In mid-August, Westlake Girls and North Harbour Rotary held a very successful BBQ at Bunnings in Wairau Valley.

Our Westlake students joined the community-minded team of Rotarians, led by Jerry Norman and Nickie Miles, to cook up a feast of sausages for Bunnings customers as they passed by.
The Sausage Sizzle is yet another Rotary fundraising event, held throughout the year to support local community charities and individuals struggling with the cost-of-living.

Our girls continually support North Harbour Rotary by donating their time, holding can drives, winter clothing appeals, and environmental initiatives, as well as refilling the sanitary products in every bathroom across our school.

The BBQ was generously supported by Bunnings customers who told our girls to “keep the change” and by donating despite not wanting a sausage so early in the morning. Everyone worked tirelessly, and their effort was rewarded by the highest amount collected at a BBQ yet!

Many thanks to North Harbour Rotary for their continued support of the various initiatives at our school and to Bunnings for the BBQ and space.

Congratulations and thanks to Kayla Gallagher, Ishika Kumar, Chloie Pana, Maegan de Leon, Jessie Qian, Zara Gillard, Kalina Angelova, Irene Hanna, and Sivani Kalamraju. You all did fantastically well!

Congratulations to Y13 student Alastor Spear, who raised over $1,000 in about ten days for cancer research in the ‘Shave for a Cure’ initiative. This is an incredible effort in raising money and awareness of this great cause.

A local hairdresser (Bespoke Barbers) opened specially on a Sunday to shave Alastor’s hair. The photos show the process, including before and after shots.

“Thank you all so much for donating and helping out Kiwis in need. On average, 8 people are diagnosed with blood cancer daily. Thanks to your help, we have already raised so much to go towards the research that is needed to help find a cure for this.” From Alastor’s ‘Shave for a Cure’ page.

Main image above, Deputy Head Prefect Anahera Petera with her mum, Deb Cootes.

Guests at this year’s Mother-Daughter Breakfast were welcomed with the joyful sounds of the Westlake Jazz Band, who set the tone beautifully.

They played three pieces:

• Georgia On My Mind – Hoagy Carmichael, Arr. Mike Tomaro (Soloists: Limin Khaw: Alto Sax, Hannah Wilmot: Trombone)

• Fever – John Davenport and Eddie Cooley, Arr. Roger Holmes (Vocalist: Martha Madayag)

• Tio Macaco – Snarky Puppy, Arr. Jono Howan (Soloists: Winnie Meng: Flute, Antonija Georgieva: Alto Sax, Megan Leslie: Trumpet, Hannah Wilmot: Trombone, Percussion: Charlotte Smith, Alyssa Song)

Jane Stanley then opened the morning with a thoughtful address, drawing on recent research that shows a strong link between supportive relationships with mothers and other significant female figures – and young women’s academic success, confidence, and wellbeing.

Our guest speaker, Toni Street, was inspirational. She spoke with humour and warmth, while also sharing her extraordinary personal story of resilience. Toni described growing up with the unimaginable loss of three siblings – including her brother, who died in a farm accident when she was just 18. Against this backdrop, she emphasised the importance of taking risks, doing things even when they feel frightening or overwhelming, listening to your instincts, and yes, listening to your mum!

Toni’s message resonated strongly with our students: when she was 13, she dreamed of becoming a sports reporter, but by the time she finished school, she had lost faith in her ability to follow that path. She began a commerce degree instead – until her mother asked if she still wanted to be a journalist. With that encouragement, she applied for journalism school, and today she is living her dream career. Toni urged the girls to seize opportunities, to put their hands up, to join clubs, to lead groups, and above all, to “do what makes you happy.”

There was then a gracious thank you to Toni from Head Prefect Julia Wilkins, followed by our raffle, where several spectacular prizes were won thanks to our kind sponsors.

A huge thank you goes to the Westlake Rowing Society and Dean Flyger for organising this much-loved event. Thank you very much too, to our sponsors: Ashia Ismail-Singer Real Estate, Shakespeare Orthodontics, Westlake Girls Rowing, North Shore Flooring Xtra and Forsyth Barr. Your generosity made the morning possible. 

To see more photos from this lovely event on our website’s Video and Photo Galleries page, click here.

To listen to the radio episode Toni broadcast from our Event Centre foyer  listerally moments before stepping on stage, click here.

