March 2014

Welcome to our visitors from Werder/Germany

A group of German language students and their families have welcomed 20 students and two teachers from our partner school Ernst-Haeckel-Gymnasium.

Most of the Lynfield College students stayed with the visiting students last year so there was huge excitement to see their friends again. The German group will be staying for 3 weeks visiting Lynfield College and exploring Auckland and parts of the North Island.

Since the start of the German Exchange Programme in 2005 more than 180 students have travelled to the other side of the world to be immersed in another culture and language. We wish our guests an enjoyable time and look forward to hear about their kiwi experience.
 
 

Dragonboating Day of Fun and Competition

After 6 weekly training sessions at Westhaven, 77 Lynfield students descended on Lake Pupuke on Sunday 23 March for a day of fun and rivalry in the Auckland Secondary Schools' Dragon Boat Regatta. 

Having to arrive at school at 6.15am didn’t seem to dampen any enthusiasm; in fact everyone seemed pumped and ready to put their best paddle forward from the moment we arrived at the lake.  There were 29 teams from a wide variety of schools throughout Auckland.

Each team has 20 paddlers, a caller and a sweep so, in all, about 700 competitive students.  It was great to have ex-student, Linden Rose, as sweep and coach for 2 of our teams.

This year we were wearing our new, exclusive and unique singlets which were designed especially for the event by Oksana Zhang (Y12).  They were extremely distinctive!

Our 3 crews all improved markedly throughout the day but could not keep up with the teams who train 2 or 3 times each week!  Results were:
Lynfield Legends 1              3^rd Mixed Bowl final
Lynfield Legends 2              2^nd Mixed Plate final
Lynfield Legends 1              4^th Mixed Plate final

And there are plenty of photos to record the day!
 

 

Tournament Win for Waterpolo Team
 

The junior Waterpolo team made up of four Year 10 students and eight Year 9 students played a one day tournament on 22nd March at Kings College. They won all their three games beating Takapuna Grammar 9-1, St Kentigern A 6-5 and Kings College C 9-4. This is the first time the team has played together in a competition this year. The second one day tournament will be held on April 12.

Youth Ambassador Rosie Kennedy (Year 11)
 

With her interest, gratitude and compassion inspired by the wonderful care her grandmother received at a hospice, Rosie Kennedy is now the first Youth Ambassador for Totara Hospice South Auckland. "Just seeing how they helped my nana I thought it would be nice to help with fundraising" says Rosie.

March 30 would have been Rosie's grandmother's birthday so Rosie is heading out on the charity's Sunrise Walk around the Auckland Botanic Gardens with other supporters. And her brother Eddie (Year 13 and Deputy Head Boy) has a Lynfield relay entered in the 10km relay event.

Throughout the year Rosie will be volunteering at Hospice fundraising events to increase youth awareness and involvement. She has come up with a competition for those involved in the Sunrise Walk - take a "selfie" and post it on Instagram with #Sunrisewalk2014..

Well done Rosie. It is heartening to see our students display such positive initiative and involvement in the wider community.

Here is a link to an article on Rosie which appeared in the Manukau Courier...

http://www.hospice.co.nz/linkclick.aspx?fileticket=w6Y9FE7hv4E%3D&tabid=4501

Trash to Fashion Quest Begins

Year 10 Soft Materials and Learning Support students have started their work which culminates in entry to the Trash to Fashion Competition. Last year Lynfield's Kayla Rouselle won the Untamed Category and the Supreme Award, so there is a great enthusiasm for mastering the skills that lead to success like Kayla's.

Christopher Davis came to the college to speak on Thursday 20 March.  Christopher has been a judge on the Auckland Councils Trash to Fashion and he has previously won awards in WOW (World of Wearable Art). Chris has made some of his garments out of recycled and used materials such as vinyl records, plastic cable tie, basketballs and drawing pins.
 

