By Natalija Hayes
Host sister

On 8 February, 20 French students from La Roche-sur-Yon arrived to a friendly welcome by their Westlake Boys and Girls’ host families. Glad to be in a warm climate, the French students spent the next two weeks integrating into New Zealand life.

In the first week, the French students engaged in a range of activities inside and outside of school. They were officially welcomed into our school in a Powhiri and settled quickly at school, attending classes with us in the first few days and attending a Te Reo Maori Workshop. They also experienced the thrilling Haka performances at the WBHS Annual Haka Competition.

Wednesday saw all the students visit Devonport to learn about its heritage and explore the beautiful beaches. Friday was a long hot walk up Rangitoto which gave the French students a unique perspective of Auckland from the Hauraki Gulf. The second week involved excursions to the Auckland Museum  and Mount Eden. Their last weekday, Friday, was spent hiking on the west coast at Bethells Beach.

Weekends were spent with host families, doing touristic activities such as climbing up the Sky Tower, visiting the Hobbiton, strolling along the beaches near the Matakana market and going for a scenic drive in the Waiheke Islands- only to name a few.

My exchange student, Chloé, commented on the beauty of our city and the intense heat in February – unlike anything she’d experienced in France! 

This exchange definitely made me appreciate where we live a lot more as I saw it through the lens of a French teenager. We, Westlake students, are excited to return to our lovely exchange brother and sister in France to experience their life.

The Biology Department and some 250 Year 12 Biology students went to Waiake in Torbay to collect data by counting organisms for their internal assessment on 19 February.

The rocks were teeming with life in different zones, from columnar barnacles and black nerite in the high tide zone, plicate barnacles, top shells, oysters and predatory oyster borers in the mid tide zone and cat’s eyes in pools or in the low tide zone. We saw crabs and cucumbers too, hiding in rockpools.

Neptune’s necklace and coralline turf was strewn across the intertidal zone like lost jewellery. The day was hot and the packed lunches were tasty before our bus ride back to school.

By Merryl Hamling
Assistant Principal

In light of recent developments this week, we wanted to clarify the process for NZQA assessments. Our school is open for business, which means that all NZQA assessments will run as normal.

In response to the situation, we have made minor adjustments to our policy.

If a student absents themselves from an internal assessment towards an NZQA qualification, our policy document requires the student to provide evidence-based authentication of their reason for absence. These will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

The student will need to follow the following steps

1. Contact their Dean as soon as possible and obtain the ‘Request for extension/rescheduling for NZQA internal assessment’ form.
2. Complete the form and supply authentic evidence-based reasons, documentation is needed although sometimes evidence may already be in the school pastoral system.
3. The Deans will then consult with the Principals Nominee and a decision will be reached.
4. The student and department will be informed of the decision.

Finally: Westlake Girls High School is functioning as normal. If you have a serious evidence-based issue – communication at the earliest opportunity is crucial.

GirlBoss advantage programme

Three of our students STEAM students, Ariana George (Y12, pictured left), Neve Cusens and Yasmin Darwish (both Y11) were successful at securing a place at the very competitive GirlBoss NZ Advantage programme which took place during the summer break becoming the highlight of their holidays.

They were part of a group of 28 girls selected from over 250 applications to complete an internship at Fletchers Nz. Here are the highlights of the event which reinforce the importance of forging connections with industry.

“ I feel so lucky to have met and learnt so much from inspiring young women who have positive attitudes towards their future careers and their own personal passions and innovations. We learnt the value of public speaking, networking with business people, connecting with companies, and group work. I have learnt the value of working hard in the workplace and the fact that you can always start reaching your goals young.” Neve Cusens

“ I had the incredible opportunity to be apart of the Girboss Advantage programme powered by Fletchers. Through this program, we participated in workshops that helped find my core values, strengths, and challenges and how to effectively manage these. At the end of this program, I was offered a paid internship with Fletchers which is another incredible opportunity. In conclusion, this program was nothing but a positive experience, I met so many amazing people who care about the professionals of tomorrow and I gained so much more self-confidence, acceptance, connections. I became so much more confident that I even went on a podcast later that week! This programme kickstarted my journey into the professional world!’ Ariana George

Pictured top are Neve Cusens, Ariana George, Susana Tomaz, Yasmin Darwish and Alexia Hilbertidou.

Year 13 Health students have started off their year with a focus on Breast Cancer, linking in with our first assessment: 3.3 Evaluate Health Practices currently used in New Zealand.

Through this they have looked into western scientific medicine, traditional and cultural medicine, and complementary and alternative medicine. To assist with understanding some of the many treatments that fall under the complementary and alternative medicine health practice, students were involved in a half day workshop on Thursday 27 February. At this workshop, students experienced four different treatments that can be used alongside other Breast Cancer treatments, these included Reiki, Yoga, Naturopathy and Reflexology. Many of these treatments our students had no prior knowledge of, so this experience has been highly valuable and memorable.

Paying through the Parent Portal:

With recent changes to our website, we have become aware that school payments are made more frequently through our bank account than through the Parent Portal. Paying through the Parent Portal means you can quickly and easily see what payments are needed, and those you have already paid.

Access to the Parent Portal can be found on the home page (the last red button on the right) or through “Menu/Starting at Westlake/Online Payments” or simply type www.westlakegirls.school.nz/payments/. Here’s the link to make it easy: Online Payments

Assessment calendars now online: