Friday 23 October 2020Opening Words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 There were some ruddy faces on returning from Orewa Beach this week. Year 10 Geography students enjoyed their field trip just up the coast, and all came back talking about the heat. Yes, summer is here! It’s been wonderful to wander around in short sleeves and feel the sun on our backs. Our school is a busy place, but it manages to feel more relaxed when the Auckland summer sun hovers over us. Our Geographers had a great time at the beach, and it’s a good opportunity, actually, for me to talk a little about the subject. Geography is a particularly good subject to take in New Zealand, which has an astonishing diversity of geographical features crammed into a very small space. We also teach Environmental Management in our senior school, and we will be teaching a little more environmental science next year throughout the school, which is a great way of connecting Chemistry, Physics and Biology together and to our planet. It’s all part of the Cambridge curriculum, which puts knowledge at the heart of learning, asking students to connect knowledge to their lives. I’m very excited by this, and by the other curriculum ideas and initiatives of our teachers that are being discussed as they plan next year’s courses. Our students have been doing some serious competing this week. Our Primary Mathex team competed for the very first time and our top team came second – a great result for our first experience of the competition. All of our teams scored in the 90s, which is a fabulous level of consistency. Our Junior College Waterpolo team won the Plate in the Intermediate Winter Festival competition; and Charli Spence came second in the North Island Orienteering Championships. Kidzplay netball sprang back into life last Saturday – all ten of our teams were hungry, competitive and happy to be playing again. And basketball, tennis, gymnastics, table tennis, volleyball, hockey, snow sports, golf, hip hop, touch… and more besides are all going strongly already. I had a great time on Wednesday wandering around at lunchtime, chatting to students as Mr Johansen coached Touch in the background, some children shot some hoops behind me, and others ran around, played football, and just enjoyed some physical activity. Exams continue on as before, of course. We’re about half way through the College exam season at the moment, with Years 7 to 10 to come over the next few weeks. In Primary, we’ve now completed the Year 4, 5 and 6 exams, so we have plenty of time for all the other activities we’re running (and, of course, much more learning!). It’s been great to see quite a bit of outdoor learning too: Mrs McIntosh’s Year 3 class, for example, were exploring the five senses on the back field earlier this week. They found some intriguing examples! I wrote yesterday as a quick reminder about the way we manage Covid-19 at our school. I’m hoping that no additional cases of the virus emerge from the Greenhithe exposure, but our approach is always the same. If you have symptoms: please stay home, have a test, and return to school when the test is negative. Our staff follow these rules too. If you are a notified casual or close contact, the same rule applies, and includes everyone in the household. Children can return to school after a negative test has been received by the person in the household who’s been exposed. I don’t expect any issues at our school, so this is all very precautionary, but we’ll continue to be safe and be cautious. If you have any questions at all, please just let me know. Finally, we say goodbye this week to two wonderful teachers: Ms Howells is returning to her family home in the Welsh valleys to have her first child. We wish her a safe trip and birth, and hope to see her back in our school at some point in the future! Mrs Chadkirk also leaves today. She has been a wonderful member of staff at Pinehurst for 18 years, caring for, supporting and teaching a huge number of children in her time at the school. She leaves us to spend more time with her family – her grandchildren especially, I am sure – and she goes with all of our best wishes and love. Ka kite anō au i a koutou. Have a lovely weekend! Alex Reed 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, The return of the sunshine on Thursday saw everyone heading outdoors to play and learn. Being able to enjoy our beautiful grounds and so much space has always been a big part of our school in a park. Next week we are being interviewed on how we are using our new junior playground and myself and some Year 1 and 2 children are going to be part of a video to show how the space is used for learning and play. The playground has transformed break times by giving every child something to do and what once was a little bit of a wild place to be on duty is now everyone’s favourite area. We love seeing how our families meet together and chat whilst their kids play too, it is a very happy space. Year 4 and 5 have finished progression testing and teachers are busily marking their papers. The students have managed themselves really well over the past two weeks and although they were a little nervous they settled quickly into routines. Valuable lessons have been learned about answering questions in timed tests and that is as much a part of the process at this age as the result. We have a very busy term still to come, Year 6 are heading out to Waterwise next week to sail and rehearsals are well underway for the Lion King. It is going to be an amazing show. Congratulations to our inaugural Junior Mathex teams who came second only by a few minutes. I am sure they will build on the experience and enter the intermediate competition