New Plymouth Girls' High School

New Plymouth Girls' High School
Address
60 Northgate, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Coordinates	39.0559°S 174.0946°E / -39.0559; 174.0946
Information
Type	State single sex girls' secondary (Year 9–13) with boarding facilities
Motto	Et Comitate, Et Virtute, Et Sapientia (Friendship – Courage – Wisdom Whakahoanga – Maia – Mātauranga)
Established	1914
Ministry of Education Institution no.	172
Principal	Jacqui Brown
School roll	1329[2] (August 2024)
Socio-economic decile	7O[1]
Website	npghs.school.nz

New Plymouth Girls' High School is a girls' state secondary school in Strandon, New Plymouth, New Zealand. The school separated from New Plymouth High School in 1914, leaving New Plymouth Boys' High School on the old site.[3]

It is currently one of two of New Plymouth's girls' schools along with Sacred Heart Girls' College and has a current roll of 1329 students.[2]

Students are put into four houses for school activities such as swimming sports, athletics, and house plays. These houses are Tokomaru (yellow), Kurahaupo (blue), Aotea (red) and Tainui (green). The houses are named after four of the first Māori waka to arrive in New Zealand.

Notable staff

• Ida Gaskin – politician, Mastermind winner
• Leila Hurle – schoolteacher, schools inspector

Principals

	Name	Term
1	Catherine Grant	1914[4]
2	Flora Hodges	1915–1916[4]
3	Rhoda Barr	1916–1920[5]
4	Ethel May McIntosh	1920–1924[6]
5	Doris Napier Allan	1925–1943[7]
6	Rose Allum	1943–1968[8]
7	Jean Wilson	1968–1974
8	Noeline Bruning	1975–1988
9	Jain Gaudin	1988–2002[9]
10	Annette Sharp	2002–2004
11	Jenny Ellis	2005–2016[10]
12	Victoria Kerr	2017–2020[11]
13	Jacqui Brown	2020–present[12]

Notable alumnae

Main category: People educated at New Plymouth Girls' High School

• Mackenzie Barry – association footballer
• Daisy Basham – radio personality
• Michaela Blyde – rugby sevens player
• Kendra Cocksedge – rugby union player
• Dale Copeland – collage and assemblage artist
• Trish Gregory – fashion designer and businesswoman
• Paige Hareb – professional surfer
• Leila Hurle – schoolteacher, schools inspector
• Zoe Hobbs - athlete
• Michele Leggott – poet, academic
• Melanie Lynskey – actor
• Margaret Mutu – Ngāti Kahu leader and academic
• Debbie Ngarewa-Packer – politician
• Jean Sandel - surgeon
• Carmel Sepuloni – politician
• Holly Shanahan – actress
• Toni Street – television presenter and sports commentator
• Beatrice Tinsley – astronomer and cosmologist

References

1. "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
2. "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
3. "History". New Plymouth Boys' High School. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
4. "Death of headmistress: Miss Flora Hodges". New Zealand Herald. Vol. 65, no. 20135. 21 December 1928. p. 14. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
5. "Of local interest". Taranaki Herald. Vol. 64, no. 145079. 2 September 1916. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
6. "Social and personal". New Zealand Times. Vol. 51, no. 11943. 25 September 1924. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
7. "Headmistress appointed". New Zealand Herald. Vol. 61, no. 18875. 25 November 1924. p. 10. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
8. "New headmistress". Evening Post. Vol. 135, no. 21. 26 January 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
9. Shaskey, Tara (19 May 2015). "New Plymouth Girls' High School former principal Jain Gaudin dies of cancer". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
10. Harvey, Helen (30 September 2016). "Girls' High principal Jenny Ellis is retiring after 11 years". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
11. "New Plymouth Girls' High School principal resigns". Taranaki Daily News. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
12. Mcilraith, Brianna (10 August 2020). "New Plymouth Girls' High School appoints Jacqui Brown as principal". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 January 2022.