Tyla Nathan-Wong in Triumphant NZ Sevens Team.
Tyla (2012 Sports Captain and Dux Ludorum) and her New Zealand Women's Team won the first round of the inaugural IRB Women's Sevens World Series (WSWS) in Dubai on Saturday night.
They had a tough Day 1 against China, Russia and Canada but once at the quarter finals they defeated England 31-0. They then faced a strong Australian team in the semi-final, winning 28-14.
On to the final where New Zealand displayed a combination of raw power, pace and unparalleled fitness levels to dominate South Africa 41-0. Tyla scored two tries in the final in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 people.
We are all extremely proud of Tyla and the New Zealand Women's Sevens Team.
This year the Home Economics and Technology Teachers Association held the inaugural HETTANZ Student Fashion Awards. This competition was open to every school student working in materials technology, fashion technology, clothing and textiles and was aimed at encouraging excellence in practical sewing, with recognition for individuality and creativity. There were technical and creative categories for Intermediate, Junior and Senior students.
Year 10 Soft Materials Technology students Monique Pace and Ruby Le Marquand won the Intermediate Creative category. Their entry, shown below, was made in class and was a Haute Couture design made out of an old car visor, old curtains dyed with tea, lace from a vintage top, used shuttlecocks, drapes and a pre-loved tulle wrap with feathers.
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Entries were received from all over New Zealand and the judges were very impressed with the high standard of work produced. One industry judge commented that many of the garments could easily be put straight into retail such was the skill and finish of the garment. HETTANZ feels it is affirming that schools include Technology Textiles in their school curriculums and allow their students to engage in authentic learning experiences.
Quilts for World Vision
Once again the Year 9 Soft Materials Technology students have designed and made quilt squares for World Vision, and their efforts have been appropriately praised and acknowledged.
The focus this year was Papua New Guinea, with students researching the country and coming up with designs to send a messge of hope to the communities that World Vision will be working with there. Some designs include words in Pigeon English which is the most common language in Papua New Guines. Techniques such as applique, hand sewing and embroidery have been incorporated into the students' quilts.
Teacher Ms Claire tagaloa took 4 students into World Vision headquarters this week to deliver the quilts. They were given a tour of the premises and found out about all the different projects World Vision is involved in.
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Devon Davids will be taking the quilts over to Papua New Guinea on Sunday. She was extremely grateful and excited as she told our students such gifts really do send a message of hope - that other communities so close to them are thinking of them and taking time to create something special for them.
We are very proud of the Year 9 students whose goodwill and dedication provides tangible evidence of caring for others.
2013 Student Leaders Announced
After submitting position applications, making presentations to the students and having students and staff exercise their votes, student leaders have been selected for their positions of responsibility for next year.
Top Leaderships Positions:
| Head Boy | Rugved Deshpande |
| Head Girl | Wiki Maihi |
| Deputy Head Boy | Brayden Silby |
| Deputy Head Girl | Alana Murpy |
| Academic Captain (M) | Tim Hight |
| Academic Captain (F) | Lydia Choo |
| Arts and Culture Captain (M) | Johnson Zhuang |
| Art and Culture Captain (F) | Samantha Holland |
| Sports Captain (M) | David Otter |
| Sports Captain (F) | Rebecca Smith |
| Board of Trustees Student Rep | Kylie Clarke |
| International Student Rep | Pam Komnatchanan |
House Captains 2013
| Bray | Kalei Kennerley | Josh Worthington |
| Fatialofa | Isaac Kora | Grace Kukutai |
| Faumuina | Shee Nathan-Wong | Eddie Fa'amamafa |
| Lewis | Holly Sun | Dale Pitout |
| Reid | Mele Fangaloka | Sang Youn Yeo |
| Zoricich | Pam Chia | Eddie Kennedy |
2012 Highest Achievers
The Senior Prizegiving has honoured the top achievers at Lynfield College for 2012.
