Headmaster’s Newsletter 2 September

Dear Parents and families

While our senior students have completed their end of year examinations, and our junior students enjoy the extra space in the school grounds, we have had a number of sports teams and choirs competing in tournaments and festivals around the country.

Congratulations to our Premier Badminton team who have won the national title.  Congratulations to Choralation and Voicemale for their stunning performances in Dunedin.  And congratulations to all of our students, who have been working so hard, and representing the school so well, this past week.

Have a lovely weekend

Regards
David Ferguson
Headmaster

Westlake Wins Platinum Award at Big Sing

Voicemale, directed by David Squire, was the only boys’ choir to receive a gold award. It was the third time the choir has won gold in the past four years, and the first time in consecutive years.

Choralation, with their director Rowan Johnston, also won the Tour Time trophy for Best Performance of a Classical Piece, for ‘Stars’ by Eriks Esenvalds.  Sung in almost total darkness, this performance moved many of the audience and even some members of Choralation themselves to tears!  Chair of the judging panel, Peter Watts, described it as quite remarkable.  He said that the standard of all the choirs in the finale was outstanding, making it very difficult for the judges to choose an overall winner.  He also commented on the wonderful atmosphere of excitement throughout the event and the spirit of support that all the choirs have for one another.

The Westlake students, their choir directors and accompanists were delighted with their achievements, a fitting reflection of their many hours of hard work throughout the year.  Following the record four ‘Most Outstanding’ awards at the KBB Music Festival the previous week, the results in Dunedin perfectly rounded off arguably the most successful fortnight of music in Westlake history.

Watch Choralation’s performance of ‘Stars’ here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPuman0WUs&list=PLi_Jyqd7KG2XBNZVmyqfJGkGDfIQOYu3A&index=11

and Voicemale’s performance of ‘Nishto V Poliushke’, a traditional Russian song, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCJiO851miY&list=PLi_Jyqd7KG2XBNZVmyqfJGkGDfIQOYu3A&index=23

Junior Debating Semi Finals

On Wednesday 31 August, the Junior Premier Debating semi-finals were held at Diocesan School. William Price, Josh McSherry and Ian Qiu took on Macleans College negating the moot that proposed university students should only be able to study subjects that directly relate to a future career.  It was a close debate but the panel of three judges was unanimous.

Congratulations to our team, who are in Year 10, beating a Year 11 Macleans College team. Grand finals at this grade are almost always Year 11 students so we are very proud that these young men have made the final on their first attempt.  We now look forward to the finals which will be held on Wednesday 7 September against St Cuthbert’s College at Westlake Boys’ High School.

Australian Mathematics Competition Results

At the end of July, several of our Year 9 mathematics students sat the Australian Maths Competition with very pleasing results.  Five students achieved a High Distinction, placing them in the top 3% of the country.  Note that two of our students are in the 100th percentile!

Particular congratulations to David Jung SM02 100, Raymond Lu UR07 100, Tony Lu UR04 99, Grant Liu ST10 98 and Hanbo Xie ST07 98.  Well done to a further 24 students who achieved Distinction.

NZ & US University/Careers Sessions – Term 3/4 2016

More NZ universities are coming in to WBHS over the coming weeks to help Year 13 students plan their degree courses for 2017. Ex-Westlake students currently at university will also be sharing their insight & experiences. In addition, top US universities will be holding information sessions at school sharing about the admission process, study and university life. Students need to sign up with Careers at Heron House if they want to attend any sessions, except for Auckland University.

NCEA & Cambridge Exam Revision Classes: 26^th September – 6^th October 2016

Parents can find the timetable at http://bit.ly/wbhshrplist and a course selection form at http://bit.ly/wbhsform

Students will need to complete a Course Selection Form and take this to the Uniform Shop in Student Services, where bookings and payments will be made.

Payments can be made by cash, eftpos, credit or student ID if credit has been loaded onto the shop account on My Monitor at http://bit.ly/wbhsmym or through our Home Page

Places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis with a maximum of 15 places in each session. We expect sessions to sell out, so please make sure to book early to avoid disappointment.

If you have and questions or would like to discuss the possibility of financial assistance, please contact Miss Jihan El-Labany.

