A lot of students have fun summer plans to look forward to – but Ivy Doak has something extra special planned for January 2023.

Ivy, a STEAM student in Year 12, has been accepted into the University of Canterbury’s (UC) Women in Engineering residential programme and will head down to Christchurch for the 5 day, 4 night adventure from 15-19 January.

There are only 60 places available nation-wide for the programme, which includes interactive workshops, inspiring presentations and fun social activities. Participants stay onsite in Halls of Residence, are immersed in student life, and experience a range of engineering subjects on offer at UC.

Here Ivy runs us through how and why she applied.

How did you hear about the programme and why did you apply?

I discovered the programme while researching engineering courses on the University of Canterbury website, and I was immediately drawn to it because I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn more about studying engineering and meet the engineering faculty at Canterbury, as well as because it is completely targeted at female students.

What was the application process like? 

The University asked applicants to give a commentary by text or video in less than 300 words or 3 minutes outlining why they should be chosen for WiE CAN in 2023. The other major components of the application form asked for a teacher reference, as well as a summary of academic achievements and relevant extra-curricular activities.

When did you hear you had been accepted?

I received an email to say I’d been accepted on 31 August.

What do you hope to get out of the experience?

It’s a unique opportunity to try the different disciplines of engineering and experience life as an engineering student at UC. I’m looking forward to hearing from women in STEM about their experiences and hopefully connecting with other like-minded students too.

What part did STEAM play in motivating you to apply for this programme?

As part of the STEAM programme, my eyes were opened to the numerous applications of discoveries in the STEM field to real-world problems. I loved the connections we were able to make between subjects, and the many different projects we undertook that used scientific principles to achieve a goal. Particularly, I enjoyed developing logical reasoning, problem solving and critical thinking skills – and through some of the talks and presentations we attended as part of the STEAM programme, I discovered the possibility of a future in engineering. It was inspiring to see a growing number of women entering STEM fields.

What are your future study and career plans?

My plan is to study a mechanical engineering degree with a view to entering the STEM field – with a particular interest in robotics and aerospace.

Ivy is pictured top with her Westlake STEAM cohort.

By Julia Wilkins, Year 10
Accomplished Author

Recently, I just found out that I won the High School category for the Barfoot and Thompson’s Young Author Challenge annual writing competition. This means not only do I receive some prize money and books, but Westlake Girls also receives $1,000 of prize money and $1,000 worth of books!

I love to write, creative writing is my passion. When I submitted my story, I didn’t really think anything would come of it since there are so many schools and lots of entries. After a while, I completely forgot about the competition. Then, the day before my birthday, while sitting in Social Studies class, my phone started ringing in my pocket. My mum tried to call me in the middle of class, so I was very alarmed and emailed her asking what was wrong. This was when I saw the email telling me I had won the high school category, and the message from my mother (all in caps lock) screaming with excitement.

I wore a ridiculous smile for the entire afternoon.

My mum is a teacher, and she was getting her class to enter the primary level competition. She was the one who suggested I enter. The theme was ‘a great day out’, and while I wasn’t initially inspired by this broad prompt, an idea slowly unfurled itself in my mind. After a few days of it taking shape in my subconscious, I finally pulled up a blank document and started writing.

This year, I signed up to do windsurfing through Westlake Girls at Lake Pupuke with Madloop Windsurfing. I loved it. There’s just something about being out on the lake, with water under your board, the sun glinting off the lake, and a wind in your sails. I feel connected to nature and just so free. While the weekly sessions only went on for a term, my joy for windsurfing led me to continue going to the lake, even as the weather got colder. The most recent time I was windsurfing, it was raining and the wind had turned the water into a rushing mess of dark grey and blue. It was a challenge to windsurf in the conditions, but it was so exhilarating.

This experience is my story; a descriptive, slightly exaggerated (the amount of storminess, at least) piece of writing inspired by one girl’s love of storms and windsurfing.

You can read Julia’s awesome story HERE

The Year 9 Speech Competition and the Year 10 Flash Talk Competition showcased impressive public speaking deliveries on a variety of topics. The finalists all performed with flair in front of a large audience.

Well done to the following students.

