Notices

TGS On Screen 2019

TGS Media Studies is delighted to present their annual festival of short films - TGS On Screen 2019. Come along, chomp on some popcorn and enjoy the best production work from across all three NCEA levels. The screening takes place in the TGS Library at 7pm on Wednesday 23rd October. Arrive early to secure a good seat. Entry is free and popcorn is provided. Vive le cinema!

Prefects named for 2020

We are pleased to announce the following students have been selected as Takapuna Grammar School Prefects for 2020: Oliver Arthur-Hunt       Ciara AllpressJake Avram        Laiba BatoolZak Beaumont        Katja BoonzaierMilo Brown        Lucy BuckeridgeConrad Butler        Madeleine...

TGS Culture Night - Thursday 26th September

Another "must-see" is TGS Culture Night, an annual celebration of the many amazing cultures that make up our school. The 2019 Culture Night will take place in Te Poho Hall from 6.00pm this Thursday 26 September. Tickets are $3.00, which includes entry into a raffle. Please bring cash so you can sample food and drink from round the globe while watching fantastic student performances.

Stand Up and Stand Out Janayah Wadsworth

Janayah Wadsworth recently represented Takapuna Grammar School in the 2019 Stand Up Stand Out finals which is the Secondary school competition for Musicians, vocalists and dancers run by the Auckland City Council. They mentioned she is the first TGS student to be in the finals. She went through the heats were there were around 200 students competing, through to the 45 semi-finalists and down to...

PTA Golf Day - Thursday 7th November

The Takapuna Grammar School PTA is staging its 14th annual Golf Day on Thursday, 7 November 2019 from 12 noon. This is the highlight of the PTA annual calendar, attracting interest and participation from a range of teams and individuals, including staff and students from TGS. Funds raised from the Golf Day have been used to subsidise and support a wide range of school projects and initiatives...

Student BOT Elections result - Allegra Bouwer

Declaration of Student Election Results I hereby declare ALLEGRA BOUWER duly elected. Signed Rowena Wiig Returning Officer

Success at National Theatre Festival

A successful day was had on Saturday at the Junior Theatre Celebration New Zealand today with TGS Broadway Squad and Broadway Squad Elite. We took 100 students to this national event which has 475 student performers and 21 performing groups from all around New Zealand. It was held at the Victory Centre in Freemans Bay. Both performances from each group were fantastic and can be viewed on...

International Faculty celebrates former IB students success

The very first year that Takapuna Grammar School started enrolling our international students on the International Baccalaureate was in 2014. There were just five students enrolled on the course back then. Last week some of the students got back in touch with the International Faculty and updated us on their post graduate studies they are currently undertaking. They wanted to pass on their...

Congratulations Leonessa & TGS Chorale - Silver Award winners at the Big Sing National Finale 2019

Congratulations to our TGS Chorale & Leonessa with Mr Jacob Moore who both received SILVER at The Big Sing Finale 2019. Both groups performed beautifully in Dunedin with Mrs Nixon in attendance to cheer them on. To watch TGS Chorale's performance from Saturday, click here.

Merit Badge Awards Assembly 2019

Today the school held its annual Merit Badge Awards Assembly for our Year 12 & 13 students. A Merit award recognises the substantial contribution a student has made to their activity or sport. Students have performed with distinction, exhibiting excellent leadership and strong commitment. Over 150 students have achieved a Merit award this year. This includes 15 gold Merit Award...

Pippi Duncan moves judges at National Schools Poetry Awards

Year 12 student Pippi Duncan was one of 10 finalists in the recent National Schools Poetry Award for her beautiful and moving poem entitled...  'the bonds of love we meet' my little brother understood kia kaha to mean arohawhat with the silence we say it latelya consecrated quiet and chalk vowsclinging to school groundslike blue to clouded sky kia kaha means asking...

Senior Science whiz kids excel at Otago Uni Quiz

Congratulations to three of our students for their results in the recent Otago University senior Science quiz. Michael Walker won a Merit award, Mayzie Mortimer won a Merit award and Andrew Crotty who came second place out of all Year 11 students nationally. Well done Andrew, a huge achievement!

TGS Sports Institute Yr 9 and 10 Applications 2020

The Year 9 and 10 Sports Institute programme aims to support young, talented athletes as they strive for personal excellence in their chosen sports. Entry to the Sports Institute is by application. Selection is based on previous sporting achievement, how motivated the students are to take their sport to the next level and the general attitude the student has shown in their...

Tertiary Scholarships with Generosity NZ

Please see below the new signup and login procedures (including URL weblinks) for student wanting to register with Generosity NZ website for Tertiary Scholarship information. Below are two logo’s that students should click on to first sign up, receive confirmation email and confirm account, and then secondly to log in. Once students have created an account, they can log in anytime and...

