June 2022

LITNUM Pilot Assessments

Our LITNUM Pilot Assessments ran very smoothly in late June. With the support of their whanau and teachers, our Year 10 and Year 12 students remembered their NZQA logins and arrived with devices fully charged. Well done students! A big thank you to the teachers and staff involved. The planning and preparation you put in since Term 1 certainly helped to ensure the process was a success. We hope Phase 2 in September goes just as well. Results are due to be released mid-August.


Some of our students participating in the Numeracy Pilot Assessment.	*The assessments could only be completed on NZQA’s digital platform. Supervisors Patrick Jansen and Jill Partridge are seen here monitoring the platform.*

Production 2022: The Merchant of Venice

The College has not been able to stage a whole school production for the past two years due to the pandemic. This has meant that many students have been unable to perform to a wide community audience and our own student community have been unable to view the skills and talents of their peers performing on stage. Usually, the annual production alternates between a musical one year and a Shakespeare play the next.

This year, Director Celia Nicholson, was determined to stage a production to give students the opportunity to showcase their talent. The show was scaled down to be presented in the Performing Arts Centre rather than the school hall. The size of the cast was also much reduced. Audience numbers were limited in accordance with safety precautions related to omicron. The show has been a great success! Both students and audience have very much enjoyed the human foibles, trickery, disguises, mistaken identity, and ultimate reconciliation that is typical of a Shakespearean comedy.

The Cast

Thanks to the following staff for their support Neil Waddington, Susan Allpress, Sandy Harris and Sonia Wensor


Fiona as Salarino, Haze as Gratiano	Isaiah as Antonio, Pradyumna as Bassanio, Dylen as Shylock


Sarah as Jessica, Vir as Launcelot Gobbo	Dylan as Shylock	Haze as Gratiano and Ben as Lorenzo


Pradyumna, Isaiah and Dylen in the court scene	*Riya Patel as Nerissa with Kaitlyn Connell-Rowe as Portia*

A Word from the Director

Ms Nicholson, Director: The students have really stepped up to the challenge, worked very hard, and grown enormously as performers. I am so proud of them.

Audience Comments

Great set, stylish costumes, effective lighting and sound, and very entertaining performances from a courageous and determined cast who looked like they enjoyed every minute of being on stage. Congratulations to you all and to Ms Nicholson. Take another bow! – Ms Harris
Complex characters were achieved through a strong sense of the students’ individuality. Many students found an ease through language and some really interesting moments were realised. Music was insightful and thought provoking. I enjoyed the show! - Mr Mackenzie

And what did the students have to say about acting in a Shakespeare play?

Dylen Motufoaki: I play Shylock who is often angry. I enjoyed playing a main character. The language was hard, but it was cool as. From being in a production I have discovered that there are people like me!

Kaitlyn Connell-Rowe: I play Portia who is rich and white. I enjoyed being able to walk angrily and gesticulate a lot.

Riya Patel: I play Nerissa who is a calm and thoughtful character who can also be sneaky. She isn’t bossed around and has a mind of her own. Speaking Shakespearean lines is really odd but I can finally understand what they mean. I discovered that I am capable of performing really outlandish melodramatic actions.

Ben Way: I play Lorenzo who is cheeky and relaxed. I enjoyed being able to express my cheeky side and to experience playing a romantic character. Speaking Shakespeare can be confusing and challenging but rewarding. From performing in this play I have discovered I can be a lot more dramatic than I thought.

Haze Fleming: I play Gratiano, an eccentric young man who loves to talk about nonsensical topics. I enjoyed having the freedom to make silly expressions and gestures to go with my lines. Speaking Shakespeare at first made very little sense. But as I spent more time reading I became accustomed to it. I even found myself speaking my normal sentences with Shakespearean grammar!

Sarah Whitefield: I play Jessica who is in love and knows what she wants. I liked how I had to step out of my comfort zone to play this part.

Fiona Siaopo: I play Salarino who talks a whole lot of gossip. I enjoyed laughing a lot and showing humour. From being in this show I have discovered confidence in myself.

Isaiah Burton: I play Antonio who is flamboyant and loyal. I found speaking the language of Shakespeare hard. I discovered that I am good at learning lines.

