Message from the Executive Principal

Kia ora koutou, good afternoon, 下午好, 안녕하세요  

Best wishes,

Mike Waller 

Message from the Principal of Primary

Book Week

The Primary experienced a range of exciting activities this week centred around the theme or ‘Reading Stars’. We spent the week exploring books about famous New Zealanders or delving into characters who we consider to be literary stars.

Here is an ‘I Spy’ of book week activities that took place.

Lunchtime reading with the Primary Councillors

College student leaders reading to Primary classes

Book Walk: searching for the pages of a book to read using a map

Decorated Doors

Mr Waller reads to the New Entrant classes

Book Week assembly

The book week assembly is always a special occasion as all our students and staff dress up and parade towards the gymnasium. This year we based our costumes on ‘Literary Stars’ or a famous New Zealander. We were very lucky that Mrs Coombridge, from our school library, managed to invite a famous New Zealand author to speak to us. The author, Maria Gill, specialises in writing non-fiction books about famous New Zealanders. Mrs Gill spoke to our senior classes during their library visit and then addressed a whole Primary assembly.

Our clever Year Six librarians took part in the assembly and organised a surprise ‘Guess Who’ activity (did you see that Mrs Clark was one of the Guess Who characters?). A big thank you to Mrs Blake for working alongside our librarians.

Mr Waller read a very poignant story to the Primary students which had a theme of being yourself and accepting that it is okay to just accept yourself.

Geronimo Stilton drops by for a visit

Howick Historical Village

This week, the New Entrants from P1, P2, and P4 had an incredible school trip to the Howick Historical Village. This trip was aligned with our science topic for this term, "The Science of Our Toys," where we have been exploring the differences between old and new toys and how they work.

We participated in three activities:

Churning Butter: We learned about the process and importance of making butter during the 19th century and then took turns churning butter the old-fashioned way. We all agreed that the modern way of buying it in a tub is far more convenient, but we now have a new appreciation for the process and strength required to make it from scratch.

School Lesson: We participated in an old-fashioned school lesson from the 1800s and were shocked at how different it is from the school we know. We had a traditional lesson in handwriting, spelling, and arithmetic (which we learned is math).

Toy Time: During this activity, we were surrounded by all sorts of wonderful toys from the 19th century, which we were allowed to play with. We had discussions about how our toys at home differ from those that children played with over 100 years ago. We also explored the physics and technology involved in making and operating the toys.

Once we were finished with our activities we were able to explore the whole village in our small groups.

We had so much fun on our trip and would like to thank our wonderful parent helpers for coming along with us.

Experiencing Book Week with P20

Monday: We launched into Book Week by creating a ‘ClassBook’ which is a DIY book where each student in the class contributes a page. We based our theme on our Book Parade characters and imagined them coming to school with us for the day.  Each day there is Book Quiz. Today we scored 6/10. Hopefully tomorrow we can improve our score.

Tuesday: Today was packed full of Book Week activities! Our College student leader, Dylan McKay visited us and read as an alternative fairytale of the 3 Bears, which was most entertaining. Thanks to our College reading buddies. Then we headed off to the library with the rest of Year 6 to listen to Maria Gill, a well-known New Zealand author. She taught the students many ways to improve their writing and how to work hard to achieve their dreams. In the afternoon, we transformed ourselves into our Book Parade Reading Star characters. Harry Potter was a popular star amongst the boys. Other characters included Ronaldo, Anne Frank and Elmo! We scored 8/10 today on the Quiz!

Wednesday: We started the day in the library doing a Scavenger Hunt of famous New Zealand stars. Hunting for clues to discover the letters of the name of a famous Pinehurst pupil! In Maths we solved a Book Mystery challenge. After that we went on a Book Walk where students work in pairs, using a map of the Primary school to find each page in order, and then stop to read the book together. Last task of the day is to decorate our door with pictures from a well-known book. Then on Thursday, all the students walk around the Primary school guessing the title of the book. And today we scored 8/10 of the Book Quiz!

Thursday: Today we brought in our old books and swapped them with our friends in a Year 6 Book Swap. The teachers did a Reading Tumble and Mrs Clark swapped places with Miss O’Hare to read us a story. Then we went around the Primary school  and Guessed the Door book titles.

Art in P7 and P11

This term both classes have been learning about Impressionism, a fun art style that uses bright colours and light. These artists often chose their subjects from everyday life, focusing on outdoor scenes like landscapes, cityscapes and gardens. Both artists teach us to see the world in a fresh, exciting way, turning ordinary scenes into magical masterpieces.

