Lynfield Wins VEX Robotics Nationals
On the last weekend of February Lynfield College again hosted the VEX Robotics NZ National Championships. Sixty-four teams from as far away as Christchurch came to compete for the opportunity to represent New Zealand at the World Championships. The weekend started on Friday afternoon with all teams arriving for registration and robot inspection. All day Saturday and Sunday morning qualification matches were held where teams compete ranking positions.
Lynfield College had six teams competing this year and ended up ranked 7th, 27th, 37th, 45th, 60th and 61st. The 16 top ranking teams then chose an alliance partner for the eliminations rounds and finals. Two of the Lynfield Teams ended up in alliances, one making it to semi-finals before being knocked out, the other, Team 2915Z went through to finals.
Finals are a best of three set of matches. The alliance between Lynfield College and Christchurch Boys High School took it out in the first two matches, making them the New Zealand VEX Robotics Tournament Champions.
Congratulations to Kira Armstrong and Ahil Hussain. They have persevered and kept refining their robot all season and their efforts have been rewarded.
Team 2915D not only made it to semi-finals but also won the Amaze Award, presented to a team that has built an amazing, high scoring robot that clearly demonstrates overall quality. Congratulations Ben Bridger, Joel Haydon, Jacob Ivory and Nai Kaw.
Lynfield College teacher Mr Craig Yearbury was also presented with the Teacher of the Year Award.
It was a great pleasure hosting teams from all over New Zealand and now we are looking forward to competing in the Worlds Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, USA late in August.
Photograph credit: Peter Jennings |
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Year 9 Whānau Evening
Our Year 9 Whānau evening on Wednesday was an excellent opportunity for us to meet many of our new parents and for our new parents to meet their child’s form teacher and be given information on the academic programme and expectations for Year 9 students. It was also a great opportunity for parents to ask questions about extra-curricular activities and leadership opportunities.
Many thanks to the teachers and staff who attended and especially our student executive who represented our College with pride and exemplified Manaakitanga.
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Scholarship Success Breakfast
We held a very special Scholarship Breakfast on the morning of Wednesday 19 February to celebrate with our 2019 senior students who achieved such excellent results in Scholarship. It was a wonderful opportunity to congratulate these students and wish them well in their forthcoming tertiary studies.
We are very proud of what they have achieved. |
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100 Sprints Final and Relays
On Thursday 21 February we ran the 100m finals and relays as a separate school event for the first time. We have some amazing athletes who gave us all a great spectacle with some extremely close races. Thanks also to my team in the Sports Department: Felicity Walbran, Su Yim, Jo Smith and Thomas Fletcher. Their work is mostly behind the scenes but are critical to these events being staged.
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Athletics Day: 14 February 2020
Our Athletics Day a huge success. Holding these events in summer is never easy or ideal but collectively we pulled off an enjoyable day for the whole school. It is such an important event as the only one which involves the whole school students and staff. Special thanks to those who were on the field all day either as junior form teachers or supporting house leaders with senior groups – it is a long, tiring day but I saw you smiling as you watched our students soaking up the atmosphere by participating in the wide variety of events. The weather was hot, HOT so the decision to finish at 2.00 pm was appreciated by everyone.
The costumes never disappoint and ranged from being highly creative to slightly alarming especially as the furry ones must have been quite warm on a very hot day. The guy with the pineapple head was a favourite.
All this would not have been possible without the skills and expertise of the group who ran each of the rotation events who did a brilliant job ensuring the day ran so smoothly. Thanks especially to Duncan Smith who co-ordinated this team.
To view the full gallery go to:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BypOiXgOlRUX8hvoSVpEnHcZGMQsOqGE?usp=sharing
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PASCH Scholarship to Germany from Joanna and Rosalyn
From Joanna Wu:
Mid last year in 2019, I received very exciting news that I was to attend a winter youth language course in Frankfurt am Main, Germany for three weeks organised by PASCH. With participants from New Zealand, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Panama, Colombia and Peru we were made up of 55 students from all around the world living in a youth hostel together, spending everyday and most of our time with one another.
