No images? Click here Newsletter - 6 May 2022Message from the Executive PrincipalKia ora koutou, good afternoon, 你好, 안녕하세요 Welcome back to school. We’ve had a gloriously bright start to Term 2, as well as a slightly unusual one, so I’m going to begin this week’s newsletter with some celebrations before moving onto a couple of more complicated matters. Congratulations to Jack Potier, Osbert Gu, Eleanor Saunders, Jasmine Lyles and Yeenok Zhang, all of whom took part in the National Age Group Swimming Championships over the holidays. Jack and Osbert both won Gold medals, as well as a clutch of Silvers and Bronzes; Jasmine won three medals; and Eleanor made two finals. I’m very proud of all five students, as I am of all of our competitive swimmers. I feel like I haven’t mentioned this sport for a while, but it’s become one of our strongest sports over the last few years, and having two national champions is something for us all to celebrate. I’d also like to celebrate the achievements of Brooke Peacock and Emily Stuart, who were both selected for the North Harbour U18 Hockey team. As the winter sports season gets going, we will see other students recognised for their talents, so please let me know about their achievements: we haven’t talked much about this side of our children’s talents recently, with so much disruption, and I’m keen to boast now we’re running at full steam. In school, I’m told that the atmosphere has been fabulous this week. We had a moving powhiri to welcome Mrs Sullivan on Tuesday, and our New Entrant teachers who have just joined us, Mrs Lee and Mrs Eyre, have settled in brilliantly. Welcome, too, to the new families of children in P1 and P2 who have become part of our community. I hope your sons and daughters have had a great start to their school life. We also welcome Carmen Stella, our new Events Co-ordinator, whom many of you will get to know over the coming years. Term 2 is always a term in which a huge amount of academic work gets completed, especially in the senior years, but this term also promises to be full of music, activities, sports and events. It’s going to be great! I do need to mention Covid-19 quickly. Many thanks to all those who have sent me best wishes, thoughts or prayers: I’m very grateful. It’s not, as we know, very pleasant for those of us who are a little older, but I’m hoping I’ll be fit to come back to school next week. As you know, we have had a number of cases this week, virtually all of which seem to have been contracted in activities or other events before term started. We will continue to have cases, and we will continue to impose mandatory masks where needed, and to test in our targeted way. My advice to everyone remains that the best protection is to wear a mask when you are indoors, supported by all of our other measures. At the same time, just to be clear, our school is running at full throttle now, and all activities are taking place. Do be patient with us, though, as we manage staff absences. At this moment, 4 College teachers and 4 other staff are isolating, either because they have tested positive or because they are household contacts, and this does mean some relief teaching and remote teaching has to take place. Finally, I am aware that Mr Davies’ letter on Tuesday was a surprise to most of our community, and I am truly sorry that I haven’t been around to answer your understandable questions this week. Covid came at a very inconvenient time! I’m leaving to take a role leading a really good international school in China. It’s an opportunity that arose, and I took it, after a great deal of thought, because I’ve always wanted to experience life there for a few years, and the school I’m going to has developed an ethos that is actually quite similar to Pinehurst’s values – respect and excellence, yes, but also a commitment to building a community. As you know, this is something that matters hugely to me. It will be a challenge, both professionally and personally, and I’m looking forward to it. I am, though, very sad to be leaving Pinehurst, especially its people: the staff, the parents and, above all, our students. Our community is a wonderful one, and this is the best place I have ever worked. In a way, that makes me more comfortable leaving, because I know that my successor will walk into a strong, vibrant, committed school that is well-placed to continue to move forwards. The school, from Year 0 to 13, is led by exceptional people, both teachers and the leaders who make the organisation run so smoothly; our teachers are amongst the best in New Zealand; and our students and their families are the very best in New Zealand! In other words, I can’t wait to see the school continue to develop over the coming years, and I know it’s in very safe hands. Above all, I think, our commitment to building and sustaining a strong community is baked into every one of us: Mr Davies, the Founder of the school, created the Pinehurst Triangle – students, staff and parents – and this will always drive us. But speeches can wait until December! We have an exciting term ahead of us, and I can’t wait to be back on campus to see everyone next week. Have a lovely weekend and see you on Monday! Ngā mihi, Alex. 如需阅读校长的中文留言和重要事件日期,请点击此处 Monday 9 May
Tuesday 10 May
Wednesday 11 May
Thursday 12 May
