Headmaster’s Newsletter 20 November 2015

Dear Parents and Guardians

Cambridge exams and our junior exams all ended today. I hope that they have gone well for all of our students. NCEA and Scholarship examinations continue for two more weeks. Please make sure that your sons are working hard right up until their final examination.

We would appreciate any outstanding 2015 fees being paid as soon as possible.

With two more weeks of the school year to go, a reminder that the first two days of next year are Wednesday 27 January (for Year 9 and buddies) and Thursday 28 January for all year groups.

Have a lovely weekend.

David Ferguson
Headmaster

Year 13 NCEA students

During the NCEA external assessment season, we would like all Year 13 NCEA students to complete a very short questionnaire for us.  This will help us guide students when their results are released in January.

Please log on to the Westlake portal (where you completed your course selections and goal setting), or through the “parent portal”.  Once there, please tick the box next to the statements that are appropriate to you (or your son):

1. In 2015 my goal is to gain an NCEA Level 3 award
2. In 2015 my goal is to gain an NCEA Level 3 award and University Entrance
3. I need University Entrance for my intended educational pathway.

Can I take this opportunity, too, to remind everyone that it is essential that your son prepares fully for his external assessments, and that he should attempt all standards.  Failure to complete all standards, and failure to use all of the time allowed (by leaving early, for example) led to some students last year failing to attain University Entrance.

Good luck to all of our senior students in their exams.

Graduation Dinner – Saturday 28 November

Westlake Boys’ Graduation Dinner ticket sales have now closed.  For those who are coming along on Saturday 28th November, please keep an eye out for the pre event email on Friday 27th November with some last minute, handy event details.

Westlake Boys High School Gymnasium – your opportunity to be part of the Westlake sporting milestone!

The opportunity to be part of the new Westlake Boys Gymnasium will be available until the new year – we want as many families to be part of it as possible!

Information of the various items that can be “purchased” is detailed in the WESTLAKE HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM brochure here. The donation form is on Page 4 of the brochure. You can either print it off, complete it and return it to Vicki Fowler by email or post or drop it into school. Donations can be made by online banking payment (details on page 4 of brochure), cheque or credit card and all donations are 100% tax deductible.

We look forward to your family being part of this exciting Westlake milestone.

Important Dates:

Westlake Sport 

Cricket Results 14 November

WBHS 1st XI v St Kentigern College

The last game of the 1st XI Championship took place at St Kentigern College on a belter of a wicket. Without hesitation, Westlake decided to bat and accumulated a good total of 265/9 with solid contributions from Angus McKenzie (52), Ben Beecroft (41), Will O’Donnell (39) and Ryan Doubell (33). At close of play, St Kents were 45/0 with the game evenly poised.

WBHS 2nd XI V King’s College 2nd XI

The second day saw King’s declare overnight with a lead of 83 runs. Westlake had two good partnerships and at 101/2 the team were hopeful to push on and give them a tough chase. Unfortunately the Westlake batsmen again threw their wickets away and the team finished on 166 all out. Only Captain Dan Redpath with 45 batted with discipline. King’s target of 83 was not going to prove any problems and Westlake suffered an outright loss by 9 wickets.

WBHS Colts 1 v Botany Downs College

Colts 1 had a comprehensive win over Botany Downs Secondary College. Botany won the toss and decided to bat first. Unfortunately for them the Westlake opening bowlers were “on song” and they were unable to cope with the swing and pace. Sam Brewis, back from injury and having not played since Term 1, was outstanding. Twice Sam was on a hat trick and finished with 6/7 off 5.2 overs. Chasing just 32 for the win, Westlake achieved the total in just over 4 overs without the loss of any wickets. BDSC 31, WBHS Colts 1 32/0, Win to Colts 1 by 10 wickets.

Squash News

Westlake Boys Premier Squash Captain Rafa Yam and team mate Matthew Lucente have been named by Squash New Zealand in the 2016 Junior Trans-Tasman Test Team to compete against Australia. The team will travel to the Gold Coast, Queensland from 14-21 January.  Rafa will be a representative in the Under 19 division whilst Matthew is in the Under 17 division.  Prior to the Test Series, the team will first compete in the Oceania Junior Championships where participants are eligible to earn points towards junior world rankings.

Premier Touch Counties Tournament Winners

• Win 5 -4 versus St Paul’s Collegiate
• Win 7 – 5 versus King’s College
• Win versus Counties Under 17 representative team. On the final whistle, the game was a draw.  As a win needed to be decided, the game carried on with both teams losing a player every 2 minutes. This continued until Casey Smith scored the winning try.

Congratulations to the boys who played well as a team, and demonstrated Westlake spirit.

Good Luck to:

• Our 1^st XI Cricket team who play St Kentigern College 1^st XI at 10.30am on 21 November at St Kentigern G1
• Our Colts 1 Cricket team who play Auckland Grammar School 2 at 12.30pm on 21 November at WBHS G1
• Our Junior Touch A team who play Mahurangi College at 4.00pm on 24 November at Hato Petera 2
• Our Junior Touch Red team who play Birkenhead College at 4.00pm on 24 November at Hato Petera 3
• Our Junior Waterpolo A Grade A team who play Auckland Grammar at 7.00pm on 22 November at Diocesan School
• Our Junior Waterpolo B team who play Mt Albert Grammar School at 5.45pm on 20 November at Diocesan and Western Springs College A at 5.30pm on 22 November at Epsom Girls Grammar School
• Our students sitting NCEA examinations

Congratulations:

Westlaker, Sam Brotherton

Congratulations to Westlake Boys 2014 Sports Captain and 1^st XI Captain, Westlaker Sam Brotherton, who made his All Whites debut with a win away against Oman last week.

Sam is currently enjoying his US College Scholarship at the University of Wisconsin and was recently named to the 2015 Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Sam played 82 games for the WBHS 1^st XI earning school colors for Football, the Golden Boot (First XI leading goal scorer), the Ken Armstrong Cup (greatest contribution to senior football) and the Colin Pascoe Cup (sportsmanship). Read the latest Wisconsin Badgers news on Sam in the article here.

Westlaker, Martin Brink

Congratulations to Westlaker Martin Brink on his selection for the New Zealand U20 Development Camp. A group of 50 young players were selected for the camp which will take place in Palmerston North from 27 November to 2 December.  Martin represented Westlake’s 1^st XI in 2012 and 2013 and was the first recipient of the Westlake Boys’ High School Teaching Scholarship. Also of note was Westlaker Brendan Bond who missed out on selection due to injury.