Pinehill School News, 15 December
15 December 2021 - Week 9, Term 4
Message from our Principal
Kia ora tātou,
My favourite Maori proverb and one you will see in Pinehill School and hear me say often is…
He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people
Maori proverb
As I reflect on 2021 at Pinehill School, this proverb comes to mind and I am reminded of the amazing people we have that contribute to Pinehill School being the very special place it is. Even during a very different, challenging, onsite, offsite and back onsite again school year! Many important and special Pinehill people come to mind. Our people are our children, our staff, our parents, our community. This newsletter is to acknowledge and thank the people in our Pinehill School team.
Firstly to our tamariki, our children
I am so proud of what you have achieved throughout the year. Despite multiple lockdowns, including our longest lockdown to date, which started in August and lasted for over 100 days, you continued to show the Pinehill Way, set high expectations of yourselves, and commit to learning in a different way with workshop sessions on Seesaw and through Zoom. You persevered and showed great resilience. Also great patience, particularly with Mrs Veldman’s whole school Zoom assemblies. Whether you were learning onsite or offsite you made the most of every moment.
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
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. Despite being onsite or offsite, in Level 4 or Level 3.2 you have been incredible! Thank you for your resilience, your perseverance, your commitment and your support. Thank you for always caring about our Pinehill students. It’s been a year of learning and growth and in particular resilience. We’ve learned a lot and stuck together, making this year a great one, despite its challenges.
To the Parents and family members in our Pinehill School Team
Thank you for your support and involvement in your children’s lives. More so this year, with the extra unexpected roles you took on, particularly during lockdown with distance learning online.
Thank you to the parents who have helped out with our school activities. We could not go ahead with these without you! We were fortunate to have offsite trips in Term 1 and Term 2, prior to lockdown, which we were very grateful to our parent community for supporting these trips with fabulous parent help. Throughout the year parents come into school to help in class, they come on school trips, help organise events, join the FOPS or BOT, and support us with offers of help, a kind word or a smile. Some of these things require a huge and ongoing commitment of time and energy. It is much appreciated.
Despite a challenging year, we have much to celebrate. Here are some achievements and successes from 2021
Education Outside The Classroom (all year levels) provided many experiences for our students, including Castor Bay Walk, Albany Pools, Water Safety, Clip n Climb and more. It was great to have these opportunities prior to lockdown and for our children to experience team building, risk-taking and resilience outside of the classroom.
We hit a Trees for Survival record! The bar gets lifted every year, but hard work, teamwork and commitment saw us breaking another Trees for Survival record. With the help of many parents, students and rotary people we planted 3,450 plants. The most to date! Congratulations to all involved.
Jump Jam - Year 4 Pinehills Army team placed 2nd overall with merit in technical execution and presentation. They also received the sportsmanship award which is only given out to one school.
Jump Jam - Year 6 Absolutely Pinehill team who placed 3rd overall with excellence in technical execution and presentation.
1st place in Year 6 Cluster Cross Country event - Reed Andersen.
1st place in the Cluster Football tournament.
2nd place in Cluster Swimming 25m breaststroke and backstroke - Caroline Xu.
Some of the academic successes this year have included four teams participating in the Year 5/6 Mathex competition at North Cross Intermediate School and students achieving Distinction and Excellence in the English and Maths Kiwi competitions. These awards will be presented at prizegiving.
Our Year 4 classes have continued the Roots of Empathy programme with a baby and mum becoming an honorary member of each class. We have learned much about baby development and empathy for parents in the first year of life. Thanks to the parents who have shared their lives with us.
A beautiful completed taumaru shade top over our field basketball court - giving us shade and shelter for sports practices, meetings, learning and events.
To our Pinehill School People ..thank you for supporting each other through a different and challenging year. Thank you for working together during 2021!
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
Success is not the work of one but the work of many.
It’s been a different year from what we were expecting and anticipating. We have learned to adapt, manage change and be flexible to a level we have never had to before. This takes different energy. We are ready to farewell 2021 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. Till 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 Thursday 3rd February. Merry Christmas!
Ngā mihi nui,
Carla Veldman, Principal
Thank You
Board News
2021 has been a unique year with many new challenges. The Board are hugely proud of the resilience that the Pinehill community has shown through a year affected by Covid and wish to thank you for your ongoing support.
We owe a huge thanks to the amazing staff at Pinehill who have continued to teach our children from their homes during lockdowns - always with a smile and massive amounts of energy.
We wish our Year 6 students all the best with their intermediate school journey, and we look forward to seeing our Year 0-5 families back in 2022.
We hope you all have a very happy holiday & restful summer.
From the Pinehill Board
Board of Trustees Policies
All school policies are available through School Docs - click here
Logon - pinehill
password - pinehillway
board@pinehill.school.nz
Families leaving the school
If your family is leaving our school and moving to another school that does not use ezlunch or Kindo for school payments, you need to close your account. If you’re not sure about the new school, log in, go to My Details and click on the list of schools, scrolling to find your new school.
If your new school is NOT on the list, use the 'close account' button on that screen. You can choose to donate your balance to school or have it paid out to your nominated bank account.
SPORT 2022
This is not a commitment to the team, as registrations will be advertised with more details when specific sports are due to start. We will be in touch with everyone who fills out the form to confirm their interest when registrations are open.
Basketball 2022
Splash Polo 2022
Play Cricket with East Coast Bays Cricket
Registrations for the cricket season are now open.
Please register online at eastcoastbayscricket.co.nz
East Coast Bays Cricket is one of the largest clubs on Auckland’s North Shore, providing cricket for all ages and all levels.
The Club is focused on fun, teamwork and performance providing children of all skill levels a chance to learn the game in an enjoyable environment.
We cater for all children’s cricket from Year 1 through to Year 8, both girls and boys.
The uniform comprises a club shirt, club shorts or trousers, and club cap or wide-brimmed hat, which are available from Players Sports online or at their Onehunga shop. The Club will have clothing available for purchase on muster day.
The Club provides all playing equipment required, although you are welcome to use your own.
Please contact the Club for more information at ecbayscricket@gmail.com
Mid Bays Music School 2022
Mid Bays Music School 2022 enrolments open on the 1st of December!
Our highly qualified tutors make learning music relevant and enjoyable.
Any enquiries, please email mbmusic@mbi.school.nz
Music tuition for $150 - $250 for the whole year. (This includes the book hire but NOT the instrument hire)
When: Weekdays after school or Saturday mornings
Where: Murrays Bay Intermediate School
Start date: Early February (exact date to be confirmed)
Age: Group lessons are open to 6-12 year olds but there are age requirements for some instruments. Please check our website for more information.
Instruments offered: Drums, Bass, Guitar, Ukulele, Saxophone, Clarinet, Keyboard, Trumpet, Recorder, Flute, Violin, and Viola. Here is a page to find more about each instrument.
Enrolments will be through Kindo so make sure you have an account. Any troubleshooting solutions will be online at www.mbmusic.org Spaces are limited and some of our instruments have sold out within the first 48 hours! So get in quick!
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