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Te Reo O Te Roto
The Language of the Lake
Issue 73 | 20 October 2023
From the Principal

From the Principal

Kia ora Students and Parents/Caregivers,

I hope this letter finds you well as we enter the final term of the year. It’s heartening to see our students back and fully focused, especially our Seniors, who are diligently preparing for their upcoming examinations. Our Year 13 students will soon embark on their study break. That means for them, this is the last issue ever of Te Reo o Te Roto!

I want to acknowledge one of our exceptional students, Maddie Gerbes. We are thrilled to announce that she will join Westlake Girls High School for her teacher training as part of Waikato University’s Teaching Programme. This achievement is a testament to her dedication and hard work; she truly deserves this opportunity. As well as her many other interests, Maddie has always been deeply involved with kapa haka at Westlake. You’ll read about Te Rerenga Wāna’s recent success in this newsletter.

The end of the year is always busy. I love the prizegiving period. It’s always a rich celebration of our students’ successes and a time of great pride for everyone.

However, amidst our celebrations and achievements, I am saddened to address an issue that has come to our attention. A small percentage of students have been creating anonymous social media pages and using them for sharing potentially harmful content. It’s crucial to remind our children that even if they are not responsible for putting these pages online, engaging with the posts, sharing them, or discussing such content only perpetuates its existence.

Mana wāhine underpins everything we do and are at Westlake Girls. I can’t overstate the importance of fostering a positive and supportive school community online and offline. I urge parents to have conversations with their young people about responsible online behaviour and its impact on our school’s reputation and the well-being of our students.

Let’s continue to work together to ensure that Westlake Girls remains a place of excellence, respect, kindness, and integrity. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to a productive and positive final term of the year.

I hope you have a lovely long weekend.

Ka kite,

Jane Stanley

PRINCIPAL

From the Board

School Board Meeting -10 October, 2023

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

  • Elyse Heslop HOD, delivered a very well-received presentation, reporting on the Visual Arts curriculum. These curriculum reviews are always a highlight for board members. Student work is to be presented at their Event Centre Expo next Thursday, 26 October.
  • A comprehensive annual report on IT/AV within the school was presented by Dan Bernadie, AV/IT Manager, with an update on the investments made over the past year to improve the reliability and capability of the school’s ICT infrastructure. The complexities of keeping the school’s network safe for staff and students are immense. The board is aware of its cyber safety and security responsibilities and was reassured by this detailed report. While no system is infallible, the positive results of a recent external Network Security Assessment exercise indicate that we have a robust and reliable ICT environment for staff and students to utilise.
  • In addition, the board was very pleased to hear that the opportunity for students to learn and operate our state-of-the-art sound and lighting equipment for assemblies in the Events Centre is on track for next year.
  • Paul Davis presented the Health and Safety report, another important aspect of the board’s work. Paul’s attention to detail and robust reporting on this provides assurance to our members.
  • Successful grant applications resulted in much-appreciated funding towards the Federation Cup tournament in Christchurch and music and sports equipment, including more free-standing basketball hoops.
  • In principle approval for overseas trip proposals was given for the Premier Basketball trip to Hong Kong in July 2024 and the Visual Arts Tour (USA, NY & LA) in April 2025.
  • The board was impressed that planning was well underway for our first Year 10 camp in 2024!
  • A discussion around board-level succession planning identified further requirements for capability in specialist areas, including Māori, Korean and Chinese representation and legal and marketing skills. If you would like to assist the board, please contact Board Secretary/Principal’s EA, Marie McKerrow.

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.

Many hands make light work, and Carrie George and Cherie Drummond would love to have more parent representation to help raise awareness (and funding) for the dressing of the interior of the Whare Wānanga; please contact Matua Hudson or Marie McKerrow for more information.

Academic

Business Start-Up Challenge

Westlake Girls High School celebrated the Business Start-Up Ceremony Expo on 11 October. We had nine teams participating in this challenge. Our dedicated students had weekly meetings and updates with their mentor teachers, who guided and supported them throughout this journey. I want to thank Mr Phil Cowley, who has managed all our group’s finances. Mr Cowley has given up his time to help me plan this challenge with Mrs Shankar, Mrs Green, Mrs Grobler, Mrs Abueideh, and Mrs Scholten.

