A visit to the Open Day at Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom — widely regarded as the top-performing girls’ school in New Zealand.
I attended the Open Day at Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom.
The campus immediately makes a strong impression: immaculate grounds, landscaped gardens, and buildings maintained to an exceptionally high standard. Everything speaks of care, investment, and pride.
The young women guiding visitors through the school were themselves beautifully presented — poised, courteous and confident.
No wonder parents and grandparents from many backgrounds hope their daughters might one day attend this school.
At the heart of the campus stands St Barnabas’ Chapel, with its white wooden exterior, dark shingle roof and a timber belfry nearby.
In front of the chapel stands a white statue of Jesus, surrounded by gardens.
Behind it sits the original School House, a large nineteenth-century timber villa built in the 1880s as the residence of the Anglican Bishop of Auckland and later becoming the first building of the school when it was founded in 1903.
Together these buildings reflect the English, European and Christian heritage from which the school grew.
This part of the campus even has its own resident character — Ollie, a black-and-white tabby cat who appears perfectly at home among the historic buildings.
Opening Talks in the Performing Arts Centre
The Open Day began in the Performing Arts Centre, where visitors — mostly parents and grandparents hoping to send their daughters to the school — gathered for the introductory presentation.
The speakers were Principal Heather McRae, Head of Senior School Margaret van Muilen, and the 2026 Head Girl, Ruby Walker.
As I listened, I was particularly attentive to certain words: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tikanga Māori, Mātauranga Māori and Waiora. These themes were indeed mentioned. The school’s wellbeing programme, for example, is called Waiora.
The principal explained that the school gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, using the Māori wording Te Tiriti, and referred to guidance connected with UNDRIP.
During the presentation the following slide appeared.
The Dio Difference
• Ethics
• Leadership
• Identity
• Digital Creativity and Innovation
• Dio Shrub Record Label
• Enterprise and Entrepreneur Programme
• Mātauranga Māori
But the real Dio Difference is you!
Another slide appeared.
Outstanding Achievements
In 2025 our NCEA results were outstanding.
Level 2
100% passed (71% national)
34% endorsed at Merit (25.5% national)
59.2% endorsed at Excellence (15.1% national)
Level 3
100% passed (66% national)
47% endorsed at Merit (26.6% national)
41% endorsed at Excellence (14.1% national)
A slide comparing independent schools across New Zealand showed Diocesan School for Girls achieving 31.4% Merit and 70.3% Excellence at NCEA Level 2, compared with 26% Merit and 15% Excellence nationally.
One thing I noticed, however, was that during the entire presentation — despite the school being an Anglican Christian school — the words Jesus, Christ, Christian, Anglican and even God were not mentioned.
The only visible reminder of the school’s religious character at that stage was the quiet presence of the school chaplain standing to one side.
The final speaker was Head Girl Ruby Walker, who began with her pepeha in fluent te reo Māori before continuing in English.
She spoke about the difference between fitting in and belonging with remarkable confidence and composure.
At seventeen years of age, I certainly could not have spoken to an auditorium full of hopeful parents, grandparents and their daughters with the same authority.
Ruby Walker is, we were told, a great-granddaughter of Ranginui Walker, the Māori scholar and commentator.
In Māori culture, ancestry and whakapapa are often acknowledged publicly and spoken of with pride.
That sits somewhat differently beside the ideals of a democratic society, where a person’s standing is usually understood to rest on her own achievements rather than those of her ancestors.
Ruby herself is clearly a high achiever. Yet she is also one among many.
The school reported that the 2025 graduating class received more than $2 million in university scholarships.
Guided Tour with Mira
After the presentations we were assigned a student guide — a Year 10 student whom I will call Mira to protect her identity.
Mira carried herself with poise and elegance and a maturity beyond her years.
Her blazer displayed a cluster of badges earned through school activities and service. She explained that the first badge could be earned through community service in Year 8, and that students could accumulate more over time through participation in different areas of school life.
