This week we acknowledged and farewelled our Associate Principal Julie Saikkonen, after 22 years of service to Westlake Girls High School. Her contribution to our school was celebrated with a morning tea and the tributes flowed from staff who have worked with Julie over many years. She will be missed by her colleagues and we wish her all the very best for her future endeavours.

We thought we would give the last word to Julie herself.

JULIE SAIKKONEN

Westlake Girls has been an integral part of my life for the last 22 years – beginning at the end of the last century! I arrived at Westlake Girls after several years at Rangitoto College where I had been assistant head of the Mathematics Department. My new role was to lead a very experienced and talented team of Mathematics teachers at this high performing school. I was very privileged to work in this harmonious department that was committed to assisting students to achieve their very best in Mathematics.

Over the next few years, we transitioned from the traditional examination system (School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and University Bursaries examinations) to what we now know as NCEA which combined Internal and External Assessment. Making the necessary adjustments in teaching and learning was not without its challenges and we soon realised that change was to become a constant. No longer was there one or two Mathematics courses but Statistics became a subject in its own right as the need to understand and process data emerged as an important skill for many other learning areas.

Four years later I moved into senior leadership and took on various portfolios including IT, timetabling, curriculum and assessment. That year (2003) Westlake Girls built its first fully functional network and all teachers were issued with their own laptops. Little did we know then that some five years later our school would have a wifi network and another five years later we would be trialling BYOD classes in Year 9. As a school we moved quite quickly to the forefront of digital learning with all students now using devices in their classes. How crucial that progress turned out to be not only in 2020 when we had to adapt to online learning as we locked down for several weeks on two occasions but also for our first introduction to online learning which occurred when our Year 12 students were sent home to study during the Swine Flu epidemic in 2009.

My time at Westlake Girls has been full of highlights. Working with and for talented and hard-working staff across all areas of the school has been a privilege. More recently in my role as Associate Principal I have worked closely with the Music Department, the Library and the International team. Travelling with the Music Department of both schools to Europe in 2014 was a once in a lifetime experience. The devotion and commitment of staff and students to building a culture of excellence is something I will always remember. This is just one area of the school where we see great examples of all aspects of the key competencies of the New Zealand curriculum in action.

One of the benefits of being in senior leadership means that one can gain an appreciation of a wider view of education and how many parts come together to shape the learning of our students. I have had the pleasure of working with many departments and have developed strong ties with these departments and a greater understanding of their work. When we started the STEAM programme five years ago we saw the considerable commitment made by the students and teachers to develop a programme that integrated learning across curriculum areas and saw several exciting initiatives become embedded in the curriculum.

Big schools such as Westlake provide many opportunities for students to try out new things in sport, clubs, and develop their sense of responsibility and citizenship. These opportunities are there for all to try – whether as novices or experienced participants and it never ceases to amaze me that so many students juggle a range of activities whilst excelling academically. These students leave Westlake well equipped to take on anything that life presents to them. I am proud to have been part of an organisation that has provided those opportunities.

Over the last four years I have had the opportunity to lead the Pupuke Kāhui Ako. Our nine local schools and 17 ECEs are now part of a learning community that is working together on progressing smooth transitions between the sectors as well as building strong community links, greater awareness and appreciation of our cultural and ethnic diversity and giving our students a greater voice through initiatives such as student inquiry and action groups. Working with teachers across the various sectors has helped me to understand and appreciate the different challenges and rewards our teachers experience in this vocation.

When I arrived at Westlake Girls’ I had 3 teenagers at home. Life has changed now with 5 grandchildren who inspire me as they make sense of this world. Next steps for me will first involve a break from school routines before working out what the next stage will look like. I should tackle the “To Do” list of things that I promised myself I would do “When I Have More Time” and then look for some new challenges. My thanks to everyone I have worked with; staff and students; for your friendship and stimulating conversations as we tried to solve problems both in the classroom and across the school.

Ngā mihi nui.

Our 2021 Career Bites series kicked off this week, with a talk by Kate Cresswell and Chloe Whitcombe. Kate (pictured above centre left) is Head of Production at South Seas Film School, and Chloe (pictured above centre right)  is a recent graduate who specialises in Production.

The students learnt about various training and career opportunities within the film and television industry.

