Pinehill School Newsletter
Wednesday 14th December 2022
A message from the Principal
Kia ora tatou, Mālō e lele, Ann yeong haseyo, Ni hao, Dzień dobry
2022...what a year it has been! The 2022 road to this point has been far from a seamless one to travel through. We have had students, staff and parents hit with Covid and having to isolate. For many of us this was multiple isolations over the year, making school seem very start, stop, start. However as the year has gone on, covid restrictions have changed over time. We can once again sing waiata without masks and indoors if we want, class trips have taken place and events, such as Mathex returned. We had 3 teams enter and they had 2 goals going into the Mathex competition:
To have fun and to walk away afterwards saying, “Dis!”
To get all 3 teams placing in the top 20.
There were 43 teams competing and it’s fair to say they smashed both goals, placing 9th and 12th equal as well as having a truly ‘dis’ time.
Trees for Survival was back this year. We hit a Trees for Survival record! With the help of many parents, students and Rotary people we planted 3,500 plants. The most Pinehill school has achieved in one day.
Sport for 2022 has seen a return to normality. As a school we competed in the super cluster for football, touch rugby, athletics, basketball and netball and had some excellent results of which we can be very proud of. We had the most number of teams representing Pinehill School this year for netball. Pinehill basketball continues to grow from strength to strength with two of our senior teams reaching finals. Our Splash Polo team played well all season and had their finals game last Sunday. Thank you to all the volunteers who have coached and managed our teams in 2022.
We have been able to celebrate Pinehill turning 25 years old over a whole week of celebrations, the Culture Parade and shared lunch was back, Matariki breakfast returned and we were able to have our Pinehill visual arts exhibition - our first one since 2019. As well as learning and school achievements, we’ve also been able to go ahead with property projects in 2022. This includes heat pumps in every classroom and the property project highlight…I think our children would agree…is our brand new top playground! Looking back and reflecting on the year, we have achieved a lot!
Thank you to all the people in our Pinehill School team that have made 2022 happen and that have contributed to our successful year. Our tamariki, our staff, our whanau, THANK YOU!
Firstly to our tamariki, our children
I am so proud of what you have achieved throughout the year. Despite the ever changing rules in your classroom with distancing, mask wearing and more, you continued to show the Pinehill Way, set high expectations of yourselves and commit to learning in a different way. You persevered and showed great resilience.
One special component of our Pinehill learners is that they are excellent ambassadors in the community. I often receive emails or a phone call or two after a class trip has taken place from a member of the public calling to talk about our wonderful students. They notice you and your Pinehill Way.
To our year 6 students moving on to Intermediate School, wherever your future leads you, we will be watching and cheering for you. I am looking forward to updates from your lives and seeing where your education and passions lead. Do pop in and say hi, our doors are always open. You will always be a part of the Pinehill School Family.
To the Staff in our Pinehill School Team
A staff member recently said to me, that I have brought the word phenomenal to Pinehill School. So here we go staff - ‘You are phenomenal’. We are a big team, our staff team includes (teachers, learning assistants, office staff, librarian, caretaker and volunteers). Thank you for your hard work during a very different year. We started the year with 4 separate staff rooms and having team meetings and staff meetings online. We’ve had to have Plan a, b, c and sometimes d, ready for the complexities covid has brought. This has prepared us for unexpected things. Thank you for your resilience, your flexibility and ‘getting on with it’ attitude. Thank you for always caring about our Pinehill students.
To the Parents and family members in our Pinehill School Team
Thank you for your support and involvement in your children’s lives. Thank you to the parents who have helped out with our school activities. We could not go ahead with these without you! Throughout the year parents come into school to help in class, they come on school trips, coach and manage sports teams, help organise events, join the FOPS or BOT, fundraise, and support us with a kind word or a smile. You are very much appreciated.
Board of Trustees members in our Pinehill School Team
Thank you for your support of our students, staff and myself. Thank you for the commitment collectively you provide to enable the very best for our students, staff and school. Thank you for funding our brand new playground!
To our Pinehill School Team - our students, staff and whanau thank you for supporting each other and working together during 2022!
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
Success is not the work of one but the work of many.
We are ready to farewell 2022 and to enjoy a well-deserved holiday break, to do the things we love and to recharge our batteries and fill our buckets! We are excited about next year and continuing to build on our successes. Until then, Meri Kirihimete everyone. I wish you a safe and enjoyable break and look forward to hearing all about your holiday stories and adventures when school starts back on Tuesday 31st January. Merry Christmas!
