As the current National High School Cheerleading Champions, Westlake Girls has begun its season on a successful note winning Silver and Bronze medals leading up to the 2021 New Zealand Super Nationals in November.
The WGHS Cheer Team, made up of Year 9 students Hayley Le, Madi Gardiner, Tasmin Ginger, Evangeline McHardy, Reese Lim and Brea Hedges, performed superbly in the High School division of Cheersbrandz, Eutopia and Dance Cheer in July, to win silver. A month later, on 14 -15 August, the team produced another electric performance to win bronze at the Olympic Cheer in Auckland.
With eyes on the prize, their next stop is the Spring Carnival, which will be rescheduled from September to October due to Covid-19 lock down in Auckland. However, the ultimate event on every Cheerleader’s calendar is the 2021 New Zealand Super Nationals which is a “Virtual” extravagance that beams in Cheer teams from around New Zealand and Australia and the WGHS team will be doing all they can to retain their High School crown at North Shore Event Centre on 13-14 November.
The first challenge was to come up with a solution to create a more sustainable and circular economy and the second challenge was to find a way to grow the Māori economy in a way that would ensure intergenerational success for iwi. We were expected to submit a two-page business case for both challenges and then pitch our proposed solution to a panel of judges.
All the Year 9s worked super hard over the past term to collect and recycle loads of bread tags and pens. As a group they collected over 10,000 bread tags and almost 900 pens. These will be sent off to be recycled and turned into wheelchairs!
While our Carbon Cleanse Week was cut short by lockdown, the start to the week was amazing. Our Enviro Group was a success.
A rapid growth in recent years and the Snowboarding team’s title win at the Auckland Champs earlier this year, led to the Westlake Girls Snowsports inaugural trip to Wanaka to take it to the next level.
Students rose at 6am each morning, loaded into vehicles and gradually woke up on the drive up the Crown Range. Blessed with excellent conditions, they were grateful for their coaches who allowed them to by-pass the queues of many thousands. Across the course of the week, the 10 skiers and 8 snowboarders were pushed and challenged to take it to the next level from 8.30am – 12.30pm, they worked on improving their technique before being put through their paces with race training. A busy morning was always followed by lunch then a freestyling afternoon on the mountain.
By mid-week many students with sore bodies were begging for a later start on bleaker days, but the promise of newly packed snow overnight forced them into the van as per usual. Well-supported by parents, these enthusiastic students learnt a great deal during seven days and were looking forward to applying it at the North Island Secondary School Championships.
Ms Mitchley has been using her downtime wisely! “My latest project is a 1.6 m square blanket started just before lockdown.
Mr Graham Atkinson
When Cantare choir should have been enjoying their first night in Christchurch at The Big Sing, they got together via Zoom for a Quiz Night instead.
This is the first time Westlake has ever had a podium finish and this is testament to the players and team management. This team is a combination of players from Year 9 – Year 13 with both new and experienced players. The team is coached by former students Holly Patrick and Chloe Keenan, Managed by Lizzie Beaumont and Captained by Leah Patrick (Year 13) who has been in the team since Year 9.
Each year, the team is a mix of all playing capabilities – from beginners all the way to experienced players. Because of this mix of capabilities, mentoring is a large part of Lacrosse, and throughout the years, many ex-Westlake students have returned to coach. 
From my experience as a Year 9 through to a Year 12, despite the team’s best efforts, we never quite made it into the medal positions. Most years, we finished in 4th place, just shy of the podium. Over the past five years, I have made countless friendships and memories with the team, and this year, the team achieved a bronze medal after a fantastic effort in the final. 
Our Netball programme runs successfully due to the help we get from our Student Coaches.
We also had some of our netball players (listed below) who were selected to work alongside Michele Wallace at the Netball North Harbour holiday programmes in the April and July school holidays.
Westlake Girls started well with a 4 –1 win against Kati Kati College in their first outing. But they later met familiar foe, Takapuna Grammar and it went down to the wire in the semi-final. With just points in it throughout the match, the scores were poised at 2-2 before Takapuna slipped ahead and secured a spot in the final. Led by captain, Lucy Cadness-Aspinall, Westlake Girls won the bronze medal match against Havelock North High School. Otumoetai College won the championship.
Last year was the beginning of a new chapter in my life – high school. It was only a year ago, yet the memories of walking into the sisterhood with the bold crimson red blazer and forming new chains of opportunities have become vivid in my heart and mind. However, throughout these two years, I have learnt two primary lessons. Lesson 1: our modern world has no set definition for what teenage is, and similar to that, Lesson 2; there is no set definition of what change is and should reflect.
Hi, my name is Sydney Brandolino. I am a Year 11 student from Wairau House and I am passionate about change, student voice, and being involved in the WGHS community.
Hi, my name is Jappan Kaur.
Hola! My name is Damindi and I am applying for the position of Student Representative on the Board of Trustees.
Hello, Kia Ora, 你好Ni Hao
My name is Renee Martin, I’m a Year 9 Pupuke student.
Hi!
Each ensemble is required to present a programme of contrasting pieces (30 minutes maximum) and the standard of works performed can be very high and complex.
Westlake Concert Band (conductor Warwick Robinson, WGHS & WBHS): Gold Award + Best Performance of a pre-1950s Work.
Westlake Big Band (conductor Hayley Barker, WGHS & WBHS): Silver Award.
Rachel An (viola), Alice Hirst (harp) and Jenny Howe (trumpet) were successful in their applications for the KBB Honours Orchestra and Jazz Band. These ensembles were made up from the top instrumentalists across the Auckland schools, who participated in an afternoon workshop with conductors and Festival adjudicators Beth Cohen and Roger Fox, later performing an impressive concert to their parents just a few hours later.
We are all very grateful that the KBB Music Festival could go ahead this year and give our instrumentalists a chance to demonstrate their hard work and skill.
