27 September 2013
Yesterday Lynfield College students helped Age Concern celebrate International Day of the Older Person.
For the past three years Age Concern( which supports people over the age of 60) and Lynfield College have worked together on many projects including several concerts and texting workshops.
To celebrate IDOP this year a concert was held at the Blockhouse Bay Community Centre for 120 elderly people. The 90 minute concert was performed by several of the Lynfield College music groups and was enjoyed immensely by the audience. By the end of the concert some people were even up dancing!
A morning tea was cooked and served by the Year 12 and 13 Hospitality students.
The success of the event is demonstrated by the following comments received by the college..
“I would just like to say how impressed the residents from Peacehaven were when they listened to your band at the Older Person Celebration. It is wonderful that music crosses all generations and the residents were thrilled to hear such talent. Please pass on all our thanks to the students involved.”
“Please pass on our thanks for a great morning and concert, the students were well organised and very professional in everything they did.”
“The staff of Age Concern and all those who attended this morning’s concert & morning tea wish to extend our sincere thanks for the effort and support provided by the staff & students of the college. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the delicious food & toe tapping entertainment.”
We look forward to our next activity with Age Concern during Caring for the Community in December.
On Friday 20 September the recently constructed new buildings at Lynfield College were officially opened by Mr Brian Cadzow, the Board Chairperson who oversaw the projects.
Over four million dollars was spent to produce the new Lynfield College Sport Centre, new Science laboratories and a new pavilion which includes a tuck shop and changing rooms for sports using the fields. Mr Cadzow thanked the Ministry of Education, the Portage Licensing Trust and the Lynfield Foundation for their generous donations. The building project has provided challenges but school life has continued during the build. And as Mr Cadzow commented in his address to staff, guests and students... "One aspect I find somewhat ironic in these days of modern building practice and resultant leaky building issues is that the core of our new development is a 1960’s Nelson block that still stands proud and seems to live on in a sound state and hopefully will continue as a strong asset for the College in the future. Our work with the architects and project managers to design and construct the classrooms and the redevelopment of the old Gym…yes the old gym does still substantially exist inside the upper gym facility…within and around our existing structures so that the college could still operate without temporary classrooms required on site was greatly appreciated." |
The students and staff are making great use of the new facilities. |
8 of Lynfield’s Year 10 and Year 11 rugby players were selected to join 110 players from 9 other Auckland schools to take part in a closed (invitation only) All Blacks Coaching Clinic at Eden Park on Monday, 9 September.
New Zealand Rugby and the Auckland Rugby Union offered this amazing opportunity to be personally coached by All Blacks. Players were divided into 6 groups based on their playing positions and 2 or 3 All Blacks worked with each group, improving specific skills and showing the boys how to reduce risks of rugby injuries.
The boys were also introduced to the captains of each of our 4 winning Rugby World Cup teams (men’s and women’s XVs; men’s and women’s 7s), each holding the World Cup their team had won. This is the first time all four Rugby World Cups have been in the same place at the same time!! (image below, left) With the Lynfield link to the Women’s 7s Cup (ex-student Tyler Nathan-Wong was a member of the winning NZ 7s team) some of the boys got their t-shirts signed by the captain of that team, Portia Woodham (image below, right).
This day was such an awesome opportunity and these boys will always remember the time they were coached by an All Black. |
20 September 2013 ASB Bank have honoured selected Year 13 students from Auckland schools at a luncheon held yesterday at Eden Park.
Our ASB Scholars for this year are pictured with their Year 13 Dean Mrs Gabrielle Clark, and college Principal Mr Steve Bovaird. Now called the ASB Community Bursary Award the criteria centres on outstanding community involvement, either on behalf of the school or under circumstances as determined by the school.
Students (from left): Johnson Zhuang, Alana Murphy, Andrew Coffin, Merlyn Lobo, Brayden Silby.
The students receive an Award which includes a payment of $150.
