Westlake Boys High School
Westlake Boys High School is a state secondary school for boys located in Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962, when Westlake High School split into Westlake Girls High School on the existing site and Westlake Boys High School on a new site. Serving Years 9 to 13, the college has students as of.
Westlake Boys considers itself to follow a 'traditional but progressive' model similar to that in operation at Auckland Grammar School.
Westlake Boys now features recently constructed facilities, including a new administration block, student services centre, and large auditorium capable of holding all of the school's students and staff simultaneously.
Westlake Boys Deputy headmaster David Ferguson took on the role of Headmaster of Westlake Boys High School, taking over from Craig Monaghan, a former Commonwealth Games Judo representative and referee.
Westlake Boys introduced a house system at the end of 2007 where each individual belongs to one of six houses: Pupuke, Ururoto, Hood, Smale, Murchison and Stanley.
Westlake Boys and Girls
Physically a few hundred metres apart, Westlake Girls and Westlake Boys engage in a joint annual theatrical production, participate in several joint musical ensembles, and some social dances, among other things. The two schools share a motto – "Virtute Experiamur" – "Let Courage Be Thy Test" in Latin.Academic pathways
Westlake Boys High School uses the National Certificate of Educational Achievement to assess students. Until 2019, it also offered Cambridge Assessment International Education as an option, but this was phased out from 2016.Sporting
Westlake Boys High School has built a tradition of sporting achievement throughout Auckland and New Zealand. The school's teams compete in all Auckland and North Harbour inter-secondary school competitions leading to regional, national and international championships. In 2008/09, Westlake came second in both the Gillette and Maadi Cups in 2009, in both cases, losing to Hamilton Boys'.Music and performing arts
The teaching of Performing Arts within the school is assisted by the newly constructed auditorium and administration complex. The educational music programme covers performance, composition, analysis, history and aural skills. Along with the option of taking music as a subject, there is also a compulsory Year 9 course, focusing on the appreciation of music and drama in everyday life through theoretical and practical exercises, which runs for multiple weeks throughout the year.The school has a number of performing groups: a choir, a Barbershop Chorus, a Concert Band, Stage Band, and Junior Symphonic band. Orchestral groups include the Westlake Symphony, Chamber Orchestra the junior Taharoto Orchestra and the boys' string groups Conchordia and Camerata. The performing groups regularly win awards at the annual KBB Music Festival. Some groups, such as the Choralation Choir, which won the platinum award at the Big Sing Finale in 2009, 2010, and 2011 are combined with Westlake Girls High School.
The school also holds drama productions. Recent productions have included Oliver!, Guys & Dolls, School of Rock, Wind in the Willows, Once on Chunuk Bair, Footloose, Romeo and Juliet, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Little Shop of Horrors and A Midsummer Night's Dream
Houses
The houses of Westlake Boys are:Notable alumni
- Charles R. Alcock – astronomer, director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Politics
- John Watson – Auckland Councillor, former local board member and former Head Boy.
The Arts
- Martin Henderson – film, TV and theatre actor
- Don McGlashan – musician, The Mutton Birds and Blam Blam Blam
- Tim Mahon and Mark Bell – founding members of Blam Blam Blam
Business
- A. J. Hackett – popularised bungee jumping
- John Hood – Rhodes Scholar, former CEO of Fletcher Challenge, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland and of Oxford University
Journalism
- Duncan Garner – television journalist
Sport
Basketball
- Thomas Abercrombie
- Jarrod Kenny
- Kirk Penney
- Corey Webster
- Tai Webster
- Robert Loe
- Jack Salt
Cricket
- Andre Adams – former Black Cap
- Billy Bowden – ICC cricket umpire
- Paul Hitchcock – former Black Cap
- Justin Vaughan – former Black Cap, CEO New Zealand Cricket
- Lou Vincent – former Black Cap
- Willie Watson – former NZ cricketer
Football
- Neil Jones – former All White
- Tommy Smith – footballer, All Whites
- Robert Ironside – former captain All White
Rowing
- Barrie Mabbott – Olympic Bronze medallist rower
- Mike Stanley – 1984 Olympic rower
- Eric Verdonk – Olympic Bronze medallist rower
- Andy Hay – 1984 Olympic coxswain
Rugby League
- Frano Botica – former All Black and Kiwi
Rugby union
- Nick Evans – former All Black
- Mike Harris – current Wallaby
- Luke McAlister – former All Black
- Dillon Hunt – current All Black
- Ron Williams – former All Black
- Wayne Pivac – current Wales national rugby union team coach
Sailing
- Tom Ashley – Olympic Gold medalist board sailor
- Dean Barker – a skipper of Team New Zealand, has participated in America's Cup and Louis Vuitton Cup as well as representing New Zealand at Olympics
- Chris Dickson – former helmsman of BMW Oracle Racing and had participated in Louis Vuitton Cup
Shooting
- Malcolm Cooper – double Olympic Gold Medallist and founder of weapons manufacturing company Accuracy International, makers of the Arctic Warfare Magnum rifle