Year 12 Pacific Island Leaders of Tomorrow

The Year 12 Pacific Island Leaders of Tomorrow (PILOT) Polokalame 2022 was held at Massey University on 29 June. Only five students from each school could be registered to attend. This year’s theme was focused on ‘Oceania is vast, Oceania is expanding, Oceania is hospitable and generous, Oceania is humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Oceania is us. We are the sea, we are the ocean’ Epeleli Hauofa

Gloriavahelkar Polamalu commented: “PILOT was an awesome experience and initiative that enlightened me on leadership, especially as a young Pasifika girl. It was great to see so many other young Pasifika there and see others like me who were taking steps in their leadership. It was a great day full of group work and networking and I learnt a lot about how to grow as a leader with the qualities that I hold”.

Matariki Presentation

At staff briefing on Monday 20 June our Young Māori Leaders presented an exquisite series of Powerpoint slides to explain the Matariki star cluster with interpretations and explanations as to the cultural importance of Matariki along with a waiata challenge for students and staff:

Matariki Presentation link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1u-5BjlwERkDaQxuwD6MNiSVNlyUY6H6m2oPlEc2w4_c/edit#slide=id.g13548019970_0_8

Photo credit: Tertiary Education Union

Sky Watching Tips from Science Faculty Leader Rob Eyre

Kia ora,

Many of you will be wondering exactly how to spot the star cluster of Matariki this weekend. Here’s a really good link to how to find it, as long as you can recognise Orion’s Belt/The Pot in the night sky: https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/5159/matariki-in-the-night-sky

Whilst you are out there, you can take advantage of the opportunity to see a rare planetary alignment as well. The planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be in a line in order from the Eastern sky to the north west. Here’s how to find them: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/06/planetary-alignment-to-dazzle-new-zealand-skies-this-month.html

Matariki will be visible low on the north-eastern horizon between 5:30 and 6:30 so nice and early. Mercury will be visible around 30mins before sunrise, so about 7am. Any earlier and it’s still below the horizon, later and it’ll be lost in the glare of the rising sun.

Good places to observe these will be with an unobstructed view of the Eastern horizon, and as little light as possible between you and the horizon. So the eastern coastlines like Coromandel will be great places, or hills on the eastern side of the city. The Waitakere’s could have good elevation, but some of the stars might get lost in the glow of the city lights.

So rug up warm, get up early, go climb your nearest hill, see Matariki at approximately 6.15 am, and see the other planets in a line at the same time. If you are really brave, stick around until 7.00 am and see Mercury rise too for the full experience! Then enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend with your whanau.

Another way to identify which stars are which in the sky, is to use a free Augmented Reality app like Star Map (Android) or SkyView Lite (iOS). With these you can type in the name of a celestial object (might have to use the term ‘Pleiades’ for Matariki!) and it’ll point you in the right direction. You then move your phone until it’s lined up with the stars you are looking for. This can also be helpful to tell you if what you are looking for is still below the horizon based on your latitude and longitude. This is particularly useful for Matariki and Mercury if you are further west and they rise a bit later.

A good star app for enthusiasts: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=stellarium&c=apps&hl=en_NZ&gl=US.
You can choose from different sky cultures to view – Maori, Tongan, Norse, Sami etc.

Learning Support Matariki Activities

Below: Alex Finan-Jenkin, Kyle Zhuguo and Joel Coughlan celebrating Matariki with 3D star construction.

Below from left: Jayden Baek’s sunflower painting is inspired by his study of Van Gogh. SPEC Task: Naheedah Nisha and Jayden experiment with common household ingredients that cause a chemical reaction.

Matariki Celebrated by Staff

To mark the very special occasion of our first Matariki national public holiday, Lynfield staff held a parakuhui (shared breakfast) early on the morning of Thursday 23 June. It was an opportunity for members of our College whanau to reflect on and celebrate the future of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua
I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.

Early Childhood Education Centre Marae Visit

On Friday 17 June Lynfield College ECE visited Te Ringa Awhina Marae where Tuakana-Teina was shared. Year 9 - 13 akonga taught the younger tamariki waiata, tititorea, haka and Reo Māori through games. It was great to have a full wharenui as we have been unable to host roopu for the past couple of years. The Lynfield ECE Marae visit is an awesome tradition we've continued for many years!

Ngaa mihi to all of the kaiako, whanau and akonga who helped to make this happen.

Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi | With red and black the work will be complete.

No Smoking After 3:15 Audience Favourites

On Saturday night No Smoking After 3:15 took part in Raise Up’s New Found Sound regionals competition at the Auckland Performing Arts Centre.

They were the overall winning band AND the audience favourite. This means they will play at finals on Saturday 13 August at The Tuning Fork.

