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Te Reo O Te Roto
The Language of the Lake
Issue 19 | 20 November 2020
Sports

Westlake Girls wins Silver at the Auckland Secondary Schools Junior Volleyball Championships

Congratulations to the Westlake Girls Junior A volleyball team for reaching the finals of the Auckland Championship tournament after winning all their games, without dropping a set in pool play.

In the quarter final, they met Ormiston before facing Mangere College in the semi-final where they were efficient and thorough.  However, in the final they faced North Shore foe, Rangitoto College who eventually won in two tight sets. The team came away with a silver medal and top honours for two players.  Congratulations to Holly Isherwood and Rebecca Moors who were both selected for the Auckland tournament team.

Two teams represented Westlake Girls at the Auckland Champs and the young WGHS 9A team ended up being the highest performing second team from a school at the Auckland Champs.  Captained by Tai Baillie, the Year 9 team finished second in their pool after losing to Orewa A and beating Aorere A in 3 sets.  The 9A team finished 12th out of 48 teams.  Westlake Girls will field 3 teams at the North Island Secondary School Junior Championships in Mt Maunganui from 23 – 26 November.

Photo above: A spiking shot of Rebecca Moors.

Academic

International students enjoy offsite activities

After  a year of studying with us for 2020, Amelie Kreibich, Yui Matsumoto and Takara Sugimoto, three of our international students have been kept busy with educational activities during the NCEA exam time before returning to their home countries.

The girls experienced life on a farm at Sheepworld near Warkworth, feeding the animals, learning how to spin and making butter.

They completed a 2-day Barista course in Devonport learning how to make a range of café coffees, hot chocolate and decorative designs on the top.  A lot of chocolate sprinkle was  also used to decorate their coffees!

They also painted a colourful art canvas of the Harbour Bridge lit up at night, to remind them of their NZ experience.

The activities will end with a day of exploring Waiheke Island next week.

Community

Homestay families thanked for support in difficult year

Last Wednesday, it was our privilege to hold a celebration night to thank our wonderful homestay families for their tremendous contribution to our school this year. We had 18 families attend the evening – each hosting at least one International student this year.

This was certainly one of the more challenging years for our International students – with many watching the pandemic ravage their home countries. The extra support and care shown by our host families was greatly appreciated.

“It would be easy to look back on 2020 and focus on the challenges,” says International Director Lauranne Croot. “But it also brought success and accomplishment from within our international cohort, and we are very proud of the way our robust and resilient students continued to track above expectation right throughout 2020. That, in no small way, is due to the support and encouragement of our homestay families.  The value of a safe and enjoyable learning and living environment can’t be underestimated.”

We wish all of our host families a wonderful and relaxing Christmas and New Year holiday.

Pictured above is Nancy Jing – one of our International Students speaking to the Homestay families on the night.

Academic

Important Things to Note - 20 November

Junior Prize-Giving details

Our Junior Prize-Giving will be held on Wednesday 9 December onsite here at Westlake Girls High School. Details are:

Year 10 students: Prize winners should arrive at 8.30am and go to Gym 3. All other Year 10 students should arrive at school for 8.45am and go straight to Gym 3 where the Prize-Giving will commence at 9am. Students should sit in their Form Class groups and are asked not to bring their school bags to the Prize-Giving. They are expected to be in full uniform, including blazer. Family are welcome to attend and you will be notified if your daughter is receiving an award. After the prize-giving is over (approximately one hour) Year 10 students will be released to go home (10am).

Year 9 students: Should arrive at school for 9.30am and go to their Form Class. From there, they will move across to Gym 3 for their Prize-Giving, which will commence at 10.30am. Students are asked not to bring their school bags to the Prize-Giving, but are expected in full uniform, including blazer. Family are welcome to attend and you will be notified if your daughter is receiving an award. After the prize-giving is over (approximately one hour), Year 9 students will be released to go home (11.30am).

Please note that this is a scheduled school day and student attendance is expected.

