On Monday 27 February we welcomed over 50 parents to the Lantern Festival Morning Tea. This event has become an annual fixture in the school calendar, aimed at connecting with our Asian families in particular. It gives them the opportunity to meet fellow school parents and to get a taste of Westlake. Guests were first able to attend a full school assembly, during which a video from the recent Haka Competition was shown. Many parents commented on how good it was to see an assembly in action, to note the messages that were given to the boys by the Headmaster and to see the formal proceedings.
Afterwards prefects accompanied the group to the PTA Conference Room, upstairs in the new Gymnasium, which was decorated for the occasion. Members of our International Department and some of our Chinese-speaking prefects were on hand to chat to the guests who took the opportunity to ask lots of questions.
Guests enjoyed a delicious morning tea, served by members of the school PTA and the prefects present. 2017 Cultural Captain, David Lin, spoke in Chinese initially and then in English, outlining some of the activities he has been involved in at Westlake and urging parents to encourage their sons to also get involved during their time at school.
Headmaster David Ferguson also encouraged families to get involved by way of joining the PTA, helping with events, sports, shows, and the like. Another way to support the school, he said, is by contributing funds to student scholarships or specific school projects. He mentioned that it would be good to see more names of Asian boys on the bricks in the new gym representing our school’s community. Mr Ferguson finished by reinforcing the message that families are welcome at school and that we look forward to seeing them at upcoming events.
We would like to thank all the parents who made the time to come along to the morning tea. We hope that it was both enjoyable and useful and we look forward to welcoming you back to Westlake soon.
To view all the photos from the event please go to the school website and find the Flickr logo (blue circle with 2 white circles inside) at the top right-hand side. Then select “Albums” and “Lantern Festival Morning Tea 2017”.
