Service to others is a really strong focus for Westlake, and we have had a wonderful display of it lately, with bake sales and a House Charity Fundraiser on Tuesday, where students swapped their uniforms for House colours in a great display of school pride and generosity. It’s always inspiring to see our students getting behind causes that matter and raising funds for their chosen House charities.
Meanwhile, many students have also been busy with our annual Music and Production Camps.
Students and staff from Social Sciences, (bound for Vietnam), and Art, (heading to the USA), are eagerly anticipating their end-of-term adventures—immersing themselves in new cultures, experiences, and learning opportunities.
Our Tertiary Evening was a great success, giving students and families valuable insights into study options after Westlake.
On the sports front, last weekend saw our sailors excelling at the National Schools Keelboat Championship in Westhaven while our equestrians took on the Pegasus Equestrian Cup in Cambridge. This week, the Athletics Zones took place on Tuesday and Thursday at Mt Smart Stadium with many impressive results, and next week is Summer Tournament Week, which is also always a very exciting week.
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Ngā mihi,
Jane Stanley Principal
Academic
High praise for Y13 Business Studies students!
Our Year 13 Business Studies students recently embarked on a field trip to Massey University to attend the Young Enterprise Spark Tank.
The day’s highlight was a series of dynamic meetings the students had with external Business Mentors, where our future entrepreneurs and business leaders had the opportunity to discuss their startup business ideas.
In rapid-fire 5-minute sessions, students presented their business concepts to experienced professionals from a range of industries and consultants, covering crucial aspects such as their unique selling points, potential selling channels, production processes, points of difference from competitors, pricing strategies and defining their ideal customer profiles (target market).
Our business groups impressed the mentors so much with their product ideas that they offered their expertise on an ongoing basis to help the students with their business throughout the year (and potentially beyond).
The feedback from our students was overwhelmingly positive. Many expressed how incredibly helpful it was to gain industry experts’ insights and real-world advice on their business ideas.
This hands-on experience reinforced classroom concepts and gave our students a taste of the fast-paced and dynamic world in which businesses now operate in. Seeing their confidence grow as they articulated their ideas and received constructive feedback was inspiring.
We’re proud of how our Year 13s represented our school and excited to see how they’ll apply these valuable insights to their business projects and classroom assessments moving forward.
Sports
Silver medallists at the Auckland Secondary Schools Tennis Champs
Congratulations to Sasha and Rosie!
Sasha Warren and Rosie Richardson’s performance at the Auckland Champion of Champions Tennis tournament was a strong demonstration of skill and resilience. Both players had solid individual showings against the top tennis players in Auckland, making it clear that their hard work and commitment have paid off. The way they handled the intense competition in singles, particularly Rosie stepping up to the senior grade and reaching the quarterfinals, is impressive. Year 13 Sasha Warren, with her experience, also showed her ability to compete at a high level, securing a spot in the semifinals.
When they teamed up for doubles, their resolve continued to shine. Defeating Epsom Girls in that tight three-set tiebreaker was a critical moment—highlighting their mental toughness and ability to execute under pressure. Their straight-set victory in the semi-finals over St Cuthberts was another testament to their skill and strategy.
While they fell short in the final against St Kentigern’s, it’s clear that both players should be proud of their accomplishments. Westlake Girls’ tennis returning to the podium is a significant achievement, and this tournament marks an important step forward. Sasha and Rosie, despite not securing the ultimate victory, showed that they are a force to be reckoned with in New Zealand secondary school tennis.
At the 2025 New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Dunedin in early March, the Westlake Girls Sports Prefect, Karmen Maritz cemented herself as a force to be reckoned with after winning three gold medals at the event to become the NZ Women U18 Shot put Champion, the NZ Women U18 Discus Champion and the NZ Women U20 Discus Champion.
What a mighty effort. Congratulations, Karmen!
Sports
Regatta: North Island Secondary Schools Champs
Dates: 7-9 Mar 2025
Location: Lake Karapiro
Team size: 50 athletes across U15, U16, U17, U18 age groups
Highlights: While all crews had some excellent racing across the weekend, our Senior athletes showed their form in winning the U17 and U18 pairs and taking silver in the U18 four and U18 8+.