Year 9 Speech Competition 

• 1st Place: Hannah Wilmot – Gender Equality
• 2nd Place: Addy Viljoen – Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
• 3rd Place: Sadie Khan – Fast Fashion

Flash Talk Competition 

• 1st Place: Devon Johnson – The Sexualisation and Objectification of the Mammary Gland
• Second Place: Olivia Moot – Forgiveness
• Third Place: Hannah McPhee – Influence

The Year 10 Flash Talk finalists are pictured top. From back left: Julia Wilkins, Yena Elamurugu, Grace Lee, Fay Ajjam. From front left: Olivia Moot (2nd), Hannah Mc Phee (3rd), Devon Johnson (1st).

The Year 9 Speech Competition finalists are pictured below. From back left: Grace Kelly, Hannah Wilmot (1st). From front left:  Sadie Khan (3rd), India Smyth, Addy Viljoen (2nd), Annabel Drew Ross.

Senior Exams

We hope all of our seniors are making the most of their opportunity to gain experience sitting exams in preparation for NCEA in November. We are currently half-way through our two-week exam timetable. You can find it HERE

Public Holiday

Westlake Girls will be shut on Monday 26 September to mark Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day. Classes will resume for all students on Tuesday 27 September, which is a Day 2 on your daughter’s timetable.

Become a teacher!

Westlake Girls High School is seeking applications from quality candidates for our 2023 school-based training programme. If you have a degree, you can transition into a teaching career by completing your Graduate Diploma in Teaching onsite, while being mentored by specialist teachers. There is also $10,000 compensation available. Your coursework will be completed through the University of Waikato’s online programme. You can find out more information HERE.

Pasifika Showcase

Our inaugural Pasifika Showcase is being held from 7-9pm on Wednesday 28 September. We are very excited to bring you this event which will be a wonderful celebration of our Pasifika students and their cultures. Tickets are a gold coin donation (either pre-paid at the Payments Office or at the door on the night), and you can also pre-purchase a plate of food for $10 at the Payments Office.

Uniform Shop Opening Hours Term 4

17 October – 12 November

Monday: 2.30 – 5.30pm except for 24 October (Labour Day, closed)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 2.30 – 5pm
Friday: Closed
Saturday: 10am – 2pm except for 22 October and 29 October (closed)

14 November – 15 December

Monday to Thursday: 3 – 6pm
Friday: Closed
Saturday: 10am – 2pm

Term 3 Key Dates

Term 4 Key Dates

Thank you to our Westlake Whānau who voted in the recent Board elections. We were very grateful for your support of our school. We had five positions available and the following candidates were elected (listed alphabetically by surname):

Joy Bradfield (re-elected)
Russell Clements (re-elected)
Victoria Mahan (newly elected)
Sunny Patel (newly elected)
Kim Tay (re-elected)

These Board members join Principal Jane Stanley, Student Representative Kate Liu and newly elected Teacher Member Anna Cooper. The Board will be inducted at a special meeting on 20 September.

If you would like to see a full list of results, please email Board Secretary Marie McKerrow at [email protected]

The school would like to acknowledge and thank the outgoing Board members for their tremendous work and support over the past few years: Carolyn Ranson, Challen Wilson, Andy Hofmeyr and Carol Wright.

Pictured above is the new Board. From top left: Joy Bradfield, Jane Stanley, Kim Tay, Russell Clements. From bottom left: Victoria Mahan, Sunny Patel, Kate Liu and Anna Cooper.

The event of the schools’ Mathematics calendar, Mathex, was back in full swing in 2022!

Mathex is a challenging and fast-paced mathematics contest where schools from across Auckland compete against each other in teams to answer questions as quickly as possible.

A fantastic turnout of the teams from schools across Auckland, from A to Z, filled the Barfoot and Thompson stadium in Kohimarama.

From Westlake Girls High School, two teams of Year 9 and two teams of Year 10 students were selected, trained and competed in the event with respectable scores.

Well done team!

• Ms Kim

Nervous energy tinged with the whispers of excitement filled the stadium as over a hundred teams filed inside. We were the 400+ maths nerds who’d signed up voluntarily to do extra maths, and we had a few minutes to prepare ourselves for the annual Mathex competition. For our two Year 10 teams, this was the last year we could ever compete.

