Naimah Manchanda (Year 11) Wins Play it Strange 2022
| Last week our music students were invited to a special presentation to be held in the Rehearsal Studio on Monday 30 June.
And a special presentation it most certainly was. The presenters included Siobhan Clare (CEO of Youthtown Trust), Debbie Little (GM Play it Strange) and Mike Chunn (CNZM, Founder and CEO of Play it Strange, Writer and Musician, and former member of Split Enz and Citizen Band). They had come to present the award for First Place from more than 140 entries in the Play it Strange Competition to Naimah Manchanda (Year 11), for her song 'Sugar and Spice'. Outstanding! |
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Photo caption: Mike Chunn (Play It Strange, CEO), Siobhan Clare (Partnerships and Engagement, Youthtown), Greg McLarin (Lynfield College, HOD Music), Naimah Manchanda (First Place) and Debbie Little (Play It Strange, GM)
Mahi Ora Work Experience Student: Caleb Phillips
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Caleb participated in Kāinga Ora’s Construction Caleb says the subjects he’s studying at school - physics, geography and calculus - will help him become a successful engineer. His experience at the Ōwairaka site has also exposed him to new aspects |
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During the last two days of his work experience, Caleb was given the opportunity to work side-by-side with a new graduate engineer on-site which was a big highlight:
After finishing his high school career at the end of this year, Caleb plans to study at the University of Auckland in their Engineering School. As well as preparing for a future in engineering, Caleb leads a busy life. He works part-time at Rebel Sport, competes regularly in karate where he’s earned a black belt, and he leads his school’s Squash team in the inter-school competition. Caleb is hoping to take up any work experience on offer in the remaining school holidays of his final year at school.
The Construction Plus Mahi Ora Work Experience programme is a Kāinga Ora initiative run with the Piritahi Alliance. It involves secondary school students in Gateway or Trade academies working over the school holidays on large-scale projects around Auckland to gain valuable experience in the civil infrastructure industry.
Music Update
Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa – New Zealand Music Month has been in full swing at Lynfield College, with students writing, recording, performing and listening to music all over the place. This kicked off with seven Entries in the Play it Strange Youthtown Songwriting competition, an original song contest for students in Years 9, 10 and 11. Finalists in this competition will get to spend a day recording their song in a professional recording studio, and have their song released on Spotify as part of the Youthtown Album. We will be eagerly awaiting the results, which are due at the end of the month.
Our Senior music students attended the annual Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra’s Discovery concert, where all of the music was based around the concept of journeys. The programme featured some classics like In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Greig and the Orpheus Overture by Offenbach. However, it was the two distinctly New Zealand songs that really stood out. Tupaia, a complexly delicate piece by New Zealand composer Salina Fisher, featured Māori percussion instruments and haunting strings depicting the journey of Tupaia over the pacific on the way to the shores of Aotearoa.
Alongside this was the premiere of Liam Pram’s Piece Regarding Human Beings Like Roses. It was a confronting piece, reflecting the isolation over the last two years, and how we often turn to digital technologies as a source of escapism. Both of these pieces captivated our students and were a fantastic reminder of the power of live music.
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Our Year 10 Music Academy students have been busy as well, recording some cover songs, which will be available for viewing on our Youtube channel in the very near future. In the meantime, head over and check out what is already uploaded: Lynfield College Music Department Youtube Channel
Lastly, I encourage everyone to get out and support a local act over the last week of Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa!
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Samoan Language Week
Celebrate online: Sunday 29 May - Saturday 4 June
This year's theme for Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa - Samoa Language Week is Fa’aāuāu le Folauga i le Va’a o Tautai - Continue the Voyage with Competent Wayfinders of the Ocean.
As part of this year’s overarching theme of ‘Sustainability’, the Samoan community chose a theme that would reflect the journey of language revitalisation and maintenance as well as recognising the importance of having the right tools, good leadership skills, relationships and the correct medium (va’a) that is adaptable to faring the ocean and its elements.
