West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Dear West Parents, It’s hard to believe that it has only been one term since I took over as Housemistress of West; in some ways it feels as though I have been doing this role for a lifetime. Not fully knowing what to expect (despite having 15 years experience in boarding schools and working for a year as Andrea’s deputy) I have been amazed by the roller coaster of emotions that is ‘the job’. However, despite the pressure points, emotional exhaustion, and inevitable disappointments when things don’t quite go as planned, I have found myself to be overwhelming encouraged by the development I have witnessed in your daughters over the past term, in every aspect of their lives. Most importantly they are growing as people and I know my team are responsible for ensuring such a productive and happy atmosphere in the house. It is always an incredible moment when I am showing prospective parents around at the start of break; a migration of whooping, singing, happy, excited, delightful girls swarm into West and are the very best advert Cranleigh could ask for. In this newsletter alone you will see a glimpse of the many achievements your girls have been involved in. However, during House prayers on the last night of term I reminded them of the great importance of developing character and prioritising kindness to others. I firmly believe that those who consider others above themselves have achieved the greatest success of all. I am delighted to witness so much kindness in this house among the girls and will continue to bang the drum about the enormous merits of giving. Thank you so much for your incredible support over the past few months. Partnership is everything in this job and I am so grateful for your encouragement, understanding and willingness to support decisions that may be met with some reluctance. I hope you feel you have got to know me a little better and trust that my overriding motivation is to support and care for your daughters. Warmest wishes to you and your family for the holiday season. I hope that 2017 will be a year of great joy and happiness for you all. Sincerely, Adele
West House Newsletter Michaelmas Term 2016
IV Form Team Building The 4th forms weekend kicked off with a cheeky spot of bowling at Guildford Spectrum on Saturday night. Then on Sunday they had some hard-core and exhausting dance practice, the girls were particularly enthusiastic learning their dance in less than an hour, which was amazing! Quote from Tilly Hogan (4th form) “It was surprisingly fun, I loved it!” After a brief lunch break, they started the team building activities. Split into smaller groups the girls along with the North and Loveday boys completed several activities including; The Drain, Boat, Planks, The Moat, Sheppard and ROTLA. It was so nice to see all of them working together and quickly making friends. Finally the last activity on the agenda was a huge tug-or-war tournament between all the 4th form teambuilding groups. The day ended with a delicious barbeque in Gatleys – even though Mr. Houston forced everyone to have some salad with their burgers! Thanks to all our 4th form, we had such a fun weekend with you girlies! ~ Millie Delaney, Zoë Dixon, Gracie Escolme and Katie Harnby.
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
House Performance North ~ Dance As one of the 6th Former’s who was involved in choreographing and teaching the dance to the new 4 th Form, I couldn’t have asked for a nicer group of people, and I think everyone involved will agree with me. From the first rehearsal, us 6 th form knew that we had such a big chance of winning. The 4th form were so willing to learn and seemed to enjoy every minute (at least I hope they did!) We were a bit worried at one point that we had gone too crazy, when we asked Tilly Gough to fall into a group of boys, she had only just met, and trust them to catch her, whilst Tilly Hogan was back flipping across the front. But when the time came, it was AMAZING!!!!! The atmosphere was electric and everyone gave it absolutely everything. (I don’t know whether that was only because we were all yelling and screaming in your faces, but who cares…) I have to say though, the girls dance was one of my faves as everyone was smiling and enjoying themselves and Oyinade…you have some moves gal!!! To come 2nd is INCREDIBLE and to do that ‘without everyone on stage at all times’ (as Doc Sax would say) is RIDICULOUSLY INSANE! I hope that this experience will stay with all you 4 th form for the rest of your time at Cranleigh and beyond. I know it has for me and others in my year. Love you all xxx ~ Bethany Porter
