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Term 4, Week 1 Wednesday 8th October 2025
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Kia ora tatou, Mālō e lele, Ann yeong haseyo, Ni hao, Dzień dobry, Buenos días, Bom dia,
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Thank you to the leadership team, staff and students for a wonderful Term 3 and to Sarah Cattell for your leadership of Pinehill last term. Following a term 3 sabbatical off site, It is wonderful to be back at our special place, Pinehill School.
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A very warm welcome back to all of our students and whānau.
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We have had a fantastic start and the children have come back motivated, engaged and ready for an exciting Term 4 ahead.
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We began the term together as a whole school with a mihi whakatau to welcome our 24 new students (since the last whakatau) and their families to Pinehill School. It is important to us that your move to our school is as easy as possible. If there is anything you need to know, please do pop in and ask. No question is ever too small.
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Term 4 School Events Snapshot
This term we have many exciting events, and we will continue to update you with dates and further information closer to the time of these events.
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A snapshot of events coming up include…
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Week 2 & 3 (13 Oct - 24 Oct) - Walking to School Week
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Year 3-6 School athletics on the 28th and 29th October
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Year 0-3 Sports Day on the 11th December
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Kapa Haka Festival at Onepoto School on Friday 21st November
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In week 5 - week 7 (4th -21st November) we have the Life Education Caravan on the school site with timetabled sessions with all our classes. More information to follow.
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We also have an exciting end of year event, a Christmas Concert and picnic taking place under the Taumaru and school field area on Wednesday 3rd December at 5:00pm (Savaday is Wednesday 10th December). Our children are learning a Christmas themed song this term which will be performed on the night with all the classes in each team. We are all very excited about this event and the opportunity to come together as a Pinehill School family towards the end of what has been a fabulous year.
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Please also mark in your calendars, our end of year prize giving date and times. This will take place on Tuesday 16th December. Y0 -Y3 Prizegiving is at 9:00am and Y4-Y6 Prizegiving is at 1pm.
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A few Term 4 reminders:
Well done to those children who have already worn their hat outside to start the school term. All New Zealand schools are required to ensure that hats are worn in summer months. Term 4 is one of our summer terms, requiring that our students wear a hat when they are outside at break and play times. This will be monitored by school staff. If a hat is not worn outside, children are directed to play in the shade areas only. Children may wear a hat of their choice or purchase a school hat from our uniform providers Janbells Ltd. Please name your child's hat, and all clothing.
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Pinehill School uses an electronic roll that has approval from the Ministry of Education. The roll is taken twice daily at 8:50am and 1:30pm. It is important for you to ensure that your child is at school promptly by 8:50am. Many important notices are also shared at this time. Children arriving at school before 8:15am can be registered to attend PKC, before school care. Arriving by 8:40am will allow your child to get ready for learning, greet their teacher and mix with their peers, ensuring a positive stress free start to the day.
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I hope your child/children have had a great start to Term 4.
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Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
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Success is not the work of one, but the work of many.
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Update on Ruru and Administration Blocks
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I want to update you on the ongoing situation with our Ruru and Administration blocks. As you know, both buildings remain unsafe to use due to air readings following mould and moisture issues. This has meant our start up New Entrant class continues to be based in the school hall, and our Admin team remain in the temporary modular space.
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While we have completed plans with the Ministry for new builds, Pinehill School was not included in the most recent funding round. I have now written again to the Minister of Education, Hon. Erica Stanford, requesting urgent action. In my letter, I have invited her to visit Pinehill to see the unsafe buildings, the impact on our youngest learners in the hall, and to understand the pressure of new housing developments nearby which will increase roll growth.
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We are committed to ensuring safe, healthy, and effective learning spaces for all our tamariki and staff, and I will keep you updated on any progress.
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Thank you for your continued support.
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Class Placements for 2026
As you can appreciate, creating class placements is a very thoughtful and detailed process. Our staff work carefully together, considering a wide range of factors such as:
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Balancing children with English as a second language
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Children who learn well together
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Children who do not learn well together
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Students needing additional learning or behaviour support
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Positive friendships and student relationships
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Teachers know their students well, and parents can be assured that a considerable amount of thought goes into making the best placement for every child.
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This year, we are not accepting requests for specific teachers. The only requests we will consider are if there is an ongoing friendship situation we may not be aware of, so that we can ensure positive learning relationships are supported.
