March 2016

 

2016 New Zealand Young Physicists’ Tournament

This is the fourth year that we have entered students in the regional rounds of the New Zealand Young Physicists’ tournament that took place recently at Westlake Girls’ High School. We had one Year 12 team and one Year 13 team competing against mostly Year 13 teams from 20 Auckland schools (Each school could enter a maximum of 2 teams)

Lynfield's Year 13 team consisted of Joel Boasman, Simon Stanimiroff (captain) and Alan Wu while our Year 12 team consisted of Kitty Sun (captain), Jia Dua and Jenna Kumar.

Background
Prior to the tournament, competing teams, consisting of 3 students each, are given 7 complex problems to theoretically and experimentally research on. These questions are released in Term 4 of the previous year. At the competition the teams present and defend the validity of their solutions against teams in “Physics Fights”. Juries consisting of respected physicists and physics teachers rate their reports and the discussion that those reports generate. Each team is graded out of 10 points per judge, with 5 judges in total per fight.

On the day
The tournament started at 8.45 am and finished at 6 pm. At the start of the tournament, our year 12 students were a little anxious going into the first round of the “Physics fights”. However, once they overcame the initial fear and got used to the procedures involved, they gained valuable points in the remaining fights. Experience from the previous year enabled the year 13 team to perform consistently in their “Physics fights”.

Our Year 13 and Year 12 teams finished 10^th and 9^th overall, both teams in the top 10. All the students must be praised for the long hours they spent in preparation for the competition. The depth of the research, both theoretical and experimental, they undertook in preparation for the problems will linger in their memories for a very long time.

Mr Reddy was the supervising teacher and was joined by Ms Vasile as a judge.

Left image " A little anxious before the tournament"
Right image " Definitely more relaxed and relieved afterwards"

Future
With this year’s experience behind them, the Year 12 students have already started the discussion for next year’s tournament. These students will also be promoting this event to prospective Year 11 students. We are confident of having another good run next year.
 

Lynfield College Progress Conference Appointments  April 2016

 
Dear Parents,
Appointments to meet teachers at the Progress Conference evenings will be made using our on-line booking system. You can choose your appointment time by opening the web page at …    http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/    Book now!
 

The event code is  yedeb. After clicking "Go" the next screen requires you to enter your details and your student's details; then on to subjects and teachers' names on the next screen, then finally you select the appointment times you would like.
Online bookings close at 9am on the day of the Parent Conference

Two Through to Linguistics Olympiad Final

Two Year13 students, Kate Heslop and Angela Competente, have made it through to the final round of the New Zealand Linguistics Olympiad.
 
Kate and Angela  were among nearly 300 competitors from around the country who solved complicated language problems in a two hour test. The questions included deciphering Javanese script and translating chemical elements from Irish (Gaeilge) to English!
 
In preparation for the test, nine senior students from Lynfield College completed many practice puzzles. Mr Bangs also gave a presentation on vocal sounds, and we practised making vowel sounds from all over the throat!
 
The competition, in its second year, is organised by the Linguistics Society of New Zealand and the various university Linguistics Departments.  The purpose is to develop students’ academic abilities in analysis and logical thinking.
 
The top 20 students nationwide will compete in another round of problems on April 1st. The students will also hear from top linguistic scholars.

Best wishes for further success, Kate and Angela!

Accolades for Lynfield Debaters

- March 21

Seasonal Champs

Earlier this month Mr Bangs took Lynfield's Senior Premier Debating team: Year 12 Karan Kalsi, Kitty Sun and Year 11 Harry Ashley (subbing in for Jia Dua who was busy winning the National Robotics title) to compete  in the Auckland Schools' Debating Seasonal Championships.

This is the opening one day tournament of the season, and gets debaters back into shape after the long break. The LYNFIELD team placed 3rd overall (about 30 teams compete), which was an excellent result. This was the first time Harry had really been noticed by the adjudicators who were very encouraging.
 

Regional Champs

Last weekend, Ms Wagner and Mr Daly took Lynfield's Junior and Senior Premier Teams to compete in the Russell McVeigh NZ Regional Championship Tournament. This tournament tests the debaters from high schools across Auckland in seven challenging rounds over the course of the weekend.

At the end of Saturday's four rounds, the top eight teams with the most wins and speaker points broke to the final rounds, which took place on Sunday. Lynfield's Premier team (below left) was the only team to win all four rounds, and had the highest speaker points, putting them in first place moving into the quarter finals.