House Performance Loveday ~ Dance The Loveday West 4th Form were an amazing group to work with. They were extremely focused when we were teaching them and had so much enthusiasm (especially Noah Charlsworth). In particular the girls worked hard in and out of rehearsal to make it their best performance possible. A special mention needs to go to the highly skilled dance teachers Helly Bridgen, Gracie Escolme, Emily Thorpe, Sophie Heaver, Millie Delaney, Henry De Villiers, Will Mundy and Harry Binnion for choreographing an amazing dance. Even though we didn’t place on the night (was some seriously good competition from the North West Girls) we were so proud of all the effort you put into the dance. One of our very own – Yassy Kiener – soldiered on as she came in from being ill at home especially for the event. We hoped you enjoyed learning the dance as much as we enjoyed teaching it, because you will probably remember it forever (we still remember ours!). ~ Millie Delaney
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
House Performance North ~ Singing The west-north partsong was run by Zoë dixon, Deescha Chandrasma, and Tom Chesterman. We all agreed that the song we wanted to sing would be 'I see fire' by Ed Sheeran, and so rehearsals began in the second week. We rehearsed almost every day up to the competition which was an amazing commitment of time from everyone involved, but it totally paid off, because we won! Everyone was thrilled and we all headed over to north to celebrate in style before heading back to west, the worthy victors. ~ Zoë Dixon
House Performance Loveday ~ Singing Loveday West performed ‘Ain’t no Sunshine’ by Bill Withers on house performance evening. We spent many evenings after prep trekking up to the barn or music school to perfect our “Choral breathing” and “Swells”. The group of spectacularly enthusiastic singers was valiantly lead by Dan Evans, Will Mundy, Gracie Escolme and Millie Delaney. Special shoutout goes to Dan who spent hours arranging an amazing score for us all to learn. We attempted to push ourselves to the edge of our limited musical talent; even asking if would could include a key change. However this did not seem a wise suggestion, as music extraordinaire Johnny explained, “The altos are so flat they’ve already changed key”. We unfortunately did not place in the competition (this was not the altos fault they were actually on tune on the night), but we definitely had the most spirit (as exhibited by our red ribbons). ~ Millie Delaney
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Junior Public Speaking Junior public speaking was a great success for West; we won both the competition and in house spirit, with the West supporters far outnumbering those in other houses. Maya Magee did a great job as chairperson warming up the audience introducing the controversial topic: 'Is our education system flawed?' Ella Job then took the floor to deliver in 6 minutes an inspiring thought provoking speech with flair clarity and confidence that many of our contenders lacked. Jess Church then took to the floor to deliver the vote of thanks, ensuring that the argument was firmly reinstated in the audience's mind. ~ Eloise Hood
Senior Public Speaking After half~term the senior girls took to the floor to deliver yet another incredible speech. As chairperson, Helly Bridgen was both charming and captivating, ensuring that the audience was hooked on the topic. Tabz Francis then took to the floor to deliver her speech on the topic close to her heart of the Parthenon marbles, and why they should be returned to Greece. After her eloquent and emotional speech, Sophie Howard summed up the argument with a convincing plea to the audience to think of the good of Greece. Unfortunately, Cubitt stole that victory despite breaking the rules of the competition and having two upper sixth spokesmen. Therefore, the rightful and moral winners of the competition were most definitely West! ~ Eloise Hood
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Junior and Senior House challenge Both Junior and Senior House challenge this year have been a devastating loss, with West being pipped to the post by North and South by as little as 40 points. We accepted the results with our usual house sportsmanship despite our suspicions that the judge Mr. Rothwell had indeed been bribed by both respective houses. However, next year we will strike back with vengeance. The dream-teams included Millie Chesterman, Ella Job, Isabel Lock, Eloise Hood, Hermione Hampton , Saskia Hogan and ourselves. Everyone within the team contributed, being quick to answer all questions thrown at them and all of us greatly enjoyed the experience. ~ Sophie Howard and Toni Taor
