August 2014

Junior Scientists Shine at Science Fair
 

We have had another successful year at the Niwa Auckland City Science and Technology Fair. 19 students displayed their work and were quizzed by teachers, scientists and industry professionals.
 

After all their work,
  • Joshua Boasman, 9WL was awarded 2nd Place in the Physical World Category as well as a special prize with his project Good Vibrations.
  • Karan Kalsi was awarded 2nd in the Living World Category for his project Are You Face-ist?
  • Kitty Sun and Phoebe Liu placed 3rd in the Living World Category and also received a special prize for How Clean Are Our Streams.

These students will be receiving their awards at the prize-giving ceremony on September 8th.

Dylan Kay and Gus Barrowman, and Hannah Stephen and Angela Zhang also received commendations for their projects.


The judges were impressed with the passion of our single senior entrant.

  • Rowan Doyle received a commendation as well as a special prize for his project where he designed a personal hypothermia monitor.

Congratulations to all those who worked so hard getting their projects together and we can't wait to see what our scientists come up with next year!
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Student Chefs Win at Culinary Fare

Michael Davis, Year 12 Hospitality, filed the following report..

On the 18th and 19th of August the New Zealand Culinary Fare was held at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau .

Fiona Suilaman and I competed on the Monday in the Secondary Schools’ Vegetable Soup Competition. We were both quite nervous but that changed after seeing the amazing dishes produced by the other chefs competing; we couldn’t help but gaze in awe.
We had had more than 3 practices each, with crucial feedback from Mrs Townsend and Mr Davis and so we produced amazing results when competing. I  won the competition and Fiona  received a silver medal coming fewer than 10 points behind.

On the second day the Secondary Schools' Burger competition was held. It is a new competition being held by the Auckland City Council called “What’s your Flavour”. All 3 teams who applied from our school had been chosen by the judges to participate in the competition. We competed against more than 4 other colleges and our tingling nerves were cooled by the very friendly judges that we had a good time joking around with occasionally.

Although our teams did not win any medals that day, we still had a great time there and it was a good experience for all.  For most of our students, it was the first official competition they had competed in.

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Bring Your Word this Thursday Evening
 

  SPOKEN WORD Poster 2(copy)  

This special event provides opportunity for family and friends to hear presentations of the spoken word, performed by Year 12 and 13 students.

Our special guest is former student Amber Esau. It is  exciting that she is able to perform for students, many of whom have been exploring their own voices and stories, as well as  creating characters to be presented through Spoken Word poetry. Amber was recently the guest poet at the long standing Poetry Live weekly performance event in Auckland Central and was extremely well received by the audience. She writes rich descriptive poetry and delivers her work with power. She is a fresh and authentic voice emerging on the local spoken word performance landscape. Amber has plans to travel and take her ‘word’ to New York in the near future.

One of our students Gauri Prabhakar, who will perform on Thursday evening, has just had her poetry published. Her work is included in a new book entitled "A New Sense of Belonging: New Kiwi Voices 2014" ; this is the first publication of a literary arts programme New Kiwi Voices: Share Your Stories. Congratulations Gauri. There is a book launch this Saturday in Mt Albert.




Arts Week August 25 - 29

  Arts Week poster 2014(copy)  



Childcare Students Working Alongside in Childcare Centres

Students from the Childcare Advanced class have spent time at various local early childhood education centres. And loved it!

They have gained valuable practical experience in a realistic work environment which has helped them with the theory requirements of the course. In addition, two assessments must be carried out in an early childhood education centre, so students have gained credits from this exercise.

The students have really enjoyed their time working with the children. In fact, several students have decided to train as ECE teachers next year!

We are very appreciative of the welcome and support given to our students by early childhood teachers in our community.
 

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Lynfield Netball a Real Winner

 
IMG 4643 Lynfield College Netball has again shown its skill and determination to take the top prize in the top grade of the West Auckland Secondary Schools netball competition. 

Last week our Premier 1 team met Massey High in the semi-final.  It was a hard, very physical game ending in a draw at full time.  Our girls were really hungry for a win when they went back on to the court for 14 minutes of extra time.  The result was a convincing 7 goal win to Lynfield and a place in the final.

This week we faced Avondale Premier 1 team in the final!  Our staff and students lined the court ready for some entertaining, skilful and thrilling netball.  Lynfield sank the first 4 goals then Avondale clawed their way back into the game.  The pace was brutal and the play spectacular!  Players from both teams took heavy falls as they put their bodies on the line in this crucial game.   After an extremely tight game which was a fantastic spectacle, Lynfield WON by 1 goal!!