Message from the Principal of PrimaryKia ora, We have had a wonderful first week of Term 2 in the Primary. The mornings have been chilly and the afternoons hot, but the sunshine has helped us make the most of our beautiful facilities. On Monday during our Teacher Only Day, we focused on the upcoming term as well as the new Cambridge Primary Art curriculm, which we will introduce in Term 3, and how we can continue to upskill ourselves as classroom teachers. It was a great day of learning! On Tuesday morning I had the privilege of attending the Powhiri for our new College Principal, Dawn Sullivan. I have known Dawn for many years, we worked together in the College at one point, and have kept in touch over the years. I am very excited to be working with Dawn again on the Senior Leadership team and for the school to have her considerable knowledge and skills in leadership. The Powhiri was very moving and students from her former school along with our own kapa haka group, were inspirational. The Primary participants have really grown their skills and will continue to develop and lead the school well into their College years. We were very proud of them. I was really pleased to know that there wasn't going to be a shark waiting for me in my office this week after a visit to P4! The children were writing about an animal who ate the headteacher in her office. So, I was glad to learn from another student in P7 that I would be fine because, well silly, sharks can't breathe out of water. Phew! She was right, why didn't I think of that? We pride ourselves in being really well prepared and starting our programmes from the first lesson of the term, you can check the overviews on Seesaw for everything we have planned to learn this term. Welcome to 20 new students and their families who have joined us in P1 and P2 this term, we are loving getting to know you and your new teachers, Mrs Judy Eyre and Mrs Hana Lee. You have settled beautifully and will be superstars. Kia pai to rā whakata, have a good weekend. Ngā mihi, Sian Coxon. Primary SpecialistsOur Primary specialist teachers have an exciting term planned for our Year 0-6 students. Health This term In Health, Year 3 students will be focusing on ‘Keeping Safe’, with an emphasis on ‘No Bullying’. During the term they will learn to discriminate between bullying and other types of negative behaviour, develop skills to respond adaptively to being ‘put down’ and develop skills and strategies for discouraging bullying and trying to be an ‘upstander’ not just a bystander. Throughout the unit students will be encouraged to develop confidence to take greater personal responsibility regarding keeping themselves and others safe. - Pippa Fleming Additional Language Learners To begin the term the Additional Language Learning intermediate groups will be learning through our overarching theme of occupations. We will be focusing on understanding and using suffixes and their meanings. We will then move onto learning to use the present continuous tenses and begin to use some basic perfect tenses. - Tanya Playfair Year 4-6 Spanish This term, we are consolidating the four skill areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, while learning about different topics. We will learn to use correct pronunciation when presenting dialogues. Year 4: We are learning to communicate about nationalities. We will focus on using correct pronunciation and learn to introduce 3rd person, using correct grammar. Year 5: We are going to start this term with number revision and move on to communicate about birthdays and dates. Year 6: We are starting with learning to identify number patterns when counting up to 100. Then, we will learn to read, write, listen and speak about body parts in Spanish and explore a range of adjectives to write a monster description. - Nicole Shin Year 0-3 Spanish New Entrants / Year 1 Spanish: We will be exploring the topic of animals and colours. Students will learn to differentiate nouns into masculine and feminine groups and describe the animals using Spanish colours. Year 2 Spanish: Students will learn to label body parts in Spanish and learn to distinguish singular and plural nouns. Year 3 Spanish: We will be broadening our vocabulary on the topic of numbers, months and days, to talk about dates and birthdays. - Erica Cataloni Primary Music Year 1 - In our ‘Fun with Sound’ unit, students will continue to develop their fine and gross motor skills through movement activities with a bigger focus on body percussion. Year 2 - In our ‘Water, Water Everywhere’ unit, learners will explore how to represent water in sound and movement. They will continue to sing so/mi songs with actions. They will continue to identify and use the Kodály-Curwen hand signs to represent different pitches. Year 3 - In our ‘Soundscapes, Layering Sounds and Rounds’ unit, we will learn about soundscapes, layering sounds and rounds. Learners will focus on singing (including in rounds), being playful, experimenting and improvising with sounds, using voices and musical instruments. Learners will begin to understand how melodies and rhythms are constructed, and become further aware of roles within a group. Year 4 - In our ‘The Power of Rhythm’ unit, learners will recognise and understand the power of rhythm. The focus is on singing, including rounds, being playful, experimenting using voices and body percussion. Year 5 - In our ‘Building a Pop Song’ unit, learners will explore pop songs through listening, performance, and composition activities. The focus will be on group and whole-class learning: singing (including singing in two parts); experimenting and improvising with sounds; using voices and musical instruments. Learners will explore pop song structure, basic drumbeats, chords, hooks, lyrics and melody writing. Year 6 - In our ‘Rhythms of the World’ unit, learners will take drum kit rhythms and place them across common classroom percussion instruments. The work is then built around those grooves giving the piece a particular energy. Grooves explored include the basic Rock beat and Disco, Caribbean rhythms adding Reggae, Dancehall and Tumbao, Afrobeat, Cumbia and Bhangra grooves. - Ashleigh Pope Primary Physical Education This term in PE we are starting off with a focus on Basketball and Netball. Our focus is to develop the students dribbling, passing, and shooting skills within