The talk was valuable in giving the girls first hand advice about what the judges are looking for and the process involved in creating garments which will stand out on the cat walk.

 

Individual Sporting Honours

At the end of last year two students won very significant Auckland-wide awards while a third won a NZ title:
 
Shantael Ligaliga (Y10, 2013) was named as Runner-up for the NZ Pacific Island Young Sports Person of the Year Award.  This award is for all school age Pasifika students, both male and female.
 
Liam van Rijn (Y13, 2013) won the ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year for Lawn Bowls. 
 
Our congratulations to Liam and Shantael on winning these very prestigious awards.
 
Maddison Wesche (Y9, 2013) won the NZ Secondary Schools Junior Girls’ Shot Put title with a distance that outstripped the senior girls!
 
While most of us were enjoying a lazy summer holiday many of our top sporting students continued with a gruelling training regime in their efforts to reach the highest level in their chosen sports.  Several have already gained success this year:
 
Sam Hudson (Y10) competed during the holidays in NZ Archery National Championships at Whitianga, winning silver in the U15 target championship with a personal best score.
 
She^e Nathan-Wong (Y13) was selected as captain of the Auckland U17 Girls’ Touch Team and also the Auckland U19 Girls’ Touch Team. The U17 team won the national title
 
David Nathan-Wong (Y9) was selected for the Auckland U15 Boys Elite Touch Team which went on to win silver at the Touch National Champs.
 
Alex Falaniko (Y12) gained selection to the Auckland U19 Tag Football team for the 2014 National Championships which were held late last month.

Shanaia Panapa-Ruri (Y11) was selected for the U21 Women’s Waitakere Tag team.
 
Cree Braithwaite (Y12) was selected for U17 Waitakere Tag team. 
 
Michael Carswell (Y11) has had several successes in cycling; Silver - Individual Pursuit and the 500 Time Trial;
Bronze - Points race; Member of the Auckland Representative Team for the National Championships to be held in Invercargill.
 
Jemma Read (Y13) – has gained a double NZ cap!  She has been selected in both the NZ Junior Women’s In-Line Hockey team.  She decided to push herself to take part in 8 hours of trials last weekend for the NZ Senior Women's In-Line Hockey team and was ecstatic when she found she had gained a place in this team too!  Now Jemma will be playing in both teams in the World Championships in France in July.
 
Pam Chia (Y13) competed in the Junior World Karate Championships in Spain in November where only one person from each division from each country can compete.  As New Zealand’s top U59kg 16 or 17 year old, she performed exceptionally well, finishing in the top 16 for Kata and 7^th in Sparring!
 
Grace Kukutai (Y13) has been selected in the U23 Netball Northern Zone (ie Auckland and north) training squad of 14 girls.  She is one of only school age players in this squad and impressed the selectors with her extremely high level of fitness.  Grace trains three times per week with this squad and also has training for both her club and school teams.
 
Mario Simovcic (Y11) has been selected to trial for the NZ team for his age group in Waterpolo.
 
 

Volleyball Success

Last week the  Senior Girls' Volleyball Team competed in the Auckland Secondary Schools' Tournament at the Trusts Stadium.  This is the first  time for several years we have competed in this and the girls trained very hard in their build up to this competition. 

They went through pool play without a loss, winning each game in 2 straight sets.  They continued their winning streak by defeating Glendowie College and completely dominated One Tree Hill College in the semi-finals with a disciplined display of technically sound volleyball and excellent teamwork.

In the final against Avondale College, Lynfield won the first set convincingly but were narrowly beaten in the second set.  The third set saw some really exciting rallies with both teams determined to win.  The scores remained locked together throughout this set causing the game to go into extra time.  Finally, Avondale managed to score a 2 point win (18 – 16) making Lynfield Runners-up in Division 2 of the AKSS Senior Girls Volleyball Championships.  Congratulations girls!

