Joy Bradfield
Presiding Member

My last Board report gave an overview of the topics we covered at our first meeting on 22 February.

This week we held our second meeting of the year. In addition to the regular governance items scheduled throughout the year, a highlight for the Board is our curriculum reviews. This week we received an impressive presentation from Susana Tomaz, TIC of Westlake’s STEAM programme, who presented the structure of STEAM in Years 9 and 10, and the benefits of joint lessons and integrated project-based learning.

Susana then went on to talk about STEAM in Year 11, where students enter the ESTEAM programme. There, along with integrated assessments, students benefit from connection with the world of work through mini internships with companies such as The Warehouse Group, Deloitte, IAG and Genesis.

Susana touched on the fact that Westlake Girls High School is leading the way when it comes to STEAM programmes in New Zealand schools. She was asked to present Westlake’s programme at the STEAM Summit Conference and Computer Science for High School Teachers Conference, with student participation.

She also spoke about the high percentage of students who want to study science, technology or engineering as a result of participating in the STEAM programme.

Susana finished by saying that STEAM might not be for every student, but every student can gain something from the programme. As a Board we will continue to support and grow this innovative and exciting opportunity for our students.

We would also hope that all our students, in whatever curricular areas they are in, actively seek out all the opportunities that are available to them at school, to grow their skills and talents, and try new things, during their high school years.

Covid update

Carol Wright, our Board staff representative, reported on the challenges of Covid on internal assessments – particularly for the more practical subjects; and the adaptions that have had to be made to accommodate staff and student absences. The completion of the junior students’ PAT tests; and our role in piloting the Year 10 Literacy co-requisite qualification was referenced. Pilots like this benefit both students and staff, as students have the opportunity to gain 10 credits in their literacy before they have to complete Level 1, and staff have the work in place in preparation for the introduction of new Level 1 standards. Again, it’s rewarding seeing WGHS at the forefront of new developments in the education sector.

At the meeting, the Board made a point of acknowledging the school’s staff, who have worked through a difficult term affected by Covid in their classrooms and homes. We’ve been fortunate that there has been no evidence of transmission within our school, and we have reached the end of term without needing to stagger attendance of year levels onsite. The Board is very grateful to the teachers who have stepped up to take on extra classes, the Senior Leadership Team for their strong support and guidance, and to Deputy Principal Paul Davis, in particular, for creating the school’s Covid policies based on direction from the Ministry of Education and the Covid Protection Framework. Acknowledgement was made in support of the students who likewise have followed the advised health and safety covid protocols despite mask fatigue etc. These robust procedures, along with the collective team effort, have seen us fare better than other schools in Auckland, and the Board acknowledged the school’s work in keeping students and staff as safe as possible during this time.

Positive outcomes for Māori

Another exciting area that our Board is actively engaged in is seeing ‘Māori enjoying and achieving education success as Māori’. We, as a Board, are working to ensure that the school gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (under Section 127 of the Education and Training Act (2020)), and that our plans, policies, and curriculum reflect local tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and te ao Māori.

We have made instruction available in tikanga Māori and te reo Māori and are supportive of the developments and growth in this curricular area with more students embracing te reo Māori. Our results indicate that our Māori students are achieving equitable outcomes, and educational success as Māori at our school. Members of our audit committee recently attended workshops aimed at giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and received positive feedback on the progress we are making in this area. Giving effect to Te Tiriti is a journey rather than an event, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. As we continue to listen to the voice of Māori through our co-opted member, Challen Wilson, and work through tools provided by the MOE to assist us, we can see the progress and feel the momentum that’s taking place in this space. We look forward to engaging more with our community in this regard as Covid levels permit.

Polyfest 2022

We were also thrilled with the results of our Kapa Haka group, which was the only group from the North Shore to participate in Polyfest, and who won the Haka Taparahi (female haka), coming a very respectable 9th overall. This was a  great achievement, especially during Covid times, and a testament to the hard work of the Kapa Haka group, their leaders and alumni, who assisted in their success.

Board Governance

Supporting the school through effective Board governance is a rewarding role that we, as elected parents, can play in advancing effective education for the wāhine/girls in our community. There are increasing legislative requirements placed on schools and I’ve seen the difference that effective governance can make to the Principal and the management of a school.