next year. Today we say farewell to two much loved Primary teachers. In New Entrants it is Hannah Howells’ last day as she heads home to Wales to have her baby and in Year 3 we say goodbye to Dallas Chadkirk as she retires after 18 years at Pinehurst. Both teachers will be very much missed, Hannah has only been with us for a short time but has certainly made an impact. We are really looking forward to her joining us again in the future. Dallas has taught and nurtured 18 classes of Year 3 and Year 4 students and has seen many changes at Pinehurst over that time. She has been a wonderful teacher, camp organiser and director of productions, helping many students to enjoy the arts and the outdoors. Dallas is really looking forward to spending more time with her family and we wish her an exciting and happy retirement. Have a wonderful long weekend. Ngā mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Primary Music ConcertsOur annual Senior Primary Music Concert will take place on Monday the 9 November at 3.30 pm in the Arena. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our musically talented students from Years 4-6. To ensure that our concert runs to a maximum of one hour, we will be holding auditions for this event on Friday 30th October. If you would like your son/daughter to audition for this concert, please follow this LINK and fill out all relevant sections by Wednesday 28th October. (Child’s name, year level, instrument, name of piece, and composer) This is important for our programme. Our annual Junior Primary Music Concert will take place on Tuesday the 10 November at 3.30 pm in the Arena. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our musically talented students from Years 1-3. This event will also feature the Petite Elite choir. To ensure that our concert runs to a maximum of one hour, we will be holding auditions for this event on Friday 6th November. If you would like your son/daughter to audition for this concert, please follow this LINK and fill out all relevant sections by Wednesday 3rd November. (Child’s name, year level, instrument, name of piece, and composer). This is important for our programme. We look forward to these exciting musical events! Year 6 Mathex Competition 2020This year for the first time, Pinehurst Primary participated in the Year 5/6 Mathex Competition held at Northcross Intermediate. We sent three teams of four Year 6 students. There was great excitement on the bus as we headed off to Northcross. The students assembled in the auditorium where they were given a briefing on the tournament and how it operates. They had some trial runs to ensure they knew where to go and the direction to run in, to navigate between their work station and their markers desk. The competition against over 40 other teams was fast and fierce. Students were busy calculating and discussing before handing their answer slip to their runner who raced up to the marker. If it was correct they received their next problem, if it was incorrect they tried again. The teams had 30 minutes to solve 20 questions. So time was a key factor. The three Pinehurst teams all acquitted themselves well, with two teams scoring 90% and Team 1 scoring 100%. Team 1 came in second to Pinehill, their team was slightly quicker. Yicheng: “It was fun being in the Mathex team, especially the competition against other teams. It was very intense.” Sophia: “I liked how people went around congratulating other teams after the competition.” Cesar: “It was amazing because everybody was competing and our opponents were very smart as well. I think my team did pretty well for our first time. The bus ride was fun as well.” Sunny: “ It was an interesting experience. Although it was just maths, there was also some running included. It was awesome seeing the stadium filled with mathematicians.” Jerry: “I enjoyed the competition against 48 teams from different schools (including us). I improved my problem-solving skills, which I am okay at. Thank you!” Year 4 Science'A Carousel of Sound' activities was a noisy activity but loads of fun and hands-on learning. Children explored how pitch changed in a variety of instruments. Rulers twanging, rubber band guitars and test tubes filled with water allowed children to hear the different pitch the home-made instruments made. Feeling the vibrations travel along the strings of our paper cup telephones and hearing clearly the messages relayed added to their understanding of how sound travels through different materials. Students also conducted tests on different materials to discover which materials absorbed sounds the best. Using our iPads with the sound meter AP they were able to record the dB of the sound as it travelled through the materials. During our investigations we are learning to record our data in tables and then analyze our results to come to a conclusion which is supported by their evidence. NE to Year 2 SyndicateIn the last two weeks after returning from a restful break, the New to 2 syndicate have begun Term 4 with enthusiasm and excitement enjoying the beautiful weather that has everyone outside in the sunshine, thank goodness we all wear our hats! Our New Entrants in P23 have been busy preparing their hat shop to help with their writing. The window has been displayed with the large selection of hats to sell, inspiring them to draw and write the advertising posters. In Maths our NE in P1 and P2 have been focusing on recognising 3D and 2D shapes and using the correct mathematical language when identifying features of shapes such as, flat, solid, curved, straight, sides. They have been also using positional language such as on top, in, bottom, beside and in between. The students from P1 and P2 have begun