Friday 7 August 2020Opening Words from the Executive PrincipalKia ora tatou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 I’ve been so impressed by the Year 6 students this week: they’ve been doing their Checkpoint practice assessments, and have been brilliant. They’ve taken them seriously and given them a good go, but have also been sensible and proportionate. I was delighted to see a group of them head off on a basketball zone day yesterday, balancing work and (very enthusiastic!) play. As you will be aware, we have progress tests in Years 4 and 5 as well, and of course we run examinations from Years 7 to 13. There aren’t many schools who do progress tests anymore, but we think it works well because it means that students have the skills they need in exams, and they also learn to take them seriously but not too seriously. We have been reflecting on how we run exams a great deal this year, and it feels like the right time to talk through our philosophy. All of our examinations – without exception – until Year 10 are about four things: practising examination skills; checking the progress students have made so far; working out what students need to do to improve further; and checking that the school is doing the right things with the children. This means that we treat all of the results of these exams very cautiously: we celebrate the achievements of all of our children; we make sure that they never feel that they have ‘failed’; and we work with children to identify the areas they need to work on. Parents can help us with this by adopting the same approach, helping students to study appropriately and to feel prepared, and by always being positive and focusing on the future. Oh! And also by making sure that all children are playing sports, performing music and drama, dancing, singing, drawing and doing all the other things that they love too. For our Year 11, 12 and 13 students, of course, their IGCSE, AS Level and A Level exams loom large. These are external exams, and students earn certificates that have grades on them. These are about achievement, and it’s important that students work hard for them. But they also need to keep doing things they love to do, so if you have a teenager who is complaining about having too much to do, please help them to continue doing their sports, music and other activities. And please – of course – check with their teachers for any guidance about support they need. We are currently scheduling tutorials for the upcoming holidays: these are likely to run for 8 weekdays: Wednesday to Friday in the first week of the holidays and every day in the second week of the holidays. There will also be study space in the Library throughout the holiday. And I want every one of our senior students to set time aside for exercise and socialising too. We all need balance in our lives! I’ve written three paragraphs about exams! Some highlights from my week to finish: Year 5-8 table tennis players having great fun at the North Shore Table Tennis Centre; Year 9 and 10 basketball players refusing to be muscled out of the game by an aggressive team of opponents; devastating Year 1, 2 and 3 netball players at Kidzplay; getting high-fived every morning by a very enthusiastic pre-school younger sister of one of our littlest students; popping in to see the last ten minutes of Mr Reynolds’ exciting Year 8 Science lesson and seeing the enthusiastic, light-dawning responses to two quick, clever experiments. 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 Hillary MannBeing an educator is a privilege. Teachers get to shape the future of society by imparting rangatahi, our young people, with the knowledge and attitudes that will last a lifetime. One of the reasons that I am passionate about teaching Economics is that it encourages students to interpret life through a new lens – one that focuses on systems rather than situations, and values over actions. And so, I always take the opportunity to promote programmes such as Like a Boss (LAB), the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) and Case Competitions in our curriculum as these activities can shape student attitudes and worldviews in a positive way. I hope to see more students taking positive action in their community, being adaptive, and growing an entrepreneurial mindset; characteristics that are critical to navigate the world in which our rangatahi will live. Outside of the Commerce curriculum, I like to indulge my creative side by working on costumes for the College production and supporting the Kapahaka group. Both of my sons, who are 5 and 6 years old, attend Pinehurst school. When they talk about the activities they are excited about – chess club, Petite Elite, rugby, productions, camps, football – I am thankful to have such a rich and diverse environment for my children. Kia Ora, A brilliantly varied week that highlighted much of what is good about our school community. On Monday I enjoyed watching our senior speech finals. The topics ranged from fast fashion and its impact on the environment, to the value of ‘influencers’, military proliferation, mindfulness, and global warming. All of the speeches were confidently delivered and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience, even as they stretched into the lunch break. In Year 7 and Year 8 we had our best distance runners compete confidently in the zone cross country competition. Our boys and girls hockey teams also performed strongly in their zone days, with the girls doing particularly well. I enjoyed watching our social 1st XI girls football team beat a Takapuna Grammar team. Yesterday we completed our rescheduled and slightly scaled down Year 9-13 swimming sports competition, with junior age group records tumbling. While watching this variety of sport I have been able to catch up with many parents on the side-lines. It is great to see our students so well supported by parents, it seems that we frequently have more support than our opposition. During assembly yesterday we were treated to a preview of the upcoming Addams Family production. It was a great performance which has built the anticipation of the full performance later in the term. The school orchestra also performed in the assembly. Also, during the week, the Citizenship Council hosted their annual Ladies Lunch to fundraise for Breast Cancer Foundation. It was brilliantly organised, and the students involved should be proud of what they achieved. To finish the week, we had our top mathematicians complete the Australian Maths Competition. We look forward too getting their results back later in the term. Nga Mihi, Kieran Verryt Information Evening – Cambridge Advanced LevelWe would like to invite all current Year 11 and 12 students and their parents/caregivers to attend an Information Evening regarding the Cambridge Advanced Level options.
There is also an optional talk before the Cambridge Advanced Level presentation by Mrs Griffiths at 5.45pm - Parents as Career Educators. Careers WeekNext week is Careers Week at Pinehurst with a number of different careers-focused events taking place over the week. Many students are currently considering their future pathways as they select their options for in 2021. To assist with this, we are holding two student-led Subject Fairs (Tuesday lunchtime for Year 9, Thursday P7 for Year 11/12). These will be relatively informal events and provide an opportunity for students to come and talk to senior students to find out what it is like to take specific subjects. This complements the more formal Option Choice Evenings on Monday 10th and Monday 17th. During the week, teachers will be talking to classes and POD/homerooms about their own career journeys and also, what occupations and courses of study their subjects can lead on to. Parents as Career Educators For parents, there is also the opportunity to come along earlier (5:45pm) on the Information Evenings (which start at 6:30pm) if you are interested in learning more about how you can help your son/daughter navigate the decision making around life after Pinehurst. This will be on both Monday 10 and 17 August. Careers Reports (Year 9 and Year 11)To assist with subject selection, we will be generating Careers Reports summarising content from each student’s Career Central profile. Most of the information on these has been created by the students themselves, and in the case of Year 11 students it has been discussed in a 1-1 interview with the Career Counsellor. You can expect the Year 11 ones next week and the Year 9 ones in Week 6 after they have spent time with Mrs Griffiths in Global Citizenship classes working on their profiles.
2019 Academic Cup WinnersIf you received an Academic Cup in 2019, please would you return it to reception, thank you. Our Future AucklandOver the weekend, six Pinehurst students competed in the “Our Future Auckland” competition held at Auckland University. This was a Case Competition in which they were given a case regarding 'Climate Change and Our City'. Their task was to design and pitch a solution. On Sunday they presented their ideas – in a fairly large lecture theatre - to a panel of judges including Auckland City Council. Calder Bain, Jack Paranihi, Brydee Dickins, Minghan Xiao, Ray Zhang and Mark Ming represented the school extremely well, and also learned some great skills. Some comments from the students follow. “The weekend was great. It is a really good experience for us to know about how to manage our time and learn some knowledge about society’s future. The presentation also let us know how to make a nice team work. I really enjoyed this activity and the judge’s opinion inspired us in our economic study.” - Mark Ming, Year 13 ‘The weekend was great, all of our Pinehurst students fully indulged in the event and we learnt how to effectively manage the work among the group with some innovative ideas on our life. Socializing with students from other schools was also interesting. Overall it is a really good event and a great opportunity to apply knowledge from textbook into real life.” - Minghan Xiao, Year 13 NH Zone Day HockeyOur Year 7/8 Boys & Girls Hockey teams represented Pinehurst