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Te Reo O Te Roto
The Language of the Lake
Issue 71 | 8 September 2023
From the Principal

From the Principal

Kia ora, everyone,

What an incredible couple of weeks it’s been at Westlake. We’ve had a stunning array of successes in the Winter National Sports Tournament and the Big Sing Finale, as you’ll read in this issue of Te Reo o Te Roto.

I want to acknowledge the time, passion, and commitment of everyone involved and to congratulate these talented students. I’m incredibly proud of you all, and I know our wider school community feels the same.

We are now deep into exams, and it’s pleasing to feel a sense of quiet focus around the school. Thank you, parents and caregivers, for helping your young people meet exam time challenges calmly, well-rested, and prepared. Or if not calmly, exactly, at least breathing deeply and reading the questions carefully!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Jane Stanley

Principal

Sports

Amaya Tan-Peters – NZSS Climbing Cup

Year 10 student Amaya Tan-Peters competed at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Climbing Cup in Mount Maunganui on 28-29 Aug. Amaya competed in her usual disciplines in the Junior Female combined Bouldering/Top-Rope event, as well as competing in the Junior Female Speed Climbing event for the first time. She continued her strong season in Bouldering/Top-Rope, winning the Junior Female bronze medal with 127.5 points and finishing only 3 points behind 1st place. In the Speed Climbing event, Amaya earned a strong 5th place in the qualifiers, where only the top 8 went through to the finals, and less than 1 second separated 2nd to 5th places. Amaya continued her rapid learning curve in the head-to-head finals, beating the 4th fastest qualifier before losing the semifinals by 0.4sec.

Amaya executed her best speed climb of the weekend in the bronze medal round, winning in 12.488sec and beating the 2nd fastest qualifier.

In winning bronze in both disciplines, Amaya was the highest-ranked Auckland Junior Female in the tournament and the only Junior Female medallist who didn’t attend Mount Maunganui College.

Academic Community Notices

Breakfast with Education Futurist, bring your daughter or son along!

Te Kāhui Ako o Pupuke (our local Ministry of Education Learning Community) is thrilled to offer the opportunity to join Westlake Girls High School for an enlightening talk from Frances Valintine, Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and visionary CEO & Founder of AcademyEX.

Frances is a dedicated educator and technologist. She has spent 25 years revolutionising education and business practices to prepare for the future of work, societal shifts, and planetary protection.

Frances’s insights will inspire you to guide your child’s journey. Discover how to equip your children with the skills, knowledge, and mindset needed to thrive in an ever-changing world. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the award-winning pioneer who founded The Mind Lab, recognized by Steve Wozniak and Sir Richard Branson.

Embark on a transformative experience for both generations while enjoying a delicious breakfast in Westlake Girls’ stunning new Event Centre.

Tickets are on sale on iTicket and selling fast – $45 for each parent-child pair.
https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2023/sep/prepare-children-for-an-ai-future

Community From the Board

Board meeting Report August 2023

August’s Board meeting covered the following matters, along with the usual board business:

  • Progress on the Whare wānanga building project, which is due to go out to tender.
  • A presentation from Carrie George and Cherie Drummond, the amazing ladies leading the Whare wānanga fundraising committee, who shared their progress with regard to fundraising for dressing the inside of the Whare wānanga.
  • A comprehensive report on the library services and levels of use. How lucky WGHS is to have an engaging library space with a constant supply of new books providing for academic research, topical and special interest areas, and all types of fiction and non-fiction.
  • Final NCEA results for 2022
  • Mid-year Student Progress and Achievement Report for 2023. The importance of attending exams and obtaining literature requirements for University Entrance was noted, along with the strong relationship between low attendance and low academic attainment.
  • Status of enrolments for 2024 to date – a significant number of out-of-zone enrolments received; those unsuccessful in the ballot are to be waitlisted as places become available.
  • The Board approved the replacement of the football turf, together with LED floodlights, to be completed for the start of 2024.
  • The Board ratified the following policies and guidelines: #5.2 Child Protection Policy; Board Code of Conduct, and Meeting Protocols

Our board meetings are held in public, and all are welcome to attend. Please contact Board Secretary/Principal’s EA, Marie McKerrow if you would like to do so.

Carrie and Cherie would love to have more people join them in their efforts; please contact Matua Hudson or Marie McKerrow for more information.

Arts & Culture

Exciting Debating Team News

Our senior debating team (Isabella Drummond, Dinithi Liyanage, Grace Adcock, and Sydney Brandolino) won its championships on September 5 against Dilworth Boys!

