Message from the Executive Principal

Kia ora koutou, good afternoon, 下午好, 안녕하세요  

Best wishes,

Mike Waller 

Message from the Principal of Primary

P2 Measurement!

In maths, we have been learning how to measure! We compared different lengths, our heights, and objects around the classroom. Using non-standard units like our handspans and strides, we measured the playground and big objects in the classroom. We then became ruler masters- measuring and drawing lines in centimeters and even using what we know to estimate the sizes of things around us!

In P12

Art has always been one of our favourite times in P12.  In Art, we have been learning about an artist called Jackson Pollock who uses expressionist movement. Pollock was best known for his ‘drip technique’ or splashing liquid such as household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles.  We decided to use a similar approach, where we use a rectangular box, poured some paint on top of our paper and used a marble to create the movement. Take a look at some of our art pieces.

In Health this week we have been learning about having an interesting conversation.  Together we took turns and discussed the do’s and don’t when we are having conversations in the classroom, home or the playground. 

Some of the most important do’s in P12 are:

1. Look at the other person and smile.
2. Listen carefully when the other person is speaking.
3. When they stop talking, take your turn.

Take a look at some of our illustrations.

Exploring Light: A Journey of Discovery in P9 Science

In this week's science lesson, P9 students delved into the fascinating world of light! Exploring transparency, translucency, and opacity, we discovered how light behaves when passing through different materials. With hands-on experiments, we learned that some materials allow light to pass through (transparent), while others partially block it (translucent) or block it completely (opaque). Understanding these terms, we also explored the formation of shadows when light is obstructed by objects. Then we had fun exploring the creation of shadows using our hands.

Elysa – Transparent means that light can go through it, like glass; it is see-through.

Vasco - Opaque objects block the sun because light cannot go through them. This causes a shadow.

Eva – Translucent means some light comes through. Imagine a stained-glass window; you can see through it, but you can't see properly through it.

Cindy – When the sun faces something that is not see-through, it causes a shadow because the object is opaque.

Health in P19: Treasuring Friendship

In Health, P19 have been exploring the world of friendship. We've come to understand just how crucial friends are in our lives and how friendships need to be treasured. Learning how to be a good friend has been a big part of our discussions, especially around the importance of being kind, caring, and supportive. We've reflected on what friendship means to us, pondering questions about what makes a good friend and why we enjoy having friends. We've also considered if friendships differ between boys and girls.

We've realized the importance of valuing our friendships, not taking them for granted and that building and maintaining relationships with friends takes effort. We've practiced skills like communication and conflict resolution, so that we ensure our friendships stay strong.

Finally, to express our feelings about friendship in a creative way, we wrote poems using figurative language, capturing the essence of what friendship looks, sounds, and feels like. Overall, our journey through friendship in Health class has taught us that friends are like treasures - they make life richer and more meaningful.

New Entrant - Year 3 Mandarin

Week two saw us starting our new list of vocabulary and pinyin.

It was also the first week for our New Entrants to have their Mandarin. We explored numbers one to ten, and we counted them in different ways. Year 1 went on to count in twos and we practiced this with a game of Around the World where we raced each other to say the correct number.

Year 2 and Year 3 revisit their learning for pinyin, this should help us learn the sounds of our new vocabulary. Year 2 were exploring words that end with the focused finals (Chinese vowels) and came across a wide range of words that we had not thought of before. While Year 3 discovered that there are quite a few initial letters (consonants) sound the same in English as they do in Chinese. Fancy that!

Year 2 students started learning their new vocabulary by investigating how they are constructed and making connections between its appearance with its meaning.

In P1

In P1, we have started learning a new technique for art, which is the art of making patterns. We understand that patterns have a core which is repeated at least 3 times and we enjoyed using various equipment to make patterns.

We have learnt about some patterns which are found in nature and also a number of patterns from different cultures. We loved looking at all the dots and patterns in Aboriginal art and learning about boomerangs. In our latest art session we explored Rangoli patterns from the Hindu culture and had a go at making one of a paper plate. We had a fun time cutting out shapes and gluing them to the plate.

