December 2015

 

Maori Students' Special Hui

On Tuesday 1 December a celebration Hui was held for tauira, whanau and kaiako at Te Ringa Awhina Marae. Guest speaker Nimbus Staniland from AUT delivered an informative korero about her journey in academia and success she had experienced.   Year 13 Students Sarai Mckay and Hudson Read were presented with taonga. Olivia Riggs and Luke Tahu performed a wonderful waiata.   ​​Whanau of new students for 2016 were invited and it was great to see some new faces.   He mihi nui ki a koutou katoa mo to tautoko, pukumahi, me to kaha i tenei tau.   Special acknowledgements to the whanau, tauira, Maori focus group and Ms Ridling for attending and helping out.   Meri Kirihimete me nga mihi mahana mo te tau hou no te tari Maori!

Gold Award for Travelwise Group

The Travelwise group has received recognition for their wonderful efforts this year in the form of a Gold award. Their Road Safety programme, schedule of events and participation in the promotional film on the Auckland Transport Travelwise site led to this supreme award being given. Congratulations to all the students who were involved in the group this year!

 

Junior Debating Tournament - Thinking, Speaking, Listening

The Junior Debating Tournament  concluded with a Grand Final debate between 9 AZ and 10 WL.

The tournament began in week 8 with the advanced Year 9 classes, 9 PR and 9 AZ; and the advanced Year 10 classes 10 WN and 10 WL, competing in three rounds of debates to determine a winner of each class. The debates challenged students to use their critical thinking, oratory and listening skills to consider topics that drew on their knowledge and research around health, housing, economics, education and political leadership. The winners then squared off in a semi final round between the top two year 9 and Year 10 classes in week 9.  The winners went on to compete in the Grand Final, and each team delivering strong arguments.

Tournament organizers Ms Wagner, Ms Wiggins and Mr Halligan wish to thank all of the teachers and students who helped adjudicate and help with the draw during the tournament, which included over 30 debates! Without the help of Ms Connew, Mrs Carswell, Mr Bangs, Ms Christie, Ms Leafberg and Mr Daly, the tournament would not be possible!

A special thank you to all of the Senior debaters who also helped adjudicate, including Aleece Monkman, Melissa Paet, Jia Dua, Karan Kalsi- and a special thanks to Kitty Sun who helped set up coordinate the debates for two full days of work! The tournament's objective was to extend students and expose them to the world of debating. We hope that students will consider joining the Debating group in 2016, which meets weekly throughout the year and perhaps join one of the many junior or senior teams that will be entered into the ASD tournament next year. And we are pleased to announce that Lynfield College will host the Auckland Schools Debating Junior Open for the Western Zone.

 

Caring for our Community
 

 

Manaaki Marae	Life Long Learners

 

Cycle-a-thon	Santa's Helpers - Lynn Mall

Junior Festival Awards

At two celebratory assemblies last week the two junior year levels honoured their peers for outstanding achievement in extra-curricular activities in 2015. The level of participation, talent, and skill continues to climb ever higher and the Year 9 and Year 10 students who were recognised for their achievements at the Junior Festival Awards were thoroughly deserving of their awards.

Outstanding Achievement Award - Luke Tahu

This award is presented only if a student has performed at an exceptional level, regionally or nationally. 
 
Luke is an extremely committed and talented athlete who has spent many, many hours looking at the black line on the bottom of various swimming pools!  In Term 1, Luke represented us at the Central/West Zone swim meet , achieving 1 1^st, 2 2nds, and 2 3rds.  Only the top 8 swimmers over the four Zones qualify for the finals of the Auckland Secondary Schools Champion of Champions.  Luke qualified for the final of the 50m Butterfly – and was a member of our freestyle relay team which finished a very creditable 4^th.
Throughout the next few months Luke had his sights fixed on other swim events, including the NZ Secondary Schools meet in September.  Here he competed against swimmers from 111 schools and placed:
1^st in 50m butterfly
3^rd in 100m freestyle
3^rd in 200m freestyle
4^th in 50m freestyle
 
Congratulations Luke!