 

It was a close debate, but our team won in the finals. It is now the reigning Auckland Schools champion for its grade, Advanced Open. A big thank you to Jane Hodges for organising the event (and debating) and all the staff that attended. 

 

Sydney Brandolino also won Best Speaker of the Competition for her grade.

 

The team members received their awards on September 6 at Saint Kentigern College in Pakuranga. Warm congratulations to you all.

Sports

Basketball Shorts

BBNZ Junior Premierships Zone 1

Our Junior Premier team went undefeated in the round robin, getting the better half of their neighbour rivals, Rangitoto College. Both teams cruised through the playoffs only to square off again, this time for the gold. Rangitoto came out strong, and WGHS continued to battle until the final buzzer. Rangitoto College walked away victorious, and our WGHS girls finished second in their region with a silver.

Basketball – Premier Winners

The Westlake Prems team started the tournament well with a convincing win against our neighbours, Rangitoto College. We had not previously come up against them as they play in the Senior competition. It was a good opportunity to give our team a run and set ourselves up for the rest of the tournament. We also played teams we have previously played in the Premier League and got through pool play successfully against Northcote, Takapuna, St Kents and Epsom Girls. The semis vs. Manurewa College allowed us to play against a team that is not in our Friday night competition. Manurewa is a well-drilled team that gave us some challenges to overcome and tested our ability to play against a different style of play. We won the semi, which set up a replay of the Greater Auckland final. MAGS is a tough team and has some potent offensive weapons. The game was tied going into the second, and we managed to build up a small lead by halftime. Our girls battled through, and we were able to win the final for a second year.

Community

Budding Readers

The Westlake Girls High School and Milford Primary School Buddy Reading Programme

Milford Primary School Library has been a hive of activity every Thursday morning with busy bee buddy readers. It was an early morning start for the Westlake Girls’ High School and Milford Primary School students meeting to read before their classes started. The initiative spanned fifteen weeks of Terms 2 and 3. Forty-five Westlake students from Years 10-13 were paired with buddies from Years 1-5 from Milford Primary School. The older students’ job was to transfer their love of reading to their buddies. They helped them search for books, listened to them read, and modelled reading for them.

The programme, set up by Michelle Clarke from Milford Primary and Claire Gilbert from Westlake Girls’, aims to foster enthusiasm for reading, facilitate reading skills, and create community spirit.

Heart-warming relationships have grown between participants, and several students have voiced an interest in Primary School Teaching and Child Psychology.

The programme has been highly successful, with noticeable improvement in the children’s reading confidence and ability. Their parents noticed an increase in their child’s willingness to read and in their child’s reading ability. One parent said her child had difficulty sleeping the night before the reading sessions, as she was so excited to see her Westlake buddy again in the morning!

Our Westlake students have shown outstanding commitment to this community programme. They have battled cold and often rainy winter mornings to turn up. Even when their year levels were rostered home, they turned up in full uniform to read to their buddies.

 

The programme ended with a final buddy reading breakfast with hot chocolate and goodies from Baker’s Delight. The Milford students received certificates from their Westlake mentors. In turn, the younger children presented thank-you cards to the Westlake students. It was a festival of cuteness as they farewelled each other until next year when the programme will run again.

Claire Gilbert

Arts & Culture Community

Pasifika Performance at Wilson School

On Tuesday, August 22, a selection of our Cook Island, Tongan, and Fijian dancers performed at the Wilson School in Takapuna as part of their Pasifika festival. The girls performed beautifully, and the audience of students, support workers and staff were very supportive and enthusiastic.

Here is what one of our students had to say:

 “Today was an amazing opportunity. To be given the chance to perform in front of a school with special needs was empowering. It reminds me of why I’ve chosen to take a career path that helps with young children. It was a one-of-a-kind experience that I will forever cherish – having the kids there cheer for us as we performed not only for the Cook Island group, but for the Tongan and Fijian groups too. It filled my heart with joy, knowing that they enjoyed our performance. Not only that but being able to see them interact with our students and take photos reminds me of how grateful I am to be blessed with such opportunities; I pray that there are many more experiences for our PI students like this. I would just like to thank our school for letting us, the Pacific Island Students, go on this trip and share our culture with the students of The Wilson School.” Emma-Jade Amadia.

Academic

Year 12 Outdoor Education Trip to The Pinnacles

On Thursday, 24 August and Friday, 24 August, the students in the Year 12 Outdoor Education cohort implemented our 2.9 assessment standard by planning a class trip to the Pinnacles in the Coromandel.