at the NH Zone Day Hockey Boys & Girls tournament events this week. The event was held at the fantastic new Harbour Hockey facility on Bush Road. Both teams performed exceptionally well at their respective events, with the boys finishing 7th overall after a strong second half of the tournament, and our girls (undefeated on the day!) finishing in a very strong 5th (this was after some draw results/count-back format in pool play) In particular we would like to note their fantastic 5/6 playoff game where they won against Northcross 1-0. A huge thank you to Will Elliot (TIC College Hockey), Avril, Carol James, Emily, Rebekah and Senior College Umpires Oscar & Alex for supporting the teams at these events, and to all the parents/supporters who came along to cheer on the teams over the 2 days. NH Zone Day Cross CountryOn Tuesday a group of 16 Year 7 & 8 students traveled to Sanders Reserve to take part in the 2020 NH Zone Day Cross Country event. It was a stunning winter day, with the unexpected heat in the winter sun making the tough hilly course seem even tougher for many competitors. Our students were fantastic on the day, giving their all to the course, with many of the runners finishing in the top half of the 100+ strong races. A very special mention however to Ivy Roodt who had an exceptional race in the Year 7 girls event, finishing 5th overall out of over 100 competitors. This fabulous result means Ivy will represent the North Harbour Zone and Pinehurst at the Auckland Cross Country Championships in Week 7. Thank you also to Avril & Reiss for their assistance on the day at the finish line. AS HistoryIn AS History students recreated some photos of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia being silly with his friends. Year 13 ChemistryYear 13 students in Chemistry have been studying methods of analysing organic compounds using NMR, mass spectrometry and chromatography. The students used chromatography to separate the colours in plants such as kale and spinach giving the classic green and yellow dyes. They also used various pens to produce some additional chromatograms. We managed to borrow the thin layer chromatography kit and the UV light device from Massey University. The students were then able to produce chromatograms of the sample to see if it was aspirin by comparing the sample with actual aspirin and salicylic acid under UV light. This is the only way the sample could be seen. It did indeed prove to be aspirin. The students enjoyed the practical work. Kia Ora, I have seen a lot of fantastic effort in the Primary school this week. We are so lucky to work with such well behaved and focused students who want to learn and whose families value learning. Learning in itself is a journey and one we should hope to never finish, there is always more to learn, to refine and get better at. Attitude is everything and to be able to work with young people who are striving to improve is a privilege. Whether it’s letter formation in New Entrants, using paragraphs in Year 2 or subordinate clauses in Year 3, to name a few examples, our students are showing great determination to improve. I have had to order more stickers to reward the children that come to share their work, what a joy! The Lion King rehearsals are coming along nicely with main parts getting to grips with their lines and the rest of Year 5 and 6 learning the familiar theme tunes of the show. We can’t wait to perform for an audience next term. A student I was talking to this week told me he was tired and as it was only 10am I asked why. This led to a conversation about bedtimes and so it seemed a good opportunity to remind parents about the importance of sleep. You are investing valuable resources in sending your child to our school and we want to get the best out of them. Making sure your child has a good night’s sleep of at least 9-12 hours a night is vital if they are going to be focused during lessons. Along with this goes healthy food and physical activity which will give your child the best chance of being a successful learner. As always thanks for your support at home. Enjoy the weekend and time with your family. Nga Mihi, Sian Coxon, Principal of Primary Year 2 NetballWe currently have a space available in our Year 2 Netball Programme for the remainder of the 2020 season. If you daughter or son is in Year 2, and would like to play Netball, please contact anina.botes@pinehurst.school.nz for further information. Super Cluster BasketballOur first Primary Interschool event for Term 3 took place this week - Super Cluster Basketball. The event was held at Eventfinda Stadium where there was a fantastic tournament atmosphere. Our boys team showed exceptional skill on the court, and the team won all their pool games against Murrays Bay, Sunnynook and Mairangi Bay schools. They then went on to have a very close loss in the semi final against Browns Bay (20-15), and finished the day 4th overall – a fantastic result! Our girls had a great day, improving every game they played. Although they didn’t manage a win, they did go into double