitoto College, where he has taught since arriving in New Zealand. He brings with him experience in a range of leadership positions, and I am sure he will make an impression here. Our other new arrival is Miss Liang, who has taught in an international school for several years, and has just completed her New Zealand training. She has exceptional subject knowledge and an effervescent personality. I know the students will love being in her class. I have one correction to make as well: I had a senior moment last week and used the wrong surname for our new Maths teacher. Her name is actually Mrs West. My apologies to her. I’ve just been visited by a very excited Mrs McIntosh: our Year 5/6 basketball team ‘Blazers’ won their league on Tuesday night, fighting back against some tough, physical opponents. So a huge well done to Ngatoro, Lily, Clarence, Daniel, Sunny, Olga, Ivan, Damian and Austin, and to their coach Jesse, and to Mrs Herbert, their manager. I’ll finish by wishing everyone a wonderful holiday: thank you to our whole community for your support this year. It’s a privilege to work in our school with our students, our wonderful staff, and our caring, supportive and engaged community. Thank you! The school is open until December 20th, and then we close until January 6th, when we reopen for business: I will be around most of that time, so feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts or need to talk. Parent teacher conferences are on January 23rd and 24th, and the first day for students will be January 28th. But that’s for next year! Enjoy the summer sunshine and, if you are travelling overseas, stay safe and enjoy seeing new places and old, visiting family, and generally relaxing together. Lindsay Watters, Primary TeacherLindsay originally comes from the south west coast of Scotland - a small seaside town called Prestwick, which has a strong golfing community, and is known as ‘the home of the Open’. From a young child, Lindsay always knew she wanted to be a teacher, however, she also had a love for Music and so after leaving school she studied Music in Aberdeen, playing piano, saxophone and clarinet. From there, she changed paths and went on to study Biomedical Sciences back in Glasgow. Having graduated with a BSc in Applied Biosciences and then working for a short stint in a hospital laboratory, she realised that she still wished to teach. She completed her teacher training and took up a position in a local school where she remained for seven years. Following that, she moved to the Middle East, to help set up a school for the dependents of BAE Systems employees. She was Head of Key Stage One and later became a Literacy Coach, providing coaching for teachers across seven different schools. In 2017 Lindsay and her husband decided to relocate to New Zealand to be closer to some family. Just before she was due to arrive in New Zealand, a vacancy for a Year 1 teacher became available at Pinehurst and so she feels like it was ‘meant to be’. Next year, she is looking forward to teaching our newest students in school, alongside her role as Syndicate Leader for Years 1-2. Whilst living in the Middle East, she developed a love for travelling and experiencing new cultures, although this holiday she is most looking forward to going back to Scotland for the first time in almost five years. Kia Ora, We made it to the end of the year and it’s time to say goodbye for the next several weeks. I am sure that everyone is looking forward to some family time and a change from the daily routine. It has been a very busy last few weeks with plenty of opportunities for learning in different contexts. There have been so many highlights this year to reflect on but perhaps the greatest achievement has been the progress our students have made in their learning. During this past week I have been reading their reports and looking at the end of year data and there have been excellent gains across each year group and in every class. This is down to the learning habits of our students, the skill of our staff and the support of our parents. Together we can achieve the best outcomes for our youngest people. When we return next year there will be a wonderful new playground to explore in Years 1 & 2 and we are really looking forward to that. Planning for 2020 is well underway and we are prepared for an exciting programme of learning both in and outside of the classroom. Classes have been organised and we will write to you by email on the 11th of January to let you know who your child’s teacher will be in 2020. Conferences will be held on the 24th and 25th of January and you will be able to book the time you would like to attend via the parent portal from 11th January. Thanks to all of the parents who came to Prizegiving on Tuesday afternoon. It was a wonderful event with some very special performances from our Kapa Haka group, year group performers and Primary choir. There were many prize winners in all classroom subjects and our special prizes went to the following students:
