NZ´s Top History Scholar

Matthew Kendall - first place in Cambridge's AS History exam

18/02/12

Writing four long essays in a three hour AS History exam might have earned Matthew Kendall a sore hand at the time, but it also gained the Avondale College student the top mark in the nationwide Cambridge exam – a result that was honoured at an awards ceremony on Thursday.

The news that he was first in New Zealand came as a bit of a surprise for Matthew, who hadn't even intended to take the subject at the beginning of the year. A last minute switch from PE to History proved to be a good choice for the Year 12 student.

“He's an exceptional student,” says Avondale College History teacher, Mr Tim Stewart. “Matthew came to the course with a natural curiosity about New Zeland history. As the year progressed he developed considered opinions of his own and knew how to back them up with reliable evidence. To develop this ability in his first year of A-level study was impressive. It’s a well-deserved success for an unassuming student.”

Getting away from the distractions of home while on study leave was a key to Matthew's revision programme. He preferred spending time at the city library where he could focus on preparing for his exams in a quiet and studious environment. 

It seems to be advice worth remembering – not only did Matthew gain the top mark for History, he also came away with straight A's in his other three subjects, English Literature, Business, and Psychology.

Matthew will continue to focus on these subjects in his final year at Avondale College before embarking on a BA/Commerce degree at Auckland University.

Jasmine Pereira selected for New Zealand Women's Football U17 Tour

Jasmine first played for the U17 Women's team last year as a Year 10 student when she was instrumental in helping the New Zealand team beat their Australian counterparts in a three match series. 

The experience of playing at an international level was something Jasmine thoroughly enjoyed. “It was a real learning curve,” she says. “We learned how things like getting enough sleep and eating the right food impacted our performance.” 

The learning curve will continue during the ten day tour of Argentina, and Jasmine is looking forward to the challenge of playing against such skillful opponents. “They’ve grown up with the sport – it will be really interesting to see how far we can go.”

New Zealand coach, Paul Temple agrees. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Jasmine to further her football ambitions and experience” he says. 

If Jasmine has her way, this won’t be the end of her international experience. She has her sights firmly set on winning a football scholarship to the US in her senior year at Avondale College -  a pathway already forged by former Avondale College students Betsy Hassett and Nadia Pearl. In the meantime, Jasmine is focusing on her studies, twice-weekly training sessions, and the upcoming tour. We wish her well.

Academic Success

$198,970 awarded to top Avondale scholars

Working hard at their studies has certainly been worthwhile for a number of senior Avondale College students who were awarded a total of nearly $200,000 worth of prizes and scholarships at the school's recent Senior Prizegiving.

Kelvin (Beng) Lim was one such successful recipient, receiving the AUT Vice Chancellor's Scholarship of $30,000 towards his study at AUT over three years.

Year 13 student Dylan Asafo received The University of Auckland Chancellor’s Award for Top Maori and Pacific Scholars which will see his tuition and compulsory fees paid for, along with $2,500 towards accommodation for the first year – a prize of around 35,000. Dylan's outstanding academic focus meant this was not the only award he received on the night, he was also named Dux of Avondale College for CIE 2011.

In addition to these large prizes, a further 35 students received awards valued between $2,000 and $12,000.

The scholarships and awards are donated by a variety of organisations and tertiary institutions to assist students in the costs of further study.

Phillip and Ethan: Best in New Zealand

It has been a great end to the year for Avondale College's athletics squad who have just returned from the New Zealand Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships in Wellington with two golds, two silvers and two bronze medals.

Head Boy Phillip Wyatt capped off a superb year by jumping his way into winning no less than three medals – a gold and two silvers for his events of triple jump, long jump and high jump.

Year 10 student Ethan Sorrell also won gold for his high jump event, and bronze medals were awarded to Milan Pickering for Senior Boys shot put, and Luke Fielding for the Year 9 boys 3km road race.

For an athlete to win three medals at a national athletics event is an impressive feat. “It was pretty unexpected,” says Phillip, “I hoped for a medal but I didn't expect to win one in all three events.” His three medals represent three personal bests, with a distance of 14.33m in the Senior Boys Triple Jump, 6.94m in the Senior Boys Long Jump, and 2.00m in the Senior Boys High Jump.