Assistance needed for Second-Hand Uniform Sale

The yearly Second Hand Uniform Sale  is happening on Saturday 12 December from 10am to 2pm in Gym 3. The Parents Forum (which is running the sale) is urgently in need of 12 helpers on the day, and to tag the incoming uniform items on Thursday 10 December from 4 to 6pm and Friday 11 December from 1.30 to 3.30pm. If you are able to assist on any of those days, please email Barbara Scholten [email protected]

It’s time to renew student lockers for 2021

Locker renewal is now available for 2021.  If your daughter would like to retain the locker she currently has, this needs to be done by 30 November 2020.  The price remains the same at $60 per year.  Payments can be made through the Website Payments Page:

https://www.westlakegirls.school.nz/payments/lockers/

Or at the Payments Office.  Lockers not renewed by 30 November 2020 will be marked as available for 2021 on 1 December 2020 and will be available to all students. If you would like to move lockers from your current place – please come to see us at the Payments Office from 1 December 2020.

School Year Book 2020

Our 2020 School Year Book will be available next week. We’ll send you an email to confirm when your daughter will be able to collect one from the Payments Office, showing her student ID. Copies of the 128-page book are available free of charge to every student who has paid the school donation this year. If you haven’t paid the donation, you can purchase a copy for $20 from the Payments Office. Again, students just need to bring along their school ID, along with cash or card.

Term Dates available on our website

You’ll find 2021 Term Dates on our website under Key Dates: https://www.westlakegirls.school.nz/key-dates/

New bell times for 2021

We are slightly changing our bell times for 2021, although this won’t affect the start or end times for school. You can find all the details on our website: https://www.westlakegirls.school.nz/key-dates/

Remaining Term 4 Key Dates

Wednesday 9 December: NCEA exams finish
Wednesday 9 December: Junior Prize-giving
Wednesday 9 December: Term 4 finishes
Saturday 12 December: Second-hand Uniform Shop Sale in Gym 3, 10am

Community

Last day to purchase from our Christmas pop-up shop

If you’re looking for Christmas gift inspiration, we’ve got you covered! Our team at Westlake Girls has hand-picked these exclusive items to help make your Christmas shopping just a little easier this year. But you’ve only got today left to make your purchases!

Our products cater for a range of tastes and budgets, and have been selected for their quality and workmanship. Our online purchase system is secure, and with each product sold a percentage of the funds will go towards our new Event Centre. It’s like giving twice! These stylish gifts are guaranteed to be a hit, so order today!

All orders will be dispatched the week of 7 December

SHOP NOW

 

 

Sports

Divers perform well at Nationals

Three Westlake students have had an outstanding year in diving.

Grace Campbell is a member of the New Zealand Diving Development Squad. She recently competed at the New Zealand Diving Championship coming came 1st in the Junior Elite 13 years – 1 metre and platform. Grace also came 1st in the Junior Division of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championship and also helped Westlake Girls to finish second over all.

Holly Winchester (pictured right) is a member of the New Zealand Diving Team and will compete in the Open Womens Platform at an upcoming Grand Prix event. At the National Championship she placed first in the Open Womens Platform and 1st in the Girls 14 – 18 Synchronised swimming. Holly also helped Westlake Girls to place 2nd overall at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championship, by placing 1st in the Intermediate Girls and 3rd in Synchronised diving with  Grace Campbell.

And finally, Kaitlin Viljoen was the third member of the school team who placed second overall at Nationals. She finished 4th in the 15-16 years diving event.

 

Community

Student Action Team tackles issue of mental wellbeing

By Shivani Arivuchelvan, Year 9
Student Action Team


As the Student Action Team, we have been looking into Key Focus Topics for our actions in Westlake Girls this year. This year our interests regarded the mental wellbeing of our peers here at Westlake. Several of our peers, and ourselves, believed that tuning and strengthening our mental wellbeing could aid us to achieve more success; gaining us the ability to have a positive and growth mindset to our learning and completing our assignments, as we strived through our journey. We found that this focus area of developing and strengthening our mental wellbeing encouraged us to become resilient young women leading active and productive lives, as stated in our 3rd School Goal. The skills we gained within wellbeing would refresh and inspire us to take notice of the actions and challenges we will face in our future.

 

Being strong inquirers, with our vision of action set out in a concrete plan, we started our phase of ideation. The method of ideation represented the aim of generating a range of ideas for a solution. As a team, we always pursued creativity and productivity with an element of fun and enjoyment. We were hoping for improvement. Wellbeing is a strong factor linked to culture and the atmosphere here at Westlake Girls, so we didn’t want to build something different, but to develop ideas and plans to complement existing techniques. With the advice of teachers, peers, and even ourselves, we have finalised an overall action and image that is endorsed by various factors/activities. We organided immersive and free-spaced mental wellbeing workshops.  