overtime in their last game which was very exciting for our team of almost all ‘new to basketball’ players. A huge thanks to Coach Jesse, Jessica & Victoria for assisting Mrs Lindsay with the teams on the day. P4 Pirates!Year 1 students in P4 have turned into Pirates this term! We started this term learning some pirate talk we can use in the classroom. “Shiver me timbers” and “Ahoy Matey” is our favourite. Just to add a little bit of fun to our theme! We have been using Pirate books from the library to do our own research and investigation on how to be a pirate. We came up with a few things and wrote them in a letter to some of our friends who were interested in becoming pirates. We then explored some 'WOW' words that we will use this term during our big write to make our sentences more exciting! The children in P4 discovered that in order to be a fierce pirate you will need a mischievous eye patch. You will also need a colourful and clever parrot to sit on your shoulder. Then you’ll want a sparkly, sharp sword. And the most important, you need to talk like a frightening, old pirate. In Art, we have been talking about positive and negative shapes and all the different kinds of lines. We thought a lot about what kinds of lines we wanted to use; thin, thick, dashed, short, and long. We also discussed what kinds of shapes we wanted to use. The children in P4 really focused on making creative decisions in their art and rearranged their lines and shapes until they got the perfect masterpiece! They really enjoyed thinking about how they wanted to place things and change them when it wasn’t what they wanted. We wanted to focus on making creative decisions and looking at the details of our art before we made the finished product. Calling All Coders!Ever wondered how to create an animated video? Or an online game? Just ask one of our Year 2 and Year 3 coding superstars! The creative options are endless, as are the skills learned, demonstrated by these engaged Coding Club participants on Tuesday. Halloween ghosts spun through the air, fairies and dragons engaged in battle, guitar chords and drum beats accompanied zany music videos, as 50 excited students created digital magic, with input (very little was needed!) from some fabulous Year 11 Coding experts. We can’t wait to find out what is in store for us next Tuesday when we re-enter the CODING ZONE! Dragons, Cave Paintings, Golden Orbs and Legends in P11Why do we write? We are learning to identify our purpose for writing, the purpose of a text. In P11, Year 3 students asked themselves some questions: Why are we doing it? Who is it for? What does it need to include? In 'Big Write' we investigated some cool cave paintings to see if we could answer some of our own questions. We heard there are lots of tourists visiting the caves to see the paintings. How could we communicate the story of the cave dragon and the golden orb in the paintings in an exciting way? Write a legend of course! This is our purpose, to tell the story in the paintings to other people. Our audience are visitors who don’t know the legend of the dragon, so we need to make sure we include the important ideas and details so they understand the whole story. We also decided we wanted to entertain them or they wouldn’t want to continue reading, so we looked at ways to do this and came up with using powerful verbs, adverbs and adjectives. We talk about our ideas first in our groups, then write part of our story collaboratively on whiteboards. One of us has our success criteria checklist and their job is to check we are including everything we need to. This takes up most of our writing sessions in a week, so by Friday, we are ready to write our own legends from the plan we have built up. Maybe we will share our completed legends sometime, but for now here is a snippet of our narratives while we work on them... ESOL in the PrimaryIn ESOL this week, the higher Year 1 and 2 groups have been looking at comparative and superlative adjectives in relation to animals, with a secondary focus on using the word 'than' correctly. Some of the other junior groups have been understanding and using the correct English for animals, their body parts and the sounds they make. The older groups have been looking specifically at persuasive texts in reading and using this to support their speech writing. Other groups have been understanding and improving their use of object pronouns. Hands on Learning in Primary ScienceYear 3 are exploring the properties of magnets. The children were fascinated when they explored the invisible force around the poles of the magnet. This simple experiment enabled them to explore how far the force went from the edge of the pole. They used different magnets to see if the strength of the magnet made a difference to how far away they could hold the magnet and still have the clip and string stand up on its own. Scientists performing 'MAGIC'. Year 4 are learning about the skeleton and its functions. We are learning the names of the bones in our body and the function of the skeleton. This week we explored