For Phillip, cracking the two metre mark in the high jump was a fantastic moment. The event was the third on his schedule, and followed a physically exhausting day jumping in both the triple jump and long jump events. “I knew it was my last event so I gave it everything mentally, and came back with another personal best.”

Phillip was also selected for the New Zealand Athletics Representative team. The next six months will see him focus on his jumping, with the hopes of competing internationally. He then intends to begin a Commerce and Property degree at Auckland University.

For Year 10 student Ethan Sorrell, winning a gold also meant jumping a personal best; he reached 1.87m in the high jump event. He had been putting in some serious training prior to the event, with his Roskill South Athletics Club coach, Chris Trabbing, “I'd been really hoping for a gold,” says Ethan. How did it feel to win one? “Awesome.”

Ethan's medal also tops off a great year. Not only has he done well in the sporting arena, both in athletics and football as part of the College's Sports Academy programme, but academically he has excelled as well, coming first his class for Music, Media Studies, Health and PE, and Science, as well as maintaining an A* average in his accelerated IGCSE mathematics class. This was recognised at the college's Junior Prizegiving when he was awarded the Andree Janif Trophy for the Most Outstanding Year 10 Student in Academic and Co-curricular Activities.

Putting in many quiet hours behind the scenes at Avondale College is teacher-in-charge of athletics, Geoff Haigh. Geoff has been taking the athletics squad to the National Championships since 2006, when there were only three members in the team. To see it grow to a highly motivated and successful squad of 26 this year is a tribute to the work he has put in to organise, support and encourage the students. “They were good fun to go away with.” says Geoff. He is delighted by their success, and especially Phillip Wyatt's triple tally. “It's amazing,” he says. “It's extremely rare to get three medals.”

It was Avondale's most successful national athletics meet ever, with the squad of 26 winning six medals and ten top-eight placings overall.

Avondale College's Placings at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Track & Field Championships 2011 held in Wellington 10 & 11 December 2011

Fa'amu named in NZ tournament team

Congratulations to Year 11 student Fa'amu Ross who has been selected for the New Zealand Secondary School Netball team. This is a particularly outstanding achievement as the selection is made from not only all the teams who compete at the Upper North Island tournament (32 teams!) but also from all those who played in the Central and South Island tournaments as well. It's a huge achievement for Faamu – she now joins the ranks of other ex-Avcol students like Rachel and Grace Rasmussen and Georgina Solomon who have gone on to make netball their career...

Faamu co-captained the Avondle College Premier team this year, and received the King Cup for Most Improved Senior Netball Player at the Sports Awards Dinner.

“She was our star Goal Defence,” says Teacher in Charge of Netball, Mrs Maureen Aldridge, “Absolute poetry in motion when in full flight.”

Top Exam Results for Dance Academy Students

Avondale College's Dance Academy students have passed their first external contemporary dance examination in superb style with all girls earning passes of 80% or higher, and Kayla Brall's distinction pass putting her in the 95-100% achievement range.

The seven Academy students bring with them a variety of dance experience outside of school. While some have been learning ballet or jazz since they were little, for three of the girls, this was their first ever dance exam. And for all of them, contemporary dance has been a new experience. “I found it difficult to begin with,” says Zoe Purdon, “but it has become easier as we've gone along.”

Dance Teacher Hana Tipa, herself a former dancer with the Royal New Zealand ballet, has been impressed with the girls' commitment. “They've been really receptive to something new. Contemporary dance has a whole new movement vocabulary, it has been a lot to take on and they've done really well.”

Says 14 year old Tessa Belshaw, “ The exam was a real highlight – everything we've done in the Academy was put to use.”

The girls worked very hard before the exam, scheduling extra rehearsals, and dancing at the college's Open Evening. It is a commitment that is especially remarkable when you consider that their Academy classes, which run five mornings over a fortnight, begin at 7.45am – a time when many teenagers are snoozing the alarm clock.

