Message from the Executive Principal

Kia ora koutou, good afternoon, 下午好, 안녕하세요  

Best wishes,

Mike Waller 

Message from the Principal of College

Year 10 Economics Students Dive into the World of Labour Negotiations

Our Year 10 Economics students recently delved into the dynamics of the labour market through a practical negotiation exercise. As part of their study on the roles of households, workers, and trade unions, students assumed the roles of employers and employees, negotiating first individually and then collectively as trade unions.

The session sparked lively debates and intense negotiations, resulting in several successful agreements. This engaging exercise not only enhanced their understanding of economic interactions but also honed their negotiation skills, preparing them for real-world applications.

Toi o te Wiki - Lucy

Lucy Song, an AS Art and Design student, has beautifully captured the essence of her grandmother in a charcoal drawing. This impressive piece forms part of her preparatory work for the upcoming 15-hour examination. The portrait not only showcases her remarkable talent in charcoal technique but also sets a high standard as she progresses towards her examination.

New Trumpet & Trombone Itinerant Teacher

We are pleased to let you know that we have a new Brass teacher, Mr Chatwin-Ward, teaching Trumpet & Trombone at Pinehurst this term. There are a couple of lesson times still available on Wednesday afternoons. If your child is in Year 4 or above and would like to learn the Trumpet or Trombone, please register via the Music page on our website: Music at Pinehurst | Pinehurst School

You can find out more about Mr Chatwin-Ward by reading the bio information for our itinerant teachers found here: itinerant-information.pdf (pinehurst.school.nz)

Year 9 Business Study Market Day

Pinehurst Students in Pat Hanly Creativity Project

Rosie W and Hailey L have both been selected to have their artwork hanging in the Auckland Art Gallery as part of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki  2024 Pat Hanly Creativity Project and Awards. As one of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s longest-standing creative youth art awards, this project celebrates our senior secondary school artists as well as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prolific artists: Pat Hanly. 

Three representatives from the Auckland Art Gallery came to Pinehurst to judge the awards. They were impressed by the creativity and skill level that all of the students have expressed, they selected based on a combination of creativity, authenticity, and skill displayed in the artwork. There were 22 artists selected from all of the Secondary Schools in Auckland.

Below:

• a photo from Hailey's video artwork, "Emotionally Deadpan: The Kuleshov Effect in the Style of Anderson & Wong".
• sculptural artwork from Rosie W, based on the concept of tūrangawaewae, a place to stand.

Bake Sale Raises $385.00 for Cancer Society

Friday 30 August marked the Cancer Society’s annual Daffodil Day.

Because 1 in 3 will get cancer in their lifetime we wanted to contribute to raising funds by selling daffodils. Because everyone knows that the way to a teenager’s wallet is through their stomach, we wanted to do a bake sale but that’s a big job. Luckily, some great friends jumped on board to help, and we raised $385.00 during the lunchbreak for the Cancer Society.

Thank you to everyone that supported us – Elizabeth, Amelia, Azita and Olivia, Year 7 and everyone who bought something from the bake sale.

Pinehurst Students Play at Auckland Philharmonia 'Big Play In'

Pinehurst Year 9 students Elvies Hu and Linda Liu joined the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra on Monday evening with their amazing cello and harp skills being great additions to the orchestra that evening. Students from all around Auckland were chosen for this event which involved 2 and a half hours of rehearsal before performing in the concert that evening. They performed works by Greig and Brahms and both thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Elvies, our cellist said “I especially enjoyed having the chance to play a little solo in one of the pieces and having the opportunity to be the section leader too.” Both students look forward to hopefully being part further Big Play-In” events next year and beyond.

AAIMS Cross Country

College Winter Tournament Week

This week, we have had 7 teams representing Pinehurst in the New Zealand Secondary School Winter Tournament Week.

