Message from the Executive Principal

Kia ora koutou, good afternoon, 下午好, 안녕하세요  

Best wishes,

Mike Waller 

如需阅读校长的中文留言和重要事件日期，请点击 

Message from the Principal of Primary

Senior Primary Mandarin

For the past term Mandarin Foreign language students have been investigating Chinese characters, discovering how the characters are structured and how they appear to us. In Year 4 we have used images, shapes and stories to help us connect the characters to their meaning. In Year 5 and 6 we have looked into the history and discovering how simple characters have evolved from a picture to a complicated characters and then further evolved in modern time to become much simpler with less number of strokes. Some of these characters no longer resemble what they used to look like originally and some still have a hint of their origins - if we use our imagination.

Chinese First Language students in Year 5 have been learning about The journey to the west, one of the four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature. We have rewritten the stories in our own words. These stories described Monkey King’s birth, how he learned his amazing skills and where he ‘borrowed’ his weapon, Golden cudgel, from the Dragon King of East Sea. What a cool trip it has been!

Chinese First Language students in Year 6 have been writing thank-you cards to people who have cared, supported and helped them over the years. We wrote the cards and decorated them with our hearts full of love. At the end of our Primary journey, it is a perfect time for us to express our gratitude to the important people in life. Thank you and best wishes! 谢谢！圣诞节快乐！

Pinehurst Planet Protectors Update

Pinehurst Primary has lots to remember 2023 for, one memory will definitely be setting up the Planet Protectors. We started Planet Protectors in Term 3 after noticing that we were not recycling properly and were dropping litter on the ground.

It has been quite a journey, we have introduced trash free lunches on a Tuesday and Thursday, learnt about how to compost and made beeswax wraps. In assemblies we’ve presented on how we can take care of our environment and recycle paper properly. A highlight was Bianca Jin from P21 winning the Trash Free lunch competition with her video on how to make a trash free lunch.

Yuri – “We learnt many things about the environment, and we do lots of projects and activities to better understand how we can look after our planet. It’s very fun and interactive, even for the younger children to take part in.”

Yiru – “Planet protectors is amazing! We created compost which was so fun, and we learnt so much.”

Olivia – “We’ve got a long way to go, it’s sad to see so much single use plastic in our bins. But we are hopeful that this will continue to improve next year, and trash free lunches continue!”

Chelsea – “We learnt about what could and could not be recycled – it really surprised us! Recycling paper is more complicated than we thought. I have loved being a part of the Planet Protectors.”

Xin – “We learnt how to make beeswax wraps from old t shirts! We have used these in our lunches instead of glad wrap. They were super easy to make and if everyone made them, we would have much less single use plastic going to landfill.”

Zach – “My favourite part of being a part of the Planet Protectors is that we created the group to help keep our school clean and make the world a better place.”

We are looking forward to 2024 and are already thinking about how to be more sustainable. Our first project will be looking at composting waste across the primary, this has already been trialled in Year 6 successfully.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and remember to reduce, reuse and recycle.

This term in PE we focused on athletics, striking and fielding

Within athletics we are looking at the technique involved in all the throwing, running and jumping events which include Discus, Shotput, High Jump, Long Jump and sprints. Within athletics the students are encouraged to challenge themselves and set goals they want to achieve which may be to win certain events or to beat their personal best. Athletics teaches them not only to strive for their goals but also to show resilience if they don't achieve them.

For the remainder of the term, we looked at striking and fielding, specifically softball and cricket to work on student's hand eye coordination. Through tactical games, students are required to work together to achieve their goals while also improving key fundamental skills such as throwing, catching and striking. Both these sports are important in developing different skills that they can use within their life, not just in sports but in different contexts they may find themselves in.

I hope your child has enjoyed physical education and getting the chance to develop their fundamental skills, try new games and work together while having fun at the same time. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Dear Santa…

In P7 this week we completed our fourth and final writing mission to the Big Writing Agency. We have therefore used our final couple of writing lessons of the year to plan, draft, edit and publish a letter to Santa. We have written letters before so knew that we had to explain the purpose of our writing and be polite. We asked Santa some questions about his reindeer, the elves and Mrs Claus before we asked for the presents we would like. It was also important that we explained why we deserved them! We hope you enjoy reading some of our letters!

Gymnastics Success: Mikel

We would like to highlight one of our amazing Gymnastics students, Mikel from P6. Mikel has participated in the After School Gymnastics programme almost every Term since he began at Pinehurst and has continued to develop his skillset. Recently, Mikel participated in the North Harbour Gymnastics Club Championships in which he competed in the MAG Extension Level 1 Boys category. At this event, Mikel placed 2nd Overall in his category, 2nd in the Floor and Still Rings, as well as 3rd in the Parallel Bars and the Vault. This is an awesome result and it is great to see Mikel applying his talent in the North Harbour competitions. A huge congratulations to Mikel, we look forward to watching him compete at the Year 3-4 Zone Day next year!

Year 6 Elf Xmas Craft

Super Cluster Athletics Year 4-6

Last week, we had 23 students from Year 4-6 competing in the Super Cluster Athletics Day which was held at AUT Millennium. All of the students were competing in their respective events in their gender/year group. Our students gave their very best and it was awesome to see all of the students enjoying the day. The Pinehurst Students competed exceptionally well with some of our students and relay teams earning a top 5 finish. Please see the top 5 results below:

Top 5 Results:

A huge thank you to Mr Taylor and Miss Georgia Thomson for helping on the day, as well as all of the wonderful Parents that supported our students throughout the event.

Secret Santa in P15!

As we approach the joyous holiday season, our Year 5 students have embarked on a heart-warming journey of spreading kindness and festive cheer through their Secret Santa gift exchange!

