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Te Reo O Te Roto
The Language of the Lake
Issue 7 | 8 May 2020
Sports

Building team culture during Lockdown

It’s business as usual for the Westlake Girls Premier Netball Team during Corona lockdown with team building sessions on Zoom and fitness testing in the form of the “Corona Challenge”.

Coach April Ieremia set the team a box set of exercises, 100m sprint and varied runs of 1, 2, 3 or 4 km runs to measure their progress from week to week – and the players have embraced the Corona Challenge with impressive results.

The Max. Plank Champ, Briar Hadfield (below) held the plank for 7 minutes, defender Millie Wilton (right) tops the Squats Challenge with an incredible 66 squats in 60 seconds and shooter Tamara Nu’u (left) owns the wall sit and push up challenges with a wall sit hold of 7.13 mins and a maximum of 61 push ups.  The aim is always to improve their own results from one week to the next.

The Team Bonding sessions have been more challenging in isolation and via Zoom but it’s just as competitive.  After the fitness results are discussed and the Back to School sweepstake is updated, the teams work together in their areas on court for the Teams Champions Cup. The team bonding exercise features a different game each week and at the start of lockdown, players shouted answers at the quiz master for general knowledge honours while the Manager Louise Clouston adjudicated over who got it right first.

Assistant Coach Celine McGahan dusted off her acting skills for wardrobe Charades the next week and then last week, their artistic talents were highlighted with online Pictionary, “Skribble.io”.   Shooter, Karla Stevenson, was particularly good at this game and has helped to place the Shooters ahead of both the Middies and Defenders on the Leader Board – but its early days and the season is yet to begin.

 

Community

#KiwisHelpingKiwis launched by Westlake students

The old adage “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” couldn’t be truer of two Year 12 Westlake students – and it’s all about #KiwisHelpingKiwis.

When lockdown was implemented, Mackenzie (Macka) Harvey (pictured above top) and Abigail Clements (pictured above bottom) decided they wanted to do something to help people financially affected by the pandemic. “We knew we wanted to do something to help others during this time of uncertainty,” says Abigail. “Macka came up with the idea of creating the Give A Little page for the Salvation Army after donating food at a food drive. We felt encouraged to do our part to help fellow Kiwis through these tough times, and came up with the idea to create an easy page for our friends and family to donate to help others, through the Give A Little programme.”

“We really wanted to make a difference in our community,” agrees Macka. “As teenagers we know it can be difficult to help out and create change. With our Give A Little page, we wanted to encourage everyone to help out by donating as little or as much as they could – because $2 could give a family a bag of rice, while $30 could provide a small family with meals for five days.

We created the idea of #KiwisHelpingKiwis,” she says.

The students admit it would have been fun to take part in some kind of challenge to fundraise, but this wasn’t possible at Levels 3 and 4. The beauty of the Give A Little page was that it was easily shareable on social media platforms.

“We choose the Salvation Army as they have a branch organisation called ‘The FoodBank Project’ which provides food parcels to thousands of kiwi families,” says Abigail. “Their project has significantly helped change the lives of New Zealanders who may struggle to eat, and we know demand for their help would be even greater this year due to the pandemic.”

Macka and Abigail set a target of $500 and as of today, they are only $30 away from reaching their goal. “We are very happy to be so near our target,” says Macka. “The campaign will close on Friday 15 May so there’s time for our Westlake Community to get involved.”

Shortly after the campaign launched, a member of the Salvation Army’s Public Relations team emailed Abigail. They said: “We are incredibly inspired by you and Macka who are doing their bit to help New Zealand through this time.” Once restrictions ease, the students hope to meet with the Salvation Army team and continue to work alongside them in the community.

Community service isn’t a new concept to these amazing teens. “We have been in our Houses’ Service Committees for several years and we’re passionate about giving back to our community,” they say. Abbie is in the Westlake UNICEF community and has attended conferences with UN Youth and the Ministry of Education. Macka is involved in coaching hockey inside and outside of school, and she also volunteers as a coach for Northcross Intermediate hockey programme, North Harbour Hockey and the Westlake Hockey 4th XI.

“Both of us love immersing ourselves with extracurricular activities.”

Here’s your chance to get the girls over the line with their fundraising campaign – remember, every little bit helps: https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/kiwis-helping-kiwis-donate-to-the-salvation-army

Community

Schools unite to reach out into the community

There’s been some fantastic collaboration between schools recently, as students come together to support the community during this time of lockdown.