The team made it into the final debate but were beaten by Diocesan's most senior team.

While the most wins lead to the winning cup for a team, it is the individual speaker points that matter most to each debater. The top eight speakers with the highest points are selected for six coveted spots (plus 2 reserves) on two Auckland Regional teams. These teams train together and will then compete in Wellington at Nationals, in May.

Once again, Karan Kalsi -who scored the highest points at the tournament - was selected for one of the Regional teams, as well as being awarded Top Speaker of the tournament. (Auckland White Team in centre of images above)

There were also seven spots on the Development Squad up for grabs. Three Lynfield debaters: Kitty Sun, Jia Dua (who also received a Highly Commended award), and Year 11 student Harry Ashley, were selected for this squad.

Harry (above right) - a member of the Junior Premier team, and reserve member for the Senior Premier- made a favourable impression on the adjudicators in his second tournament. His stunning performances, alongside Year 10 students Raymond Feng and Michael Howell, who subbed in for Harry's teammates, led him to winning Most Promising Speaker for the Tournament, as well as a spot on the Development squad.

At the end of the day, no other school had more accolades than Lynfield!  Well done!
 

Latest Individual Sporting Achievers

 

Central/Western Zone Athletics Championships

Our Zone Athletics team was very competitive with several winning places in track finals and field events.  Those who placed 1^st or 2^nd in the finals have won the right to compete in the Greater Auckland Secondary Schools Athletics meet next week.  Of special note were the following students who all placed in finals and/or have qualified for the Greater Auckland Secondary Schools championships.
 
Sophie Bradley (Y9) - 4^th Junior Girls Discus
Robin Seu Leota (Y9) - 4^th Junior Boys Discus
Cody Gordon (Y9) - 2^nd Junior Boys 800m
Shayan Rezakhan-Kermani (Y10) - 4^th Junior Boys 100m
Aimee Le Noel (Y10) - 5^th Intermediate Girls High Jump
Daniel Adams (Y12) - 1^st Intermediate Boys Discus, 4^th Intermediate Boys 200m
Maddison Wesche (Y12) - 1^st Senior Girls Shot Put
Holly Harrison (Y13) - 3^rd Senior Girls 100m
Numia Kennerley (Y13) - 1^st Senior Boys High Jump
Nathan Maisey (Y12) - 4^th Senior Boys Long Jump
Junior Girls relay - 3^rd
Junior Boys relay - 2^nd
Intermediate Boys relay - 4^th
Senior Boys relay - 3^rd 

Maddison Wesche (Y12)

-won the Senior Girls Shot Put with a throw of 16.22m creating a new Auckland Secondary Schools record!  This smashed the previous record.  Maddy will now go to the Greater Auckland Secondary Schools Athletics meet as #1 favourite for this event.  - won 2 titles at the NZ National Athletics Championships recently.   She threw 16.61m (3kg) in the ‘Youth’ (U18) age group and 14.85m (4kg) in the ‘Junior’ (U20) competition, so again holds 2 NZ titles!  Last week she travelled to Perth to compete in the Australian Champs and brought home the gold medal as the 2016 Australian Junior Shot Put Champion.  Here she threw a Personal Best of 16.74m which was 1.9m further than her nearest opposition.

 

Swimming

Our Intermediate Boys Freestyle Relay team were one of the 8 fastest teams across all zones and therefore qualified to compete in the Auckland Secondary Schools Champion of Champions meeting.
 
 

Kapahaka at Polyfest - Please vote in the People's Choice Award

Our Kapahaka group performed impressively on the Maori stage at the Secondary Schools' ASB Polyfest last week. Mrs Jennifer Leauga and her team have worked extremely well with the students to reach their current high standards. Congratulations to everyone concerned!  

Their placings at Polyfest were:
 

•  2nd waiata tira- choral

•  2nd whakawatea- exit

•  2nd most improved kura

•  2nd overall

  Lynfield College competed in Division 3.. our performance was good enough for promotion to Division 2  next year.

Maori television filmed the event and you will enjoy seeing our Kapahaka group's performance at

http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/asb-polyfest-2016/S01E011/polyfest-2016-lynfield-college

During Easter weekend Maori Television will screen Polyfest performances from every school -Friday through to Monday at 4.30pm on Channel Sky 82, Freeview 15.

