Kia ora Parents and Caregivers,

I hope you and your family had a lovely break and enjoyed some quality time together. After a busy Term 2 I’m sure all of our students enjoyed the slower pace of life.

There’s certainly been no evidence of that slower pace over the past two weeks! Last Saturday we held our Year 13 Ball at the beautiful Cordis Hotel. Our students made the most of this occasion and I want to congratulate them on their conduct. It was a wonderful night, and I one I hope they remember for a long time to come. I also want to thank the staff who assisted in making the night special, including key organiser Louise Clouston.

Tonight we have another special occasion – the annual combined Westlake Gala Concert – this year being held at Westlake Girls. Tickets will be available at the door for both the sessions – 5pm or 7.30pm. More details are in this newsletter, but I do encourage you to come along to experience our choirs, chamber orchestras, concert bands, symphony orchestra and jazz bands – all in one spectacular evening.

It’s an exciting time for us as a school, with our triennial Board elections underway. Thank you to everyone who has put themselves forward for nomination. As part of our parent community, you will receive your voting paper and candidate statements next week. Your vote is important to help shape the future of our Board and I want to thank you in advance for your careful consideration of our candidates.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank our current Board for their expertise, wisdom and support – especially Andrew Hofmyer and Carolyn Ranson, who will not be seeking re-election this term. Their expertise in construction and law respectively was invaluable through the building of our Event Centre, and they will be missed.

Thank you also to Chair Joy Bradfield, Kim Tay, Challen Wilson and our Teacher Member Carol Wright.

At the beginning of the Term we were pleased to welcome 32 new International students into the Westlake Whānau. With the borders shut for two years, it was a special occasion to greet these students, and we wish them all the very best for an exciting, successful and fulfilling time in New Zealand. I want to thank our Homestay parents for opening up your homes and welcoming your Homestay daughter into your family.

Term 3 is a busy and important one for our students – especially our seniors who will have school exams starting on 12 September in preparation for NCEA exams in Term 4.

This term also hosts Winter Tournament, the Big Sing Cadenza and Finale, KBB Festival, our Pasifika Evening and a range of other events including our first ever Father Daughter Breakfast on 28 September. We will more information on that shortly, so watch this space!

With winter weather at its peak, I hope you are able to spend some time inside enjoying the Commonwealth Games, especially the codes featuring our Kiwi athletes. Three of those athletes – Moira Koster (Judo), Anona Pak (Badminton) and Tiarna Clarke (3×3 Basketball) are former Westlake students, and it’s been wonderful for our current students to see alumni competing at such an elite level.

I hope you have a lovely weekend – whether it’s inside watching the Commonwealth Games, or outside watching one of the Westlake winter sports in action.

Kindest regards

Jane Stanley
Principal