Welcome back to Term 4

Welcome back to Term 4. All the best to senior students who will be receiving their derived grade exam results. These results are an important opportunity for students to learn from their mistakes and plan their study for the NCEA end of year exams. Senior students finish classes and start study leave in 2 and a half weeks. International students who aren’t sitting NCEA exams continue with their ‘special programme.’ This includes ESOL study, day trips around Christchurch and other activities, and a trip to the beautiful Nelson region. Other special events happening before exam leave include special end of year assemblies, the International Students Christmas lunch, Sports awards celebrations and the Year 13 Graduation Evening, held at the Lincoln Events Center. A busy time for everyone! Although the weather has been cold recently, warm weather is predicted for next week… summer is around the corner! 🌞🌈😊

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Cross country photos

What a beautiful day it was for the cross country. Here are the students in action.

Derived grade exams

From this Thursday  until the end of term our senior students are sitting their derived grade (mock) exams. These exams are an important practice for the NCEA exams at the end of the year because they show students what they are good at and what they need to improve to be successful. If a student is sick at the end of the year and can’t attend their exams, their derived grade exam results are important. Many international students are sitting NCEA. Others are not entering NCEA because they are short term students, but are sitting the derived grade exams to show their knowledge. Study hard everyone, and all the best! 🎯👩🏽‍🎓👨🏻‍🎓Aim high.

Dog hugs and cross country

Last week two fun events were held at school. During Tuesday lunchtime we had some very special visitors: a group of beautiful dogs and their owners from ‘dog companions’ came to Lincoln. Students loved patting and cuddling them. Some of the dogs were huge, such as 2 Great Danes. Others were small and cuddly. They were very well behaved and friendly. This was a great event just before exams. It’s well known that holding animals helps reduce stress. 😸🐶

On Friday lunchtime the annual school cross country was held. Hundreds of students took part in the 2.6 run/walk. Many students wore crazy costumes and their house colours. It was a warm sunny spring day… perfect for the run. Well done to everyone who took part, and thank you to everyone who organised these events. 🌞

Welcome Spring!

Christchurch is looking beautiful now, with lots of Cherry Blossoms in full bloom. Many people are enjoying walking through Hagley Park and talking photos under the blossoms. Here are some photos to welcome spring!

Learning update

What are the students studying in ESOL classes at the moment?

The Elementary classes have been studying a book called ‘Meet Me In Istanbul.’ This is a mystery story that uses the most common 3500 English words. Students have been reading and listening to the story using the ‘Stories in English’ website, and also doing many fun activities. There’s a test on Wednesday!

The Intermediate class has been enjoying the movie ‘Bend It Like Beckham.’ This movie has great themes about following your goals and about what happens when a young person’s dreams clash with the cultural beliefs of their parents. Students will write an essay about this text in the exams, so they’ve been working hard on learning to structure essays correctly and answer essay questions successfully. They’ve also leant a lot about movie techniques. Now, we’re revising the short story ‘The Seahorse and the Reef” for the derived grade exams.

The Upper Intermediate class has recently completed their conversation assessments. Each student had to take part in 2 conversations, one talking about a place or experience that is important to them, and the other talking about a text they have enjoyed watching or reading. They all did really well! We’re now studying the famous short story ‘The Doll’s House,’ by Katherine Mansfield.

Lemonade scone recipe

Here’s the recipe if you would like to make some scones yourself. Remember not to mix the dough too much or they won’t rise well.