This year marks 12 years since Samoa Language Week has been celebrated in Aotearoa New Zealand. Following on from 2021, Samoa Language Week 2022 is led by three key organisations – FAGASA, Fotu ō Malama and SAASIA.
2022 is also a significant year for the Samoan community, being the 60th anniversary of Samoa Independence. Communities are organising activities to commemorate this milestone, which coincides with Samoa Language Week.
Samoa has a unique historical relationship with New Zealand. It is the only nation with whom New Zealand has a Treaty of Friendship. The Treaty of Friendship between Samoa and New Zealand is about a commitment to partnership, friendship and a mutual endeavour to obtain for Tagata Samoa fuller opportunities for social progress. Language is critical in achieving this.
Stay connected online by visiting the official Gagana Samoa i Aotearoa Facebook page.
Aashish Ramanlal Awarded Te Kuhunga Law ScholarshipPast student Aashish Ramanlal (2021) was presented with a Te Kuhunga Law Scholarship by Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann (also a past Lynfield student) on Thursday 19 May 2022 at Meredith Connell law firm. Aashish is enjoying his Stage 1 Law studies with History and Economics at the University of Auckland this year. Te Kuhunga involves school visits by young lawyers from diverse backgrounds, special small-group visits to Meredith Connell’s offices, Open Days at University, and the opportunity to apply for scholarships which involve financial support and ongoing mentoring and support. Congratulations Aashish. |
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Pink Shirt Day a Week of Celebration
Why is Pink Shirt Day important?
Pink Shirt is an annually celebrated day to unite students against all sorts of bullying. This year along with wearing pink (with our school uniform) to show we support anti-bullying, students will incorporate hauora during the Pink Shirt week culminating on Friday 20 May.
Bullying is not okay. This is our opportunity to become part of a movement that seeks to end bullying and celebrate diversity. A major impact of bullying is often low self-esteem and wellbeing. This gives us the opportunity to showcase the importance of hauora, the different aspects of it and what students can do to maintain good wellbeing.
Safe schools, skittles and the Student Executive will be running the activities on Pink Shirt Day.
Originating from Canada in 2008, when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a new student was harassed for wearing pink to school – Pink Shirt Day is now celebrated annually and across the globe to raise awareness to stop bullying.
In New Zealand, Pink Shirt Day has evolved to become a platform for celebrating diversity, promoting kindness and inclusiveness, as well as preventing bullying.
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Qualified Firefighter
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| Search and rescue, live fire training, hose work, observation and reporting, forestry and vegetation fire management and the hardest part - managing breathing apparatus under simulated fire in a confined space in the dark. |
| New Zealand Scholarship examinations assess students against challenging standards and are demanding for the most able students.
NZQA celebrates the success of the highest-achieving New Zealand Scholarship students at the annual Top Scholar Awards Ceremony hosted at Parliament in Wellington. The awards recognise the elite students who make up the 2021 Premier Award and Top Subject Scholarship Award winners. |
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IPU Ti Academic WorkshopThe IPU TI is a weekly initiative is in response to Parent Student Teacher Conference feedback that highlighted requests for extra help and tutorial opportunities. IPU TI implies the spirit of manaakitanga (service and hospitality), whereby students are welcomed, listened to and helped. These workshops will be in the form of a six week roster with half hour slots. Teachers Sadelle Fe’ao and Jonathan ‘Ilaua will be present along with faculty input for all year levels. The students will dictate the learning as based on their own needs and wants. IPU TI Academic Workshop Signup |
VEX Robotics World Championships 2022 Team 2915U Report
We feel glad and incredibly proud that we had the opportunity to represent our school and fellow Kiwi STEM enthusiasts and compete in the biggest high school robotics competition in the world. The team worked tirelessly throughout the season to get to this point and we’re extremely happy with our achievements, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the support and assistance from our sponsors, mentors and the school who supported us through thick and thin. Sincerely from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
Although we didn’t make it into the knockout stage, we still had a life changing experience to compete at VEX Worlds against 1,600 other equally hardworking and talented STEM enthusiasts. Something that none of us had done beforehand. We competed alongside other fellow aspiring engineers, got to meet teams from other parts of the world and travelled to Dallas and Houston, where we got to visit the official Houston NASA headquarters, 6 Flags in Arlington, and the Frontier of Flight Museum.We were close to getting to the knockout stages this season and we have the drive and determination to do it all again to compete for the big red trophy at the world stage next season. We are still learning and for some of us it was our first season in robotics. Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout our journey and thank you to those who will continue to do so.