While the tournament was in progress selectors were  talent scouting to find the best players of the entire tournament.  Congratulations to River Gavet (Y13) who was selected for the Auckland Secondary Schools Senior Girls Volleyball Tournament team. In the image on the right below River is 3rd from the left.
 

Students' Quilts Find Homes in Malawi

Ayesha Hodwin from World Vision has visited us to speak to the Year 9 Fabric Technology students who are in the process of creating new quilts, this year going to Bangladesh.

World Vision took a team of five youth Ambassadors to Malawi at the end of last year and took the six quilts that our students made. The images below show the various groups of students who received our students' quilts.

Performing Proudly at Polyfest

Last week's ASB Polyfest was a very special occasion as our Indian group performed on the Diversity Stage, and our Kapahaka group was awarded first prize in the co-educational schools' Mau Rakau category.

This year’s theme for Polyfest was ‘Care for our seas and our lands, so that the safety of our homes both present and past endure forever’. The five and a half minute performance by the Indian group was choreographed around songs that reflected the preservation and significance of water and land. An early morning performance was made even earlier with a last minute time change, putting extra pressure on the 13 senior students and a single Year 9. But these experienced performers took the stage with confidence and danced their hearts out to a fusion of Bollywood favourites. They all had great fun rehearsing, performing and enjoying a full day at Polyfest.

Congratulations to everyone (students, staff and whanau) who worked so hard to ensure Lynfield College was so well represented at this event.

Record Performance at Zone Athletics
 

 

At the Western Zone Athletics Championships  Maddison Wesche (Y10) set a new Auckland Secondary Schools Shot Put record for Intermediate Girls!  Her put of 14.26m smashed the previous record of 14.10m.

Maddy will now go to the Greater Auckland Secondary Schools Athletics meet as #1 favourite for this event, but before that she is off to Australia to represent NZ in the Australian Athletics champs.

Congratulations Maddy!

Other students also performed extremely well..
 

Amy Pitout - 1st Senior Girls' 800m Dale Pitout - 1st Senior Boys' 800m Daniel Adams - 1st Junior Boys' Discus and finalist in the 100m and 200m Francis Loa - 2nd Junior Boys' High Jump and Long Jump Holly Harrison - 2nd Intermediate Girls' 100m Junior Boys' Relay Team

Polyfest Performances
 

On Tuesday evening whanau attended a BBQ at Lynfield College and watched the Kapa Haka group go through their routine before their performance at Polyfest on Thursday afternoon. Over 80 family, friends, staff and students attended. All were impressed with the quality of the performance the students have achieved in only 4 weeks with after school and weekend practices. The group will also perform at a special Polyfest function on Friday afternoon. Whanau were also introduced to the staff in the Maori focus group and heard a brief outline of current success of Maori students in academic and leadership aspects of the College. Current school initiatives such as Te Ao and BYOD were explained. We wish our Kapahaka group and our Indian performers every success at Polyfest this Thursday.

Senior Photographers and Artists Out and About
 

Their current internal assessment has seen the Photography, Painting and Cultural Studies students at senior level visiting various places to gather insight and inspiration for their artistic submissions.

Two weeks ago Year 12 and 13 Painting students and Photography students, plus the Year 13 Cultural Studies class, visited the Auckland City Gallery. Last week it was an outing to the Domain and One Tree Hill for the Year 12 Photography class.

Te Reo Students' Fundraising Efforts
 

Lute Sikalu, Devoe Allen and Hudson Read, sold poi, and steamed pudding and custard (thanks Whaea Maihi), and put temporary moko on willing visitors, at a mini market held at New Windsor Primary School last Saturday. This Fundraising goes towards their Rarotonga Trip in May. Special thanks to Chadeney McManus for making the poi. Fundraising has also recently included a sausage sizzle at school during lunchtime.

Debaters' Early Winning Form
 

This year the debating club has had an enthusiastic response from students at all year levels. We have been able to enter an Advanced Open team, three Senior Open teams and a Junior Open team into the Auckland Secondary Schools' Debating Competition.

