Congratulations to Year 10 Giselle den Breems who was a finalist and won a Rising Stars Highly Commended Arts Award, selected by a Weta Workshop panel led by director Paul Tobin and voted by the public.
The school is very proud of this achievement, especially her proud art teachers! To read more about this and other school news, please click here: https://takapuna.school.nz/notices/giselledenbreemsartsaward/
Sascha Letica wins lockdown Poetry Competition
On behalf of everyone here at TGS and the Poetry In Action organisation, we would like to congratulate Sascha Letica on being the recent winner of their lockdown poetry entry competition!
PIA were blown away by receiving hundreds of poem submissions from students across Australia, New Zealand and the United States and said "Sascha's poem really stood out to us. We were so impressed with your poem that as well as qualifying into the Top 10 Finalists it was selected as the WINNER of all the entries! Your words were very moving and incredibly powerful. We loved your imaginative use of imagery and metaphor to create a stunning piece. It transported us right there with you, watching the paint dry on our changing world." The Poetry in Action actors also created a short video reading of her poem which can be viewed here.
Keep up the great work, Sascha. Keep writing. Keep inspiring!
Sascha's entry:
WITH A STIFF HORSEHAIR BRUSH,
AND A MULTI-COLOURED ROLLER,
THE PAINT COATS THE WALL,
STRIPE BY STRIPE.
MIXING RED AND BLUE I GET PURPLE,
THE COLOUR OF MY DUVET COVER.
SWIRLING YELLOW AND RED I GET ORANGE,
THE COLOUR OF THE SUNSET FROM BEHIND MY GLASS WINDOWS.
THE PAINT STREAKS,
RUNNING DOWN LIKE TEARS ON A FACE,
CHANGING ONE THING TO ANOTHER.
AND THEN, ONCE THE BRUSHES HAVE BEEN WASHED AND CANS PACKED AWAY IN THE CUPBOARD THAT I RARELY OPEN,
I WATCH.
WATCH THE PAINT DRY,
WATCH THE COLOURS CHANGE,
AND WATCH MY WORLD CHANGE.
OUR WORLD HAS BEEN DOUSED IN A COLOUR THAT’S UNRECOGNISED,
A COLOUR THAT’S MADE US ALL SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE.
NOW, TRAPPED IN OUR HOUSES,
WE MUST WATCH OUR PAINTED WORLD DRY,
SEE WHAT IT BECOMES,
JUST AS I DO TO MY WALLS.
Sascha Letica, Takapuna Grammar School
To read more about this and other school news, please click here: https://takapuna.school.nz/notices/saschaleticapoetrycomp/
Performing Arts Department looking to finish on a high note
When audiences can return to school our Level 3 Musical Theatre class is ready to perform their class production, Ghost the Musical: School Edition. Based on the hit '90s Hollywood film this production includes a live band, professional lighting set-up and an emotional story.
They had just completed a successful full dress rehearsal of the show when the Prime Minister's announcement of a second Auckland lockdown last month was released. The TGS Orchestra had fun on the day before the second lockdown filming a quirky "behind-the-scenes" video for an online version of the KBB Music Festival. This group loves rehearsing together on a Tuesday afternoon and will be filming their concert repertoire for the same online event.
To read more about this and other TGS Performing Arts news, please click here: https://www.facebook.com/TGSPerformingArts
TGS wins Boys Auckland Indoor Ultimate Frisbee Tournament
Takapuna Grammar School has just been crowned the Auckland Indoor Ultimate Frisbee Boys Champions for 2020! The boys team consisted of Lomano Crichton, Noah Tu’isila, Aiden Kerr, Julian Ng, Matthew Boniface, Finn Barnes, Chris Williams and is coached by Evan Barnes.
The team beat Westlake Boys in the semi finals with a one point win in overtime. They then went on to challenge Auckland Grammar in the final (who have won this event four years in a row). After scoring the first point they continued to keep a one point lead after the score would go back and forth ending in an 8- 6 win.
Our girls A team also did very well placing third in Auckland and the girls B team also came third in division B. The girls have a new coach this year in Tanith Carroll, who has many years of top-class Ultimate Frisbee.
TGS Ultimate Frisbee is a fast growing sport at the school. Many students arrive not knowing much about it but learn the game through school PE classes. We are very happy to see it growing and thriving here at TGS!
To read more about this and other school news, please click here: https://takapuna.school.nz/notices/ultimatefrisbee/
Girls 1st XI wins Auckland Cricket Competition
For the first time in it's 93 year history a Takapuna Grammar team has won an Auckland Premier cricket championship and the right to represent the Auckland region at the National Tournament.
After a couple years with no girls cricket team, in 2016 a girls 1st XI was re-established. The oldest players in the team of 2020 made up the majority of the 2016 team and were in only year 9 at the time.
This year the competition came to an abrupt end due to Covid after one complete round of the scheduled two. The competition rules dictated a formula to be used to calculate the winning team out of the three schools who were tied on points when the competition ended. This formula gave Takapuna Grammar the crown over two strong girls-only schools, Baradene and Epsom Girls Grammar, who were last year's national championship winners.
The national tournament will be held in Palmerston North from December 11-13, where the six regional winners compete. A number of the current Takapuna Grammar team were in the Belmont Intermediate team that achieved a silver medal at the Primary School national tournament in 2015 so are looking to equal or better this result.
In an early August breakfast at school the girls were presented with medals for winning both the Auckland Premier competition and the Gillette Venus Cup qualification to represent Auckland at the national competition by their coach, Johan Kirstein. Principal Mary Nixon presented the cup to team captain Anna Browning, Mary spoke of her pride in the team and what a legacy they have created for future girls coming to Takapuna Grammar. Director of Cricket, Michael Tillett and Chair of the cricket committee, Maria Clarke, also spoke to the team. Boosting the girls' goal for gold is the construction of an indoor cricket net facility at the school; this will provide an all-weather training facility to enable certainty around training. This facility will be a fantastic addition to the Takapuna Grammar Cricket programme for boys and girls for years to come.
To read more about this and other TGS Cricket news, please click here: https://www.facebook.com/190876197642438/photos/a.668462666550453/3357609510969075/
Former students graduate from Victoria University of Wellington
TGS is delighted to congratulate this list of our former pupils who have graduated from Victoria University between June 2019 and May 2020. Please join us in celebrating these students’ wonderful success.
2020 has turned out to be a challenging year for all of us including universities. Due to lockdown #1 they were unable to hold their usual graduation ceremonies in May. However, all those due to graduate at that time had their degrees conferred in absentia. Happily, Victoria University has been able to reschedule ceremonies and those who wish to will hopefully be able to walk across the stage in September.
The school is very proud of the achievements of these students and encourage the class of 2020 to continue to set their life goals and go out and achieve them even when they have finished their final year here at TGS.
To read more about this and other school news, please click here: https://takapuna.school.nz/notices/