Gina Torjussen places well at World Hip Hop Dance Competition

Congratulations to Gina Torjusson in Year 12 who has just returned from the World International Adult Hip Hop Dance Competition. She was competing against 53 countries and gained 4th place, missing out on the Bronze by a miniscule 0.2 points. For those of you who don't know Gina, she is the blonde haired girl in the middle of the row of three onstage in the video....

Mindful Parenting Evening with Shirley Pastiroff - Tuesday 17th September

Time: 6.30pm Venue: Takapuna Grammar School Library Shirley is a counsellor, mother of 5 and one of New Zealand’s leading mindful parenting experts. She trained at the University of Auckland and now works at Renew Your Mind, where she specialises in stress-reduction and research-based mindfulness training. She has worked with clients as diverse as ANZ Bank and Air New Zealand,...

TGS Fashion Show - Wednesday 25th September

"The Show must go on” is a kaleidoscope of colour, performance, dance and of course Fashion…. Showcasing a mix of local designers and high quality student work. Work will also be shown from Saint Kentigern’s College. This is a professional production with previous reviews stating that “it is as good as any show at Fashion Week” All proceeds...

Success at Dance NZ Made competition

Yesterday our two dance companies were at the Bruce Mason Theatre all day with the Dance NZ Made competition. The day was made up of workshops, rehearsals and an evening show. They did TGS so proud with their attitude and effort all day particularly in the workshops where they were models of outstanding commitment and energy, Lucy Thorne, in particular, was singled out in front of 150...

Student Art Council Poetry and Songwriting Evening

The Student Art Council held the inaugural Poetry and Songwriting evening. It was a wonderful occasion, set with candles, fairy lights plush beanbags and cookies. Eleven students participated and Bijou (who many of you will remember - class of 2017?) was the celebrity judge. The words and lyrics explored ideas that included, 'the way a person belongs to themselves', ' how reading can...

TGS Concert Band gets Silver!

Congratulations to our TGS Concert Band who received SILVER today at this weekend's 'National Concert Band Association Festival' held at Diocesan School For Girls and competed against other school and community concert bands from all over NZ. Our Concert Band is directed by Mr Andrew Uren and joined this year by Mr Robert Dil. In addition to today's success the TGS Concert Band...

TGS wins Maatangi Whenua Geography Quiz

This week two teams from Takapuna Grammar participated in the North Shore round of New Zealand Board of Geography Teachers Year 11 quiz called Maatangi Whenua. This quiz is nationwide and schools around the country will all be participating in regional rounds to then determine the best Year 11 Geographers in NZ. Our 2 teams competed with 11 other North Shore teams...

School Ball 2019 Photos

Another fantastic evening was held at the Ellerslie Convention Centre on Saturday night for the 2019 Senior School Ball. This years theme was a "Masked in Mystery" Masquerade Ball. The students were very well behaved and by the look of these photo's were having a 'ball' all night... To view more photo's of the event please click here.

Entrepreneurs in Action - Young Enterprise Scheme

On Thursday 27th of June, two of our Level 3 business students, Isabella Bouwer and Abby Harris headed to Wellington to compete in the Entrepreneurs in Action (EIA) Weekend, run by the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES). Isabella and Abby were two of the 80 students selected to attend, with over 4200 students in the YES program this year. This puts them in the top 2% of business students in New...

Massey University Molecular Day

Last week we had 22 enthusiastic, year 12 and year 13 Biology students attended the Massey Molecular day at Massey University. These students were joined by students from Westlake Boys High School and Rodney College. This was an excellent opportunity to experience the techniques involved in DNA Technology. Students were taught how to use pipettes as they would be drawing up small volumes...

'From The Peninsula 2019' showcase of student art work

From The Peninsula 2019 at the Lake House Arts Centre will showcase the art work of 10 schools from the Devonport Peninsula from year 1 to year 13. The participating schools are: Takapuna Grammar • Belmont Intermediate • Devonport Primary • Belmont Primary • Vauxhall Primary • Hauraki School • Wilson School • Bayswater School • Stanley Bay...

Massey University STEM Day

Every year, Massey University graciously opens its doors to high school students from all over the North Shore to spend a day on its campus. This year, eleven Takapuna Grammar School students were given a taste of different lectures at Massey University’s STEM day. Engineering and Ecology are just two of the many subjects that were made available. The interesting presentations and...

