Long-serving Staff Retirements - Dru Rose, Sue Wood, Pravina Ali
Sunday, 1 December 2019
The Maths Department is losing three long-serving staff members to retirement - Dru Rose (29 years), Sue Wood (25 years), and Pravina Ali (23 years). We thank them for their significant service to Westlake and wish them well for the future.
Dru Rose started at Westlake in 1990 and has enjoyed being part of the Maths Department, and the many changes at Westlake over the years. She has been through five revolutionary changes in assessment: UE, Sixth Form Certificate, Bursary, Unit Standards, Achievement Standards and Realignment of the Achievement Standards.

She is highly regarded for her knowledge and skills in teaching Statistics and has international teachers regularly ‘shadowing’ her to benefit from her experience.

She says, “My most cherished memories will, of course, be the many students I have taught over the years. I take great pride in the number of Westlake alumni who appear in news items about their successes". 

Dru is looking forward to a move to Hawke’s Bay and semi-retirement on a life-style block close to family.
 
Sue Wood has taught at Westlake for 25 years. As well as her Maths teaching role, she has been a lead teacher for AUT Trainee teachers, assistant HOD Maths, a Year 12 Dean, and had a year’s fellowship with the Royal Society.

Sue says, "I’ve been privileged to play a small part in the lives of hundreds of students – through Maths, Premier Basketball. Equestrian teams, and for the last decade or so, Enviro Group. It has been rewarding for me to see their progress and initiative. We have amazing students!"

We wish Sue well as she ‘dials back from the commitment of full-time teaching’. Her passion for finding ways to live more sustainably and play our part within our environment remain at the forefront of her future plans.
 
Pravina Ali has loved her 23 years teaching Maths at Westlake including a position of responsibility for Year 9 Maths, Teacher in charge of Mathex Competitions and mentoring beginning teachers.

In 1998 she started the Bollywood Dance Group which has won numerous awards over the years. She has continued her association with alumni students, who love to dance, through the group X-Lake.

Pravina’s strong humanitarian passion led to her initiative to send a container of donations and school supplies to those affected by Cyclone Winston in Fiji in 2016, and to set up the Westlake Salam Group after the attack in Christchurch this year.

Pravina is moving back to Fiji and is looking forward to having more time for hobbies and other activities in this transitional step. She expects to be regularly back in New Zealand.
 
Other long-term staff leaving Westlake are Zelimir Jovic and Lyn Swan.

Zelimir Jovic has taught in the Science Department for 17 years, coming to Westlake with a background as a medical doctor. He has been TIC of the Neuroscience (Brain Bee) group, led a successful Chess Club, as well as the Table Tennis group.

In his retirement he plans to travel around New Zealand and overseas and spend more time on his other interests.

 Lyn Swan, Director of International Students.


Lyn has had various roles in the International Department in her 15 years at Westlake, She has welcomed and guided many international students through their study, met up with parents overseas, and kept in touch with many international alumni.
 
Lyn will be moving out of Auckland and will have a part-time role working with international students at Whangarei Boys High School.

Lyn and former Westlake international student Pauline Supardi, Class of 2011, (pictured above), met up again in Jakarta in July this year. Pauline completed a degree in Japanese and Business at the University of Auckland before returning to Indonesia, where she is currently working as a Recruitment Consultant for a Singaporean Company.