This archive contains the following articles:
| Leadership Camp | NCEA Results | School Year begins | Athletics Day | Supporting Christchurch | Enviroschools Video |
| Leaders Badge Ceremony | Champions Tennis | Robotics | Cultural Activities | Year 10 Business Trip |
Year 10 Business Students visit Ports of Auckland
14 March 2011
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The Year 10 Business course is a popular one. Not only does it introduce students to key aspects of the world in which we consume, produce and exchange, but also leads into, and builds enthusiasm for, the senior courses in Business, Accounting and Economics.
Last week our Year 10 Business students and staff visited the waterfront of Auckland and cruised the harbour. It was a unique opportunity to explore, first hand, the critical role the Ports of Auckland plays in the economy of New Zealand. The hour long tour took our students alongside the container terminals where they saw the big cranes and other machinery at work. |
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The tour boat cruised in and out of the commercial wharves, with an informative commentary that was tailored to identify port activity and infrastructure of particular interest for the students. Some of the cruise points of interest were general wharves, container wharves, tug boats, cool stores for bananas and other fruits, cruise ships, recreational yachts and launches, Tank Farm-Bulk liquid imports and Viaduct Harbour.
Cultural Activities Get Underway
14 March 2011
Students and staff are making significant progress with the year's cultural activities and here is a brief summary of what has been achieved so far, and some dates for the diary:
- our musical production this year is Guys and Dolls and the cast and crew have been finalised.The performance dates are 29th June to 2nd July.
- three debating teams visited Avondale College last week and were all successful in debating the moot that "This house supports the teachers' right to strike".
- the annual ASB Polyfest is celebrated this week and Lynfield has an Indian cultural group performing.
- several musicians had the privilege of playing in the Band of Strangers event at Aotea Square yesterday. Our students played with the top band "Supergroove".
- cultural groups are busy preparing for our annual Cultural Festival - Saturday 9th April will see the college celebrating, with food and entertainment from the numerous ethnicities represented within our student body.
- an excited group of students and staff departs for Germany on 2nd April. This exchange visit is for 3 weeks and the group has created a blog to record their experiences. Follow them at http://nz-to-germany.blogspot.com
Robotics Teams' Successes Continue
14 March 2011
The National Competition for the Vex Robotics game, Round Up, was held last weekend and the Lynfield teams again demonstrated their prowess. One of our teams reached the quarter finals, and the other went as far as the finals.
Although the A team lost in the final, it was to a current world champion team, and despite this our team received two awards. Not only was there an award for having a unique and well-implemented design for their robot, there was a special surprise for our school - Lynfield College received the "Educate" award as the school that has most successfully integrated robotics into the school curriculum.
Congratulations to the team and their teacher Mrs Sarah Allfrey!
Uniform Items at Reduced Prices
10 March 2011
We are selling some uniform items at reduced prices - sweatshirts, boys' black trousers, long-sleeved polos, green polos, white business shirts and black scarves. Please contact or visit the Uniform Shop to get exact prices and sizes, but as an indication savings of up to 15% are on offer.
As we are introducing our new uniform in 2012 we wish to offer these items at reduced prices. Please note that the new uniform will be compulsory for Year 12 and Year 9 students, and of course available for other students who wish to replace their old uniform with the new.
The Board of Trustees, staff and student council will have the new uniform available for their final sign-off by the end of Term 1 or beginning of Term 2. The new uniform will be on display for parents during Term 2 and available for purchase for the beginning of next year.
Auckland Secondary Schools Champion of Champions Tennis
8 March 2011
At yesterday's Auckland Secondary Schools' Champion of Champions Tennis Tournament the Lynfield College pair Kirby Wotherspoon and Caitlin Molloy reached the semi-finals of the Senior Girls Doubles. Although they lost to the top seeds St Kentigerns this was still a magnificent effort in this tough and prestigious competition.
Congratulations Kirby and Caitlin!
Student Leaders Presented with their Badges..
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7 March 2011 “Lead as you would yourself be led” is a key message from the first formal occasion for the 2011 Student Leaders. The annual Presentation of Badges Assembly was held last Thursday 3 March and included an address by our principal Mr Steve Bovaird, as well as music from the Year 13 Music class.
Concluding the event which was attended by senior students, staff, Board of Trustees members and invited parents, was a performance by the newly inducted student leaders of the Lynfield College Waiata.
In the photo Mr Bovaird presents a House Captain badge to Asotasi Faautaga of Bray House.
