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Term 1, Week 8 Wednesday 25th March 2026
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Year 5/6 E.O.T.C – A Fantastic Experience!
Our Year 5/6 students experienced learning outside of the classroom last week. This included visiting our local Castor Bay for kayaking and water safety, attending Clip 'n Climb for indoor safety and climbing experiences, team-building activities on-site, biking and tree climbing at Woodhill Forest, and a grand finale of climbing Rangitoto Island.
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The majority of our parent helpers and students had not set foot on Rangitoto Island or climbed it prior to Friday. There were a lot of "firsts," risk-taking, collaboration, team bonding, and digging deep for resilience - a perfect opportunity to practice and display all our Pinehill Way values. It was the most fabulous week.
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Thank you to the many parent helpers for supporting us throughout the week.
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Thank you to the teachers for planning and organising such an amazing itinerary.
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Thank you to the children for putting in 100% every single day.
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I am sure our students, parent helpers and teachers slept very well on Friday evening—I know I did!
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Culture Week Thank you
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Last week we celebrated Culture Week at Pinehill School.
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Our students and families are from a multitude of over 38 different ethnicities. Culture Week provides us with an opportunity to discover where we are all from, a little about others’ culture, to learn about each other and to celebrate the rich diversity at Pinehill School.
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‘Once you understand and appreciate other people’s cultural backgrounds, then you can also connect with them more.’
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A big THANK YOU to the many parents and whanau members who took time last week to come into our Pinehill School classrooms and share aspects of your culture. Our children were treated to your cooking, sharing of artefacts, storytelling, language teaching, games, music, art work and more. This home school partnership enriches the Culture Week learning experiences immensely, providing much authentic learning for all.
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We continue to offer you the opportunity to come in and share something from your culture before the end of the term, please email your child’s teacher if you would like to do this, to book in a sharing time.
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End of term Wheels Wednesday is coming!
Get ready to roll! For the last Wednesday of the school term we are going to have ‘Wheels Wednesday'. That's next week - Wednesday 1st April. Students can bring their bikes, scooters, skateboards, rollerblades, or roller skates to school for some lunchtime fun. Remember to bring your helmet!
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If bringing a bike, this can be parked up in the bike ramps by the staff car park and Mr Skeaths room. All other wheels can go to classrooms where teachers will have an area for the wheels to be kept in. At lunch time after lunch eating, the students can put on their helmets, collect their wheels and take them to the designated areas for some lunchtime ‘wheels fun’.
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Hilary Block court - scooters
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Taumaru - skateboards, roller skates and roller blades.
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Let’s all get ready for some Wheel lunchtime fun!
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Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) 2026
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At our board meeting tonight, Deputy Principal Sarah Cattell will share our PAT test results.
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In Term 1, our Year 4–6 students sat Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) in reading comprehension, reading vocabulary and mathematics, while our Year 3 students sat the Mathematics PAT (the only PAT test available for this year level). These standardised tests compare Pinehill students’ achievement against national norms.
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The graphs below show that our students (represented in colour) are performing well compared to the national reference group (shaded grey), particularly in mathematics. This year our reading vocabulary scores are also strong.
The median score is represented by the black horizontal line in the centre of the box. In all curriculum areas, Pinehill’s medians are above the national median for every year group. In mathematics, our students’ results are especially strong, with the Pinehill median approaching (or surpassing) the upper quartile of national scores.
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End-of-Term Message
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Next week is our final week of Term 1, with our last day on Thursday, April 2nd.
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I wish you all a wonderful Easter and school holiday break ahead. Take time to be with loved ones and do what brings you joy. As I often remind students and staff-"fill your bucket!"
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We look forward to welcoming everyone back for Term 2 on Monday, April 20th. On the first day, we will hold a whakatau in the school hall at 9:00 am to welcome new students and families to Pinehill. All are welcome to join us for this special occasion.
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Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.
Success is not the work of one but the work of many.
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Our Culture Parade
Last Friday, me and my class went to the Culture Parade to learn about other cultures. It was a chance for us to wear our cultural costume. I arrived at school wearing a blue Chinese costume with Chinese words on it. I was looking forward to what food there was.
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First, we took our Culture photo outside. I could smell all the yummy food. Next, we made our Culture flag, finished our culture worksheet, and drew a picture of our culture. I drew the tallest building in China. Then, we had our Culture Parade, and we walked to the court. I saw big drums, and a bit of a Lion dance. We followed the lion to the hall. Loudly, I heard lots of cheering. In the hall, I saw some more lion performances. Everyone cheered as we waved our flags in the air. I heard the drums getting louder, and louder. The lion could blink its eyes, and move its ears. We had three Kapa Haka performances, and we cheered. We had another lion performance, and he did some fake eating. The colour of the lion was yellow, and red. We even had Jump Jam, and an Indian dance. When the Indian dance finished, every class went on stage to show their costume. Finally, we had a shared lunch. There was sushi, dumplings, and lots more yummy food.
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I felt happy because I learnt lots about other people's cultures. Next time, I will find out more about other cultures. It was special because I ate lots of yummy food. I can't wait for the next Culture Parade.
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By Jeremy Zhang Year 3 Room 3
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Friends of Pinehill School
🍕 Fun Food Fridays
Fun Food Fridays continue every Friday this term. Chips and iced juices are available in the hall foyer from 12:40 pm to 1:00 pm, and pizzas from Pizza Hut Windsor Park can be ordered through Kindo. Please note that no sales will take place before 12:40 pm. The last Fun Food Friday this term is Friday, 27 March, and Kindo orders close at midnight on Wednesday, 25 March. Thank you for your continued support.
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🎉 Ongoing Fundraising (All Year Round)
Yummy Sports Gear Promotion
Pinehill School is collecting Yummy Apple stickers again this year. Thanks to your wonderful support last year, the school received $260 to spend on sports gear. Families are welcome to collect stickers over the school holidays and throughout the year. Stickers may be collected on an official collection sheet or on blank paper. Collection sheets will be available from the school office for anyone who would like one. Completed stickers can be returned to the office at any time. Thank you for your continued support.
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Entertainment Book
Pinehill School has partnered with Entertainment™ as part of our ongoing fundraising programme.
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Right now, you can purchase an Access All Areas Entertainment Membership for $75, giving you access to thousands of offers across New Zealand, Australia, and Bali. For memberships purchased in March, our fundraiser will receive a double donation (40%), helping raise even more support for FoPS activities and school events. Members will also go into the draw to win the Ultimate Expedition to Antarctica.
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Support our fundraiser by purchasing your membership here: Pinehill School (https://subscribe.entertainmentnz.com/fundraiser/948b34)
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🤝 FoPS Meeting – Term 2 (School Disco Preparation)
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FoPS (Friends of Pinehill School – Parents Teachers Association)
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Come and get a preview of one of the fun events we help organise for our school community.
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Friday, 24 April, 9:00 am
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Main Topic: School Disco Preparation
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Are you someone who enjoys:
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planning fun events for children?
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getting to know other parents?
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seeing what happens behind the scenes of school events?
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sharing ideas and helping where you can?
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You might also be thinking:
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“I’m new to New Zealand and don’t really know how NZ school events work.”
→ Come and get a little preview experience!
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“I went to school in NZ — maybe I could share some experience.”
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“My child is in Year 1, and I don’t even know what these events are yet.”
→ It’s a great way to learn what happens at school!
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Everyone is welcome, no matter what year your child is in or what your background is.
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Many hands make light work — even a small contribution can make a big difference.
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Sports X - Term 2
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Fitness at 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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