The Hockey Girls 1st XI have remained local, playing in the Upper North Island Mary Clinton Cup which was played at North Harbour Hockey. The Hockey Boys 1st XI travelled south to Pakuranga to compete in the Upper North Island Mayhill Cup. The Netball Team 1 travelled west to Waitakere to compete in the Upper North Island Netball Tournament. The Badminton Boys team flew down to Wellington to compete in the National competition and the Table Tennis team travelled to Palmerston North to compete in the National Cup. The Golf team travelled to New Plymouth to play in the NZSS Finals and our sole climber, Taine T, travelled to Mount Maunganui to compete in the National Climbing Cup.

It has been an amazing week of competing for our teams and individuals, with some of our students and teams achieving astonishing results. The first of the results came from our Golf team who had qualified as a wild card team to enter the National Finals tournament. The team did extraordinary well, placing 3rd overall in the teams event and receiving bronze medals for being the 3rd best school team in New Zealand.

The Table Tennis team went one better, placing 2nd overall in the National Teams competition, with team member Hannah Li, going on to take out the Individual Girls Championship and be crowned the New Zealand Secondary School Girls Champion. In the climbing, Taine placed 23 overall in the Senior Boys after Day 1 of the Boulder/Top Rope combined competition.

The Badminton Boys had some very tough matches however made it through to the top 8 and placed 5th overall at the National Tournament.

The Hockey Boys matched up against some of the best teams from around the upper North Island, with most matches coming down to small margins, including 2 draws and a game won by shootouts after also being drawn at fulltime. The team will play for 17TH/18th place today against Takapuna Grammer.

The Hockey Girls team got off to an excellent start, with 2 wins in their first 2 games. The team will now play off for 15th/16th place against Kingsway.

The netball team has had an awesome tournament, with a few wins and a couple of losses. The team has made it into the 5-8th playoff in the UNISS D grade and has two playoff games remaining.

We would like thank all of our amazing Coaches and Managers for their guidance, support and for providing this opportunity for our students. We would also like to thank all of our amazing Parents that came to support our teams.

Architecture Open Days on 21 September
Get a behind the scenes view of an architecture office, find out what architects do and how they do it. Open Studios are great for students considering a career in architecture, and all those interested in understanding the creative process of architecture and getting a building built. More info here: https://nzia.co.nz/festival/tamaki-makaurau-te-tai-tokerau/ Dates and locations vary - please refer to the website. Generally, between 10am and 2pm. It is free and no registration is required.

Maritime Mahi Expo on 24 September
It is for all students interested in the maritime industry, engineering, trades, or students who want to broaden their understanding of the world of work. Register here.

$500 Mensa Scholarship. Deadline is 18 October
Please email lila.pulsford@pinehurst.school.nz for application form. Open to students starting tertiary study in 2025. Essay topic choices are: how do you believe your study will assist to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity; or, how do you believe your study will assist to encourage research in the nature, characteristics, or uses of intelligence?

UK applicants 
If you are applying to the UK, you should have registered on UCAS by now – please aim to have all sections of UCAS complete by the end of Term 3. If you are still crafting your Personal Statement, there will be a TikTok Live Q&A: How to write your UCAS personal statement - 25 September 16.30 (UK time) – register here: Personal statement week: 23 – 29 September 2024 | Undergraduate, Conservatoires | UCAS

USA applicants If you are applying to the USA and are wanting an Early Decision, please aim to have all sections of Common App complete by end of Term 3.

Australia applicants 
Reminder to apply for accommodation if you have not already. All accommodation reference requests to be sent to lila.pulsford@pinehurst.school.nz

University of Auckland Course Planning 
Session held on Thursday 12 September at 12:45pm in theatre.

Arts Week 2024 

The Arts Council is proud to present our last event of the term - the Arts Week. The Arts Week will be in Week 7 (next week) and will involve arts exhibitions in the theatre foyer, lunchtime music performances in the amphitheatre and Pinehurst's first Piano Competition on Tuesday 10 September from 7pm in the theatre featuring Yu Zhang Wu as a guest performer at the end of the night. 