Ngā mihi nui,
Carla Veldman, Principal
Congratulations to our Cup and Trophy winners for 2022
We congratulate all our students who received certificates, cups and trophies during our Prize Giving ceremony last Thursday. The following students were recipients for the Pinehill Cups or Trophies for 2022.
Troake Cup Girls - Cross Country Girls - Taylor Sam
Thomson Family Trophy - Effort - Dion Hambrook and Marcus Yang
Goodyear Cup - Thinking Skills - Jeong Hoon Han and Angela Kim
Gale Cup - Performing Arts - Christina Quezon
Bozzone Cup - Achievement of Merit - Ethan Liu
Sommerville Cup - Sports - Nixon Robinson - Lea'aetoa
Meyer Cup - Art - Jaecob Bruce
Heaseman Cup - Music - Sally Kim
Foundation Staff Cup - Spirit - Sally Kim
Sirius Cup - Technology - Luke Chung
Pinehill Cup - Outstanding Contribution - Lusia Naufahu
Year 6 Graduation Breakfast
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Wanly Tsang, from Harcourts Takapuna, who sponsored all the food as well as the ice-cream and coffee cart. Wanly this was hugely generous of you and we all really appreciate this. Thank you Wanly!
A final message to our Year 6 students....
"Wherever your future leads you, we will be watching and cheering for you. We are looking forward to updates from your lives and seeing where your education and passions lead. Do pop in and say 'hi', our doors are always open. You will always be a part of the Pinehill School family'.
Stationery 2023
We’ve teamed up with Educational Essentials and Kindo to make getting school ready faster!
All Stationery packs can be ordered directly through your Kindo account.
Stationery packs will be delivered to school packaged and labelled ready for the start of school.
Kindo - School Leavers
School Leavers – Notice re ezlunch / Kindo School Shop
If your family is leaving our school and has been using ezlunch or Kindo, please make sure to stop any regular automatic payments that have been set up before the school year finishes. You may also need to transfer or close your account which can be done as follows:
Not sure if your new school is using Kindo? If you’re not sure if your new school is using Kindo, you can either ask them directly or go to “My Details” in your Kindo account and click on the list of schools to see if your new school is listed.
New school IS using Kindo. If your new school is using Kindo, simply click on the new school from the list in “My Details” of your Kindo account and you’ll be attached to the new school’s menu. Any balance on your Kindo account will remain available to spend with the new school.
New school is NOT using Kindo, or you no longer need Kindo. If you need to close your Kindo account, use the “Close Account” button within the “My Details” section of your Kindo account. You can either withdraw your account balance or choose to donate your balance to the school. Please note that all withdrawals will be made via electronic payment to your New Zealand bank account. Kindo is unable to process cash withdrawals.
If you are wanting to withdraw your Kindo account balance or make a donation that exceeds Kindo’s threshold (currently more than $10,000 total within one year), Kindo may need to undertake some identity checks on you to comply with its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Act 2009. Please action the withdrawal or donation in your Kindo account as outlined above and if these AML checks are necessary Kindo will advise of the next steps required in this regard. Kindo has endeavoured to make this process as pain-free as possible and appreciates your patience.
Friends of Pinehill School
Thank you!
To our wonderful sponsors, our awesome community & fantastic volunteers for a successful Christmas Concert & Picnic!
The winners of the raffle packs are
Pack 1: RED-A038
Pack 2: RED-A014
Pack 3: RED-A040
Pack 4: RED-A099
Pack 5: RED-A029
Congratulations to the winners! If you have not collect your prize, please contact the office or email FOPS at pinehillfops@gmail.com.
Calendar Art Fundraiser
Thanks to all the teachers and students for completing their beautiful artwork and to everyone who supported this fundraiser! We raised $1296. All orders were delivered to your child’s class on Monday. Please email FOPS if you haven’t received your order.
Yummy Stickers
Please keep eating and collecting yummy stickers during the holidays!
FOPS wishes everyone a Wonderful Christmas and Summer Holiday!
Pinehill School PTA - Friends of Pinehill School
Lost Property
Expressions of Interest - Splash Polo 2023
Please click on the link below for expression of interest form for Splash Polo 2023
Expressions of Interest - Basketball 2023
Pinehill Heat - Basketball
Pinehill School Policies
All School policies are available through School Docs – click here
Logon – Pinehill
password – pinehillway
Contact Us
Email: info@pinehill.school.nz
Website: https://www.pinehill.school.nz
Location: 2 Hugh Green Drive, Pinehill, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Phone: 09 4780301