2024 Meetings
- 27 February
- 9 April
- 14 May
- 2 July
- 13 August
- 17 September
- 12 November
Meetings start at 6pm in the Conference Room of the Gernhoefer Admin Centre. All are welcome.
Board wrap-ups in the school newsletter
Several times a year, our school newsletter features a list of highlights and topics discussed by the Board in recent times. Here are the latest offerings.
20 September 2022 – welcome to new members
Board Members
Victoria Mahan
Presiding Member
I am thrilled to be Presiding Board member at Westlake Girls High School this year. My family and I live in the local community and my daughter Isla is a current student at the school.
I have been fortunate to have developed a significant amount of governance experience having served as Board Chair at both Takapuna Normal Intermediate School and Northcote Primary School over the last few years. I am proud of the achievements the team I worked with made in the terms that we served for both schools. I have also held Board positions at Dress for Success Auckland and HP New Zealand and will soon join the Sir John Kirwan Foundation Board as a Trustee.
In my position, I can offer the school my experience from the commercial sector, as well as my knowledge and experience of governance, and my personal passion to help steer the school into the future. I am passionate about community engagement, staff and student welfare and creating an excellent learning environment for all students.
I am a qualified Chartered Accountant and member of the Institute of Directors, as well as a member of Global Women New Zealand. I have extensive and unique commercial experience both in NZ and abroad.
I have been fortunate to spend the last 20 years working in the IT industry holding a number of executive roles across several companies. I recently left Spark New Zealand where I had worked for 3.5 years in positions such as the COO of Spark Health, the Group Program Lead, and CEO of Entelar (a Spark subsidiary).
I am looking forward to continuing to work with the Board to ensure we provide the best environment for all students, and to ensure all students have access to the many opportunities that a school such as Westlake Girls High School can offer.
Sunny Patel
Deputy Presiding Member
I am privileged to be on the WGHS Board and look forward to continuing in my role as Deputy Presiding Member to work with the existing and new members to build upon the great work that the previous board achieved. I have lived on the North Shore ever since my wife and I emigrated from the UK in 2004. I have two daughters at the school.
I have a Master’s degree in International Security and a Bachelor’s degree in Business, majoring in Human Resource Management.
My policing career started in the Metropolitan Police in London, and for the last 15 years, I have worked for the NZ Police where I am the Waitākere Area Commander. This involves working closely with our community, key government stakeholders, non-government organisations and private businesses. I am committed to delivering successful outcomes for our community.
I am a keen golfer, cricketer and footballer and currently play for local teams. I am also a qualified cricket coach and coach my daughter’s U16’s club cricket team.
I bring a diverse set of skills to the Board, and I will utilise my knowledge and experience effectively. As a leader working in a senior managerial position for several years, I have substantial experience in empowering teams to achieve desired goals. I have a pragmatic approach and my experience working in the police allows me to view issues with a broad perspective and find solutions to complex situations. Staff and student wellbeing is a crucial focus area to ensure our school reaches its potential.
Jane Stanley
Principal
I was appointed Principal of Westlake Girls with effect from 1 May 2017. Following a degree in Physical Education from Otago, my first teaching position was at Epsom Girls Grammar School. I then went on to teach at Rangitoto College for 10 years. More recently I worked at Birkenhead College where I held the position of Assistant Principal for 12 years.
Prior to taking up this position, I was the Athlete Life Manager at High Performance Sport New Zealand for four years, where I led a team of advisers to develop a programme designed to maximise the potential of our elite athletes.
I have lived on the North Shore for more than 30 years and am married to husband Mike and have three children, two sons and a daughter who all attended the Westlake schools. As a former champion rower I am still involved in this sport and I love to spend as much time as I can enjoying outdoor life.
I enjoy working with the Board as we build on the success of Westlake Girls and ensure that our students make the most of every opportunity and are fully equipped to meet the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Russell Clements
Co-opted Member
I am grateful for the privilege of representing parents on the WGHS Board. I was first voted to the position in 2019 and then again in 2022, which means I have been around longer than Covid! I do my best to help steer the school to meet the needs of ALL students. My daughter Delilah (Y11 in 2024) is currently at Westlake Girls High School, and her sisters Abigail and Frederika are ‘old girls’ now studying at Otago Uni.
I am constantly impressed by the various opportunities available to the young women of Westlake Girls and the way they are encouraged to stand up for themselves and what they believe in, guiding them to develop as strong, independent women. I believe social media distractions and misinformation need to be offset by real-life interactions, building positive relationships, and mindful perspectives to better prepare our daughters for the future.
I have served on Boards at three of the four levels of our local Community of Learning, Te Kāhui Ako o Pupuke. I spent six years on Takapuna Primary School and Takapuna Normal Intermediate’s Board of Trustees. That means I have worked with five principals and Boards previously.
Our local area’s skyscape and potential population are rapidly changing, putting pressure on our already stretched resources. I have seen the challenges of attracting and retaining great teaching staff to our school, but I believe we have a great team and will continue to improve.
I currently run Appliance Outlet (the real one) and WhitewAir Servicing in Botany, with approximately 20 staff who sell and service new and refurbished appliances. I have broad experience in operations and managing people.
I am a qualified accountant. I have been on the finance committees of all school boards I have served on (including WGHS) bringing financial expertise to the board table. I also offer a dad’s perspective, much to my daughters’ delight!
Dr Stephven Kolose
Co-opted Member
Talofa lava, I have been a Co-opted member on WGHS board since April 2023 and currently on the WGHS Pasefika parents committee. Of Samoan descent (Matautu-Lefaga and Leauva’a) and my family (daughter and four nieces) have been students at WGHS for the last 9 years. My daughter Dora recently completed her Year 13 in 2023.