Great Zambian Bake-Off As part of Cranleigh’s involvement with Zambia, the school decided to introduce ‘The Great Zambian Bake Off’ in order to raise money for the school in Kwama. Each year group had to make a different style of cake or baked good, ranging from cookies to celebration cakes, and the upper sixth and Mrs Worsley judged them each Monday morning. As I am a member of the lower sixth, I was challenged to create a fruit or vegetable cake. After much deliberation I decided that a courgette cake was the way to go, and although people were at first hesitant about this, I was assured it was delicious. I was lucky enough to make it to the final, where you could have made the same cake as before, a showstopper, or a new cake. Unsurprisingly, I decided against the reincarnation of the courgette cake, and went for a much safer chocolate and honeycomb cake. The pressure was on in the school kitchens and the levels of competition were almost as hot as the ovens. Although I didn’t win, my cake was delicious (in my opinion), albeit a tad raw. However, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and I am honoured to have been a part of it, and look forward to entering again next year, even though I didn’t win. It was for a great cause and I’m sure the money raised massively benefitted the children of Zambia. ~ Libby Cloete
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Great Zambian Bake-Off (continued) As I am in lower fifth, on the 10th of October weekend, our first bake off competition was to make a tray bake. With this in mind I decided to make a tray of chocolate fridge cake and also another of brownies, to present this, I created a tower and covered it in chocolate buttons, maltesers and other things. After winning this round, I was then up against Imi Fortescue from the fourth form and we had to make another bake of our choice to determine who went through to the finals. I made a poppy seed and lemon cake with mango and cherry Florentines, and I then went through to the finals. In the final round, I was against pupils from all of the other houses, here we had to make another bake of our choice by ourselves in the school kitchens. I made a chocolate fudge cake with a white chocolate icing and then covered it in a variety of different chocolate and fudge toppings. After the judging of this round, in the end, I won the junior bake off. ~Katie St Johnston
Romanian Christmas Shoe Box Appeal This year for our Christmas Shoebox Appeal we decided to support the Romanian shoebox Appeal organised by St Nicolas Church, Cranleigh and the Cranleigh Rotary. The Romanian Shoebox appeal is for deprived and disabled children in Romania who are unlikely to have any other present this Christmas. We added a slight twist to our shoebox making, instead of making boxes individually, we made the shoeboxes in our Harry Potter themed Family system. There was lots of Christmas music and paper as we made our boxes after prep. In the end it was a great success and we made over 90 boxes which was absolutely astonishing! It was great to see so many West girls making so many shoeboxes for such a great cause and hopefully next year they will make even more!! ~ Maria Carr
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Swimming Trip On the swimming trip to mataró, Barcelona we were there for 5 days all together. We swam 4 hours a day two being in the morning at 10-12 and the other at 4-6 in the afternoon. As well as swimming we also did land training working of muscle build and control. Even though the temperature varied between 14-22 degrees it didn't seem to put a downer on the trip. We stayed in a hotel called the new colon hotel, the hotel was very nicely decorated and had really good food which we needed. The hotel was very close to the swimming facilities just a 5 minute walk away, it was called Centre Natació Mataró which was a really nice 50 metre pool with a gym and many other facilities. The pool was on the edge of the shore leading to the sea so it meant we could occasionally go to the beach to do yoga if we were good. Overall the swimming trip to Barcelona was great and all 14 boys and girls really enjoyed it. We hope it has improved our swimming. ~ Fabi Kohler
Morocco Trip In October 2016 18 students and three members of staff went to Morocco for a geography trip. From the airport we went straight to our hotel in the centre of Marrakesh. Once we checked in we went on a horse and carriage ride to the souks, in the city centre. We stopped off at multiple checkpoints to learn about the way people in informal sectors of the city made their livings. During the trip we also went to stay in the mountains for two nights; On our first day in the mountains we had a short stroll through the local villages and on the second day we hiked up to the top of one of the mountains, which had one of the most picturesque sights throughout the entire trip, which provided many of us with great photo opportunities. After all of this we went to the desert and had an interesting camel ride to our destination, where we stayed the night and had a candle lit dinner whilst the sun set. On our last day we went shopping and experienced having to negotiate the prices of items, which gave all of us more confidence and independence. On the journey back we went to the Eco- Museum where we learnt about Morocco’s eco system and environmental solutions. To end the trip we flew home and landed rather early in the morning, to which many parents were not impressed. This trip was beneficial, both for our learning and our individual characters and one of the most surreal experiences many of us will ever encounter; it was also good for us to get to know all the other year groups. It would be too difficult to pick a specific key moment on the trip, as I’m sure the teachers will agree, but playing cards on the terrace of a hotel in the city centre of Marrakesh with an amazing group of people would have to be my personal highlight. ~ Lydia Murphy