We are looking forward to learning more about patterns and create some cool fun art this term!

Message from the Principal of College

Toi o te Wiki

Toi o te wiki this week goes to Year 11 IGCSE Art and Design student, Annie.
In this cyanotype, Annie shares the connection and bond she has with her sister. 
Her coursework explores ideas around self exploration and the importance of relationship with self and others in the development of herself as a wāhine. 
Her cyanotype has been created on fabric and has been embroidered and worked into with pen to add further details.

Beautiful work, Annie!

North Harbour Secondary School Swimming Championships

Last week, our Year 9-13 swimming team competed at the North Harbour Secondary School Swimming Championships which was held at AUT. The team performed exceptionally well in all of their events, with the students below achieving a podium finish in their events:

Boys 14-15Yrs 50m Butterfly: 2nd Place: Osbert (Year 11)

Girls 16-18Yrs 50m Butterfly: 2nd Place: Eleanor (Year 12)

Boys 14-15Yrs 50m Backstroke: 2nd Place: Osbert (Year 11) and 3rd Place: Bruce (Year 11)

Boys 16-18Yrs 200m Freestyle Relay: 2nd Place: Bruce (Year 11), Sonny (Year 10), Kenneth (Year 12), Osbert (Year 11)

The students above have now qualified for the Auckland Secondary Schools Champion of Champions event which is being held next week on Friday 17^th May at Westwave Pool. We wish these swimmers all the best for their upcoming event and we can’t wait to see them go up against the best swimmers from all over Auckland.

College Production

The cast of "Seussical" were hard at work over the holidays, coming in over three days for rehearsals which went so well; we're so excited for you to see the show at the end of this term! We were even lucky enough to have the production orchestra in on one of these days, and the cast got to sing along with the real music for the first time. It was great to hear the songs come together, and it created so much excitement for the students. The cast continues to work so hard at rehearsals, and we cannot wait to finally perform "Seussical" in week 10. Keep an eye out for ticket sales!

World Vision Conference

On 6 May 2024, a group of Year 8 students attended the World Vision Youth Conference, with many other leaders from schools all around Auckland. World Vision is an organisation dedicated to helping children, families, and communities around the world to overcome poverty and injustice.  

The day was spent listening to heart-felt stories of people from different parts of the world and learning lessons we would never forget. The students experienced a series of different emotions throughout the day. Some even teared up at the stories. For example, Timor-Leste, an island on the southern extreme of the Malay Archipelago, contributes to 0.003% of carbon emissions yet they are one of the most affected countries in the world from climate change. They would experience floods every day at least once and would have to rebuild all their fences and save their animals. No child should have to live like this.  

Everyone that attended the conference left feeling a sense of responsibility and drive to help the world. As they described, the world is an open wound waiting to heal. We have done nothing but place a bandage on it and ignore it. We cannot keep damaging it. It is like walking down a tunnel and seeing a tiny glint of light ahead, if we keep walking down that tunnel, eventually we will get to the end and reach the light. So, take small steps each day towards a bigger cause and help the world before it is too late.  

Think about the world that you see and the way you act because of that vision. 

So, we encourage students to sign up for the 40-hour Challenge today to help countries affected by climate change, hunger and many other global problems. The Challenge will involve choosing something to give up for 40 hours and getting sponsors to donate to World Vision. It will take place on 21 - 23 June.  

 Let's get started today and work together. 

Year 7 and 8 PE

This term for Years 7 and 8, we are looking at building their interpersonal skills through the medium of net games. In Year 7 we are promoting social skills through looking at relationships and interpersonal skills and in Year 8, transferrable skills through positive interdependence, Individual accountability, group processing as well as building on their social skills. The aim of this term is to create cohesive year groups, able to show empathy and understanding towards each other in order to resolve conflict in a fair and peaceful manner. We believe that lessons learned through sport can be carried by the students in their day to day lives and highlighting the transferrable skills will hopefully encourage them to deliberately think about the choices that they make. 

