Western News: November 19, 2019

12 Tuesday November 19 2019
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
WESTERN NEWS
highlights
Dux
PETER BRYANT MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP is
awarded to the Dux of the school Ethan Ng
This is an annual award, established by
the Board of Trustees, to acknowledge the
outstanding contribution to Burnside High
School of the late Dr Peter Bryant, in his role
as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.
When Ethan joined us in Year 12, his previous
school provided a thorough record of all of
his achievements while he was a student
there. This was a star studded resume
including massive academic accolades and
top prizes in everything from Cantamath to
Mathmatical Olympiad’s with first place and
distinction awards aplenty.
It also included medals and distinction
awards for Australian Mathematics, Digital
Technology, Science, English and Spelling.
The school described Ethan as “highly
articulate and with a hunger for learning that
drives an insatiable quest for knowledge”.
They also describe him as having an
“infectious giggle” which is confirmed by
our staff and students as they report to me
that he is “just a nice guy to hang out with”
“and that he has a warm sense of humour”.
At all levels of his schooling he has worked
far beyond the expected curriculum level,
demonstrating astounding ability to absorb
new information.
Earlier this year, Ethan was named New
Zealand’s Top School Mathematician -
being described as a “once in a generation
mathematician”, likely due to the fact that he
will only turn 15 next week, and the school he
came to us from two years ago was Merrin
School.
The 47 NCEA credits he has earned this year
are exclusively at Excellence level and he is
entered for no less than seven Scholarship
exams on top of his other SIX subjects.
At graduation Ethan collected awards
including First Place in Chemistry, Accounting
and Economics and Excellence Awards for
Calculus, Physics and Statistics.
We wish Ethan well for his examinations and
future endeavours as he aims for selection
in the New Zealand Olympiad Mathematics
team before beginning a double degree in
Mathematics and Mechatronics Engineering
at the University of Canterbury.
Proxime Accessit Award 2019
Felix Backhouse
When Felix came to Burnside High School, the enrolment notes supplied,
described him as a highly capable, quiet and studious person, and that an
advanced Mathematics programme would be advised. He was very serious and
focussed on his academic work from the outset and his love of learning was a
common observation by all his teachers at both Westburn and his early years
at Burnside High School. While Music has been a passion for him throughout
his time at Burnside High School earning him countless awards, his academic
dominance has seen him earn top placings in every subject he has studied since
2015, including the General Excellence Award for West Division last year.
He puts his success down to not much more than just doing the work and keeping up with
things, however his teachers have described him as incredibly thoughtful and analytical – deep thinking and
with a wry sense of humour – he is the one they need to watch when they make a mistake because he WILL
pick up on it.
His Cambridge and NCEA results earned make for impressive reading. In NCEA, he has amassed 257 credits at
Excellence Level, with few lower grades and he enters his exams with a clean sweep of 34 Excellence credits
at level three behind him. He also will tackle Scholarship examinations in FIVE subjects this year.
Felix was offered a $20 000 Top Achievers Scholarship to Auckland University in 2020, however his intention
is to study at University of Canterbury and he has secured Emerging Leaders and High Achievers Scholarships
to go there.
We wish Felix well as he embarks on his very impressive and exciting future.
Musician of the year
The winner of the Peter Rowe Cup for Musicianship is Felix Backhouse
Felix is an outstanding all-round musician who has contributed at the highest
level to every facet of the music department in his five years at Burnside High
School.
He came through the Specialist Music Programme at Westburn School and
started Burnside as a very good violinist who also played trombone. He leaves
as an outstanding trombonist who may still play a bit of violin!
Felix has been a member of Malestrom for five years, experiencing every
competition success they have achieved. He has been a member of the Symphonic
Band and the lead trombonist for the Big Band for five years; during which time he has
won countless awards, including Best Trombonist at the Manawatu and NZSM Jazz Festivals
in 2018 and Best Overall Musician.
He has been a member of the award winning Funk Band for five years and the Burnside Orchestra for five
years, four as section leader. Felix has been selected for membership of the New Zealand Secondary Schools’
Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra and has experienced success in the NZCT
Chamber Music Contest.
Sportsman of the Year
Sang-Yong Park
Sang-Yong won his third NZSS Table Tennis Teams title at the NZ Secondary
Schools Championships, and also placed 2nd in the U19 Individual singles at this
tournament. At the South Island Championships he placed 1st in U18 Boys singles,
U18 Boys doubles and U18 Mixed doubles and 2nd in the Mens Open singles.
Internationally he competed at the ITTF Oceania Junior Championships in Tonga,
claiming Silver in the Boys Team and Bronze in Boys Doubles. In the recent ITTF-
Oceania NZ Open Championships, he could only compete in two events due to a
back injury, but gained a gold medal in the U18 mixed doubles and a silver in the
U21 mixed doubles. He has recently been awarded the 2019 Junior Player of the
Year Cup, from Table Tennis NZ. He is also a Table Tennis Coach of junior players.
Sportswoman of the Year
Ellena Firth
Ellena captained our Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Champion Burnside High
School Girls Football 1st XI team this year. Ellena plays for Canterbury United
Pride which were National League winners, and for Coastal Spirit Premier
Womens - the team who were runners-up in the NZ Cup. Ellena was named in
the U19 NZ Secondary Schools team, and selected for their tour to America.
She also plays Cricket for Burnside High and the St Albans Cricket Club and
made the Canterbury U18 Girls Cricket team this year.
Burnside High School | Greers Road, PO Box 29 677, Christchurch 8540
Telephone: 358 8383 | Website: learn.burnside.school.nz