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From Left: Wendy Shuwen He : Dux Litterarum Yash Vyas : Proxime Accessit Nalin Choudhary : 3rd in school Michael Howell : Dux Artium Tyla Nathan-Wong : Dux Ludorum Girls Tane Leilua : Dux Ludorum Boys |
At Year 13 level Leadership was also acknowledged, in particular the leadership of the Head Boy Jonathan Feki and Head Girl Maddie Hughes.
At Year 12 the winner of the Ignatius Maher Memorial Award for Year 12 Dux is Tim Hight.
The Year 11 Dux for 2012 is Jahnvee Solanki who received the Griffen Memorial Prize.
 Wendy He-Lynfield College Dux |
 Tim Hight - Year 12 Dux |
 Head Boy Jonathan Feki and Head Girl Maddie Hughes |
NZ's Next Top Engineering Scientist
The 2012 competition was held recently, with teams working from 9am through to 6pm. Now in its fourth year, this annual competition is a problem solving event for teams of three to four secondary students, organised by the Department of Engineering Science.
143 teams took part with entries from 69 schools all over New Zealand. We had three Year 12 and one Year 13 team in this competition.
This year's problem centred on Felix Baumgartner's planned record breaking high altitude skydive attempt, which he successfully completed on October 14th. Felix jumped from a height of 39km, launching himself from a capsule suspended beneath a balloon, at the edge of space. After Felix landed, a remote triggering system released the capsule from the balloon.
The question asked on competition day was "In the event that electronic tracking is unavailable, what size search area is required in order to retrieve the capsule?"
This year, one of our Year 12 teams was Runners-Up in the competition. The competition administrator complimented the students on their report which was deemed "outstanding". The team consisted of Jack Barker, Nick Waddington, Akash Charles and Tim Hight. These students will be presented with a trophy as well as the $450 each in prize money at a later date.
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Making sense of the question…
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Year 13 team in full concentration.. |
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A Year 12 team with a breakthrough!!!
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Year 12 team full of smiles, for a job well done. Eventual runners-up. Congratulations! |
Fun with Forces in Science
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9ET have recently studied "Forces" in Science.
Their teacher Mrs TeBay set the challenge for them to design and build a racer from recycled materials, considering elements of stability, pressure, torques and Newton's Laws.
Two of the best are shown below with the students responsible for each.
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Pasifika Pride at Parents Meeting
There was plenty to celebrate at the final Pacific Island Parents' Meeting of 2012.
The opening item was given by the Elizabeth Fa’amamafa, Mele Hala and Olivia Riggs who has entered the Matariki National Song Writing Competition, making the top ten. The words to their song, ‘Eyes of God’, were penned by Mele and the music was written by Elizabeth. The funk band was the next to perform. They had recently made the semi-finals in the ‘Stand Up, Stand Out’ music competition and gave their usual polished performance.
Esmerelda and Shantael Ligaliga spoke about their golf and the hours of practice required to perform at top level. The two girls play for the school, their club and represent Auckland. It was then the turn of Naomi Faautaga who spoke to a power point for the Pasifika Scupture Group and Nemo Fa’amamafa who spoke on his experiences on the recent school visit to Japan. His power point showed a wide range of interesting cultural experiences that students enjoyed.
Lute Sikalu was the Year 10 speech winner and she wrote a new speech to perform for the meeting. She presented a beautifully crafted speech in such a composed manner, showing an excellent grasp of language.
 Matt Nanai spoke about his experiences at University as he studies for his music degree. He is also a songwriter under the Illegal label and has just finished laying tracks for other musicians. He finished with a beautiful rendition of a song he has just composed, ‘My God Never Rests’. Matt's talking of his post-school activities was a great intro to five current Year 13 students who spoke of their interesting and widely differing career choices. |
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 This was an evening which showcased the varied talents of the Pasifika students at Lynfield College. They are a credit to their families and the school. James Johansson gave the prayer before the meal and the evening was finished with good food and plenty of conversation. Martha Johansson is to be thanked for being the face of the PI parents at Lynfield College and for the work that she has done to make the meetings a success. |
ICT Connect Event Attracts Keen Students
More than 60 students attended the recent ICT Connect event at Lynfield College, organised by the Institute of IT Professionals (IITP) to promote IT careers.
