Courtesy of Tourism NZ (Photos: Ken Hansen & Holger Leue)
Massey University announces TAFY scholarships
TAFY students with the Massey University representative at the scholarship announcement
Farnaaz Mohammed from Massey University is delighted to announce that Massey is introducing an Academic Award Programme for students of Taylors Auckland Foundation Year (TAFY).
Massey will offer a total of 63 academic awards to eligible TAFY students for July 2011 undergraduate entry. Eligible students are those who have applied to Massey University July 2011 intake and have achieved more than 265 marks in TAFY.
This scholarship programme has been designed especially for Taylors Auckland students. Awards will be granted as follows:
Dux- NZ$10,000
First runner up to Dux- NZ$7500
Second runner up to Dux- NZ$5000
Students ranked with next 10 best TAFY scores- NZ$750
Students ranked with next 50 best TAFY scores- NZ$500
The scholarships winners will be notified on final offers day on June 9th. Scholarship winners will join an elite group of Massey scholarship students on-campus and will be called-upon to assist Massey with special activities during their studies.
Taylors College staff are very excited about the prospect of so many students receiving an award for their achievements and are very grateful to Massey for offering such a generous award programme.
Good luck to all students! We will post an update of the winners after final offers day.
TAFY students visit Massey University
TAFY students visit Massey University in March 2011
On March 16th, 61 TAFY students and 4 Taylors College staff visited Massey University for a full and exciting programme of mini lectures given by 11 academics. The TAFY students were very excited about their chance to be a ‘university student for a day’. Campus visits are a great way for students to get a taste of university life, as well as helping them make important decisions about which course to study and where.
Science and Engineering students were well hosted by Professor Ian Maddox. Dr Ding, Professor of Finance also joined TAFY students and staff for afternoon tea, helping to convince some students that finance is a great course to choose to study. TAFY students had the opportunity to visit the "mechatronics" lab and to view some weird and wonderful robotic contraptions that excited their young engineering minds. Our Commerce and Communications students also attended some mini lectures on a range of topics which they found engaging and inspiring.
Students celebrate Lunar New Year and Waitangi day at Auckland campus
On Wednesday 2nd February 2011, Taylors Auckland held a joint celebration for the Lunar New Year – Year of the rabbit and Waitangi Day.
Waitangi day is celebrated in New Zealand every year on 6 February to mark the signing of the treaty of Waitangi with the British Crown and 500 Maori chiefs. Waitangi Day is recognised as New Zealand's national day.
To mark the double occasion, traditional red lanterns and New Zealand flags decorated the student common room.
Students were treated to NZ and Chinese food as well as NZ and Maori music. For the NZ food, Taylors teachers and staff cooked sausages on the barbecue, there were kiwi sweets - Minties and Pineapple Lumps, hokey pokey ice-cream, kiwi fruit, watermelon and a popular kiwi drink called L&P.
For the New Year celebration, students enjoyed traditional Chinese dumplings and learning about the festival from their classmates.
The party was a way to welcome new students, help them learn about New Zealand culture and to celebrate Chinese New Year with their teachers and classmates.
Taylors College Auckland holds many fun cultural and social events throughout the year.
What's new at our Auckland campus
International day at Auckland campus.
Taylors College Auckland celebrated its second International Day on Friday 22nd October 2010. The students pulled out all the stops to make this year even better than last and managed to raise $946.20 for the Building Futures charity. Building Futures help provide much needed assistance to build schools for children in developing countries.
Students from China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Russia, among others set up food, costumes and decorations stalls to showcase their home countries. Fellow students then had the great opportunity to sample the cuisine for lunch and try on some very colour costumes.
The afternoon saw a number of cultural performances by students. The performances were started with students from China organising an exciting dumpling making competition. This was followed by a dazzling flamenco dance, Scottish song, an energetic bebop performance, a scintillating salsa dance and a few impromptu dances from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and India.
The day was a great success with everyone having a fantastic time and the fact that so much money was raised was an added bonus.
