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Term 2, Week 3 Wednesday 6 May 2026
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Principals Message
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Kia ora tatou, Mālō e lelei, Annyeong haseyo, Ni hao, Dzień dobry
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This week began on a high note as we welcomed Minister Stanford and Ministry of Education representatives to Pinehill School. Minister Stanford held a press release conference on-site to announce new building funding. Part of the funding involves Pinehill School. This project is the demolition and rebuild of Ruru block and three classrooms (Room 21, Room 22 and Room 23). As many of you know, this block has suffered from persistent water and moisture issues and has required remedial work for many years. It was incredibly exciting for us all to have it officially confirmed that the Ruru rebuild is moving forward.
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Following the announcement, Minister Stanford visited our Pinehill Classrooms. She was particularly impressed with the math learning taking place - even participating in a math quiz in Room 16! She also surprised us all with her recorder skills during a music lesson with Mr Rogers and Room 19.
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I was immensely proud of our school and also our student representatives, who led the Minister's tour and spoke so passionately about their learning environment. In the words of our Pinehill School Song - 'This is a great place to be!'
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A Note on Media Coverage: Many of you will have seen our students and staff on the 1News bulletin on Monday evening. While we were delighted to be the backdrop for the education funding story, we are aware that some of the footage was also used during an unrelated segment on immigration policy. As I shared in my email to you yesterday, Pinehill School is a politically neutral space. We have been in touch with both the Minister’s office and TVNZ to ensure that, moving forward, footage of our beautiful school and tamariki is only used in the correct context of our property upgrades.
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Staff Update
Farewell
Our lovely Natalie Lucas, our ESOL teacher in Room 5, is retiring. Natalie has been a valued member of the Pinehill School staff for 15 years. She has been instrumental in leading our ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) programme and supporting our students' language development across the school. While we are very sorry to see her go, we are thrilled for Natalie as she embarks on her well-deserved retirement and travel plans.
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We will hold a farewell assembly for Natalie in Week 5 (Tuesday 19th May) in the school hall at our normal assembly time of 2:15 pm. We warmly invite you all to join us in celebrating her contribution to our school.
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Introducing
We are also delighted to welcome Siu Ling Kuan to Pinehill School as our new ESOL teacher. Siu Ling is an experienced educator and is trilingual, speaking English, Cantonese, and Mandarin—a wonderful asset for our community. Siu Ling officially starts with us on Monday 8th June, and we will formally welcome Mrs. Kuan during our Term 3 whakatau.
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Pink Shirt Mufti Day
Next week is Kindness week. MITEY (our wellbeing programme) and the Pinehill Way show that we do not accept any form of bullying. In classrooms there will be a continued focus on how we can spread aroha and kindness and look after each other.
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Next Friday 15th May, alongside many schools and businesses nationwide, Pinehill School will have a Pink Shirt Mufti Day. Your child is able to wear pink or colours close to pink (purple, burgundy, red) and bring a gold coin/money donation. Money raised will be sent to the Mental Health Foundation.
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Pinehill School Cross Country -
Rain or shine - Tuesday 19th May
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Whole School Fun Run – Thursday, 21st May – 1:10pm
We invite all parents, families, and whānau to come along and be part of the event. Parent volunteers are needed to assist at Fun Run stations—if you can help, please email Mr. Duffin at alex@pinehill.school.nz.
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Cheer on the sidelines with encouragement and clapping
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Join in and run alongside your child
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All students will take part in this exciting obstacle course Fun Run, held at school. Lunch will be from 12:00pm–1:00pm, and the event will begin at:
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Reminder: Students should wear non-precious, white or pale-colored clothing—it will be covered in non-toxic colored powder, mud, and grass stains, creating a lasting memory of the event!
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Supporting attendance during winter
Regular school attendance is vital for learning, social development, and overall wellbeing. As we enter the winter, there will naturally be times when it is appropriate for tamariki to stay home and recover from illness.
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However, minor symptoms do not always require time away from school. Below is a link to information that will help parents and caregivers decide when it is okay to send their child to school, when they should keep them at home, and when they should contact a health professional for advice.
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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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North Shore Swimming Competition
On Tuesday 5th May, we had five students represent our school at the North Shore Swimming Competition: Rex Wang, Caroline Li, Selina Ma, Tracy Bai, and Emily Wang. This event brought together top swimmers from across the North Shore, with 27 schools taking part.
All of our swimmers did an outstanding job competing at such a high level, and we are very proud of their efforts.
A special mention goes to Caroline, who placed 4th in the 9-year-old girls 25m breaststroke, and to Rex, who had an incredible day in the pool, achieving a hat-trick of 1st place finishes in the 9-year-old boys 25m freestyle, 25m backstroke, and 50m backstroke.
A big thank you to our parent helpers, Lulu Li and Jessie Feng, for supporting the team and helping make the day possible.
Well done to all involved!
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Sports X - Term 2
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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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