Message from the Executive Principal
Kia ora koutou, good afternoon, 下午好, 안녕하세요 On Tuesday afternoon, we celebrated the graduation of our Year 6 students from Primary School. All but a handful of our children will be joining Pinehurst College in January, of course, but completing Primary is a special occasion for our young people, and it was a privilege to share it with their families. I’ve known most of this year group since they were in Year 1: it was quite emotional, actually, to think about how they’ve grown, and what they’ve learned over the past six years. They are a lovely group, and I know they have great futures ahead of them. As is always the case at this time
of year, our focus shifts a little, and our calendar is full of transition work. Primary teachers spent two long evenings at the start of this week ‘handing over’ their knowledge about children and families to the teachers who will be taking their classes next year. Our Year 6 students met the new students – around 30 of them – who will be joining Year 7 in January for an orientation morning on Wednesday. New Year 9 students also came into school for the same reason. Year 7 and 8 had a lovely Formal Dinner on Monday to mark their movement into the next year; and Year 6 (again!) had their social on Wednesday night. We are also managing transition meetings for staff. Over the past two week, we have welcomed the teachers who will be joining us in 2023. In College: Mr Jujnovich, Physics; Ms Gallagher, Digital Technology;
Mrs Marino Grana, Spanish; Mrs Keshwara, Commerce; Ms Shoesmith, Social Studies; Ms Couper, Science; Mrs Rakete, Art. We also have three new Primary teachers coming to the school, and we will introduce them in full early next year. I’m very excited by the exceptional quality of our new teachers – we recruit early, and if necessary will advertise more than once to get teachers who will meet our expectations. So they will, I know, be great! It does mean that we are saying goodbye to a few staff next week. We celebrated Mr Bean’s retirement on Monday with Pinehurst colleagues, some colleagues from his time at Westlake Boys, and his family. Graham has been a teacher in New Zealand and several countries in East and South East Asia during his 47 year career, and has influenced the lives of thousands of students in that time. I
think teaching is a vocation, something that becomes part of your identity, of your soul even, and Graham is a great example of that in action. He will be back to do a little teaching for us next term, for which I’m very grateful. Yes, teaching is in his blood! Also leaving us next week from our College team are Mr O’Connell, who is moving to the South Island; Ms Beck, who is heading to the UK for her OE; Mr Peacock, who is staying a little closer to home and going back to Whangaparoa; Mr Spilling, who is moving into part-time work elsewhere; Ms Daly, who is off to Thailand; Ms Toerien, who is moving to a different educational environment; and Mrs Heslop, who is going to Westlake Girls. Ms Taylor is leaving our Primary team. If you get the chance, please do get in touch with our staff and wish them well. They will all, of
course, be missed. Next week is a busy one! Four days of school: on Tuesday, we have Primary Prizegiving; on Wednesday morning, we have Year 7/8 Prizegiving; on Wednesday afternoon, we have Senior Prizegiving; Wednesday after school is our annual Christmas Picnic, which will be bigger and brighter than ever, and we would love to see you all come along; and Thursday has our Primary and then our College Christmas Concerts. They’re all fantastic events, and a great way to see out the year! Have a lovely weekend and see you (lots of you, I hope!) next week. Ngā mihi Alex 如需阅读校长的中文留言和重要事件日期,请点击
Tuesday 6 December Wednesday 7 December - Years 9-13, College Prizegiving
- Christmas Picnic
Thursday 8 December - Primary Christmas Concert
- College Christmas Concert
IMPORTANT: Parent Portal ChangesWe are making changes to our Student Information Systems that will affect students, staff and parents - collectively we describe these as our Parent Portal. For a number of reasons, we have decided, after a long, careful provisioning process, to move to PCSchool, a system in use in 31 New Zealand schools and a large number of Australian schools. This will replace Synergetic, So PC School will be used alongside Schoolbox and Seesaw in the future at Pinehurst. How does it affect parents/caregivers? The current method of logging into Schoolbox and the parent portal using an ID will end on December 13. In the future, parents will be able to log into our Portal and Schoolbox using the email address that is stored in our student information system (PCSchool). Existing passwords for gmail or Microsoft accounts will be used. For other email addresses a one time password will be issued at the time of login. We do not store any password credentials. In future, payments will be made in PCSchool. What you need to know On December 13, access to Schoolbox and
the current Parent Portal will end. Parents will no longer be able to log into the system using your current ID and password. We will be making changes to PCSchool and Schoolbox over the following 1-2 weeks and we anticipate letting you know in late December or early January how you can log in. We are currently checking student and caregiver information and will ask you to do a more formal caregiver details check early in 2023. You will be able to see previous student reports in the new system and any account balances will be transferred. If there is something you need to have from the previous system this can be requested from accounts. We have set up an information page at https://pinehurstschool.nz/portal with relevant up to date information including a form if you have questions.