One student from Kristin School, Evy Hwangbo, approached Westlake students to be part of her initiative called “Genafriend”. The aim was to connect young people with older people from retirement villages. She received 90 applications from student volunteers, and amongst the 24 chosen, nine were from Westlake Girls High School. Those students are Danielle Evasco, Marian Zhao, Sarah Strawbridge, Cate O’Sullivan-Watts, Izzie Newton-Cross, Lily Qi, Anya Powell, Lily Winchester and Sethumi Ediriweera.

“My grandpa is at a rest home in South Korea and my grandma lives alone in Christchurch,” says Evy. “Over the lockdown period, I heard from them about the widespread loneliness and social disconnection that exists for senior citizens. Especially during times like this, it is difficult for the elderly to stay connected, which encourages negative mental and emotional states to be cultivated. I founded the non-profit/initiative, Genafriend, to combat this issue, aiming to connect our incredible NZ elderly and high-school students via video/phone calls.

Though we have just launched, we have been growing fast, with four rest homes on board. This week, we launched our first calls. A total of 24 students have been calling with their Elderly Friends at Settlers Village and have been loving it!”

Here are some quotes from our Genafriend student volunteers after their first call:

“She’s awesome, I loved talking to her! Went away with a huge smile on my face, she was just so lovely, and I can’t wait to get to know her more!”

“She knits too! We have to share patterns and projects!”

“Honestly, I was quite nervous at first but we clicked instantly. He told me about the incredible life he lived, and we laughed about how the world has changed. He is one intelligent man – I’m excited to call him every week and make a new friend!”

“She laughed at my stories of funny mistakes and encounters, and afterward we had a running inside joke to laugh at each other’s smallest mistakes!”

“She’s an active person, loving mother, and loving grandmother… her stories were inspiring and she was honest with me.”

“I believe that there is a huge opportunity here,” says Evy. “Students gain wisdom, learn new communication skills, and find joy in getting to know an awe-inspiring person. Senior citizens find a new source of brightness in their lives. Here at Genafriend, we are thrilled to be reaching New Zealanders across generations to create meaningful, mutually-beneficial friendships.”

Community

Head Prefect features in Auckland schools video

It’s great to see schools collaborating during these strange times! This video was created by Mount Albert Grammar School Head Boy Eric Shen and Head Girl Megan Williams. It features Westlake’s very own Head Prefect Kaia Tupu-South.

https://www.facebook.com/134491383250450/videos/714756802685451

 

Sports

Basketball player named as Junior Tall Fern

Year 13 basketball player Jessica Moors has been honoured by Basketball New Zealand as one of the 2020 Under-19 Junior Tall Ferns. The team should have been competing in the Four Nations Tour during June. Instead, Basketball NZ released this video to acknowledge the talented players who should have been representing their country.

Congratulations Jessica.

https://www.facebook.com/basketballnz/videos/2737846986448771

 

Sports

Sports Challenge Winners

We had a brilliant response to our Sports and Wellbeing Prefect-run Challenges. There was one challenge a day over five days. Here are the winners.

Day One

The Day One Challenge was brought to you by Hauraki House Sports and Wellbeing Prefect Nyla Bunyan. The goal was to go for a walk, run or bike and create a shape from the route.

The winner was Anya Powell – Onewa’s House Captain. Well done on a very creative walk. Do you see it?

 

 

 

 

Day Two
Day Two of the Lockdown Challenge was brought to you by Onewa Onewa House Sports and Wellbeing Prefect Charlotte Lewis. The goal was to showcase your sport at home and demonstrate how you’re keeping fit in lockdown. The winner was Year 10 student Frederika Clements. That’s a pretty impressive workout Frederika!

Day Three
The winner of our Day 3 Lockdown Challenge was Year 11 student Ella Dorward. The challenge, presented by Akoranga Sports and Wellbeing Prefect Greer Mackintosh, was to perform a trick shot. Well done Ella!

Day Four
Decision pending! Winner announced shortly

Day Five
Meet the very clever Abigail Clements – winner of our Day 5 challenge – which was brought to you by Wairau’s Sports and Wellbeing Prefect Charli Foster. The winner was the person who could lie down the fastest with a cup of water on their head. That’s pretty impressive Abigail!

Sports

Aquathon competitors

The 20 students named below competed in the AKSS Aquathon Champs at St Kentigern College earlier this year.

Charis Alison, Pallas Baker, Kate Borton, Imogen Burge, Cassidy Coldicott, Zoe Crawford, Myara Flint, Lena Hamblyn-Ough, Mackenzie Harvey, Kelly Lane, Kenzie McKay, Millie Middleton, Amy Morrison, Michaela Pocock, Kate Rogers, Chloe Seaman, Eva Todd, Mea Van Rooyen, Sasha Van Wijk, Safra Wohlfarth.

