Epsom Girls Grammar School (often simplified to Epsom Girls, or EGGS) is a state secondary school for girls ranging from years 9 to 13 in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand. It has a roll of 2,200 as of 2025, making it one of the largest schools in New Zealand.
The principal is Brenda McNaughton, the 12th principal, who succeeded Lorraine Pound in 2024.
She succeeds a long line of distinguished educators such as Margaret Bendall and Marjory Adams.
History
Epsom Girls Grammar School was established through an endowment of land in 1850 and officially opened on 12 February 1917 with 174 students. Establishing Epsom Girls was described as a "struggle", as "despite a clear need for a second girls’ school in Auckland, education administrators continued to prioritise boys’ education. Eventually EGGS emerged as an old, adapted Villa and a handful of classrooms on the Silver Road site. When the doors opened in 1917 the School had already exceeded capacity."
Boarding facilities are provided on-site at Epsom House, providing full accommodation for 150 students from overseas and rural New Zealand.
The Old Girls Association was established in 1921, and holds a number of events each year for alumnae.
In 2021,
Metro (magazine) reported that Epsom Girls Grammar School was the top performing non-religious state school in Auckland over the last five years (based on
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
data of the five-year average of university entrance attainment).
Property prices in the Epsom Girls Grammar School and
Auckland Grammar School
Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a State school, state, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding secondary school for Single-sex education, boys in Auckland, New Zealand. ...
school zones (known as the "double Grammar zone") are particularly high - Epsom Girls is the second most expensive school zone to buy in within Auckland (with the first being Auckland Grammar School). The zone covers large swathes of four of the city’s highest value suburbs – Remuera, Epsom, Parnell and Mount Eden. Real estate agents have commented that being in the "double Grammar zone" could add up to $500,000 to the value of a family home.
Enrolment
As of , Epsom Girls' Grammar School has a roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori.
As of , the school has an
Equity Index
In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures the performance of a stock market, or of a subset of a stock market. It helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market perform ...
of , placing it amongst schools whose students have the socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 9 and 10 under the former
socio-economic decile
In the education in New Zealand, New Zealand education system, decile was a key measure of socioeconomic status used to target funding and support schools. In academic contexts the full term "socioeconomic decile" or "socioeconomic decile band" wa ...
system).
Principals
*
Annie Christina Morrison 1917–1929
* Agnes L. Laudon 1930–1947
* Margaret G. Johnston 1948–1952
* Marjory F.E. Adams 1953–1970
* Alisa M. Blakey 1970–1979
* Gaewyn E. Griffiths 1979–1988
* Verna E. Dowdle 1988–1996
* Margaret A. Bendall 1996–2004
* Annette Sharp 2005–2008
* Madeline J. Gunn 2008–2016
* Lorraine Pound 2016–2023
* Brenda McNaughton 2024–present
Notable alumnae
Media and the arts
*
Deidre Airey – ceramic artist
*
Petra Bagust – television presenter
*
Ruth Castle – weaver
*
Angela D'Audney
Angela Louise D'Audney (née Cerdan, 26 August 1944 – 6 February 2002) was a New Zealand television news anchor and occasional actress. She became known as New Zealand's “first lady of broadcasting” and was the first woman to regularly anc ...
– television news anchor
*
Eve de Castro-Robinson – composer
*
Hinemoa Elder – youth forensic psychiatrist and former television presenter
*
Kate Elliott (actress) – television and film actress
*
Tui Flower – food writer
*
Rosalie Gascoigne – sculptor and artist
*
May Gilbert – printmaker and artist
*
Kate Hawkesby – television presenter and radio broadcaster
*
Hayley Holt – television presenter
*
Rowena Jackson MBE – ballerina and later artistic director of the
New Zealand Ballet Company
*
Yvonne Lawley – actress
*
Tianyi Lu – orchestral conductor
*
Marya Martin – flautist
*
Ingrun Helgard Moeckel – German model and Miss Germany winner
*
Hannah O'Neill – principal ballerina at the
Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...
*
Susan Moller Okin – feminist philosopher
*
Charlotte Piho – Cook Islands photographer
*
Wilma Smith – lead violinist in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
*
Freda Stark – dancer
*
Rima Te Wiata
Heather Rima Te Wiata (born 11 October 1963) is a British-born New Zealand singer, comedian and stage, film and television actress, who is also notable for her career in Australia, especially her long-running recurring role in soap opera ''Sons ...
– comedian and actress
*
Olivia Tennet – actress, dancer
*
Konai Helu Thaman – poet and academic
*
Karen Walker – fashion designer
*
Lois White – artist
*
Robin White (artist) – painter and printmaker
*
Dorothy Wills – architect
*
Jean Wishart – former editor of the
New Zealand Woman's Weekly
The ''New Zealand Woman's Weekly'' is a weekly New Zealand women's magazine published by Are Media. , it had a circulation of 82,040, third by paid sales after ''TV Guide'' and Are Media's ''New Zealand Woman's Day''.