Message from the Principal of Primary Kia ora tatou, A super busy week in the Primary and almost the end of the school year. We are really cramming as much learning, fun and excitement in as possible before the term ends. This week has been big for Year 6 with their College orientation, graduation assembly and bowling night. They have been a truly delightful year group from the start, and we all have fond memories of them throughout their time in the Primary; some
of them even before that when they were being pushed around in prams with their older siblings beside them. On Monday Year 6 had a wonderful, slightly chilly time at Birkenhead Leisure centre. Whilst it was not a replacement for their planned camp in Term 1 it was an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and some challenging activities to develop confidence and sensible risk taking. I was very sad to be in isolation and to miss the Year 6 graduation assembly, it was an opportunity to get together and celebrate their leadership, learning, growth academically and physically, and to remember the journey they have been on. With a large group of parents in attendance I am sure many were a little sad that their child is leaving primary school. It is a milestone in a life and a transition to the next stage, with the joys of having a teenager in
the house yet to come. Year 6 had an opportunity to explore what life will be like in Year 7 in their orientation morning. They are excited and a little apprehensive and so the visit was a very important part of their transition, our students were able to tour the rooms they will be in, meet the staff and the new students who will be joining them next year. Although we will be very sad to see them go, they are ready to move on and we will watch from afar and admire their success. Thankyou Year 6 for being amazing. Year 5 are beginning to step up too and prepare for their own leadership roles in 2023. It was Road Patrol training this week with the Police and Mrs Clark as our Year 5 students were preparing to take on the important job of manning the crossing. It takes dedication to commit to the role for a whole year, but our Primary
students do such an amazing job of helping others to get safely across Bush Road. The whole Primary is so excited for our PrEP market on Friday. For weeks they have been developing products to sell in their businesses whilst learning how to work together as a team and put their financial literacy skills into action. They have been earning pines as wages for their 'job' and will get the opportunity to spend them on their favourite products at the market. We keep recycling and sustainability in mind and aim to sell out of everything we make for maximum profits. Students will then consider whether they sold their products for the right price or if they should have made more. It is a lot of fun but also a fantastic learning opportunity. We have Y4-6 Prizegiving on Tuesday, the picnic
on Wednesday and Christmas celebration on Thursday, details are on Seesaw, and we look forward to seeing you at an event next week. Nga mihi nui, Sian
On Friday the Year 5 and 6 students celebrated the end of a successful year by joining together in a Social. Students came together to play dancing games, have a boogie, eat pizza, some chose to play badminton, do gymnastics, and just chill. It was a great way to come together and celebrate the year. Here are some pictures of the great evening.
Road Patrol Crossing Training On Wednesday, a group of year 5 and year 9 students undertook their Road Patrol Crossing training under the guidance of our community constable, Louise Nicolas and our supervisors, Terry and Sue. A Road Patrol controlled crossing provides children with a safe place to cross the road. They're installed around schools so school patrols can control traffic and safely guide children across the street. Our Road Patrolled crossing only operates when our school team of 4 patrollers (1 adult, 1 Year 10 student and 2 Year 6 students) and two fluorescent
orange crossing point flag signs (one on each side of the road) are present. The school patrol operates before and after school when the school patrol displays their STOP signs, traffic must stop. This helps keep our children and families safe when they're going to and from school. When there's no school patrol and no crossing signs, the crossing point is just like any other section of road.
