Takapuna Grammar Winter Has Started!

Isla Sweetman Tackles Blake Inspire Programme

Winter sports have started this term with over 1100 students taking part in multiple team sports with many sports having an increase in numbers. Some of our bigger team sports include 110 students playing hockey, 140 rugby, 194 basketball, 199 netball and 260 playing football. We also have teams competing in badminton, squash, table tennis and junior water polo as well as cyclists and archers. Some early season highlights include our Boys hockey 1st XI defeating Mt Albert Grammar 2-0 to retain their place in the top Auckland Grade for the winter and our Girls Premier basketball team defeating Carmel College to gain promotion to the top Auckland grade. The Boys 1st XI football will be aiming to better their semi-final place in the knockout cup from last year, they started their campaign with a 12-0 victory against One Tree Hill College. The 1st XV rugby team have started their season with two decisive wins, 39-14 away over Rangitoto College and 45-3 at home against Manurewa.

Some recent individual successes include Halena Kearns competed in the NZ Kayak Sprint Nationals picking up a bronze and two silvers and Chen Chen Wang also winning a bronze and two silvers at the NZ Karate open and being selected to represent New Zealand at the Oceania championships this month.

Year 12 student Isla Sweetman was selected from students across the country to take part in the environmental leadership programme, Blake Inspire, over the school holidays. She describes her experiences below.

“Blake Inspire was an incredible experience! Set up by the Sir Peter Blake Foundation, the organisation aims to connect young leaders from all around NZ, who are passionate about the environment, with other like-minded youth.

“At the start of our five-day trip, when we first arrived in the Waikato, none of us knew one another. However, after some icebreaker activities which ended with most of us falling into the Waikato River, we soon did. Highlights were kayaking through Raglan Harbour, finding tuatara in the wild, water-testing streams, ziplining over the Rotorua ancient canopies, and much more.”