History
On 8 December 1932 ...
Public service and law
*
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
– 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand and former administrator of the
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...
*
Miriam Dell – President, National Council of Women
*
Jeanette Fitzsimons
Jeanette Mary Fitzsimons (née Gaston; 17 January 1945 – 5 March 2020) was a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. She was the co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 1995 to 2009, and was a Member of Parliament from ...
– politician and former co-leader of the
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (), commonly known as Green or the Greens, is a Green politics, green List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. Like many green parties around the world, it has four pillar ...
*
Ngapare Hopa – Māori academic and former member of the
Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...
*
Dorothy Jelicich – Member of Parliament for (1972–1975)
*
Judith Potter – former High Court judge
*
Charmaine Pountney
Charmaine Grace Pountney is a New Zealand educator, rights activist, writer and orator.
Biography
Pountney attended Epsom Girls' Grammar School in Auckland from 1955 to 1959; in her final year, she was head girl and dux. After finishing high ...
– educator, rights activist
*
Alison Quentin-Baxter – constitutional lawyer
*
Marie Shroff – former Cabinet Secretary,
Privacy Commissioner and chair of the
New Zealand Electoral Commission
*
Suzanne Sinclair – Member of Parliament for Titirangi (1993–1996)
*
Chlöe Swarbrick
Chlöe Charlotte Swarbrick (born 26 June 1994) is a New Zealand politician. Following a high-profile but unsuccessful run for the 2016 Auckland mayoral election, she became a parliamentary candidate for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, ...
– politician and co-leader of the
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (), commonly known as Green or the Greens, is a Green politics, green List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. Like many green parties around the world, it has four pillar ...
*
Augusta Wallace – first woman appointed to the judiciary in New Zealand
Science
*
Viopapa Annandale-Atherton – doctor
*
Ruth Black – doctor
*
Elizabeth Brown (botanist) – bryologist
*
Joan Chapple – first New Zealand female plastic surgeon
*
Lucy Cranwell – botanist
*
Kirsten Finucane – paediatric heart surgeon, former Chief Surgeon of the Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Service at
Starship Hospital
*
Barbara Heslop – immunologist
*
Joan Metge – anthropologist
*
Louise Nicholson (academic) – neuroscientist
*
Brenda Shore – botanist
Sport
*
Vera Burt – professional cricketer and field hockey player
*
Suzy Dawson – rugby union coach and former member of the
Black Ferns
*
Taylor Flavell
Taylor Flavell (born 5 July 1994) is a New Zealand born Australian female squash player. She has been competing on the Professional Squash Association, PSA World Tour and achieved a highest singles career ranking of 91. Taylor placed third at ...
– professional squash player
*
Kylie Foy – Olympic field hockey player
*
Anna Green (footballer) – former association footballer
*
Winifred Griffin – Olympic swimmer
*
Andrea Hams – weightlifter and hurdler
*
Maggie Jenkins – New Zealand representative footballer
*
Elizabeth Lamb (athlete) – high jumper
*
Annalie Longo
Annalie Antonia Longo (born 1 July 1991) is a Former New Zealand professional footballer who played for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League Women and the New Zealand national team.
She has played for Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory in the ...
– International and professional footballer
*
Brigitta Lotu-Iiga
Brigitta B. Lotu-Iiga (born 9 February 1968) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. She made her debut for the New Zealand women's national side, the New Zealand women's national rugby union team, Black Ferns, on 2 May against Germany women ...
– former member of the
Black Ferns
*
Jan Martin – Olympic hockey player
*
Moana Manley – swimmer and Miss New Zealand winner
*
Hannah McLean – former competitive swimmer
*
Marnie McGuire – golfer
*
Phillis Meti – professional golfer
*
Melanie Hulme – softball player
*
Melissa Ingram – Olympic swimmer
*
Brenda Perry – tennis player and former director of the
ASB Classic (tennis)
*
Kayla Pratt – Olympic rower
*
Kim Robertson (athlete) – track and field sprinter
*
Francesca Snell – water polo player
*
Jean Spencer – Olympic gymnast
*
Sheryl Wells – former manager of the
New Zealand national netball team
The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns ( or ), represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Netball at the Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Games, the ...
*
Yvette Williams – first woman to win an Olympic gold medal for New Zealand
See also
*
List of schools in New Zealand
New Zealand has over 2,500 primary and secondary schools.
State schools and state integrated schools are primarily funded by the central government. Private schools receive a lower level of state funding (about 25% of their costs). See Secondary ...
References
External links
School website
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in 1917
Boarding schools in New Zealand
Girls' schools in New Zealand
Secondary schools in Auckland
1917 establishments in New Zealand
Albert-Eden Local Board Area