Congratulations! |
Our annual sports exchange with Mt Maunganui College took place recently. This year Lynfield travelled to the Mount to compete in 12 sports and also in debating. Unfortunately the Mount had the home advantage and pulled off wins in 7 sports as well as 1 draw. Lynfield took out the debating cup though. |
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Results as follows:
Basketball Girls | Mt Maunganui | 55 - 28 |
Basketball Boys | Lynfield College | 49 -42 |
Touch Senior Boys | Mt Maunganui | 7 - 1 |
Golf Mixed Team | Mt Maunganui | 3-1 |
Waterpolo Mixed Team | Mt Maunganui | |
Netball Premier 1 | Lynfield College | 43 - 29 |
Netball Premier 2 | Mt Maunganui | 27 - 26 |
Football 1st XI Boys | Lynfield College | 4 - 0 |
Football 1st XI Girls | Mt Maunganui | 3 - 1 |
Hockey 1st XI Boys | Lynfield College | 7 - 0 |
Hockey 1st XI Girls | DRAW | 1 - 1 |
Rugby 1st XV Boys | Mt Maunganui | 36 - 3 |
Debating | Lynfield College |
When Lynfield College senior drama students attend the Auckland Theatre Company production of Lord of the Flies on 26 September, they will get the added bonus of seeing a former Lynfield student treading the boards.
Zane Fleming is well-remembered for his enthusiastic and highly-talented roles in college musicals and it is no surprise that he continues to make his mark in theatre.
As Piggy in Maidment Theatre's Lord of the Flies Zane receives the following review (excerpt from Stephen Austin's review, 8 September)..
"As the intellectual, over-weight Piggy, Zane Fleming avoids cliche and makes this iconic character his own by investing in the pathos and fully understanding the plight of the bullied. He imbues him with an over-earnest seriousness and finds a unique, awkward physicality that allows Piggy to be the central inciting focus of the production." |
SPEC Students Host Formal LunchYear 11/12 SPEC students were recently engaged in a group practical activity of planning, cooking and serving a formal lunch. The guests they chose to invite included Mr Bovaird, Mr Sizer, Mrs O’Hanlon and Mr Hutchinson. The students were under pressure to plan and shop for the ingredients, prepare the meal in the set amount of time, set a formal table and serve the meal paying particular attention to presentation. They also had to meet and greet the invited guests. This activity was highly successful leaving the students with a definite buzz and sense of achievement. The guests were impressed by the delicious and beautifully presented meal as well as the professional standard of service. |
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Year 12/13 SPEC students visited the Brink’s Chicken Value Added Plant in Mangere to find out about the structure of the business, Health and Safety procedures and career opportunities. This activity was aimed at looking at their Next Step, beyond school years.
The experience was a new learning opportunity for the students as it was the first time any of them had visited a processing plant. Some students accepted the challenge of getting involved with the task under guidance of the employees. It was certainly an introduction to job opportunities in the processing industry and an insight into the operations of a business.
On Tuesday 20th of August the Year 12 Classics students went on a trip to downtown Auckland and the Museum to do research for their ‘Architecture for Art’s Sake’ internal. Luckily Zeus was shining down upon us because despite a terrible weather forecast we had a beautiful sunny day.
The students were told to research similarities and differences between classical Greek buildings (like the Parthenon in Athens) and modern day examples in Auckland. To the students' surprise, most buildings in Downtown Auckland had elements of classical architecture and as we walked around looking at buildings the students were amazed to see that almost every second building was based on designs from Ancient Greece. The students spent some time looking at the exterior and the interior of the Britomart building which exhibits strong Classical features.
Our trip culminated in visiting the Auckland Museum, which is the best example of classical architecture in Auckland. The students took lots of photos of the exterior of the building and we explored other architectural features both inside and outside the museum. Students also observed classical influence in the form of sculptures that decorate the interior of the museum.
For some students this was their first time at the museum and for others they had never really looked at the building itself so they were blown away by the scale and monumentality of the building and how closely it is related to its Greek counterparts.
