February 2018

Year 13 History Trip

On Wednesday 28 February, 110 Year 13 History students visited the Auckland Museum and the Central Library in order to complete their research assignment into a contested historical event.

Topics the students have chosen include the bombing of Hiroshima, the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the partition of India into India and Pakistan, the establishment of a prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, the action of the IRA in Ireland, the creation of the state of Israel, the campaign to get women the vote, the human medical experiments conducted by the Nazi’s and New Zealand’s contribution to the Vietnam War.

The visit to the Auckland Museum was an opportunity for the students to gather information about their contested event. The students need a range of primary evidence so the artefacts in the museum are a useful source for the students' research.

The next stop was the Auckland Central library where they used the research centre and special collections to look up old newspapers on microfilm and Hansard parliamentary debates. The librarians were kept very busy fulfilling all the orders the students made for books from the basement which they dusted off and used for their research.

HERE IS A SELECTION OF STUDENT COMMENTS:

“The trip was really helpful because we were able to gather a lot of different information on our topics”

“The museum was really helpful for the bombing of Hiroshima. I managed to gather a lot of information”

“ I managed to find some newspaper articles at the library on microfilm”

“I found some good resources at the museum that helped me with my topic”

A good day’s work was completed by all the students. They will continue with this assignment for another week at school.

Science Event Empowers Promising Students

Kitty Sun was one of 40 students selected from across New Zealand to participate in the Powering Potential event, organised and supported by The Royal Society and Freemasons NZ.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/eastern- courier/100074263/Science-
event-empowers- promising-students

Lynfield Wins Debating

Congratulations to Harry Ashley (Y13), Kyus Rodger (Y12) and Santiago Blanco (Y13) for winning the Auckland Secondary School's Seasonal Debating tournament that took place at Lynfield College on Saturday 24 February.

They placed 1st out of 29 teams from across Auckland. Congratulations also to Harry and Kyus for making it into the Top 10 speakers of the tournament (tied at 3rd).

ALL of Lynfield’s debaters performed very well, including our Year 10s who were really stretching themselves. This is the first time Lynfield has won this tournament!

Special thanks to Catherine Barker who assisted with running the tournament on the day as well as Aidan Halligan who also assisted in the latter half of the day. Tina Carswell met with debaters in the morning. All were a big help to making the tournament a success.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Director and Editor Raymond Feng and cast and production crew of Daniel Mar, Matthew Tribble and Yuvraj Behal for their promotional video for Robotics. This entry has been selected as a finalist in the 2018 Vex Robotics Competition VRC Promote Award Online Challenge (winners will be announced on 1 March (USA time).

Their video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSejZWvT70s&feature=youtu.be

Athletics Day

Athletics Day is best enjoyed by watching Raymond Feng's video and stills via the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-dHmdhK2o&feature=youtu.be

Scholarship Exam Results

36 Scholarships were awarded to 20 Lynfield College students in 2017. Three Outstanding Scholarships were awarded across 21 subject areas and Karan Kalsi was awarded Top Scholar Award, one of only 49 students throughout New Zealand to achieve this. This is a fantastic result and indicates the high achievement by this group of students.

Their success was celebrated with staff and families at a special Scholarship Breakfast held in the Staffroom.

TOP ACHIEVERS IN THE SCHOLARSHIP RESULTS

KARAN KALSI: 4 SCHOLARSHIPS
Including Top in New Zealand – Scholarship Geography

Outstanding in Scholarship Geography

Outstanding in Scholarship Media Studies

Scholarship in History

Scholarship in Classical Studies

JIA DUA: 4 SCHOLARSHIPS

Outstanding in Scholarship Geography

Scholarship in English

Scholarship in Statistics

Scholarship in Media

YU (KITTY) SUN: 4 SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarship in English
Scholarship in Biology
Scholarship in Statistics
Scholarship in History

BRITTANY WALKER: 3 SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarship in Chemistry

Scholarship in Biology

Scholarship in Accounting

YILE (ANGELA) ZHANG: 3 SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarship in Chemistry

Scholarship in Physics

Scholarship in Accounting

FOUR SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS WERE FROM YEAR 12

HARRY ASHLEY

Scholarship in Media Studies

KEVIN CHEN

Scholarship in Calculus

KATHERINE DIEP

Scholarship in Calculus

STEFENIE PICKSTON

Scholarship in Music

Eve Gabor

We welcome Eve to the Student Executive team as Environmental Co-Ordinator 2018

MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INTERNSHIP

In January, I was lucky enough to spend two weeks as an intern at the Ministry for the Environment in Wellington. Myself and the four other interns were given this opportunity through having attended last year’s Youth EnviroLeaders Forum run by the Sir Peter Blake Trust and the Ministry for the Environment.

In the first week of our internship we learnt about the Ministry and the work it does. The Ministry’s mission is making New Zealand Aotearoa the most liveable place in the world. They strive towards this goal in several ways. One of these is through environmental reporting. Every six months, the Ministry for the Environment publishes a report that explains the state of one of New Zealand’s environmental domains. These are: Air, Climate and Atmosphere, Land, Marine and Freshwater. Every three years, the Ministry also produces an Environment Aotearoa report, summing up the state of our environment throughout the whole country. In our second week, we were commissioned with our projects.