BAND MEMBERS ARE:

Emma Wagner | 10BRK (Vocals and rhythm guitar)
Matilda Wells | 10SHR (Bass guitar)
Caleb Young | 12KMJ (Lead guitar)
Maggie Burke | St Mary's College (Drums)

Lynfield College Road Race 2022

The annual Lynfield College Road Race took place on Tuesday 14 June in perfect conditions for the event. All who took part and finished within the time limit received House points.

Students wanting to run the Road Race had to sign up at the Sports Office in the days leading up to the event

There were 50 entrants across all levels with an especially good field of Y9 runners. Head Boy, Kartik Malik, took out the Senior Boys race while Sports Captain, Esther Rouse was the first senior girl to finish. Dylan Tearle (Year 10) absolutely blitzed the field with an impressive run that was just outside the record time of 12.21 set in 2020.

Congratulations to the winners of the various divisions.

Thanks to Mr Ron Delgrosso for his wonderful photos.

RACE RESULTS

YEAR GROUP
Year 9 Girls
Year 9 Boys
Year 10 Girls
Year 10 Boys
Year 11 Girls
Year 11 Boys
Senior Girls
Senior Boys

FIRST
Kenisha Mediratta
Jacob Knox
Janine Robinson
Dylan Tearle
Daisy Chen
Oskar Ludvig
Esther Rouse
Kartik Malik

SECOND
Mareb Capps
Carter Meyer
Leora Isaac
Timothy Truc
Fiona Siaopo
James Liggett
Zoya Qureshi
Stanley Long

THIRD
Kirsten Williams
Ryaan Malik
-
Nickhil Prasad
-
Calum Bint
Ava Shields
Campbell Boulton

HOUSE POINTS

FIRST
Reid (25)

SECOND
Faumuina (22.5)

THIRD
Zoricich (20)

FOURTH
Fatialofa (17.5)

FIFTH
Lewis (15)

SIXTH
Bray (12.5)

Wā hono Creative Response Presentations

The last two Fridays have seen our Year 9 and 10 students present their Wā hono creative responses.

Wā hono means Time to Connect, and it came out of an awareness that students were finding it hard to make connections between what they were learning in different subjects. Many activities use multiple skills and knowledge, such as baking a cake or planning a party as well as most jobs, and we wanted students to experience these real world connections.

Students learnt around the theme of Castaway in Term 1, then had several weeks to put together a project that connected their learning across different subjects. As well as deciding which area to explore, students also learnt how to work effectively in groups, how to manage their time, and how to give and receive productive feedback. These are all essential skills for their future learning and work, and reflect our school motto: Learn to Live.

On the presentation days, students gave a 30-second elevator pitch to other students and staff. They also answered questions about their responses. As students moved around, they awarded points for the quality of the products and presentations.

We were delighted with the variety of projects the students created, including time capsules, escape rooms, Choose your own adventure stories, board games, infographics and websites. One group even built and tested a working raft!

Ashley Mar Proxime Accessit 2021

Past pupil Ashley Mar (2021) visited on Monday 13 June to collect the Proxime Accessit medallion she was awarded in 2021.

Ashley is studying a Design and Science conjoint degree, majoring in Environment Science.

She is still in contact with her Lynfield friends and she continues to play football (now for West Auckland). If Ashley is not busy enough, she also has a part time job on the weekends at Briscoes!

Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022

Congratulations to Past Pupil Lisa Reihana on her promotion
to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Lisa Reihana is a multi-disciplinary artist who was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018 for her services to art.

In 2015 Reihana was recognised with the Te Tohu Toi Kē award from Creative New Zealand for 'making a positive difference to ngā toi Māori'.Ms Reihana’s large-scale video installation ‘In Pursuit of Venus [infected]’ represented New Zealand at the 2017 Venice Biennale. This exhibition was the most visited solo exhibition by a New Zealand artist at the Auckland Art Gallery since 1997, with 49,000 visitors. The exhibition was been displayed in several locations internationally including at the Honolulu Museum of Art in 2019 and in Tallin, Estonia in 2020.

She created a large bronze sculpture of Ellen Melville which depicts the scales of justice but tipped in favour of women, displayed at the Ellen Melville Centre in Auckland.

As part of Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, she has been the artist in focus in honouring the story of legendary Polynesian explorer Kupe whose pursuit of the octopus Te Wheke a Muturangi led him to Aotearoa. A large installation of Te Wheke a Muturangi is currently on display in Wellington Harbour, as one of the places Kupe is credited to have named ‘Te Whanganui a Tara’. Ms Reihana has incorporated Wellington’s wind in her display of six waving mokomoko/geckos in Waitangi Park.

Copy and Image Content Credit: Wikipedia

June 2022

LITNUM Pilot Assessments