Major Diary Dates:

Westlake Sport  

Please note – a full set of results will be available in next week’s Newsletter.

NZSS Badminton (Hamilton) – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Our Badminton team are now national champions following a good 4-2 win in their final on 1 September.  Congratulations!

NZSS Table Tennis Tournament (Palmerston North) – 2nd in NZ

• Our boys finished 2nd in New Zealand after losing to Auckland Grammar School in the final.
• Victor Ma has won the National title in the singles event, as reported in the Manawatu Standard

Hockey (1st XI, 2nd XI and Under 15)

1st XI – Rankin Cup (Wellington)

• 29 August: WBHS beat Timaru Boys’ High School 2-1
• 29 August: WBHS drew with King’s College 1-1
• 30 August: WBHS beat Rathkeale College 5-0.
• 31 August: WBHS lost to Wellington College 4-3
• 1 September: WBHS lost to Tauranga Boys’ College 1.0 and will play off in the 8-16 pool on 2 September

2nd XI – Galletly Cup (Taupo)

• 29 August: WBHS beat Tauranga Boys’ College 2nd XI 3-1 (Goals by Max Bartylla, Tony Brinkman & Sam Readman)
• 30 August: WBHS beat Timaru Boys’ High School 8-0 (Goals by Max Bartylla 3, Tom Roycroft 2, Oscar England 1, Nic Reif 1 and Tony Brinkman 1)
• 31 August: WBHS lost to Whangarei Boys’ High School 3rd XI 1-2 (Goal by Sam Readman)
• 31 August: WBHS lost to Hamilton Boys’ High School 2nd XI 1-2 (Goal by Oscar England)
• 1 September: WBHS beat Whangarei Boys’ High School 2nd XI 8-0 (Goals by Oscar England 2, James Banks 2, Tony Brinkman 1, Tom Roycroft 2, Nic Reif 1 and Callan Pryde 1)

Under 15 – Tanner Cup (Cambridge) – THIRD

Our boys had a great experience in Cambridge with beautiful weather and top notch hockey. Junior 1 came first in their pool after a big win over New Plymouth Boys’ High School and a tight win on strokes to Wellington College. A solid quarter final win against Palmerston North Boys saw us in the semi-final with Auckland Grammar who were a skilled and fast team. In the end we lost to them 3-0 after a hard fought battle. Our play off for 3rd and 4th was a good win for us against Christ’s College – with the wonderful symmetry that their coach was retiring after 38 years having coached our teacher, Mr Fairgray through Christ’s and as Captain on Christ’s First XI.  Junior 1 placed third.

Lotto Premier National Football Tournament (Papamoa)

• 29 August: WBHS beat Auckland Grammar School 3-0  Click here for match report
• 29 August: WBHS drew with Hamilton Boys’ High School 1-1  Click here for match report
• 30 August: WBHS beat Tawa College 1-0
• 31 August: WBHS beat Wellington College 2-0 in the Quarter Final
• 1 September: WBHS lost to Sacred Heard College 0-1 in the Semi Final

Premier Rugby League (Papakura)

• 30 August: WBHS beat Tamaki College 35-22
• 31 August: WBHS beat Avondale College 30-18
• 1 September: WBHS lost to Kelston Boys’ High School 16-32 in the semi final and will play off for third place

Westlake Boys’ Basketball

Premier Team – Zone 1 Premiership Tournament (Qualifying for Nationals)

• WBHS beat Northcote College 105 – 69
• WBHS beat Pakuranga College 102-67
• WBHS beat Mt Roskill Grammar School
• WBHS beat Selwyn College
• The team has their final two pool games on 1 September against Selwyn College and Mt Roskill Grammar

WBHS Senior B Team – Northern Zone Cup Tournament

• WBHS beat Lynfield College86-80 (in double overtime)
• WBHS beat Long Bay College 69-36
• WBHS beat Botany Downs Secondary College 81-48
• WBHS beat Pukekohe High School in the semi final
• WBHS lost to Orewa College 63-70 in the final in a nailbiting game. Well done team.

Rugby:  Blues Play Off Final 27 August

1^st XV vs Mt Albert Grammar School

The following quote from the SKY Sport College Rugby Facebook page was all that was needed to motivate our team to arguably one of their best performances of the season.