Career Bites is held every Wednesday lunchtime in the Careers Department and in March we will be focusing on Health.

3 March
Nutritionist / Personal Trainer / Specialist in High-Intensity Training

10 March
Podiatrist

17 March
Nurse

24 March
2x Doctors

31 March (Creative Industries)
TV presenter, award winning journalist, ex NZ Idol

Students can check the daily notices or our Careers Page to find out who is speaking each week, and there are also posters around school.

Emailing the school

Please remember to email [email protected] for general enquiries (including changes of address or email), and [email protected] for absences. The email address that you receive most school messages from is generally used for outgoing mail and not checked regularly ([email protected]).

Report Timetable and Parent Teacher meetings

Our Junior and Senior Reports will be issued on Tuesday 30 March through the Parent Portal. Our first of two Parent Teacher meetings will be held on Thursday 8 April and Tuesday 13 April (you can book for either night). Details on how to book to meet your daughter’s teachers will be send with her report on 30 March.

Year 11 NCEA Night
Tuesday 16 March

This has been postponed due to the recent Alert Level 3 lockdown. It will be an evening for Level 1 NCEA students and parents/caregivers to provide you with the knowledge really early in the year of how NCEA works and how to get the best possible Certificate from the year. It will be held at 6.30pm in Gym 3.

There is parking available in the two staff carparks. We will be starting promptly so please be in and seated by that time. It takes about 45 minutes to go through all the key material. One of our Careers staff will speaks for about 5 minutes at the end of the presentation. You will get two very useful handouts to take away that summarise the key information. There will be a number of other senior staff with great NCEA knowledge that can answer individual questions at the end of the presentation.  Please bring a pen in case you want to add any extra notes to the handout.

The Government has proposed changes to Level 1 NCEA likely to take effect from 2021 so this could be the last year students follow the current Level 1 NCEA structure. It is therefore really important that students ensure they get their Level 1 NCEA Certificate this year under the current structure. Your knowledge and support in assisting them in this is essential and this evening will help you in this process.

Year 9 Parent Information Evening
Wednesday 17 March

We have also rescheduled our info evening for parents and caregivers of our Year 9 students. It’s a chance to find out a bit more about how Westlake Girls High School operates, and to meet your daughter’s Form Teacher. It will be held at 6.30pm in Gym 3.

You will hear from a variety of speakers, including our Principal, Sports Director and Music Director. From 7pm you will have the opportunity to meet with your daughter’s Form Teacher regarding homework, time management, absentee procedures, accessing the parent portal, and upcoming events. You’ll also meet the Year 13 Tuakana students assigned to her class.

There will be parking onsite, and no RSVP is required. This night is for parents, however your daughter is also welcome to attend. Please ensure you know the name of your daughter’s Form Class (eg, 9AED) so you’ll be able to identify the right location to meet her Form Teacher. Your daughter will have this information on her timetable.

Pasifika Fono

This is another of our events which had to be postponed due to Level 2 restrictions. It will now be held at 6.30pm on Wednesday 10 March in the school’s staffroom, Gernhoefer Admin Centre. This is a chance for our Pasifika families to meet each other, along with our Westlake Pasifika mentors.

Whānau Evening

Our Whānau Evening for Māori parents and caregivers will be held on Thursday 18 March. If you are part of our Māori Whānau, you’ll receive an invite from the school in the next week or so. It will be a wonderful opportunity for our families to meet each other, and for you to meet our Māori Mentors and other key staff. It will be held early evening, so please keep it free and you’ll receive more details shortly.

Key Dates Term 1

Tuesday 2 February – Friday 16 April
Pasifika Fono – Wednesday 10 March
ID and Class Photos – Tuesday 16 March and Wednesday 17 March
Year 11 NCEA Parent Information Evening – Tuesday 16 March
Year 9 New Parent Information Evening – Wednesday 17 March
Whānau Evening – Thursday 18 March
Junior and Senior Progress Reports – Tuesday 30 March
Good Friday – Friday 2 April (school closed)
Easter Monday – Monday 5 April (school closed)
Easter Tuesday – Tuesday 6 April (school closed)
Report Evening One (4-7pm) – Thursday 8 April
Report Evening Two (4-7pm) – Tuesday 13 April
Anzac Day – Sunday 25 April which is in the school holidays. As Anzac Day falls on a Sunday, the observance goes to Monday 26 April which is also in the holiday break

Congratulations to our 2020 Dux Emma Wang, who has been announced as one of New Zealand’s Outstanding Scholar Award Winners. Emma received an incredible four Scholarships in Accounting, Biology, Calculus and Physics, along with an Outstanding Scholarship in Chemistry. So that’s five in total.