In the U18 pair, Charlotte and Maeve led from start to finish despite a strong challenge from Sacred Heart Girls College in the first 750m. The Westlake Girls crew pushed out in the race’s second half to win by 11 seconds. Their time was 7:35,22 – only 4 seconds slower than the Maadi record for that event.
The U17 pair of Talia and Sacha had to hold their nerve slightly longer as Wanganui Collegiate hung on until the last 500m. Talia and Sacha made a decisive move with 400m to go, taking control of the race and pushing away from their competitors to win by 4 seconds in challenging conditions.
In the U18 4+, Waikato Dio jumped out to their trademark lead, but the Westlake Girls crew hung with them all the way through the race. Going into the last 500m, Westlake and Epsom Girls were locked in a battle for 2nd while Waikato Dio maintained the lead. The Westlake crew found another gear with 250m to go and pulled away from Epsom to finish 2nd with the closest margin to Waikato Dio we’ve had all season.
However, the biggest highlight of the day was the U18 8+, who had to overcome a crew member falling ill at the last minute. With a substitute on board, the crew attacked the race with courage and confidence. While Waikato Dio sat out in front from the start, Westlake Girls, Dio, and Wanganui Collegiate remained locked in a battle for 2nd and 3rd for the entire race. Once again, the Westlake Girls rowed effectively and found an extra gear to leave Wanganui Collegiate with 500m to go and hold off a fast-charging Dio for 2nd. Once again, this is the closest the crew has been to Waikato Dio all season, which is all the more impressive with a substitute on board.
Photos by Conrad Blind, Rowing Picture Show
Arts & Culture
New Zealand Trio
The NZ Trio is a professional chamber group of instrumentalists who tour around New Zealand, performing concerts and making recordings with classical and contemporary repertoire. The trio comprises violinist Amalia Hall, cellist Ashley Brown and pianist Somi Kim.
Somi is an alumna of WGHS and graduated in 2006. After completing post-graduate study in the UK, she is regarded as one of the country’s most talented pianists. The NZ Trio gave a free lunchtime concert, which was well attended by WGHS musicians and staff. After playing a programme of four contrasting pieces, the talented trio answered interesting questions from the students about their work and professional lives as full-time musicians.
Academic
13OUTE – Scuba Diving
The Year 13 Outdoor Ed class spent the month of February learning how to scuba dive with Epic Scuba. The students took lessons in the school pool and Glenfield pool, learning new skills and techniques.
This culminated with a trip to Goat Island, where they were able to do an ocean dive in the marine reserve. The students really enjoyed the trip and it was a great first experience for the Outdoor program – one we hope to continue!
Community
Legacy Seats
Dedicate a Seat – Leave Your Mark at Westlake Girls
For a $500 donation, you can personalise a mezzanine seat in our Event Centre with your name or a special dedication. Your plaque (250 x 100mm) will be elegantly displayed on both sides of the seat, ensuring your legacy is part of every event for years to come.
For more information, visit our websiteor contact our Community Relationships Manager, Dean Flyger.
Sports
Waka Ama
On Saturday, 1 March, our two teams competed at the Waka Ama Auckland Senior Regatta, showcasing incredible effort and resilience. The day kicked off with both teams tackling the challenging 500m race, which included navigating a tricky turn in a powerful current. Despite their best efforts, both teams narrowly missed out on a spot in the final.
The girls regrouped and shifted focus to the 250m races. Both teams performed strongly in their heats, with one team securing a spot in the Semi-Finals with an impressive time of 1:07. They continued to push their limits, racing even faster in the Semi-Finals with a time of 1:04, which earned them a place in the Championship Final and they finished an impressive 6th place overall.
Considering they had only three weeks of training, the girls displayed remarkable determination and spirit. Their passion for the sport made it a fantastic day of racing.
Sports
Congratulations, Cayleigh Blackburn
The Harlequins Open Water Northern Zone Secondary Schools event held a winning moment for Westlake Girls student, Cayleigh Blackburn. After battling the current and the competition in the 2.3km race, the 16 year old won the Senior Girls category in February.
