Headmaster’s Newsletter 23 October

Dear Parents and Guardians

Good luck to our Year 11 Cambridge students who go on study leave today.  We wish you all the very best with your forthcoming IGCSE examinations.

It has been a busy week of examinations and activities during week 2.  This Labour weekend should be an opportunity for all of our senior students to do some extended studying in preparation for their examinations.

Have a lovely weekend.

David Ferguson
Headmaster

Māori Achievement Night 22^nd October

On October 22^nd, the school enjoyed its fifth annual Māori Achievement Night, where akonga (students) were invited with their whanau to celebrate their success at school in 2015. There was a variety of success on display, which was duly rewarded, from cultural, to creative, to sporting and academic excellence.

Further to the awards, Professor Michael Walker, a lecturer from the University of Auckland – and recipient of the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Sustained Tertiary Teaching Excellence – gave an impassioned speech about educating Māori as Māori, using the metaphor of ocean navigation; his speech was fascinating to listen to, and the school was hugely grateful for his participation.

Also present with the Headmaster, Mr. David Ferguson, were Dr Lisa Chant, who is secretary of the Whanau Board; and Kaumatua John Marsden.

At the evening’s conclusion, three Special Awards were given: firstly to Dr Lisa Chant (who received a token of thanks for all the Whanau Board has done this year); Tyler Smith (who has worked tirelessly as a student representative); and to Matua Hemi Te Wano. Matua Hemi will step down this year from his role as head of Te Reo Māori, to take up a position at Alfriston College. The evening’s memorable and fitting conclusion was a rousing Haka, from the assembled students, which was very moving.

Finalists – ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year 2015 Award

Congratulations to our eleven finalists for the ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year 2015 award.  This is the 25^th year of the awards, and the ceremony will be held on Saturday 28 November at the Logan Campbell Centre.  The awards recognise achievement and endeavour across a wide range of sporting codes.  We wish our nominees well for the event.

University Scholarship Recipients

Congratulations to the following students who have been awarded university scholarships, since our senior Prizegiving:

• Eric Park – Otago University Academic Excellence Scholarship
• Benjamin Reidy – Victoria Excellence Scholarship
• George Harpur – Victoria Excellence Scholarship
• Riley Cahill – Victoria Excellence Scholarship
• George Han – Victoria Excellence Scholarship
• Noah Kemp – Victoria Achiever Scholarship
• Sean Greaney – Go Canterbury Scholarship $5000
• Lloyd Rosenberg – Go Canterbury Scholarship $5000

Scholarship Tutorials Available

Scholarship tutorials continue during Term 4 in the lead up to examinations.  All enquiries should be directed to Ms Palmer, apalmer@westlake.school.nz.  Click here for a list of tutorials

CIE Pathway Students

Your statement of entry forms for NCEA subjects and all Scholarship subjects are available now.  You should see Mr Jackson or Mrs Sutherland to collect these forms.  Statement of Entry and your proof of identification are required for all NCEA examinations.

National Student Identification number is required on a number of forms for university entrance.  Please see Mr Jackson, Mrs Sutherland or the Academic Deans for your number.

NCEA Examinations

On Tuesday 3^rd November (for Year 12 and 13 students) and on Friday 6^th November (for Year 11 students) statements of entry to NCEA exams will be issued.

When the admission slips are handed out students must check and confirm that all entries and address are correct.  If there are any problems with the statement of entry students must see Mr Jackson before they leave school on Tuesday or Friday respectively.

If your address has changed from that which appears on the statement of entry, please inform the school office immediately.  This will ensure any booklets/materials are sent to the appropriate address in January.

If your son loses his admission slip, we can print another slip off for him. He should see Mr Jackson or Mrs Sutherland.

If late entries have been made, these will not show on the original Candidate Admission Slip. However the online login also enables students to print a new entry statement of entry.  Mr Jackson MUST sign any statement of entry printed this way.

If you want to receive a Certificate stating your son’s NCEA results this must be ordered through your sons on line NZQA login.  There is no cost involved but you must indicate that you want a certificate in order to receive one, The certificate would form part of a CV for your son. Westlake Boys High School cannot do this for you it is your sons responsibility.

It is very important that you pay particular attention to your son’s examination timetable. The only opportunity that he gets to sit the examination is the day stated in the examination timetable.  If for any reason your is unable to sit an exam (i.e. illness) he must contact either Mr Jackson or Mrs Sutherland.

It is important that your son prepares fully for the examinations. This means starting today (if he has not started already) a full and complete revision/study programme should be implemented. As a guide this means giving each subject a minimum of 40minutes – 50 minutes every day.

