Science
with his investigation titled “Effect of white bread
or grain bread on blood glucose levels”
Horticultural club
A small group of students (pictured above)
were entrusted with looking after the horticultural beds. It is great to have students who are
knowledgeable and caring of their environment.
Astronomy Club
Faculty
They meet once a month to look at the night
sky and see the planets in our solar system
as well as the myriad of stars that make up
our Milky Way galaxy. When the weather is
inclement they look at current astronomical
events on web sites such as NASA. The club is
run by Mr Anthony Gomez, a local astronomer
whose knowledge and enthusiasm is second to
none. Occasionally, visiting students from other
schools have shown to us the value of having
such a club.
Environmentalist Club
A small group of students meet to decide on
activities that students at the college could
be involved in. Two competitions were run in
relation to “Sea Week”. Results were as follows:
Poem: 1st Joshua Dominikovich with “Endless
deep”. 2nd Thomas Mingins with “The ocean”,
3rd Matt Tamarua with “The sea”. The second
competition was “Earth Day” where we tried to
improve the awareness of our students to the
plight of our earth. Poem winners were: 1st Jack
O’Brien with “Earth Day”, 2nd Callum O’Brien
with “Earth day 2103” and 3rd Cameron Tustin
with “Save the earth”. In the poster section: 1st
Gio Cigaral with “Climate change”, 2nd Ben
Kong with “Earth” and 3rd Nicholas Lindstrom
with “Care for the environment”
The club also arranged for the college to turn off
as many unnecessary lights as possible. This
was part of the “World earth day” where one
aspect is energy conservation.
Study Skills day
Thanks to Mrs Lomax, three classes were able
to get the opportunity to gain the skills on how
to study effectively from an internationally recognised presenter. If the students implement the
suggestions that they were given their chances
of success would improve dramatically. His suggestions are to study for 35 minutes and have
a 10 minute break, then repeat these two steps
in sets of three (studying a different subject in
each 35 min slot) before taking a longer break.
The second suggestion is the 10:1:1:1 method.
64
Study a topic and revise it 10 minutes later. Review this material 1 day later, then 1 week later
and then 1 month later. At this point the material
should go into your long term memory.
Year 10 NCEA class
Last year’s class did very well in their three
NCEA standards. The two internals were
passed by most of the students, but the most
encouraging aspect was the 93% pass rate in
the external physics standard titled “Magnetism
and electricity”.
Old boy visits
It was great to have Jordan Saggers majoring
in Marine and ecological biology at Victoria University and Marcus Bentley who is in his second year of medicine. Both men gave the Year
13 biology class an insight to life at university
and what is required to be successful. It is great
to have old boys visiting the school and being
willing to have discussion with current students.
Paper recycling
Each week paper and cardboard is collected
and we recycle it. This year we received 10
trees for our efforts and they are planted around
the college. This project is part of a nationwide
endeavour called Paper for trees. Nationally in
2011, 7,850 tonnes were recycled, giving New
Zealand 62,000 cubic meters of saved landfall
space. 31,400 trees were planted and the
amount of carbon that did not get emitted from
landfills was 19,782 tonnes. Since the projects
conception in 2001, 100,000 trees have been
planted.
The science staff
We are certainly very fortunate to have such a
dedicated staff that enjoy teach ing and believe
strongly in the value of science in the everyday
lives of their students. As teachers we have
the responsibility of informing students of how
science impacts on their everyday lives, on how
they must respect the environment and how we
must always leave the earth in a better state
than we found it. We must always demonstrate
that the understanding of science concepts is
not hard and that all of life’s experiences are
science related.
Ms Lyn Too. Lyn has been our chemistry
teacher for 10 years and has been committed to
giving the best possible science and chemistry
learning as possible. Lyn believes in the value
of practical work as the means of getting a
better understanding of concepts.
Mrs Anna Langford. Anna is a chemist and
a year 11 dean. Anna has the teaching and
administrative skills to ensure that every student
is given the best possible opportunity to achieve
their goals and aspirations. Anna has contributed to making chemistry a more relevant and
useable subject.
Mrs Jessica Christian. Jessica has taught
science and mathematics. Jessica has always
encouraged her students to work independently
which is an invaluable skill when the students
get through to the senior science subjects.
Mr Luka Andic. Luka is a senior biology
teacher and year 11 dean. Luka has contributed
greatly to the development of literacy resources
for all levels. Luka sees the real value of field
trips as a means of giving students real contexts
within which to tie their content knowledge.
Luka’s enthusiasm for biology and science is
infectious.
Mr David Housden. David is our eminent
physicist whose success rate in the examinations is always in excess of 90%. David has the
“X” factor that makes great teachers exceptional educators. David brings physics alive and
makes it relevant.
Mr David McVay. David has been with us for
two terms and brings with him a deep understanding of aeronautics and engineering
concepts. David is with us as Mrs Langford’s
replacement.
Mrs Lynley Pawson. Every student enjoys
practical work but they are blissfully unaware
of the work that goes on behind the scenes to
ensure that all apparatus and chemicals are
present. The person who makes the teachers
“look good” is Lynley. As lab technician Lynley
ensures that we have all the resources available
to do as many entertaining and beneficial
investigations as possible. It is Lynley that staff
go to for advice on practicals and laboratory
organisation.
Mr Brenten Higson. Brenten is the HOD and
teacher of biology.
The science staff wish all leavers the very best
and pray that their goals and aspirations are
achieved.
Luka Andic, Jessica Christian, Brenten Higson, David Housden, Anna Langford, David
McVay, Lynley Pawson, Lyn Too
St Bernard’s College 2013