Peace Week was held this year from 4-8 August. We run Peace Week annually with events organised and run by student leaders. Students Aashini Kumaran and Kiri Woodward led the way this year with their team of ten Year 10 to Year 13 students. We held daily activities throughout the week, with the chance for participants to gain a Peace Week badge for their blazer. On Monday, the paper crane activity took place, with over seventy attendees who folded paper cranes in honour of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who was two years old when the first atomic bomb landed in Hiroshima. Sadako has now become a symbol of peace and hope, and we conduct this activity each year to honour her and her story, and allow ourselves to connect and reflect on history. On Tuesday, we held our scavenger hunt. This activity highlighted quick thinking, and we were delighted to see the pure enthusiasm from the participants.

Wednesday saw another popular tradition: Peace Rock Painting, where participants create designs to show what peace means to them. They were each given rocks and painting materials to bring their colourful and meaningful ideas to life. Towards the end, teachers selected the top three winners who received prizes. Students got to take their rock home as a reminder of peace, creativity and fun.

The Peace Quiz is also a very popular activity, and once again, Rosmini College joined us to compete for the top prize.. We had 12 teams enter the quiz this year: ten from Westlake Girls, and two from Rosmini. The questions included peace icons, Peace Week knowledge, and questions about the United Nations. We also included a minigame whilst the scores were tallied. Having Rosmini involved has become a valued Peace Week tradition, making it a fun Thursday.

Finally, on Friday, we held the ever-popular Project Runway, where chaos and teamwork resulted in fashionable newspaper designs. Each team collaborates to create a fashion piece inspired by this year’s Peace Week theme and their unique interpretation of peace. A model from the team took to the runway while their speaker described their creation to the judges and audience. The top three designs were chosen.

Peace Week always symbolises teamwork, friendship, and peace, and 2025 was yet another massive success for our school community – a vibrant celebration of harmony and connection. The Peace Week student leaders are now looking forward to attending the Youth Peace Symposium 2025 to wrap up the events. A big thank you to everyone who participated and made the week more peaceful, and of course, to our fantastic teachers who supplied all the materials, prizes and support needed throughout the week.                                      

By Aashini Kumaran and Kiri Woodward Year 13

It has been a busy and exciting few weeks with a range of opportunities for students to get involved and contribute to their House Point total. From Arts Week and Cultural Trivia Challenge to spirited competition in lunchtime sport, students have shown energy and teamwork.

A huge thank you goes to the Arts Committee for leading a creative and engaging Arts Week, to the Cultural Committee for running a fun and challenging trivia event, and to the Sports & Wellbeing Prefects for organising the lunchtime sport competitions that brought so much energy and house spirit.

A big congratulations also goes to all those who completed the AI Units (Years 10–13). Not only did students upskill in an area that will be incredibly valuable for the future, but their hard work also gave a significant boost to the House Point totals.

With only a few weeks to go until the end of term, the competition is still wide open. Every point counts—so keep getting involved and support your House! Students will earn House Points for each extracurricular group they are enrolled in and contribute to (as listed on their school report). In addition, Year 9s completing the AI Units will soon see their effort reflected in the totals.

This will be the final House Points update published before we announce the overall House Cup winner at the Final Prizegiving in Term 4.

The annual World Vision 40 Hour Challenge united students in a worldwide effort to raise awareness and funds for communities facing poverty and inequality. Participants completed the challenge from June 13-15 to raise money to help alleviate the Solomon Islands’ hunger and climate crises.

Our Student Leadership Committee collaborated with peers and experts at the World Vision Youth Conference, equipping themselves with the knowledge and tools to engage our community through activities such as form class visits and interactive lunchtime activations.

Image above: Back row L-R: Tazkia Ahmed, Ann Chen, Dina Attraqchi, Jana Kak, Diya Kansara, Estella Hipkins, Emily Stretton. Front row L-R Dorsa Jahedi, Joel Titus, Audrey Malloy.

We had 151 participants complete the 40-Hour Challenge this year, and our top three fundraisers were Eva Cunningham, Kiley Zaayman and Isla Penberthy. Their efforts led to $18,578 raised, showing how empowered youth initiatives can drive real-world change through compassion, leadership, and commitment to justice.

Thank you, Westlake!

Main image above: L-R: Joel Titus, Isla Penberthy, Kiley Zaayman, Eva Cunningham