Good governance, enables the principal and staff to focus on the school’s vision and goals for its students with confidence. The Board comprises elected parents with a range of professional backgrounds, skills and experiences which cover the importance governance areas of finance, personnel, property,  health & safety and risk management, along with development (sponsorship etc) and policy reviews. The Board has co-opted skillsets where needed to ensure that we have the right oversight to inform the Board. This especially applied to the recent Events Centre construction project, and meeting the ongoing requirements of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Perhaps you might like to consider supporting the school by standing for Board election in September? Our Board meetings are held in public and you are welcome to attend, please contact Marie McKerrow for further information by emailing [email protected]

Pictured top is the Board from left: Challen Wilson (Co-opted Member), Jane Stanley (Principal), Carol Wright (Teacher Member), Russell Clements (Member), Carolyn Ranson (Deputy Presiding Member), Kim Tay (Member), Joy Bradfield (Presiding Member), and Marie McKerrow (Board Secretary). Absent is Member Andrew Hofmyer.

By Ella Wilson
Social Studies Teacher

In Social Studies classes we like to have guest speakers to present their expertise on a variety of subjects. During this term we held two interesting talks via Zoom on the topic of Euthanasia and the social actions held to either promote or stop a law change in end-of-life policy, in preparation for students’ NCEA Achievement Standard assessment.

Our Zoom Guests were Act Party Deputy Leader, Brooke van Velden and Emeritus Professor Dr Rod McLeod, who held a chair as Conjoint Professor in Palliative Care at University of Sydney and Honorary Professorship at the University of Auckland. Both speakers highlighted their opposing stance on Euthanasia: Brooke, on the creation of a member’s bill and the law-making process that she and party leader, David Seymour took; and Dr McLeod on the benefits and use of palliative care in end-of-life situations in New Zealand.

Their viewpoints helped students to both fully understand and to complete their 4 Credit assessment which is due for hand-in before the final day of Term 1.

Year 12 Social Studies has also been incredibly busy with their full attention focused on the Gun Debate currently being waged in the United States. Their assessment is a rigorous Inquiry worth 5 Credits and has been ably supported through the delivery of a superb lesson by our very own Jessica Banks who is at present one of our trained and highly valued Teacher Aides. Jessica was born in Minnesota and gained her BA at the University of Kansas in French Language and Lit, then going on to complete a Masters degree in History leading up to a dissertation for a PhD at Pennsylvania (Penn) State University. Jess is fluent in French and can read Latin text, old English, and Old and Middle French. Her specialities are many: medieval history, Roman religion, and women in religion and Western Civics to name just a few.

Due to Covid it has been impossible to invite specialist speakers into classes. So it was lucky that we had our very own specialist in American life and academic rigour onsite to help out! Jess gave talks to all five Social Studies classes on her day off! As per usual, Jessica was on fire and was so well-prepared for all manner of questions that students were keen to ask. As a native born American, Jess can attest to the levels of gun violence and the senseless loss of lives due to indiscriminate and illegal gun use. Students are well-prepared for hand-in.

Each year Westlake Girls hosts a Tertiary Evening for our Year 13 students and their whānau. This event is normally held on our school grounds and includes a select number of universities.

With Covid restrictions in mind, we knew we needed to be a little more creative this year in how we share this valuable information to students who are in the process of making decisions around future study and career pathways.

Feeling inspired by the challenge, we reached out to all 8 New Zealand universities in order to create this presentation. You’ll see that we have included Unitec also, as alongside their degree level programmes they also provide a wide range of other qualifications and pathways. These offer further options for students who may not quite reach University Entrance or who are looking toward the trades, certificate or diploma qualifications.

While this is aimed primarily at our Year 12 and 13 students, it could be of interest to anyone who thinks university study may be in their future.

Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R4YJSeV54A

Our presentation begins with an opening address from Distinguished Emeritus Professor Paul Spoonley who is a sociologist at Massey University. Professor Spoonley offers some valuable insights into the world of work and suggests what to keep in mind when thinking about stepping into tertiary study and life beyond.

Following on from Paul, you will hear from:

The University of Auckland
AUT
Unitec
The University of Waikato
Massey University
Victoria University of Wellington
University of Canterbury
Lincoln University
University of Otago

There are time stamps in the video’s description so you can watch them all, or just the universities you are interested in.

To answer any questions you may have as a result of watching this presentation, each university and Unitec are offering a Zoom Q&A session. A few of these have already been held, but these are the ones still coming up.