 

 

Sports

Team keeps in touch via lockdown challenges

The Westlake Girls Premier NNH Netball Team is coached by Toa Tanimo, and managed by Renae Dodds and Tayla Boyd. Over lockdown they have been taking on a series of challenges. Here are some examples. And at the top you’ll find a challenge you can take on yourself!

https://youtu.be/pPcYpxCy4AE

Above: Ball passing compilation with the whole team

Above: Workout by Dileesia Henare

https://youtu.be/KB4HpbWw1sc

Above: Workout by Briana Paea

Sports

Time to get your move on!

College Sport Auckland is running a competition to see how may kilometres you can move over the next week. From Thursday 7 May to Thursday 14 May you can choose to walk, run, cycle or row.

All entries must be from enrolled students (Year 7-13) and/or paid staff members only. Below is the link to the College Sport ISO Distance Rules

https://collegesport.co.nz/2020/05/07/iso-3k-competition-run-for-your-school-2/

Entry forms are here

Go for it!

 

Community

Here's to Westlake's mums

We hope you all have a lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday. To celebrate, some of our Head Prefects tell us the thing they love most about their mum.

Head Prefect: Kaia Tupu-South with Julie Tupu-South

 

What I love most about her is that she’s my best friend and my mother rolled into one, her love is unconditional and she always finds a way to make me laugh in a serious situation.

 

 

 

 

Deputy Head Prefect: Darcy Frank with Jackie Frank

 

 

I would have to say the thing I love most about her is how much she manages to make me laugh, even if I’m feeling down.

 

 

 

 

Akoranga House Captain: Lara Remo with Jing Remo

It’s hard for me to encapsulate what I love most dearly about her in a single sentence, but if I had to, it would have to do with her astounding strength and perseverance in everything she does and goes through. Love you, Mum.

 

 

Hauraki House Captain: Maddison Gerbes with Corina Gerbes (and Renee – a former Hauraki Prefect) 

 

“I love my mum! She’s is a mana wahine in my eyes, always providing for our family. Happy Mother’s Day to my mum and all the step mums, mums, and mothers to be! You are all appreciated! – LOVE MADDI X

 

 

 

Onewa House Captain: Anya Powell with Melissa Powell

 

 

The thing I love most about my mum is that she is always up for an adventure!

 

 

 

 

 

Pupuke House Captain: Beth Naylor with Jo Naylor

I love her because she is so caring and compassionate – I am proud to call her my mum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wairau House Captain: Sania Jafarian with Mitra Nourbakhsh

Thank you, Maman, for being the brightest source of strength and compassion in my life. I love you more than you know.

Academic

Upcycling is the new black

The pop tabs on soft drink cans aren’t normally considered a clothing accessory, but one Year 12 Fabric Technology student is innovatively turning fizz into fashion.

Georgia Heron came up with the idea of using pop tabs on an upcycled denim jacket she is creating as part of a sustainability project for class (pictured right).

“I love the look of a long denim jacket and always have wanted one for myself,” says Georgia. “My mum was having a huge clean out in her wardrobe and had a lot of denim, so I decided to upcycle it and turn it into a new garment. The most exciting thing is how unique and different this jacket will be.

“I came up with the idea of using pop tabs as I was researching unusual waste products and I came across a company called BOTTLETOP which creates handbags made from pop tabs. I thought it would be an amazing idea to turn it into a fashionable garment.” Georgia has family, friends, local restaurants and bars collecting pop tabs for her – the aim being to encourage as many people as possible to think sustainably.

“This design is very important to me as I love being sustainable and doing little things to make a big difference in our community and environment,” she says. “Making this garment will raise awareness of upcycling and sustainability to those around me which is an amazing way to get others involved.” Around 300 million cans go to waste each year, so to help out by reducing the aluminium is a very exciting way to make a difference,” she says.

With research, trailing, testing and manufacturing, it will take Georgia about a month to complete the garment. “For my sample, it took me an hour to crochet the pop tabs together making a pocket – which gives me a clear idea of how long the jacket should take.  My work book and design is due 4 September which is a little while away.”

Georgia says one of trickiest parts of the design is knowing exactly how much denim, and how pop tabs, she’ll need.  “Another obstacle is knowing how to attach the pop tab pockets and cuffs to the denim jacket. After testing and trialling I will know what will be the most efficient and have the best quality.”