My goal was to develop entrepreneurship among students, encouraging them to pursue their passions. The $50 Start-Up Business Challenge allowed students to develop skills like financial literacy, problem-solving, and leadership, serving as a stepping stone towards preparing for the world of work.

 

 

 

 

This initiative operated like actual venture capital funding. Students had to repay the $50 plus $1 interest. This experience is an excellent way of supporting students to learn and practice business skills in real life by developing an idea from concept to execution.

I am extremely grateful to our parents/caregivers for your support. Thank you for showing your belief in our young people. To our dedicated students, your hard work has elevated your self-confidence and inspired and positively impacted our local community. Your contributions inside and outside the classroom have been tremendous. On behalf of everyone involved, I want to offer special thanks to our current partners/sponsors for helping us achieve the Westlake Girls High School Business Start-Up Challenge. We are so grateful for your generous financial support and the trust you have vested in this challenge. With your assistance, the students achieved an outstanding result. This partnership serves as a source of inspiration for our students and beautifully represents the essence of entrepreneurship. -Aarti Singh

 

Ex-Students' Successes

Update on Former Student

In the last issue of Te Reo o Te Roto, we mentioned that former WGHS student Annuska Menoita and the Wonder Group had been nominated for an award at the NZ Best Design Awards.

Absolutely sensational news – they won gold in the Spatial Workplace category!

 

Academic Community

Meeting with Senator and Astronaut Marcos Pontes

Several Brazilian senators recently visited New Zealand for a week of meetings. One of the senators was astronaut Marcos Pontes. To our delight, he agreed to meet with one of our students and share some of his experiences with her. Marcos Pontes boasts an impressive resume as a Brazilian Air Force Pilot, engineer, AEB Astronaut, politician, and author. He holds the distinction of being the first and only South American to journey into outer space. He is, notably, the sole Brazilian to have completed NASA’s rigorous astronaut training program.

Jappan Kaur (12PSN) is interested in joining the Defence Force, Air Force, NASA, or even becoming an astronaut. Jappan is a fabulous example of a student who seizes every available opportunity. She was the perfect choice to earn the privilege of meeting with the accomplished Brazilian astronaut, former Minister of Science (and elected Federal Senator) Marcos Pontes.

Senator Pontes, Jappan Kaur, and Mrs Scholten.

During their meeting, Senator Pontes was extremely impressed with Jappan’s unwavering focus, impeccable preparation, and clear objectives. He expressed his genuine pleasure at having the opportunity to meet with her.

Jappan loved the experience!

This event was organised by Mrs Scholten, our Student Business Liaison superstar. If students would like to visit a company or are wanting an internship, she is the person to contact.

[email protected]

Academic

Surviving Exam Time with Style!

For our senior students, the countdown has begun.

  • How many school days to go?
  • How many days until we find out if we have been successful in our prefect application?
  • How many days until the NCEA examinations begin?

For our Juniors, exams are looming, too. This time of year can be daunting and cause anxiety. Here are some tips and tricks on surviving exams.

Tip One: Make a plan and stick to it. (Leave enough time to study)

Do you know when your exams are? If not, click here, and it will take you to the NCEA timetable. Don’t leave studying until the last minute. Set up a timetable for your study. Write down how many exams you have and the days to sit them. Then, organise your study accordingly. You might need to give some exams more study time than others, so find a balance that makes sense.

Tip Two: Organise your study place 

Make sure you have enough space. Have you got enough light? Is your chair comfortable? Eliminate all distractions (yep, your phone), and create the best possible study atmosphere for yourself. We all thrive in different environments. Silence? Background music? Impeccable order? Utter chaos? Consider what works best for you. and set yourself up for success.

Tip Three: Use visual aids/lists

Visual aids can be helpful when revising. At the start of a topic, challenge yourself to write down everything you already know, then highlight the gaps and refer to the feedback you received from your subject teachers after the school entrance examinations. Closer to the exam, condense your revision notes into one-page diagrams. Getting your ideas down in this brief format helps you quickly recall everything you need to know during the exam.