Languages Department Book Character Dress Up

While this week has been chock-full of fantastic activities for the Languages Department Reader’s Week, one of our highlights was Wednesday’s teacher dress up. Teachers of English, Mandarin, and Spanish spent most of the day masquerading as beloved (and some loathed!) figures from fiction. While students spent much of the day trying to interpret their teachers' wacky impersonations, the day’s main event was the parade held in the dance studio where students were challenged to guess who teachers were parodying. Of course, while the competition did come with prizes of book vouchers for students that managed to guess correctly who was who, if we did happen to have a contest for the best dressed teacher, I think Mrs Miller would have absolutely taken the cake!

Korean Exchange

On 30 April, the first day back, 17 students and 3 teachers from IMAE middle school, Korea, arrived at Pinehurst for their exchange program. They spent 3 days at school with their host family, attending classes with them and spending the afternoon/evening together. On Friday they left to do their own scenic Auckland tour, shortly followed by a flight back to Korea on Saturday morning.

The peak of this exchange was probably our school trip to the Auckland war memorial museum followed with dinner at Burger Burger in Newmarket accompanied by a lovely sunset.

As a student who hosted 2 exchange students, I have to say it was a very wonderful experience. I got to create special bonds meanwhile getting to know more about how life is in another country.

It was pretty tiring however so worth it and I'm so glad that I participated in this exchange programme.

 - Chloe Zhang, Year 10

The Student Council have been working hard planning the annual Cultural Market 2024

We’re thrilled to announce Soraya Su as the winner of our Currency Competition for the upcoming Cultural Market. Congratulations to Soraya! Although there was some tough competition, her design truly stood out among the submissions, showcasing creativity and cultural significance. A huge thank you to everyone who participated; your designs will still be used in the event.

Stallholders, expect to hear from us soon with further details. We are really looking forward to having you as part of the market day.

Additionally, if any parents with businesses are interested in sponsoring a raffle draw with prominent branding, please reach out to benen.sitarachiyanon@pinehurst.school.nz. We would be extremely grateful!

Please keep in mind that the Cultural Market will be held on 26 June for students to purchase some wonderful food. We have an amazing variety of cuisines this year, and the Student Council is looking forward to seeing you there!

Year 9 Camp Reflections from Students

This camp has truly been such a wonderful experience! I have learned so much from the camp, from learning which plants are safe to eat and learning to fish, then learning how to navigate and sail a boat. But I have to say the boat part was my favourite. I got to learn so much about sailing and got to look at beautiful dolphins jump up from the sea at sunset while on the beach with all my friends - learning how to sail was truly the cherry on top. I do have to say sailing and navigating the boat was quite stressful since you must consistently check the depth of the ocean to see if the boat will get stuck, to looking at where the wind is on my face so I can steer the boat in the right direction. The main lesson I learned from this camp is “Fear is temporary, regret is forever” so no matter how scared I was I still did it in the end since I might be scared for a few minutes but the regret of not doing it will last a lifetime. This camp was truly spectacular, and I cannot wait for next year's camp where Pinehurst can yet again push me beyond my limits. Felicia Zhao

The crew on Steinlager, Tyra, Jo, Rob and Hamish were very kind and fun to be around, I’d like to thank them for introducing me to bioluminescence & sailing us through the ocean, passing dolphins and beautiful sunsets. Tyra was the one who convinced me to jump off boat on the second morning. Tyra told me, “ You won’t get another opportunity to jump in and have fun. Once you’re older you won’t have time to think about camp with friends and jumping off boats, you’ll be thinking about taxes and paying your bills, so live your life and JUMP IN! It’s better than regretting it later.” Her words convinced me to jump in, and I am very happy I did.  As much as I loved our sailing adventure, the land camp was for sure the most fun. Om, Harry and Auntie Shaz were so much fun, they always found a way to make us laugh and knew how to have fun! I really enjoyed the 5km hike because the view was gorgeous, and I got to talk to my friends. Year 9 camp disciplined me in many ways - I learned how to start a fire with flint and steel and wood stick and string, I went out of my comfort zone and actually enjoyed it but most of all I connected with people better and left camp closer to my friends. Sofia Baumann Korneeva