Sixteen-year-old Georgia began sewing at intermediate in Year 7 – and instantly loved it. In her wardrobe are jumpers, bags, dresses and a long jumpsuit she made herself – including the dress she’s wearing in the photos. In the future Georgia hopes to turn her passion into a living. I’m most inspired and creative when I’m designing something that has a purpose,” she says. “To have a career that helped to make our world more sustainable would be amazing.”

If you’d like to collect pop tabs for Georgia, email her on [email protected]

Arts & Culture

Ballet lesson with a difference

The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s lockdown series continues. This weekend it’s Swan Lake, ballet’s most beloved classic, retold in an electrifying new version.

Friday 8 May, 7:30pm
Saturday 9 May, 1:30pm
Sunday 10 May, 10:30am

With Tchaikovsky’s famous score in the air, swans flood the stage in a sea of intricate hand movements and delicate footwork. Follow Siegfried’s struggle with love and betrayal, articulated with impressive lifts and complex pas de deux and pas de trois.

Broadcast live on Facebook Premiere. You do not need an account to view this broadcast.

You can also watch via a link available on the day on RNZB’s webpage

If you’d like to use the ballet as an educational tool, you can find out more about how the work was created, its historical context and production details such as staging and costuming. The resource also contains lively dance activities for all school-aged students. Check it out here

Academic

Spending time to learn about crime

By Sarah Penny
12HSM 12 SOST

On Wednesday week ago, the Year 12 Social studies cohort was lucky enough to be a part of a Google MEET with Dr Jarrod Gilbert, Criminal Justice Director at the University of Canterbury. Although the talk was originally intended to be given at our annual Crime Seminar, which is organised each year to augment our learning, plans had to be modified due to the restrictions of Alert Level 4.  Dr Gilbert is well known in his field as an ethnographic researcher and author of a number of books including Patched: The History of Gangs in New Zealand.

Although at first we were challenged by the woes of technology, we were soon off and down the rabbit hole of learning.

It was interesting discussing our current justice system, and Dr Gilbert commented on how he hoped that in discussing current issues, some of the students may go on to find solutions for our justice system in the future. Whether that be tackling issues such as domestic violence and the high percentage of Pacifica and Māori that make up our prison numbers compared with Pākehā incarcerations. Dr Gilbert said he believed that in order to do more to lower crime rates, we should look into preventative measures, and targeting those at risk of future criminal acts, such as children.

He also talked about the variety of career options within criminal justice whether that be working with people as a social worker, counsellor or psychologist, to working in the Police, forensics, law, politics, policy-making, statistics analysis and a whole lot more.

We enjoyed hearing about Dr Gilbert’s ideas and work, and we thank him for making our online school lesson something unique. We will certainly take onboard his ideas for future study and potential career paths.

Community

Westlake Wellness How to stay motivated

By Elizabeth Beaumont
TIC Food Technology

Many teachers have observed some of our students are engaged and thriving under the current system, enjoying taking responsibility for their learning and having time to consolidate knowledge in their own time. The whole school community has experienced disruption to daily routines with new ways of working and learning from home. Without the usual interaction of teachers and friends in the school environment, feelings of boredom and lack of motivation are common. As level 2 approaches there will again be new routines and challenges to adapt to. 

Below are some tips to help your daughter stay motivated

  • Do one thing in the morning big or small 
  • Make a really simple checklist, then you can tick things off and feel a sense of achievement (got up, ate breakfast, showered)
  • Keep a list of immediate goals (today) and longer term goals (end of term or year or longer)
  • Interact with positive people and emulate traits you admire in others
  • Record (in a journal or digital diary) something you enjoyed (avocado on toast)
  • Show off your achievements
  • I submitted my work on time!
  • I learnt how to…..
  • I made dinner tonight
  • Reward yourself, “I will complete these 5 questions, then …..”.

We are all looking forward to returning to a “new normal”

 

Academic

My dog ate my homework

Yes, this really happened! Our Deputy Head Prefect, Darcy Frank, experienced something of a setback with her at-home learning when “Lockdown Lilah” shredded and ate her assignment. How could you be cross at that face though!

Community

Thrive in your bubble with Attitude (Part II)

If you want to do more than just survive your bubble, the Attitude team is here to tell you how. We featured Part One of this video in the last edition of The Voice. Here’s the next instalment.

 

Academic

Distance learning information in multiple languages

Resources to help families support their teenagers with distance learning are now available on the Ministry of Eduction website including this information in the following languages:

Community

Meaningful May

As we enter a new month, six weeks after we first went into lockdown, here are some great things to do each day to help make it meaningful. Here’s to a mighty May (and hopefully a move to Level 2)!

