No images? Click here Message from the Executive PrincipalKia ora koutou, good afternoon, 下午好, 안녕하세요 Today marks the end of the first full, uninterrupted term for all students since Term 2 last year. Perhaps more significantly, it has been the first term we have had since 2020 we have begun and closed with a degree of certainty. The school has operated at full speed; every imaginable school activity has taken place; and we’re heading into the July holidays with heads full of learning and memories. I’m going to begin with a strong recommendation! Yesterday afternoon, the cast of Annie performed “It’s a Hard Knock life” for the Year 9-13 Assembly, and then did two flashmob performances, upstairs and downstairs in Junior College. They were brilliant! The show is in the first week of Term 3 – see later in the newsletter for the details of the dates and how to get tickets – and I’m sure it’s going to be superb. On Wednesday, I had one of those magical half-hours that make my job so wonderful. I was invited to listen to a couple of Year 7 speeches in Ms Neeves’ class, so headed down to hear Kacey Hildebrand and Maddie Soh deliver superbly polished, well-structured, passionate speeches. Still smiling, I popped into the music room next door to listen to P9 sing and play a song they’d composed themselves with Ms Pope’s help: it was about New Zealand’s environment, used some te reo Māori along the way, as well as a little Chinese, had some great instrumentation, and was sung with the voices of angels. I’m going to admit to becoming a little emotional as I listened to them… And then into the Gym to see our Sports photos taking place. The first team I saw was our College table tennis team, with their coach (a committed parent), then our College girls’ hockey team, with Ms Anderson (who has just been confirmed as our permanent College Head of Social Sciences). The students were smart, happy and proud to be representing the school. Earlier in the day, I had seen several Year 1 and 2 girls in their netball dresses, coming to school ready for their photos. They were very excited! For some of those girls, this was their very first sports photo, and they will be able to look back on that moment for years to come. I whipped upstairs to see P16 in the Library, scattered around the Primary section, reading a huge variety of books. Then nipped into P20 to see Ms Xu teaching first language Chinese – the students were working hard at a range of levels, all focused on character writing. Then into P19 to see the Year 6 group learning about money and becoming businesspeople with our very enthusiastic visiting teacher from ASB. It was brilliant to see so much going on: so much variety, so much good teaching, and so much energy from our young people. Thank you to everyone involved in the Music Performance Showcase on Monday afternoon. I managed to see a few acts, and was, as ever, bowled over by the quality of the playing and singing. Thank you to Mr Ronayne, Ms Pope and Ms Byun for their hard work, and I look forward to the next concert. Congratulations as well to our “Mooting” teams. This is a new event for our school: teams present opposing sides of a court case, as if they’re lawyers. Our two teams, overseen by Ms Neeves, have done extraordinarily well in the Auckland competition: they won all of their moots, and both won their semi-finals (against Baradene and Mount Roskill), which means that they will be facing each other in the final on July 7th. A special mention goes to Gloria Kim, Dylan Mackay, Oren Dabbach and Angelina Ibrahim, who have been consistently high-scoring speakers, but I’m proud of all those who have taken part. Over the next few weeks, the school will remain open if you need to contact anyone in our administration, admissions or marketing teams, and I’ll be here for the first two weeks as well. We are installing core switches on the Monday and Tuesday of the third week of the holidays, so please bear with us if we don’t get back to you on those days. The Uniform Shop is open morning and afternoon on Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd and Monday 25th July. Before that, of course, we have the School Ball tomorrow night at the Hilton Hotel. I’m sure the students will have a fantastic time. Thank you the whole community for your support and encouragement this term – students’ participation in school activities has been exceptionally good- and make sure you have a good rest and a break with your families over the next few weeks. Have a lovely holiday; travel safely; and I’ll see you all on Tuesday 26th July! 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