What features does our Controlled Crossing points have? When the patrol crossing team is operating, two types of removable signs are used. These signs include two fluorescent orange 'Children' flag signs and the swing-out orange school patrol STOP signs. When the school patrol finishes operating, the fluorescent orange crossing point flag signs, and orange school patrol STOP signs are removed. The crossing site then becomes an ordinary section of road.
Who supervises the Road Patrol crossing? The school supervises the crossing site. Kelly Clark arranges the patrol's schedule and ensures an adult supervisor is present. Terry Shepherd and Sue Connolly are two our permanent adult supervisors. How do children know what to do at the crossing? Our school patrols are trained by Police to control the crossings safely and to ensure that our community uses the crossing with care.
Primary Music At Pinehurst, all our students have the opportunity to receive individual music tuition from the most fantastic music tutors. Last week, those who attended the Solo, Duo and Trio Performance Showcase, had the absolute pleasure of listening to students perform, showcasing their progress and growth as musicians and performers. Registration for music tuition for 2023 have now opened . If you are keen for your tamariki to take part, please sign up before the end of Term 4. More information about the Itinerant Music Programme can
be found here: Music at Pinehurst | Pinehurst School
Year 2 MOTAT TripOn Friday last week the Year 2s went on a trip to MOTAT. The trip provided the students the opportunity to recognise how the science curriculum related to the real world by linking concepts and processes learned in the classroom and ideas and events relevant to their age and experience. In Year 2 Science the following areas have been covered in our programme: Discussions about how some of the scientific knowledge and thinking in the present is different to in the past. Students identified objects from our everyday lives that need electricity to work, and they thought about how life was different before the discovery of
electricity. We had discussion about the daily activities that rely on electricity (e.g. food preparation, communication, entertainment) this helped the students to understand the relevance of this science to their own everyday lives. They also got to consider how different their day would be if they did not have electricity. At the education centre the students were able to experiment and create their own circuits to make sirens, turn on lights, and turn on a fan. Then in teams they built their own battery-operated car and raced them. FUN was had by all.
Year 6 Birkenhead Leisure TripThe Year 6 students had a fantastic trip to the Birkenhead Leisure Centre on Monday 28th November, where they had the opportunity to participate in archery, rock climbing and raft building. As well as being quite physical the activities gave students an opportunity to work on their team building, communication, and cooperation skills.
In rafting, the students learned a variety of knots and how to lash before they were challenged to build a structure from bamboo, rope and inflatable ‘sausages’! They then tested their rafts in the pool before racing the other teams.
Concentration, accuracy and problem-solving were all needed in archery. They had fun aiming for the different targets and also learned how to walk like a peacock! There certainly are some budding Robin Hoods in Year 6! The students worked in a team of three on the climbing wall and took it in turns to be responsible for each other’s safety. They used their problem-solving skills trying to scale to the top of the wall. They all had a go at trying the different levels, pushing their mental and physical limits.
It was a great day, a chance to bond and celebrate the past year. The year 6 students are a wonderful bunch and always amaze us with their positive attitudes, caring natures and cooperation skills
Year 6 Graduation Extreme entertainment for the Year 6 Graduation was the perfect place for the students to celebrate and have fun with their friends as they end their time in the primary and move onto Junior College. There was some fierce competition going on and talented bowling on display - lots of spares and even some strikes! Top tips for bowling include “Never smack a bowling ball with your hand,” from Cathy. “Don’t throw a bowling ball backwards!” recommends Declan and on a more sensible note Xavier says, “Keep your arm straight and aim down the middle arrow.” The students all had an amazing time playing their games,
having a blast with their friends, and eating delicious hot dog and chips. It was fantastic to see them all getting on so well; they really are a super year group!
Netball Spring League Action Shots!
Ivy Li - International Piano Open Competition Congratulations to Ivy Li who was presented with a First Class Award in the International Piano Open Competition!
North Harbour Table Tennis TournamentLast week, 12 students from Year 5 & 6 competed in the North Harbour Primary Table Tennis Tournament. The students competed as individuals and played a round robin format against all of the players. It was awesome to see so many students representing Pinehurst at this event and it looked like the students were having a lot of fun, even when they were playing against each other! Pinehurst dominated the podium, with three of our students finishing in the top 3.
