Westlake Girls High School is a state girls secondary school, located to the west of

Lake Pupuke Lake Pupuke (traditionally known in Māori as Pupukemoana) is a heart-shaped freshwater lake occupying a volcanic crater (or maar) between the suburbs of Takapuna and Milford on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The heart shape is a re ...

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The school was established in 1958 as a coeducational school, changing to girls only in 1962 when

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 (opened 1958) split into Westlake Girls High School on the existing site and We ...

opened. Westlake Girls has a roll of approximately students from Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), making one of the largest single-sex schools in New Zealand. The school is divided into five house groups: Akoranga (black), Hauraki (yellow), Onewa (red), Pupuke (blue) and Wairau (green).

History

The school has its origin in 1958, when it opened as a

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

institution. In 1962 Westlake Girls and

emerged as separate schools, though they maintain relations. After three decades of service, principal Alison Gernhoefer retired at the end of 2011, succeeded by Roz Mexted. In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, Gernhoefer was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public services. The Gernhoefer Administration building is named in her honour. She died on 12 April 2022. Mexted was principal from November 2011 to November 2016. Changes during her tenure were the introduction of a new Junior and Senior uniform, and the development of the undercover netball and tennis courts visible from the motorway. The house system was also updated in an effort to increase school unity and spirit. Jane Stanley was appointed to succeed Mexted and took up the position of principal at the beginning of the second term in May 2017. She is married to former Olympic rower Mike Stanley.

Westlake Girls and Boys

Physically merely a few hundred metres apart, Westlake Girls and Westlake Boys engage in an annual theatrical production together, several joint musical ensembles (including a joint choir, two orchestras, a concert band and a jazz band), and some social dances, among other things. The two schools share a motto – ''Virtute Experiamur'' (''Let Courage Be Thy Test'').

Principals

Notable alumni

* Rosie Cheng – tennis player * Erin Naylor – association footballer * Jo Aleh – sailor * Alethea Boon – athlete, gymnast, weightlifter * Cathie Dunsford – novelist, poet, anthologist, lecturer and publishing consultant *

Joanne Gair Joanne Gair (born c. 1958), nicknamed Kiwi Jo (alternatively Kiwi Joe), is a New Zealand-born and -raised make-up artist and body painting, body painter whose body paintings have been featured in the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' from 19 ...

– artist, bodypainter * Nikki Jenkins – gymnast * Jenny Kirk – politician *

Kayla McAlister Kayla Ahki (née McAlister; born 6 August 1988) is a New Zealand netball and rugby sevens player. She has previously played for the Northern Mystics in 2011, and was a training partner in 2012, and currently plays for the New Zealand women's n ...

– rugby sevens player *

Judy Millar Penelope Judith Millar (born 1957) is a New Zealand artist, who lives in Auckland, New Zealand and Berlin, Germany. Education Millar received a BFA in 1980 and an MFA from Auckland University's Elam School of Fine Arts in 1983. As recipien ...

– artist * Carol Oyler – cricketer *

Anona Pak Anona Pak (born 29 November 1993) is a New Zealand badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "sing ...

– badminton player *

Katie Perkins Katie Teresa Perkins (born 7 July 1988) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 73 One Day Internationals and 55 Twenty20 Internationals for New Zealand between 2012 and 2020. She played domestic cr ...

– cricketer *

Karen Plummer Karen Vi Plummer (born 14 September 1951) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling right-arm medium. She appeared in 4 Test matches and 11 One Day Internationals for New Zealand between 19 ...

– cricketer * Allison Roe – athlete * Rebecca Sowden – association footballer *

Kate Sylvester Kate Sylvester is a New Zealand fashion designer known for combining sportswear, lingerie and traditional tailoring. Her designs are often influenced by books or art, and the fashion of the 1930s and 1950s. "Books are a big thing. When I read the ...

– fashion designer * Rosita Vai – singer *

Lisa Wallbutton Lisa Wallbutton (born 14 January 1986 in Henderson, New Zealand) is a basketball player for New Zealand. She won Outstanding Young Player in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and MVP at the 2005 NZ U23 tournament. She debuted for the Tall Ferns (New Z ...

– basketball player *

Diana Wichtel Diana Wichtel (born 1950 in Vancouver) is a New Zealand writer and critic. Her mother, Patricia, was a New Zealander; her father, Benjamin Wichtel, a Polish Jew who escaped from the Nazi train taking his family to the Treblinka extermination cam ...

– writer and critic *

Chelsea Winter Chelsea Winter is a New Zealand celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and r ...

– celebrity chef

References

External links

Westlake Girls High School website
* {{Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia schools, state=autocollapse Educational institutions established in 1958 Girls' schools in New Zealand Secondary schools in Auckland North Shore, New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia 1958 establishments in New Zealand