In Loving Memory of Sue CairnsI’m very sorry to have to let you know that sad news that Sue Cairns passed away this morning. Sue, as many of you will know, taught at our school for 12 years, and was Head of Languages for most of that time. She was a superb teacher of English, and formed strong relationships with the hundreds of children she taught at Pinehurst. She was also a wonderful colleague: a strong, supportive Head of Department who had firm views, was always willing to express them in an open way, and who also supported all of those around her. Sue became unwell in February 2021, and left the school for treatment at that time. We wish to send our love, prayers and best wishes to her family and close friends: many of our staff and students are grieving today as well, and our whole community will be thinking of her. I’m going to miss Sue hugely. I used to talk to her about poetry, novels, Shakespeare… when I needed a good argument about literature (we rarely agreed about books!), I would invade her office and just talk. I hope that everyone who knew Sue is remembering their times with her today, and thinking about conversations and moments that will always be part of us. We will remember Sue more formally in an Assembly early next term, and our staff will be raising a toast to her memory after school today. Alex Message from the Principal of PrimaryKia ora, It feels like a great achievement to have had a whole term in school, with our students able to learn in their classrooms. What was once accepted as the norm has been anything but for the last few years and we have been focused on learning how to be together again and the social skills necessary to get along with each other. It is a work in progress, which is the point. Giving young children the opportunities to solve problems, negotiate, compromise and display resilience as well as kindness and empathy helps them to develop valuable life skills. In our Health and Wellbeing programmes we use a resource called Bounce Back where we can develop the attributes of kindness, empathy, and friendship in the classroom, for our students to carry with them in their lives. Year 4 treated us to a wonderful assembly on Tuesday, another sign that life is returning to greater levels of normality. Their watercolour art was sensational, and they shared what they have learned about alliteration. We loved watching everyone’s faces as they played the alliteration game, and our parents did well too! Their presentation skills were excellent, speakers were clear and confident to share their ideas and the whole assembly was of a very high standard. April Wu played so beautifully on the piano it is hard to believe she has only been playing for a few years. On Monday afternoon musicians gathered for the first Primary concert of the year. The standard of soloists and duos was exceptional and a wonderful way to end the term. I can’t imagine how many hours of practising must happen to reach such high standards, but they certainly paid off. We are all looking forward to the next concert and increasing opportunities for our students to perform. Term 3 overviews will be available from today for each cohort and can be accessed via Seesaw. They are a detailed plan of the concepts and topics being studied next term along with planned events and trips out for some year groups. If you have any questions about the learning programmes please contact your child's teacher to discuss. Lots of wonderful holidays have been planned by all accounts and overseas trips are back. Many of you will be seeing family for the first time in a long time. Students are very tired and ready for a break. I hope you can take the chance to have some family time, sleep ins and relaxation. Keep up the reading, spend time outdoors and go on adventures. Most of all make memories with your children, they grow up so fast and one day you will wonder where the time has gone. Wishing you all a great break and we look forward to seeing you back on Tuesday July 26. Noho ora mai, Sian Netball North Harbour Zone DayIt was with great excitement that we set out on a crisp and sunny day to attend the Year Six Netball zone day. We were very lucky to be able to enter two teams this year, a straight Year Six team and a mixed team of Year 5 and 6. This was a wonderful opportunity for our Year 5 players to play against experienced Year 6 netball players and to gain an understanding of a knockout competition. Debbie Stanaway and Catherine Jones-Hill were overwhelmed at the level of support we received from our sideline supporters. Our parents took great care of all the players, equipment, uniforms and the coaches, as well as being positive role models on the sideline. We even had a father who was our official photographer for the day. I am sure you will be admiring the amazing action shots that he took. Our Year Five and Six team won two out of their three games in the first three sections and won a place in the semi-finals. We then went on to a nail-biting finish in extra time to win against Stanley Bay 8-7. We finished at full time 7-7 so the umpires went on to continue playing until the next