Matthew Heng took out 1st place in the Boys competition, with Wilson Ma coming in 2nd place and Jayden Huang taking out 3rd place.
Super Cluster AthleticsLast Friday, we took a large team of 23 students to the Year 4-6 Super Cluster Athletics at AUT Millennium. Thankfully, the weather behaved, and all of the competitors were able to get through their events. We had some outstanding performances from our students, including 5 of our relay teams placing in the top 4. It was awesome to watch our talented students compete against the top schools in North Harbour. Please see the top 3 podium finishers below for Pinehurst: Year 4 Girls: - Xinxin Li: 2nd Place in the 100m Final, 2nd Shot Put
- Xinxin Li: 1st place Long Jump
Year 4 Boys: - Jason Chow: 1st Place in the 100m Final
- Jimmie Tsao: 3rd Place in the 400m
Year 5
Girls: - Elizabeth de Winnaar: 1st Place in the Shot Put and Discus
- Anna Lu: 3rd Place in the 800m
Year 6 Girls: - Chelsea Zhu: 2nd Place in the 800m
Relays: - Year 4 Girls Relay Team: 3rd Place
- Xinxin Li
- Mikayla Soh
- April Wu
- Amy Seo
- Year 4 Boys Relay Team: 3rd Place
- Jimmie Tsao
- Jason Chow
- Ben Hawthorn
- Alex Fitz-Gerald
- Year 5 Girls Relay Team: 3rd Place
- Anna Lu
- Elizabeth de Winnaar
- Laura Liang
- Hannah Chen
Super Cluster Tennis TournamentOn Monday, the following students competed at the Super Cluster Tennis Tournament: Annie Su, Bonnie Huang, Felicia Shen, Cathy Situ, Milena Wang, Peter Wang, Oscar Zhao, Kyle Kong, Ryann Wang, Ethan Zhou, Franklin Shan & Bosco Jin. It was a terrific day in the sun and every student competed to the best of their ability. It was fantastic to see the students cheering on their team members and encouraging them off the court. Pinehurst was very dominated at this tournament, with students placing in every grade. A massive thank you to all of the parents that came and supported the tennis team.
Boys Doubles Competition: 2nd Overall – Ryann Wang & Ethan Zhou Girls Doubles Competition: 3rd Overall – Cathy Situ & Milena Wang Boys Singles Competition: 3rd Overall – Oscar Zhao
5th Overall – Peter Wang
6th Overall – Kyle Kong Girls Singles Competition: 2nd Overall – Annie Su
3rd Overall – Bonnie Huang Pinehurst School came 2nd overall!
Message from the Principal of College Kia ora e te whānau o Pinehurst School Week 6 of term ended for me with a lovely evening attending the Harbour Sports Excellence awards with Nicole Choi. Nicole has had an outstanding year of golf and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate that with her. More great sports news came during the week when we heard that Noah Atkinson, Year 7, had been awarded the School Sport Australia Diving Championships award for Sportsmanship, congratulations to Noah. The Year 7 and 8 end of year formal was a fantastic event on Monday evening. Mr Reynolds, Deans and Homeroom teachers accompanied Year 7 and 8 students to Soljans Estate for an evening
of fun and entertainment. Year 7 and 8 students looked very grown up in their smart outfits and enjoyed amazing food in a beautiful setting. Early on Tuesday morning a group of students met with Mrs Toerien and Mrs Rea to start their Gold Duke of Edinburgh qualifier camp. The group met at school at 6:30am and were on a flight to Nelson by 8:40am arriving in Maharau just after midday. They kayaked from Mahurau to Anchorage and met the challenge very well. Yesterday their guide, a local from Motoeka, arranged a pōwhiri for them from the local school which was very special. They are heading home today after a trip to remember. On Wednesday of this week, we welcomed new Year 7 and 9 students to Pinehurst School for the morning in preparation for their arrival at the start of Term 1 2023.