 

Our wellbeing workshop was designed with the encouragement of factors such as guidance from seniors, guest speakers, engaging events, open discussions as a whole, and take-away lessons in the form of a small gift accompanied by a podcast series. We built a prototype to test our vision. Our prototype was in the way of a mock-up session on the theme of helping the Year 9’s Guide to Exams and the tension that could arise around it. A small group of students enjoyed our activities, and the smiles of trust as they left the session gave us confidence within ourselves. Activities enjoyed among the participants included Five Top Tips from our seniors, scenarios and solutions, Do’s and Don’ts on planning for an exam, and the exam buddies bookmark.

 

As a team, we were delighted with the constructive advice we gained through the workshops and were open to all feedback on the changes they would like to see in future workshops. Our tree of action will continue to prosper, and we look forward to having this club set up and running in the years to come at Westlake. The journey with the SAT this year has allowed us to realise that the knowledge and actions we seede within ourselves create the golden pathway for us to be prepared and enjoy a great future for not only us, but generations to come.

 

As a team, we are very grateful to be guided and supported by our fantastic Student Action Team Teachers Mrs Cleaver and Mrs Desote. Without them we would not have been able to accomplish our actions and have the courage to keep going even in these unforeseen times. Thank you for your time and support this year, you have really helped us and our ideas grow. 

Academic

Welcome to Westlake!

Our 2021 Year 9 cohort was welcomed to Westlake on Friday 13 November.

The Year 8 students, from a variety of schools around Auckland, gathered on the covered courts for a welcome by Principal Jane Stanley and other senior staff. They were then broken into groups of 10 and assigned a current Year 9 Ambassador to show them around and introduce them to Westlake. The current Year 9 students spent an afternoon training to be leaders for Orientation, and were professional and polished on the day.

Along with a testing session, the students also visited the library, tech rooms and classrooms, and checked out the sporting facilities. There were fun activities and the chance to make new friends.

We’re looking forward to welcoming them back at the start of 2021.

Pictured top are (from left) Sienna Thompson, Fiona Yang and Danika Zaidi ready to escort their group.

 

Community

Awesome team effort raises funds for Event Centre

The hockey fundraising season is over, but that didn’t stop a dedicated group of students and parents generously giving of their time to raise money for the school.

This winter, 2nd XI Hockey Mum Wendy Filip organised sausage sizzles at Bunnings to fundraise for tournament. Bunnings contact Wendy whenever there was a cancellation or spare slot for their weekend sausage sizzle. That happened recently, and Wendy and the team decided to go ahead, despite the fact fundraising is over for the year.

“As the winter hockey season was finished, we agreed that we would put a portion of the proceeds to the Event Centre project and the remainder would be for the girls who helped, so they could put it towards their hockey tournament fees for next year – either for 1st or 2nd XI tournament dependent on their team selection,” says 2nd XI Hockey Manager and sausage sizzle voluneeter Robyn McNaughton.

The group raised a brilliant $337 for the Event Centre – for which the school is extremely grateful. A huge thank you to the students and their parents: Anja Filip, Zoe Crawford, Danni Hall, Ashley Brown, Maia Houkamau and Kate Thornhill.

Picture above are Sharyn Brown, Danni Hall, Steve Brown and Ashley Brown.

Pictured top are Maia Houkamau, Sarah Thornhill, Kate Thornhill, Terry Houkamau.

Not featured are: Anja Filip, Wendy Filip, Zoe Crawford, Robyn (2nd XI Manager) and Geoff McNaughton (2nd XI coach).

 

Academic

Science Communicator returns

We were delighted to welcome Nava Fedaeff, Class of 2006, back to Westlake as guest speaker at the 2020 Leavers’ Graduation function.

Nava gave an engaging presentation about her route to her current role as a Forecaster and Science Communicator with NIWA, from her own Leavers’ function in 2006, when she was undecided about her pathway after Westlake, like quite a number in the graduating group.

Following a gap year, she completed a BSc at the University of Auckland, then an Honours Degree in Geography, with volunteer conservation projects in Costa Rica and Thailand giving her further experience in the field. When she joined NIWA in 2014 as a Climate Scientist she was the youngest at that time.

Now, nearly 15 years on from Westlake, and following further specialised study in the UK in Operational Meteorology, she is working in a field that encompasses her interest in geography and the environment, as well as her love of Art,  over a large range of projects visualising data and creating digital content.

Nava was also recently acknowledged as NIWA’s Science Communicator of the Year.