Newly appointed school Board of Trustees elected

Dear Parents and Caregivers of Takapuna Grammar School, We are excited to announce that we have a newly appointed school Board of Trustees, who were welcomed in by the Principal and outgoing Chair last week. At this meeting a new Chair and Deputy Chair were also elected. Your Board Representatives are; Mary Nixon, PrincipalPenny Harrison,...

We're off to The Big Sing National Finale!

Congratulations to the Takapuna Grammar School Chorale, and to Leonessa, who have been selected to compete at The Big Sing National Finale held in Dunedin from 29-31 August. For the first time, two Takapuna Grammar School choirs have been selected to compete at this prestigious competition. Only 24 choirs across New Zealand are selected for the National...

TGS Music Department shines at The Big Sing

Earlier this week the four Takapuna Grammar School choirs ventured over the bridge to compete at the annual Big Sing competition. The Auckland’s festival is held at the Auckland Town Hall and showcases over 77 choirs participating each year. The TakaCrooners (junior girls choir), Sultans of Sing (all comers boys choir), Leonessa (auditioned girls choir), and Takapuna Grammar School...

"Ignite" Devonport-Takapuna Kāhui Ako Conference another Success

Takapuna Grammar School recently hosted the second Community of Learning conference for 260 teachers and staff from our seven schools on the peninsular. Te Poho Hall and the beautiful new classrooms located in the northern wing of the Main Block was the venue and we had 260 teachers and staff from our seven schools attending. Our keynote speaker was Mr Welby Ings who spoke about creativity and...

IB Alumni interview with Ella McLeod

We catch up with former TGS student Ella McLeod for a chat and ask her how committing to our IB programme has made a huge difference in her life since starting her tertiary studies... What are you studying, where? Since the start of 2018 I have been studying at the University of Victoria in Wellington and am currently in my second year of completing a Bachelor of Laws....

TGS hosts Google Earth Geography Teachers Course

On Friday 14th June Takapuna Grammar School in partnership with Google Earth Education hosted 20 Geography teachers from around New Zealand for a workshop on the most engaging ways to use the Google Geo Tools in class. The Presenters on the day were Mr Steve Smith from TGS and Dr John Bailey, Program Manager for Google Earth Education from San Francisco. Steve is a member of the Google...

TGS Shave for a Cure fundraising team raises $14,000!

On Friday the 7th of June twenty students and staff were cheered on by a supportive audience as they lost their hair for Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand. Shave For a Cure has become a staple of the school calendar and this years event was an incredible success. Between the 20 shavee's - from all years - the school raised a total of $14,000. This astounding amount...

Rowan Nicks block reopens as new Mathematics Faculty

On Thursday the 30th May we unveiled the latest upgrade to our building improvements, the Rowan Nicks block where the Mathematics Faculty will be located. The newly renovated area includes 10 totally refurbished heated classrooms, staff office area, kitchen room, beautifully finished carpeted hallways with glass window dividers, while making great use of the natural light, established tropical...

Host Families needed for International Students

We are looking for kind and caring host families, who live in the Devonport to Takapuna areas, for a number of International students in late 2019. For further information, please contact Carla Hemopo, Community & Communications Manager International: Email: [email protected]  Ph 09 489 4167, ext 9256 

Term 2 Letter from the Principal

I trust everyone had a lovely holiday break. We have been very busy over the past few weeks. A lot of initiatives are now established to ensure we further develop our themes of pride and purpose. Academic progress continues to be celebrated regularly as this is our core business. An Achievers’ Breakfast was held just before the break to honour Year 13 students striving for their personal...

Out of Zone Ballot Entries for 2020 - now closed

Distinguished Alumni Sir Stephen Tindall talks to Senior School

Takapuna Grammar students were privileged to have Sir Stephen Tindall visit the school on Wednesday 22nd May. As an ex-pupil of the school himself, Sir Stephen was enthusiastic about seeing building advancements, meeting students and returning where he grew up. He spoke to year 12 and 13 students in the afternoon about a variety of topics; including his memories of the school, his current...

TGS Haka Challenge 2019

The annual TGS Haka challenge was held recently as part of our House competition. Judges Mrs Mary Nixon, Mr Glen Denham and Mr William Catterall were treated to six rousing renditions of the Takapuna Grammar School haka Te Karanga Pakanga. Judges commented on the mana which all the students showed during their performances. Placings were as follows: 1st - Kaha 2nd - Wehi...

Special Education Field Trip - Trees for Survival Planting Day

Trees for Survival are a charitable trust which promotes the growing and planting of native trees to help control soil erosion. By encouraging organisations to sponsor and support school students in tending tree seedlings and planting them out on eroding land, the programme brings communities together to protect New Zealand's soil and water resources. Rotary provides support to the...