WESTLAKE BOYS HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTUS

WELCOME TO WESTLAKE BOYS HIGH SCHOOL Tīhei mauri ora! Te mihi tuatahi ki te Atua, nānā nei ngā mea katoa, Tuarua, ki ngā mate o te wā, haere, haere, haere atu rā. Āpiti hono, tātai hono, rātou ki a rātou, Āpiti hono, tātai hono, tātou ki a tātou, Nō reira, e ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te kura o Ururoto. Ko tō mātou hiahia ko te tautoko i a koutou ngā tauira hou, e haere mai ana ā tērā tau. Nō reira, ngā mihi mahana ki a koe, otirā, koutou e te whānau, Tēnā anō koutou katoa

Tēna koe! Haere mai! Welcome to Westlake and thank you for your interest in our school. For fifty years, we have been committed to providing an outstanding learning environment for boys on Auckland’s North Shore. We are proud of our school and exceptionally proud of the boys who become young men in their five years as part of our community. We have high expectations of everyone in our community and we find that, by providing an exceptionally wide range of opportunities for our students, and ensuring the very best teaching and learning experiences, everyone has the chance to exceed their own expectations of themselves. Our students are known for their very high standards of behaviour and for the respect they show in their appearance. A Westlake man, though, respects others as well as himself: good manners matter, as does an open, reflective attitude to the world. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of life at Westlake. You are very welcome to visit us for a closer look, or to contact me if you have any questions. Virtute experiamur – let courage be thy test. David Ferguson, Headmaster

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The school’s clearly “articulated vision and traditional values underpin a positive school culture. High expectations for achievement and behaviour promote the settled environment. Students demonstrate a sense of belonging and pride in their school.

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Education Review Office, 2014

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WHO WILL I MEET AT WESTLAKE? At Westlake, you can expect to meet new people and make new friends that you will keep for the rest of your life. Our students come from all over the North Shore, from other parts of Auckland and New Zealand, and from many other parts of the world. It makes our school an exciting, welcoming place where everyone is valued for their backgrounds, experiences and talents. You will be placed in one of our six ‘houses’ and begin every day in your house form class, where you will be with students from each year group. Older students help younger students and other new students to settle into the school, and there are Year 13 ‘buddies’ in every form class. Westlake is a happy, friendly place because, quite simply, our students know each other. Your Deans are there to make sure that everyone remembers the very high expectations we have of your attitude and behaviour, and they will also look after you when you have a problem. We have two school counsellors as well if you need to talk to someone confidentially. If you need extra help in your lessons, you will meet the teachers in our Learner Support department. If you need extra help to develop your English skills, you will meet the excellent teachers in our ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages] department. Our six houses are ‘Hood’, named after Sir John Hood, an Old Boy and previously ViceChancellor of Oxford and Auckland Universities; ‘Murchison’, named after Peter Murchison, a long-serving Deputy Headmaster who retired in 2007; ‘Pupuke’, named after the lake in our name; ‘Smale’, named after Bill Smale, an Old Boy, businessman and philanthropist; ‘Stanley’, named after Mike Stanley, an Old Boy, Olympian and huge supporter of the school; and ‘Ururoto’, the te reo Maori name for our school.

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I was worried about coming to Westlake at first because it was so big, but we met our Year 13 buddies on the first day, and they still check with me to make sure that I’m okay.

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Year 9 student

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I’ve made so many new friends here from so many new places! Year 9 student

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I have friends in my form class, friends in all of my subjects, friends in my football and tennis teams, and friends in my musical groups! Year 9 student

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WHAT RESULTS CAN I EXPECT TO ACHIEVE? We are one of New Zealand’s most successful schools and nearly all of our students pass their examinations. This is because of excellent teaching, and because of the exceptional personal support we can offer you. We will help you to take responsibility for your own learning, and we will support you to make sure that you know exactly what you need to do to succeed. We expect every student who joins our school to be successful in his studies. You can expect to pass your NCEA assessments at the highest possible levels and, if you choose the pathway, you can also expect to achieve the very best Cambridge results. Every year, many of our students achieve Excellence endorsements in their NCEA assessments and many achieve ‘Top in New Zealand’ awards in their Cambridge examinations. Every year, our students’ Scholarship results place us in the top handful of schools in the country: academic success is central to everything that we do.

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Boys High School continues “toWestlake be a high performing school. Students are proud of their school and benefit from teaching that promotes high standards of achievement.

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Education Review Office, 2014 The school is very effective at promoting “educational success for Maori.” Education Review Office, 2014

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WHAT CAN I EXPECT IN MY LESSONS? In Years 9 and 10, you can expect lively, interesting lessons in all the learning areas of the New Zealand National Curriculum. You will develop your skills in English, Science and Mathematics, will learn new languages from Asia and Europe, will learn about New Zealand and the world in Social Studies, and will develop your skills and knowledge in Technology, the Arts and Physical Education. You can expect to use technology in your lessons, and to work in different ways to help you become better at working with other people. Your teachers will have high expectations of you, and you can expect to work hard, but to enjoy it, even the homework! In the senior years, you will choose from a very wide range of subjects: some are compulsory, but many are options that you can choose. New subjects include Outdoor Education, Media, Business Studies, Economics and Food Technology. We will also encourage you to continue studying a second language, because we think it is a really important part of your education.