Emma, pictured with her parents at last year’s prize-giving, is about to start a conjoint Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Auckland. Congratulations Emma and from all of us here at Westlake, our very best wishes for a brilliant year ahead.

By Elizabeth Beaumont
TIC Food Technology

Using a Google search it is easy to find material on healthy eating for adolescence but less about the skills required to select and prepare food safely. 

Basic skills around food are usually acquired during the years a child is living at home, developed while flatting or living away from home and fine tuned in adulthood to meet an individuals needs or preferences.

Some adolescents never develop a basic understanding around food other than their personal preferences and how much items cost, and this can negatively impact long term health as the choices tend to be made based on likes rather than nutritional benefits.

I have collated some basic knowledge around food selection, storage and preparation to assist adolescents wanting to develop their food literacy skills.

Food selection and purchase

• Buy in season when fruit and vegetables are cheaper and provide higher levels of nutrients https://www.produce.co.nz/seasonality-chart/ 
• Buy local to avoid food deteriorating through travel and to support local growers
• Plan meals to reflect the healthy plate, half vegetables, one quarter protein, one quarter carbohydrates https://www.healthyfood.com/advice/the-perfect-plate/ 
• Choose low fat, salt, sugar to avoid the negative impact these products can have on the body
• Know your serving sizes to maintain suitable portion control https://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/images/nutrition/page-heros/food-portions-a4-resource.png 

Food Storage

• If it is from a chilled or frozen section in the supermarket, store it in the fridge/freezer at home
• Store ambient foods (ones stored at room temperature) in labelled airtight containers in pantry
• Be aware of best before and use by dates, check them https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/use-by-dates-on-food 

Preparation

• Know how to cook and heat food correctly in the microwave. If reheating food it needs to be steaming to kill pathogens that may be present
• Use low fat cooking methods such as grill, saute and steam https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/eating-well/tips-eating-well/low-fat-cooking-techniques 
• Use equipment that minimises the use of added fat such as a non stick pan, bamboo steamer
• Quick cooking techniques reduce the loss of water soluble nutrients 
• Cook plant based it is better for your health and the environment

Our English Department is encouraging Year 9 students to enjoy device-free time to enhance their literacy skills. In doing so, they can achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold Reading Certificates.

Each Year 9 student should have come home with a Goal Statement for parents/caregivers to sign this week, and we hope that whānau will support our big push to encourage students to read long texts. Students will keep a reading log of books, and write a personal response about what they have read. The response will include a short description of the text and one personal opinion paragraph which will include textual evidence in the form of quotes.

A Bronze award requires – 4 long texts read and 2 personal responses.

A Silver award requires – 6 long texts read and 3 personal responses.

A Gold award requires – 10 long texts read and 5 personal responses.

More information will have come home with your daughter, but thank you for supporting our students to reach their personal reading goals.

After Waitangi weekend, a group of our Year 10 Dance Students did a workshop on short Poi. Ti’a Armstrong, our Onewa House Captain (pictured above right), shared her knowledge with the class – which was hugely appreciated. In amongst the laughter and fun was some valuable learning of an awesome new skill.

Our newest Food Technology students have created some delicious looking self-crusting quiches during the most recent lockdown! Despite only having had two or three lessons, our Year 9 students were inspired to take on a new recipe and produce it at home for their families.

These are some of the wonderful creations they have shared with us.

Would you like to try this recipe?  Click this link and give it a go!

The Adobe Creative Cloud suite can be purchased for one year by students for the small cost of $10. Adobe Creative Cloud suite is known for its powerful apps. This is a design industry standard software, used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography and much more.

All students need to do is go to the Payments Office and pay $10. Email instructions on how to download the Adobe suite will be sent to those students on Monday 1 March.

Note: students who purchased adobe last year will have Adobe until 28 February, after which a new licence will be needed. To have a smooth transition students will need to pay at the payments office before 28 February.