These students sampled some classes in mathematics, science, music, English and PE and they were able to connect with each other and meet some of their teachers. We are looking forward to having these students back in late January when they will be given the opportunity to spend some time with their Deans, Homeroom teachers and POD teachers. On Thursday, it was the turn of the Primary School to host College students buddy classes. There was lots of chatter, glitter and excitement as our youngest students connected again with their college buddies. The last week of term will be a time for celebration and reflection and I am looking forward to seeing many of you during the week. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Ngā mihi nui Dawn
North Harbour Beach Volleyball Girls Zone DayOn Wednesday, two talented girls Beach Volleyball teams competed at the North Harbour Beach Volleyball Zone Day. It was amazing to see so many girls wanting to give Beach Volleyball a go and I know all of the students enjoyed the competition. Team 1 competed in Division 1 and Team 2 competed in Division 2. Both teams played 3 pool games and then each had a respective play off game to conclude the day. Team 1 ended up in 18th place and Team 2 concluded the day in 14th place. Both teams went from strength to strength throughout the day and there was a lot of laughter and enjoyment on and off the court for both teams. We
look forward to growing Beach Volleyball in our school and this was a great steppingstone event for our school.
Great Barrier TripWith everything from climbing up rocks to jumping off them, Great Barrier camp was all round an incredible experience that I am so grateful to have had to the opportunity to go to. We got to enjoy so many amazing activities, such as coasteering, rock-climbing, and surf kayaking, as well as at the end of our stay we took an overnight journey, where we walked to a different campsite and stayed in tents. Personally, my favourite activity was rock-climbing, where it was just as much of a mental puzzle to figure out the path of least resistance as it was a physical feat of strength to haul yourself up. I am sure the incredible feeling of triumph after scaling the rocks will
stick with me forever. Overall, Great Barrier has to have been my favourite school camp I have ever been on! - Charlie F Last week, a group of year 12s and I went to Great Barrier Island for a 6-day leadership camp in the rough outdoors. We had a fantastic time doing activities like rock climbing, bush bashing and creek walking for the first couple of days. We trusted each other in challenges like the Leap of Faith, in which we climbed up a 10ft pole and relied on our team to hold us up by ropes as we jumped to a trapeze. We worked together in small activities like the end
presentation, where we had to uniquely present what we learnt through the week, like a play or a song. On the last two days, we hiked up to Omahungaiti Bay, known to the locals as Mike’s Beach. We pitched tents and spent the night outdoors, listening to the wind and the waves. Overall, the camp was a great experience where I learnt the fundamentals of leadership and the importance of communication and stepping outside my comfort zone. - Pranuja T
Year 7/8 Formal at Soljans Winery
On Monday night and after a three-year hiatus, students in Year 7 and 8 got to enjoy their end of year formal dinner held at Soljians Vineyard in Kumeu. The opportunity to get dressed up and have some fun was not lost on our students and lots of fun was had by all. Some photographs of the event are available here
MUSIC LESSONS AT PINEHURST
Registrations are now open for 2023 Music Lessons at Pinehurst School – click here to enrol. Music at Pinehurst | Pinehurst School Pinehurst continues to run its successful itinerant music lesson programme. Each week, fifteen specialist instrumental and voice teachers come onto campus to share their wealth of knowledge, experience and passion and give one on one music lessons to students. While this itinerant music programme provides support for our music students with their IGCSE and A level
studies, music lessons are open to all students in both primary and college and the lesons also provide a robust foundation for those students who are involved in our College Orchestra and Jazz Band. In addition, we have recently instigated a Brass Scholarship programme to help support and develop our Brass players. If you are interested in applying to learn a Brass instrument with reduced fees, click here. You can find out more about our itinerant music programme in general here, including the range of instruments on offer, our terms and conditions, and the registration form, or contact Cynthia Jaques cynthia.jaques@pinehurst.school.nz if you have any questions. All students who are currently in our itinerant music programme need to register again for 2023, even if they have let their teacher know they are continuing with lessons.