To keep up to date with everything 2915, check us out on Facebook.https://www.facebook.com/lynfieldrobotics
Competition Time
2915U finished Day 2 of VEX Robotics C Worlds HS with a score of 5-2-0 (W-L-T).
Tomorrow is another day of only three qualification matches and then alliance selection, division eliminations then the finals along with a replay of the game reveal.
You can catch all this on www.vexworlds.tv under the research division.
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VEX Robotics World Championships 2022
Team 2915U are now in Houston Texas getting ready to take on the rest of the world for this championship event.
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Meanwhile Team 2915F are competing online with the first day of competition today (Thursday 5 May USA time) and the second on Saturday 7 May (Friday 6 May USA time). Those of you that have been supporting our Robotics programme and the team (2915U) that is competing ‘live’ in Dallas can follow the Live Streamed match times (all USA times). The live broadcasts can be found here: https://www.vexworlds.tv/#/?channel=z9evotcv3ir25iu2exfo.
Team 2915U in the USA Update
The team has so far visited the Houston Space Center where we saw the SpaceX Falcon 9 (relandable rocket that was in space recently), the 747 that carried the Space Shuttle and saw one of only three Saturn IVs remaining in the world.
We then went to ‘Six Flags Over Texas’ and did the largest wooden rollercoaster in the state as well as a few other big scary upside down rides. We also did go-karting with karts capable of 60mph.
Then finally went to the ‘Dallas Frontiers of Flight Museum’ where we got to see many war aircraft ie. F-18 hornet and a SR-71 blackbird simulator.
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Learner Licence Workshop
On 11 May our Senior SPEC students and selected Year 13 students participated in a one-day Learner Licence workshop facilitated by Auckland Transport, where the 20 students were given resources and instructions about the NZ Road Code. It was a very successful day, made even more enjoyable by the delicious lunch that the instructors also provided!
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New Zealand Sign Language Week
New Zealand Sign Language is essential for Deaf people in education, health, workplaces and to be able to participate equally in society. This years theme for NZSL Week 2022 is: NZSL is Essential.
The meaning behind this theme is multifaceted. As you are aware, the word 'essential' is well used these days and we are drawing on this to put a spotlight on essential workers who are Deaf.
As well as the fact that NZSL is essential for Deaf people in education, health, workplaces and to be able to participate equally in society.
Judith Sosich from Ko Taku Reo (Deaf Education), visited the school and spoke at our morning staff briefing before spending some time with Learning Support students teaching them to sign their names. |
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Noa'ia 'e mạuri! Rotuman Language Week
Rotuman Language Week takes place from Sunday 8 May to Saturday 14 May 2022. The theme for the 2022 Pacific Language Weeks is sustainability.
Rotuma consists of the island of Rotuma and its nearby islets, and is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 500 kilometres north of Fiji. Although Rotuma is its own nation, it is currently administered by Fiji as a dependency. Rotuman people are a separate ethnic group with their own distinct language, culture, and identity.
The Rotuman language is listed on the UNESCO list of endangered languages and New Zealand’s Rotuman community works hard to preserve and promote their mother tongue.
Rotuman Language Week is an opportunity for all New Zealanders to celebrate the identity, language and culture of people from Rotuma. This resource page offers ideas, links, and stories to support the learning of Rotuman.
Pacific Pride and Young Māori Leaders 2022:
Who are we?
At the end of Term 1 the Pacific Pride and Young Māori leaders created a video in the absence of a Talanoa to introduce themselves to our community.
They did a wonderful job. Their youtube video can be watched at this link: https://youtu.be/igpn6iKUKqo