Westlake Boys' High School

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Westlake Boys' High School

Motto	Virtute Experiamur Let Courage Be Thy Test
Type	State Single-sex Boys Secondary (Year 9-13)
Year established	1961
Address	30 Forrest Hill Road, Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand
Principal	Craig Monaghan
School roll	2118 (as of 2006)
Socio-economic decile (10 is high)	10
Ministry of Education Institution no.	37
Website	www.westlake.school.nz

Westlake Boys' High School is a state secondary school for boys located in Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school caters for Form 3 (Year 9) to Form 7 (Year 13). In 2006, Westlake Boys' High School had 2118 students ^[1], making it one of New Zealand's largest schools for boys in terms of student numbers. Its sister school, Westlake Girls' High School, is nearby.

Westlake Boys considers itself to follow a 'traditional but progressive' model similar to the model in operation at Auckland Grammar School.

Westlake Boys now features recently constructed facilities, including a new retro styled administration block, student services centre, and large auditorium capable of holding all of the school's students and staff simultaneously.

Westlake Boys' headmaster is Craig Monaghan, a former Commonwealth Games Judo representative^[2]. He replaces Jim Dale, who left to become Headmaster of Sacred Heart College at the end of the 2006 academic year ^[3]^[4].

1 Westlake Girls' and Boys'
2 Academic Options
3 Sporting
4 Music & Performing Arts
5 Alumni
6 References

[edit] Westlake Girls' and Boys'

Physically only a few hundred metres apart, Westlake Girls' and Westlake Boys' engage in an annual theatrical production together, a joint choir, and some social dances, among other things. The two schools share a motto - 'Virtute Experiamur'; 'Let Courage Be Thy Test' in Latin.

[edit] Academic Options

Westlake Boys High School offers two academic pathways for students, both of which lead to further academic study in all universities and tertiary institutions in New Zealand^[5]:

1. NCEA (The National Certificate in Educational Achievement) is the New Zealand qualification and, as outlined below, can be achieved by the aggregation of both Unit and Achievement Standards.

2. CIE Since 2004, the full suite of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) has been available to students who meet the required academic prerequisites. The Cambridge exams are more demanding, therefore higher academic performance in both Form 3 and Form 4 is required to earn a place in the Cambridge pathway.

Each year, the top four streamed classes (generally around 120-135 students) study in the Cambridge Pathway; the rest, between 11 and 14 classes, study NCEA.

For the 2006 academic year, Westlake Boys' was New Zealand's most successful school in the internationally recognised Cambridge qualifications, with five students having achieved the highest marks in the world in one or more of their subjects: ^[6]

Heath Vinicombe: IGCSE Level Maths
Arkesh Patel: IGCSE Level Chemistry, Biology and History
Ryan Leitch: AS Level Geography
Daniel Foote: AS Level] Economics
Thomas Reynolds: A Level Geography ^[7]

[edit] Sporting

Westlake Boys’ High School has built a tradition of sports achievement throughout Auckland and New Zealand^[8]. The schools teams compete in all Auckland and North Harbour inter-secondary school competitions leading to regional, national and international championships.

All boys are encouraged to participate fully in at least one team sport each year. All boys are expected to make their commitment to school teams as their first priority. Loyalty to Westlake Boys’ High School is both expected and valued. The school values sport as a means of developing important qualities of character and fostering healthy, life-long interests. Boys who participate in a full range of activities receive the maximum benefit from the Westlake learning experience.

[edit] Music & Performing Arts

One of the strengths of Westlake Boys’ High School is the high value it places on music and the Performing Arts^[9]. The creative potential of each student is encouraged and developed through a wide variety of academic and active disciplines. This is assisted greatly by the newly-constructed auditorium and administration complex, consisting of state of the art lighting and sound equipment, as well as a fully operational thrust stage on hydraulics.

While the extensive classroom music programme covers performance, composition, analysis, history and aural skills, musical talent is also developed through participation in the choir 'Voicemale' and the Barbershop Chorus, 'Virtutti'. As well as this, players of woodwind and brass instruments perform with the Concert Band, Stage Band, Junior Jazz and a variety of Rock Bands. Orchestral players have the Westlake Symphony, Chamber Orchestra and the junior Taharoto Orchestra. It is important to note the results of the 2006 KBB Music Festivals (once known as the Auckland Secondary Schools Band and Orchestra Festival), where Westlake Boys collected 1 bronze, 2 silver, and 3 gold medals. As well as this, Westlake was presented with the title of 'Most Outstanding Performance' in 3 of the 4 categories: Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and Concert Band.

The larger groups are combined with Westlake Girls, which adds an extra social dimension to the rehearsals. The schools combine forces for the annual major production, such as Broadway musicals and Shakespearean dramas (for example, Footloose, and Romeo and Juliet were the productions of 2006 and 2005, respectively). The qualities of self-expression and self-confidence which are developed through music and drama, are very evident and valued in the students.