Noah Atkinson – Sportsmanship Award
Congratulations to Noah Atkinson who was awarded a Sportsmanship Award at the 2022 School Sport Australia Diving Championships. Noah demonstrated these values by: · Exceptional acts of sportsmanship during competition · Exceptional acts of co-operation, courtesy and respect to officials and opposing divers.
DOE Gold Tramp On Wednesday the students arrived at Anchorage after surviving the "mad mile" which is well known for being a difficult crossing, just before entering the Anchorage bay. The students are very happy and feel they have accomplished a major challenge!
At the event that both Noah and his sister Zoe attended, Noah came 4th in the platform diving competition after narrowly missing out on the third position by 0.3 of a mark. He also achieved 4th position in the knockout competition. These are exceptional achievements, considering he was up against the top 12-year-old boys in Australia.
NZ Ocean Swim Series - Jack Potier Congratulations to Jack Potier who placed second in both the Open and year 15 -19 age group in the 4.6km ocean swim from Rangitoto to St Heliers held last weekend. This is a huge achievement given that there were 492 swimmers in the Open Division and 15 in his age group. Well done Jack!
Sebastian Sly - NZ School of Dance A wonderful achievement by Pinehurst student Sebastian Sly (Year 12) who has been accepted into the New Zealand School of Dance to do a Diploma in Dance (Level 6) as a Classical major in 2023. This is an incredible opportunity, and we wish him all the best as he takes this next step!
BrainPlay: After-school extension digi-tech classesWe are building & programming 3D printed robots equipped with sensors to enable the robot to balance on 2 wheels, and drive as a 3 wheeled car. We are programming components such as LEDs, gyroscopes, and writing code for bluetooth compatible apps to control the robot.
2023 MUSICAL - HIGH SCHOOL MUSICALThe Performing Arts Department is super excited to announce that we have just been granted the rights to perform High School Musical as the school show for 2023! This is especially exciting as this will be the first show to be performed in the school's new theatre in College 5.
Auditions are planned for Week 2 of Term 1, 2023. Singers, dancers, actors, musicians and backstage crew are required for this exciting venture, and students should keep an eye out for further audition information coming soon. So, help be the start of something new- we cannot wait to put this production together! Go Wildcats!
A 'Christmas Hamper' Thank YouThank you to all our families who donated so many gifts towards our collection this year for ‘Grandparents Raising Grandchildren’. We had so many wonderful items being donated from our parents….from gift vouchers, boxes of candles, chocolates and sweets, gourmet edibles, toys, soft toys, Christmas themed accessories, clothes and books…to name a few! Our annual hamper gifting to a charity could never happen without your support.
A big thank you also goes out to our awesome team of parents who volunteered their morning on Tuesday 29th November, to make up the Christmas Hampers. It was a daunting sight to be welcomed by a large-centre table full of goodies, lots of boxes, wrapping paper, cellophane, and ribbon! Our parents led by Jessica Zhang, put together a production line, with stations to wrap the box, fill the box, and then cellophane and ribbon the boxes to make into lovely hampers. Thanks to our team of volunteers, they were able to make over 60 considerable hampers within 2 hours! We really appreciate you giving up your time and helping Pinehurst with our gift of giving!
A great show will be featuring these summer holidays featuring a student from Pinehurst School. Katie Long will be performing with Auckland Performing Arts Academy in Grease-Young@Part at the ASB Waterfront Theatre in Wynyard Quarter.
Grease-Young@Part is a 70 minute, age-appropriate version of Grease, suitable for the whole family. It will be performed by over a hundred APAA students, aged 7-14 years across four matinee performances Saturday 17th to Monday 19th December. 10% of all box office revenue from the final shows will be donated to Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, in memory of the most famous Sandy of them all, Olivia Newton-John.
Tickets can be purchased through the theatre at https://tinyurl.com/bdenb9ph or via Ticketmaster at: https://tinyurl.com/ycy8sx5z (where you can also buy tickets to APAA’s full-length Grease production, showing during the evenings Dec 16-19 and featuring APAA’s 15-21 year old students). There are 2 casts, with 4 performances over the 3 days. Katie will be in all performances but will be in her lead role for Cast Lightning on: Saturday 17
December at 1:30pm and Monday 19 December at 1pm.
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