Ready for NCEA

Having celebrated our last full school assembly, our students sitting NCEA examinations in Years 11-13 have completed their normal classes and are now on study leave.  I encouraged each cohort to take up the opportunity to attend tutorials which are on offer in most if not all subject areas within the school. Already, there has been a steady flow of students back in at school since last Tuesday.  We wish all our learners the very best in their final preparations for these examinations and to our Year 13’s, our latest to-be alumni, thank you for choosing TGC.  Take care and keep being amazing wahine.

Senior Awards Evening

Each year we have 5 award events.  Our Sports, Arts, and Te Moana nui a

kiwa events were celebrated in the first two weeks of this term.  Thank you to friends and whānau who took the time to celebrate with us.  Last week we celebrated our Senior Awardees at Holy Trinity. This event acknowledges those students who gained top academic honours and details of our recipients are posted on our school's social media accounts.  This is always a very special occasion and one in which we not only celebrate curriculum achievements but also university scholarship recipients.  This year, over $500,000 worth of university scholarships were awarded to our students. Many of our students receive more than one scholarship.  Special mention must go to Ella Hill and Kiarni Sperling who gained scholarships to attend university in the US and Australia. The fifth and final event will be our Junior Prizegiving which takes place in December. 

Who is Mary Poole?

At our Senior Awards evening, we had the pleasure of a special guest.  Mary Poole attended Tauranga Girls’ College in 1958 and 1959.  She was of the first intake that attended school on our current site when Tauranga College became too big and the boys were separated from the girls.  Mary Poole has a cup named after her and this cup has been awarded at our Senior Awards Evening for the past 65 years.  To have Mary attend our event this year and to award the cup in person was indeed very special.  See the full article later in this newsletter. 

J Block

Unfortunately, J Block will not be ready in time for students and staff to move into before the academic year comes to a close.  Further delays have now put the possible handover date to 13 December 2024.  We are disappointed that the building will not be completed in time but appreciate the communication provided by the contractors during our fortnightly meetings.  

Year 9 Enrolments are on track.

As our school roll continues to grow, we have had to implement an Out of Zone (OOZ) enrolment policy. Over 30 students OOZ students are seeking a place at TGC.  The  Details of our enrolment scheme are on our website.  We have enrolled 300 Year 9 students to date.

A Visit to China

Along with other local Tauranga Principals and International Directors of Secondary Schools, Intermediates, and some Primary schools, I along with Mr Wheatley, our Director of International,  visited schools and agents in China this term. As part of marketing our schools, Greg Simmonds from Priority One Tauranga and I were interviewed on a 2-hour live stream TV channel in Shanghai! It was a great opportunity to showcase Tauranga and to share with viewers the benefits of education in both Tauranga and in NZ.

Attendance data sent out.

Last week we sent our attendance data for your young person or daughter.  Attendance should be 90% or higher but we understand there are circumstances that may require them to be away from school.  Please keep us informed if this is the case.  In most cases,  students have access to their Google Classroom to keep them in the loop with learning as best as they can while away from school. ‘Every day counts’.

Year 9 and 10 students

With the junior school remaining at school now, all students are supervised on the back fields where there is both shelter and opportunities for play.  On wet days, students can shelter in their whānau rooms.  If you need to contact your young person or daughter, please do so via the school office as students are not permitted to have their phones out during school hours as per the government guidelines introduced this year.

Farewell to our International Students

I attended the farewell dinner for our International Students last week.  This was a lovely event organised by our fabulous and dedicated International Dept staff.  The function was held at Oscar and Otto and the room was decorated with balloons and a photo wall the event included celebratory certificates of achievement, attendance, and commitment to extracurricular activities.  I continue to be impressed by the courage of our young people who travel across the world to attend TGC.  The personal growth and language proficiency is incredible.  Arriving shy, somewhat nervous (understandably!), and in a foreign education system, new family, and the like takes more than a few deep breaths!!  Farewell to our students who return home to their families and countries of origin at the end of this year.  We appreciate all that you have added to our school and wish you all the very best post-TGC.  We will miss you!

Tara Kanji

Tumuaki/Principal