the different joints in our body and how these joints allow us to move. Children enjoyed making a model of the gliding joints in our spine. To complete our unit on electricity Year 6 children designed and made a simple quiz board using a series circuit. We used card, tinfoil, metal pins and insulating tape to make the circuit. To complete the circuit, we attached our boards to the power pack and bulb. If the question was answered correctly the light lit up. This was a challenging task but well worth the effort as children are now able to use the quiz boards for revision. Money, Pizza, Fractions = Maths!Who doesn’t love pizza and money?? Setting up a pizza shop, choosing the topping and size of the slice you want, then calculating how much you need to pay and how much change you will get, that sounds like fun the Year 3 Maths Cross-Group students thought. They worked out pretty quickly that they needed to identify how many slices would be in each pizza by using their fraction knowledge, then calculate the cost using addition facts with money, and finally subtraction strategies to work out how much change was needed. Maths is everywhere they agreed, and it can be so much fun! Next time we think we need to experiment with REAL pizza! Year 6 ArtThis term Year 6 students are compiling a photography portfolio for Art. Each week they have a different aspect they are focussing on. Last week they practised using the formatting tools. They could crop and alter the effects of their original photo. Below are two examples of the final images created by Arabela and Maisy. This week our very enthusiastic budding photographers have been roaming the school finding interesting patterns to photograph. The Golden DragonRaymond Yang in Year 3 has been showcasing his writing skills. Read on to discover what appeared from the massive golden egg... “Once upon a time, 100,000,000 years before the universe was made, everything was black, dark and silent. However, in a bright ball of light was a massive golden dragon egg. Suddenly, a CRACK! sound came from the golden egg!...It broke into half, and a beautiful golden dragon rose from its cracked egg! It had a shiny blue diamond on its golden tail, it was 1m high, half a metre long and she was very shiny like the diamond on its tail. Then, the dragon suddenly was covered in a bright light, the bright light turned bigger, bigger and bigger! At last it turned into the sun and the dragon lived happily ever after. The end.” In Music this WeekYear 8 Music Classes - Research Projects The new rotation of the Year 8 music classes have started off their journey of discovery into the Benefits of Music on a particular field. This week we have enjoyed presentations that focused on how music can be beneficial for improving mental health. Daniel AlSammak and Angelina Ibrahim presented superbly researched and presented projects for their peers. Over the next week Year 8 will continue presenting various areas that examine the positive effects of music to their peers. Arts ScarfThe Arts Council was formed in 2019 with the goal to promote and acknowledge the drama, art, dance and music students at Pinehurst School. The major focus of the council has been to finalise the Arts Scarf design this term, which has been now ordered through the supplier and will be handed out by the end of the term to Arts students who have made a consistent and meaningful contribution to representing the school in art, drama, music and dance activities. We are currently organising a free to enjoy concert towards the end of the term, to celebrate our talented student. We will continue to work on many exciting projects and our goal is to make the Arts a bigger part of Pinehurst School as we know it is a valuable component of every community. Snow Sports!Last Friday the 2020 Snow Sports programme finally started with over 80 students taking to the slopes at Snowplanet. For many, it was their very first time on the snow. Ms Coxon and Ms Lindsay were superstars in getting all the students through the first registration, into their coloured group bibs and out onto the snow with their instructors. For some additional photos from the first week please visit the Pinehurst Facebook Sports Page. I Spy in the School....I Spy in the Primary...the Pinehurst Fantails, playing their very first game of the season last Saturday! They drew 1:1. I Spy in the Primary...Year 6 learning saturation points of salt and sugar. I Spy in the Primary...Year 4 reading for their quiet time after lunch. I Spy in the Primary...P20 practicing their rugby skills with a bit of Rippa Rugby! Uniform Shop HoursFrom Monday 10th August we are pleased to announce extended opening hours in the uniform shop.
For any uniform requests outside these hours please phone for an appointment. Vicky - 09 414 0960 ext.629, Dyan - 09 414 0960 ext.604 Team Ticket Pass: 10 tickets for only $130 – great value averaging at only $13 per ticket. Use Promo CODE: MYSTSCH20 and receive a $5 discount off Adult tickets Tickets on sale now at: https://www.northernmystics.co.nz/tickets2020/ |