looking at traditional Fairy Tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. They have been enjoying the role play area and a range of activities and challenges relating to this topic. The children are learning how music can tell a story. They are exploring sounds and identifying contrasts of fast and slow, loud and quiet. This is also linked to the Fairy Tales unit. For this term P4 and P5 are also learning about Fairy Tales and their Big Write is 'A Wolf's Tale.' This week they have been writing character descriptions and creating the setting of the story. In Science, Year 1 are learning about plants and have begun by deciding if an object is plant, animal, or non-living. In Art we have been creating Spring inspired artworks using line, pattern and texture. In Year 2, the students are reading a very exciting Novel - The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. The children are really enjoying the novel so far. All the learning tasks have been based on the Robot theme to help the students make links across different subject areas. In Reading, the students have been learning to locate evidence to help answer comprehension questions. The question for this activity was - Do you think the animals had good survival skills? After reading the text, the students highlighted any ‘clues’ that helped answer the questions. Next, they created a mind map to help organise the evidence which was gathered. After they completed the mind maps the students will practise articulating answers using supporting evidence. For Art, they created their very own Roz robots out of paper and learnt how to fold, loop, pleat, fringe and use tabs. The students also made robots out of loose arts, they took photos of them to capture their art and then returned the materials to the containers. During Maths, P6 learnt to use directional and positional robots and programmed a ‘Beepbot’ - mini robot to move around a coordinate grid. In Writing, the students wrote formal letters. Some students wrote to Roz, from the Wild Robot asking her questions about her arrival on the deserted island and how she finds ways to survive. Year 3 and 4 SyndicateHere is a quick peek into the exciting learning happening in the Marvellous Middle Syndicate… P13 students are reading plays, practising spelling words in chalk, and working on developing fluency and comprehension… …P14 are practising key notes on a recorder, using figurative language to write character descriptions, and creating their own interpretation of a local landscape, Rangitoto Island, through freehand drawing and water-colour pencil after exploring New Zealand landscape art… …P12 are uplevelling ‘sick’ sentences by adding gripping vocab and practising how to use expression to engage their audience when reading aloud… Year 3 have had a wonderful start to the term; exploring the senses through taste in P9 Science to identify sweet, salty and sour tastes (each student was very careful to use a new cotton bud or dropper for each test of course!)… …working with a writing buddy to use prepositions and adverbs effectively to up-level a play script and write more detailed stage directions in P10… …and making props and working on plays in P11, then performing in front of an audience in the buddy class assembly. We’re so looking forward to what the rest of term brings! Year 5 and 6 SyndicateFantastic Fives This terms Global Perspective focus in Year 5 is around water, which is topical at the moment with the current water restrictions in place. Students explore the usage of water and people’s access to it, both locally and globally. The unit is based around developing students research skills, in particular, their ability to write research questions, take notes from a range of reliable sources, and actively question the meaning of language and new concepts. We look forward to seeing what ‘action’ students take after completing their research. Year 5 Writing This term in writing we are completing a new mission all about Medieval England! A group of students have travelled back in time and need some help to write an information report about what life was like during this interesting and exciting time in history. We've learnt lots of information so far about housing and food during this period and about the lifestyle of both the rich and poor. It is fascinating to see how different life was for each of these groups of people! Year 5 and 6 Music This term in Music, the Year 5 and 6 students are focusing on songs from “The Lion King Jr.” in preparation for our exciting show in Week 7. We are now able to perform many of the songs with just the backing track – huge progress! Many lunchtimes are spent working with soloists and groups and they are sounding great. We are also working on several percussion pieces. These are generally in 4 parts, each with a different rhythm. This is both challenging and rewarding (when we all get to the end at the same time!) It’s been wonderful to see students reading such complex rhythmic patterns and working in teams. Up until now we have been using body percussion, and our next step is to introduce instruments. Production We are very much enjoying rehearsing our School show – “The Lion King Jr.” The show involves all of our Y5 and Y6 students and promises to be an extravaganza of singing, dancing and acting. The show is on 24th and 26th November and it starts at 6.30pm. More details will be coming to you closer to the time but please talk to your children about their part and what their role is in the show. If you have an enquiries about the show, please contact Karen Spicer at karen.spicer@pinehurst.school.nz Super Sixes Year 6 writers are on another Big Write Mission this term. They have