From Mondays to Fridays, we attended classes from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm. After class we were presented with a variety of activities from which to choose. Some of these activities included going to beautiful museums, tie-dying, ice skating, bowling, going up to Frankfurt's main town and my favourite, watching a very fun and intense German ice hockey game played by Frankfurts beloved team Löwen. On weekends, together everyone traveled and visited beautiful nearby cities like Marburg, Mainz and Königstein as well as visiting Frankfurts Goethe university.
Thanks to PASCH and the Goethe Institut, I was able to experience such an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity I will never forget. I tried and learnt many new things and became more in love with Germany than I ever was and spending three weeks from home in Germany definitely opened up my eyes to a whole new world. I made so many new friends from all around the globe that I am so grateful for and I can’t wait to go back in the future.
Once again, I would love to thank PASCH and the Goethe Institute for giving me this amazing opportunity and of course I would also like to thank my wonderful teacher Frau Zimmer for always looking out for me and being the best.
From Rosalyn Fononga:
In mid January 2020, I was very blessed to be one of the many recipients in receiving from Goethe Institute, a PASCH Scholarship to attend a Winter Language Course for 3 weeks in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
On weekdays, from 9:00am to 3:00pm, we had German lessons that we all had to attend with a little break in between. After our classes we were given many different activities to choose from. Some of the activities I did and really enjoyed were; free time in the city, Salsa, baking Waffles, visiting many beautiful Catholic Cathedral and Churches, going to the Cinemas, Laser Tag, Casino Night and many more fun activities. On weekends, we would visit nearby spectacular cities in Frankfurt. Such as Frankfurts Goethe University, Mainz, Marburg and Königstein. But to top off our hard work in our classes we would party every Saturday night. Moreover the food in Frankfurt was just so delicious. My favourite food was Döner, a famous German food made out of bread filled with meat and vegetables.
This opportunity that I had taken into applying for this Scholarship, not only opened up my eyes, but it opened up many doors to enter in the upcoming future. Therefore I would like to thank my wonderful and the best German teacher, Frau Zimmer. Thank you so much Frau Zimmer, if you hadn’t pushed me to be the best I could be and for your hard work behind the scenes, I wouldn’t have had this experience of a lifetime. Therefore I am very grateful and thankful for you Frau Zimmer, as not only you look out for me as a teacher in your class but also as a mother figure as well. I would also like to thank PASCH and Goethe Institut, for giving me this opportunity not only to learn and get better in my German. But this has been the best three weeks of my life, as I've learnt a lot about Germany’s culture and lifestyle, including Brazil, New Zealand, Panama, Colombia, Nepal, Australia, Nepal and Peru. Our stay for three weeks went by so fast that I will forever cherish the new friends I’ve made and the many beautiful memories created.
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| Some of the New Zealand recipients | With our friends in Marburg |
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| Together 55 students from seven countries |
Student Leadership: Badges Assembly
On Thursday 13 February our Badges Assembly was held, a special event where our 2020 Student Executive were presented with their badges of office.
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Our student leaders have had a particularly busy start to the 2020 school year and are creating a profile around the school. They have welcomed our 'new to Lynfield' staff and 360 new Year 9 students and their families with passion and purpose. It is impressive to see them work together as a team to connect, lead and support students throughout the College.
Many thanks to the parents and caregivers and families that attended. We wish these students a very successful and rewarding year.
Family Group Photos can be viewed here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fc0l1-e--TWOJ8pa4qE5nvvQTOzgd44c
What Happens on Teacher / Staff Only Days?
Teacher / Staff Only Days provide opportunities for tailored professional development for staff to meet the needs of the College, students and whānau. The aim is to increase the quality of learning, along with the support and experiences provided to students. It is an opportunity to familiarise staff with current information on professional practice and new and relevant research. Staff also have the opportunity to undertake professional development throughout the year.
Staff Only Days are Ministry of Education sanctioned days are set aside to support the implementation of changes to NCEA, and wider strengthening of curriculum, progress and achievement practice. We have three Staff Only Days scheduled for 2020: 7 February, 6 August and 19 September. |
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