Prefects for 2023 Announced
The following students have been selected as TGS prefects for 2023. Please join us in congratulating them on this wonderful achievement. If you are having trouble viewing this list, please click here for a pdf version.
> Read moreMerit Badge Awards Assembly
On the Wednesday 7 September 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. This year we congratulated 128 students who achieved a Merit award. This...
> Read moreSenior Speech Contest Results
On Thursday 9 September we had our annual Senior Speech Contest, hosted by last year's winner, Jess Weston. The finalists presented thoughtful and compelling speeches making it tricky for the judges. The winning places went to Olivia Priddy (1st), Pearl Nicholson (2nd), and Michael Young (3rd). Maia Scott, Maggie Yang and Saiba Dean are also to be congratulated for their impressive effort....
> Read moreTGS Students go under the Clippers for Cancer
WHY WE SHAVED At Takapuna Grammar, we have decided to participate in this amazing cause. We acknowledge that many kiwis in our communities and across NZ, are impacted by Cancer. In response to this, we have set up this team for students to be involved in Shave for Cure. We are shaving our hair off today Thursday 8 September to acknowledge and support blood cancer patients through their...
> Read moreSchools Based Teacher Training Programme
This programme is for university graduates interested in transitioning into a career as a teacher. You'll spend the year completing coursework remotely with the University of Waikato while you work on-site at Takapuna Grammar. Transition into your teaching career and have a job offer in your new profession lined up at the start. Contact Ngaio Hardie [email protected] or...
> Read moreOrange Week Can Collection for Auckland City Mission
One in five Auckland families are currently struggling to put food on the table. This winter, the need for non-perishable food was higher than ever in order to stop kids going hungry and to allow families to have breakfast, lunch and dinner. TGS’s Orange Week is an important house event in which students brought in canned foods to donate to the Auckland City Mission, some...
> Read moreStudents Inspired after 5 Day Blake Inspire Programme
Last week three of our senior students, Ankia Van Zyl, Tate Agnew, and Elka Drozdowski had the incredible opportunity of attending the 2022 Blake Inspire Program, a five-day-long residential environmental leadership program in partnership with the Ministry for the Environment and Blake NZ. Students were selected from around the country to attend the action-packed five days, with...
> Read moreTGS Performing Arts Leonessa wins gold at The Big Sing!
We are thrilled to announce that Leonessa, our senior auditioned treble voice choir, has been awarded Takapuna Grammars first ever Gold Medal at The Big Sing Finale 2022! Not only that, they also came away with the Hutt City Cup for best performance of a New Zealand piece! Also a huge congratulations to the Cactus Dance Company for bringing home 3rd & 2nd for the DanceNZ Made Open...
> Read moreL3 Biology Students case study of Human Evolution
Level 3 Biology students got hands-on experience in Human Evolution at Auckland Zoo in Western Springs earlier this month. The students got the opportunity to study and classify primates' features up close and personal. Educators at the zoo used skulls, a model chimpanzee and a human skeleton to compare changes linked to bipedalism from head to toe. Students identified biological and...
> Read moreReadathon raises money for Special Education Library
The 2022 Readathon was a Peer Service Team initiative run by Ankia Van Zyl where a reading all-nighter was held in the Devonport Library, from which all funds raised are going towards buying books for the TGS Special-Ed Department in memory of Finn Linton, a TGS Special-Ed student who recently passed away. The event was a huge success! Many books were read and even more coffee was finished....
> Read moreChess Team brings home Silver from Interschools
TGS Chess teams competed in the NZCF North Shore Interschools Qualifier on 15 August 2022. Both teams performed exceptionally well. The A team, captained by Daniel Wang, narrowly missed out on a spot in the National Finals. They were placed second and received silver medals. The B team was placed sixth in the competition, outperforming all other B teams from schools on the North Shore....
> Read moreDistinguished Alumnae Angela Cullen speaks at Achiever's Breakfast
This morning we were honoured to have alumnae Angela Cullen (nee McNaughton) speaking at our Achiever's Breakfast in Te Poho. Angela (class of 1992) is a former NZ hockey representative player. Since 2015, she has worked for Hintsa Performance and is attached to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. She is now best known as the physiotherapist and confidante to seven-time Formula One...
> Read moreAlumnae Anna Browning Selected for NZ U22 Indoor Cricket Team
Anna Browning (class of 2021, bottom right in photo) who captained the TGS girls 1st XI cricket team in the 2020 season to an Auckland Premier championship and a 5th at nationals has been selected for the NZ U22 indoor cricket team. Anna, currently in her first year at Otago University, recently competed for Northern Districts at the indoor national champs. From this competition...
> Read moreYear 10 Rangitoto Trip serves up great weather again
During the second week of Term 3, all of our Year 10 classes had the chance to head over to Rangitoto Island (Te Rangi-i-totongia-ai-te-ihu-o-Tamatekapua). The trip saw all of us collecting information and working in groups to support our Science, English and Health studies. We’ll be taking our experiences back into the classroom to attempt some of our first Level 1...
> Read moreStudent Success in Literature
The English department is celebrating the success of Sofia Drew and Giselle den Breems. Sofia and Giselle have had poetry published in the most recent edition of Starling, one of New Zealand's most well-respected literary journals. To put this success into perspective, poets whose work is published in Starling are taught in our Senior English and Scholarship English lessons. In this...
> Read moreChris Williams continues Sir Peter Blake's Enviromental Legacy
In 2021 Blake Expeditions selected 10 students from throughout New Zealand that showed exceptional potential in environmental leadership to go on a scientific research expedition with leading researchers from around the country. I was honored to be chosen. The original plan was a three week expedition in March to the Sub Antarctic Islands on the H.M.S Canterbury. The dreaded Covid pandemic...
> Read moreCongratulations to Alumni Imogen Ayris & Jacko Gill
The school would like to congratulate TGS Alumni Imogen Ayris & Jacko Gill on this weeks outstanding performances at the 2022 Commonwealth Games by winning a Bronze Medal in the Pole Vault (Imogen) and a Silver Medal in the Shot Put (Jacko). An outstanding achievement after a decade of hard work both in and out of school out on the athletic tracks of Auckland, New Zealand and the...
> Read more2023 Enrolment Information
Great to see so many families and Year 8 students here onsite at our Open Evening. For information regarding enrolment here at TGS, please go to https://takapuna.school.nz/enrolment/ or contact our Enrolment's Administrator Jayne Arthur at [email protected] We look forward to hearing from you.
> Read moreMischa Thomas wins Gold at Slopestyle Ski event in Cardrona
Year 10 Mischa Thomas has won the Open Women’s division in the first Slopestyle event of the season at Cardrona on Saturday. This is the first event of the 2022 Volkl NZ Freestyle Series which consists of 5 events held in different locations across NZ. Saturday 23rd July saw the first event of the series kick off under perfect conditions with blue skies, great snow and plenty of...
> Read moreNational Basketball Honours & Tournament Team Selection for TGS players
Over the school holidays a number of TGS students represented North Harbour in the Under 15 basketball nationals held at the Pulman Arena, Auckland. The Harbour U15 girls team which included three TGS players, Zenthia Stowers, Bailey Flavell and Amy McKenzie, qualified easily for the quarter-finals. Harbour dominated the quarter-final match against Manawatu winning 102-55 with Bailey...
> Read moreAuckland Cricket Academy Selections Announced
Congratulations to Christian Scott, Rishika Jaswal, Maia Scott and Izzy Fox who have all been selected for the Auckland Cricket Academy for 2022. This is a huge honour and very well deserved. Congratulations to all of you! Follow all of our upcoming Spring/Summer Cricket news here at: https://www.facebook.com/Takapuna-Grammar-School-Cricket-190876197642438
> Read moreNZ Rockclimbing Selection for Barney Gould
Year 10 student Barney Gould has been selected to represent New Zealand in lead climbing (Under 16) at the IFSC World Youth Climbing Championships which will take place in Dallas, Texas from 22-31 August, 2022. Barney will travel with the team in the middle of August for a weeks training camp in Houston before heading to Dallas for the competition. All the best...
> Read moreMaggie Squire top of the Podium in Italy pre-games meet!
Year 12 Maggie Squire has had the perfect finish after a slightly disrupted pre-Commonwealth games training programme. Just a couple of days out of isolation and with little training, Maggie rallied to keep up with her synchro partner Frazer Tavener to secure the Gold Medal on their last dive in scolding hot temperatures of 38+ degrees at a Grand Prix meet in Bolzano, Italy....
> Read more2022 Senior School Ball Photos & Prizes
Another successful TGS School Ball was attended and enjoyed by our senior students at the Ellerslie Event Centre on Friday 8th July. This years theme was Gatsby's Grand Soire'e and the students looked fantastic and behaved accordingly with some outstanding efforts made in their outfits and even more on the dancefloor. Deputy Heads Connor Cunningham & Riley Booth, Principal Mary Nixon,...
> Read moreTGS Market Day 2022
The TGS Market Day this year was held in Te Poho at lunchtime on Wednesday 6th July. It was a very busy event with over 150 students taking part selling their products to their peers and teachers. We had a stunning range of items available this year and the students had designed some really impressive stall displays. We had retro vinyl clocks, hand printed T-Shirts, car...
> Read moreTGS Haka Challenge 2022
The annual TGS Haka Challenge was held on Wednesday 6th July and is one of the most anticipated events in the TGS school calendar. This year, Andrew Baker, Chairman of the Takapuna Grammar School Board kindly donated the Te Hapara Cup, to recognise the winning House in the competition. A big thank you to our judges, Principal Mrs Mary Nixon, Stacey Morrison and BOT Chairperson Andrew Baker...
