By Ray Carr

During lunch on Tuesday 23 March, our Amnesty International team hosted a presentation for the British Iranian actor and Amnesty activist, Nazanin Boniadi.

Nazanin is currently in New Zealand for the filming of the Amazon Prime recreation of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films. She has starred in many other films and TV series, such as ‘Iron Man’ (2008), ‘How I Met Your Mother’ (2005 – 2014) and ‘Hotel Mumbai’ (2018). Gym Two was filled with students eager to learn and listen: not only Amnesty members but a range of students keen to learn about activism and making change. We even invited back some of our ex-Westlake students to share the experience with us.

Nazanin started her speech off with a brief introduction about her upbringing and heritage, including her family’s choice to move from Iran to England not long after she was born. We learnt of the struggles and plight of prisoners of conscience who were being detained by the Iranian government for their activism. She urged us to recognise and learn our human rights so we could stand up against people trying to remove them. She spoke about her work through Amnesty and the human rights violation actions she has been working on: “out of the four cases I’ve worked on for years maybe one saw success… Even one success means saving one life that may have otherwise been lost.” Nazanin encouraged us to actively take part in social actions, whether it be petitions and letter campaigns through Amnesty, attending events with speakers discussing human rights, or taking part in marches or organised events.

Finally—and what moved the hearts of the audience—she spoke on being true to yourself. She explained her choice to branch away from her degree in biological sciences and into the arts while in her twenties. She emphasised the importance of a good education and the need for learning new skills. One of the most important pieces of advice she gave was not to let our goals be impacted on by either positive or negative comments, and to remain true to our principles.

In the question and answer session that followed, Nazanin replied to each query in an encouraging manner and gave advice on steps for us to take next in our exploration for justice. One of our amazing Amnesty leaders, Izzie Newton-Cross, presented her with a gift and card in thanks for her time and inspiration.

Everyone was eager to talk to her about their experiences and the gym became a hive of conversation as photos were organised and reactions to the speech were passed around. When the bell rang the audience left feeling more inspired and eager to make a change in our world. 

It wasn’t quite Star Wars, but 100 Level 3 Physics students adventured out to Rainbow’s End Theme part on 18 March to experience the force and acceleration of rotational motion to the extreme!

Students took measurements and filmed the motion of the rides for further analysis back in the classroom. The students will now be assessed on their ability to examine and discuss the Level 3 Physics concepts as they relate to one of the rides they experienced.

As always, our students were wonderfully enthusiastic and respectful at the park, furthering Westlake GHS’ reputation of excellence!

In the last edition of The Voice, we mentioned our fabulous Pi competition where a room full of students recalled as many pi digits as they could. The results were astounding:

In the English Department, we are always looking for ways to encourage our students to read more often for enjoyment.

We know that reading for pleasure has been identified by the OECD as the single most important indicator of a child’s future success. We also know that reading for enjoyment plays an influential role in literacy development. Furthermore, sharing and discussing what we’re reading also develops oral and written language skills.

Because it is so important, we would like to create more opportunities for teachers and parents to communicate about reading and to build a community that focuses on the enjoyment of reading.

If you are a parent of a Year 9 student, you should have received an email from us yesterday with a short survey which will help us to create better communication and support for reading for enjoyment at Year 9. If you didn’t receive it, there is a link here – but please only fill it out if your daughter is a current Year 9 student: Parents Reading Survey

Ngā mihi

The English Department

Our Year 10 students were the first cohort this year to enjoy a presentation by one of The Parenting Place’s Attitude Team. Attitude is the teenage arm of The Parenting Place, and their presenters come into school to talk about some of life’s tougher issues.

The messages are always filled with humour – while imparting wisdom – and last week’s Hardwired talk was no exception. Jannah Hibberd addressed the question of why people do things that are bad for them. She talked about our need for friends (and how that can influence us to make bad choices), wanting to avoid boredom, and wanting to feel better.

Jannah suggested that everyone needs to make choices that are right for them, and while it’s easy to be swayed by friends, friends aren’t the ones who have to live with the consequences of bad decisions. She touched on drugs and alcohol, and how they can be used to mask pain. “Turning to something to mask the pain doesn’t take it away,” she said. “It’s still there when the buzz wears off.” An alternative is to find someone to talk to and meet those needs in a healthy way. She touched on the myth of “I’ll just try this once” and encouraged students to weigh up the good against the bad when making decisions.

One of the roles of the Careers and Leadership Development team is to organise events which inspire and engage our students.  We are pleased to announce we will be holding a Year 13 Tertiary Information Evening on Wednesday 31 March.

This is an evening event where Year 13 students and their families are invited to hear about the various universities in New Zealand.  Representatives will be here from:

• The University of Auckland
• AUT
• Victoria University of Wellington
• University of Otago
• Massey University
• University of Waikato
• Unitec

The evening begins in Gym 3 at 6.30pm with a welcome from Massey University’s Professor Spoonley, followed by a series of talks around the school from various university representatives. Most talks are repeated so students can attend two sessions.