The initiative sees New Zealand technology workers volunteer about an hour of their time to go into schools and deliver presentations describing what they do in their day to day work, and selling the sector as an attractive career path.
The programme is rolling out to 50 schools in New Zealand this year, with 150 more schools scheduled for 2013. ICT Connect is funded by over 40 organisations including Orion Health, Datacom, and Intergen - many of which are in desperate need of a new generation of IT workers.
Ben Smith, projects and engagement coordinator at IITP and the lead for the organisation’s youth orientated initiatives, says ICT Connect is an industry response towards fighting future skill shortages and discovering new talent.
“We also know that as a result of the programme, students have changed their future secondary school subjects to be more technology aligned,” says Smith.
ASB Scholars Receive Awards
Year 13 student Megan Ferreira reports..
Five Year 13 students, our Year 13 Dean - what a day it was!. The Logan Campbell Centre was packedwith tables of students from all over Auckland, all attending for one common purpose. It was a day of thanksgiving as well as a day of thought towards future prpospects and our endeavours once we leave high school.
Nalin Choudhrry, Maddie Hughes, Wendy He, Yash Vyas and I were the grateful recipients of the ASB Community Bursary Award. We are so appreciative to be awarded this scholarship and would like to thank ASB for annually providing assistance towards tertiary study for students. We would also like to thank our school, Lynfield College, for selecting us as the students to receive this prestigious award.
The ASB Luncheon was an afternoon of celebration and inspiration and we were very honoured to be part of this experience.
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Diwali Evening Enjoyed by Many Families
How colourful and musical our recent Diwali evening was! Diwali, also known as Deepavali (literally, a row of lamps), is one of the most important and ancient of the Indian festivals. It is also known as The Festival of Lights, and families light small oil lamps (diyas) and candles around the home and set off fireworks. Diwali signifies the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and renewal of life.
Music, song and dance performances as well as a fashion show were produced by our talented and cultured students.
Student Art Works Chosen for Wallace Exhibition
Four Visual Arts students have had their work recognised by inclusion as finalists in The Wallace Exhibbit Art Awards. Sir James Wallace has made his selection of the finalists and their works are now hanging at the Pah Homestead (in Hillsborough Road) until December 9th.
Our students and their works are :
Michaela Loye - untitled (lips) - photograph
Darshil Patel - untitled (house on stilts) - painting
Soleil Tan - untitled - black and white photograph of harbour
Miriam Hunt - untitled - black and white photograph of children with knitted objects
18 finalists from a number of Auckland schools have been selected; Lynfield is proud that it has the greatest number of finalists out of all the schools.
The Awards ceremony will be held at the Pah Homestead on November 15th at 4pm when Sir James will announce the winners and present them with their prizes.
Big Band a Big Hit at BHB Market Day
Our Big Band which has been very successful this year (as always!) drew a very appreciative audience when it performed on the village green at a recent Market Day at Blockhouse Bay.
The students, led by Paul Norman, played many of the tracks on their current CD and were pleased with the CD sales that followed their performance. The CD 'Take the A Train' can be purchased from the college reception or by emailing lnorman@lynfield.school.nz
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New Stage for Performing Arts Students
As this school year ends Year 13 students are looking towards their preferred options for 2013. For two Performing Arts students there is delight that they have been accepted into their preferred tertiary courses.
Holly Stokes has been accepted into the Performing Arts School at Unitec. She was chosen out of several hundred who applied. Only about twenty are accepted so it is quite an achievement.
Emily Jenkins has been accepted by the Unitec Dance school which is one of the best in the country and is also very hard to get into.
Both girls have had high profiles in school productions, most recently this year's Romeo and Juliet in which Emily starred as Juliet and Holly as the Nurse. We wish them well in their tertiary courses.
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