Nau mai haere mai, and welcome to our first pānui for 2024. A special welcome to our Year 9 whānau, our new international students and those joining Tauranga Girls’ College this year. Woohoo, a new year has begun!

Congratulations to our Student Leadership Team (kaitiaki awhina) for 2024

Head Prefect - Ansh Dhot

Deputy Head Prefects: Learning - Ella Hill

Sport - Niamh Manning

Arts - Grace Billinghurst

Spirit - Taimana Randall

Te Ao Maori - Kavaana Thompson

Communications and Publicity - Kiarni Sperling

Cultural Diversity - Lute Takau

These amazing wahine are joined by a strong team of Prefects who will continue to make a positive difference in our school. Our leaders will be formally introduced to the school at our next assembly.

Another NZ Representative

Congratulations to Pahlyss Hokianga, who was named in the Tall Ferns squad, which aims to qualify for the Olympics. Pahlyss was the youngest ever Tall Fern to have played for her country when she debuted against China last week. Tauranga Girls’ College is extremely proud of her achievements.

NCEA Results

We are excited to share our NCEA results from 2023. At all levels, our students performed above our equity index (ex decile rating), the national average, and we were able to reduce the disparity between our Pakeha/European and our Māori ākonga. Our University Entrance pass rates were also improved. This, along with our $500k+ University Scholarship offers to our departing Year 13s, ensures that 2024 starts off as a focused learning and teaching year. A year in which students at Tauranga Girls’ College are expected to achieve, attend, engage and participate in a wide range of opportunities which extend well beyond the classroom. Tauranga Girls’ College continues to offer NCEA as the main qualification, but in addition to this, we offer the rigours of Australasian Maths and English competitions, Writing and First Year University papers, just to name a few. Lastly, congratulations to our Scholarship winners. Two of which were at the ‘Outstanding’ level of attainment.

NCEA Level 2023

TGC Result

National

Equity Band

Level 1

85.6

60.0

66.6

Level 2

85.9

72.2

77.3

Level 3

71.7

66.2

67.0

Attendance does matter

As learning areas reflect on their academic results, there is clear evidence that those students who did well attended at least 85% of the time. When attendance dropped, so did their achievement. Tauranga Girls’ College learners not reaching the ‘at least 85% attendance’ will be denied the opportunity to engage in tournaments, school ball, leadership retreats, camps and the like, as these are all privileges. Learners who attend class regularly will benefit from being offered these privileges. Please ensure your young person or daughter attends school at least 85% of the time, and where they cannot attend, you call or email the school.

Mental Health and Well-being - Phone Free Kura

Let us not forget our well-being now that school has returned. Learning, being active, noticing, connecting and giving are five ways to support your well-being. Being a phone-free kura certainly helps the wellbeing of our young people. 98% of students are meeting this expectation and enjoying engaging with peers through conversation, getting involved in lunchtime activities, and all of this has reduced their screen time and social media use, allowing a focus on the present and of learning.

Transport Woes

We are very aware of the traffic delays caused by roading improvements and also of the pressure on school bus services. In particular, we are doing our best to identify bus routes requiring additional services. A bus survey was asked to be completed by all bus students. Without this data, it is difficult for us to fully gauge the complexities some have described with the current bus network. Thank you to those students who are biking to school, using public transport, and supporting the reduction of vehicle congestion on the road network. Parents, please ensure you are dropping off and picking up in a safe manner from 22 Avenue.

Welcome to new colleagues and supporting roll growth

Tauranga Girls’ College welcomed several new support and teaching staff. Nau mai haere mai to our colleagues. We have Matua Clayton join the Senior Leadership Team. His focus is developing a mentoring programme for some of our Year 9 and 10 students. He is supported in his mahi by our two youth mentors, Whaea Nia and Elena. As our school roll continues to grow, we are pleased to be able to staff the school with such talented colleagues.

Health and Safety and school improvements - update

A significant drainage programme is being undertaken in the college. This has resulted in many of our cobbled pathways being uplifted to access the drains. Areas around the school have been fenced off and are off-limits during this time. J Block continues its renovation, and the timeline for its completion remains for later this year. Parents, please be careful when picking up and dropping off your young person or daughter. Cameron Road is extremely busy, and there have been some near misses. Please be patient and take care at all times.

Lastly, further painting has been undertaken at the school over the summer; the gymnasium floor was redone and has new floor markings for sports, and additional upgrades to our bathrooms continue (with the next project being in the gymnasium bathrooms). Curriculum budgets were also increased to accommodate teachers' requests.

Expectations whilst at school

As we begin this term, please ensure your daughter or young person respects our school's values and maintains their high standards and expectations in and around the school. This includes the phone-free kura, jewellery, uniform and behaviour expectations.

Connecting at Tauranga Girls’ College

Don't forget to connect with us and be kept up to date with our two social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram), our fortnightly pānui, the Tauranga Girls’ College website, the parent portal (including for attendance) and checking your emails. If you have any queries, do not hesitate to email my colleagues. Their email addresses can be found on our website.

Tara Kanji

Tumuaki/Principal