The classroom was buzzing with excitement as each student carefully selected a classmate's name from the hat, becoming the secret gift-giver for their chosen friend. The air was filled with anticipation as they discreetly plan and shop for the perfect gift, embracing the spirit of giving and thoughtfulness.

Throughout the exchange, students demonstrated impeccable manners, thanking their Secret Santa's with sincerity and grace. It was a pleasure to see the genuine excitement and gratitude on each face as the gifts were revealed, creating a positive and inclusive atmosphere within the classroom.

As we move forward into the holiday season, let us continue to celebrate not only the festivities but also the invaluable life lessons our students are learning along the way.

From P15, we wish you all a fantastic and relaxing holiday and we look forward to seeing you in 2024!

Message from the Principal of College

Pi Skyline

These Year 7 students are doing an activity called the pi skyline. Each building represents a digit of pi. A few students decided to see what more digits would look like and eventually got to 1000!

Year 7 Physical Education – Rugby

This term, the Year 7 students have been learning to play Rippa Rugby and Turbo Touch Rugby. For some students, the focus has been on developing their fundamental movement skills and learning to effectively throw and catch a rugby ball. Other students have been looking to understand the rules and further their strategic understanding of the games. Some classes have rounded off the term with an interclass tournament and it has been fantastic to see examples of excellent teamwork from the students. 

Year 7 Science

In the Science department this week we’ve been keeping the hands on learning going with experiments, and Christmas themed Science activities. Year 7 have been learning about terminal velocity and putting that learning into practice with an egg drop challenge! We followed this up with chromatography snowflakes. Year 8 have been making salt crystal Christmas trees, while Year 10 have been doing experiments on rates of reactions, and making “atomic” Christmas decorations using recycled plastic

Gold Duke of Edinburgh

Sunday 26 November saw a small group of Year 12 students, many fresh from the Year 12 camp the previous week, head down to Hillary Outdoors Tongariro to complete their Practice and Qualifying Adventurous Journeys for their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. The group spent three days in Kaimanawa Forest Park for their Practice trip and enjoyed some fabulous weather. Unfortunately, some of the group had to return to Auckland due to illness, leaving two determined students to embark on the four day Qualifying trip. Thursday morning saw the small group head out on the Round the Mountain track. They traversed bogs, waterfalls, scree, rivers, ridgelines as they circumnavigated Mount Ruapehu. Ollie, the instructor from Hillary Outdoors, encouraged everyone to take a dip in the mountain streams at the end of each day’s hike, a surprisingly exhilarating experience. The students demonstrated fantastic resilience through tough stetches of the hike and successfully navigated off track past the Whakapapa ski area to the final hut of the trip. Arriving in Ohakune on Sunday morning was a huge achievement and one Zofia and Bobby should be very proud of.  

Auckland AAIMS Interzone Athletics Championships

Last week, Aaron in 8PL competed at the Auckland AAIMS Interzone Athletics Championships after qualifying for this event at the North Harbour Athletics Zone Day. The event was held at Mount Smart Stadium and included the best athletes from all over the Auckland region. Aaron had qualified for the 200m and 400m event. It is a huge achievement to qualify for the Auckland Championships and Aaron was not only representing Pinehurst, but also the whole of the North Harbour region. Aaron placed 2nd in his 200m heat and 4th in his 400m heat. This was a great experience for Aaron and I am sure he will continue to excel in the College events at the beginning of next year.

Lakers - Basketball League Success

The Year 7-8 Lakers Basketball team have had an outstanding season in 2023. In Semester 1, the team were runners up in their respective grade which resulted in the team being promoted to the next grade. The team continued to go from strength to strength in their new grade and dominated the Semester 2 campaign. On Monday night, the team faced off with Belmont Intermediate in the 1st and 2nd playoff game. The team took out the champion spot after beating Belmont Intermediate 25 points to 14. A huge congratulations to the team for their success, and especially to the Manager and Coach for giving up their time to support our students. We appreciate all of your hard work!

Financial Literacy Learning in Year 9

We have had an extremely successful financial literacy learning program in Year 9 commerce this year. Using the NZ based platform Banqer,  students have been engaged and enthusiastically gaining financial literacy skills. Students have learning about budgeting, saving, investing, Kiwisaver, careers, property and insurance which will serve them well in the future. I am thrilled to see their growth in understanding personal finance.

This week students were awarded with certificates describing their ‘money personality’. Most students in Mrs Mann’s class were “Active Investors” which is in line with the enthusiasm that students have had for investing in the stock market and in property. Some of our students were “savers” and some were “splurgers”! Congratulations Year 9 Commerce students.

Kathleen Piano Competition Awards and Talent Concert

Kathleen has been invited to perform at the New Zealand Young Chinese Piano and Violin Talent Concert, which will take place at Auckland Town Hall on 2nd December 2023. Throughout the year, she has also achieved remarkable success in various Piano competitions. Notably, she secured 1st Places in both WAPAC and Hamilton Piano Competitions, as well as 2nd Places in NSPAS and IRMT Scholarship Piano Competitions. Kathleen possesses exceptional musical talents and consistently delivers outstanding performances.

Registration is now open for our co-curricular music groups for 2024

We offer a wide range of co-curricular music groups that students have the opportunity to take part in, including Choir and Orchestra for both Primary and College students.

Our music groups are run by Pinehurst teaching staff or by instrumental specialists, all with an impressive range of experience and knowledge, who work to ensure our students get the most out of these musical opportunities. Our groups meet at various times, such as lunchtime and after school, during the school term. 

Please go to the Music page on our website for a list of our music groups and to register.

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