Some people find making lists of the main words/concepts helpful. Create lists of no more than ten words to which you can link more detailed answers. If you’re more of a poet, how about an acrostic poem?

Tip Four: Take regular breaks and snack on brain food

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Work out when your brain is most in gear and study then. (Many) studies have proved that enormous study sessions without breaks are far less effective than shorter sessions with regular breaks.

For healthy brain food snacks, read the item in this newsletter, ‘Look after Your Brain!’ by Mrs Beaumont. Sugar only gives you a short burst of energy. Nutritious foods like fish, nuts, seeds, yoghurt, and fruit will keep you going much better. And drink plenty of water. Your brain will thank you.

Tip Five: Plan your exam day

Get everything ready at least a day or two before the exam. Suddenly realising you haven’t got everything you need or don’t know how you’ll get there will cause stress. Check all the rules and make sure you’ve got everything you need (a clear snaplock bag, a couple of blue or black pens in case one runs out, and any subject-specific tools like calculators, coloured pencils, etc).

Plan to be there WELL ahead of time. If you think it’s stressful realising the night before that you haven’t got something important you need, imagine how it will feel to be running late…

Tip Six: Believe in yourself!

If you put in the mahi, your results will reflect it. Good luck!

Community

Second-Hand Uniform Shop

Thank you to all the families that supported the Second Hand Uniform Shop last term. A special thanks to our parent and student shop volunteers.

All proceeds generated by the shop go directly to the school to support students in reaching their full potential in academic, sporting, or cultural endeavours.

You can register your uniform items for sale below and drop them off anytime at the school office.

https://handmeround.azurewebsites.net/WGHS/SubmitRegistration

The shop is open every Friday lunchtime from 12.25-1.15 p.m. in B8, behind B block. Alternatively, contact us via email at [email protected]

 

Arts & Culture

Y13 Students Finalists in 'Play it Strange' Competition

Every year, the Lion  Foundation runs an NZ-wide contest (‘Play It Strange’) inviting high school students to submit their original songs to the competition. The finalists have their songs professionally recorded and produced at a local recording studio. This year, we are delighted to share that two of our Year 13 contemporary musicians made the list of finalists. “Let’s Be Magic” (written by Amelia Stace) and “Paint Me More” (written by Matilda Faamausili) have been recorded and are currently in the process of being mixed and mastered before getting released on Spotify to the public. 

Both of these students have shown exceptional growth in their lyrical writing this year, developing their ability to use creative imagery and metaphorical lyrics to weave the narrative of their songs together.

We are immensely proud of these students achieving so highly in their songwriting journeys. We will eagerly await the final mixes of their tracks.

 

Arts & Culture

Te Tino Rangatiratanga o Ahurea: Westlake Girls High School Shines at Kapa Haka Competition

In a captivating display of cultural talent, our kapa haka group, Te Rerenga Wāna, took the stage at the Te Tino Rangatiratanga o Ahurea competition on Saturday, 14 October, in Mangere. While they faced stiff competition from 19 other groups, this young group of 19 girls, led by Kaitātaki Caitlin Jenkins, left a lasting impression and secured a commendable 12th place.

The event, hosted by Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae, showcased the vibrant tapestry of Māori culture, with participants presenting a variety of traditional and contemporary kapa haka performances. Westlake Girls High School’s Te Rerenga Wāna group certainly held their own.

Te Rerenga Wāna gave a powerful and moving performance. It featured a repertoire of six items that included the following traditional elements of kapa haka: Whakaeke, Mōteatea, Waiata-ā-ringa, Poi, Haka, and Whakawātea.

Thanks to powerful leadership from Kaitātaki Caitlin Jenkins, the group performed with utmost precision and respect for the Māori culture.

 

Maddison Gerbes and Tirakahurangi Leaf, the talented tutors who have been guiding the group, played a significant role in honing their skills and ensuring their performances were a true reflection of Māori culture.

 

Sarah Tahere and Natana Herewini added depth and richness to the group’s performances with their musical accompaniment on the guitar.