goal was scored. We took the centre pass, managed to get the ball into the goal circle where Ally shot a long shot to win the game. We then won the plate division of our grade. Our Year Six team went unbeaten through their first three games to win the semi-final and win their grade. The girls played a range of positions and had to think through their strategies to bring home the winning scores. An impressive day of netball and a very hard-fought final game to see them go home as the trophy winners. We are very proud of our two netball teams, their skills, attitudes and sportsmanship. Year 5 & 6 Super Cluster Football TournamentOn Tuesday, the year 5 & 6 football team participated at the North Harbour Super Cluster Football Tournament. It was a great day out for all the players and the team displayed some excellent improvement throughout the course of the tournament. The team then went on to win their last match of the day! There were some outstanding performances from Ryann Wang and Noah Shepherd in goal! News from P13We then had the chance to work with watercolours. First, we used the special pencils to colour areas of our page lightly and darker. We had to be very careful when we added the water to our work because if we put too much on, it would make a hole in the paper and ruin it. Once we learnt that a lot of water goes a long way, we were able to blend our colours together and build up layers by using the pencils again when the water had dried. This week we are also working towards creating our own version of a painting by the NZ landscape artist Don Binney. His landscapes are quite unique because he uses a sharpie pencil to outline each part of the painting and he likes to include a native New Zealand bird in a lot of his art. This term in Art P13 has been learning about landscapes, including those in New Zealand. We have researched the special features that Aotearoa has which other countries don’t have, including many beautiful lakes, the Southern Alps and green fields with a lot of sheep! We also practised our Te Reo Māori and learnt new words including moana (ocean), whenua (land) and awa (river). Finally, once we were confident using the watercolours, we were ready to sketch a landscape. We watched a beautiful landscape being drawn and sketched our own version whilst we watched. Next, we used the watercolour pencils to colour and shade our drawing before adding the water to blend the colours The trickiest part was drawing the landscape because you had to concentrate and not draw wobbly lines. - Tyne I learnt that watercolours work best when you do a lot of dark colouring before adding the water. - Zack You must be patient when you are colouring because it takes time and care to blend the colours well. I noticed that if you didn’t colour dark enough with the watercolour pencils, and then you added too much water, the colour would disappear, and you would need to start all over again! - Zach Primary PE Year 4-6This term in PE our year 4-6 classes have been working on their fundamental movement skills through games and activities related to netball, basketball and gymnastics. Through basketball and netball our students were developing their hand eye coordination, looking at passing, catching, dribbling and shooting techniques to assist them in competitive environments. With a focus on utilising these base skills, our students were required to integrate them in game situations to improve the performance of their team as well as themselves. Within gymnastics, our students were developing movement skills to assist them when performing balances, rolls, jumps and turns, while also trying to link these movements to perform routine's that are fluid and coordinated. With a focus on safety as well as challenging themselves, our students utilised gymnastic to work together in groups to further develop their interpersonal skills. P9 Loves Learning!What a week P9 have had! It has been jammed pack full of learning and fun. Some of P9 students wanted to share what we have been up to in the last week, so buddied up and wrote a blurb about their learning. ASB Getwise Financial Literacy Programme Marlon from ASB came into P9 to talk to us about money. Coach Cash has taught us about different cards, like debit cards and credit cards. (We also have been learning about adding money in maths.) The credit card uses the bank money, and you pay interest, but the debit card uses your own money. We also learnt about needs, wants and special deals. Coach Cash invited us to do challenges, we had so much fun, we did not even notice how much we were learning! - April and Millie. The Butterfly Lion. It is a book about a white lion and a boy named Bertie. Michael Morpurgo, the author, got the idea about the story from a few people. He has thanked the people in the book for giving him the ideas. Bertie was a young boy who lived in Africa, he