Arts & Culture

What have our music students been up to?

Our incredibly talented music students are working hard in their bubbles to keep up with their studies. Here’s what some of them have been up to. Make sure you check out their videos – they are well worth it!

Year 9
I am Tara Yoo. As a Westlake musician, it is essential that we continue to make progress by practising even during the lockdown, so that we are well prepared and improved for when we get back to school to make music with other students. The lockdown has been a relaxing time for me, but also quite tedious as I miss playing as a group and look forward to going back to school again, hopefully soon. The video below shows a week’s progression in the piece Jangan Lupa composed by a New Zealand composer, Gareth Farr, which I played for a performance challenge task set by our teacher in the Year 9 music extension class. I am currently part of an orchestra and a choir at our school, and we meet up once a week to have online lessons but other times, just music to learn until we can gather all together again. We are already through the third week of Term 2, and I hope we can spend the rest back at school.

Watch Tara’s video here

Year 10
My name is Bella Allan-Moetaua and I am a student in the Music Extension class for 2020. Being in lockdown has been a challenge when it comes to music. I sing, play guitar and piano, it can be very hard for my family to sit around all day and hear me sing at the top of my lungs. Lucky during quarantine, I have a space in the garage where I can do all my music practice in there.

Zoom lessons can be hard, due to the lag in technology but I get along. I have had a couple of singing lessons on zoom and so far it’s been really good, because the timing of things are flexible. I also have had a couple of piano lessons and I really have enjoyed it. I have found a lot more time to go over pieces of music and get in some more practice. This means every two weeks I get given a new piece to print and look over.

When it comes to big group rehearsals, for example choir. It can be very difficult. Having 60 people on a zoom call at once can cause a big glitch in the system and we can’t sing. We do manage though. Sometimes we are asked to all go on mute so that we can hear someone talking without any lag. I miss choir so much because I have made so many good friends and it was always the best part of my week.

Overall what I’m looking forward to the most when going back to school is seeing my friends, but also getting back into normality and continuing to do choir and piano.

Hear Bella’s amazing voice here

 

 

Academic

Showcase your learning - and be in to win $200

Here’s something you might like to encourage your daughter to participate in:  The KineticKiwi Competition. The KineticKiwi competition involves Year 5 to 13 students creating their own educational/informative video about a topic covered at school, with the content originating from their own knowledge. It is open to all students around New Zealand and is completely online.

For The KineticKiwi Competition, students can submit their video under one of four categories: Mathematics/Statistics, Science, Technology and Social Sciences. The competition features the ability for participants to share their existing knowledge with students around New Zealand on a virtual platform. A panel of  judges will select five winners from the High School Section (Y9 to 13) to win $200 each, and five winners from the Junior Section (Y5 to 8) who receive $100 each. Not only are participants eligible to win prizes, they also join a larger community where students can learn from each other.

The deadline for submissions is 24 July 2020. Enter on KineticKiwi’s website The KineticKiwi Competition.

Arts & Culture

Student heralds in ANZAC Day with trumpet tribute

ANZAC Day dawned to the sound of a trumpet in Jenny Howe’s neighbourhood. Jenny, a Year 10 student, played The Last Post at 6am on Saturday 25 April, standing at the top of her driveway. Lest we Forget.

Community

SchoolTV Special Report on teenage distress

SchoolTV – Checklist for Secondary Students

The global pandemic is having a profound impact on our adolescents with many being forced to miss out on so many rites of passage. Some are becoming more anxious or depressed which is completely understandable given the current situation. However, should your teen display any unusual behaviour that lasts for more than 2-3 weeks, it may be a cause for concern.

Research shows there are specific risk factors that increase the likelihood of teenagers developing a mental health problem. Some are set in stone, whilst others are modifiable. Adolescents are considered to be more at risk of anxiety and depression disorders which may affect their mood, thinking and behaviour. It can impact their ability to function and perform normal activities.

It is therefore vitally important for adult carers to remain vigilant during this time for any signs of distress, even though your adolescent may not have any prior history of a mental health disorder. Early intervention, diagnosis and treatment is more important than ever. In the current climate, one useful thing you can do is help your teen focus on the things that they can control –– such as their learning, diet, exercise and sleep.

In this Special Report, parents and caregivers are provided with a checklist that can be used as a guide in determining if there is any cause for concern.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your daughter, please contact our school counsellors.

Check out the SchoolTV Special Report – Wellbeing Checklist

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