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Berlin Art Trip On the 20th - 24th October during the half-term, some art students from the lower and upper sixth forms went on a daring and cultural trip to the city of Berlin, Germany. Berlin is known for being home to the one of the world’s most varied art scene and we visited a grand total of ten museums and galleries to try and cram in as much as possible in the four days we had. The Hamburger Bahnhof and Alte Nationalgalerie being my personal favourites of all the museums and galleries we went to; seeing works from Manet and the terribly rare Picasso. As well as filling our days sketching and taking notes on the artworks, we also went bowling – I know, how very cultural- and visited Berlin Dungeons (I’ll be patriotic and say it wasn’t as good as London Dungeons, but really it was). We carried round these little sketchbooks and we were given an aim for how many drawing we should do and what artists and specific pieces to go and find. At the end of each wonderful day of arty know-how, our fingers were frail and in need of great nourishment. Lucky for us there were umpteen opportunities to try the German specialty of a Currywurst meal – also known as a rather average sausage covered in a suspicious sauce. ~Elizabeth O’Connell
Battlefields Trip Its was a early start to the morning waking up at 4:45 to get on the bus at 5:00 sharp. The journey only took 4 hours to get from England to France and we were at the British front line by 10:00. It stretched as far as the eye could see in zig-zag like patterns we tried walking to the end of the trench but it seemed to go of for eternity. We then headed back to the hotel to rest our feet and have dinner, we then went bowling and by the end hardly anybody could lift the ball that were so tired. Next day we had a 8:30 start and went to go see one of the biggest British memorial sight i have ever seen rows and rows of soldiers all lined up against each other we then went on a trip finding smaller grave yards which involved lots of walking. After that we went to no-mans land to visit moor British and German trenches. After a long day we want no the hotel and rested for a couple of hours then had dinner, and then went to go play football, and i can tell you i had never seen so many competitive matches. Then we went back to the hotel and fell strait to sleep.The last day 8:30 start. We eat to go see a German grave stones, the were 4 germans on each grave stone and there were some massive ones which held about 5,000 bodies, and in that small area of land there about 40,000 people berried there. We then all headed home, we got back at about 15:00 and had a nice rest of the half term break. ~ Lily Norstrand
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Zambia During half term a group of 18 L6th students and 3 teachers went on the trip of a lifetime to Zambia. It was an unforgettable trip starting with a few days to relax and explore the beauty of the Zambian wildlife in the Nsobe Game Park, where we also visited the local school just outside the park which was an eye opening experience as they began by singing us multiple songs which we attempted to reply to with some hymns; they definitely won that one and a few little children weren’t impressed with out quiet and out of tune attempts at all! We then made the journey to Kawama School, stopping off at another Beyond Ourselves partner school called Janna where we were able to chat to some of the children in small groups and then they taught as a song in Bemba that we then performed in church at Kawama. Our five days at Kawama was jam packed as always, with early morning starts of about 7:15 and multiple different activities to complete each day; Work experience, Home visits, the 10 Kawacha challenge, preparing the food (Nshima is the traditional dish), a crazy Clothes Sale in which a record amount of money was raised, helping the children with arts and crafts and an intense day of interviews to help Beyond Ourselves to see how each child is improving and developing. Not forgetting the Independence Day celebrations which involved some amazing dancing and singing from the pupils at Kawama! Overall we all had an incredible experience packed with emotion and fun; we will never forget the happiness of every single child we met! ~ Charlie Andrews