years 1 to 3. The students will be exposed to a range of games that help develop their hand eye coordination with large balls. For years 4-6 we will be developing their fundamental basketball and netball skills as well as the interpersonal and strategic skills needed to succeed in competitive team environments. Alongside these sports we are preparing our students for the cross country and looking at the resilience and fitness needed in long-distance running. - Jack Taylor Science Year 4 have begun Term 2 reviewing our learning on Magnets. In class we played a variety of different games which use magnetic force. The pickup nails were quite challenging as all the nails were made from iron and the magnet was strong, making it difficult to pick up just one nail at a time. The classes also had the opportunity to make their own electromagnet. To make the electromagnet we used an iron bar, coiled wire, and a power source. It was challenging coiling the wire around the bar and attaching it to the Power Box. Students found out about everyday uses of electromagnets and even how a Maglev train uses levitation by magnetic force. Kia ora from the Year 5 - 6 Syndicate!Welcome to Term 2! We have an exciting term ahead of us including Life Education, Year 5 Camp at Carey Park and preparation for our stage production, Dreamworks Madagascar - A Musical Adventure Jr. Students have come back together and are displaying great teamwork and collaboration. It is a pleasure to walk into classrooms and see students working together and being engaged in their learning. The Year 5 writing mission this term involves Annie Albright, an author, who has been set the task of compiling an anthology of time slip stories, and she needs the student's help. They will write: a time slip story for Annie’s anthology; a review of another story; and a poem, based on their time slip story. Global Perspectives for Term 2 in Year 5 focuses on the ‘cost’ of our stuff. Students will think about the impact of human activity on our planet and what the future of Earth looks like? Students will develop their communication skills by presenting their understanding of renewable and non-renewable resources in a variety of ways. Students will analyze, and begin to evaluate, a range of sources. In Year 6, the writing focus covers writing a factual incident report, a newspaper article, and a formal letter to engage and persuade. When landmarks all over Europe mysteriously vanish, Max asks the Big Writing Agency (students) to help him find out what’s going on. As panic spreads, the Agents (students) must write a newspaper article to reveal the Collector’s role in the disappearances. They then have to act fast to warn politicians in the Houses of Parliament before they become the Collector’s next target. Global Perspectives for Year 6 this term involves students developing their analysis skills by investigating energy usage. Learners will interpret data on energy use to identify patterns and make suggestions as to how energy consumption at school can be reduced. Students will also consider how a decision can affect stakeholders in different ways. The Year 5 / 6 Syndicate have started learning the songs and dances to Madagascar - A Musical Adventure Jr! 52 students auditioned showcasing an amazing range of talents. A big thank you to everyone who auditioned. Year 3 and 4 Syndicate NewsYear 3 Learning in Term 2 We have had very excited and focused learners come back to school in P9, P10 and P11, which has been wonderful to see. The sound of collaboration and students chattering has been heard in all the classes during this first week back at school. Writing: The writing mission this term is called ‘A Giant Birthday’. Students will learn how to write an invitation to a grand event; to write clear instructions and to construct a formal letter of apology. They will develop their understanding of the structure and purpose of letters and invitations and the use of specific language such as verbs, along with adjectives and adverbs to add detail and information for the audience. Reading: Our shared novel for the term will be The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo. Through this novel the students will be developing their understanding and use of the comprehension strategies of visualising, predicting, and asking questions. The students will learn how using their senses and words that describe these will create mental images of the text. They will learn how to link to prior knowledge and make connections to what they know to help them make predictions about what is going to happen to the characters and events that occur in the novel. Maths: We begin the term exploring what a multiple is and developing accurate recall of the multiplication and division facts for 4 and 8 timetables. The students will be developing strategies to solve missing number problems using multiplication and division. In homeroom maths we will be learning how to tell the time from an analogue clock, including using roman numerals and 24-hour clocks. Global Perspectives: During Global Perspectives we are exploring the concept of sharing Planet Earth and researching endangered animals. We will also be developing our opinions using research to discuss whether humans can or should share planet Earth with animals. The students will develop their knowledge and skills on how to share their findings using charts and diagrams. Our lessons with Life Education will further enhance our understanding of this concept. Health: Using the ‘Bounce Back’ programme - NO Bullying, the students will develop skills and understanding around what bullying is and how to respond adaptively and confidently if they do experience being ‘put down’. The students will also be given tools to develop confidence to take personal responsibility and help others when