 

Maori Television have also set up a People's Choice Award with $750 monetary prize going to the group with the most votes. Please vote here for Lynfield College (Division 3)

http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/asb-polyfest-2016/peoples-choice-awards

 

Dancing on the Diversity Stage at Polyfest

Our Indian group created a colourful performance for the ASB Polyfest and were very well-received on the Diversity stage.  
 

Student Leaders' Official Recognition

 
A special  Assembly  has been held to recognise the student leaders who have earned the right to wear a ‘badge of office’ in 2016.
 
Leadership occurs widely in the College with a key focus on how student action through respect, honesty, involvement and school pride, can improve student life and impact positively on the wider community,
 

Mr Bovaird and Mrs Clark with (from left) Deputy Head Girl Elizabeth Fa'amamafa, Deputy Head Boy Gianni Gambassi, Head Boy Aman Reen  and Head Girl Grace Kaleta	Mrs Walbran (Director of Sport) with (from left) Assistant Sports Captains Kaleb Bowles and Rosie Kennedy, and Sports Captains Holly Harrison and Alistair Maisey	Mr Bovaird with (from left) Assistant Arts and Culture Captain Ryu Kodama, Arts and Culture Captain Marylinde Lamositele, Assistant Captain Angela Lai and Arts and Culture Captain Henry Samuels
(from left) Academic Captains Ryan Xavier and Kate Heslop with their Assistant Captains Sophia Xu and Alan Wu	Mr Bovaird with Karan Kalsi (Student Rep on Board of Trustees)	Mr Bovaird with Rosa Zhang (International Student Rep)

 

Digital Citizenship Project

On Friday March 11^th Year 9 and 10 students began their Digital Citizenship Inquiry projects for 2016.

Year 9 students will complete activities of their choice from a matrix on six different elements of digital citizenship – cyberbullying, digital footprints, copyright, online security, digital safety and online research. 

Year 10 students will be taking part in a real world inquiry project. This means that they have to work with a group / audience on producing something to promote an aspect of digital citizenship.  Some ideas the students have come up with include producing wrist bands with messages encouraging students to stay safe online, writing and publishing a children’s book with a cyber safety message to donate to a local primary school, making video clips encouraging teenagers to stay safe online etc.

The students have five sessions over the course of the year to complete these activities. Some of the students' work at both year levels will be presented at a showcase of their projects in October. We look forward to seeing what creative and innovative ideas the students come up with.

 
 

Year 11 Historians Research New Zealanders at War

4 classes of Year 11 History students visited the Auckland Museum and City Library on Thursday March 10^th. Students were there undertaking research for their internal assessment on New Zealanders at War. The students were allowed to research any war that New Zealanders have been involved in. Aspects of WWI and WWII were both popular with the students. Topics they have chosen include:

• The introduction of conscription during WWI
• Battle of Gallipoli
• US troops arrive in New Zealand in 1941
• Battle of El-Alamein
• Battle of Tobruk
• Capture of New Zealand soldiers during Operation Crusader
• Formation of the Women’s Land Service
• Formation of the Maori battalion

The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a multitude of artefacts on both WWI and WWII so the students were able to find all sorts of unique and interesting sources to add to their research folders. Students also spent some time at the research centre at the Auckland Library in the city. This provided them with an opportunity to look at old newspaper articles using the microfilm readers as well as research information from books, transcripts of parliamentary debates etc.
The students have this week in class to complete their research folders. We look forward to seeing what they have put together.
 
 

Jazz Combo in Cornwall Park
 

Lynfield's Jazz Combo recently performed in Cornwall Park as part of the Auckland City Council's Music in Parks summer series

Perfect Day for Photographers

 

Year 12 Photography students enjoyed a  field trip to Craigavon Park and One Tree Hill Domain, on Thursday the 10 March. On location students put into practice their knowledge of manual camera controls, to take landscape photographs in the style of several Artist Models they have been studying. It was a stunning day, with perfect conditions for photography.

 

Junior Debaters off to a Winning Start

Congratulations to three Lynfield College Junior Debating teams for winning their first round debates in the Auckland Schools Debating Junior Open.  A great effort was also put in by the Lynfield Year 9 team in their very first debate ever.