rescued an orphaned baby white lion from hyenas that were trying to hunt it. His mum and dad had a big argument about whether they could keep the lion. His mum won and they were able to keep the lion, but not for long! A circus keeper came and took the lion all the way to France, and Bertie was sent to a boarding school in England. Bertie vowed to find the white lion one day. When Bertie grew up, he went to war and his leg got badly injured, it never really recovered. At the hospital, Bertie saw his childhood friend Millie, who was a nurse there. They discovered that there was a circus keeper who had a white lion, so they went off to find him. Bertie and the white lion were reunited and lived with Bertie and Millie. When the lion died, Bertie was really sad, but he and Millie carved the white lion into the chalk rock on the side of a mountain at their home. They did this so that the white lion would never be forgotten. - Jasmine and Jessica. P9 students would all like to wish you a safe and happy holiday! Origami We became interested in origami when we made origami stars for Matariki. Then Aiden started to teach us the origami dino. All of a sudden, lots of people wanted to ask us how to make an origami dino and an origami scorpion. We make them before school, at morning tea and at lunch time too. We have made a ton of them, and they go on the windowsill when we have finished one. So far, we have made about 20 different origami types. Making origami is fun, and we have made lots of different types of sculptures. I wanted to make smaller ones, and then make a smaller one again, because I am testing my hands. - Aiden, Chris, Luke and Lucas Science In Science, we are describing the movement of the moon and Earth and know how the moon orbits around the Earth and Earth orbits around the sun. We have also been learning the 7 phases of the moon and why the moon changes. We role played being the Earth, moon and sun and videoed ourselves orbiting around the sun. The Earth person had to slowly rotate as it was orbiting the sun, because we learnt that the Earth slowly spins on its axis. The moon person had to orbit Earth and together they orbited the sun. - Antony and Oscar Term 2 Learning in P11P11 have continued to be enthusiastic and creative in all areas of their learning. The students have been developing their confidence and proficiency, using a range of ways to share their learning with others around them. Writing We have been focusing on writing clear and detailed directions for the reader to follow, and constructing formal letters of apology that include high level connectives and appropriate language choices to suite the purpose and audience. Reading We have reached the final chapters this week of ‘The Butterfly Lion’. We have followed the lives of the characters through World War 1 and the journey of the lion from Africa to England. We have been learning how to make a prediction as we read, based on evidence and information in the text. We have also discovered the examples of chalk art in England and through asking questions before, during and after our reading, the students have become to understand the text much more deeply. Measuring Length During maths we have been learning to measure, using cm and mm. This has involved accurately reading the measurement on a ruler. Science In Science, we have classified and grouped rocks according to their properties. We have explored the relationships between the Earth, Sun and the Moon and when and how they move and orbit in relation to one another. Global Perspectives We have been investigating the disappearing and researching the habitats of animals around the world and why many species are endangered. Art We have been exploring Monet during art with Mrs Fleming and have been practising the techniques he used. Matariki Lastly, we have been investigating Matariki, what is means and the stories behind this constellation of stars. P11 created a dramatisation of the story of ‘The Seven Fish of Matariki.’ Message from the Principal of CollegeKia ora e te whānau o Pinehurst School There is a buzz around the College as one of the most anticipated events in the College school calendar draws near. The School Ball is an opportunity to honour friendships, to celebrate the end of a half year of hard work and endeavour, and to have some fun. This year, the theme of our School Ball is Aurora Lights, and the event will be held at The Hilton Hotel on Princess Wharf in the city. This is a beautiful venue, and I am confident that our students will have a fantastic time. On Monday of this week, The Pinehurst Music Department hosted a Musical Performance Showcase. Our College Orchestra, Junior Orchestra, Choirs, Jazz Band, Harp Ensemble, Woodwind Ensemble, Marimba Group, and two Chamber Groups Ensembles performed for friends and family in our Arena. Our Music Department is going from strength to