Huge congratulations to all team members and their coach, Debbie Neville, on this outstanding achievement.  We wish them well as they prepare for their first year of ‘A Grade’ competition in the Upper North Island Secondary School's Netball Tournament during the first week of September.
 

Music Ensembles Hit Top Notes

The Lynfield College Music Department has this term seen students and teachers madly preparing for the premier music event for schools in Auckland, the KBB music festival.  Held at Westlake Boys and Girls College and fiercely contended by many Auckland school, the event provides students with opportunities to showcase their talents, hard work, and musicianship.  Lynfield College again  had four groups competing over two days during the week long event. 

Beginning Monday 4 August the Orchestra under the direction of Mr Sigmund Sue, and the Chamber Orchestra under Mr David Snelling, took to the stage   The orchestra gave a compelling performance and showed a developing and cohesive sound. The Chamber Group who are only in their second year of existence received a bronze award and showcased Anna Stringfellow and Kathleen Tomacruz with their excellent performance of  one of Bach’s double cello concertos.

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Lynfield returned to competition on Thursday 7 August with the Big Band under the musical direction of Mr Paul Norman and the Concert Band under Tim Atkinson and Ms Da Hae Kim.  The Big Band struck gold again and placed in the top four in Auckland and performed at the Gala performance on the closing night. The Concert band played well and charmed the crowd with some Pixar movie magic themes and were commended for their performance.
 
The Big Band and Jazz Combo A were also competing at the Auckland Jazz and Blues Club Secondary School competition. Both groups took out the competition winning best group in both categories. Jake Krishnamurti  received a special individual award for the most outstanding soloist.
Big Band KBB


 

Lynfield Wins VEX Robotics Scrimmage


Thirty-five teams from schools across Auckland descended on the Albany campus on Saturday for the fifth VEX Robotics Auckland Ladder challenge. Event organisers say it was one of the largest competitions of the season.
 
The tournament champions were Lynfield College  and ACG Strathallan. The Design Award went to Mt Albert Grammar School.
 
The challenge is part of a regular competition run by Kiwibots New Zealand, and is aimed at inspiring a passion for science and technology.
 
Lecturer in the School of Advanced Engineering and Technology Dr Frazer Noble is part of the Massey Engineering team, including staff and students, who regularly mentor the high school pupils participating in the VEX Robotics competitions.
 
“It was great to see so many teams set up in the Recreation Centre, honing their skills and working on their robots. These kids have the potential to be our next wave of engineers, and they’re also developing essential skills like teamwork, leadership and problem solving. It’s a chance to have great fun while they’re learning.”
 
Kiwibots national manager Chris Hamling says the competition is helping set a strong foundation for New Zealand’s future.
 
“The Kiwibots are creating a field of dreams for New Zealand students who, in turn, are strengthening the foundations of our knowledge economy. In 2008 we started a journey ‘To challenge young people to try Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, through a robotics competition’. Now more and more schools around New Zealand are joining us on that journey.”
 
New Zealand is a world beater in the VEX Robotics World Championships held each year, with Lynfield College bringing home winning trophies.  Massey University provides ongoing mentoring to participating schools.
 
 



Two Musical Events For You!

Our music ensembles have recently enjoyed success again in the KBB and Auckland Jazz and Blues Festivals. Congratulations to everyone involved!

And our students are now preparing to perform just for you! (and the rest of our community). The posters give details...we hope you will attend to appreciate the amazing talent of our musicians.

Music poster Jazz(copy) Music poster symphonic(copy)

 

“Great Square Competition” during Mathematics Week

 
 

Last week was Mathematics Week marked by the Mathematics Faculty with competitions for both students and staff.

On Friday junior students entered the Great Square Competition to see how many squared number  they could remember and recite.
Eg: 1^2 =1, 2^2 = 4, 3^3 = 9 etc……
 
 
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First prize was won by Muskaan Somjee (above left) from 9 WL who went up to 32 squared = 1024  and she received a $30 gift voucher from JB Hi-Fi. Well done Muskaan!

Second prize went to Manan Choksi (above right) of 9 WL who got to 27 squared = 729 and he won a $20 gift voucher from JB Hi-Fi. Well done Manan!
Congratulations to all participants.
 

Rugby League First XIII Finishes Season Proudly


The rugby league First XIII last week played their last competition game at Mt Roskill Grammar School in front of a large and parochial crowd.

Lynfield started strongly almost scoring twice before crossing for three tries scored by Daniel Speck, Luke Wilson and Alex Falaniko.  Sifa Palu converted one of them to give us a 14-0 lead. Mt Roskill then responded with a couple of tries of their own so we had a narrow 14-12 lead at halftime.