Earlier in the day the Year 13 students attended the college’s Motivation Day activities. Amie Mellor the 2011 student representative on the Board of Trustees contributes the following:
"As a rite of passage, the Year 13 students took part in Motivation Day today to stimulate and inspire students about their futures. In the morning we all walked up to New Windsor Primary, chatting away, mixing with other people and generally enjoying the atmosphere of being out of school for a day as Year13’s. Darren Pereira and his "VJ the DJ" led us though an interesting and thought-provoking programme about our career pathways, passions, talents and ideals - and how they are all linked in, creating the future that we want. He had us yelling, engaged and singing along and we left, well, motivated; with some even deciding what they wanted their careers to be because of that session." |
Enviroschools promotional video includes Lynfield College..
7 March 2011
The Enviroschools Silver Award continues to inspire Lynfield College students in their environmental activities and our successes are now being used to encourage other teenagers to become actively involved within their schools and in their communities.
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Environmental Group leaders Jigna Lekinwala, Katie van Rijn, Marisha Aya, and Penelope Walbran-Oakley are now into their 5th year of initiating, leading, and supporting a number of environmental programmes. Last week the four students were filmed as representing one of just a few Auckland secondary schools who are actively involved and achieving results within the Enviroschools programme. The promotional video will be used to highlight the organisation and encourage secondary schools to participate by showcasing what has been achieved in recent years. |
At Lynfield College around 100 students are involved each year in Environmental Group activities, and so continue the legacy of previous students. Ongoing projects in which our students participate include Beach Clean Ups locally, the re-vegetation of Motuihe Island, pest eradication in the Waitakere ranges (the Dawn Chorus group), and Wai-Care which monitors the stream quality in a Whau tributary which flows through Margaret Griffen Park.
Lynfield College is also part of the Travel Wise initiative which encourages more environmentally friendly ways of getting to and from school each day. And yet another activity is an audit of bicycles at the college, being conducted by Auckland Transport this week.
Working hard to maintain silver status is a challenge in itself, and although the criteria required to achieve gold status are difficult to achieve in a large secondary school, our Environmental Group has always enjoyed a challenge!
Giving our Support to Christchurch..
28 February 2011
Lynfield College students and staff have acknowledged the Christchurch earthquake disaster in a number of ways. Like the rest of our country and the wider international community we are giving our support and doing what we can to contribute to much-needed relief funds.
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All staff and students have contributed to a gold coin appeal organised by the Student Executive. Head Girl Rachel Nabalarua was quite overwhelmed by the response and thrilled that everyone at Lynfield College could give their support so generously.
Organising the collection required considerable effort but it was very worthwhile and showed how readily the Lynfield College community can respond to others in need.
We will join with the rest of the country in observing a minute's silence tomorrow at 12.51pm. |
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The Lynfield College 1st XI cricket team paid tribute to the victims of the Christchurch earthquake by wearing black armbands in their 4th round Gillete Cup fixture against Mount Roskill Grammar School.
Unfortunately our boys lost the game by 20 runs. |
And from a small group of students..
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As a group of friends we decided to help Christchurch in their struggle after the earthquake. We decided to make cup cakes and cookies to sell, to raise funds for the Red Cross. It was a huge success, they sold within minutes and people were so generous. We raised a total of $230.10 and we had fun while we were doing it.
Thanks to Mr Davis and Mrs Weeks for helping.
Carmel Donald, Niki Chawla, Maryanne Edmonds, Lydia Horvat, Kylie Clarke, Danielle Lim-Kwan, Bhargavi Vindamuri, Payal Patel, Gunnie Rajpal, Renay Duffy |
Wednesday School Starting Time..
21 February 2011
The College resumes the Wednesday Professional Learning and Curriculum Development sessions for staff from 8.15 - 8.55am this Wednesday 23 February.
This means that on Wednesdays students should go straight to their Period 1 class without reporting for Form Time. They are required to be at school by 8.55am.The Library will remain open until 8.55am for sudents who wish to study. Duty teachers will provide supervision in the grounds from 8.25 - 8.55am.
Period 1 classes start at 9.00am. This change does not impact on class time.
Colourful and Spirited Performances on Athletics Day
21 February 2011
Last Friday all students spent the day on the Athletics field. Everyone participated in this annual event, with traditional track and field events being supplemented by a series of agility and novelty events. Junior students competed in a tabloid sports format, while seniors assisted with junior events and entered the athletic events of their choice.