While the group placed 12th in the competition, their performance was a testament to their dedication, hard work, and love for Māori culture. The Te Tino Rangatiratanga o Ahurea event was a platform for showcasing the talent and passion of the youth for the rich Māori heritage.

Community

Boost Your Brain

Advice on physical health tends to focus on muscles such as the heart and lungs and less on our brain. A little time spent understanding how you can help your brain do its job will help you get the most out of your brain for years to come.

Here are some simple things you can do to keep your brain functioning at its best:

Move – running, dancing, swimming, walking, cycling, and regular exercise help improve blood flow to all body and brain parts. Keeping fit also benefits overall muscle, heart and lung health.

Eat – nutritious foods, including fatty fish, blueberries, turmeric, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, and nuts, provide specific nutrients to assist brain function and keep it in good working order.

Sleep – plan to get around seven to nine hours of sleep daily to help your brain rest and repair. Sleeping helps your brain process what you have experienced and learned during the day so you can remember it later.

Relate – build strong and positive relationships; this triggers the brain’s reward centre and can help reduce stress levels and improve mood.

Extend – stay mentally active by challenging yourself. Doing mentally hard things helps to strengthen connections between brain cells, improving understanding and reasoning skills.

https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/healthy-living/p/proven-ways-to-keep-your-brain-healthy/

 

Arts & Culture

Multiple Nominations in Auckland Showdown Awards

The Auckland Showdown Awards is an annual event celebrating the work of school productions all around Auckland.

The cast and crew of both school productions for 2023 – ‘Into the Woods’ and ‘As You Like It’ – were excited to receive an impressive number of nominations this year. Here are the categories and nominations across both shows:

Best Costume Design – Molly Smith and the Westlake costume team (Into the Woods)

Best Properties – Aurelie Kerbellec, Christine Bader, Nick Brown (Into the Woods)

Best Lighting Design – Alek Ristic & William Sole (Into the Woods)

Best Sound Design – Brad Jansen & Ian Wang (Into the Woods)

Best Set Design – for Into the Woods: Nick Brown, Warwick Robinson, Carla Owen, Dudley Young, Kerry Carson & Jo Blackwell

Best Stage Management – for Into the Woods: Kasey Hani Lui & Michael Wassell 

Best Vocal Performance – The Cast of Into the Woods

Best Performance in a Minor Role (play) – Corey Snape & Dominic Shaw

Best Performance in a Minor Role (musical) – Sachin Subramaniam 

Best Performance in a Supporting Role (play) – Caitlin Spear, Dominic Smith & Kavita Teles 

Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Musical) – Elijah Bycroft, Gabby Galao, Saniel Dones, Emilie Murphy & Othniel Dones

Best Performance in a Leading Role (Musical) – Arnav Pillai, Katie Brown & Michelle Hendra 

Best Dance Performance by a Cast – The cast of Into the Woods 

Best Ensemble in a Musical – The cast of Into the Woods

Best Ensemble in a Play – The cast of As You Like It

Best Choreography in a Musical – Nick Brown & Darren Royston 

Best Musical Direction – Warwick Robinson 

Best Direction of a Play – MJ Milburn

Best Direction of a Musical – Nick Brown 

Outstanding Play – As You Like It

Outstanding Musical – Into the Woods

Auckland Live Outstanding Production of 2023 – Into the Woods and As You Like It.

 

Community

Leavers' Questionnaires

It’s nearly time for our Y13 students to head off into the world. That’s a big deal! Where to from here?

This week, all Y13 students and their parents and caretakers have received an offer to complete the Leavers’ Questionnaires.  This is a digital check-in with our school leavers and their parents about their experiences here at Westlake Girls.

Please do take the opportunity to tell us what you really think! It’s a fantastic chance for us to reflect on what we’re doing well, and what we could do better, and, to get an idea of students’ plans after school.

Thank you. We really appreciate it.

Academic

Literacy and Numeracy Co-Requisites Coming Up

To build on our school-wide focus on the Literacy and Numeracy Co-Requisites coming up, can we ask for your continued help with our junior students’ written accuracy, please? 