Mathex. A competition of brain power, speed, teamwork, and frantic scribbling that resembles maths equations, but frequently appears like strange symbols you might find on an alien spaceship. It’s an awesome experience to make friends and challenge yourself, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

The 30 minutes we had to answer as many questions as we could passed in a blur of noise, cheers, and panicked double checking. The rest of the stadium seemed to fade away into a chaotic haze, until it was just me and my team, working together to solve maths problems.

It is truly an awesome opportunity; I’d highly recommend joining a Mathex team in 2023!

• Julia Wilkins 10AHW

Being good with numbers is one thing, but being as good as Elaine Zhou is a whole different thing altogether!

The Year 10 student was recently announced as one of the top 30 maths students in New Zealand for her year level – the second year in a row!

The result is from the Otago Maths Competition which is a two-round competition for students in Years 9-11. Last year Elaine entered and scored 71 out of 73 in the first round. “I then progressed onto the second round which was a paper exam,” she says. “I ended up placing in the top 30 in Year 9 which came as a big surprise.”

Boosted by last year’s results, she undertook the challenge again this year, finding it a little harder in Year 10. “The round was online and consisted of 80 multi-choice or short-answer questions, testing various maths skills. Then the top 15% of candidates progressed onto the second round which consisted of full-length exam questions. These questions are mostly based around playing with numbers and there is a strong emphasis on problem solving,” she says. “I found out that I was placed in the top 30 at House assembly on 7 September. I was actually very surprised because I thought that I hadn’t done very well. I had been struggling to understand some of the sections in the exam, and ended up running out of time before completing all the questions.”

The talented mathematician originally competed in the Otago Problem Challenge in Year 6. “I really enjoyed it and did very well – I think I placed in the top 1% and got some prize money too! I continued to participate up until Year 8. Then at high school in Year 9 I heard about the Otago Maths Competition from my Form Teacher and decided to enter it because I thought it would be quite similar to the Otago Problem Challenge, which I really enjoyed.”

Elaine says she enjoys the logic of mathematics. “I like how you can find many patterns within numbers, and I really like finding out how numbers change when do things to them.”

As for the future? “I’m not really sure where my journey in maths will take me,” Elaine says.  “I think that my focus has always been to do these competitions because I find them interesting and fun, so I’ve never really pressured myself to do things. I usually sign up for competitions that pop up and seem interesting.

“I’m also studying AS mathematics outside of school which has been really challenging for me and has exposed me to a lot of harder content. I think I want a career that involves mathematics in some way but it’s been quite hard for me to make up my mind. A lot of careers involve maths in some way but my goals are always changing.”

In the meantime, Elaine will continue to be a shining star in Mrs Smolko’s STEAM maths class!

Elaine is pictured with (from left) Sue Higgins (Head of Westlake’s Maths Department), Katie Pearson and Will Anderton (Akoranga House Deans).

Our drama students have been busy lately, showcasing their talents in year-level productions performed to family and friends.

The Year 13 Production was Accidental Death of an Anarchist and involved the whole class, while the Year 11 Production was Chook Chook and had four different casts due to Covid and absences.

Year 13 Production

The Year 13 Class chose to perform Dario Fo’s political farce ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’. The play looks at police corruption as well as corruption within society.

Dario Fo believed that there was a need to inform the public about the truths within society if we were to ever change them. He also firmly believed in the power of the people to make those changes. This was an incredibly fun chance to explore serious topics in an entertaining way.

The class’s parents, family and friends all enjoyed seeing this in the Events Centre as a way of showcasing the talents of the fantastic cast as well as just how much they have learned during their journey through senior drama. Well done.

Year 11 Production

The Year 11 class (top pic) took on Chook Chook by Fiona Farrell. This is a New Zealand play that looks both at the cruelty of battery farms for hens, while also highlighting the expectations placed on women by society. The class was split into four casts to try and cover for absences so each member could move between casts if necessary. They approached this with maturity and worked incredibly hard to show the depths of these characters.

On Friday 2 September, Year 12 Travel and Tourism students visited Auckland’s International Travel College (ITC) to participate in a one-day course focusing on customer service in the tourism industry.

Students completed a tour of the college, which included sitting in ITC’s simulated aircraft cabin and getting acquainted with the premises. Guest speaker Leo Medina, from AJ Hackett Bungy, shared his passion for the New Zealand tourism industry and his experience as a bungy instructor with AJ Hackett. After a pizza lunch, the class had the opportunity to gain credits in a customer service unit.