Auckland Girls' Grammar School

Auckland Girls' Grammar School
The school seen from Hopetoun Street, looking north
Address
Howe Street, Newton, Auckland
Coordinates	36°51′25″S174°45′13″E / 36.8569°S 174.7537°E / -36.8569; 174.7537
Information
Type	State single-sex girls' secondary school (Years 9–13)
Motto	Latin: Per Angusta Ad Augusta "Through trials to triumph"
Established	1878
Ministry of Education Institution no.	53
Principal	Ngaire Ashmore
School roll	922 [1] (November 2024)
Colour(s)	gold, navy blue
Socio-economic decile	3H [2]
Website	aggs.school.nz

The school seen from the air in 1934.

Auckland Girls' Grammar School (AGGS) is a New Zealand secondary school for girls located in Newton, Auckland. Established in 1878 as Auckland Girls' High School, it is one of the oldest secondary institutions in the country. ^[3] The school closed its site temporarily in 1888 due to financial difficulties ^[4] and classes for girls were held at Auckland Grammar School ^[5] until the girls' school moved to new premises in Howe Street in 1909 ^[6] and the name of the school changed to Auckland Girls' Grammar School. ^{[7] [8] [9]} The school received the Goodman Fielder awards for School and Secondary School of the year in 2000. ^[10]

The main block is listed as a Category 2 Historic Place. ^[11]

Enrolment

In 2018, Auckland Girls' Grammar School had 1,030 students enrolled and is 100% female. The number of international students was 22. The ethnic composition of the school was as follows: 23% Māori, 23% Samoan, 16% Tongan, 3% New Zealand European (Pākehā), 13% Asian, 6% Niuean, and 6% Indian. ^[12]

As of November 2024, Auckland Girls' Grammar School has a roll of 922 students, of which 182 (19.7%) identify as Māori. ^[1]

As of 2024, the school has an Equity Index of 487, ^[13] placing it amongst schools whose students have above average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 4 and 5 under the former socio-economic decile system). ^[14]

Notable alumnae

Main category: People educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School

• Frankie Adams – actress ^[15]
• Zoë Bell – stuntwoman and actress ^[16]
• Sue Bradford – politician, activist and former Green MP
• Dorothy Butler – author ^[17]
• Barbara Calvert - professor of education ^[18]
• Sandra Coney – journalist and women's rights activist ^[17]
• Kayla Cullen – athlete, Northern Mystics and NZ Silver Ferns ^[17]
• Lana Coc-Kroft – NZ Miss Universe 1988, television presenter ^[19]
• Emily Karaka – artist ^[17]
• Golriz Ghahraman – politician and former Green MP, former United Nations lawyer ^[17]
• Kiri Allan – politician and Labour MP, Minister of Conservation, Minister for Emergency Management
• Parris Goebel – international choreographer ^[20]
• Katrina Grant – athlete, NZ Silver Ferns ^[17]
• Siositina Hakeai – athlete ^[21]
• Hon. Laila Harré – union leader, politician, former Alliance MP and Minister of Women's Affairs, Minister of Youth Affairs, Minister of Statistics, Associate Minister of Labour and Commerce
• Doreen Lumley – athlete ^[22]
• Rose Matafeo – comedian, television presenter ^[17]
• Miriama McDowell  – New Zealand actress, director and playwright ^[23]
• Ani O'Neill – artist ^[17]
• Merimeri Penfold – Māori educator ^[17]
• Sheryl Scanlan – netball player ^[17]
• Miriama Smith – actress ^[23]
• Pauline Stansfield – disability rights advocate
• Kahurangi Taylor – Miss New Zealand 2008
• Munokoa Tunupopo – athlete, Auckland and White Ferns
• Hon. Dame Georgina Manunui te Heuheu – politician, former National MP and Minister for Courts, Minister of Women's Affairs, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Associate Minister of Maori Affairs ^[17]
• Poto Williams – politician and Labour MP, Assistant Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives ^[17]
• Tammy Wilson – Black Ferns ^[17]
• Katrina Rore – netballer
• Tiana Epati – First Pacifica President, and current President of the New Zealand Law Society

Headmistresses

Ngaire Ashmore in 2022

• Annie Whitelaw (1875–1966): 1906–1910 ^{[24] [7]}
• Blanche Butler (died 1967): 1911–1921 ^[25]
• Rua Gardner (1901–1972): 1944–1967 ^[26]
• Louise Gardner (ca. 1916–2006): 1967–1978 ^[27]
• Charmaine Pountney: 1978–1988 ^[28]
• Ngaire Ashmore (born ca. 1967): 2017–present ^{[29] [30]}

References

1. "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
2. "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
3. "Education: Reports of secondary schools: List of schools". Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (Session 1, E-08): 1. 1882 – via Paperspast.
4. "More retrenchment". Paperspast. 28 April 1888. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
5. "Auckland Grammar School for girls and boys [advertisement]". Auckland Star. 14 March 1903. Retrieved 19 November 2022– via Paperspast.
6. "Brief history". Auckland Girls' Grammar School. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
7. "Auckland Girls' High School". Paperspast. 16 June 1906. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
8. "Grammar School Board". Paperspast. 14 December 1905. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
9. "Education: Secondary education". Paperspast. 1907. p. E12-page 15. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
10. Auckland Girls Grammar School wins Goodman Fielder School of the Year Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
11. "Auckland Girls Grammar School Main Blk". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand . Retrieved 25 April 2018.
12. "Auckland Girls' Grammar School Education Review". Education Review Office. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
13. "New Zealand Equity Index". New Zealand Ministry of Education.
14. "School Equity Index Bands and Groups". www.educationcounts.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
15. "Frankie wants to go to Hollywood". SUGA Magazine. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
16. "Zoë Bell". IMDb . Retrieved 25 April 2018.
17. "Old Girls' Achievers". Auckland Girls' Grammar School. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
18. Staff writer (24 May 2008). "Generosity, gusto: ahead of her time". Otago Daily Times . p. 34.
19. "Lana Coc-Kroft, comfortable in her own skin". The New Zealand Herald . 14 March 2003. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
20. Cadzow, Jane (13 December 2016). "How Parris Goebel went from high school drop-out to hip-hop dance queen". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 25 April 2018.
21. Morgan, Scott (3 December 2010). "Teen's a star in all sports". Stuff.co.nz . Fairfax NZ. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
22. "Story: Lumley, Bernice and Lumley, Doreen" . Retrieved 25 April 2018.
23. Husband, Dale (23 April 2017). "Miriama McDowell: Was I ready for this?". E-Tangata. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
24. Creese, Mary R. S. (2010). Ladies in the laboratory III : South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science : nineteenth and early twentieth centuries : a survey of their contributions. Thomas M. Creese. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN   978-0-8108-7289-9. OCLC   659564120.
25. Wellington, Victoria University of (24 April 2018). "The aftermath of WWI | News | Victoria University of Wellington". www.wgtn.ac.nz. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
26. Wilson, Maureen. "Rua Isobel Gardner". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 13 December 2022.
27. Pickmere, Arnold (5 May 2006). "Obituary: Louise Gardner". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 13 December 2022.
28. "Charmaine Pountney 1955–1959" (PDF). Epsom Girls' Grammar School. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
29. "Upper Hutt College awards, 1984; Pepper, Hearfield, Tungatt Cup; for outstanding achievement in sport; Ngaire Ashmore". Upper Hutt City Libraries. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
30. "New Principal for Auckland Girls' Grammar School". Auckland Girls' Grammar School. Retrieved 13 December 2022.

External links

Media related to Auckland Girls' Grammar School at Wikimedia Commons

• Ministry of Education Information