> Read moreCarrie Guo brings home 3 medals from NI Table Tennis Champs
Over the weekend Carrie Guo competed in the 2022 North Island Individuals table tennis tournament in Tauranga. Carrie came home with the following medals: Gold in the Under 15 Girls Singles competition Silver in the Under 19 Girls Singles competition Gold in the Open Women's Singles competition A remarkable achievement, congratulations Carrie!
> Read more2nd place gained at North Shore Readers Cup
Bariyah Batool, Coco Marshall, Mia Noll, Milla Rodrigues-Birch and Qing Zhong (aka 'The Page-Turners') took part in the North Shore Readers' Cup at Rangitoto College on Wednesday 22 June. The Readers' Cup is a nationwide competition in which Year 9 teams must read six specific books and answer difficult and detailed quiz questions about those books. The Page-Turners put in an outstanding effort...
> Read moreCoats for Kids Another Huge Success
Each year Bald Angels run's the Keep Our Kids Warm campaign and from this project came the inspiration for their latest winter initiative. Their aim is to collect as many warm jackets and coats (all ages from toddlers to young adults) as possible to forward to their partners; NZ Police, Plunket, Women’s Refuge, Social Services, Public Health Nurses, Food banks and...
> Read moreL3 & IB2 Geography Field Trip
Over the past few days our Level 3 and IB2 Geographers headed down to Rotorua for two nights to investigate the impacts of Covid-19 on the tourism industry. While there, we experienced and supported the tourism industry with our participation in a whirlwind of activities and gathered some data about the impacts seen due to Covid. On our arrival in Rotorua, students were able to relax...
> Read moreSenior Debating News
Congratulations to the Auckland Schools’ Debating Senior Open and Premier Advanced Debating teams! With just one more round to go in the preliminary competition, Tom Talbot, Mila White, Bill An, Lewis Campbell, Karin Kozuka, Angel Jacobson, Phoebe Rennie and Ankia Van Zyl have won the majority of their debates. We wish them well for their final debates next week. Both teams...
> Read moreExamination Assistance: Reader / Writers needed for 2022 Exams
Our Learning Services Department at Takapuna Grammar School is in need of reader/writers for the junior and senior exams. We would love to hear from you if you have a good command of English and some hours during the school day to help our students with learning difficulties, such as dyslexia. We are currently organising reader/writers for the 2022 year for senior Practice exams, NCEA...
> Read moreCAS (Creativity, Activity, & Service) TGS IB Diploma Programme
CAS is perhaps one of the most exciting core components of the IB DP Program. Standing for Creativity, Activity, and Service, IB students participate in experiences outside of the classroom, log the activities and reflections to enhance their personal and interpersonal development by learning through experience, and counterbalance the academic demands of the IB DP programme. On 25 May, The...
> Read moreYear 11 Geography Field Trip - Mt Tarawera
On Thursday 9 & Friday 10 June, our Year 11 Geography students travelled down to Rotorua to explore their volcanic eruption case study of Mt Tarawera. This was auspicious timing as it coincided with the 136th anniversary of the June 10, 1886 eruption. The purpose of our field trip was to better understand the impacts this volcanic eruption had on the natural and cultural environment and to...
> Read moreTom Talbot wins 2nd place at Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Nationals
Congratulations to Tom Talbot for winning second place for his vocal composition Come Sweet Death at SGCNZ Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Nationals last weekend! His piece features a lead vocal line of one of Shakespeare’s poems from his play Twelfth Night where the foolish clown Feste is entertaining the court with a song about death and funerals. The vocal line is accompanied by piano,...
> Read moreCOL Conference 2022
Teachers from all seven schools in our Kāhui Ako attended the annual conference held here at TGS in Te Poho hall last Friday. The theme was Ka Mua Ka Muri - looking to the past to shape the future. Everyone listened to our keynote speaker Brenda McPherson and then attended several workshops facilitated by In School Leaders and external providers. This was a valuable opportunity for teachers...
> Read moreWorld Festival Cultural & Dress Day
On June 1st we held our annual 'World Festival Cultural & Dress Day' held during lunchtime in the Student Services Courtyard. There were some fantastic authentic food & dishes on offer and some jaw dropping performances from many cultural clubs from around the school.Thank you to all the students from both the Languages & International Departments who rehearsed, cooked and put all...
> Read moreSpecial Ed students planting Trees for Survival
Last month students from the Special Education Department here at Takapuna Grammar took part in an annual tree planting trip together with Trees for Survival, a charity that promotes the growing and planting of trees to prevent soil erosion and improve diversity. Ten of the older students came along and a great time was had by all "We had pumpkin soup" said...
> Read moreYear 11 Speech Cup Winner - James Cassidy
Earlier this month six finalists competed for the Year 11 Speech Cup. All six speeches were well-written and excellently performed, with topics ranging from serious to humorous. Third place went to Connor Williams, for his speech detailing an exciting and welcoming first day at TGS. Second place went to Tamir Saeed Mohamed, who presented a speech on his personal experiences with ADHD. James...
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