P7 have explored some of the techniques used by these artists, using a variety of media such as pastels, watercolours and paint.   Here are some examples of their most recent work, re-creating Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’. They needed to use dot, dabs, swirls and short strokes to create movement and depth in their work.

P11 Have mostly been working with paint this , learning about warm and cool colours, mixing colours to get the exact shades they need, and experimenting with different types of brushstrokes to create texture. The students looked at some of Claude Monet’s landscapes then chose a photo of a New Zealand landscape that appealed to them. They then painted that landscape in the style of Monet. Do have a look in P11 to see the student’s work displayed, along with the NZ landscape they chose.

In the meantime, here are some examples of their work

In P10

What exciting and enriching experiences P10 has enjoyed during book week this week.  As well as following our daily programme we have enjoyed visits from renowned authors.  We were very excited to dress as our favourite book characters and be part a whole school parade before enjoying an amazing assembly. During the assembly Mr Waller read us a story called “Duck goes meow” with the lesson that its ok to be different. We also had an enjoyable book walk around the primary classes to read the story Little Kiwi’s Matariki.

Turning stories into Playscripts in P14

We are currently looking at how to turn stories into playscripts. We have been focusing on the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. This story follows the plot where in fact the wolf believes that he is innocent and blames the fact that he had a cold. When he arrived at each house wanting some sugar to make his grandmas birthday cake, he sneezed which resulted in houses falling and pigs dying. Because the pigs were already dead, he thought ‘what waste if I do not eat them’. Wolf eventually gets caught by the police and winds up in jail. We are turning this story into a playscript and key things we have learnt so far are that we need to list characters, use colons after character’s name, add stage directions and use brackets so that the actor can easily tell what parts they say and what parts they are acting out. We have learnt that when a new speaker talks, we write on a new line and that the stage directions are written in present tense. Here are some photos of what we have written so far and us during the writing process. We hope you enjoy.

Celebrating Kacey's Success: A Musical Journey to Sydney Opera House

We are thrilled to share that Kacey, one of our talented students in P15, has been in Australia this week with the Aotea Youth Symphony Orchestra, performing at none other than the iconic Sydney Opera House! This incredible opportunity highlights Kacey's dedication and musical talent.

We are truly excited to share in Kacey’s success and look forward to hearing more about her musical journey. Let's join together in congratulating her on this remarkable experience!

Exploring the Jabberwocky: A World of Whimsical Words

Do you know the Jabberwocky?!

P15 have been diving into the fascinating world of the Jabberwocky poem. Inspired by Lewis Carroll's imaginative work, the learners have been exploring its unique language and fantastical imagery.

With great enthusiasm, they have crafted their own Jabberwocky-inspired poems. These poems feature quirky creatures, mysterious quests, and imaginative twists. Through this exploration, our learners have not only improved their language skills but also let their creativity shine.

Click here to see some samples.

Year 6 Netball Stars

We are so proud of our Year Six netball team who took part in the Netball Field Day on Wednesday 26 June playing in the top grade. With over 60 teams competing in the field day Pinehurst won all four of their Round Robin games against Sherwood, Devonport, Pt Chev and Mairangi Bay, demonstrating consistency, teamwork and fair play.

After winning their semi-finals match against Murrays Bay, they took on Red Beach in the final game of the day. It was tied at half time and in the last three minutes of the game they took the match with a three-point lead; final score 9-6.

We would like to thank Hongren Lin and Wallace Situ for coaching and managing the team in this competition and our wonderful side-line supporters.

P8 Science

We have been exploring the construction of simple series circuits. We discussed words like switches, bulbs, circuit, battery (cell) and wires. The learners were encouraged to try use these words whilst creating their circuits. The learners discovered and that a circuit has to be complete in order to work. 

Library

It has been four short but impactful days of Book Week this week. Each day has been jammed full with a host of activities and in the library we have run book readings, shooting stars scavenger hunts, the Scholastic Book Fair and even a visit from Geronimo Stilton! Our famous library book quizzes had the classes competing against each other each morning for the top scores.

Mrs Blake and our Year 6 student librarian team created a super-fun ‘Guess Who’ game for our Book Week assembly, and the Year 6 Leaders ran a wonderful book-themed assembly for us all. We are very thankful to have the wonderful speakers Maria Gill, and Robert Rakete and Jeanette Thomas of The Breeze radio station, come and share their books and creativity with us.

