Message from the Executive Principal

Kia ora koutou, good afternoon, 下午好, 안녕하세요  

Best wishes,

Mike Waller 

Message from the Principal of Primary

The Science Roadshow

The Science Roadshow was an opportunity to explore various science and technology concepts by ‘touch and feel’. It provided a unique, informal learning opportunity that:

• excites and enthused our students
• nurtured curiosity and discovery
• improved motivation and attitude
• supported numeracy and literacy
• encouraged social interaction and co-operative learning
• provides memorable real life contextual elements and exemplars.

Our Year 6 students were able to explore 60 hands-on exhibits and attended two demonstration shows. 

Last week year 6 were lucky enough to be invited to the Science Roadshow. It was incredibly fun.  The people who worked there were remarkably interesting because they did some cool stuff like, making elephant toothpaste (one of the ingredients is hydrogen peroxide which used to be used as rocket fuel). Some of stuff I already knew but, overall, most of the stuff was interesting like the bacteria. Overall, the Science Roadshow was probably the most interesting thing so far this year. - Zach Maxwell 

In P23

P23 have been working on programming and moving a Bee Bot robot in our ICT lessons this term. We began by discussing what robots are and what they can do. We learned that robots could complete their tasks as they were programmed to do so by humans; we tell robots what to do. We were so lucky to have practical hands-on experience then of programming our very own robots.

We practiced working with a partner giving and following instructions. They went forwards, backwards, left and right. We talked about robots following a clear, fixed command in a precise and repeatable way. The children were developing their knowledge of the concepts of programming and their ability to make the robot move.

Today’s task was to randomly draw a start and a finish picture for our robots then plan the route deciding which way to go. There was lots of trial and error, planning then programming their robots. We predicted, planned, then programmed the robots and off they went! Such a great way to learn through our mistakes as not only could they see immediately if the robot was not in the required position, but they also had to look at their programming and spot their mistake to fix it up.

I asked the children what the best part of the lesson was, some of the students said…

“Playing with the robot, telling it which way to go” Ryan

“Programming the robots is great fun” Katie

“I loved the robots they are such fun” Chelsea

“I liked writing the programming arrows” Ollie

In P8

P8 have been looking at the work of a famous French Artist called Oscar Claude Monet. 
The aim was to:

• paint a landscape using colour and texture
• use their fingers to apply thick paint
• explain that Monet painted lots of pictures outdoors
• discuss the bright colours Monet used in his paintings

Their example – Famous ‘Japanese Footpath’

P11 Science Report

In Science we have been exploring the shape of the earth, sun and moon.

We discovered that they are not exactly round but spherical.

We looked at different 3D shapes including spheres. We also used secondary information sources such as information books and articles, powerpoints and the internet itself. In pairs, we entered keywords into the safari search engine and discovered so many interesting facts. We had to select the most important facts as notes on our whiteboards.

Earth is the 3^rd rock from the sun.

In English Additional Language this week

In English Additional Language this week, the junior classes have been working around the theme of Healthy Eating. The new entrant class has been using the present continuous tense and discussing different meals of the day. We had lots of giggles about ‘eating snacks’ and ‘eating snakes,’ which moved beautifully into pronunciation. The older junior classes have created healthy lunches using lots of great questions and more descriptive language.

The senior classes have been working around the theme of Different Countries. Some groups have been looking at places they have visited and using the present perfect tense. They have been identifying the tricky past participle and making sure they pronounce it clearly. Other groups have been reading information texts about different countries and responding to the information. The year 6 group was looking at relative clauses and identifying these from a travel blog. This turned out to be so fascinating, they ended up doing further research into it!

Message from the Principal of College

Dragon Boat Festival

This week, our Mandarin classes have been learning about the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Jie. The Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, is a vibrant and ancient tradition in China. It is best known for its dragon boat races and the making of zongzi, delicious sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Our students engaged in crafting their own zongzi handcrafts. The adventure continues next week when our students will have the opportunity to taste real zongzi. This immersive learning experience has not only broadened their perspectives but also fostered a greater appreciation for the diverse world we live in.