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
House Cross-Country During a cold (12 degrees celcius!) afternoon on Monday 10th October the IVth Form made there house sport debut in the IVth Form House Cross Country Race! All the girls enthusiastically warmed up and sang along to every cheesy song we could think of. 5 minutes before it got serious, Sophie O’Neill (West Sports Cap) gave ‘the motivational speech’ and then the girls lined up on the start for the gun. “Bang!” They were off! West looked strong from the start with all the girls bunch up at front. The girls had to take a treacherous incline up the golf course, continue along the top through the horse fields, down past Loveday, around the rugby pitch and finishing on the longest straight from the pav to Cubitt completeing the 2 mile course. Once the girls completed the golf course hill the spectators can no longer see, so we just had to hope! Approximately 10 minutes later, a pink figure appeared in the distance bounding across the rugby pitches and it was Tia Radkiewicz absolutely storming it! Behind her followed West girl after West girl giving it everything, this was called domination. To conclude, we had 3 pinks in the top 4 and 10 pinks in the top 17! Tia Radkiewicz (W) -1st; Maddie Atkin (W) -2nd; Tilly Gough (W) -4th; Tilly Hogan (W) -7th; Lucy Atkin (W)- 8th; Izzy Lock (W) -11th; Eliza Johnston (W) -13th; Georgie Meadows (W) – 15th; Jess Church (W) -16th and Jess Edwards (W) -17th! Well Done Girlies! ~ Tabitha Bowden
House Hockey Stonesett On 12th December, we ended the hockey season in the usual way with our annual Stonesett tournament. Combined teams of girls of all ages showcased their hockey skills in a series of short matches against South House. With the typical outstanding West support, and despite relentless rain, our girls displayed some incredibly high standard hockey. Whilst South put out a selection of tremendously strong teams, the West girls fought hard to secure three wins, as well as drawing two games. We cannot fail to mention the overwhelming support from the whole house, which kept team spirit high. So although we may not have won overall, we came a close second, and should be extremely proud of our unfaltering house spirit which really shone through. ~ Amber Magee, Anna McDonald, Lauren Thomas
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
House Hockey On the last full day of term, all of West paraded down to the Hockey pitches to watch the House hockey Competition. It was a hard fought competition with the LV winning 2-0. A special mention has to go the the IV form, who won their match scoring an impressive 4 goals against South. Despite a valiant effort, South were victorious, but West claimed a well fought second place! We will be back in the netball season to retake the title. ~ Maria Carr
Netball West UVI vs. Common Room This term’s combined team of West girls and North boys looked very promising. However, it was evident that the common room had a very tight unit due to previous intensive training sessions. As we had never actually trained together before, and as the boys didn’t know the rules, we were at a noticable disadvantage. Determination and slight contact were our tactics entering the match, even though the common room had a more aggressive approach leaving some of our West girls injured both physically and mentally. However my mid match counselling session lifted the spirits, especially Millie Delaney. It was a close match, but unfortunately the common room pulled through and managed to win the match by one goal. All in all, it was great fun to see the West girls helping out the boys and to see the competitive sides of the teachers. ~ Sophie O’Neil
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
The Arsonists Earlier on in the term, the North House play took place. We performed a staging of Max Frisch’s “The Arsonists” written and set in 1953, this Dark comedy is set in a town that is regularly attacked by Arsonists. The play was directed by Tom Chesterman, Theo MacDonald and Will Chambers, with assistance fro Will Sherrington-Scales and Mark Jenkins to bring the piece to life. This play was presented with excellence and with a sense of formality by a small cast. In the play there were two of our own West girls, Elsa Hardcastle playing Babette, the support role to her husband a high class businessman. Alexine White played their maid, Anna. This production managed to create a real sense of naturalism and as Mark Jenkins said “It is a credit to North and West that these young people have been able to take such difficult material and run with the idea so willingly.” ~ Elsa Hardcastle