strength under the leadership of Mr Ronayne and it was exciting for our students to be able to demonstrate their excellent musical talents to a live audience. Thank you to all those who attended the showcase and please keep an eye out for future dates for your calendar. We had more sporting successes during the week including our Netball Team 2 winning 16 – 13 against Orewa College in a very exciting game. We also celebrated three students having podium finishes at the Auckland Secondary Schools Individual Swimming Championships; well done to Osbert Gu, Yeenok Zhang and Deonna Qu. Today at lunchtime, for our last in-school sporting event of the term, we will be treated to a staff versus students volleyball match. I have a feeling that this will be a hard-fought match with both sides very eager to take the win. Whilst many of us look forward to a break, there will still be lots of school related activities happening for our students. Winter sports continue into next week and many of our students will be representing us in the sporting arena. The cast and crew of Annie will carry on with rehearsals into the school break and there will also be teachers and students at school working on the set. We had a wonderful glimpse into the production of Annie at our recent Year 9-13 assembly. Ticket sales are going well so make sure you book yours soon. I will finish my last Newsletter piece of the term with a thank you. It is wonderful to be back as part of the Pinehurst Community and I very much appreciate the kind words of support I have received. Enjoy spending time with your wonderful children over the next three weeks. Ngā mihi nui Dawn Year 7 Speech FinalsThe Year 7's gathered together eagerly anticipating the speech finals. We heard why water is not wet, and why Mr. Reed should stay at Pinehurst with a humorous image of him riding a cream scooter. Students were left imagining how performing in school productions can help to improve confidence and enhance learning, and why pineapple is a good topping for pizzas. The speeches were highly entertaining and students brought great imagination, enthusiasm and energy to captivate their audience. The top three students were: 1st - Kacey 2nd - Jenny 3rd - Samuel Year 8 Speech FinalsOn Monday the 27th June we had our Year 8 Speech finals. Ten students (two from each class) battled it out with an array of interesting and vibrant topics. The audience learnt why the earth was NOT flat and why we should not buy a Tesla. We were persuaded that grandparents are simply the best and educated as to why clothing bins do more harm than good. Braces are often thought to be a curse but we were persuaded to believe that life without them was dull. The participants set a high standard and all presented their ideas effectively, implementing the different persuasive techniques they had learned this unit. Well done to all participants and congratulations to our winners: 1st – Aayoung: Why we should be concerned about global issues 2nd – Linda: Why we should not dispose of clothes in clothing bins 3rd – Edward: Why no one should own a Tesla. YR 9 SPEECH FINALSWe gathered on Friday 1st July to watch the ten chosen finalists present their speeches. We were thoroughly entertained with topics ranging from ‘Why abortion should be legal everywhere’, ‘Why we shouldn’t reach out to aliens’ to ‘Why beauty standards are unrealistic’. The audience were appreciative of all the ideas and were stimulated by the thoughts presented. Well done to all ten finalists and special congratulations to our top 3 participants: 1st place: Alex – Why horseracing should be banned 2nd place: Freya – Why beauty standards are unrealistic 3rd place: Zoe – Body Image Thank you to our judges – Mrs Boam, Mrs Neeves, Tim Xie and Lisa Sun. Some photos from last weeks AKSS Individual Stroke Play ChampionshipsWorld Amateur Team Championship Selection - Nicole ChoiNicole Choi has recently been announced as one of the 3 players chosen to represent New Zealand in the World Amateur Team Championship. New Zealand displays an exceptional history in teams performances, and it is a great honor and privilege for Nicole to be selected as a member of this 2022 team. The championship are to be held at Le Golf National and Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Brèteche in France, and they will be competing for the Esprito Santo Trophy from August 24 - 27. For further information please look see below link: Incredible work, Nicole! Year 7 & 8 Waterpolo Zone TournamentThe Year 7 & 8 waterpolo team attended the North Harbour Zone Tournament on Friday at the National Aquatic Centre. The team played 5 games, with some games coming down to a one-point loss and one draw in pool play. The tournament was a great stepping stone for our Year 7 & 8 waterpolo team and the team continued to improve from game to game. AKSS Intercollegiate Individual Swimming