A fun-filled week celebrating the joy of books and reading.

Michele Coombridge and the Library team.

Book Week scavenger hunt

Message from the Principal of College

College 1 Netball Team

The College 1 Netball Team has once again showcased their dominance securing yet another win over Kingsway on the weekend, coming back from being 4 goals down to take the win 28-22.

Both teams displayed exceptional skills and determination but College 1’s cohesive teamwork ultimately led them to triumph.

Coach Debbie Stanaway attributes their success to a strong team spirit ‘We’ve built a strong bond on and off the court and it shows in our performance’. Each player knows their role and executes it with precision.

As they look forward to their next match against WGHS the team remains focused on maintaining their unbeaten record and striving to stay top of the table.

Year 7-8 Basketball league

On Monday 24 June, three Pinehurst Intermediate teams took part in the Harbour Basketball Grand Finale. The teams have been playing their games in their league since Term 1 and have shown great improvement. They displayed excellent skills and sportsmanship.

The teams performed well with Team Lakers receiving gold medals in League 6, Team Blue earning silver medals in League 13, and Team White achieving gold medals in Boys Div 2 – G.

We are extremely proud of our teams this semester and look forward to seeing them play in Semester 2.

Musical Futures Comes to Pinehurst Schools

On Monday 24 June, 20 Music educators from around New Zealand spent the day in the College Music Department at Pinehurst. Teachers Anna Gower and Chris Koelma flew into NZ from Thailand and Australia to give an excellent day of profession development enjoyed by everyone. HOD Visual and Performing Arts, Hadley Ronayne first encountered Musical Futures teaching pedagogy while in England in 2015 and has been using this teaching approach with his classes since then. Currently the Pinehurst Muskic programmes from Years 6 to 9 all use elements of Musical Futures and their resources within their lessons. It was great day of fun filled professional development activities and a chance to see the new Musical Futures resources in action too.

Matariki in PE

This week in PE for all years, we are looking toward Matariki. To celebrate the new year, we are playing traditional Māori games such as Ti Uru and making poi. We are using these games to remind us of the link to our roots, looking back at the history of creating games to be active and its importance for our health, while also being able to build connections through learning new games and sharing cultures.

Auckland Philharmonia Mentoring for College Orchestra

It was great to welcome members of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to Pinehurst and have them work with our College Orchestra students. As part of our affiliation with the APOPS (Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Programme in Schools), the orchestra sends players to work with our students on their pieces. Cellist -Begonia Chan worked with the strings and Flautist Jenni Seddon- Mori worked with our woodwind section. Trombonist Tim Sutton tutored the brass and percussionist Shane Currey worked with the percussion player. It was a great opportunity for Pinehurst students to work in smaller sectional groups and the improvement in their playing by the end of the evening was clear to all. We look forward to a second visit from these mentors next week for the final week of our term.

Success at the NZCT Chamber Music Contest

Pinehurst students Jade Lyles and Hyun Jae Lee had fantastic success at the regional finals of the New Zealand Secondary School’s Chamber music Competition last weekend. Both students have made it through to the finals of this event with Hyun Jae’s group coming 2nd and Jade’s group coming 4th. This means they will be part of the eight groups performing at the final which will be held in Wellington on Friday 2 August. Jade is the harpist in “The Debussy Trio” and Hyun Jae is the cellist for “Trio Elegiaque.” We look forward to following their success and seeing how they do at this year’s final.

Year 7 Australasia Sport Exchange

Last week, four of our Pinehurst sporting teams competed in the Year 7 Australasia Sport Exchange against Scotch College from Adelaide and two other local schools, Kristin and Albany Junior. The Year 7 teams competed in Hockey, Football, Netball and Basketball which was played over two days at Kristin. The tournament was very enjoyable for the students and it was a great experience for the students to play a team from Australia that they usually wouldn’t get the opportunity to play against. Our Year 7 hockey team had two great wins over AJHS and Scotch College, unfortunately going down in their final game to Kristin. The Footballers continued this success in the afternoon, winning three out of their five matches. The next day, the Basketball team started the day off strong, winning three games out of five. Finally, the netball team finished the exchange on a high, winning all five of their games. A huge thank you to all of the Staff, Coaches and Parents that helped out with this exchange, we are very grateful for your support.