Uncategorized
Market Days coming soon
Don’t forget those gold coins for lunchtime on the following dates.
Y10 and 11 Business Studies students will be selling their fabulous wares!
Year 10 – 1 April – lunchtime.
Year 11 – 8 April – lunchtime.
See you there!
Images from 2024.
Notices
Understanding Our Students' Experience
At Westlake Girls, we take huge pride in contributing to international research on girls’ education and well-being.
On Wednesday, 3 April, we’re conducting a student survey (optional) with Challenge Success to gain insights into well-being, academic engagement, and belonging. These findings will help shape our efforts to create the best possible learning environment.
We look forward to sharing the results with our community and using them to guide future decisions. Stay tuned for more details in your inbox soon!
Arts & Culture
Westlake Choir Camp Season
Choralation Choir
March is a busy month for our Westlake musicians and staff as they get stuck into learning their music and getting to know their team. So far, three of our choirs have enjoyed weekend camps at various locations around Auckland.
First up was Choralation, our premier mixed voice choir. This choir is made up of 25 sopranos and altos and 26 tenors and basses from Westlake Boys High School. The choir enjoyed beautiful weather at Peter Snell Youth Village camp on the Whangaparaoa peninsula. Although there was a lot of rehearsal on the schedule, there was also time to enjoy games of volleyball and ‘Choralympics’ which are fun team games run by the choir leaders: Jaymie Chee, Annie Yang, Constantine Mata’afa and Aaron Shi. Choralation are working towards their first public concert in Hamilton, which is a collaboration with Hamilton Civic Choir, directed by Elise Bradley (also director of our Nota Bella Junior Choir). The concert ‘Ceremonial Splendor’ includes some of the great, timeless choral anthems and will be on Saturday 12th April 4:00pm in Hamilton. Tickets are available at this link: https://events.humanitix.com/hccceremonial
Nota Bella Choir
Last weekend, our junior and senior choristers went on camps at two different locations. Nota Bella junior choir stayed at Houghtons’ Bush in Muriwai, located in the midst of the West Coast lush, native bush. Nota Bella has almost 50 Year 9 and 10 singers who are developing vocal technique through weekly singing lessons, and their musical knowledge through theory and learning their choir music. One of the camp highlights is the Talent Night, run by choir leaders Charlotte Murphy and Shanie Faller. At the end of the camp, Nota Bella gave a concert to their parents and families, singing five pieces from their year’s repertoire.
Cigno Voce
Cigno Voce travelled to Peter Snell Youth Village in Whangaparaoa, and had a vibrant and enriching weekend of music making. This year our Senior Treble choir is singing a range of repertoire including texts in Malaysian, Latin & German. Students spent their weekend in workshops and rehearsals, learning notes and applying musicianship to their pieces.
The camp was not only about musical growth but also about building lasting friendships, as the students bonded with fellow choir members through collaborative activities and team-building. Friday night saw the students playing human-bingo and a choir quiz, and Saturday night included a camp talent-show concert, where every student participated. At the end of camp, Cigno Voce performed to parents and families, singing five pieces they had learnt at camp.
The atmosphere at both camps was one of creativity and excitement, allowing the students to develop both their musical and interpersonal skills. We look forward to seeing our choristers performances throughout the year and their growth as singers.
Notices
Drama tour to USA 2026 - meeting notice
Meeting information:
Date: 25 March, 2025
Time: 6pm
Venue: M4 – Westlake BOYS High School.
M block is on the left side of the Auditorium. Enter M block and you will find M4 on the right side, in the foyer.
Arts & Culture
Get creative and win!
Submissions for the 2025 Parallax Literary and Arts Journal are now open! Join the Google Classroom (twik52i) to find out more, and submit your short stories, poetry, art and photography to be published as an author before you graduate high school. It’s a great way to contribute to a club project with no weekly meetings! Entries for the Short Story Competition are also open, with prizes for winners!
Arts & Culture
Y10 Art Trip
Creativity in the Long Bay landscape
Recent trips for two Year 10 Visual Art classes allowed students to photograph and sketch the land and seascapes in preparation for a Painting assessment task.