The project that I took the lead on was creating a science induction module for all new staff at the Ministry. This was a really exciting project to work on as it will mean that all new Ministry staff have a good understanding of science and its importance and relevance. This will allow science to become more integrated throughout the Ministry’s work, increasing accuracy and efficiency of writing policy to protect New Zealand’s environment. My personal highlight of this internship was gaining an insiders perspective on how the government works and what it’s like to work in the public sector.

THE JUNIOR ACADEMY

I have also recently been accepted into the New York Academy of Science’s Junior Academy. This is a group of 13-18 year olds from all over the world who have a passion for STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as well as a keen enthusiasm for solving the big problems facing our world.

Thus far, I have completed a project solving the issue of unsustainable consumption. I worked with three other girls from Sweden, Peru and Ecuador as well as a mentor from Australia. We were presented with the challenge of creating a way to recycle a product that currently cannot be recycled. We focused on aluminium foil and designed a method to recycle it using extracted enzymes from bacteria. It was really rewarding to know that as a team we were solving a real world problem and having a positive impact on the world. I look forward to growing my research, innovation and collaboration skills throughout this programme.

An Experience of a Lifetime for Jackie de Pont

Returning to school in 2018 has been more of a shock for me than for most, as instead of hot humid Summer holidays, I spent my holidays having the experience of a lifetime in the cold Winter of Bad Doberan, Germany.

With the help of a NZGSE scholarship, my sponsor from Bayer NZ, the NZ Goethe Institut and my own German teacher (Heike Zimmer), had the opportunity to enjoy a full German experience; attending school, visiting the Christmas markets, travelling Germany and most of all eating plenty of bread, cheese, and chocolate.

There were also a lot of activities organised as part of this exchange. We spent five days at ‘Winter Camp’ in Naumburg, where 23 New Zealand and Australian exchange students, their 23 German host partners, and about 25 past exchange students got to know each other and share their own exchange stories. In the five days afterwards, I was in four different cities; Leipzig, Hamburg, Munich and Salzburg, learning how to book my own travel and accommodation independently, and bonding with those in my group over our amazing shared experience.

We all came together once again in Berlin for the last four days of the exchange, to have an alternative tour of Berlin, visit the German Parliament building and meet the New Zealand Ambassador in Germany. All of our activities had been planned for us by past German exchange students, who knew what it was like to be in our position and gave us all the support we needed.

As you can imagine, ten weeks in a foreign country (away from your family) does not only make for huge improvements in your language skills, but also allows for a lot of independence and personal development. And spending nearly every day (including Christmas and New Year’s) with another family taught me how to adapt to another way of life. This was a wonderful opportunity to increase my knowledge of the wonderful German culture, what could almost be called fluency of the German language, and confidence in myself and my ability to cope in nearly any situation.

Thank you to everyone who made the exchange possible for me (especially Heike Zimmer for instilling a love of German in me, my parents for sending me on the exchange, the Goethe Institut and NZGSE).

Jackie de Pont

Prime Minister’s Youth Programme

ACKNOWLEDGING INSPIRATIONAL YOUNG PEOPLE

Around 100 young people attended the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP) Celebration Dinner held at the Pullman Hotel on Thursday 25 January. The focus was to assist our rangatahi in gaining confidence to make key life changes. Eleven of our Year 12, 13 and ex-students attended along with Year 12 Dean, Mrs Raneeta Prasad. This is the second year that Lynfield College has participated.

The programme, now into its ninth year, is a great opportunity for Auckland-based rangatahi aged 14 to 17, to be recognised for their personal achievements and community contributions, said Minister for Youth Peeni Henare.

“These young people have overcome adversity and made a sustained attempt to make positive life changes. They have been nominated to attend the programme by people who have worked closely with them and know them well,” says Mr Henare.

“The week was about rewarding young people and also investing in their continued personal development. Rangatahi participated in activities such as a water safety module with New Zealand Fire and Emergency, an AUT culinary school experience, a career workshop with Air New Zealand, and an Auckland Blues sports experience. I’d like to acknowledge the numerous sponsors who’ve got on board with supporting PMYP and the young people taking part.”

“The programme has helped me do things I would never have done. I learnt to make a three-course meal. Cooking isn’t my strength but we all worked as a team and that made it easier,” says Taylor Joe, current PMYP participant.

PMYP culminated with a Celebration Dinner where the rangatahi were recognised for their achievements and received certificates from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Youth Peeni Henare.

Congratulations to Asghar Jaffari, Desharna Solomon, Luke Tahu, Michael Samuel, Taylor Joe, Rob Pua, Renay Walker, Harry Hendry and Tom Robinson

Stan Walker was the guest speaker. He spoke about his life and how he overcame challenges to achieve fame as a recording artist, actor and television personality. He inspired the rangatahi with his experiences.

Past PMYP participants, Shard Hubbard and Brecon Dobbie also attended and shared their experiences and the impact of the programme on them.

“This week is an important time to recognise and celebrate this group of young New Zealanders who, despite incredible challenges, are doing very well. This programme is all about investing in them to build capability and resilience so that they can thrive now and into the future,” says Mr Henare.

The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern was exceptionally inspiring, sharing her own youth experiences and the meaning and achievement of success for today’s rangatahi.

TAYLOR JOE TALKS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AT PMYP ...

https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2018629328/prime-minister-s-youth-programme