• Head Prefect Hala Barakat and Deputy Head Prefect Isabella Brown.
  • Dux Cynthia Liu with her parents.
  • Proxime Accessit to Dux Janice Guang-Li Lim with her parents.
  • Music award winners Gnesyer Gomez (left) and Kasey Lui.
  • Cecile McNeill (left) and Justine Razon, Music Award winners.

Meet Our 2019 Prefects

At our recent Special Awards presentation, the WGHS Prefects for 2019 were announced, including our Head Prefect Hala Barakat and Deputy Head Prefect Isabella Brown. 

“It is such an honour and I am humbled to be named the 2019 Head Prefect,” says Hala. “I’m excited to begin the new year and look forward to representing such an incredible school which has provided me with countless opportunities throughout my high school years.”

Hala says her main goal as Head Prefect is to create a sense of unity to help further develop the school spirit within Westlake and the wider community. An exceptional academic student, she is an award-winning debater and netballer, and is looking forward to investing back into those areas as Head Prefect. “Recently I’ve been supporting the younger teams to achieve success. I umpire netball games and coach debating and netball teams – and I’m also a Smart Swans tutor, involved in my House Service Committee, Cultural Committee and Student Council. Next year will allow me to motivate and encourage students to ensure their time at Westlake will be unforgettable. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Isabella is also passionate about giving back to the school. “I’m going to give my absolute all to this role,” she says. “I want to ensure that every student gets the very best experience and makes full use of the incredible opportunities available here at WGHS. I hope to make positive and enhancing differences to each individual and I hope to be an inspiring leader and role model for my fellow students. It is incredibly important to me that every student feels supported, so they can grow and learn with guidance and encouragement to reach their full potential. I also hope to continue to build/encourage House and school spirit to create a caring environment and a sense of pride and family.”

As well as performing exceptionally well academically, Isabella has been actively involved in the extra-curricular side of Westlake. She’s been part of the Student Council, House Service Committee and the 40-hour Famine Committee. She’s part of Choralation and Cantare choirs, Amnesty International and the Model United Nations (MUNA) – to name just a few. 

We wish Hala, Isabella and all of our prefects a wonderful 2019. 

 

Celebrating our 2018 successes 

Wednesday 31 October was an important day for WGHS, with our Special Awards Ceremony in the morning - celebrating students who have made a significant contribution to our school life - and our Senior Academic Prize-Giving in the evening recognising our top academic achievers. 

This year’s Dux is Cynthia Liu and our Proxime Accessit is Janice Guang-Li Lim, our 2018 Deputy Head Prefect. Cynthia has been involved in badminton, robotics, Westlake’s Symphony Orchestra, Future Problem Solving and Chinese Night. She is an accomplished violinist, has been a Smart Swans tutor and in 2018 was the Pupuke House Captain. Cynthia was the top student in all five of her courses in 2018 – Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, English and French. Congratulations to both Cynthia and Janice. 

Dux: Cynthia Liu

Proxime Accessit: Janice Guang-Li Lim

Outstanding All-round Student in Cultural, Academic and Leadership: Cecile McNeill

Outstanding All-round Student in Sporting, Academic and Leadership: Courtney Katterns

Citizenship – Outstanding Service, Academic and Leadership: Caitlin Goodin

Head Prefect: Izzy Sheild

International Student of the Year: Georgia Jiayi Zhang

 

University Scholarships

University of Auckland

Top Achievers Scholarship: Jenny Seo Yoon Choi, Iris Szu-Yao Liu, Beverley Sun, Janice Guang-Li Lim, Cynthia Liu.

Academic Potential Scholarship: Suvarna Swaraj

Faculty of Arts Award: Kyla Euston-Stewart

 

AUT

Kiwa Scholarship: Rhiana Merota

Academic Excellence Scholarship: Farin Dickinson

 

Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria Tangiwai Scholarship: Izzy Ray-Chaudhuri

Victoria Totoweka Scholarship: Taryn Latoa

 

University of Otago 

Leaders of Tomorrow Entrance Scholarship: Shanay Ramphal, Maitreyi Jain

Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship: Kirstin Du Plooy, Cindy Chong, Annie Eunmyeong lee, Isabella Kim

Māori Entrance Scholarship: Sara McCarthy, Jaimee Wyatt

New Frontiers Entrance Scholarship: Molly Turpin 

 

University of Canterbury

College of Engineering International Scholarship: Georgia Zhang

Go Canterbury: Georgia Zhang

 

2018 sporting excellence recognised 

Our annual Sports Awards Evening was held on Thursday 1 November, with some outstanding sporting talent recognised. Rhythmic Gymnast Stella Ebert (pictured) was named Sportswoman of the Year, following her inclusion in the New Zealand Commonwealth Games contingent - among other highlights. 

Stella has had an outstanding year. She was selected to represent New Zealand in Rhythmic Gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Stella was the youngest member of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team and was invited to appear on TV to talk about her achievements. This year she also travelled overseas to compete in two World Cup events and the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Bulgaria. 

Stella is the current National Rhythmic Gymnastics Champion. She also backed this up by winning Silver at the Australian Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. Stella still found time to represent the school at the Auckland Secondary School Gymnastics Championships, finishing first and picking up the Gold medal in the International Section. She is a finalist for the Harbour Sport Junior Sportswoman of the Year and has also just been named as a finalist for College Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year in the Gymsports Category. 

The night also included a Commonwealth Games Panel including Stella, Michaela Sokolich-Beatson and Pippa Hayward. In addition to the major awards, Blues, Honours, Colours and Distinction awards were also presented. 

 

Major Awards:

Stella Ebert - Sportswoman of the Year

Premier Volleyball - Team of the Year

Sara McCarthy - Sporting All Rounder of the Year

Vivian Yang - Junior Sportswoman of the Year

April Ieremia -Coach of the Year

Bridget Layburn - Student Coach of the Year

Danielle Kooge - Student Official of the Year

Lana Woolf - Volunteer of the Year

 

Music to their ears

The annual Westlake Music Dinner was held on 23 October - a wonderful celebration of an outstanding year of music for the two Westlake schools. Held at McHugh's of Cheltenham, the evening reflected the stellar accomplishments of our students, and the excellence of our staff within the Music Department. 

The award ceremony included performance by Cecile McNeill and Sandra Kang, with guest speaker Dr Benjamin Tan. The following students were awarded cups and trophies for their outstanding contribution to music:

Instrumental Music Trophy: Hannah Schulte
Leadership Music Department: Kasey Lui 

Creativity in Music: Amy Lambert and Xiaole Zhan
Choral Music Trophy: Kasey Lui and Gnesyer Gomez
Most Promising Song Writer: Eimear Kelly
Accompanist Trophy: Sandra Kang
Excellence in Ensemble Performance: Cecile McNeill

 


Issue 94 December 2018