In this, the fourth instalment of our literacy drive run by English teacher Sarah Ward, we’re covering subject and verb agreement. 

In sentences, the subject and the verb must agree in number.  

If the subject is singular, then the verb must be singular (which will often have an ‘s’ at the end).  If the subject is plural, then the verb must be in the plural form.

Ngā mihi!

Academic

Science in the Real World. Y12 Trip to Air NZ.

Science in the Real World – Y12 Trip to Air New Zealand.

In the September school holidays, we were humbled to experience the Air NZ Aircraft Maintenance Hangar tour at Auckland Airport. There, we were able to visit workshops where Air Zealand aircraft are maintained and repaired. We had the opportunity to talk to several mechanical engineers working for Air New Zealand.

One huge highlight was going inside the Air New Zealand Airbus-A321, an aircraft used for international travel. We entered the flying deck/cockpit and learned about the aircraft’s controls and how it operates. We were also able to see special resting areas for the pilots and onboard crew within the aircraft. Another major highlight was seeing the engine thruster of the aircraft. The engineers explained how turbine engines work, and we were amazed by the engines’ vast size and energy output.

Walking through the workshops and seeing aircraft maintenance procedures in person was such a valuable experience as it widened our knowledge regarding aviation and careers within the industry.

Our tour guide was highly knowledgeable and showed us the relevance of applied science in aviation. We really appreciated that, as it increased our interest in the science we learn at school.

 

This amazing experience gave us great insight into what it is like to be a part of the Air New Zealand Team and the wonderful opportunities in aviation.

By Jappan Kaur and Shreeji Patel, Year 12.

 

Community

Westlake Girls' Rotary/ Impact Club Cooks up a Great Fundraiser.

As well as our regular Winter Appeal for canned goods and clothing in aid of the Auckland City Mission this term, we held a fundraiser barbecue in collaboration with our Rotary/ Interact North Harbour parent group outside Bunnings in Wairau Road last Saturday. The BBQ was in aid of North Harbour’s disadvantaged youth, and sales went well beyond expectations.

Rebecca Gunawan Y12, Laura Mackenzie Y10, Kayla Gallagher Y10, Shivani Arivuchelvan Y12.

Our students dedicated six hours of their day to keeping the sausages coming. We are very grateful to the supporters who bought sausages. Many also donated well above what they needed to. 

– Angela Kim (pictured in main image), Lydia Liu, Rebecca Gunawan, Shivani Arivuchelvan, Laura Mackenzie, and Kayla Gallagher.

 

 

Sports

Sailing Success in Sydney

The Westlake Girls Sailing Team represented New Zealand in Sydney during the first week of the October school holidays at the 2023 Interdominion Teams Racing Championship between New Zealand and Australia and finished on top of the scoreboard. After winning the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team Racing Championship in April, the young team set their sights on Sydney and a competition the school had never competed in. With just 20 weeks to fundraise and train for the event, they arrived ready to face Australia’s top Girls Secondary Schools, Moreton Bay, Fahan and Collegiate College, at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.

The Interdominion Regatta is an annual event contested between the top six secondary schools from each country (three girls and three boys in each division), sailing 90 races over three days. This year, the Kiwi schools faced the difficulty of racing in “Pacer” boats that aren’t sailed in New Zealand, thus making Westlake Girls’ achievement even more significant.

 

The team of eight students, captained by Year 12, Daniella Wooldridge, of Emma Reid, Jess Handley, Gretel Satterthwaite, Bella Jenkins, Emily Turner, Danielle Robertson, and Zara Latimer, is very young. This bodes well for the future. They performed magnificently across their 30 races, winning 23 out of 30. Racing the Australians in six rounds of five races per round, they found Collegiate College from Tasmania the most troublesome, losing to them consecutively in the early rounds. However, in the final two rounds, Westlake Girls won five out of five races in both sessions to cement the finish top spot and the honour of being the best Girls Sailing College in Australasia. Whangarei Girls and Nelson Girls finished fifth and sixth, respectively. In the Boys Division, Scots College won, with Westlake Boys finishing third. As a result, Australia won the 2023 Interdominion Trophy after finishing with better points overall.