This is a fantastic opportunity to see what tertiary opportunities are on offer, and ask questions.

You do not need to RSVP to this event – just come along. There will be plenty of parking onsite.

If you would like more information about the services we offer as a Careers Team, please email our HoD Careers and Leadership Development: [email protected] or check out our website

Career Bites

Every Wednesday lunchtime we hold a session with different professions, to give students a taste of tertiary study and career options. For the remainder of the term we have the following industries/people featured:

How to navigate The Voice

Just a reminder that there are more stories to The Voice than just the ones which appear as you scroll down the page! Just click on a heading (Academic, Sports, Arts & Culture, Community etc) and you’ll see all the stories filed under that category. You can also use the search tool (the little red magnifying glass) on the homepage, using key words to find specific stories.

Reports and Parent Teacher Meetings

Reports for our Junior and Senior students will be available via the Parent Portal next Tuesday, 30 March. Along with your daughter’s report, you’ll receive access to book to see her teachers at one of our two Parent/Teacher Evenings. You can choose between Thursday 8 April and Tuesday 13 April. All details will be provided when you receive the Interim Report.

Mid-year Reports will be issued on Wednesday 30 June and there will be another Parent/Teacher Evening on Wednesday 7 July.

Change to Stanley Bay bus timetable

Auckland Transport has announced it will be making changes to one of our school bus services. From the first day of Term 2 2021 (3 May) the 087 from Stanley Bay To Westlake Schools will start running 10 minutes earlier than at present. The bus will depart bus stop number 3456 at 58 Stanley Point Road at 7.35am. There will be no change to the route. This change will help to ensure students arrive at school on time, in light of the congestion currently being experienced on Lake Road.

Masks on buses

Speaking of buses, we’ve had a couple of calls from members of the public about students not wearing masks on public buses. Could you please remind your daughter that she must wear a mask if she is travelling on a public bus, for her safety and the safety of those around her. We appreciate your support in communicating this message. Masks are not needed on school buses.

Pasifika Fono

A reminder that our Pasifika Fono is coming up on Wednesday 7 April – just after the Easter break. If you are part of our Pasifika family, we’d love to see you for a great evening of connection. You’ll get to meet other Pasifika families and students, and meet our 2021 Pasifika mentors. You don’t need to register – just come along at 6.30pm to the Staff Room in the Admin Building. There is plenty of parking onsite, and staff will be available to guide you to the Staff Room.

Polyfest 2021

We are very excited to be performing as part of Polfest 2021, after the disappointment of last year’s cancellation. There will be a full dress rehearsal on Monday 12 April, 6.30pm at Westlake Boys and we perform on Thursday 15 April at 11.45am.

Just in time for the holidays

Entertainment has some great savings on things you can do these school holidays. Our Music Department is selling subscriptions to Entertainment as a fundraiser – it costs just $69.99 for a single city subscription, which lasts for a year from activation (within three months of purchase). 20% of each sale will support our Music Department.

YES PLEASE – TELL ME MORE

Second-Hand Uniform Shop

Our Second-Hand Uniform Shop is open every Friday lunchtime (12.25 – 1.15pm) during Term Time. Just come to reception in the Admin Centre and they will direct you.

Term 1 Key Dates

Tuesday 30 March: Junior and Senior Progress Reports
Friday 2 April (school closed): Good Friday
Monday 5 April (school closed): Easter Monday
Tuesday 6 April (school closed): Easter Tuesday
Thursday 8 April: Report Evening One (4-7pm)
Tuesday 13 April: Report Evening Two (4-7pm)
Friday 16 April: End of Term 1
Sunday 25 April: The observance goes to Monday 26 April which is in the holiday break

Term 2 Key Dates

Monday 3 May: Term begins for all students
Thursday 13 May: Teacher-only Day
Friday 4 June: Teacher-only Day
Monday 7 June: Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday (school closed)
Friday 9 July: End of Term 2

On Tuesday 16 March the Year 13 Outdoor Education students spent a day snorkelling in the Leigh area. This linked to their first assessment which required them to perform a physical activity in an applied setting, with their context being open water snorkeling.

In preparation for this trip, students developed their snorkeling skills in the school and Glenfield pools, assisted by an instructor from Experiencing Marine Reserves.

During the trip, students spent the morning exploring Goat Island Marine Reserve, where they spotted large snapper, egal ray, and various other local species of fish. Following their morning session in the water, the class then learnt a bit about the biodiversity and history of the marine reserve. After lunch they jumped back into the water at Matheson Bay where they demonstrated their duck dives and other snorkeling skills, found a number of kina, and enjoyed jumping off the pontoon.