This event took weeks of strategic thinking and organising to ensure that it could go ahead without any issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to book and plan around the weather, consider the potential risks involved, write safety management forms, organise emergency gear, book accommodation, hire vehicles, create safe travel plans there and back, map out walking tracks and make contingency plans for any potential changes to plans.

The trip went very well, and we were lucky to get beautiful weather!

Academic

Lights, Camera, Action!

On Wednesday, 23 August, the Media Studies department held our annual Oscars Evening, celebrating the successes of our Y12 and Y13 Media Studies students. The evening kicked off with popcorn as students, their friends, and family settled in to watch the year’s top Y12 narrative music videos and Y13 short films. The students worked incredibly hard to put together their films, and seeing so many people there to support them was great.

At the end of the night, we had an awards ceremony. Awards in many categories were handed out, such as best cinematography, storyline, acting, costume and makeup, editing, and more.

The top two awards of the night were Best Overall Y12 Music Video, which went to Veronica Liu and Gianna Marigondon for ‘TV’, and Best Overall Y13 Short Film, which went to Regina He, Kate Liu and Fufa Pimolsri for their horror short film, ‘XO’.

Congratulations to all our Media Studies students for another great year of work!

Academic

A Tale of Students, Bubble Tea Pearls, and Cheese!

On Monday, 28th August, a group of students interested in careers in food technology and food science had the opportunity to participate in engaging activities in Massey University’s new, state-of-the-art food science and engineering facility at the Albany Campus.

Tony Mutukumira, the senior lecturer in the School of Food and Advanced Technology, gave us a tour of the new building and introduced his colleagues, who would be our teachers for the day. Tony explained Massey’s Food Science and Engineering degree and the many potential jobs we could get with this qualification, including many international opportunities. He said he has taught many Westlake Girls graduates and is always impressed by our ambition and hard work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day was divided into three engaging lab sessions. The first session was the sensory experience lesson. We began with identifying food aromas, some of which were not pleasant! We also did a blind taste test of Pepsi and Coca-Cola. In the next session, we used alginate as a thickener and made colourful edible balls. These could be added to various foods, such as bubble tea. The alginate experiments showcased the role of edible food products in texture and thickening. Our teacher gave us oobleck to explore as we learned about non-Newtonian fluids. In the final session, we made cheese and got to eat it! Cheese-making involved using milk and citric acid to separate the curd and whey. We had to be precise and keep the pH at a certain range whilst adding the acid.

This experience highlighted the fusion of creativity and chemistry in food science. The day was a reminder that food is both an art and a science.

By Aisha Hussien.

Sports

Westlake Alumna Signs with Major German Football Club

One of our ex-students, Erin Nayler (Y13, 2009), finished her commitment to the Football Ferns at the end of the Football World Cup. She has now signed for the powerhouse club of German football, Bayern Munich. We proudly wish her all the best as she continues her spectacular trajectory!

To read more, go to https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2023/09/01/ferns-goalkeeper-erin-nayler-lands-move-to-german-giants-bayern-munich/ 

Academic

Health Science Taster Day at Auckland Uni

On Tuesday, 29th September, Year 11 students Mel Teulilo and Edina Manukia attended a Year 11 University of Auckland Health Science Taster day for Pasifika students at Auckland University’s Health Science facilities in Grafton.

The day started with a fun icebreaker followed by a nursing student who spoke about her experience studying nursing. A fascinating presentation from the School of Optometry followed. We had the opportunity to use optometry equipment to look closely at each other’s eyes, examining the iris and cornea.

After morning tea, we learned about the School of Population Health. Students learned about how Auckland University researchers use statistics and data to track diseases, with the aim of finding out why some populations are at high risk for certain conditions.

In the medical imaging presentation, we learned that medical imaging technicians take CT scans, X-rays, mammograms and MRIs. They can work in theatres, clinics, or hospitals. It’s a great career path for students who like variety because each day is different.

Following lunch, we were given a taste of what pharmacy involves. We learned it is a wide field and that you can do more than a chemist. There are options to do clinical pharmacy, which is research-based. There is also a qualification to become a “prescriber pharmacist”. People with this qualification can prescribe a variety of medications.

Finally, we were given a presentation about the course that qualifies you to be a medical doctor. We heard from an inspiring ex-student who used their medical training to help communities in Tonga, Samoa, and Niue. We learned that with a medical degree, you can serve anywhere – in your own community or in other countries.