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If you do have something important to share in this regard, please email our Deputy Principals:
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Years 0–3: Vicki Nabete – vicki@pinehill.school.nz
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Years 4–6: Sarah Cattell – sarahc@pinehill.school.nz
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If your child will not be returning to Pinehill in 2026 (and you have not yet informed us), please let the office know at info@pinehill.school.nz as this helps us with our planning. If you have a younger child turning 5 in Term 1, please see our website or contact the office for enrolment information.
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Teachers Strike - 23rd October
You may have seen in the media talk of a NZEI teacher Union member strike on Thursday 23rd October. This is not yet official as the formal notice has not been presented to school Boards but an informal notice has been made. If an official strike notice is presented the Board has decided that there are not enough non-union members for Pinehill School to remain open and we will need to close Pinehill School on Thursday 23rd October. For now please keep this possibility in mind. The Education and Training Act requires the formal notification to be made three days before the strike commences.
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Congratulations Mrs Lil
We have some very exciting news! Mrs. Lil is delighted to share that Baby Lill has arrived! He was born on Sunday, October 5th.
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Congratulations, Caitlin! We are so excited for you and think Baby Lill looks absolutely gorgeous.
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Walking to School Two Week Challenge.
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This term it will run over two weeks, Week 2 and Week 3. The class that has the most walkers over the two weeks will win a pizza lunch.
Students can earn points by walking all the way or part of the way to school. The simplest way is to walk all the way to school.
However, if they need to come some of the way by car, then there are two drop-off points.
1 - On the corner of Hugh Green Drive and Bundoran Way, from where they walk up Hugh Green Drive and in the front gates.
2 - On the corner of Spencer Road and Maidstone Place, from where they walk along Spencer Road and in the top gate at the drop-off zone.
Students who are dropped off at the drop-off zone, or in front of school will not earn house points.
They will be met close to the gates by House Leaders who will give them stickers to add to their class chart.
Walking to school is a great way for students to get fit, and talk with their friends. It will also free up the streets around the school by taking some cars off the road which will improve the environment for all of our regular walkers.
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This may be a good time to join either of our two Walking School Buses. One leaves from Killybegs Drive and the other from Fernhill Way. Information can be found on the schools website.https://pinehill.school.nz/school-information/
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本学期的活动将持续两周，分别是第2周和第3周。两周内走路上学人数最多的班级将赢得披萨午餐。
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学生可以通过全程步行或部分步行来获得积分。最简单的方式是全程步行到学校。
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然而，如果他们需要部分路程乘车，有两个指定的接送点：
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在Hugh Green Drive和Bundoran Way的交叉口，学生从那里走上Hugh Green Drive，通过正门进入。
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在Spencer Road和Maidstone Place的交叉口，学生从那里沿Spencer Road走，进入上门的接送区域。
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学生们将在靠近大门的地方遇到班级负责人，负责人会给他们贴纸，学生将把贴纸贴在班级图表上。
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走路上学是学生们锻炼身体、与朋友交流的好方法。它还可以减少学校周围的交通，减少一些汽车上路，有助于改善我们常规步行者的环境。
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这是加入我们两个“步行校车”项目的好时机。一个从Killybegs Drive出发，另一个从Fernhill Way出发。更多信息可以在学校网站找到：学校网站
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Friends of Pinehill School
Yummy Stickers Promotion ends this FRIDAY.
If you have stickers to be handed in, please put them in the white box in the school office by this Friday. Thank you for your ongoing effort!
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Yummy Stickers is a year-long promotion where stickers from apples, nectarines, peaches, and pears, or cutouts from Yummy fruit bags, can be exchanged for sports equipment. Please stick all stickers and barcodes on the official forms, which can be downloaded from the Yummy Fruit Official Website.
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Here are the links for the sticker collection sheets:
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KIDS ART WORKS (Calendar Art) FUNDRAISER 2025
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Our annual Calendar Art fundraiser will be live soon. The students worked hard at creating beautiful artwork that can be turned into affordable Calendars, Cards, Diaries, Mouse Mats,
and Sketch Pads. You can check out samples of these products in the school office. Each item features your child's own artwork, making them perfect for unique Christmas gifts for family and friends, especially those far away!
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Prices:
● Calendars $15 each
● Cards $15 per pack
● Diaries $18 each
● Mouse mats $17 each
● Sketch pads $16 each
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More information will come. Thank you so much for your support of this annual fundraiser!
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Pinehill School PTA - Friends of Pinehill School
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We Chat
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如果您想了解學校的資訊或者有關於學校的任何問題，請加這個微信號碼，我會在我工作時間內盡量解答您的問題。
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