Lynfield had played the first half with the wind so needed to be very disciplined and focussed for the second half if they were to come away with a win. They tackled strongly preventing any further points for Mt Roskill and were rewarded for hard running and slick passing with Alistair Maisey scoring his first try of the season. Kisi Fakafonua then glided through a gap to score after the forwards had worked hard to get us into an attacking position .Kisi  kicked a 30m drop goal to give us a deserved 23-12 victory.

This result meant the team finished third in the bowl competition which is a result they are proud of.
 

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Honouring our Latest Sporting Achievers

Congratulations to all of the following students who have recently gained representative status and/or performed exceptionally well at regional or national level. Their success is a direct result of their dedication and commitment.

Michael Carswell (Y11) was very successful recently when he competed in the North Island Secondary Schools' Cycling Championships. This competition involves both road and track races. Michael finished a very creditable 5th in the U17 Boys Road Race, but it was on the track he really shone. Here his results were:
Silver in Team Pursuit
Bronze in Team Sprint
5th Points race
5th Scratch race
4th Elimination race
This is a fantastic outcome against the best in the country.

Mitch Bradley (Y 11) was selected as the Goalkeeper in the Auckland U19 Futsal Representative Team for the NZ Football National Tournament which was held in Wellington in July. This is excellent achievement for a 16 year old! Mitch frequently keeps goal for our 1st XI Boys‟ Football team.

Sam Dashfield (Y10) and Ben Roughan (Y12) were members of the Auckland U17 Indoor Cricket team when it won the interprovincial tournament held in Wellington during the recent school holidays. Both Ben and Sam are members of our 1st XI Cricket team.

Michael Durham (Y12) is again a NZ Junior Men‟s Figure Skating Representative. He has recently represented NZ in Dunedin and will also skate for NZ at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Nagoya, Japan 8-15 September.

She^e Nathan-Wong (Y13) gained selection to the Auckland West U18 Girls' Secondary Rugby Team.

Kieren Chhiba (Y9) is one of only 3 Y9 students throughout Auckland who have been selected as members of the Auckland U15A Boys‟ Hockey team. Kieren is a member of our 1st XI Hockey team.

Tayla Wesche (Y13) gained selection to the Netball North Harbour U19 Netball team. Tayla is a member of our very successful Premier 1 Netball team.

Jocelyn Katu (Y12) & Shantael Ligaliga (Y11) are representing Auckland in interprovincial tournaments after selection to the Auckland Women‟s Golf team. Both Jocelyn and Shantael are members of our Golf team
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Esmeralda Ligaliga (Y12) has been selected in the Auckland Junior Women‟s Golf team

Juee Bhide (Y13) has been selected as a member of the Auckland Senior Women‟s Squash team. Juee is ranked too highly to compete in a school team but has coached our girls' squash team for 5 years.

Our congratulations to two of our former students who have featured in international competitions recently are:

Katie Bowen (Y13, 2011) is captain of the NZ U20 White Ferns Football team competing in the U20 World Football Cup.

Stephanie McKenzie (Y13, 2010) finished 4th in the track cycling sprint at the Glasgow Commonwealth games.

World Inline Hockey report.
You may remember Jemma Read (Y13) represented NZ in both the Junior and the Senior Women‟s Inline Hockey Teams. Below is a very brief account of her amazing experiences in this team.
“Just before the school holidays started, I flew off to France for 3 weeks to compete in the FIRS World Inline Hockey Championships. This was the first time I had been selected to represent NZ for Junior and Senior Women. Senior Women retained „Top 4‟ world ranking, after coming first in our pool (with Italy, Mexico, Brazil) and beating Namibia in the quarter finals before losing to Canada in the semi, and Spain in the playoff for 3rd + 4th. Although we just missed out on a medal, it was a challenge competing against the top hockey playing countries in the world – 16 in total - but we played with pride and passion every game.
Next was the Juniors tournament which was held in a very small rink. It consisted of top ranking U19 players from various countries such as USA, Spain, Colombia, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and Namibia. Our scores were really close, even against countries that had a lot more backing behind the sport - like Canada who only beat us 2-1. We placed 7th.
Wearing a NZ jersey was one of the best feelings, and I hope to do the same next year in Argentina!”
 
 


Senior Geographers the Best in Auckland!
 

Competing against 21 schools from throughout the Auckland region, the Lynfield College team won the AGTA (Auckland Geography Teachers Association) Year 12 and 13 Geography quiz held recently at St Cuthbert’s College.

Ryan Williams, Ricoh Kumar, Walid Bouladam and Edmund Hodges competed in 9 fun but exhausting rounds, including a final round beating other teams to the bell.

Lynfield College has now won this competition four times since 2004.

