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Celebrating a Year of Success in Maths

Students, parents and teachers gathered together last night to celebrate the significant achievements of our mathematics students this year. It was clear from the number of awards issued that our students have performed highly, not just within the school, but on a regional and national stage as well.

Top honours for the night went to Ezekiel Sterling (Years 7 & 8), George Liu (Junior) and Serena Jou (Senior) who were named Top Mathematician in their respective age brackets, based on their placings in the many maths competitions the school participates in throughout the year. Adam El-Khatib  was Highly Commended.

Year 9 student, Zac Perkin, was also announced as an ICAS Mathematics medal winner, awarded for being top in New Zealand and the Pacific in his year level in the 2017 ICAS Maths Competition.

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The Ghost of Christmas Past?

Our Year 9 students are studying ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens in English this term. They have been reading and analysing the descriptions of the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future – and the lessons that they offer Ebenezer Scrooge. David Phan’s drawing of the Ghost of Christmas Past is exactly how Dickens describes it.

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Showdown Awards

Congratulations to Cole Berman (year 9) and Tyler Greer (year 13) who were finalists in the 2017 Showdown Awards which took place at Sky City Theatre last night. Cole was nominated for Best Male in a Minor Role (musical) and Tylerfor Best Female in a Minor Role (musical), both nominations recognising their performances in our college musical earlier this year, The Wizard of Oz.

 

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Students get licence lessons

Some of our students spent two days during the October holidays preparing for their learner’s license and to be better drivers. Year 11 student Grace Christy relates her experience:

“On the 10th and 11th of October I attended a learner drivers’ workshop at school which was put on by Auckland Transport and the New Zealand Police.

“They came to talk to us about how to get our learners licence and how to get by in real life situations.”

Students were given a better understanding of the rules of driving by unpacking the road code. “It was made fun by the use of games and the sharing of stories… As well as Mrs Llewellyn pitching in every now and then.”

Parents and students were really appreciative of the experience and the workshops finished with a group of students being driven to Takanini by Sergeant Andy to sit their learner’s licence test – and all passed, including Grace.

“It was a great experience and by the end of the holidays I had successfully passed my learners licence. Thank you to Mrs Llewellyn for taking time out of her holidays to arrange this for us.”

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AS and A2 Chinese students explore university courses

Recently, a group of AS and A2 Chinese students took a trip to Auckland University to have a tour around the language facilities there. The students took a train into the city, arriving at Britomart Station, before making their way to the university’s facilities nearby.

For much of the day, they were taken on a tour of the department, and given guidance about how the Chinese language course at the university was structured, what other degrees they could do, and potential exchange opportunities. The day concluded with a question and answer session, before the students made their way back to the college in the afternoon.

Jai Mitchell-Hendry

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Kings Band Festival

Twelve college students attended the Kings Band Festival to combine their musical skills with pupils from various other schools. Most came from the Auckland region but some traveled from as far away as Wellington. After practicing together for two days, they were lucky enough to get the amazing experience of performing in the Auckland Town Hall on the final evening. It was a professional performance complete with lighting and sound effects and even confetti cannons! A highlight included performing a piece that included the Town Hall organ, the largest instrument in New Zealand. All the students learned heaps, made some new friends from other schools and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

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Club of the Week: Senior Ball

Once a week the ball committee organizes a meeting every Wednesday during morning interval. The members of this committee are split into small groups, each focusing on organizing different aspects of the school ball. These small groups include participating in the organization of photography, transport, food, decorations, ticketing, posters and most importantly discussing the theme.

This year our school ball was held on Saturday the 10th of June at The Wharf, Northcote Point. The attired theme was “La Forêt Enchantée”, also known as “Enchanted forest”.

Ben Christy, a very passionate member of the group says, “People are a part of the ball committee because they want to become an active member in one of the key events of the senior school year. As a whole, students have willingly joined the ball committee as they want to be involved in making our final ball the best it can be!”

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Quiz Night

ACG Strathallan’s Student Council hosted the annual Quiz Night last Friday where they raised over $1500 towards SADD, Students Against Dangerous Driving.

The night was a great success with teachers, students and parents all getting involved. Quiz Master, Mrs Rabullal, tested the contestants on all genres from sports stars to music lyrics to road safety and the competition between the teams was fierce! It was great to see a sense of community as well as the amazing team costumes that varied from road cones to mountain bikers, all in support of the ‘Road Safety’ theme.

First place was the teachers’ team ‘Newton’s Apples’, and coming in a close second were the student librarians, ‘L for Librarians’. The race to the finish line was very tight with the teachers inching forward in the last few rounds.

We would like to thank some of our sponsors for the night, including Fonterra, Pak N’ Save, Repco and Wai Shing Ltd Pukekohe, for their support in donating food and prizes for the event.

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Sudoku Challenge

A group of competitive students (and staff!) got together at lunchtime to compete in a ACG Strathallan Sudoku Challenge. The Junior Champion was year 9 Josiah Sterling, with Ella Grayson coming second and Ashleigh Currie third. The senior winner was Jacob Fraser, year 13, and the staff champion was Mrs Le Vesconte.