Our Hauora programme will help prepare you for adulthood by helping you to develop your learning skills at the same time as teaching you a little more about what it means to grow up as a young man in New Zealand today. We run special ‘institutes’ for gifted and talented students: our Academic Institute challenges and stretches our most able academic students; our Music Institute provides our best musicians with specialist support to develop their skills; and we have a Sports Institute for sportsmen talented in rugby, football, basketball, hockey, cricket, distance running and rowing. All three institutes have been established for many years and remain exceptionally successful. You can also expect to learn more about the unique culture of New Zealand: we are proud of being a bicultural school in a multicultural environment. You may have the chance to join our Whanau form class or take part in our Kapa Haka group.

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I enjoy going to six classes a day because teachers help us learn their subjects in different ways. Year 9 student

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I found it hard to choose my subjects this year because there were so many choices, but I got good advice and I am really pleased with them.

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Students with additional and “individual learning requirements receive good support. ” Education Review Office, 2014

The school’s curriculum is “very effective in promoting and supporting student learning. ” Education Review Office, 2014

Year 11 student

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HOW WILL I GET INVOLVED IN SPORT AT WESTLAKE? When you come to Westlake, you will have the chance to get involved in one of the largest and most successful school sports programmes in the country. Sport is a central part of our school, and we encourage all of our students take part in at least one winter and one summer sport in Years 9 and 10. It is a wonderful chance to try something new, to meet new people, and to discover your skills and passion in a new activity. You will be able to take part in one of our major team sports: we run fifteen or more teams in rugby, more than twenty-five in football, and large numbers of teams in hockey, basketball, cricket and tennis. Our rowing programme begins with ‘Learn to Row’ in Year 9, and is overseen by one of New Zealand’s most successful sportsmen. Badminton and squash are both very popular, and there are over fifty table tennis teams in action every single year. We also run teams in more specialist sports, and support school teams in, amongst others, surfing, ski-ing and snowboarding, ultimate Frisbee, petanque and lacrosse. There is an activity to suit every interest, and we know that you will find an activity you love. This is only possible, of course, because of the commitment of our staff to our sporting programme, something else special to a Westlake education. We are also the country’s most successful distance running school. We want all students to have the chance to enjoy taking part in sport; and we want our top sportsmen to enjoy competing and succeeding at the highest levels. We compete at the highest levels in many of these sports. We are North Harbour’s most successful sporting school, are the leading school in the country in badminton and basketball, and are placed in the top four in New Zealand most years in football, rowing and hockey.

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Westlake Boys High School “continues to be a high performing

The rich traditions and successful “history behind Westlake sport has

school. It provides young men with a broad range of curriculum and co-curricular opportunities.

motivated me to go beyond what I ever thought I would accomplish.

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Year 12 student

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Education Review Office, 2014

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WHAT OTHER OPPORTUNITIES WILL I HAVE? You will have the chance to take part in a huge range of activities at Westlake. We are proud of our links with the rest of Auckland, New Zealand and the world and we strongly encourage all of our students to make the most of the opportunities they are offered. You will have the chance to visit parts of New Zealand from the Bay of Islands to Queenstown, competing in sports competitions or taking part in musical events, Geography and History field trips, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions or any number of other outdoor education opportunities. You will also get the chance to travel the world. If you study a language into the senior years, you may have the chance to visit China, Japan, France, Germany, New Caledonia or wherever else we explore next! Sports teams have recently visited Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Holland, Canada and South Africa. Our most recent musical tour saw 130 students from our school and Westlake Girls visit Hungary, Austria and other European countries. We run a huge music programme, and have a wide range of musical groups who regularly win competitions at regional and national level. We work closely with Westlake Girls, and our choirs, orchestras and bands are amongst the very best in New Zealand. You can also take part in our large Debating programme, develop your skills in Chess, improve your entrepreneurial skills in our Young Enterprise programme, learn more about global justice as part of Amnesty International, or just take part in any one of the socially responsible groups we support.

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Students experience wide “co-curricular opportunities and demonstrate high performance in sport, the arts, culture and leadership. Global experiences and opportunities are part of the Westlake experience.

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Education Review Office, 2014

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HOW WILL I BECOME A WESTLAKER?

When you join Westlake, you join a long tradition of success and commitment to the community. When you eventually leave our school, you and your family become ‘Westlakers’ and will stay part of our community. We regularly hold reunions and functions in Auckland, across New Zealand and now across the world: events are held as far away as London and San Francisco. The Westlake Boys High School PTA is active and engaged in the life of the school, supporting our staff and students, and raising money for the school through fundraising activities. And we have a Westlake Boys High School Foundation, which works hard to safeguard the future of our school, looking after its long-term academic, physical, cultural and spiritual wellbeing. Westlake is a community that extends well beyond its staff and students. 14

30 Forrest Hill Road Takapuna Auckland 0620 Ph: 09 410 8667 www.westlake.school.nz