This year, the Western Zone debates of the Auckland Schools Debating competition are being held at Lynfield College, which gives the students a home school advantage. Ms Wagner and Mrs Wiggins have been joined by Ms Leafberg with organisation of the debates and adjudication. The Junior Premier team has their first debate next week and we wish them all the best! Fortunately, our debaters are getting weekly expert coaching by Karan Kalsi, (right) who has led them to early success with their wins. They will continue to develop their skills throughout the two terms in hopes that they can be one of the two teams who will break to the final rounds, where they will face very competitive Central Zone teams.	Student Coach: Karan Kalsi : ASD Junior Premier winner 2015; ASD Impromptu Cup semi-finalist 2015;  NZ Schools Debating National Grand Finalist 2015	Lynfield 1 : Joseph Hisayasu, Stella Gilbert (absent from photo) and  Yuvraj Behal beat Avondale
Well done to the Best Speakers in each debate -  Joseph Hisayasu, Vedant Kadeskar and Sarah Young	Lynfield 2:  Michael Howell, Raymond Feng and Sarah Young, beat Mt Albert  1	Lynfield 3: Vedant Kaduskar, Ishaan Bhide and Luke Wang beat Mt Albert 2

Welcome to our German Friends

Welcome to our visitors from Werder/Germany!

On Saturday, a group of German language students and their families welcomed 17 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 three and a half 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 200 students have travelled to the other side of the world to be immersed in another culture and language. International student exchanges are amongst the most valuable experiences for young people: An exposure to a different culture, to a new linguistic environment and to new social values represents a challenge which most participants cherish for the rest of their lives. The students have enjoyed a day in Auckland city (image at right) and a day out to the west of Auckland (images below)

 

Kapahaka Group Visits Onehunga

Swimming Team at the Zone Meet

The swimming team performed very creditably at the Central/West Zone Meet last Thursday, both in the pool and as representatives of the College and themselves.  Special thanks to those who were able to assist with transport or officiating at the event.  Such events rely on your support and cannot be run without it. 

Best performances at the zones were:

Individuals

Ben Henwood   (Yr9)             Boys 13 + under                    3^rd Backstroke

Aaron Tahu  (Yr10)                Boys 14-15yrs                       2^nd Backstroke

                                                                                       3^rd Butterfly
                                                                                       6^th Freestyle

Rohan Mukherjee (Y11)         Boys 14-15yrs                       2^nd Freestyle

Relays

Jackson Potauaine, Aaron Tahu,Taea Lambert, Rohan Mukherjee  1^st   Boys  14-15yrs Freestyle
Dani Hewitt, Sophie Bradley, Jadzia Hagai, Sama Ibrahim-Jerrywo  4^th  Girls 13+under Freestyle

The next stage is the Champion of Champions on 15 March, again at West Wave. To qualify for this event a swimmer (or relay team) must have one of the top eight times over the four Auckland Zones, so winning at the Zone event will not necessarily get a swimmer to the next stage. 

We are now waiting for all zones to complete their swimming events so we know which of our swimmers have qualified for the greater Auckland swim meet. Watch this space!

Robotics Teams Succeed at the Nationals

 

	Lynfield's Robotics teams have once again achieved a number of awards at the Vex Robotics National Championships. All 3 teams advanced through to the Division finals, and then Steven Barker's team and Conor Thomas's team took out a number of awards. Teacher Mr Craig Yearbury enjoys working with these "fantastic students" and is now busy with parents and supporters organising for the annual visit to the World Championships.
Lynfield College won the “Excellence Award” Steven Barkers team were the Tournament Champions Steven Barkers team were Division Champions Steven Barker won the “Robot Skills” contest and was 3rd in “Programming Skills” Conor Thomas’s team won the “Think Award” Conor Thomas was 4th in both “Robot Skills” and “Programming Skills”

 

Athletics Day - Awesome!

After 2 days of wet weather and more rain forecast late in the day, we were so lucky to have a fine day with a layer of high cloud.

The morning programme was a rotation of 11 events (a mixture of track and field and tabloid) which created a huge amount of fun and competition. The most noise and excitement was generated in the Obstacle Course and the Tug o’ War as junior classes and senior houses tried to get as many participants involved to boost their house points.

The House Captains worked extremely hard to involve all students in the presentation of their House Mascot.  They came up with some interesting, creative and amazing ideas, ranging from batman to a tennis game involving a human tennis ball, to impress the judges. This competition and Best Dressed House, were both judged by an independent panel of staff who found it really difficult to find clear winners!

 

The house and form class sprint finals and relays were hotly contested in the afternoon and showed we certainly have talent at all levels in these track events. Congratulations to overall winners, Reid House who have worked out that participation is the key to success as the whole house ran, threw, jumped and tugged to the max.

Lewis House came second with Fatialofa House third.