Headmaster’s Newsletter 4 September

Dear Parents and Guardians

Senior examinations finish today. I hope they have gone well and the marks that our young men receive reflect the effort they have put into preparing for them. All year 11, 12 and 13 students should be back at school on Monday. We only have three weeks of term remaining. All of our senior students should be aiming for 100% attendance for the rest of the academic year.

This week has been New Zealand Secondary School’s Winter Sports Tournament Week. Congratulations to all of our young men who have represented our school all around the country. You can read about the results later in the newsletter.

Have a nice weekend.

David Ferguson
Headmaster

Tournament Week Results 2015

Westlake Boys Table Tennis National Champs for Fourth Consecutive Year

Westlake Boys High School Premier Table Tennis team competed at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in Palmerston North earlier this week. After winning the initial three tournament matches, Westlake beat Macleans College in the semi-finals to advance to the finals against arch-rivals Auckland Grammar School.

In the best of seven games, Auckland Grammar School had the title in their grasp, only to be undone by the most remarkable of shots by Westlake’s top two players Victor Ma and Roger Wang in the doubles match. Westlake were 8-10 down in the fifth and last set, staring defeat, when four extraordinary shots blasted the AGS combination into oblivion giving Westlake the much desired victory. From there it was simply a matter of time before the Westlake team would be claiming their fourth consecutive National Title.

Another great tournament moment came from David Minsch, Westlake Boys German Exchange student, who smashed the winning points to place the Westlake Premier B Team in ninth position overall.

All boys enjoyed a very successful tournament and were yet again great ambassadors for our school. Congratulations to Victor Ma, Roger Wang, Logan Xu, Chris Jeong, Andrew Mei, Nicholas Lin and David Minsch and coach Mr Lee.

New Zealand Secondary Schools Hockey Tournament – Rankin Cup

Our 1^st XI are having a successful tournament at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Pakuranga winning their first five games:

5-0 versus Rathkeale College
5-1 versus Sacred Heart College (Auckland)
4-3 versus Hastings Boys’ High School
3-0 versus Christs College
2-0 versus Wairarapa College (Quarter Final

At the time of writing, our 1^st XI were waiting to compete in the semi-final game against St Paul’s Collegiate commencing at 4.00pm today. The final games will be held on Saturday 5 September and we encourage supporters to attend. Click here for the draw.

2^nd XI Hockey Blenheim Tournament

Congratulations to our 2^nd XI who have won the national 2^nd XI Hockey tournament in Blenheim this afternoon. The final was a exciting match versus Hamilton Boys’ High School with Westlake winning 2-1.

Tanner Cup Under 15 Hockey Tournament

Westlake Boys Junior Hockey team played in the Tanner Cup, the annual U15 Hockey Tournament at St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton.

Westlake won their first pool match against Hastings Boys High School 7-0 and the second pool game against St Andrew’s College 3-2 on strokes (after a 0-0 draw) to finish first in the pool. In the quarter-final rain stopped play and the final score was decided in stroke play resulting in a 3-0 win for the Westlake team.

The semi-final against St Andrew’s College was a nail biting affair in which Westlake played their most outstanding game of hockey all season. The team were 1-0 up for about 40 minutes but St Andrew’s pushed hard on Westlake’s defence and scored a goal in the last eight minutes of the match, the only goal conceded by Westlake in the tournament. The one all draw resulted in another penalty shoot-out which was won 3-2 by St Andrew’s.

In the play-off for third and fourth spot Westlake defeated Lindisfarne College 3-0 to finish third in the tournament. St Andrew’s College finished first defeating St Paul’s Collegiate School and the Westlake team can be pleased with this result as they had beaten St Andrew’s in pool play and drawn both games. Congratulations to all students and staff involved.

Badminton New Zealand Secondary School Championships – Third Place

Westlake’s young Premier Badminton team with Oscar Guo, Jack Jiang, Edwin Lie, Brendon Wang and Evan Wong performed well at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championship tournament held at Badminton North Harbour this week. The team came third in New Zealand losing to Hamilton Boys High School by one set in a closely fought match. The final score was 3-3 in matches but the team lost on count back by one game 8-7.