Many thanks to all our supporters, especially Volvo Archbald & Shorter North Shore, Biid International, and Oceanbridge.

Community Sports

Zoe Crawford / Surf Life Saving - German Cup Selection

Our very own Zoe Crawford (13HMG) has been named by Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) as one of the eight-strong Black Fins team!

The co-ed team (four men, four women) will travel to Germany in late November to compete for the International German Cup. This two-day event is one of the world’s most competitive Pool Rescue events.

Zoe has put down some blistering times over the last few months, including breaking the Junior World Record in 100 Manikin Tow.

Bring on Germany.  We’ll be cheering you on from home, Zoe!

Sports

Westlake Girls Premier Basketball Team Does It Again!

Above photo left to right: Kodee Sefo-Williams, Rebecca Moors and Lily Fotu.

Wondering if they could make it back-to-back titles, the Premier Basketball headed to Palmerston North to defend their national title with a pocket full of trophies after a successful season in Auckland, including the Auckland Secondary Schools Championship and the Northern Zone Premiership. Gliding effortlessly through the preliminary rounds, the team suffered a major loss when sensational point guard Amy Pateman collapsed with a knee injury. She was rendered out for the rest of the tournament. The Year 12 student also had to withdraw from the New Zealand Under-17 Basketball team, departing for the Oceania Cup in three days. Fortunately, Pateman secured knee surgery within two weeks, and a speedy recovery will have her back on the court as soon as possible.

The most challenging game for Westlake Girls came from Hamilton Girls in the semi-final. It was a rocky road, with the lead changing hands continuously and viewers on the edge of their seats up to the final minute. With nerves of steel, the coaches, Head Coach Bronwen Davidson and Assistant Coach Nela Fotu held firm while the players on the court dug deep to pull off a hair-raising three-point win, 69-66.

In a repeat of last year’s final, St Andrew’s College from Christchurch was quietly favoured to win the last game. However, Westlake’s tenacity and resilience shone through, and they surpassed all the opponents’ strategies. The defending champions claimed the title once again, 67-53. Superb leadership from captain Rebecca Moors resulted in her being named ‘most valuable player’ of the tournament. Fellow teammates Kodee Sefo-Williams and Zenthia Stowers were named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools tournament team along with Moors, who joined the New Zealand Under-17 team at the end of the tournament.

With consecutive national titles in the bag, the Westlake Girls Premier Basketball team has set its sights on competing at the 2024 World Secondary Schools Basketball Championship in Macau, China, from 23 June – 3 July.

Huge congratulations to Rebecca Moors, who has just accepted a scholarship to the University of Hawaii and is heading to Ohau next year!

– Ms April Ieremia, Director of Sport

 

 

 

 

Above: Team Photo (left), Amy Pateman (right). 
Community

Check out Takapuna Athletic Club

Bring a friend and score a free ice block each!

Academic

Woody Wins 2 Awards!

This year, three Year 9 students, Kavin Vignesh, Soha Kazi and Iris Wong spent over four months working on an electric vehicle, ‘Woody’. The students attended two workshops (CAD, Arduino Programming) at the University of Auckland and successfully implemented an electronic dashboard with a SmartPhone into the electric vehicle.

They are extremely grateful to Mr Scull for voluntarily supporting them and sharing his expertise and to Mr Vignesh Kumar Balasubramanian (Kavin Vignesh’s father), who stepped in after Mr Scull’s retirement.

The support from parents has also been wonderful. Thank you, too, to Ms Luisetti for allowing the students to work in the lab.

In the EVelocity Auckland Regionals on 15 Oct 15th 2023, Woody EV won 2 awards: second place in the Electronic Innovation Award and another second place for the Showstopper Award. The students loved the experience and enjoyed meeting judges from the University of Auckland, Bridgestone and Etco and seeing the EV design from different high schools from the Auckland Region.

The students’ determination and innovation are impressive. Seeing how they completed their electric car, “Woody,” with limited prior experience is fantastic.

Congratulations!

https://evolocity.co.nz/events/auckland-regional-finals-2023/ 

 

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