It is expected that your son uses all the time available to him in the examination to complete the assessment.

We wish all students the best as they prepare for the exams.

Mr Jackson, Deputy Headmaster

Year 13 Design Visual Communication (DVC) Exhibition

Our Year 13 DVC students have worked hard on a major project (either spatial or product) from concepts to development and realisation of a final design outcome.  There have been shoe designs, shade structures, a café in Hobsonville Point, a hotel design, a watch, lighting design and a snowboard helmet.  Students involved are:  Corey Annandale, Robbie MacGregor, Sachin Chhiba, Elijah Lepper, Rex Wang, Linhong Ren and Benji Edwards.

Vounteering for North Shore Hospice

Well done to the following students and staff who gave up their afternoon yesterday to pack goodie bags to help raise funds for North Shore Hospice:  Josh Adam; Allen Guan; Tianrui Guan; Tony Guo; Zach Huxford; Marco Javate; Jonathan Lawson; Jarryd Russell; Laith Saeed; Christian Umanzor Osegueda; Greg Vukets; Rhys Wearing; Daniel Young, Mrs Cachopa, Ms Sefont, Mrs Young and Mrs Newby.

Jenna from Hospice was blown away by how friendly, polite and efficient our students were and she “found the support from the boys really moving!”  We packed 650 bags in an hour.

PTA Meeting – Tuesday 27 October 2015

The next meeting of the Westlake Boys’ High School PTA will be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 27 October in the school staff room.  All interested members of the Westlake community are welcome.  Enquiries to mcurry@westlake.school.nz

Australian Mathematics Competition

Hundreds of thousands of students from around 30 countries sat the Australian Maths Competition on 30^th July 2015.  The Australian Mathematics Competition has been running since 1978 and has become a major school mathematics enrichment event throughout the Pacific and South-East Asia, testing everything from basic numeracy skills to advanced problem solving.

This year we had 215 students enter and received the following top awards:

• David Yao – received a prize in the Junior division for an exceptionally high score and was in the top 1% of entrants.
• Hwan Yoo – received a prize in the senior division for an exceptionally high score and was in the top 1% of entrants.
• George Han – received the Prudence award for scoring the most correct consecutive answers.

The following students received High Distinction certificates for receiving scores in the top 2%:

2015 Westlake Boys Sports Awards Dinner, Friday 6 November 2015

Get your tickets now! Ticket sales close Tuesday 3 November, no excuses.

Guest speaker, internationally acclaimed tennis player Simon Rea, will enlighten our young sportsmen with his sporting knowledge and hands-on experience at the highest levels of his sport. Additionally a delicious buffet meal, Westlake Boys Sports Awards and Colours will be presented and a highlight compilation of 2015 sporting moments will be shown.

Tickets are available from the Uniform Shop in Student Services until Tuesday 3 November.  Tickets cost $50.00 per person, payable by cash/Eftpos/Visa or MasterCard (no cheques).

Click HERE for the Sports Awards Dinner ticket order form.

PTA Christmas Market

Where: Westlake Boys High School

What: Get all your Christmas shopping sorted in one fun evening at the Christmas market.  Specialty stalls include jewellery, Christmas decorations, gourmet food gifts, toys, candles, skincare products, garden art and more.

ENTRY FREE

For more details and pictures of our wonderful stalls, check out the WBHS facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/404190176457152/405676712975165/

2015 Westlake Boys Graduation Dinner

When: Saturday 28 November 2015, 7pm

Where: Westlake Boys Auditorium

Westlake Boys’ annual Graduation Dinner has become a popular and special event amongst those boys completing their final year of education at Westlake Boys High School. The 2015 Graduation Dinner will be held in the Westlake Auditorium from 7pm on Saturday 28th November.

Tickets are on sale until Friday 20 November. A copy of the information letter and permission and ticket order form are available to download from the school website HERE. Space is limited so tickets will be sold on a first-in, first-served basis with a limit of three tickets per family. We recommend that you purchase your tickets early to avoid disappointment.

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 Boys High School Gymnasium Brochure. 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:

Westlakers v WBHS Premier Water Polo Match

The match promises to be a great opportunity for Westlake’s Premier Water Polo team to match their skills against Westlaker Water Polo “stars” from yesteryears.