Sports

Westlake to welcome new volleyball coach

We are delighted to announce that the 2021 Westlake Girls Premier Volleyball coach will be Katie Adamson (pictured left in action).

Katie is an accomplished volleyball player herself, having gained a scholarship to play University volleyball in the USA from 2012-2017.  She has also been a member of the NZ Senior Women’s volleyball team since 2015 and has been a dominant player in the NZ club volleyball scene.  In 2019 Katie played a season of professional volleyball in Austria, Europe.

WGHS volleyball players are very fortunate to have the opportunity to be coached by Katie who will be bringing a wealth of experience to the school.

There will be open trials for the 2021 Premier and Senior A Volleyball teams on Sunday 6 December, 4-6pm, at AUT and then a call-back trial for the Premier team on Monday 7 December, 1.30-3.30pm, also at AUT.  Student can register for the trials HERE

Community

Westlake Wellness - Maintaining postivie habits around food

By Elizabeth Beaumont
TIC Food Technology

In a previous article I have discussed research that suggests it takes a minimum of 21 days to form a new habit, one that becomes part of your routine, and longer for more complex habits to become a permanent part of your life.

With a long summer break coming up it is a great time to think about some of the things you could change for the better to improve your health. By adopting habits that have a positive impact on your wellbeing, you can make small improvements which have a big impact. You could challenge a friend or family member to start a good habit with you and encourage one another. Many of the habits you form during adolescence stay with you for life, so making positive changes can only be good for your wellbeing.

Simple habits around food can benefit both mental and physical wellbeing:

  • Stay hydrated – water is the best
  • Eat regularly – three meals a day, spaced at regular intervals
  • Incorporate fruit and vegetables at every meal
  • Swap high fat, salt and sugar treats for snacks that provide valuable nutrients – hummus and vegetables, nuts, fresh fruit
  • Control portion sizes – the link below shows a very practical way to do this CLICK HERE
  • Eat consciously – sit with family of friends and socialise, eating with others improves the experience but also makes you aware of what you are eating
Community

Thank you from all of us!

A massive thank you to all of our parents who contributed to last week’s amazing staff morning tea. We are very grateful for all the gifts and yummy food.

We especially want to thank Barbara Scholten from the Parents Forum and her brilliant group of volunteers who were at the school early for set up – and stayed through to clean-up.

Arts & Culture

Mural reflects Westlake's culture

How do we celebrate our diverse culture at WGHS?

For the Art Department the best solution was to create a Mural to capture what we treasure the most, our diverse and uniqueness. The 12 metre panel captures iconic imagery of patterns, shapes and colour to symbolise our culture.

Who created this fantastic mural?

Emma Ormsby, our Art Technician, accepted the challenge and applied this opportunity with enthusiasm and superb organisational skills. Emma was a Year 13 student in 2019, and is currently studying a conjoint Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts in Māori Students at the University of Auckland.

The inception of this process began earlier in the year, and was delayed due to lockdown. However, there is always a silver lining as it allowed us to ask some key questions, such as how do we make this meaningful to our school? How will we get this done?

In Term 4 Emma had the vision to reflect our culture by having an emphasis on collaboration. Our Year 11 and Year 9 Art students contributed by brushing on a palette of harmonious colours. To take it a step further, Emma entered the Mural into the “Mural Masterpieces” competition and also submitted it as her Drawing assignment at Elam School of Fine Arts. Fingers crossed Emma receives positive outcomes for both.

This journey was been one to treasure and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. They say “Good things take time” but without Emma’s motivation, passion and the creative drive to complete the Mural we would still have a blank canvas lining our school.

NB: When the Event Centre is complete, the Mural will be moved to another location within our school.

 

Academic

Two alumnae win North Harbour Club 2020 AIMES awards

Congratulations to Olivia McNeill, Class of 2014, and Lina Kim, Class of 2015, who have won major awards at the 2020 North Harbour Club AIMES Awards.

Violinist Olivia McNeill (pictured left) won the AIMES Music award and a cash grant of $15,000.

She has long harboured a wish to study and play music in Germany, inspired by a school exchange to Munich in 2012, and a tour of Europe as concertmaster of Westlake Symphony and Chamber Orchestras in 2014. This year, she was selected for a prestigious masters music programme at the University of the Arts in Bremen.

At Westlake, Olivia was a leading musician in Symphony and Chamber Orchestras for 5 years and was part of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra from the age of 13.