been given the challenge to write and perform a play script. It begins with a list of characters and is divided into acts which are then divided into scenes. Each scene needs to include a setting description and the characters’ dialogue. Most importantly, they must consider stage directions for the actors. Our Year 6 script writers are currently exploring a model play script, focusing on understanding the purpose, audience and structure of this text type. Ready, Set, Go! During P.E., the Year 6 students have been practising and developing a wide range of skills within athletics. Mastering their technique in High Jump, correctly holding the discus or shot put, demonstrating a successful throw and learning to run fast in a sprinting race. Everyone is very excited and looking forward to competing in our Inter-House Athletics Day later in the term. Year 6 Art Year 6 are developing their printing skills this term, both in block construction and by overlaying different colours. Printmaking in Year 6 is an artistic process based on the principle of transferring images from a matrix onto another surface. We will be using foam to create the printing block. The motivation is Andy Warhol’s Endangered animal prints. In 1983, Andy Warhol created a series of ten colour screenprints that portrayed endangered animals from around the world (as shown in the picture). We are looking forward to seeing their prints on display! Kia Ora, We have enjoyed a very settled week in school. Our Year 9 students have transitioned back into classes well after Checkpoint. Our Year 7, 8 and 10 students are working hard in preparation for their end of year examinations that will take place in Week 5. The schedule for these examinations are available to students and parents on SchoolBox. Year 12 and Year 13 students are now on study leave as they work through their CAIE examinations. Year 11 students have had a busy week of IGCSE examinations and will begin their official study leave today. There are still a number of tutorials taking place for senior students so please encourage your son or daughter to avail of them. We hosted our final 2020 Open Day to College on Tuesday and it was once again very well attended. A good number of our current Year 8 and Year 9 students assisted with the tours and answered the visitor’s questions as they arose. At the end of the tours the key point of feedback from visiting parents was how impressed with our students they were. This was not only a reflection upon the excellent job our students did in assisting with the tours, but also upon the behaviour our students exhibited in the classroom and around the school. The students were engaged in lessons and also demonstrated excellent manners when moving around the school. This week we have had zone days in both Basketball and Waterpolo for our Year 7/8 teams with great performances. We have also had our Year 10 geographers away on a fieldtrip to Orewa. Next week our Year 8 students embark on their activity week which is taking place due to a lack of camps for this cohort. An excellent week is planned, and I hope the students enjoy it. Parents will also be receiving letters in the next few days providing information about the upcoming Year 9 fieldtrips and the Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh tramp. I hope that you enjoy the long weekend and wish those that are traveling a safe trip. Ngā mihi, Kieran Verryt, Principal of College Waterpolo Winter Festival Tournament Winners!Over the past weekend, our Pinehurst/MBIS composite Waterpolo team took part in the Winter Festival Intermediate Tournament for the first time. On Friday the team had a strong game against Carmel, narrowly going down 4-5. On Saturday, the team had a win in the morning 5-7 against Rosmini, with another narrow loss in the evening 2-4 against Ponsonby. The team had another win on Sunday morning – 6-5 against Murrays Bay, which put them in the plate final! With a win in their final game against St Heliers, the team were the Winter Festival Tournament Plate Champions for 2020! A huge thank you to Lucas (Coach) and Sarah (Manager) for all their organisation and support, and to all the parents & players for a huge effort to make games all over Auckland during the tournament. Intermediate Waterpolo 1-Day TournamentOur Pinehurst/MBIS composite Waterpolo Tournament team were excited to finally get in the pool yesterday for their previously twice cancelled one day tournament event. As a composite team, we were entered in B Grade, and from the very first pool game the team sent a strong message that they would be a team to be reckoned with! After a convincing 12-0 over MBIS7, another 2 pool game wins followed (9-0 against Kristin, and 4-2 against Orewa), and this saw the team finish top of their pool. The semi final against Mahurangi started out very tight, but Pinehurst put on an exceptional display in the latter part of the game to come away with a 6-0 win. The final was against Kingsway, with a draw in the final 1-1 at full time, the game went to shootout. Another draw (5-5) at the end of the shootout saw us go to golden penalty shootout point, with Pinehurst securing the win 9-8. Congratulations to the team - Billie, Alistair, Isabelle, Mercedez, Finn, Tara, Fernanda and Ivan, Callum & Eli from MBIS, Coach Lucas and Manager Sarah on an exceptional tournament and your fantastic teamwork and sportsmanship. NISS Orienteering 2020Last weekend the North Island Secondary Schools Orienteering Championships were held in Tuakau/Waiuku. As with many sporting events in 2020, this was a date that had been moved a couple of times so it was fantastic to see it finally happen. Unfortunately with the new date, a couple of