Ms Wagner, Ms Kajzer-Hughes, Mr Van Dijck, Ms Carswell and Mr Bangs will coach the teams and we wish them all the best in their battles of rhetoric and logic. We have already had first round wins at the Junior Open level. Congratulations go to Karan Kalsi, Jia Dua and Paarth Rajpal (Year 10, Group A, on right)), who obliterated their opponents. This group performed impressively at last year's Auckland School's Debating Junior Championship and their skills encouraged  Mrs Wagner  to enrol them in this year's Auckland Schools' Debating competition. The Yea r10 B Team has also enjoyed a first round win. Ms Kajzer-Hughes has come on board to help with Junior Debating, which includes a number of promising Year 9s.

PE Students' Camping Activities

This week the Year12 Physical Education classes are on camp. The Land group went from Monday to Wednesday. The Water group will go on Wednesday and return Friday.

On Tuesday the Land group were involved with shooting, mountain biking, & beach skills. The day had started with a tramp after getting up at 6.30am. Unfortunately the weather has been hot, cold, dry and wet. This has made it difficult to have the right gear for each activity.

The shooting and biking have been conducted under the guidance of trained YMCA instructors. In the bike photo a student listens as the instructor gives final instructions before heading out. Hazard identification and preparedness have been key skills for these students and can help them gain NCEA credits.
 

 

BYOD - Settling In.
 

The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programme is working well with students and staff gradually making the adjustment to the use of their devices. There have been a few teething problems with WiFi but that was to be expected with so many different types of device being used. Students are now working out how and where to store their work. Feedback has been very positive so far. The first photo is a Year 9 ipad science class. The rest are Year 10 classes in English, Social Studies and Health.

In the next few weeks Mathswhizz will be rolled out to most Year 10 students. This will start off with an assessment to determine a student's ability as the computerised programme is customised for each student. Students can work on the programme at school and at home. Further details will be sent out to families soon. We are planning a family evening early in Term 2 where students can share with their families the work they are doing using the devices.

 

Student Leaders' Badges Assembly

The first formal ocaesion for our student leaders is the special assembly where in front of staff, peers and family they are presented with their badges of office. This year's Badges Assembly was held last Friday February 28 and the images below were taken during and after this momentous event. For all our student leaders, who succeeded after a rigorous application and voting and appointment process towards the end of last year, the honour and responsibility that these positions entail are well understood. We wish them success in their various roles in 2014.

A full list of the Student Leadership Team was published last month, and can be also found in our Student Support section of the website.
 

To the right: a haka is performed at the end of the ceremony, and the Head Boy and Girl and their deputies are photographed with Mr Bovaird. Below: the full Leadership  group, Year 12 Executive with Mr Sizer, and Renay Duffy, BOT rep with Mr Bovaird.

 

National Robotics Champions - Again!

 

Lynfield College Robotics teams have once again proven to be the best amongst New Zealand secondary school students. Over the past three days our two teams, in an alliance with a team from Otumoetai College, have competed at the Manukau Events Centre against the rest of the country. 80 schools, 1000 students- and robots that the students have built and programmed ready for battle. Steven Barker(Year 11) and Conor Thomas (Year 10) are shown with their team trophies for Robotics Skills Champion and Tournament Champion. The World Robotics Championships are to be held in Los Angeles next month so organising themselves and their supportive parents for that event is the next challenge for Steven and Conor. Fortunately the Nationals prize included 2 flights to Los Angeles and $4000, but the boys will need to find the rest of the funds to support their quest for world domination!

The NZ herald published this photo: From left: Niamh Conlon, Feilding High; Conor Thomas, Lynfield College, Logan Davy, Otumoetai College; and Jess Chase Long Bay College prepare for the robotics competition. Photo / Dean Purcell Congratulations Steven and Conor on winning the Nationals- and the college will be cheering for you next month when you compete in LA.