Westlake’s Premier Water Polo team including Jarvis Jensen (currently in the New Zealand School Boys) and Iziah Mahe (New Zealand U16 team) coached by Davor Carevic (North Harbour Head coach and New Zealand coach) will certainly have to step up on the day. They will come up against a team of old boy players which comprises of an astonishing line up including five New Zealand Men’s Water Polo players, four New Zealand School Boys representatives and the rest of the players have all represented various age group levels and top North Harbour teams. Each of these players has won a national title in every age group. All 2001/2002 players have won the National title at least two times in a row and some three times.

1 – John Love (2004) – New Zealand Men’s Water Polo
2 – Graeme Gunthorpe (2001) – New Zealand School Boys
3 -Jake Bennett (2001) – New Zealand Men’s Water Polo
4 – Chris Wall (2001) – New Zealand School Boys
5 -Troy Gruebner (1997)
6 – Greg Weeks (2001) New Zealand School Boys
7 – Steve Knights (1981) New Zealand Men’s Water Polo
8 – Phil Blackbourn (2007) – New Zealand School Boys
9 – Kurt Bennett (2008)
10 – Chris Chester (1999)
11 – Owen Chambers New Zealand Men’s Water Polo (2011)
12 – William Pike (2002)
13 – Dave Broome (2001) – New Zealand Men’s Water Polo
14 – Garreth Carter (2001)

There will be an opportunity to mingle and share stories about Westlake water polo at the after match function from 6.00pm at ‘The Finish Line’ at Millennium Stadium.

We are looking forward to a great game with match commentary provided by Alex Mackenzie and Jonny Clarke. All are welcome to come and watch the match – see you on Sunday 1 November at 5.00pm at the Millennium Pool.

Westlake Sport

North Harbour Secondary Schools 7’s Tournament

Westlake Boys Senior 7s Rugby

After a long break following the 15’s season the senior boys have had a slow build up to the sevens campaign.  A mini tournament during the holidays organised by Mr McKerrow focused the boys and allowed the coaches to identify the players who have made the adjustment to the shorter form of the game the best.

The boys had a scratchy start in our first game against Kaipara College where they demonstrated they were still very much in the 15’s mind set, characterised by a series of pick and goes on the Kaipara line by no less than five players.  After some carefully chosen words at half time and a number of personnel changes the boys were able to pull away from Kaipara by using the width and attacking space finishing the match with a 14-7 win.

The second pool game posed our toughest challenge against a Massey High School side, fresh from an overseas tour.  While they too were still finding their combinations, they were able to secure early possession through their up this deficit by half time and through some slick handling the team managed to edge out Massey in the final quarter of the game taking the win 14-5.

In the final pool game against Rangitoto College our boys put what they had learnt into practice and played structured disciplined 7’s, using width and attacking space. Had it not been for Rangitoto’s scrambling defence, we would have scored numerous tries in the first half.  As it was, our boys were able to compile a handy lead at the break and built on this in the second half, allowing Mr McKerrow to clear the bench and prepare for the knock out stages. Westlake 40 – Rangitoto College 7.

In the semi-final against the second placed team in Pool A, Orewa College were blown off the pitch as the boys gained possession and found space at will.  The route was capped off by a 60 metre dash by Ammon Moller sealing the 47-7 victory.

In the final it was to be Massey again after they edged out Rosmini College in the other semi-final.  It was also to be a repeat of the Under 15 final mirroring that game in many ways, including the 19-12 score line.  Taka Makara sealing the win in the final minutes with a sprint from the halfway line down the left side of the field in front of the packed club room balcony.

Westlake Boys U15 7s Rugby

On the back of a successful Hurricanes Tournament Westlake’s U15 boys re-assembled for the North Harbour Secondary Schools 7’s Tournament. The team, coached by Mr Fraser Brown and Mr Will Gage-Brown, put in some good practices leading up to the event and were well prepared for the day.

The Semi-Final lined up to be one of our toughest games, with Kaipara College scoring first and testing our boys’ composure under pressure. Tiennan Costley broke free and took off down the side-line to put us back in the game. We eventually stretched our lead with a try to Cale Tu’inukuafe, winning 17-7. The win propelled us into the final against Massey High School.

Auckland Road Running Championships

The following students competed in the Auckland Junior Road Running Championships recently.

Murdoch McIntyre (1^st in Auckland), David Moore (4^th), Nikola Sovljanski (7^th), Stuart Hofmeyr (9^th), Josh Spraggon (14^th) and Daniel Robertson (16^th).  The boys are working very hard leading up to the National Road Race which takes place in December.