Auckland Secondary Schools Ski Championships

Auckland Secondary Schools Climbing – Round 3

Basketball Year 7-8 After School League Finals

On Monday, the Year 7-8 basketball teams played in the finals of their grade for the Semester 1 competition. The Pinehurst Lakers played for 1^st and 2^nd in their grade against the TNIS Lakers. The Pinehurst Lakers had an awesome game, coming back from being down in the first quarter. The Pinehurst Lakers took out the gold medal in their grade, winning the match 21-15. Team White was also in the Grand Final match for their grade, versing the Rosmini Timberwolves. Pinehurst White were victorious in this game, after an incredible close battle. Pinehurst took out the game 10 points to 8. Pinehurst Blue were in the Grand Final for their respective grade, playing the TNIS Bulls.

North Harbour Hockey Year 7-8 Zone Day

Last week, the Girls Year 7-8 and the Boys Year 7-8 hockey teams competed in the North Harbour Zone Day which was held at North Harbour Hockey Stadium. Both teams had some tough games but got better throughout the day. Both the girls and the boys team ended up in 10^th place overall in their respective grade. It was awesome to see our Senior students stepping up by coaching the boys team or umpiring at the tournament. A huge thank you to our awesome Senior students, Lucas Garcia-Curtis & Andrew Graham for coaching the Boys team and Lily McCabe for umpiring. A huge thank you to our amazing coaches and managers that helped out with this tournament.

North Secondary School Epee Event

Julie participated in the North Secondary School Epee Event last weekend. Since she was the sole representative from Pinehurst school, she competed in the mixed school division. Her team secured 1st place in this category, a fantastic achievement for Julie.

Commerce Students Attended “Shadow a Leader” Day

I had an exciting day at EY (Ernst & Young, an international consulting firm)  in Auckland CBD on Monday as part of the Shadow a Leader scheme. I was nervous at first to meet all these important executives but they couldn’t have been nicer. Paired with a current AUT Business student we were introduced to what seemed like the whole business! After an overwhelming number of names we moved on to client meetings and client account planning. Una (Partner at EY) sent us off to coffee with 3 of the EY graduates and they were happy to answer all my questions. After lunch I met another partner, our conversation was mostly focused on internships, and how they help to set off your career. 

The whole day was full of insights! 

 - Katherine

When I went to shadow a leader on Wednesday, I went to NPDL which is a shipping company, I had no idea about this sort of business and what a major role it plays in everyone’s lives, throughout the day I was flooded with heaps of fascinating information and did a tour of the vast warehouse full with pallets of goods ready to be shipped, I even went to lunch with a client and able to see how my leader, NPDLs New Zealand sales manager, handled the client and how formalities are carried out. I saw first hand how the containers are loaded and unloaded and then saw at the Head Quarters how they are logged and how each container must be meticulously handled as to obey all laws put in place by the numerous different country’s NPDL ships to. After leaving the NPDL office I left with a whole lot of new knowledge and a much better understanding. It also showed me how a business should be run and how everyone works together to be a good and effective team.

 - Chase 

Seussical

The college production of Seussical kicks off next week! The cast and crew have been working sooo hard to create an entertaining, engaging, and visually exciting show for you. So please, make sure to buy your tickets before the show premieres next Wednesday

• University application deadlines vary depending on country of application, institution, and specific programme. The Career Counsellor will be meeting with each Year 13 student individually in Term 3 to make sure their applications are on track. Generally, it would be good to aim to have all applications completed by the end of Term 3. Please note that scholarship application deadlines for NZ universities also vary and many close on August 15^th. It is ultimately a student’s responsibility to carefully check deadlines.

• Interested in aviation? Have a look at this introduction to aviation course: Introduction To Aviation Programme - Southern Wings
• University of Waikato Open Day July 6. Register here: Event Registration  · Customer Self-Service (powerappsportals.com)
• Lincoln University Open Day July 19. Register here: Hui Whakatuwhera Open Day :: Lincoln University

• Please nominate a GirlBoss you know for a $1000 award – there are heaps of categories such as Arts&Culture, Inclusion, STEM and more: GirlBoss Awards | GirlBoss New Zealand

Schoolbox Managers

Hi everyone, we are Jessie and Emma! As your schoolbox managers for 2024. We have such a pleasure of actively working together on our college homepage. We have been enthusiastically trying to make our page with more entertainment and relevant details which supports students and staffs.

We help to sent out event, club and meeting notices daily which connects leaders and members.