Other awards included..

Year 10 major awards

	Junior Team of the Year This year’s Team of the Year began as a group of enthusiastic but inexperienced players, half of whom had never played the sport before!  Their commitment to training and their team saw them go from strength to strength throughout the season and culminated in their winning the Boys U15 Central/West Competition.
Year 10 Sportsman of the Year Joshua Boasman Josh receives: Junior Colours for Big Band who were won gold at KBB and Service to the Concert Band Josh has represented our school in 2 sports and has shown both individual excellence and great team spirit.  He receives Junior Colours in Hockey as he has been a member of the 1st XI Boys Hockey team for 2 years and this year was selected in the Auckland U15B Hockey team.  Josh was also named Most Valuable Team Player in the 1st XI Hockey team.   Josh was a member of the Intermediate 1 Tennis team.  He won the Intermediate Boys Doubles Championship (for which he receives the Junior Boys Tennis Doubles Cup)and was runner-up in the Intermediate Boys singles champs.   Year 10 Sportswoman of the Year - Amy Bernstone Amy has represented our school in 5 sports, showing versatility and commitment in both individual and team situations.  She is the joint Y10 Athletics champion, receiving the Junior Girls Athletics cup. Amy has been a valued member of the 1st XI Girls Football team as well as the Lynfield Flame Dragon boating team.  She has also represented the school at the Central/West Zone Swimming meet.
Year 10 Performer of the Year - Stefenie Pickston  Stefenie is a talented musician who has shown dedication to a number of musical groups. She is the lead violinist and Most Outstanding Performer for the String Octet ,Chamber and Symphony Orchestras.  She is also a soloist on Clarinet and Most outstanding performer for the Concert Band. She receives a Service Award for the Symphony Orchestra and the Concert Band.
Year 9 Awards
Year 9 Sportswoman of the Year - Ella MacKenzie Ella is a fully committed athlete who has represented our school in 3 sports.  She was a member of both the Orienteering and Orienteering Sprint Relay teams.  It is in football that Ella really excels.  She was a valued member of the 1st XI Girls Football team and was the only Y9 in this team. Ella is a keen middle distance runner.  She was the winner of the Y9 Girls Road Race receiving the Y9 Girls Road Race Cup, and also competed in the Western Zone Secondary Schools Cross Country finishing 23rd in a field of over 50.   Year 9 Sportsman of the Year - Ishaan Bhide Ishaan has represented our school in 2 sports and has shown both individual excellence and great team spirit.  He is the only Year 9 player and the Most Valuable Team Player in the Premier Boys Squash team.  He is also a member of the Senior 1 Boys tennis team.  In both these sports he has regularly played against, and beaten, Year 13s from other schools!  Ishaan was runner-up in the Year 9 Boys Tennis Singles championship and the Year 9 Boys Doubles championship. Ishaan has chosen to give back to sport by helping to coach the Junior Boys Squash team and receives a Student Coach Award.

Year 9 Performer of the Year - Joseph Peteru Joseph is a talented singer. He was also one of the leads in the School production. As I mentioned before, lead roles are normally reserved for senior students, but Joseph gave an outstanding performance and receives the Junior Drama Cup for Excellence in Drama. He was also the vocalist in two groups including  the Junior R & B Band and the Kiogis (Key-o-gees) who won the 2015 LC Talent Quest Year 9 Runner-Up Performer of the Year - Julz Wagner Julz was the Most Valuable Player for Junior Waterpolo Gold team.  He receives Most Outstanding Performer for his role in one of the leads in the School production Popstars, which are normally reserved for senior students. Lead roles are incredibly demanding on their own, but Julz was also cast in a secondary role in the Boy/Girl Band. Again, highly unusual, and he rose to the challenge. He was also the vocalist in the Junior Rock Band and a percussionist for the Symphony Orchestra.
Group of the Year Big Band is comprised of 20 members, 12 are seniors, three are Year 9, and five Year 10s. This group, have won a gold award and Best Jazz Band at the KBB Music Festival. They also won a platinum award at the Auckland Jazz Band Competition.