Academic Excellence

Congratulations to all students who received awards at the Pinehurst School Senior College Awards 2017. 

Major award winners were:

Crosby Cup for Endeavour and Application: Andrei Milivojevic

Proxime Accessit: Isobel Gibbs

Foundation Cup for Academic Excellence - Dux 2017: Georgia Erskine

 

Perseverance Pays Off 

Pinehurst student Nico Van Wijk has been offered places at two of the world’s top universities.

Nico Van Wijk, Pinehurst School Dux in 2016, has a tough choice to make over the next couple of months: Magdalene College, one of Cambridge University’s oldest and most prestigious colleges, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T), recently named the world’s top university, have both offered him a place from the start of the autumn term. 

Nico has been accepted to study Natural Sciences at Magdalene College, and has a general acceptance to M.I.T., but he wrote about Cognitive Sciences in his application to M.I.T. and has a passion for the development of Artificial Intelligence.

“I remember when it all fell into place,” says Nico, “A neurobiologist came in to talk to the students at Pinehurst a couple of years ago. He was great, and I was inspired.”

It wasn’t straightforward for Nico, though. He applied for the first time over a year ago, and didn’t get the offers he was looking for. “I was disappointed at first, but it taught me about perseverance and sticking with your dream.” 

 

New Buildings

The new year begins with new infrastructure for both the Primary and the College.

New Primary classrooms are nearly finished, with just building the veranda and some landscaping to complete.  Pinehurst have also created the school’s first 'Rain Garden', which will manage any increased water flow.

College 4 is progressing well and the indoor spaces; the Senior study area, the Science laboratory, Maths classrooms and Technology workshop, are all taking shape and are on course for opening at the start of Term 2.