Epsom Girls' Grammar School

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, 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.^[3][4] She succeeds a long line of distinguished educators such as Margaret Bendall and Marjory Adams.^[5]

Epsom Girls Grammar School was established through an endowment of land in 1850 and officially opened on 12 February 1917 with 174 students.^[6] 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."^[6]

Boarding facilities are provided on-site at Epsom House, providing full accommodation for 150 students from overseas and rural New Zealand.^[7]

The Old Girls Association was established in 1921, and holds a number of events each year for alumnae.^[8]

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 data of the five-year average of university entrance attainment).^[9]

Property prices in the Epsom Girls Grammar School and Auckland Grammar School 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).^[10] 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.^[11]

As of October 2025, Epsom Girls' Grammar School has a roll of 2,292 students, of which 240 (10.5%) identify as Māori.^[2]

As of 2026, the school has an Equity Index of 402,^[12] placing it amongst schools whose students have the fewest socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 9 and 10 under the former socio-economic decile system).^[13]

• Annie Christina Morrison 1917–1929^[14]
• Agnes L. Laudon 1930–1947^[15]
• Margaret G. Johnston 1948–1952^[16]
• Marjory F.E. Adams 1953–1970^[17]
• Alisa M. Blakey 1970–1979^[18]
• Gaewyn E. Griffiths 1979–1988^[19][20]
• Verna E. Dowdle 1988–1996
• Margaret A. Bendall 1996–2004
• Annette Sharp 2005–2008^[21]
• Madeline J. Gunn 2008–2016^[22]
• Lorraine Pound 2016–2023^[23]
• Brenda McNaughton 2024–present^[24]

Media and the arts

• Deidre Airey – ceramic artist
• Petra Bagust – television presenter^[25]
• Ruth Castle – weaver
• Chaii – rapper and songwriter
• Angela D'Audney – television news anchor^[26]
• Jude Dobson – television presenter
• Eve de Castro-Robinson – composer^[27]
• Hinemoa Elder – youth forensic psychiatrist and former television presenter^[28]
• Kate Elliott (actress) – television and film actress^[29]
• Tui Flower – food writer
• Rosalie Gascoigne – sculptor and artist^[30]
• May Gilbert – printmaker and artist
• Kate Hawkesby – television presenter and radio broadcaster
• Hayley Holt – television presenter^[31]
• Rowena Jackson MBE – ballerina and later artistic director of the New Zealand Ballet Company
• Florence Myrtle Keene – historian and author
• Yvonne Lawley – actress^[32]
• Tianyi Lu – orchestral conductor^[33]
• Marya Martin – flautist^[25]
• Ingrun Helgard Moeckel – German model and Miss Germany winner
• Hannah O'Neill – principal ballerina at the Paris Opera Ballet^[34]
• Susan Moller Okin – feminist philosopher
• Charlotte Piho – Cook Islands photographer
• Wilma Smith – lead violinist in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
• Freda Stark – dancer^[35]
• Rima Te Wiata – comedian and actress^[36]
• Olivia Tennet – actress, dancer
• Konai Helu Thaman – poet and academic
• Karen Walker – fashion designer^[37]
• Lois White – artist
• Robin White (artist) – painter and printmaker^[38]
• Dorothy Wills – architect
• Jean Wishart – former editor of the New Zealand Woman's Weekly

Public service and law

• Helen Clark – 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme^[39]
• Miriam Dell – President, National Council of Women^[25]
• Jeanette Fitzsimons – politician and former co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
• Ngapare Hopa – Māori academic and former member of the Waitangi Tribunal
• Dorothy Jelicich – Member of Parliament for Hamilton West (1972–1975)
• Judith Potter – former High Court judge
• Charmaine Pountney – 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 – politician and co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
• 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^[25]
• 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 – professional squash player
• Kylie Foy – Olympic field hockey player^[29]
• Anna Green (footballer) – former association footballer^[29]
• Winifred Griffin – Olympic swimmer^[29]
• Andrea Hams – weightlifter and hurdler^[29]
• Maggie Jenkins – New Zealand representative footballer
• Elizabeth Lamb (athlete) – high jumper^[40]
• Annalie Longo – International and professional footballer
• Brigitta Lotu-Iiga – former member of the Black Ferns
• Jan Martin – Olympic hockey player^[29]
• Moana Manley – swimmer and Miss New Zealand winner
• Hannah McLean – former competitive swimmer
• Marnie McGuire – golfer^[41]
• Phillis Meti – professional golfer
• Melanie Hulme – softball player^[29]
• Melissa Ingram – Olympic swimmer^[42]
• Brenda Perry – tennis player and former director of the ASB Classic (tennis)^[43]
• Kayla Pratt – Olympic rower^[44]
• Kim Robertson (athlete) – track and field sprinter
• Francesca Snell – water polo player^[45]
• Jean Spencer – Olympic gymnast
• Sheryl Wells – former manager of the New Zealand national netball team^[29]
• Yvette Williams – first woman to win an Olympic gold medal for New Zealand^[46]

• List of schools in New Zealand

• School website
• Education Review Office 2006 Report