Headmaster’s Newsletter 1 April

Dear Parents and Guardians

I hope you all enjoyed the long Easter weekend. With two weeks of term one to go, please can you ensure that your sons are at school up until 3.10pm on Friday April 15th.

Thank you to all families that have paid their fees and donations already this year. We would be really grateful if all families could make an effort to pay our annual donation this year. This extra money goes a very long way to assist us, in providing the education that we aspire to offer all of our young men and their families.

We appreciate your on-going support of our school.

Good luck to all of our teams who are away at national tournaments next week.

Have a lovely weekend.

Regards
David Ferguson
Headmaster

Westlake School Cross Country – Results 2016

Congratulations to all students who participated in the annual House Cross Country on Thursday 31 March.  Well done to the following students who were within the first five in their year group:

Year 9

Year 10

Year 11

Year 12 and 13

House Leaderboard

Westlake Proms 7 April

When: Thursday 7th April 2016
Where: Westlake Boys Auditorium
Tickets: $15 Adults, $10 Concession

The fabulous Nick Brown will guide you through the evening’s entertainment with prizes for the best dressed British themed costume. You’re in for a great night!

Tickets at the door, or phone 09-4894168 ext. 28

Westlake Careers Department

Follow us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/Westlake-Boys-High-School-Careers-Department-1147251241968215/

Upcoming Career presentations before school holidays.   ** These only happen once a year so don’t miss out !

• Waikato University – Tues 5^th April in Career room – Lunchtime – Find out what Waikato have to offer –  http://www.waikato.ac.nz/study/qualifications/undergrad.shtml
• Otago University – Wednesday  6^th April  – Lunchtime Careers room
• Victoria University – Tuesday 12^th  April – lunchtime – Careers room
• Lincoln University – Wednesday the 13^th April – lunchtime – Careers room –  come and find out about Lincolns specialised degrees and pre-degree certificates – http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/Lincoln-Home/Study/Qualifications/?QualGroup=bachelors%20degree

Boys, please register for these events in Heron House.

PTA – Meet the Students Evening Monday 11 April 7.30pm

Come along on Monday 11th April at 7.30pm to the PTA Conference Room in the new Westlake Boys’ High School Gymnasium and meet the students leading our school this year.

Each leader will give us a brief overview of his role within the school.

We will hear from the Head Boy Antoine Ellis, the Academic Captain Rafi Baboe, the Sports Captain Greg Vukets and the Cultural Captain Jun Kim.

Everyone is welcome and we look forward to seeing you.

5 ‘Outside-The-Box’ Tips For Living An Awesome Life – Grant Schofield

Tickets are on sale now for a Special Breakfast Treat for Mums and Sons!

When: Thursday 12^th May 2016, 6.45 am (Thursday after Mother’s Day)

Where: Westlake Boys’ High School Auditorium

Guest Speaker: Westlaker, Professor Grant Schofield

Guests: All students, mothers, grandmothers or female role models are invited to attend the 2016 Mother Son Breakfast.

Tickets: $25 per person from the Uniform Shop. Click here for your ticket order form

Mother’s Day is nearing, Dads and sons take note – we’ve got the answer for the perfect gift for Mum!

The Westlake Boys’ Mother Son Breakfast event is a special, once a year occasion that offers an opportunity for you to spend some quality time with your son/s, enjoying a delicious breakfast specially prepared by the very talented Westlake Boys’ Rowing Group parents.

Grant is a man of many talents and, apart from competitive duathlon and triathlon, in which he represented New Zealand at World Championships and Ironman, his foremost passion in life is investigating the Science of Human Potential i.e. finding out how we can ‘be the best we can be’. His research and teaching interests range from understanding and improving lifestyle behaviours such as sleep, nutrition, and physical activity, to well-being epidemiology and human performance. He’s not afraid to ‘think outside the box’ when tackling the big health problems of our times.

Known for ‘challenging current beliefs’ in his field, Grant’s current project base and large group of talented postgraduate thesis students show an exciting range of such challenges. We have no doubt that his ‘5 Tips To Living An Awesome Life’ will be just what the doctor ordered for an entertaining breakfast treat for mums and their sons. Read Grant’s 2014 ‘Featured Westlaker’ profile here.

Tickets are $25 per person payable by cash/Eftpos/Visa or MasterCard. If you wish to pay by cash or eftpos please complete the form available here and return it to the Uniform Shop in Student Services for payment. If you wish to pay by credit card, please call the Uniform Shop on 410 8667 ext. 806 between 9am and 2pm on school days.

We appreciate that, for your sons, it’s likely to be the temptation of an irresistible breakfast that will get them out of bed early! You’ll find details (and photos!) of the menu items here.

We look forward to seeing you and your sons, and perhaps their grandmothers and/or aunties, at the 2016 Westlake Mother Son Breakfast on Thursday 12^th May, a few days after Mother’s Day.

Topping Up Student ID Cards for Purchasing from Canteen, Uniform Shop and Photocopying

https://portal.westlake.school.nz/mymonitor

From MyMonitor you are able to

• Add credits to student accounts so that your student can make purchases at the school shop or canteen using their ID card and print at school
•  Transfer credit between accounts and between students that are in your care
• Track the transactions of your student(s)

View and pay fees online (this is done through a secure site)

• Parents and students can log into MyMonitor.
• Students cannot transfer money between accounts (if credit is allocated to the shop, it can only be spent there by the student)
• Students must use a PIN at the canteen – this can be set online or at the Kiosk in student services
• Credit can be added at the Kiosk
• You are able to change and reset your password

Westlake Youth for Change – Unicef NZ

To view the Westlake Boys and Girls YouTube channel outlining involvement by our students, please click here:

https://www.facebook.com/westlakeunicef/?fref=photo

Major Diary Dates:

The NEW 2016 | 2017 Entertainment™ Book as well as the new Entertainment Digital Memberships are on their way!