In other matches Westlake defeated Macleans College, Westlake Boys 2, Rangitoto College, Avondale College and Palmerston North Boys High School. The team lost to Auckland Grammar School, the winners of the tournament.

NZ Junior Team for World Junior Badminton Championships Announced

Congratulations to Oscar Guo who has been selected as part of the next generation of badminton talent to wear the silver fern and represent New Zealand in Peru at the 2015 BWF World Junior Badminton Championships.

New Zealand Secondary Schools Premier Football Championship

Our 1^st XI have been competing in Nelson at the New Zealand Secondary School Football Tournament this week. In atrocious weather conditions all week, the team finished in 7^th position.

Results:

Won 1-0 versus Tauranga Boys College
Won 8-1 versus St Thomas College
Lost 3-0 versus St Kentigern School
Lost 2-1 to Sacred Heart College (quarter Final)
Lost 2-1 to Wellington College (semi final)
Beat 2-1 St Kentigern School (final)

2015 Auckland Secondary Schools Chess Championship

This year’s Auckland Secondary Schools Chess Championship was held at Auckland Grammar School from 31 August till 1 September. Six Westlake Boys’ teams qualified for the finals; four teams in the Senior Division and two in the Junior Division.

Westlake Boys’ teams finished runners-up and in third place in the Senior A division behind long-time rivals Auckland Grammar School.

Macleans College, who finished in fourth place, will join Auckland Grammar and Westlake at the New Zealand Secondary Schools National competition to be held in Palmerston North from 26-27 September.

The Auckland tournament provided two days of excellent chess played in competitive but friendly spirit.

2015 Auckland Secondary Schools Chess Championship results

1st Auckland Grammar School
2nd Westlake Boys High School A
3rd Westlake Boys High School B
4th Macleans College

Hurricanes Under 15 Rugby Tournament – Wellington

Westlake Boys participated in the 2015 Hurricanes tournament alongside 16 other teams from the lower north Island. Expectations were high but a close 27-34 loss on day one knocked the team out of finals contention. Undeterred Westlake went on to post the highest score of the tournament 92-0 followed by a further 46-0 and 67-8 win.

The highlight of the tournament came in the final playoff for fifth place against Tu Toa College. Westlake were 12-17 down needing a converted try to win. With only two minutes left on the clock Ben Mitchell made a final stab at the line but was bundled into touch. The referee called final play with a lineout to Tu Toa. Sean Vete won the ball and dived over for a try to level the scores. Jarrod Ferguson stepped up to kick the conversation and the team celebrated as the winning kick went over. Well done to all involved. Click here to see the final and winning stages of the match.

Westlake Boys Inaugural U15 Invitational Football Tournament

Westlake Boys High School hosted the inaugural U15 Invitational Football Tournament played at Westlake Boys and Girls astro turfs from Monday to Wednesday this week.

The tournament hosted nine strong football schools from Auckland and one from Wellington. Three days of football were played in testing weather conditions but the competition was enjoyed by all coaches and players as well as the Westlaker former football player referees.

Congratulations to Mr Scivier and all staff members involved in making this tournament a success. Hopefully it will become a feature on the Westlake calendar for years to come.

Final placings:

Wellington College
Sacred Heart College
Mount Albert Grammar School
Auckland Grammar School
Avondale College
St Kentigern College
Westlake Boys High School Red
Rangitoto College
Rutherford College
Westlake Boys High School Green

Tournament week 2

Westlake Sport

Rugby

WBHS 2^nd XV v Birkenhead College 1^st XV

The Westlake 2^nd XV completed a highly successful season by retaining the 1B title on Saturday. The team faced a spirited Birkenhead 1^st XV who enjoyed the lion’s share in the first half. Discipline and poor decision-making cost Westlake in the first half. They could not control field position thanks to several penalties and were outmuscled on a number of occasions at the breakdown. However the team’s trademark defence was watertight and refused to let Birkenhead in. This meant going into the break 3-0 down.