We are very grateful for the opportunity to visit Auckland University’s Health Science facilities. Auckland University held the event because there is a very small percentage of Pasifika people in the medical field; due to this, many Polynesians do not visit the doctor. Additionally, there can be other barriers like language, different belief systems, and lack of trust, which prevent our Pasifika people from getting the treatment that is needed for them in order to live their best life.

By Mel Teulilo

Academic Notices

Level 3 NCEA Chemistry Tutorial Sessions

WGHS has the pleasure of hosting the first-ever Level 3 Chemistry tutorial sessions. These will be held over the 2 weeks of the September break and will cover the 3 external achievement standards. Please note, the prices in the poster are for early-bird enrolments which have now ended. Costs are now as follows.

1 session – $30

2 sessions – $50.

Dr Debbie Jordan, Senior Chemistry lecturer from Massey University, will be the facilitator.

Hope to see you there.

Sports

Exceptional Effort From First XI Football Team

The WGHS First XI Football Team finished in 4th place at the National Tournament in Taupo. It was an outstanding effort from the girls to finish as high as they did, making it one of the best finishes the school has had at this tournament in over 20 years. It was also a phenomenal effort, considering Westlake was one of the youngest teams at the tournament, featuring four Year 10s and one Year 9!

The girls went through the group stage unbeaten, securing a draw with Takapuna and victories over Palmerston North Girls and Wellington East Girls College. This ensured the team finished top of their pool and had a Round of 16 match against Hutt Valley High School, which features three players in the Wellington Phoenix Academy and the New Zealand U16s Squad. The girls pulled off a nail-biting 1-0 win in this match, with Kiera O’Malley scoring the winning goal from a corner. On Wednesday, the girls had a quarterfinal match against Diocesan, who had beaten us earlier in the season 2-0. Westlake went 1-0 up early in the game, with Kiera O’Malley scoring yet again from a corner before Dio equalized in the second half. Sophie Thompson scored the winning goal with 4 minutes left to send us to our first semifinal in over 20 years.

Unfortunately, in the semifinal, we went down 1-0 to St Kents, who scored late in the second half. With injuries and fatigue running high, the girls struggled against a very good MAGS side in the 3rd place playoff, going down 4-0. Despite this result, the girls were extremely proud of their performances during the tournament. A special mention has to go to Ava Lewis and Maddi Day, who played every minute of the tournament. Overall, it was a very successful week for the girls and one for them all to be proud of!

Sports

2nd XI Hockey Wins Bronze in Ashburton

Our 2nd XI hockey team competed in their national tournament, the Chris Arthur Cup, last week in Ashburton, where the team won a bronze medal. The players hit their stride early in the tournament, winning their pool games against St Andrews (5-0) and Dio (3-0). Westlake was forced to show resilience and resolve in their quarterfinal when RangiRuru went ahead 2-0 in the 3rd quarter. Our team fought back to tie the game 2-2 at the end of regulation and slotted 3 goals in the shootout to earn its way into the semifinals. St Margarets proved to be a challenging opposition in the semifinals. Despite its best efforts, the Westlake team went down 2-4. However, the players rallied around each other to come back strong for the final against Christchurch Girls High. Although CGHS scored first, Westlake kept the pressure on, eventually winning the game 4-2. Congratulations also to Charlotte Lockie, who tied for top goal scorer of the tournament.

Community

Y10 Westlake Student Presents to Rotary Club

On Tuesday, 22 August, Diya Kansara (Y10) presented a speech to a Rotary Takapuna meeting at Takapuna Normal Intermediate School. The audience included board members of the Rotary Club, including President Barbara Morgan; Toastmasters International member Katrina Matich; Principal of TNIS Zane Wilson; Deputy Principal of TNIS Sandy Harford; Food Technology teacher at TNIS Tony Dooley; and Chefs for Compassion Founder Marty Smith.

This meeting focused on an organisation for adolescents in Aotearoa that is currently under Rotary Birkenhead called Chefs for Compassion. In the Rotary meeting Diya attended, participants reflected on the organisation’s initiatives to protect others from bullying and contribute to meaningful change within communities.

Chefs For Compassion was founded in 2010. It teaches students how to be compassionate under pressure, how and why they should all work to be kind, allows them to cook in a positive environment with their peers, and helps shape the leaders of tomorrow. Diya joined in 2020 while she was at intermediate school.