Monday 11 April
Canterbury 5:30pm
https://canterbury.zoom.us/j/96398284779

Tuesday 12 April
Lincoln 5:30pm
https://lincoln.zoom.us/j/93516175152

Otago 7pm
https://otago.zoom.us/j/726775600?pwd=NkJla2g4bVpKOXhhaU1mNnBxWGU5dz09

Wednesday 13 April
AUT 5:30pm
https://aut.zoom.us/j/95076110738?pwd=TjBLTERNbWIxNXFGVXR6SW5jZWJwdz09

Thursday 14 April
Waikato 5:30
https://waikato.zoom.us/j/88613702566

Waikato 7pm
https://waikato.zoom.us/j/86843505919

We work hard at Westlake Girls High School to ensure we remain at the cutting edge of girls’ education, and understanding how females process and retain information.

As part of our commitment to girls’ education, we belong to the Alliance of Girls School Australasia. The Alliance is the region’s leading voice for the education and empowerment of girls and young women. They advocate for, and support, the distinctive work of girls’ schools in our provision of unparalleled opportunities for girls.

The Alliance connects educators from 190+ member schools from across six countries, and provides research into key areas of girls’ education. The latest research on their website looks at how to increase girls’ engagement with physical education classes, and the impact of lockdowns on social media usage by teens. Other topics have included sex-based bullying, gender inequity in STEM and gender fluidity in single-sex classrooms.

“Being one of the largest girls schools in New Zealand, we have proactively sought to understand best practice so we can provide the optimal learning environment for our students,” says Principal Jane Stanley. “We can tailor our classes and our focus is solely on how girls learn.

“We are constantly looking for ways to refine our teaching methods and classroom environment, gleaning from the depth of research available.”

Two years ago, The Alliance commissioned a report looking at Australian and New Zealand Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) data, from 2015-2018. It included 314 individual measures comparing the responses of girls from single-sex and co-ed schools.

The report found that girls at single-sex schools out-performed girls from co-ed schools on nearly all academic measures, and social and emotional outcomes. Alliance Executive Officer Loren Bridge said part of the success was down to girls schools being able to create learning environments and experiences that shape girls’ self concept, helping them to overcome the gender biases and stereotypes that exist in our society.

She said in a girls school there are fewer barriers to participation and every aspect of school life is designed and tailored for girls.

Here at Westlake, our vision is to help create confident, robust, optimistic, proud citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand, equipped for global success. We do this through our Strategic Plan, which focuses on three key areas – Understanding Growth, Inspiring Growth and Leading Growth. We’ll be able to share more about our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan with you shortly.

Progress Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

You will have received your daughter’s interim report via the Parent Portal last Friday. Face-to-face Parent Teacher Interviews will go ahead next term, provided Auckland is at the Orange traffic light setting. There will be two options for you to book to meet your daughter’s teachers – on Thursday 12 May or Tuesday 17 May. Parents and caregivers will receive an email at the beginning of Term 2, confirming these dates and giving instruction on booking the appointments for the evening(s).

Mid-year Assessment Week

We are going to have an opportunity for all Year 11-13 students to experience one or more examination situations in Week 8 of Term 2. The rationale for this is that students have not experienced as many opportunities for examinations in the past two years as normal, due to Covid restrictions in 2020 and 2021. This opportunity will give students greater confidence in preparation and writing examinations as we move into the second half of the year.

Year 11 students will just have a Mathematics examination to be written on Monday 20 June. They will be back in normal timetabled lessons from Tuesday 21 June.

Year 12 students will just have an English examination which will be written on Monday 20 June. They will be back in normal timetabled lessons from Tuesday 2 June.

Year 13 students will have the opportunity to write some examinations on Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 June. All Year 13 students will be back in normal timetabled lessons from Period 3 on 22 June.

ANZAC Service next week

On Thursday 14 April, WGHS is holding an ANZAC Commemoration Service in the Courtyard outside our Event Centre at lunchtime. The service will include poetry readings, musical tributes and a minutes’ silence observed. All students and staff are invited to be a part of this special commemoration.

2022 Cross Country event

Our Cross Country event will take place at Westlake Girls on Thursday 5 May. It’s a House event with House points allocated to all participating students. The event is compulsory for all Year 9 students, who do not need to register. All students in Years 10- 13 must register before 3pm on Tuesday 3 May, using the link below.

2022 Cross Country Event Registration Form 

Parking Request

We have received a message from Cyclespot, which is located on Wairau Road where Target used to be. The store has car parks for its customers’ use, however it is being used as a drop-off and collection point for students from the Westlake Schools.

Cyclespot has requested for parents to kindly not park in their car park. It’s proving very frustrating for staff and customers. In support of Cyclespot, we ask that you please find an alternative location for drop-off and collection of your student so that we retain our good relationships with our surrounding community.

Term 1/2 Key Dates