However, Westlake turned in on in the second half. They picked up the pace and ran the heavy Birkenhead pack off their feet. As space started to open up Westlake began clawing themselves back into the game. They controlled field position which resulted in three outstanding tries, giving Westlake a convincing 19-3 victory. While all 22 made a massive contribution, a special mention must be made of Ryan Doubell and Josh Copeland who led the team with distinction. Their level-headed calmness was the difference of the day. Well done to all those who represented the Westlake 2^nd XV throughout the season on an outstanding year.

Westlake Boys’ High School 4A Rugby

Team	Versus	Win/Loss	Score
WBHS 2nd XV Final	Birkenhead College 1st XI	Win	19-3
WBHS 4A Final	Rosmini College	Win	14-10
WBHS 6B Final	Whangaparoa College A	Win	32-20
WBHS 7A Final	Rosmini College	Loss	10-33

Westlake 6B Rugby

Well done to Westlake Boys’ High School 6B rugby team who only lost one game during the entire season under the management of long serving staff member, Mr Bryan Mackle (pictured left) and coach, Brett Bakkerus.

Westlake Boys’ High School 6B Rugby

Lacrosse Result

Well done to our Lacrosse team who beat Pinehurst School 7-2 in the North Harbour Semi Final match last week. Thank you to our trainer of four years, Ben Gilmore who plays for the senior New Zealand Lacrosse team, and is now moving to Wellington.

Fantastic Fathers’ Day Gift Idea!

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All Entertainment Book memberships sold (digital memberships and books) each contribute $13 to Westlake Boys High School.

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Mathematics Competitions

Congratulations to George Han who was placed third in the New Zealand Senior Mathematics Competition recently. Well done to George Wang and Winston Yao who received Top 100 Certificates.

Results from the Australian Mathematics Competition have now been received at school. Well done to the following students who did extremely well:

David Yao
Andrew Lee
Daniel Kwon
Francis Thorpe
Milahn Ward
Jonathon Lee
Eric Huang
Byung-Joe Kim

Zachary Strawbridge
Hwan Yoo
Byung-Chan Kim
Joshua Zhang
Zhengzhe Han (Prudence Award)
Yulun Zhang
Tigerson Cao

PTA Meeting – 7.30pm Monday 7 September

All welcome to the next PTA meeting on Monday 7 September at 7.30pm in the staffroom. Any enquiries to Mrs Mandy Curry, Chairperson: mcurry@westlake.school.nz

Indonesia Conservation Biology Trip July 2016 – UPDATED DESTINATION:

There has been an exciting change to the Biology Conservation Trip, which was formerly advertised as China for July 2016. The destination will now be South East Sulawesi in Indonesia. It will now include at least one week scuba diving, in addition to the one week spent in the forest.

The boys will be working alongside scientists, research, PHD and university students from all over the world and will be helping them to collect data in their chosen fields in both the marine and terrestrial habitats. They will work also undertake a Jungle skills course and learn how to scuba dive (if they can’t already). They will be studying organisms such as birds, small mammals, herpetofauna, bats and a whole array of marine life.

The boys will receive daily lectures from the scientists and will be able to shadow them in both habitats, collecting data and assisting with the conservation and research projects on land and underwater. We will be going with the UK organization Operation Wallacea who are experts in their field. I have taken 5 successful expeditions with OPWALL, including one with WBHS in December 2014 to South Africa. You can find out more information about the Indonesia destination here at the OPWALL website http://opwall.com/sixth-form-high-school/locations/indonesia-school-expeditions/. I must emphasise that you do not have to study Biology to attend the trip, this may be of particular interest to any students who have an interest in scuba diving and marine life or general conservation matters.

Any boys in years 11-12 who are interested in attending the Conservation Biology trip to the new destination of Indonesia, please come to see Miss El-Labany to collect a letter and brochure with more information at morning interval in S13 on Monday 7^th September. There will also be a Parent information evening at 6pm on Friday 11^th September in the main staff room at school, so please come along to find out more.

Please email Miss Jihan El-Labany for more information and to register interest for your son at JYE@westlake.school.nz. Please be aware that places are limited.