The Flea in her Ear This year one of the main school plays was ‘a Flea in Her Ear’, with Elsa Hardcastle and myself both partaking in the play. The comedy French farce explored a suspicious wife and her best friend setting a trap in attempt to catch her husband cheating. But of course the ploy doesn’t quite go as planned, hosting an array of whimsical twists that cascade into madness, until all is resolved at the end of the play with a cheesy kiss. I played Madame Lucienne Hominedes de Histangua, the best friend and spent much of the play chasing after my friends husband and running away from my own. Elsa played a rather saucy French maid working at the infamous “Frisky Puss”, a rather naughty ‘hotel’. Who got thoroughly caught in the tangle of affairs within the play and did her best to make sense of the mess. Overall the play was a huge success and I believe most people really enjoyed it however the main thing Elsa and I have agreed we most enjoyed about it was the great atmosphere among the cast, a truly unforgettable experience. ~ Toni Taor
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
Helen Wareham Vocal The annual Helen Wareham competition took place on Wednesday 16th November. The competition is known for its wide variety of impressive songs sung by singers from 4th form to upper 6th and this was no exception. The night began with the juniors’ competition in which there was a wonderful and contrasting display of music; from a comedic version of “The Gas man cometh” to the more serious Duchess’ aria from the "Marriage of Figaro." Of the nine junior performers three were West girls. Bea Pakenham-Walsh performed a beautiful version of “Vergin tutto amor” by A. Durante which was followed by Maya Magee's impressive rendition of “Se florindo e fedele” by A. Scarlatti. Kate Wili was the last of the west girls to perform and her recital of the recit and aria “Deh vieni non tardar” by Mozart was full of emotion. Maya Magee was awarded 3rd place and 1st place was awarded to Kate Wili, meaning she will go on to perform a solo in a concert in summer. The senior competition followed this, with two of the eight performers being West girls. The senior section contained as much diversity as the juniors and the high standard of singing was retained in both. Pippa Lock was the first of the west girls to perform, giving a composed performance of “How beautiful are the feet” from the Messiah. Beth Porter ended the competition with her heart felt delivery of “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi by G. Puccini. Both girls were put through to the final, which will take place in the Lent term, alongside finalists from both the string and woodwind competitions. ~Pippa Lock
Helen Wareham Keyboard This term on the 30th November the Junior and Senior Piano Helem Wharem competition took place. From west, Sophie Howard and Kate Wili took part in the Junior competition. It was held in the chapel, a change from the usual Recital Hall in the Merriman Music School, and it was great fun. Sophie played a beautiful piece. Mr Pashley, Mr Scriven and Mrs Bedisson judged throughout the evening and in the end, Kate Wili placed 3rd. ~Kate Wili
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
West Christmas Party Ellen Dixon worked tirelessly for a good couple of months, to put on an amazing festive Party for the whole House. We were all given invitations 2 days before and everyone was excited as to what could be in store. On the night we turned up to find a few of West’s favourite things: MULLED WINE, CHICKEN and PHOTOS. Each year group also had their Secret Santa’s, which were all under one big tree in the common room, so finding your present was a bit of a challenge, but it was worth it to see the joy it brought to people’s faces when they realised who had got them the biggest box of chocolates, or had bought them a joke present. A shout out must go to Autumn Brown, who blew everyone’s attempts of Christmas costumes into smithereens, when she turned up as a real Christmas tree, using a WATERBOTTLE to keep her hair up!!?? A big thank you must go to Ellen for organising such a well-deserved relaxing and fun evening. Merry Christmas everyone!! HO HO HO!!!
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
House Prayers Academic Prizes IV Achievement: Hermione Hampton Progress: Oyinade Adegbite
Tutor Prizes IVth Miss Baffou: Imogen Fortescue
Effort: Scarlet Schutte
Miss Parry: Floss Esplen
LV
Miss Wiles: Oyinade Adegbite
Achievement: Ella Job
Miss Singleton: Georgiana Meadows
Progress: Freya Johnson
LVth
Effort: Poppy Francis UV Achievement: Alice Istead Progress: Emma Davis
Dr. Kemp: Matilda Larmer Mrs Bukowska: Rosie Hope Miss Wallis: Ella Morgan
Effort: Ellie Tolhurst
Mr Stearn/Miss Griffiths: Erica Saxon
LVI
UVth
Achievement: Saskia Hogan
Mr Worsley/Miss Ashton: Ruby Dickson
Progress: Anna McDonald / Tabz Francis
Dr Young: Lulu Garlick
Effort: Liz O’Connell UVI Achievement: Charlie O’Neil Progress: Yazzie Cameron Effort: Emma Bertie/ Sophie O’Neill
House Awards
Mrs Yardley: Sophia Elliot Mrs Lewis: Chessie Gillot
West House Newsletter Summer Term 2016 Michaelmas Term 2016
West IV
Welcome to the West Family!