Congratulations on a wonderful win!
   geowinners



Trash to Fashion Finals Shortly


Lynfield's best Trash to Fashion creators and their creations will be competing in the final of the Auckland Council's 2014 Trash to Fashion competition on the Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August. There will be two shows on Saturday and one on the Sunday when the awards ceremony will take place. Tickets can be purchased from http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2014/schools-trash-to-fashion-finalist-showcase/auckland/henderson.
 


Good luck to our finalists!   Anya Randel,l Aysha Khan, Elysha Neghi, Janae Van Panahon, Kayla Rouselle, Lulu Ota, Mosiana Lua, Neve Stanimiroff, Rose Faautaga. And from the Learning Support Class: Albert Ama, Lena Zhang-Harrap, Leon Bartley, Nicolette Half, Priyanka Anand, Rebecca Fleming-Yates and Sophia May.
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"What's Your Flavour?" Lynfield Team Selected
 

Auckland Council is trialling What’s Your Flavour?, a fun ‘have a go’ cook-off event encouraging students to explore the combining of culinary traditions to produce new tastes and visual sensations!  And of course Lynfield students were very eager to 'have a go'

Three teams have battled it out against each other for the chance to compete against other winning teams at the grand final to be held at the New Zealand Culinary Fare 2014 later this month. The photo shows the judges with the winning Lynfield team.

The Culinary Fair provides an amazing opportunity for students to watch the professionals at work at one of the largest culinary competitions in the Southern Hemisphere.
whats your flavour(copy)

 

Varied Programme at Pacific Parents' Evening

The Pacific Parents evening on 31 July gave parents the opportunity to catch up with others, share a meal and be inspired.

The guest speaker was Herman Retzlaff who spoke about his experiences as a lawyer and voluntary work with youth, and the need for students to think big, and follow their dreams.

The school band “One Tribe” performed, as did student Brandon Keil who performed a musical piece.

Staff members Brian Tonks, Susan Allpress and Sean Davis talked about their experiences at the conference “Carrying the Tapa”.

The Year 10 Dean, Sofia Hameed talked about the use of devices with the Year 10 cohort.

Pacific Parents Evening 31July(copy)
Guest speaker Herman Retzlaff Brandon Keil
Left: Herman Retzlaff. Centre: Brandon Keil
Right: One Tribe
One Tribe



Technology Faculty Careers Week

 
    

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The Technology Faculty recently held a Careers Week, where students were given an opportunity to speak with and learn from leaders in the field.

Representatives from the Sew Tech Fashion Academy, ICT Connect and Serato spoke with and held demonstrations for students in the Faculty, giving them a taste of the industry, and inspiring with interesting and funny stories. Individuals were also invited to speak about trades and apprenticeships.

Overall, students enjoyed themselves and found the activities insightful and interesting. Many students came away with a fresh look at their potential career pathways, and are keen to pursue jobs in Technologies.
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Lynfield Continues its Green Campaign


Mr Halligan, Gauri Prabhakar and Karan Kalsi from the Human and Environmental Rights Committee went to a mini Green Jam on Wednesday July 30th. They met with students from a range of western schools and discussed sustainability issues and how students can take positive action.

It was a tremendous opportunity for Lynfield students to network with their peers and discuss climate change, creating Green spaces in schools and take part in a series of fun enviro-themed challenges. The evening ended with pizza provided by the Auckland City Council Enviroschools' team and exciting discussions about 'next steps'.

Everyone agreed it was a very positive opportunity to learn outside of the classroom.
 
 

Students Perform at Ranfurly Hospital

The Year 11SPEC (South Pacific Education Course) students organised a successful Mini Cultural Concert at the Ranfurly Village Hospital in Mt Roskill recently, as a Group Task.

The performances included Tongan, Rarotongan, Fijian and Indian dances. This was a highlight for the residents who were very interactive and appreciative of the efforts of the students.

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Having been very shy and apprehensive at first about the task ahead of them the students walked away with their heads held high and veryproud of their achievement. Their success has encouraged and inspired them to challenge themselves further in the SPEC programme.


Individual Honours


Congratulations to these students who gained NZ titles while competing during the holidays:
 
Sonia Mehta (Year 12) blitzed her opposition winning 2 golds(Kumite and Kata) when she competed in the NZ Secondary  Schools Karate competition in Wellington. She also competed in the NZ Karate champs winning gold in Kumite and silver in Kata.
 
Jocelyn Katu (Year 12) is now the NZ Foursomes Golf Champion after competing against the best female golfers in the country.
 
Grace Kukutai (Year 13) was named in the U17 NZ Netball tournament team.
 
Jocelyn Katu (Year 12) and Shantael Ligaliga (Year 11) were selected to attend the NZ Golf National Junior Girls’ training camp
 
 
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