Westlake Girls’ High School

Girls U15 8+ Bronze. Girls U18 4+ Bronze. Girls U18 2- Gold.

Girls U16 8+ Bronze. Girls U18 8+ Silver.

Historic weekend for Westlake Girls Rowing

From March 12th to 14th, Westlake Girls High School competed against almost 2,000 students from 100 schools at the North Island Secondary Schools Rowing Championships held at Lake Karapiro.

Westlake produced a stunning finals day performance. For the first time in more than 20 years we medalled in each of the Premier Girls sweeping events – the U18 pair, four and eight. We finished the day with eight top eight finishes, including five podium finishes. Overall, we had 23 medallists, 16 of whom were first time medallists.

The squad’s performance in the U18 sweep events – the premier events on the girls racing programme – was a highlight of the regatta. For the first time in more than 20 years we managed to earn a gold medal in the Girls U18 2 (our first title in this event since 2013), a silver medal in the Girls U18 8+ and a bronze medal in the Girls U18 4+ (our first medal in each of these events since 2014). Our junior squad also managed to deliver excellent results securing Westlake Girls bronze medals in both the Girls U15 8+ and Girls U16 8+. The squads' focus now turns to Maadi Cup being held at Lake Ruataniwha from the 29 March to 2 April. Top and Bottom Images by Conrad Blind

Game on for high-achieving referee

You could say Maggie Cogger Orr’s career is a game of two halves.

On week days you can find her at Westlake Girls in her capacity as Onewa House Dean, and in the class taking business studies or PE. In the evenings and weekends you’ll find her on the rugby field refereeing premier games. And in case you’re wondering – she’s extraordinary in both roles!

Maggie is one of just a handful of rugby referees selected worldwide to officiate at the TikTok Women’s Six Nations competition which started in the Northern Hemisphere at the end of March. She has been joined by just one other New Zealand ref – Lauren Jenner, and Kiwi TMO – Lee Jeffrey.

Maggie is referee (along with two assistant referees) for Wales vs France at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff on Friday 22nd April and Ireland vs Scotland at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday 30th April.

There are only 100 female referees on the New Zealand circuit, and only six of those – including Maggie – are part of the High Performance Programme.

She's been reffing rugby since 2017, and played for 12 years from her early days of high school until the end of 2016. "I then decided it was time for a new challenge and switched over to refereeing," she says. The timing of that move proved advantageous. "I was quite fortunate that there was a big turnover in women's referees here in New Zealand after Rio 2016. That meant a lot of opportunities and saw me selected into the Women's National Squad during my first year."

Since then, Maggie has been a member of the Wider Training Group (2018) and the National High Performance Squad (2019-present). "Locally I referee Premier Men's rugby in Auckland and have been on the Premier Panel since 2020. In my role I referee for the Farah Palmer Cup (Women's Provincial Tournament) and this year I've been selected to referee Super Rugby Aupiki. I was even able to officiate some development test matches in Fiji at the end of 2019 before Covid really hit."

Maggie says she is stoked to be part of the Women's Six Nations. "I've worked really hard to get this opportunity and I'm looking forward to representing my union on the international stage," she says. "There are a few nerves of course, but I'm reminding myself of what a cool opportunity this is and reframing the emotion as excitement!"

The bonus is that Canadian-born Maggie will see her parents after two and a half years apart as they will be flying over from Canada to watch her games.

From this tournament, referees will be selected for the Women's Rugby World Cup which is being played in New Zealand during October and November. Watch this space!

Maggie Cogger-Orr (in white and green) is pictured officiating at the inaugural Women's Super Rugby game in May 2021.

Ivy Mitchell introducing the first video. Year 12 student Lina Amer presenting.

Ko Wai Au – Digging deeper into Westlake’s rich cultural diversity

“Ko Wai Au – Who am I?” is an initiative to celebrate Westlake Girls’ cultural and religious diversity through a series of six weekly videos. Being a student-led project, it aims to further educate other students about the multiculturalism within our school, in particular cultural and religious dress and symbols.

Each episode has a new focus, with students explaining the significance behind their cultural item such as a the hijab or the pounamu. The series has been shared in Form Class so that everyone can engage with the project.

We hope that through education, everyone in our school gains a deeper understanding and respect for others within our school community. We hope that everyone is finding the video series informative but also inspiring.

By Ivy Mitchell, Head Prefect