Cricket Results 17 October

WBHS 1st XI vs Rangitoto College 1st XI – Day 1

The Championship two day competition commenced on a cold and windy Saturday against close neighbours, Rangitoto College on 17 October.  Westlake won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Rangitoto to bat on a green top at home. Cooper Spiller was the pick of the bowlers with the impressive figures of 5/13 in 7.5 overs in helping to bowl Rangitoto out for 73. The Westlake batsmen had to endure a fantastic opening spell by the Rangitoto bowlers and earn every run in passing the total. Captain Will O’Donnell led from the front with a gutsy 56 while Ryan Schierhout is 39 not out overnight. Westlake finished the day on 144/6 giving them a handy 1st innings lead of 71.

WBHS 2nd XI vs Auckland Grammar School

Westlake lost the toss and were asked to bowl. Early pressure had Auckland Grammar School at 60/5 but poor fielding and loss of concentration allowed Grammar to reach 204/7, with their captain scoring a well-deserved ton. Westlake’s top order all made steady contributions without anyone taking the game to the opposition and the team eventually lost by 45 runs. Scott Prentice, Matt Wood and Cameron Abrahamse all took 2 wickets.

WBHS 3rd XI vs Papatoetoe 1st XI

Papatoetoe 1stXI won the toss and batted first scoring 344/9 after 45 overs. Best bowler was Matthew Thornton with 2/45 in 9 overs. Westlake’s 3rdXI scored 288/5 with Sid Mahajan 102 not out, Matthew Thornton 42 and Ashton Howard 42 losing by 56 runs.

WBHS 4th XI vs Mount Albert Grammar

Mount Albert Grammar won the toss and elected to bowl first on a bitterly cold Wainoni morning. Disciplined bowling bought three early wickets until Cameron Ellett (21) and Alex Divall (48) steadied the innings with a good partnership and the rest of the team chipped in to bring Westlake to a total of 161. MAGS started aggressively losing their first wicket at 44 from 7 overs. Runs continued to flow and Westlake were not allowed back into the game. MAGS won comfortably by 7 wickets.

WBHS Colts 1 vs Auckland Grammar School

Colts 1 AGS 180/8 WBHS 95/10

Westlake lost by 85 runs

For all other cricket results, please click here.

Volleyball Results 16 October

Congratulations to our junior team who started Term 4 winning a tough game 2-0 against Sir Edmund Hillary (25-23 25-20).  The boys then pulled out an even better 2-1 win against last year’s champions, Manurewa High School  33-35, 25-20, 15-8.

Congratulations:

• Bradlee Wong PK06 (pictured right) finished off his Judo year winning two titles at the 2015 New Zealand Championships held in Tauranga on 17/18 October. He won the 55kg Under 21 division, and then went on to win the 60kg Under 18 division.
• Year 9 student, Chris Zhang HD08 is now ranked 2^nd nationally in Under 16 tennis. Well done to Chris who is a member of our premier tennis team.

• Congratulations to three of our students who represented North Harbour in the Trampoline section at the 2015 New Zealand National GymSports Championships held in Auckland during the first week of the school holidays.  Caleb Barr (Year 10) representing Auckland and Joshua Adam (Year 11) and Jeremy Agnew (Year 9) representing North Harbour competed in Trampoline and all made finals.
• • Joshua – Gold in 15 – 16 Men’s DMT (Double Mini Trampoline)
  • Caleb – Gold in Sub Junior International Syncronised Trampoline, and Bronze in Sub Junior International Men’s Individual Trampoline

• During the school holidays, Robbie McCutcheon (Year 9) was invited to take part in the prestigious RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup in Bermuda. 25 National Sailing Champions from around the world are invited to this regatta, known as the ‘Champion of Champions’ Optimist Competition. The sailing took place on the same course as the next America’s Cup in 2017, and Robbie finished a commendable 12th out of 45. The regatta is sailed in conjunction with the Gold Cup Match race competition, featuring the top adult sailors in the world, including Dean Barker and former Westlaker Chris Steele.

• Our 1^st XI Cricket team who play Day 2 versus Rangitoto College 1^st XI at 10.30am on 24 October at WBHS G1
• Our Junior Touch A team who play Rangitoto College at 4.30pm on 27 October at Hato Petera 6
• Our Junior Touch A Red team who play Rosmini College at 4.30pm on 27 October at Hato Petera 5
• Our Junior Touch B Green team who play Takapuna Grammar School at 4.30pm on 27 October at Hato Petera 8
• Our Junior Volleyball teams who play in the North Harbour Super League on Wednesday 28 October at AUT from 5pm

Westlake Girls’ High School Rowing – Christmas Tree Fundraiser

Please click here if you would like information on how to order a Christmas Tree through Westlake Girls Rowing.  Any enquiries may be directed to sarahconnie@gmail.com