Year 9 Social Science

Hazards is the Term 2 focus in Year 9 Social Sciences. Recently we have been learning about the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and considering how the consequences of a natural disaster impact people in different ways. Our key term for these lessons is ‘perspectives’, and along with learning about the earthquake event we are also practising our summarising skills. In the photos you can see one of our Year 9 classes completing a perspectives scavenger hunt in teams!

Hockey 1st XI Girls

Our 1st XI Girls Hockey team have had an excellent start to the season, this season they are captained by Katherine who has been leading by example both on and off the field. Last week the girls won a quarter final by shoot out, super calm goal scoring by Charlie, Aayoung and Ivy with exceptional goal keeping by Tilly Wells. They repeated their efforts this week, drawing 2 all at full time and winning another shootout to get into the final. Tilly was incredible in goal again and full credit to Charlie and Aayoung for calmy slotting in the goals when they mattered. The girls have started their season strong and we are very excited to see how far they go.  

Senior Girls Badminton Team win the Auckland College Sport North Harbour competition

Last night, on Thursday after school at the Active Badminton Centre on Apollo, the Pinehurst Senior Girls school team defeated Kristen to take Gold in the North Harbour Competition.

Congratulations Veronica X (Captain), Alina Z, Cynthia Z, Jennifer L, Emily Z, and Alice Z. And thank you to Picco Chow, the Pinehurst Badminton Coach, for all the training and development of team spirit.

Next term, the 7-8 and Year 9-10 competitive badminton players will have a North Harbour Zone Day competition. Congratulations to the Senior Girls team winners and good luck to the Junior players as they prepare for their Term 3 competition and the AIMS Tournament.

Gold winners – Pinehurst Senior Girls Badminton Team (Absent - Alina Zhang due to recently breaking her arm)

Get Ready for Seussical! 

We are thrilled to announce Pinehurst's upcoming College production of Seussical—a magical musical based on the works of Dr Seuss! Our students are hard at work preparing for what promises to be an unforgettable show.
 
Seussical is a wonderful string of Dr Seuss's fantastical stories set to music. Incorporating elements from at least 15 of his books, along with many of his best-loved and most familiar characters, prepare to be enchanted with this story that weaves together wondrous characters, creatures, places, and things. Many of these characters have never met one another before—but they do in this musical! In the course of the evening, some will fall in love, some will have desperate adventures, and some will save the world.

• Victoria University of Wellington Open Evening in Auckland’s Aotea Centre June 10. Register here.
• University of Melbourne is in Pinehurst School Theatre June 11 at lunchtime
• North Shore Career Expo June 12 and 13
• Australian National University is in Pinehurst Theatre June 14 at lunchtime

• Massey University – College of Creative Arts Experience Day. June 14 in Wellington. Portfolio reviews available. Register here: Creative Arts Experience Day Massey University Tickets, Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite
• University of Otago Auckland Information Evening. June 18 6.30 pm at Ellerslie Event Centre
• Interested in studying in the USA and worried about SAT preparation? The following preparation course is happening in Auckland. Facilitator has 20+ years of SAT preparation experience. Full details and registration link here:  http://www.testtakers-sg.com/program-registration

• Young women aged 15-21 are encouraged to apply for the GirlBoss Edge: Tech for Good online course which is happening in the July school holidays. It is for young women interested in: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths), Business, Innovation, Social Change and Leadership

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North Harbour Netball Player Development Programme Selection

We would like to congratulate two players from Pinehurst that have been selected in the Netball North Harbour Player Development Squads for 2024. Elizabeth de Winnaar has been selected for the Year 7 Girls squad and Cathy Situ has been selected for the Year 8 Girls squad. The squads will now train as a squad before participating in a netball festival in Waitakere next month. This is an amazing accomplishment, and we know both students will make the most out of this opportunity. I would also like to congratulate all of our students that earned a call back trial for this programme, we are super proud of the hard work you are putting into your sport.