There were some impressive performances by our students, and a Lynfield College athletics team will compete against other schools' athletes at a zone meeting shortly. We wish these athletes a successful day, and know they will represent us with pride.
Athletics Day is also the first event in the House competition for 2011. The fervour of this rivalry was very evident in the colourful dress and house banners and the huge vocal support for the house chants and the interhouse relays at the end of the day.
And the results of the Athletics House Competition have just been announced..the winner is Faumuina, with Bray a very worthy second. Congratulations to all students!
2011 school year begins...
4 February 2011Lynfield College students have returned from their summer holidays. We have welcomed 366 Year 9 students into our school and wish them well as they begin their secondary studies.
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In this photo Isiri Premachandra of 9WS checks her Year 9 course with her Dean, Mr Mark Sizer. Having farewelled his Year 13 cohort of students at the end of last year Mr Sizer has now turned his attention to a new group of Year 9 students. He will stay with these students for the next five years. "It is exciting to work with the same students, supporting them and sharing their achievements as they progress through their secondary years." |
A new school means new opportunities to make new friends and join in some of the many extra-curricular activities. Settling in and feeling comfortable in such a large school is made easier with the support of senior students assigned to each form class. These senior Peer Support Teams of Year 12 and Year 13 students have had some intensive training so they can assist Year 9 students with their first few weeks at Lynfield. The Peer Support students are now well-equipped with information and activities which they provide in each form class first thing each day. The photos below show 9SH involved with their Peer Support Team in a fact-finding activity.
Congratulations!
7 February 2011
NCEA results for 2010 reflect the commitment and hard work of all students and staff. At Levels 1 and 2 Lynfield College's results are the best ever, far surpassing the national averages and considerably higher than the averages for co-educational schools, Decile 7 schools and even Decile 8-10 schools.
At NCEA Level 1 78.1% of Lynfield College students gained their certificate (national average 63.9%), while at Level 2 75.1% of our students were successful (65.5% nationally).
63% of our Year 13 students gained NCEA Level 3 (52.4% is the national average); this is the second highest level of success in the last five years.
Mr Bovaird, Principal, comments:
"In 2010 the college embarked on a number of initiatives to raise the awareness of students regarding the importance of good qualifications as gateways to post-school plans. It is pleasing that so many students heeded this advice and have now set themslves on a sound path. They find themslves in an increasingly competitive environment, be it for University places or employment."
Comprehensive analysis of all the results is well underway as we need to understand, within each course, the reasons for high performance (so these teaching and learning strategies can be embedded to assist further success), and also any reasons for under-performance (so identified weaknesses can be remedied). This thorough self-review is an annual undertaking involving all staff and plays a significant role in improving the success of Lynfield College students in their qualifications.
Leadership Camp
Leadership Camp in the city, based at the AUT city apartments, has proven a wonderful way for the 2011 Senior Student Leaders to prepare for their roles and responsibilities this year.
Lynfield College is supported in developing leadership capacity with a partnership with AUT University to deliver a skills-based training programme across a 12-month period. Leadership training for the Student Executive and House Captains begins each year with a training camp. For 2011 we have just participated in the AUT lead residential camp.
Lynfield College AUT representatives Radhika Reddy and Keith Fletcher reflect on the challenges and memories of Leadership Camp 2011 :
As we arrived at the AUT city apartments, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, little did we know of the adventure that was to come over the next three days or even the bond we were to develop as a leadership team. We were warned on the first night to prepare for the dreaded boot camp. As expected boot camp did indeed push us to our limits but more importantly the underlying message was soon clear. Quitters never win and winners never quit. As a team we pushed through just as we knew we would have to in the school year. Heated discussions in business planning displayed our team diversity and passionate sense of leadership, however in the end we did manage to come up with an agreeable plan and mission statement. The no yawning policy in the lecture theatre proved difficult for some but entertaining for others (Ballroom dancing will never be the same, thank you Charlie and Yash). Our team bonded further on the last day’s city chase. Encouraging each other and working hard to get to all our destinations points tokens brought us one step closer to the grand prize….Subway! As for the AUT team, they are nothing short of brilliant. The activities were thought provoking and exhilarating and to put it simply just plain fun. The lessons learnt on PTP camp will never be forgotten nor will the great memories that Lynfield executive shared. We move into 2011 confident, united and will never forget QUITTERS NEVER WIN, WINNERS NEVER QUIT!