90th birthday celebration at the Auckland campus
Friday 29th October 2010 saw around 80 guests gathered in the campus’ student common room for a cocktail event celebrating the 90th birthday of the school’s establishment in Melbourne in 1920. The guests included past students, staff from our partner universities, top agents and staff from the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission
Campus Director, Lindsay Spedding, welcomed guests and reflected on the impressive growth of the school and its reputation, locally and internationally. Lindsay spoke of the changing face of Taylors, explaining that what began as a school giving local students a “second chance” at a tertiary education, now prepares many thousands of international students for the life-changing experience of a university education in Australia and New Zealand.
Lindsay also took the opportunity to announce the Auckland Campus winners of the 2010 staff awards and acknowledge the hard work and professionalism of the staff that has made Taylors such a great place to work and study.
The formal part of the evening was completed with the cutting of the Birthday Cake, decorated with the Taylors logo and other delightful colours.
Taylors Auckland sponsors alumni architecture project
University of Auckland Architecture student and TAFY alumni, Forrest Chen, recently exhibited a group project at The University of Auckland student Skyrise event at Auckland Architecture week. Taylors College was a proud sponsor of Forrest and his team at the exhibition.
The brief for the project was to construct a structure of at least six meters tall with a narrow base which reflected Bio-mimicry, held light well and used recycled materials.
Forrest's project team, named Lymphiam, built a structure based on organic material which was woven together by hand with thick rope.
Other interesting exhibits were based on the forms of jellyfish and sea urchins and ethereal structures lit from within.
TAFY principal, Lindsay Spedding, TAFY DOS, Ted Dawe and Marketing Manager, Nicola Conway attended the event in support of Forrest.
Forrest's team were thrilled to receive a highly commended award for their efforts.
Well done to Forrest and his group for a tremendous effort.
Taylors Auckland students welcomed onto a traditional Maori marae
About thirty Taylors College students were recently welcomed onto a traditional Maori marae at AUT university. They learned about Maori customs and protocols and also enjoyed some morning tea.
The group arrived at the gate at 9.00 am and after a brief period to help get the kai korero, or caller, in place the official welcome (called a powhiri) was underway.
The students, along with their five teachers, progressed across the land in front of the whare (meeting house), pausing halfway to acknowledge people in our lives who are no longer alive but guide us in our everyday actions in some way.
After taking off their shoes, the students went into the interior of the whare and listened to a speech entirely in the Maori language. They also enjoyed a song of welcome, called a waiata. Taylors College Director of Studies, Ted Dawe, gave a short speech, partly in Maori and partly in English, thanking the tangata whenua (people of the marae) for their welcome and explaining their reason for coming and their purpose in the NZ educational scene. Then the manuhiri, or visitors, sang a waiata called "E toru nga mea" to support the speaker.
Next was a prayer, called a karakia, delivered by the Kaumatua (elder). The students were then spoken to in English and aspects of the history of the whare and the customs and protocols which they had been participating in were explained. After this morning tea was served in the whare kai (kitchen).
A visit to a marae is a great opportunity for students to gain an understanding of Maori traditional culture and customs.
"It was fantastic. Not at all like university back home."
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) commerce and science visit
TAFY students recently visited AUT. They attended a lecture in the Business School and took a peek inside a science lab.
On August 18, TAFY Tertiary counsellor Alison McCallum and Commerce teachers took a group of twenty-six TAFY students to AUT University campus.
The group were treated to a pizza lunch before attending an AUT lecture in the Business School, complete with videos and brain-teasers. The students really enjoyed the university atmosphere - one remarking, "It was fantastic. Not at all like university back home."
In the evening of the same day Alison and May Croucher, Science Subject Coordinator, took eleven TAFY Science students to the AUT Science faculty. The group enjoyed a tour of the science labs, conducted by a most enthusiastic and engaging Professor of Chemistry.
May and the students were delighted as they entered the vast science lab which contained noxious poisons, multi test tubes, high tech equipment and bunsen burners. The group were also treated to pizza after their tour.
Regular campus visits to our university partners allow students to gain valuable insights into the degrees and university options available to them. The following week Alison helped the students complete their AUT applications.