Doing so well in the exam hasn't been the only highlight for these girls this year, though. Ask them what else they have enjoyed about being part of the Academy and they are quick to agree: Getting to know each other, establishing new friendships outside of their normal classes has been great. Would they recommend other students audition to be part of the intake next year? It's a unanimous chorus: Definitely.

Contemporary Level 1 New Zealand Association of Modern Dance Examination

Distinction (95% - 100%)
Kayla Brall

Honours (85%-89%)
Danielle Hewett
Vanessa Hayes
Lucy Dawber
Zoe Purdon

Very Highly Commended (80%-84%)
Katelyn Bishop
Tessa Belshaw

Second place in New Zealand for Year 10 maths whizz

Congratulations to Year 10 student Davy Shen who has won second prize for his year group in the nationwide National Bank Junior Mathematics Competition.

Avcol Wins Stage Challenge

Rockfest Success for Avondale College Students

Award Winners: Jessie Booth and Jeremy Keys

Sweet taste of success for our Nadia

Jazz Awards for Avondale Students

'Best Composition' Award Winner, Reuben Jelleyman

Academic League Tables - A Response

Representative Honours for Avondale Students

North Island Champions - Boys AND Girls

Athletes Top in Auckland

Avondale Wins Top Centre Award

Deputy Principal Rachael Laurenson receives the Top Centre Award at last week's ceremony

Avondale College has been given a Top Centre Award for student performance in the recent Cambridge Examinations.

Awarded by the Association of Cambridge Schools in New Zealand, the award recognises Avondale College as a centre whose students were ranked in the first five places in New Zealand in one or more IGCSE or AS/AL subjects in the 2010 examinations.

Straight A´s for Students

Congratulations to two of our top Cambridge students who gained straight A's in their AS examinations.
   Rachel Ou and Nathan Henry took five subjects rather than the usual four and managed to gain A's in all of them. They are part of the first wave of Avondale College students to follow the Cambridge International Examination Programme.
   Nathan says 2010 was stressful at times.
   "I had to catch up because it was my first year at Avondale and I hadn't done Cambridge in Year 11."
  Nathan managed to fit in playing soccer, cricket, violin and bass guitar as well.
  Rachel says her top grades were quite unexpected.
  "I thought I might get some B's, C's or even D's.  I was very surprised because I was quite distracted around exam time."
  Avondale College began offering Cambridge qualifications to Year 11 students in 2009.  Those students are now completing the Cambridge A Levels in Year 13.
  Around a quarter of the school's students across Years 11 to 13 opt for Cambridge exams over NCEA.
  Nathan and Rachel are both studying physics, chemistry, biology and English this year and are both planning to study medicine at Auckland University.

95% Pass Rate for Cambridge Examination

ERO Report Praises Avondale´s "Excellent Tone"

The Education Review Office's 2009 report praises Avondale College's "excellent school tone", and highlights the success and achievement experienced by students at the College.

The report states:  "Students, staff, and trustees are justifiably proud of belonging to Avondale College. They describe the atmosphere of the school as friendly, supportive and inclusive and value the diversity of ethnic backgrounds amongst the students. A sense of unity, common purpose and striving for personal excellence prevails.

Students appreciate the wide variety of academic, co-curricular, social, cultural and sporting opportunities that the college provides. Many students achieve at high levels in each of these areas. Overall student achievement in National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is positive. The school has a settled and purposeful learning environment....

The principal, leadership team and staff have developed a multi-faceted learning strategy that is gradually being embedded across the whole school. Recent improvements in the school’s computer software programmes and in the assessment of literacy and numeracy in the junior school place the principal and staff in a stronger position to gauge the impact of teaching initiatives on student progress and achievement.

A strong school ethos, clear values and a shared vision promote the caring and supportive relationships that characterise the school. A well developed pastoral care network includes senior students helping younger students to adapt to college life and to feel safe and supported."

The full report is published on the Ministry of Education's website: ERO Report 2009

Avondale Jazz Combo Wins National Competition

Avondale Robots Take on the World