As we complete the year it only remains to say thank you for all of the support you give to us, we really appreciate it. If your child is moving on to the College or changing school we wish you all the best for a wonderful transition. If your child or children are continuing with us in the Primary we look forward to working with you again next year. Kia Kaha, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Basketball B-Grade WinnersOur Year 5/6 basketball team ‘Blazers’ won their league on Tuesday night, fighting back against some tough, physical opponents. A huge well done to Ngatoro, Lily, Clarence, Daniel, Sunny, Olga, Ivan, Damian and Austin, and to their coach Jesse, and to Mrs Herbert, their manager. Super Cluster AthleticsLast week a team of 37 Year 4-6 students took part in the annual Super Cluster Athletics event. All students gave 100% effort on a very hot day at Millennium Stadium. A special mention to Ruby who won the Year 6 girls Discus event, and to Olga who was 3rd in the Year 5 girls 800M. Thank you to our wonderful parent helpers, with a special mention to Tarnya Hawkings for her help with organising the High Jump event. Art Exhibition‘Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else.’ -Sydney Gurewitz Clemens Last week New Entrant, Year 1 and Year 2 opened a beautiful art gallery to showcase some of the work they have lovingly created during the 2019 school year. Each child chose their favourite piece of art from the year and displayed their work, ready for teachers, parents and friends to explore. We certainly have many talented artists in our school and each piece was unique. A variety of media, texture, colour, pattern, line and dimensions were used to convey movement, mood or a story. Parents and teachers came along and enjoyed engaging in discussion about what they saw, how it made them feel and what made them curious. It was a successful afternoon and hopefully one to be repeated in the future. P9 PrEPLast week the Primary had their annual PrEP Market Day. This year's PrEP had a special environmental focus, and we in P9 decided that we would reuse T-shirts to create something new. We researched ideas and came to a unanimous agreement that we would produce key chains. We named our product 'T-chains' as they were made from T-shirts and were key chains. The students then got busy making T-Chains. First, we collected old T-Shirts from our homes and cut them into long skinny strips. We looked at the colour wheel and discussed what colours went well together so that we could produce visually appealing key chains. Once the students had prepped all the material they learnt new skills such as plaiting and tying knots. Next, we needed to create an advertisement so other students would know about our product. We discussed what we needed and then used the app - 'Pic Collage' to create them. On Market Day, we took turns at working on the stall. In total, we made $465 pines and we sold all our T-chains. We were very happy with the result and we are already looking forward to next year's Market Day. 'Sending Love project'In P16 we have been using Collage techniques to make Christmas cards for the 'Sending Love project' which is kicking-off into its third year. Sending Love is a NZ-wide initiative whereby people (anyone in NZ) makes and writes Christmas cards, which are then distributed to those who may be alone in retirement villages over the festive period. I'm sure these cards will put a smile on those who receive them. Clever Collage CreationsP17 have been exploring different art-making conventions, applying knowledge of elements through the use of materials and processes. The media they chose to do this through was pencil sketching and paper collage. They observed some still life compositions and practised sketching basic outlines for a design. The next step was to experiment with a range of collage techniques such as tearing, overlapping and layering of colours to create a chosen theme; still life and fruit. It was fun learning how to combine elements to create a pleasing composition as well as trying to identify different ways to build texture to create patterns. At the end of the process they were experts on how to create texture and shading, in an effective composition, using only paper. Their final masterpieces look amazing! I Spy in the PrimaryI Spy...Christmas cards in Spanish! I Spy...P9 working hard to the bitter end! Kia Ora, Congratulations to all of the award winners at yesterday’s Prizegiving’s that brought a conclusion to another very successful year for the College. All of the awards will be listed in the school yearbook that will be available shortly. We wish everyone in our community a merry festive season and a safe and enjoyable summer. More photos of both College Prizegivings will be available to view soon - we will let you know when and how next week. Ngā mihi, Chris Wiggin and Kieran Verryt Principals of College Year 7 - 8 End of Year SocialThe Junior College celebrated their year at Soljans Winery this Monday. Dressed to the nines in their masquerade attire, the Year 7 and 8 students spent the night socialising with their friends and teachers, and hit the dance floor after a lovely two course meal. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening for all involved and a great way to end the year. Special thanks to Danika Cuthell’s mum, Suzanne for all the photography and to Alanna Addision and her team for decorating the tables. Year 7 Mandarin Foreign LanguageIn Year 7 Mandarin Foreign Language we have been learning the expressions for shopping and bargaining/haggling. Using the knowledge we gained from our inquiry project on Mid-Autumn festival, we set up a food market selling yummy foods - mooncakes, river snails, hairy crabs as well as other seasonal fruits and vegetables like watermelon, pumpkins, taro and lotus roots. All foods were made with playdough by the students and sold at prices typical of those found in China. The products were beautifully made - a pity we could not eat them! Tennis at PinehurstWith over 30 students participating and giving this sport a go has been brilliant to see. Pinehurst had two teams (boys and girls) entered into the North Harbour Competition that takes place each Monday evening. Both teams have played outstanding tennis against much older opposition, taking on schools from Long Bay, Western Springs and Rosmini to name a few. Special mention to Sherrie Li who managed to remain unbeaten throughout the season. We’ve also had a development group up and running in Term 4. The improvements in both their technical and tactical game play has been a highlight. The group of students have consistently turned-up and demonstrated a willingness to learn and get better. A lot of credit must go to Michelle Donnell (Assistant Coach) who has worked tirelessly with the students and planned exciting lessons for them all to enjoy. Looking forward to 2020, tennis will continue grow and we encourage all students to come give it a go and experience the great sport that it is. Sessions will continue to be on Monday and Wednesday after school. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in contact: taylor.quirk@pinehurst.school.nz Home-stay Family Farewell Roger LiuHome-stay families play an integral part in the well-being of our international students. Each year about fifteen international students are housed with families. It is a real commitment for each of these families and encompasses not only offering accommodation and meals but also showing a genuine interest in the well-being of each of the students. Our home-stay coordinator keeps in regular contact with the hosts and students to ensure that everyone’s needs are being met. Chris and Deborah Meichtry from Albany have been home-stay parents to many of our international students over the last ten years. Many of the students stay in contact with them long after they have moved on. On Thursday last week Deb and Chris had a combined farewell and 18th birthday party for Roger Liu. Roger went to stay with the Meichtrys’ three years ago and has become a part of the family. Roger’s success at Pinehurst is due to being an extremely hard worker, however the fact that he had a caring and supportive family during this time has also contributed to his success. A big thanks to Chris and Deborah for all the support they extend to our students. Pictured are Haiyu Huang (international student), Deborah (host), Roger (graduate) and our home-stay coordinator Vicky Kenny. In Music this WeekThank you to Musicians A large number of students from all areas of Pinehurst School performed at the Prizegiving ceremonies and Christmas Concert over the final last two days of terms. A bit thank you to everyone for their patience but mostly their talent, and a special thank you to those who came into school specifically to perform. Thank you to Ms Du Toit and Ms Watters for their loving and highly organised approach to the Primary and Junior College students who contributed to this event. Brass Bursary From next year, a Brass Instrument Bursary will be offered to students who wish to enrol into regular itinerant lessons and learn to play a Brass Instrument while contributing to a music co-curricular group at Pinehurst. A limited amount of instruments will also be available on loan as well as a monetary contribution toward tuition. Information on how to apply will follow at the start of the year. Co-Curricular Groups on offer in 2020 A great range of music co-curricular groups will be available during lunchtimes or after school during the week next year. Students can sign up to perform within a group setting and receive mentoring by a specialist. Participation in these groups is free but a certain code of conduct and commitment is expected.
Itinerant Lessons on offer in 2020 Nineteen other part-time, instrumental specialists offer individual tuition before school, during and after school for the following instruments:
For more information or to enrol your child in a co-curricular group or instrumental tuition, visit the Music page on the Pinehurst School website, via this link. The Addams Family Musical 2020 Production Cast List Thank you to all the students that auditioned for next year's musical production, The Addams Family. We appreciate and admire your bravery, it is not easy to dance, sing and act on the spot. If your name is not on this list, please don't be too disheartened. There will be plenty of back stage/costume/set and band roles on offer next year or in future productions at Pinehurst. Keep an eye out on the notices from the start of next year. Congratulations to the below students who have been cast in the following roles.
Ancestors –
Uniform Shop Holiday HoursJanuary 13 – 17th: 10am - 2pm Jan 20, 21 and Jan 23, 24: 10am - 2pm January 22nd: 11am - 3pm Please note: the online uniform shop will be taken offline from this week until start of sales on January 13, 2020. School Holiday Tennis Coaching
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