“I was stunned at the fact that you could show compassion in the kitchen, but within just a few weeks of joining the programme, I realised that you could and should show kindness everywhere – in any way you can. While my two years in the programme were hindered by COVID-19 and the worldwide disruptions it caused, I learned so much about how to encourage and contribute to meaningful and positive change within communities. Because of this incredible programme and the arsenal of values and experiences I have gained, I was encouraged to think and dig deeper into problems that continue to affect people worldwide.”

– Diya Kansara

Sports

1st XI Hockey Wins Bronze in Christchurch

Our 1st XI hockey team has won a hard-fought bronze medal at the Federation Cup in Christchurch. Our team went undefeated in pool play, beating Samuel Marsden, St Kentigern and Diocesan while only allowing two goals across the three games. Westlake continued strongly through the cross-over and quarterfinals with a 6-0 win over Taradale and a 3-0 win over St Peters School Cambridge. In the semi-final, they battled well with a strong and physical St Andrews side, ending regulation time in a 1-1 tie but unfortunately going down 4-2 in the shootout. Despite their disappointment, the team came out swinging in the bronze medal match against Christchurch Girls High, scoring 8 minutes into the match and defending strongly against the home side (and their vocal supporters) to win 1-0.

Sports

Canoe Queen

Earlier this year, we learned that ex-student Tara Vaughan (Y13, 2021) made one of New Zealand’s top canoe crews. The crew includes Dame Lisa Carrington.

The crew has gone on to perform brilliantly in the World Canoe Champs, which took place in Germany in August. It won gold (the World Title) in the K4 500, becoming the first NZ crew ever to win a K4 World title.

It’s fantastic to see a former Westlake student excelling internationally at this level. Congratulations, Tara!

For more, see here.  www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/300958368/lisa-carrington-and-k4-team-win-world-championship-gold-in-germany 

Arts & Culture

Music News: The Big Sing & Choir Auditions

Exceptional Success at The Big Sing

The Big Sing National Finale took place at the end of August, with 24 top secondary school choirs from around New Zealand competing over three days in the Auckland Town Hall. Each choir performed two recitals of five pieces to a panel of adjudicators from New Zealand and overseas. This year, with a change of rules relating to music choices, there was an abundance of songs in Te Reo Māori and other Pasefika languages. 

Around 800 young singers brought huge passion to their performances and energetically supported other choirs. Westlake’s Premier choirs, Cantare, Choralation (directed by HOD Fiona Wilson) and Voicemale (directed by David Squire), all won gold for their recitals. 

Cantare was joint winner of the Tour Time Trophy for Best Performance of a Choral Art Song for its performance of ‘She Weeps Over Rahoon’ by American Composer Eric Whitacre. This song featured cor anglais soloist Alison Dunlop and Cathy Bennett on piano.

Choralation won the Auahi Kore Award for Best Performance of an Item in Te Reo Māori for its performance of ‘I Te Timatanga’ by the Wehi Whānau. This action song was gifted to the choir by kaitiaki Elise Bradley, and it features poi and haka, led by kaitātaki Bella Allan-Moetaua and Aden Angelo.

During the Gala concert on the last evening, two Year 13 music students, Matilda Faamusili and Bella Allan-Moetaua, received their composition awards from New Zealand Choral Federation. Their pieces were performed by the Auckland Chamber Choir, directed by Jono Palmer. Matilda and Bella were thrilled to hear their pieces ‘Dover Beach’ and ‘Ko Tangi o rū poūa’ shared with such a supportive audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join A Fabulous Westlake Choir in 2024

Choir auditions for 2024 will be on Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th September. If you are interested in singing in one of our four auditioned choirs, please sign up for a 5-minute audition using this link. : https://form.jotform.com/232268001219851

2024 will be an exciting year for Westlake singers, with Cantare touring to Indonesia and Malaysia for a competition in Bali and Choralation competing at the World Choir Games in Auckland.

Notices

Practice Exam Info for Parents and Students

For the students’ practice exam timetable, please see here.

For instructions to students about exams, please see here.

 

 

 

 

Community Notices

Let's Share the Aroha!

Do you have any inspiring student or staff-related stories/photos you would like to see in the next issue of Te Reo o Te Roto?

We love celebrating our vibrant Westlake Girls’ community. If you have news that could be published in Te Roto o Te Reo, you’re welcome to submit it to Bridget Ellis-Pegler at [email protected].

Please note that Westlake Girls High School does not promote products or services from external organisations via our newsletters or other communication platforms.

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