Purchase your Entertainment™ Membership from Westlake Boys High School again to support our fundraising efforts.

If you love the Entertainment™ Book and Digital Membership – then you’ll love the $110 worth of additional offers you will receive, just by ordering your NEW Membership before 5 April 2016! And you can use them right away!

Westlake Sport

• Year 9 student – Henry Wilson took the National title finishing third overall behind two Australian sailors.  Ranked #1 in New Zealand – selected for the World Champs in Portugal.
• Year 9 student – Thomas Mulcahy finished 17th Kiwi in Nationals, Ranked #15 in New Zealand – selected for the Asian and Oceania Champs in Sri Lanka.
• Year 10 student – Robbie McCutcheon finished 25th Kiwi, Ranked #19 in New Zealand – selected for the Asian and Oceania Champs in Sri Lanka.
• Year 9 student – Blake McGlashan finished 42nd Kiwi, Ranked #31 in New Zealand.

Banner photo by Lissa Reyden | LiveSailDie.com.

Click here for the full results:

http://www.optimistnationals.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Finals-Race-3-3.htm

Seven Gold Medals at Auckland Secondary Schools Field and Track Athletic Championships

The team had sixteen distance athletes qualify for the Auckland Champs and in very tough conditions they managed to take out the title in the six of the eight distance events they entered.

In the Intermediate grade the team produced two Auckland Champions. Stuart Hofmeyr won the 1500m in a time of 4:34.40 with teammate Murdoch McIntyre being crowned as the 3000m Champion. Murdoch’s winning time – 9:33.69.

In the senior 3000m Dan Hoy secured the Auckland title leading from start to finish. Dan’s winning time of 8:44.36 is 9 seconds faster than the second place finisher and more than respectable in very windy conditions.

New Zealand Cross Country Representative, Joseph Clark, won the Open Boys steeplechase event in a time of 6:27.81. Joseph will represent New Zealand at the World Schools Cross Country Championships in Budapest in April this year.

Other performances of note:

• Isaac Letoa Senior High Jump 4th
• David Moore Intermediate 1500m 5th
• Matt Conroy Intermediate 800m 5th
• Kiardyn Hatch Junior 100m 5th
• JJ Weston Junior 3000m 6th
• Nicolo Oporto Open Steeplechase 6th
• Jesper Bengtsson Intermediate 3000m 6th
• Zach Keenan Intermediate 3000m 7th
• Bradley Hall Senior 1500m 8th
• Leo Cho Junior 3000m 8th

Ultimate Frisbee – Auckland Champions

Congratulations to our Ultimate Frisbee competitors who beat Takapuna Grammar School 9-4 in the Auckland Championships on 30 March, securing the Auckland Championships.

Orienteering

Auckland Secondary School Sprint Series 2016 – Northern Zone

The Westlake Boys Orienteering team finished the last session of the North Harbour series on a high, securing six top ten placements in the senior event. This wonderful result is a helpful preparation for the upcoming Auckland Championships, the team event and Nationals later on in the year. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Senior Boys results: 1st Ryan Williams; 2nd Andrei Popovici; 3rd Ashton Philo; 4th Haynes Taylor; 6th Euan Grigor; 7th Luke Mercieca; 19th Oliver Lawrence; 22nd Mervin Umali.

College Sport App

The new College Sport App is an excellent way for students, coaches and supporters to keep up to date with all fixtures, results, cancellations, and venue changes throughout the season.

You can customise the App to get the details of the sports you play and watch.

Download from the App Store by searching for ‘College Sport Auckland’.

Congratulations

• Year 10 student, Luca Waring (pictured right) competed for the first time in the NZ National Spearfishing Championships in the Junior section, held at Ruakaka in January this year. Luca was awarded The Wilkinsons Sports Trophy for Most Meritorious Catch and the Committee’s Choice Cup by the New Zealand Underwater Association.
• Jintao Xie won a Gold medal for the Under 74kg male category at the Taekwondo NZ Open.

• Sam and Blake Readman and Kade Scheib represented Red Beach Surf Lifesaving Club at the National Lifesaving Championships in Ohope, at which 1300 athletes competed. The surf was challenging and increased over the 4 days.  Sam attained 1 gold in the board relay, a silver in the sprint relay and after getting through 3 rounds won silver in the ski race. After placing 1st and 2nd in the heat and semi for the ironman race it was cancelled on the final day due to extreme surf conditions.  Blake competed in the under 16 age group and showed awesome board skills to make 2 finals. The weekend prior he also competed at the Canterbury junior champs and came home with 2 gold and 2 silver in the swim and board races. Kade Scheib earned a silver medal in the sprint relay.

Good Luck to:

• Our Premier Tennis team who play Auckland Grammar School at 10.15am on 2 April at Auckland Grammar
• Our Senior A2 Tennis team who play St Kentigern School at 8.15am on 2 April at WBHS
• Our Senior A3 Tennis team who play Selwyn College at 8.15am on 2 April at Selwyn College
• Our Water Polo team who play Auckland Grammar School at 5.40pm on 1 April at Diocesan

WBHS Distance Running Quiz Night

7.30pm, 8 April

Please join us for 2017 African Distance Running Tour Fundraiser on Friday 8 April in the Westlake Boys’ High School Auditorium.  Doors open 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start.  Tickets available at the door $25.00 per person.

Enquiries to Ruth Brash: ruth@brashrobertson.com

If you have information and/or photos which you feel may be included in a future newsletter, please contact the Headmaster’s EA, Mrs Sandra White:  swhite@westlake.school.nz