they may be experiencing bullying or being put down by others. Science: During Term 2, our science focus is on becoming rock detectives. Students will identify and name rocks, describing and comparing and sorting them using a key. They will also be learning what happens to cause rocks to break down and become soil particles and about the organic matter that is an essential part of a healthy soil. Students will discover what a fossil is and how they came to be formed from animal and plant remains. They will learn the names of a variety of common fossils, and about the stages of the fossilisation process. They will also find out about where and how fossils can be found and safely collected. Year 4 Learning in Term 2 The Year 4 students have returned from their holidays excited and ready to explore the new learning that this term brings for them. Writing: The Big Write Mission this term is Superheroes. The mission’s focus is how to create effective character descriptions of ‘Superheroes’. The students will be learning how to use expanded noun phrases and prepositions to build interesting descriptions that create mental images for the audience. They also will be learning how to write an interesting recount in the form of a diary entry. Reading: This term the classes are reading the novel 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane' by Kate DiCamillo. The focus is on asking questions before, during and after the reading to help deepen understanding of the messages within the story. The classes will also be looking closely at the characters, developing a point view, linking to the students’ own experiences and knowledge to say why it may be strange for the character to have thoughts and feelings. Maths: The students will be developing their recall of multiplication and division facts up to 12x12 and will develop strategies to use place value knowledge to multiply numbers using the formal written method. They will use this developing knowledge to solve problems involving multiplying and adding, and to use factors in mental calculations. In strand maths, the focus is on converting between units of time and developing understanding of 12 and 24 hour clocks. Global Perspectives: Year 4 will be exploring and identifying the qualities that make a good friend. They will be conducting a questionnaire to gather data and information and present their findings as a poster. This will help all the students to develop strategies and tools to support them in developing quality friendships with others in their class and in the playground and to give them the confidence and knowledge on how to solve conflicts with others in a positive way and to develop resilience when friendship difficulties arise. Health: This term the focus is on exploring humour and how it benefits our health: learning how humour can be used to assist with coping in hard times as well as supporting others. Students will develop skills and strategies on how to use humour appropriately without hurting the feelings of others and develop knowledge around the health benefits of laughter. Science: During Term 2 the students will be exploring Habitats. They will investigate how different animals and plants are found in habitats that are suited to their environment and recognise the effect that humans can have on the environment. They will also be exploring magnets and materials and the properties of magnets. The New to 2 TeamThe New to 2 (Year 0-2) team are all eager to be back at Pinehurst School after a 2-week break. The classrooms are brimming with enthusiasm and ready for 9 weeks of fun filled learning. The teachers joining our team this term are Mrs Judy Eyre in P1 and Miss Hana Lee in P2. We are so fortunate to have such amazing teachers as part of the syndicate. If you are thinking Mrs Eyre looks familiar you are right, Judy has missed Pinehurst so much she has returned after a number of years and we are lucky to have her. We welcomed 22 new students to the team, and already after 4 days these students have settled into Pinehurst life, the learning throughout the classes is overwhelming already and it seems they have been here for a year! Although ANZAC day happened in the middle of the holidays, Year 2 felt it was essential to discuss and learn more about such an important day. This week we read ANZAC Ted, which is a powerful, poignant story of a little boy's teddy bear that was passed down to him from his grandfather. Battered, torn, missing an eye and an ear, he might look scary but he's got a great story to tell. ANZAC Ted went to war, keeping soldiers company and giving them comfort. The students also researched into why we commemorate the day including wearing poppies. P4 and P5 are focusing on looking after our world and learning about the earth and space. To begin their learning the students were brainstorming what they knew, accessing prior knowledge to make connections. Celine said that the Earth has animals on it which prompted Garvin to share that if we didn’t have animals on Earth there wouldn’t be any food. Elysa informed the class that Earth has seasons. Mikel was excited that they were able to view a rocket going to a space station up in the solar system that blasted off from NASA just near where Mrs McCullochs parents live! This term in P1 and P2 the students are looking at life processes for science. The classes began by reading “Super Worm” by Julia Donaldson for literacy and explored descriptive language. The worm theme continued as they learnt how worms turn food into compost. The New to 2 team have been discussing how important their parents are and looking forward to celebrating their mums on Sunday, I am sure the mums and important women in their lives will receive some kind words (and maybe a card) on the 8th May. Message from the Principal of CollegeKia ora e te