” Both sides only lost one competition game in 2016, but despite Westlake achieving their biggest win in the North Harbour final in a decade it’s hard to see them getting close to MAGS…….The sheer size of the MAGS pack will be tough for Westlake to contain.”

A brilliant individual effort from Arikitoia Hood-Kaitapu opened the scoring midway through the first half. Ariki received a pass from Fine Inisi after Jack Heighton had created an overlap on the outside. Ariki then side stepped his wing and ran the 45 metres to score in the corner. The kick was unsuccessful into the strong wind. MAGS replied soon after with a try to level the scores before the break.

After the break Westlake were put under pressure and in this period of 15 minutes, MAGS added to their score with a try and a penalty to lead 13 – 5. Westlake were not done and Keepa Wiki kicked a penalty to close the gap. Jacob Katipa then broke the line and set up a possible try but the MAGS defence turned over the ball. The attacks were relentless by both sides using different tactics. MAGS used their big forward pack to make ground while Jack Heighton was comfortable putting the ball behind the MAGS backs to keep them pinned in their own half. Keepa Wiki had a chance to kick another penalty but pushed the ball wide. Westlake finished stronger but we were unable to get across the line again.

No-one but the team themselves believed that it would be so close and the boys left everything on the field. The defensive effort was monumental and while Westlake may have had less possession at the end of the game, they managed at times to stretch MAGS.

Scoreboard: Mt Albert Grammar School 13 – Westlake 8 (Half time 5 – 5).  Tries: Arikitoia Hood-Kaitapu.  Penalty: Keepa Wiki

2^nd XV Win the 1B Championship

On Saturday 27th August, the Westlake 2nd XV played Mahurangi 1st XV at North Harbour Stadium in the final of the 1B First XV Division. For the 7th form boys in both sides this would be the final time they played for their respective schools and both teams wanted to end the season on a high.

The first half was a nail biter with strong defence by both sides resulting in nil all at the break. Going into the second half Mahurangi twice threatened with runaways by their speedsters. 　On the first occasion No 14 Tiennan Costley was left to make the try saving tackle, while No 7 Ben Mitchell scrambled in defence and won the turn-over ball stopping the attack in its tracks. Later it was No.6 Ollie Watts who sprinted across in a superb cover tackle into touch saving the day. Unfortunately Westlake conceded a penalty and a quick tap caught the defence off guard resulting in a converted try.

Several times this season, this team has had to fight back from behind and this experience served them well. Westlake’s first points came from a relentless attack on the line which eventually saw No 3 Flynn Willemse charge over for a Try. Strong winds made kicking difficult and the try went unconverted, leaving Westlake trailing 5-7. The players were probably more composed than the supporters on the sideline who were growing more nervous by the minute. With time all but up on the clock, Westlake desperately needed to score and needed to retain possession to keep the game alive. That they did, with an unrelenting onslaught, phase after phase.　 Eventually　No 15 Jarrod Ferguson charged his way through with No 8 Ryo Ozaki in support. The try was awarded and with it the Championship! Congratulations to the whole squad, who made their coaches Mr Hamish McKerrow and Mr Will Gage-Brown proud.

Junior Water Polo Results 26 August

• Junior A won against Rangitoto College 8 – 4
• Junior B won against Kristin 8 – 7
• Junior B won against Rangitoto College B 11 – 4
• Junior C lost to Year 8 Talent Academy Programme 3 – 18
• Junior C lost to Birkenhead College 3 – 12

Congratulations to:

Anthony was Third Place overall in the Throwing Cup for his age Group (Cadets or U18), being a total of points for four throwing disciplines (similar to a decathlon but only for throws): The weights he threw were: Hammer (5kg), Shot Put (5kg), Javelin (700gms) and Discus (1.5kgs). His results were: Hammer: 1st 64.03 metres (PB), Shot Put: 6th: 11.54 metres (PB), Javelin: 7th: 26.60 metres and Discus: 3rd: 39.20 metres.

Good Luck to:

• Our 13^th and 14^th Grade Football players who compete on 3 September
• Our cyclists who are competing in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cycling Championships
• Our swimmers who will compete in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Swimming Nationals in Wellington next week

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