competitors were unavailable due to other commitments. Still, we had 3 students who were able to take part – Benen Sitarachiyanon (Sprint Event), Tye McQuinlan (Sprint Event) and Charlotte Spence (Sprint Event and Forest Event). Particular congratulations must go to Charlotte who came 2nd in the Y7/8 Girls Championship in both the Sprint and the Forest events. Thank you also to coach, Heidi Stolberger (past NZ representative), who has worked with our students during the year. New Zealand Secondary School Swimming Individual ChampsLast weekend Andrew Qin travelled to Te Rapa to compete in the NZSS Swimming Individual Champs. Andrew entered three events finishing in the top 10 for all of them. He placed 7th/14 200m (age 14) Breaststroke, 5th/19 100m (age 14) Breaststroke, 4th/33 50m (age 14) Breaststroke. Well done Andrew! NH Zone Day BasketballYesterday our Pinehurst Year 7-8 Basketball team competed in the NH Zone Day Basketball event at Eventfinda stadium. The team - Hunter, Ronald, Kristian, Charliee, Anson, William, Roger, Tye, Austin & Hybo – won 2 of their 3 pool games, placing them second in their pool and earning them a Top 8 spot for the afternoon games! After losses in the quarter and semi finals, the team went on to finish 8th overall out of 16 teams, with a narrow loss (2 points!) to Rosmini in their final game of the day. A huge thanks to Coach Cam and Jesse (Referee for this event) and to Tania (Manager), Tarnya & Peili for supporting the team on the day. Y7 Social Science Inquiries - Human CargoYear 7 have been busy learning about human migration, past and present. People migrate, both internally and internationally, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are forced to leave, what we call PUSH factors, whilst some choose to migrate voluntarily, we call PULL factors. As part of this course, every student was tasked with an inquiry project that focused on a particular group of human migrants, their background story, followed by the key causes and effects of their migration. Each student followed the inquiry cycle, devising a wide range of open and closed questions to research, recording notes, facts and evidence in a logical format before presenting their findings to the class or teacher for grading. Here are some examples of their inquiry work… Rotary Intermediate Speech CompetitionAs the winner of the Year 8 speech competition, Zoe Atkinson represented Pinehurst at Rotary’s annual speech competition for intermediate schools in the area. Her topic, Why we shouldn’t give up our teddy bears!, highlighted the need for children of all ages to have something that gives them comfort and support as they face the challenges of growing up. It was a wonderful experience for Zoe and she ‘loved hearing the variety of the speeches and how articulate the kids on the North Shore are.’ Year 10 Geography FieldtripThis week Year 10 Geography students went on a fieldtrip to Orewa Beach to gather information and data about the processes occurring on the beach. Their hypothesis was that human processes are accelerating erosion at Orewa Beach. Next week in class we will collate all of our gathered data and assess whether or not this hypothesis is true. It was a beautiful 2 days out at the beach and a great way for the students to put their fieldwork skills into practice. College ArtThis year’s Art & Design students have worked very hard to complete their coursework. Here are a few examples of the final outcomes created by both IGCSE and A Level students. Good time to join our Award winning Jazz Band and OrchestraIf your child can play an orchestral or Jazz combo-appropriate instrument, these groups will be starting on new repertoire this week and are looking to expand their intake. The groups will be performing at the Prizegiving ceremonies, end-of-year Christmas Concert and next year’s KBB Competition. The Orchestra rehearses on Thursday lunchtimes in C2 and is open to Primary & College Students. The Jazz Band rehearses on Mondays from 3.30-5pm in C2 and is open to Primary & College students by audition. Any questions, please contact Marija Naumovska. Beethoven Trio Chamber Group Performs at AssemblyYear 9-13 were treated to four of the nine Beethoven Variations for piano, violoncello and clarinet Op.89 on Thursday afternoon. Winston Hu (Yr 10) on the piano, Yu Zhang Wu (Yr 9) on the violoncello and Matthew Verlaguet-Troncoso (Yr 9) on the clarinet have been meeting regularly this year (when possible) to rehearse and prepare the Theme and Variations for next year’s Chamber Music Group contest held between 8th of June – 7th August in Auckland. The group have been mentored by Marika Balzat this year, our new violin teacher and wowed their peers with their masterful interaction and performance. I Spy... in the school.I Spy in the Primary...Year 3 students in P9 writing plays. I Spy in the Primary... Year 7 Social Science! I Spy in the Primary...Year 1 & 2 hard at work with their words! I Spy...P14 in the library. Quiz Night 2020 - Friday 30 October, 7:30pmIf you haven't let Judy Wallace know the name of your team please let get in touch. The gym will be open from 3:15pm to set up your tables. Looking forward to seeing some great dress-ups and themes! Mum's F&TIf you are interested in booking a ticket please RSVP or email sylvia.lum@pinehurst.school.nz 2W Gravity Enduro Mountain Bike EventPinehurst student, Ben Spence, competed in the 2W Gravity Enduro at Rotorua in the weekend which is a very large competitive downhill style mountain bike event - over four different timed downhill stages. Ben placed 1st in the Under 21 Men’s Short Course and 3rd overall out of 200+ competitors in the Men’s Short Course. Congratulations and well done Ben! |