whanau o Pinehurst School A huge thank you to the whole Pinehurst community for the warm welcome I have received. While I have felt welcomed and a part of the school since Mr Reed made contact in December to offer me the position of College Principal, my experiences in the last few days have really made me feel connected. I was officially welcomed on the students’ first day of term during a beautiful pōwhiri where our Kapa Haka performed wonderfully. I am very much looking forward to working with you and continuing to develop our great school. During the school break, on 25 April, we were able to attend an ANZAC memorial service to commemorate those Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world. As it has not been possible in recent years to attend an in-person ANZAC service, this opportunity felt even more poignant. The sun was shining as the mist rose over Coatesville where the service was held. A number of our senior students, including Lockie Burnell who presented a reading, represented us beautifully at the service. Lest we forget. There is an air of excitement and anticipation around the school as the orange traffic light system allows us to launch into winter sports and opportunities for learning outside of the classroom. Sports trainings have started in earnest, and it has been very comforting to hear the chattering of our students in their training sessions. Please encourage your children to stick with the sports teams to which they have committed and to remember our values in the sporting arena. We have a full and exciting term ahead which will inevitably bring challenges and opportunities. Our students in Years 11, 12 and 13 will undertake important mid-year examinations. There will be zone days, a market day, sporting opportunities and trips. I will be reminding our students that the most important thing as we move through the term is to be kind. Be kind to ourselves and be kind to each other. Ngā mihi nui Dawn Sullivan. Dawn's PowhiriJunior College AssemblyThis week saw the first of our Year 7 and 8 assemblies and the first time for our Year 7’s to experience the sense of togetherness that naturally comes from this sort of event. The students also got to listen to a wonderful rendition of Chopin’s Polonaise Op. 40 no 2 in C minor played by Claire Sun. Students got to meet Mrs Sullivan for the first time and it was also the first opportunity of the year to formally acknowledge so many of the great things that took place in Term 1, an exciting step forward. Physical EducationThis term in IGCSE Physical Education the students have been investigating the interconnected relationship between sport, sponsorship, and the media. Using the All Blacks as a local case study, students have come to understand the ways in which professional sport has been commercialised. Students have also recently been developing knowledge of the structure and function of the respiratory system. Using an interactive hands on approach students have been creating models of this system. In AS level Physical Education students have just finished the Functional Anatomy Scheme of work. Students have been required to develop in depth understandings of the structure and function of the key body systems which enable us to exercise. Below, students were required to complete diagrams of the way the body redistributes cardiac output during exercise. National Age Group Swimming Champs (NAGS)During the school holidays the selected four swimmers, Jasmine, Jack, Osbert, and Eleanor qualified and competed at the National Age Group Swimming Champs. Our swimmers achieved some amazing results! A special mention to Osbert and Jack who placed 1st in selected events, holding National Age Group titles for 2022. Golf Triumph in the Holidays!Congratulations to Yicheng and Lingyao who both won junior golf tournaments during the school holidays. Year 8 student Yicheng was the winner of the Under 13 event at the Junior Kaimai tournament. Although the event was scheduled over two days, the second day was cancelled because of flooding. Yicheng scored 76 on his round at Omanu to win the tournament by two strokes. Year 11 student Lingyao was also successful at the same tournament winning the girls under 16 section. Lingyao scored her best round to date of 75 and won the event by 3 strokes. Both students will be competing in the NZ Secondary School Strokeplay championships in 3 weeks and we wish them the best of luck. North Island Diving ChampsDuring the holidays, Zoe Atkinson and her brother Noah competed in the North Island Diving Champs. Zoe achieved SILVER MEDAL in the 1m and 3m springboard events for girls 14-16, including competing in a double somersault and an inward somersault dive. Well done, Zoe! She will also be competing in the upcoming NZ National Diving Competition in Dunedin event on Friday 20th – Monday 23rd May, as well as her brother Noah, Zara will be competing in the younger National Age Group event, which will be held in Hamilton in June. We wish them all the best at these events. First week back and students working hard... Gold in PianoCongratulations to Serena in P16 who received gold awards in the Modern or Romantic group and Solo by J.S. Bach at the North Shore Performing Arts Junior Piano Competition. LittleCooks needs helpers!Are you looking for some part time work? Do you like working with kids? Do you love to cook/bake? We are looking for a few helpers for our LittleCooks Monday class for Term 2. Work hours would be 2 hours, duties include working with a small group of students to cook or bake a recipe that the class is working on, and cleaning up afterwards. Applicants must be year 11 or above, responsible, reliable and confident both with cooking and dealing with kids. Pay is $19.00 per hour. Contact Suzi if keen at team@littlecooks.co.nz www.littlecooks.co.nz |