Message from the Principal of Primary

Where does our food come from?

P12 have thoroughly enjoyed learning about where our food comes from during Global Perspectives. Through research we found the origin of food available locally and where most essential food is produced.  Our research took us by surprise…we discovered that, India produces the most milk, China produces the most rice and Indonesia produces the most pineapples…Oh and there are lots more…We also learnt the benefits and issues related to international food transportation such as insects sneaking into food packaging as well as Global warming.  While we get to enjoy a variety of food transported from other countries, there are risks we take too like the red tail spider getting into New Zealand from fruits and containers, usually those imported from Australia.  Look at some of our learning.

Carlo - I learnt that you need to buy what you only need and not waste food. Most food people expect it to come from certain countries but surprisingly it doesn’t for example I thought kiwi fruit comes from New Zealand, but in fact it came from China. 

Emma - Learning about the food miles and where food comes from. For example, the main one that stood out to me, I thought that milk came from New Zealand but in fact India produced the most milk. 

Oscar - Only to buy things on sale, to save scarce resources. 

Sidney - When food comes from further away, we risk an increase in Global warming and dangerous bugs and insects can get in transported food from far away places such as the Red back spider that go into New Zealand from food transport. 

Spanish Update

Kicking Off Spanish in Year 4
Our Year 4 students have been learning about sports in Spanish! They have learned how to name different sports, such as "fútbol" for "football" and "baloncesto" for "basketball." The students have even started forming short phrases, like "Me gusta jugar al vóleibol" which means "I like to play volleyball." Students have also been exploring some basic Spanish grammar. They have practiced saying phrases like "Te gusta nadar," meaning "You like to swim," and "Nos gusta correr," which translates to "We like to run."

Classroom Objects in Year 5 Spanish
The Year 5 students have started learning how to name classroom objects in Spanish. They have enjoyed discovering how to say common items like "estantería" for "bookshelf" and "bolígrafo" for "pen." The students have also begun building simple phrases. For example, they can now say "Aquí están los lápices," which means "Here are the pencils," and "Aquí está el libro," which translates to "Here is the book."

Year 6: Body Parts in Spanish!
Our Year 6 students have been learning to name body parts in Spanish. They are excited to review words like "cabeza" for "head" and "manos" for "hands." In addition to revisiting basic vocabulary, students have been paying close attention to masculine and feminine nouns, as well as singular and plural forms. For example, they are learning that "mano" (hand) is feminine, while "brazo" (arm) is masculine. Students are now working on using adjectives to describe these body parts, which helps them build more complete sentences. For instance, they will soon be able to say "pelo largo" (long hair) and "ojos grandes" (big eyes), ensuring the adjectives match the correct gender and number.

U14 NHHA Hockey Team Selection

Several of our talented students have been selected to represent our school in the U14 North Harbour Hockey Association (NHHA) team for the 2024 season. Following a series of trials, Taylan N, Noah R, and Ryan L from Year 7, along with Dominic B and Lachlan B from Year 8, have earned spots on this recognised team.

Their selection is not only a recognition of their individual skills but also their ability to work as part of a team. 

They have competed in three matches against teams from Auckland, playing on a full-sized pitch with 11-a-side hockey. These matches have provided them with valuable experiences and opportunities for growth in their hockey journey.
We are proud of their achievements and look forward to supporting them throughout the season.

International Astronomy Olympiad

Kai Y was recently awarded an Honourable Mention at the 17th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) held in Brazil. This accolade is particularly significant as it was achieved by what the team leader, Karen, described as a "new" team.

Expressing pride in Kai's accomplishment, Karen highlighted the significance of his achievement: "It's a great achievement for a new team." The family also shared their joy, stating, "We are so happy for him and appreciate all the support and encouragement from the school."

Kai’s recognition at this prestigious international event underscores the potential and skill of New Zealand’s young scientists and serves as an inspiration to his peers and the broader community.

For dates and more information, please visit the Torbay Sailing Club website.