They have been learning how to observe and record tonal and textural information and planning a composition of multiple perspectives.
For each group of students visiting Long Bay, the Vaughan Homestead provided several more structured images to contrast with the open landscape views. They observed a karakia with respect to the land and its natural resources. The students also enjoyed a flax flower weaving session, creating another element to include in their final painting on return to the classroom.
Two groups different day trips
Some of the resulting artwork planning
Community
Staying Connected in a Digital World
Westlake Wellness
Connecting with family and friends is crucial for emotional support, as it significantly contributes to improved mental wellbeing and a sense of belonging. It should be simple to connect with loved ones, but in an increasingly digital world, it requires intentional effort.
Set healthy boundaries – Limit screen time to connection rather than using it for comparison to others. Focus on quality communication about daily life, emotions and wellbeing.
Catch up regularly – schedule weekly video calls or online game nights to stay connected.
Variety is the spice of life – messaging apps, social media, and collaborative platforms are all ways to communicate with friends, family, school, workplace, and the wider community. Use a variety of these tools, and don’t simply rely on one of them for all communication.
Real-life connections – When possible, meet with friends for meals, walks, or study sessions. Face-to-face interaction is so much more enjoyable, and it is easy to read body language and spoken nuances. Digital platforms don’t always communicate these.
The strategies above can help students maintain meaningful relationships with family and friends while balancing their digital and real-world interactions. It is important for us all to remember that the digital world is not the only way to communicate.
Some ways to encourage students offline could be:
having screen-free meal times or specific times during the week when together
Going on walks
Attending sporting events together
Watching a television show or movie together
Being involved in a volunteer or community project.
By Elizabeth Beaumont
Community
International Prefects
New Zealand is globally recognised for its high-quality education, attracting international students who enrich our schools and communities. Beyond academics, they bring diverse perspectives, build lifelong connections, and contribute to the local economy—supporting jobs, businesses, and cultural exchange nationwide.
International education is about more than numbers; it’s about forging lasting global relationships, fostering innovation, and positioning New Zealand as a leader in education and research.
At our school, learning extends far beyond the classroom. It’s about connection, opportunity, and personal growth. Our international students become part of a vibrant community, forming lifelong friendships, participating in a wide range of activities, and expanding their horizons. We proudly support our international prefects as they pursue their dreams and make their mark on the world.
Joy Feng:
Hello everyone, my name is Joy Feng, and I am honored to serve as the prefect this year. As someone who values creativity, curiosity, and perseverance, I strive to support my peers and contribute to a positive school environment. Full of passion for music and art. I enjoy exploring new ideas and encouraging others to pursue their interests. As a Prefect, I aim to be approachable, supportive and a voice for students, helping to build a community where everyone feels heard and inspired.
Vivian Huang:
This is Vivian Huang, one of the international prefects. My responsibility is to assist with problem-solving, organize various events, and run a homework club to help students with their studies with other international prefects. My goal is to try to create a welcoming and inclusive environment where international students can make new friends and feel comfortable. Me and other international prefects strive to make everyone feel at home, no matter where they come from.
Nana Akieda:
Hi everyone! I’m Nana.
I decided to become an International Prefect this year because I want to get confidence about speaking English and developing my leadership skills. Prefects have been my role model since I came to New Zealand, and they supported me a lot in many ways. So I would like to help as many International students as I can based on my experiences here this year. Also I would like to contribute to events with my organization skills.
Photo above, left to right: Nana AKIEDA, Joy Jiaxin FENG, Vivian Jiawei HUANG
Community
Your story, our story!
Students, staff, friends and families of Westlake Girls – Got a great story to share? We’d love to hear it.
Whether it’s an achievement, event, or special moment — help us celebrate our fantastic school community by sharing your stories here in our school newsletter, Te Reo o Te Roto.
Send your stories and up to six images if you have them, to [email protected].
Notices
Upcoming dates to note
Stay up to date with key events on our ‘Important Dates’ page — your go-to guide for what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks.
Click here or access it via the quick links on our website’s home page.