TAFY students can look forward to more university tours in future.
Taylors Auckland on Chinese radio!
In June 2010, Taylors College Auckland staff, students, alumni and university partners appeared on Chinese Radio Station WTV 936AM in New Zealand. Listeners were enlightened about the advantages of Taylors Auckland Foundation Year (TAFY) and the past experiences of TAFY graduates.
The radio sessions were organised together with our New Zealand based agent, International Education Fund (IEF). There were four sessions in total, each based on a topic related to Taylors College.
Staffs on the shows were:
- Nicola Conway, Marketing Manager, Taylors College
- Lindsay Spedding, Principal, Taylors College
- Alison McCallum, Tertiary counsellor
University partner representatives who attended were:
- Dr Lindsay White, Faculty of Business and Jane Ma, International office, AUT University.
- Dr Hilary Chung, Faculty of Arts and Maxwell Wang, International office, The University of Auckland.
- Farnaaz Mohammed, International office, Massey University.
University representatives talked about the pathway from Taylors Auckland Foundation Year to their universities and the close partnerships with Taylors College as well as key advantages of their universities.
Top students and alumni involved were:
- Taylors graduate 2007, Diana Liu from China now studying for a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biomedical Science at The University of Auckland. After her degree Diana wants to study to become a Dietician at Otago University or a university in Australia.
- Taylors graduate 2009, Jaslene Lin from Fuzhou, China. Jaslene is now studying for a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Arts at University of Auckland.
- Taylors graduate 2006, Loretta White from China. Loretta studied a Bachelor of Applied Science and majored in Applied Chemistry. She is now studying for a Masters degree in Environmental Chemistry.
Students talked about how Taylors helped to prepare them for university and life in New Zealand as well as the close relationships they developed with the staff, teachers and friends at Taylors.
The four radio sessions have been a great success, with many local Chinese people tuning in to get more understanding of Taylors programmes and our pathway partners.
Taylors and IEF will be broadcasting another four sessions later on this year.
Taylors Auckland Foundation Year (TAFY) Graduation, June 2010
The TAFY graduation was held on 8 June 2010 in the Grand Ballroom of the Langham Hotel. Students had been advised to dress up for this event and judging by the photos they had gone about this activity with the same diligence they demonstrated in their study habits.
The total number of students graduating was just over 100: approximately 60 from the July intake and 40 from September. There were representatives present from our three partner universities, University of Auckland, AUT University and Massey University.
The guest speaker was Mrs Susan Heggie from the University of Auckland School Liaison office. Sue especially asked for a projector so that the students could share the extra dimension of her presentation (personal photos, cartoons and quotations), as she narrated her journey from university, through a varied career, to her current position. She ecouraged the students to keep their minds open to life's possibilities - because no-one knew what the future held.
A number of student speakers representing the many nations which made up the July and September cohorts also presented - students from Indonesia, Colombia, Russia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, as well as Hong Kong and mainland China. They began their addresses with an invocation in their native tongue and then moved on to a mixture of thanks, advice and interesting anecdotes about their experiences.
The speaking was complemented by Hu Yi Lin who played an item on the piano.
The final part of the formal ceremony was the special awards presented to the TAFY high achievers. As usual there were some notable scores in individual subjects, but the biggest applause was reserved for the duxes of the two intakes.
For the July intake 1st overall was Zhang Min (Min) from China with a total of 465/500. From the September intake 1st over all was Stephan Lapshev from Russia with the remarkable total of 487/500.
After the awards everyone retired to the foyer for afternoon tea, photos and a chance to say thanks and goodbye to teachers.
Later that evening an informal party was held where students and staff played pool and cards or sat around eating and sharing reminiscences from the year.
This marked the end of the regular part of school life; all that remained was for the students to return to the school two days later to receive their final offers. These are the offers of place sent out to the student from the universities. The students have the opportunity to take advantage of the excellent counselling available both from Taylors College staff and from the three partner universities themselves.
Congratulations to all our students we wish you all the best for your future success!