ChampsPinehurst students, Amelia, Audrey, Deonna, Osbert, Yeenok, Bruce, all competed last Sunday in the Intercollegiate Individual Swimming Champs held at West Wave Pools. Congratulations to all our swimmers with a special mention to Osbert, Yeenok and Deonna who all achieved podium finishes. Well done! NHSS Football 1st XI Girls Semi FinalThe Pine Trees do it again…. AS History MOTAT VisitLast week the AS History class went to MOTAT as part of our Industrial Revolution topic. We saw the Pumphouse in action and heard about how it provides steam to power different kinds of machinery within the museum. We also had a look at a loom which people used to weave fabrics, and even got to use a real quill and ink. Being able to see different artefacts from the time period really helped to bring the unit to life and we had an awesome day out! A Level Classical StudiesStudents recently completed a study on the tragic paradox of classical heroes in the Homeric world. Their study covered Homer’s book “The Iliad”. All were asked to prepare and deliver a class seminar on one chosen hero. We had seminars covering heroes like Odysseus, Hector, Sarpedon, Ajax and Achilles. All speakers covered their material thoroughly. However, one student needs to be mentioned in particular, Kate Le Lievre. Her seminar went above and beyond the call of academic duty! Kate’s seminar should have been one period in duration, but it lasted five periods with over 100 slides. It was the ”seminar that just kept giving”. Humour aside, it demonstrated the academic prowess our senior students will go to when engaged. Achilles himself would have been pleased to have been remembered in this way. Year 7 Social ScienceThe management of our resources is having a significant impact on our urban environments. During this Term in Social Science, we took a macro view of living sustainably and the challenges and opportunities this poses. Students decided to design and build their own sustainable cities and found that city planning was an important task. Structural engineering with a hot glue gun was a particularly difficult job but the students persevered and are very proud of their efforts. College ScienceStudents are enjoying Science by learning concepts through practical work at all levels from Year 7 to Year 13. Modelling is a commonly used method in Science to represent a real phenomenon that is difficult to observe directly. In Year 10 Biology, we use clay to model synapse which is the transfer of impulse from one neuron to another. In Year 7 Science, we use clay to model planets in the solar system. Students in Year 8 have been having fun using air pressure to crush cans. They have also used turning forces to calculate moments Students are able to do dissections in Biology. They are dissecting cow eye balls as part of the coordination topic. They study the structure of the eye, as the eye is a sense organ. The students work very safely using scalpels and surgical scissors to open up the eye and view the retina, the lens and iris muscle. College ProductionTickets for Annie are now on sale!! Please follow this link to book your tickets. Centre Stage Theatre, Orewa 27-29 July 7pm Tickets $25 Adult, Booking via Centrestage Box Office 09 4267282 or www.centrestagetheatre.co.nz or in person 60 Centreway Road, Orewa Credit Card Charges Apply Term 3 Sport Registrations – Year 0 – 8 Sport registrations are now open for the following sports;
To register please follow this link: SPORT REGISTRATIONS You should have received information letters for these sports over the last week. If you need more information, please email Melanie.Puckett@pinehurst.school.nz Registrations for Gymnastics Year 0-2 and Badminton Yr 4-6 lunchtime programs will be available by the end of the week, you will receive an email as soon as these are live with information letters.
VIP Carpark Winners! Following on from the Pinehurst 30th Birthday Dinner held at the beginning of June, we’re please to announce the winners of our VIP carparks! Each winner will have their own ‘named’ carpark space in front of reception – next to Alex’s car. There are 2 carpark prizes, which will be reserved for each parent for their allocated term, which we ask parents to keep free from Monday - Friday, between the hours of 8.00 - 9.00am and 2.30 - 3.30pm. Thank you to Sean Ban who was our winner drawn on the night, who has kindly re-donated his prize back to the school, as he is not in need of the space. We have re-drawn this prize and our lucky winner is…. Coco Zhang. So, Congratulations Coco, you have a carpark space for next term! VIP Carpark Winners: Term 3, 2022 Angela Feng Coco Zhang Term 4, 2022 Michelle Zhang Term 1, 2023 Dalila Zaghal Rae Ling Term 2, 2023 Colleen Shepherd Shuling Chen Congratulations to you all, and I’m sure you will make the most of this prize.
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