Westlake is a school like no other. It has been a great nurturing ground for our girls both academically, culturally, and on the sporting field.
It’s an absolute privilege to serve alongside passionate, skilled, and proactive board members at WGHS. They really care about our staff and students. I contribute advice relating to policy, health and safety, research, academia, and supporting our many cultural communities at Westlake Girls. Outside of education, I am involved on boards and special advisory groups for the health safety, pacific/migrant community, ergonomics, and retail industries.
I have a PhD in anthropometry and 3D body scanning (AUT), MSc in human factors (Loughborough) and BSc in psychology (Otago). I specialize in reducing musculoskeletal injuries in our construction industry. Previously, I was a senior adviser (WorkSafe NZ), research associate (Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, AUT), military scientist (NZDF/NATO), consultant (Bristol) and counsellor (Youthline).
My experiences above have taught me the value of perseverance, quality education, understanding ‘people’, and ensuring that workers (staff) and students alike are supported, and feel safe. These are values that I hope to promote Westlake Girls High School.
Jason Britten
Member
Originally from Taupō, I have lived in Birkenhead for the last 14 years, where my daughter Lucy is Year 9 at WLGH. My wife and I also have a son at Northcote Intermediate and five-year-old twin girls at Birkenhead Primary.
I am honoured to serve on the school board and hope to make an impactful contribution to the staff, students, whānau and WLGH community. I hope this role will also offer some helpful insight into parenting teenage girls!
I was a member of the Birkenhead Primary School board for six and a half years, serving a year as Chair. I am passionate about student achievement and positive school culture.
I completed an LLB/BCA at Victoria University and am a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. After a short time in Tax consultancy, I spent 17 years in the telco industry in various property, procurement, and sales roles.
In my current role as GM for Property and Commercial Partnerships at Genesis Energy, I’m driven by the expansion of sustainable and renewable energy generation.
Outside of work, I enjoy football, playing tennis, sailing, waterskiing, and participating in my kids’ sporting activities.
Sujata Giri
Member
It is an honour to be on the Westlake Girls High School Board. My daughter is in Year 11 at this great school, and we have lived on the North Shore for 23 years.
I am passionate about fostering strong community support for our school, along with creating an excellent learning environment for all staff and students. I believe that education is key in developing our students into strong independent people, that in return contribute positively to our community. The wellbeing of staff and students is also fundamental.
I currently in a senior role at New Zealand Carbon Farming. My broad background across Accounting, Finance, Operations, Sales and Strategy, is often called upon to bring a balanced approach to decision making. I have significant experience in the IT and Telecommunications industries with nearly 20 years working for companies such as Microsoft, TelstraClear and Vodafone. I am also a member of the Institute of Directors.
I have coached and managed my daughter’s various netball teams over the years, and am currently an active supporter and parent helper in the Westlake Girls Rowing programme.
I am committed to ensuring that Westlake Girls continues to deliver opportunities for students and staff to realise their potential and drive.
Anna Cooper
Teacher Member
As a parent to two high school aged daughters and a teacher to a hundred or so teenagers most days, student success and staff morale and retention are my priorities whilst serving as a Board member.
After past lives in both Australia and New Zealand working as a disability home carer, a personal trainer, and a teacher aide, I eventually made use of my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree to become a Visual Arts teacher, working happily at WGHS since 2015.
I hope to contribute our voice as a staff to clarify and reinvigorate the many positive processes that help to connect our students, staff and parent community.
Jappan Kaur, Year 13
Student Member
Hi, I’m Jappan Kaur, a Year 13 student at Westlake Girls High School. I was born in New Zealand and my parents migrated from Punjab, India in 2001. After facing many hardships in New Zealand because of their race, religion and socio-economic differences, they continued to pursue through those tough times and are now successfully and happily living on the North Shore. My parents made many sacrifices to give me a life much easier than theirs and I want to thank them for this and their constant support because they are the reason why I am here.
I am very grateful for being elected me as the Board’s Student Representative of Westlake Girls High School. I will continue to try my absolute best to fulfil all the promises I made and represent the student body and their concerns. I would also like to thank everyone who took the time to vote, not just for me but any of the other capable candidates, because I am proud that you took action to get closer to changing our school for the better. I would also like to thank all my teachers and staff for supporting me and a special mention of thanks to the other candidates.
Here in my time at Westlake, I’ve tried to make the best of the opportunities our school offers and I am very grateful to be here at this school and for all the amazing teachers and peers that supported me every step of the way and still continue to do so. I have previously been part of the school tennis team, the CYGNET programme, and many different clubs and events. I am currently an Amnesty International leader, librarian team leader, participating in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh and many other clubs and activities ranging from participating in the Westlake Model United Nations to Junior Debating and Philosophy Club. This school has helped me excel in school as well as out of school helping me to win speech competitions, sports competitions and encouraging me to help my committee through volunteering.
Standing up for this role was a step outside my comfort zone, challenging my confidence, abilities and self-esteem. I am grateful I did this because I believe that growth only happens when one is willing to put themselves in an uncomfortable and challenging situation. That’s how I believe one can truly grow and become a better person for both themselves and the society around them.
Now elected for this role of student representative I will take the problems and concerns of the students to the Board so real, long-lasting change can happen that enhances the student and staff life here at Westlake Girls’ High School. I am dedicated to helping my peers and my teachers. As promised, I want to be the voice of the students and have this voice heard loud and strong.
Once again thank you to everyone who took the time to vote and also supported me along the way.
Annual Reports
You can find our 2023 Annual Report HERE
You can find our 2022 Annual Report HERE.
You can find our 2021 Annual Report HERE.
You can find our 2020 Annual Report HERE.