She completed a BA, majoring in German Studies, and a BMus (Hons), in Violin Performance at the University of Auckland, and was Concertmaster of the University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, along with winning a number of musical prizes.

Olivia will use her AIMES grant towards her study in Germany.

 

Lina Kim (pictured right), an alumna from the Class of 2015, won The North Harbour Club Ross Finlayson Award for Community Leadership.

Lina was fully involved in school life throughout her years at Westlake, participating in  Premier Debating, MUNA, Tutoring programmes, Drama productions, and Choralation Choir, as well as leadership roles as  Board of Trustees representative and House Captain.

Currently in her final year for a BA/LLB (Hons) at the University of Auckland, Lina has been President of the Auckland Law Students’ Society (2019) and was also selected to represent New Zealand youth on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded research trip to South East Asia.

Other achievements include being Student Representative on the Legal Research Foundation and leading the Auckland Ambassadors Programme for UN Youth Auckland. Currently Lina is working as a Law Clerk at Russell McVeagh and as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Auckland.

Recently she co-founded an entity called PĀUA, a mentoring initiative that aims to empower cultural conversations at workplaces in New Zealand.

Academic

Business Academy to launch in 2021

We are delighted to announce that in 2021 Westlake Girls High School will be developing a Business Academy.

Our aim is to prepare a strategic pathway for students who may want to pursue business as an academic and career option, or perhaps create their own businesses. We want to combine current business theory and practice with real life experiences through partnerships with a range of external stakeholders.

We would love to hear from a range of ex students, parents of current students and others who could assist us in this goal.

Please feel free to email our Head of Business Studies Phil Cowley [email protected] if you have relevant business experience/knowledge that could be shared with our students. The students would certainly appreciate your assistance in this.

Community

School TV - Having the Alcohol Discussion

With the impending festive season and end of school celebrations, some teenagers may be feeling ready to party, wanting to put the disruptions, frustrations and disappointments of this past year, behind them.

To ensure our young people stay safe during this time, parents and carers are encouraged to have the alcohol discussion – no matter how difficult or overwhelming it may be. It is important to outline the rules and boundaries around age-appropriate alcohol consumption and what the legal implications may be.

Young people are at greater risk of alcohol-related harm than adults because their brains continue to develop until their mid-twenties. The safest level of alcohol consumption for teenagers, is no alcohol at all, but this may be difficult to enforce and may not prevent them from experimenting. However, parents and carers can influence sensible drinking habits and help minimise the risks.

In this Special Report, a series of discussion points are offered to help make the conversation about alcohol consumption a little easier. If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your daughter, please seek medical or professional help.

View the Special Report HERE

Academic

Future students plan life on Mars

We may be today’s students, but we are tomorrow’s leaders. This was the primary driver for our day on Friday 13 November with the Year 8s who will be attending Westlake as Year 9s in 2021.

The core values of cooperation, innovation, and futuristic thinking are embodied by the STEAM programme at Westlake. With these values in mind, as a team we set a futuristic scene in the year 2050, and the challenge of survival on Mars by designing a human colony.

As strong inquirers and young colonists, the Year 8’s scientific and technological approaches included ways to harness water in the form of vapour through condensation, biodomes to sustain life and grow ample sources of food, and designing clothes that will sustain in the hostile climate of Mars. Our learners were great thinkers and had looked into the society and wellbeing of others within the Martian environment. Seeing the happiness of the Year 8s who entered our workshops gave us hope, hope that women’s power will always be flourishing and an answer to Kate Shepherd’s question Are we there yet? Now I can assure her that we are one step closer.

Shivani Arivuchelvan, Year 9 STEAM    

 

I was a part of helping out with the STEAM part of the Year 8 orientation. We dressed as astronauts and helped the Year 8s with the task. The scenario was that planet Earth was dying and half the human population was moving to Mars to give the planet a chance to recover. The task was to design a specific aspect of the colony. It was a lot of fun dressing up and getting to talk to the Year 8s. It was really strange to think that just last year I was one of them.

Jin-Joo Lee, Year 9 STEAM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sports

Sports Update

Swimming

Swimming New Zealand has named their 2020 – 2021 National Squad, three of whom are Westlake students and all part of the North Shore Club. Congratulations to Zoe Crawford, Savannah-Eve Martin, and Chloe Seaman.

Lena Hamblyn-Ough has also been selected for the National Distance Camp 2020, through her swimming club, Coast.

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