Overall it was a very successful outing and I’m sure the year 12 classics students will not see Auckland City the same way again!
Last week our top netball team competed in the Upper North Island Secondary Schools Netball Tournament which has been a feature of secondary school netball since 1993. Only the top team from each school, from Taupo to North Cape, is able to compete in this prestigious week of competitive netball so there were 112 teams throughout the A, B and C grades.
After playing two 50 minute games in each of the first 4 days, Lynfield was the only school in the B grade which was undefeated and its smallest winning margin was 9 goals! Lynfield was the topic of conversation around the courts…….other B grade team officials were often seen on the side line of our games – trying to plan tactics to foil us on court!!
The semi-final was against St Mary’s, which was our toughest opposition during pool play. Our girls were pumped and performed with flair, discipline and absolute precision to systematically outplay St Mary’s and win in convincing style 37 – 13. This game won us promotion to the A grade for 2014 and secured us a spot in the final.
Waihi, the only other undefeated team in our grade (although it had drawn one of their pool play matches) was to be our opposition in the B grade final. The side lines and stands were full of spectators from many different schools. Lynfield had huge support from the other West Auckland schools, while Waihi was being cheered on by the Waikato contingent. Again our girls showed the mental and physical toughness required and demonstrated what Lynfield netball dominance feels and looks like on court! The final score was 38 – 27, the B grade title and a GOLD medal!!
Huge congratulations to all 12 team members, Debbie Neville (coach) and Sheryl Kukutai (manager) on this fantastic achievement.
Players: Akanesi Fakafanua, River Gavet, Keeley Hall, Unna Harder, Bailee Hughes, Grace Kaleta, Grace Kukutai, Alice Neville-Smith, Tasia Sissing, Tayla Wesche, Cassidy Wilson, Zoe Woolf.
Last week the Health and PE Faculty held their first excellence breakfast. Year 12 and 13 students who had obtained excellence achievements in all standards offered so far this year were invited with their parents to celebrate their outstanding achievements and hard work. It was a great morning and students had the opportunity to share their successes and feel proud of their attainment. Mr Bovaird congratulated the students and challenged them to not only maintain their motivation to the end of the year, but also to assist other students in their classes to strive for excellence. |
41 Te Reo Maori students from Years 9-13 , one parent and Mrs Leauga went to Maori TV for a hands on experience of Maori media! This was an excellent way for our students to appreciate the many aspects of media particularly as they present various career pathways. It was amazing and students performed the school haka to our tour guide Te Amohaere, who was so grateful she invited us back to be the live audience for 'CODE' in the future! nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa, mo te manaakitanga i waenga i a tatou. he mihi nui ki a Mrs Mckay hoki, mo te awhi Mauria ki to Maoritanga mo nga ra e heke mai nei Ka mau te wehi! |
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Hi There! I am Juee Bhide, and on the 17th of August I shaved off all my hair to raise funds for the Leukaemia and Blood cancer foundation.
I remember earlier this year I was telling my friend I will never be able to shave my hair off – I’d go hungry, run 21 half marathons in 21 days, but hair was something I could not bear to give up. However after my beautiful friend Dayna Jackson shaved off her gorgeous locks, my whole perspective changed and I realised that one selfless act can potentially save numerous lives.
My decision to do it was easy to make and it was then when my journey of fundraising began. Initially I didn’t know anyone personally who had been affected by cancer, however through fundraising I met many people who were survivors of the deadly disease. I was very touched by a powerpoint presentation that was sent to me by a 12 year old girl, Kelcey, who had battled cancer and is fit and healthy today. I was inspired by this and with everyone’s support and love I was determined to raise as much as I could for this worthy cause.
Today, I am proud to say that I have raised over $5500 for the Leukaemia and Blood Cancer foundation, and this could not have been possible without the tremendous support of the Lynfield Community. I strongly encourage anyone out there who is thinking of doing Shave for a Cure, because it is an experience you'll never forget and it will change your life forever .