If you’ve been anywhere near our school over the past few months, you’ve no doubt noticed the imposing concrete framing that is dominating the skyline.
It might not look particularly pretty at the moment, but that concrete represents one of the most exciting structural changes our school has seen for a long time.
Our new multi-purpose Events Centre is due for completion in May 2021, and will become the home of our performing arts, school events such as assemblies and speech competitions, and a host of other activities. In short, it will become the heart of our school community – and our local community too.
We are very excited to announce that we will be holding our first-ever Westlake Girls High School Giving Day 2020, to help raise funds for this much anticipated facility. Most of $10million funding has already been raised – but we are reaching out to our whānau to help get us across the line.
You’ll be receiving an email from us after the holidays about how you can join the team, while becoming part of Westlake’s history. Our Giving Day will be held during the week of 26 October, and no amount is too little to make a difference.
We also have a range of gifting and sponsorship opportunities that involve naming rights or external branding within the centre – and many of them are extremely affordable. If your business is a good fit with our school, or your family wants to leave a legacy, we’d love to talk with you further. You can check out: https://community.westlakegirls.school.nz/#givetotheeventcentre
Watch out for more information coming shortly about our Giving Day 2020.
The long awaited Westlake Gala Concert was able to take place with a restricted live audience of 100, thanks to an event endorsement from the Ministry of Education.
Choralation Choir – directed by Rowan Johnston
Onewa and Hauraki Houses held their final fundraiser for 2020 today, raising money for their charities (Onewa – Children’s Autism Foundation, Hauraki – Shine).
The extraordinary contribution of our 90 Prefects in a very disrupted 2020 was celebrated with a High Tea and alumni leadership panel this week.
Jennah Wootton is General Manager Partnerships and Communications at Sport New Zealand, with extensive experience in leading and delivering commercially successful mega events. She was Chief Executive of the highly successful World Masters Games and has worked on some of Auckland’s most high profile events.
The afternoon included a presentation by our Head Prefect Kaia Tupu-South, Deputy Head Prefect Darcy Frank, and five House Captains – Beth Naylor, Sania Jafarian, Anya Powell, Lara Remo and Maddison Gerbes (who couldn’t be there in person but appeared via video). The students shared insightful results from their leadership project, which investigated cultural inclusivity at Westlake Girls.
It seems living in the City of Sails has a strong impact on our students! Meet Freya Caisley (pictured above second from left) a Year 11 student who is completing the year-long youth training programme with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. It runs from May to March and sailors learn to sail 7m Elliot Keel boats.
Let’s face it – 2020 has been tough. But in amongst the lockdowns and Alert Levels, there have been some amazing success stories. Greta Pilkington is one of them.
To provide a sense of perspective, Marit Bouwmeester (NED) who went on to win the Laser Radial Worlds in February this year, won her first World Title in 2006 when Greta was just three-years-old. Shas since competed in over 130 international regattas since 2006 and is currently ranked #4 in the world.
Not to be outdone, the Teachers Championship produced humorous moments and passionate rallies. The semi-finals saw Faculty Head, Leisen Jobe, face off against science teacher, Victor Jones, in a match that produced a vigorous first set with neither players wanting to yield – but Victor eventually won 22-20 and then 21 -14 before readying himself for the big final against TIC Visual Arts, Kheang Ov. TIC Business Studies, Phil Cowley met Kheang in the other semi-final and fought hard with some frantic rallies before Kheang won 21 -17, 21-14.
There was some fierce rivalry when the teachers played netball against a mixed team of Year 12 and 13 students this week.
We are pleased to announce that Year 12 student Sarah Penny has been elected as our 2020/21 Student Representative on the Board of Trustees. Well done to all 10 of our candidates for their professional campaigns. We will have a story on Sarah in the next edition of The Voice.
Te Wiki o te reo Māori was celebrated last week with activities run by our Ngā Rangatira Āpōpō student leaders with a hangi, ki a rahi games day, kapa haka performance and Taniwha treasure hunt – and a national promoted event that our school supported by singing ‘Tūtira mai ngā iwi’ at midday on the first day of Māori Language week.
Here are a few photos of the activities held throughout the week.
Year 12 student Madisson Mataafa (pictured left on the left) has been selected for the 2020 NZR Barbarians/Blues Under 18 Development Squad.
Her favourite aspect of the game is the camaraderie with other players. “I think off the field it’s the type of environment and vibes you get with the girls of every age. It’s more of a family-orientated thing, and no matter who you’re playing for, everyone’s supportive. On the field it’s the rush of adrenaline when you’re taking your first run and making your first tackle in the game.”