Kia ora Parents and Caregivers,
We’ve made it through to the end of term after an extraordinary Week 10. For a 4-day week, we certainly packed a lot in, and I’m so proud of the students who participated in a wide range of events.
Firstly though, I want to say well done to our senior students on the successful completion of your exams. It hasn’t been an easy couple of years, and for some of you it would have been the first time you had sat exams in that environment.
As I mentioned, it has been a very full week of activities, including sports, class trips and events.
On Tuesday we held our Prefect Graduation, where we acknowledged the incredible contribution made by our 97 Prefects and Tuakana in 2022. Guest speaker was Alumna Sarah Cross, GM of IP Asset Strategy at Fonterra. She gave an inspiring speech about her career journey, and encouraged students to take career risks when they are young, as they have plenty of time if something doesn’t work out – but often those risks do turn out to be great career moves.
On Wednesday we held our inaugural Father and Daughter Breakfast. It was fantastic to see the Event Centre filled with 360 students and their very proud dads. Another Alumna, Andrea Nelson who is CEO of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, shared insights from her career in sports – which was an interesting career path after not being particularly sporty at school. Head Prefect Ivy Mitchell also shared some touching and funny stories about her dad. A big thank you to our rowing community who worked tirelessly to make this event so special.
Wednesday evening saw the Event Centre full once again with families and friends enjoying our inaugural Pasifika Evening. It was a beautiful celebration of dance, music and culture, and I want to congratulate Assistant Principal Donna Pike, along with the staff who assisted, and all of the students who participated.
This week our students also celebrated Cultural Week with a series of events, including International Food Day with a range of different cuisines from around the world.
It’s been a wonderful week of celebration, tinged with sadness as we farewelled some staff members, including Deputy Principal Lucille Vukets. Lucille has been an exceptionally valued member of our staff over the past five years, particularly in the area of Pastoral Care. I know I speak on behalf of the staff and students of Westlake when I thank Lucille for her tremendous impact on our school.
It’s been a very busy term, and I know our staff and students alike will be grateful for the holidays to stop and take a breath. Whatever your plans, I hope you enjoy some quality family time, and the slower pace of life without the morning school run.
Jane Stanley
On Friday 30 September, a group of Year 9 – 11 students participated in Auckland University’s Whakapiki Ake project, a workshop focusing on Māori identity and achievement in the Health Sciences.
More than 360 people packed the Event Centre, greeted at the door by some of our rowing squad members (who organised the event) and talented pianists Hana Tani and Tara Yoo.
Principal Jane Stanley then spoke on the vital role dads play in their daughter’s academic achievements, citing research from the Institute for Family Studies which showed that daughters whose fathers are actively engaged in promoting academic or athletic achievements, and encouraging self-reliance and assertiveness, are more likely to graduate from university, and enter higher paying, more demanding jobs that have been traditionally held by males. She said the research also found that there is an increasing number of young women who are working in the same field as their fathers, which researchers attribute to society’s changing gender roles, but also to daughters receiving more mentoring from their dads.
Our Guest Speaker for the event was alumna Andrea Nelson who is CEO of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. She shared stories from her time at Westlake, along with insights from her sports career journey – which was something of a surprise to her as she wasn’t into sports when she was at high school. Shen encouraged dads to support their daughters into sports careers.
Our final speech was by our incredible Head Prefect Ivy Mitchell who shared some hilarious stories about her dad.
“Scorched is a dystopian sci-fi/ action adventure novel that’s mainly targeted toward young adults,” says Isobella. “It is about four women traversing the scorched Earth to find a cure for a virus that has been plaguing society for 300 years. It is told through the perspectives of some of the main characters in the book.”
The ESTEAM and AWHI students spent the day at Tataki Auckland Unlimited. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, GRIDAKL work together to turn small ideas into great things and push Auckland towards a bright future. Tataki Auckland Unlimited / GridAKL creates new businesses, thriving tech hubs, and vibrant creative industries. 
A big thank you to Barbara Sholten, our Business Liaison and C
“I really enjoyed going to all the different workplaces. They were nothing like I imagined. They were creative and interesting not boring. It was cool to see people being able to find jobs that fused their interests such as seeing an accountant that was also very interested in science being able to find a job that suited them. It was also great to be able to see lots of women in the stereotypical male fields.” Jappan Kaur
We held our student elections for the Board of Trustees recently, with Year 11 student Jappan Kaur voted in as new Student Representative.
Westlake also won two coveted trophies, the Highest number of goals score by a team across all the secondary school teams and the Lowest number of goals score against teams in the Collegiate Grades. WGHS 5 (Year 10-1, pictured left), had a superb season winning the first trophy and most of their games by more than 20 goals each week.
The Year 9-14 team (pictured right), coached by students, Ishani Soni-Singh, Adriana Tobin, Alison Fan, had an imposing defensive unit that prevented all the opposition teams from scoring double figures. The Year 9 team won the cup for the Lowest goal average scored against them in all the Collegiate Grades. Their results across the season resembled 27-2, 27-5 and 14-4 and in the final they beat Horizon 11- 1 to win the Year 9 Grade 8 Championship.
Westlake celebrated Cultural Week with a food festival at lunch time on Thursday. We had Japanese dangos, French macarons and croissants, Spanish churros and Chinese dumplings – to name just a few!
Our Year 10 Food Technology have been investigating the benefits of having a nutritious breakfast this term. 