School bus from Albany to Westlake Schools – change to departure time

As from Monday 7 September, North Star Bus 042, Albany to Westlake Schools will depart from 7.20am (was 7.00am). Any enquiries to Bronwyn Coster, Concessions Lead, ph 09 355 3553 ext 489921, www.at.govt.nz

Voluntary Community Service

Well done to our group of community service students who recently volunteered to work at Milford Primary School, preparing the ground for fruit trees to be planted.

University Course Planning Dates – Term 3

The following sessions have been arranged by the Careers Department for Westlake students applying to study at these universities in the 2016 intake. Staff from the universities will be on hand to help Year 13 students plan degree courses/papers with focus on their first year. Students should sign up at Heron House if they wish to attend.

Tertiary Provider	Date	Time	Venue
Otago University	9 September	12:50pm	Heron House
Auckland University	10 September	ALL DAY	Auditorium
Massey University	16 September	12:50pm	Heron House
AUT University	17 September	12:50pm	Heron House
Victoria University	18 September	12:50pm	Heron House
Canterbury University	22 September	12:50pm	Heron House

University of Auckland all day course planning for Year 13 Students

Year 13 students who are intending on enrolling at Auckland University should enter the Auditorium as follows.

Period 1 9.00 – 9.55am Surnames A, B and C

Period 2 9.55 – 10.45am Surnames D, E, F and G

Interval 10.45 – 11.10am

Period 3 11.10 – 12.00pm Surnames H, I, J, and K

Period 4 12.00 – 12.50pm Surnames L, M, N and O

Lunchtime 12.50 – 1.25pm

Period 5 1.30 – 2.20pm Surnames P, Q, R and S

Period 6 2.20 – 3.10pm Surnames T, U,V, W, X, Y, Z

Important Dates:

11 September	Westlake High School Reunion 10.30am
17 September	Winter Sports Photographs
21 September	Senior Reports Issued
23 September	Board of Trustees Meeting
25 September	Senior Prizegiving 12.00pm
25 September	End Term 3
28/29 September	Academy of Sport Coaching Programme (email dhodge@westlake.school.nz for info)
28 September – 9 October	Holiday Revision Programme
12 October	Start Term 4
20 November	Westlake Boys’ High School Gymnasium Opening
25 November	Junior Sign Out and text book return
2 December	Senior Sign Out and text book return

Congratulations

Rafa Yam who captained the New Zealand Secondary Schools Squash boys’ team in their Trans-Tasman Schools Squash Challenge held 24-27 August in New South Wales, Australia. The New Zealand team won the series by overcoming the New South Wales and Queensland teams. At the conclusion of the schools competition, the Australian teams combined for a test match against New Zealand and the Kiwis again came out the winners.

Westlake High School Gathering, Friday 11 September

What: Westlake High School Gathering
When: Friday 11 September 2015, 10.30 am – registration at 10.10am
Where: Westlake Boys High SchoolAll Westlake High School Foundation Students (1957-1962) are invited to the 2015 Westlake High School Gathering, this year held at Westlake Boys High School.The morning at Westlake Boys includes assembly in the Auditorium, followed by a morning tea in the Headmaster’s Foyer and the chance to catch up with old school friends and acquaintances. For those who are interested, there will be the opportunity to take a guided tour of the school after morning tea.

Westlake High School Gathering Poster (Medium)

Please RSVP with your name and the years that you attended Westlake High School by Friday 4th September to Christine O’Dowd or call 09 410 8667 ext 786.

Feel free to pass on this invitation to anyone you know who was at Westlake High School during the co-educational years and we look forward to welcoming you to Westlake Boys High School on Friday 11th September.

Westlaker: Jason Bae in Concert

Lewis Eady Charitable Trust proudly presents

JASON BAE PIANO

Tuesday 15 September 2015, 7:30pm

at the Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber

Jason Bae Piano

With the ink barely dry on his Royal Academy of Music Master of Arts in Piano Performance (complete with the highest distinction award DipRAM), Jason Bae is returning from London to perform a piano recital for his home audience and to release his first CD.

“An imperturbable soloist…” – The New Zealand Herald

Tickets $15-$30 www.ticketmaster.co.nz or call 0800 111 999

More info visit http://www.lect.co.nz/blog/

or for images or interviews contact Sharon Seeto lectadmin@lewiseady.co.nz or phone 021-593 282

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