On both parts of the camp, I talked to people in my house more, who I never thought I would talk to. I brought my camera which helped me talk to people a bit more easily by asking if I could take a photo of them. When we were given an activity, such as jumping off the boat, we had the option to climb down the ladder or just jump in, I was unsure, but I decided to go with my gut and jump off the boat, pushing myself out of my comfort zone. On land camp, we had the option to sleep outside on the hammocks or a mat, or sleep in our tents - even though it could rain, I decided to push myself and slept outside – I didn’t regret it! Amber Kim

Senior Commerce students at Parliament

This week, 17 senior students headed to Wellington for a whirl-wind tour of our nation’s capital. Students, along with Mrs Mann and Mrs Keshwara, took a tour around parliament to see how laws travel from the debating chamber to the select committee room. We even visited the offices of our local MP and Education Minister, Erica Stanford. We all thoroughly enjoyed the excitement of the house at question time, including the speaker of the house telling the MP's off for being so disruptive, and for using political statements!

The other highlight was our visit to the TradeMe office where we learned how important culture is to their company, got to experience their stunning office environment and hear about all of the different facets of working for a homegrown tech company. The highlight was definitely the 2-floor commute from the 5^th to the 3^rd floor on their amazing slide!  

While visiting places like the Commerce Commission and the Reserve Bank were very-much linked to the Commerce curricula, there was time for some less serious activities. Some of these highlights were Wellington's famous cable car, Te Papa and the botanic gardens. We also had the chance to do a night time tour of Zealandia where we saw Kiwi, Takahe, Tuatara and Weta.

This trip was inspiring for students and gave them many real-life experiences that they can relate to their studies. It also highlighted opportunities and pathways that they might not have thought about incorporating into future studies.

• UCAS applications open on 15 May for students applying to UK universities
• UCAT booking deadline is 17 May
• University of Waikato Open Day 24 May. Register here 
• Otago University Open Days are on the 26 and 27 May 2024. Head to www.otago.ac.nz/open-days for further information and FAQs
• University of British Columbia is in Pinehurst Theatre 29 May at lunchtime

School Ball

All Year 11-13 students are cordially invited to attend this year's School Ball. We look forward to celebrating this special event with you!

Date: Saturday 29 June 2024
Time: 7.15pm - Midnight
Venue: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 128 Albert Street, Auckland Central
Ticket Price: $165.00

Join us for our annual Pink Ribbon Breakfast!

Let’s get together for good – join us for our annual Pink Ribbon Breakfast -  register here by Friday 17 May.

Julie's Fencing Achievements During the School Break

Badminton Counties Manuka Association U13 Open

Tennis – New Zealand National Junior Teams Tennis Championship

In the recent School holidays, Ryann (Year 7) represented the Northern Region in the New Zealand National Junior Teams Tennis Championship in Christchurch. Each region selects their best 4 players in each age group, making up a tournament of 12 players in each age group. Ryann and the rest of the Northern Region team were a force to be reckoned with at this tournament, advancing their way to the podium and finishing up in 2nd place in the Under 12 division. A huge congratulations to Ryann for this achievement, we know Ryann will continue to work hard and we wish him all the best for his future competitions.

Diving – Junior Performance Squad Selection

Following the recent Australian Diving Championships, Zara (Year 9) has been invited to join the Junior Performance Squad for Diving. The squad trains specifically for performance, which includes many international competitions and potentially Commonwealth Games. This is a massive achievement for Zara and we know she will work very hard to achieve her goals off the board.

Mountain Biking - Mons Royale Auckland Schools Cross Country Mountain Biking

Sarah L in Year 8 set a new course record with an exceptional score at Pupuke Golf Club

Ten Feet Tall Poetry Competition Winners

Exciting news from the Ten Feet Tall Poetry Competition at the end of Term 1! Gabrielle S Yu secured first place in the Year 1-3 category, while Taylan Nyawo emerged victorious in the Year 7-10 division.

Well done Gabrielle and Taylan!

If you have any news or submissions you’d like considered for our newsletter, please contact news@pinehurst.school.nz