She explained that the subjects are now called Food Tech, Digi-tech and Textile Tech. The old terms sewing and cooking are no longer in vogue.
During the tour she showed us the technology classrooms, the performing arts centre, the swimming complex, the sports stadium, the sports fields, the preschool and the junior school.
When we stepped into the art room, one detail stood out immediately: there was not a stray paint mark anywhere on the walls or floor.
Student work was carefully displayed for visitors.
As we walked, our conversation turned to identity.
Although she appeared Indian to me, Mira said she simply identified as a New Zealander.
Her family had been in New Zealand for more than a century, and her ancestry included Fijian, Indian, Singaporean, American and British heritage.
At one point I asked her directly whether the Head Girl is usually someone who identifies as Māori.
Mira replied that she had wondered the same thing herself.
She told me that four of the last five Head Girls had identified as Māori, while the fifth as Pasifika. Earlier, she said, the role had often gone to white girls.
She added that the Head Girl is usually chosen not only for academic achievement but also for broad participation across sport, the arts and leadership.
Listening to this, I could not help reflecting that the great majority of students at the school appear to be European or Asian.
Yet according to Mira, four of the last five Head Girls had identified as Māori and the fifth as Pasifika.
What I heard from Mira reflects a student’s perception.
But that perception itself is a sad indictment on the school.
Conversation with the Chaplain
After thanking Mira for the tour, we walked over to the chapel where the school chaplain was speaking with visitors.
Mira had introduced her simply as “Rev Rob”.
Her full name is the Reverend Sandy Robertson, the Anglican priest who serves as chaplain to the school.
During our conversation she mentioned that she is the “only remaining” female chaplain among Auckland’s independent Anglican schools.
The other schools — Dilworth and King’s College — currently have male chaplains.
She also explained that the chaplains from these schools attend St George’s Anglican Church in Epsom for Sunday worship.
Interestingly, she noted that at St George’s both wine and grape juice are offered for Holy Communion, whereas Anglican children have been receiving Communion wine for the past 500 years.
At the school itself, however, only the wafer is offered.
We also spoke about Matariki.
For the past four years the school community has gathered early in the morning on the summit of Mount Eden.
Students, staff and families attend together and say karakia addressed to one God, not to the nine Matariki atua.
The chaplain described the gathering as “big and popular”.
She described Matariki as a family event remembering those who have gone before us and marking the end of winter and the coming of spring.
She explained that while the Māori department teaches the stories of the nine Matariki atua, these are taught as cultural history rather than as religious practice.
How Diocesan School for Girls Gives Effect to Te Tiriti
From what I observed, three things appear clear.
Mātauranga Māori is taught for four consecutive years and includes Te Tiriti each year.
Social Studies is also taught for four consecutive years and includes Te Tiriti each year.
In other words, Te Tiriti appears in the curriculum eight times across four years. As Mira put it, by then the girls know it “off by heart” and, in her words, “it’s a bit much”.
In recent years the Head Girl positions have been held by students who identify as Māori or Pasifika in an all-girls school that is more than 99% European and Asian.
Go figure.
Postscript
After leaving the school I thought it would be sensible to check two things that came up during the tour: the recent Head Girls and the school’s ethnicity statistics.
The names publicly listed by the school are:
2026 — Ruby Walker
2025 — Lotosina Tavui
2024 — Edith Li
2023 — Aniva Clarke
2022 — Emma Parton
I also checked publicly available roll data for the school. According to the Education Review Office (ERO) review of Diocesan School for Girls in May 2021, the ethnic composition of the school roll was approximately 59% New Zealand European/Pākehā, 31% Asian, 0.5% Māori, and 0.2% Pacific.
References
Education Review Office — Diocesan School for Girls
https://ero.govt.nz/institution/67/diocesan-school-for-girls�
Wikipedia — Diocesan School for Girls (Auckland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocesan_School_for_Girls,_Auckland�
Judy Gill BSc, DipTchg, is a parent, former teacher, and a staunch advocate for secular education.
15 comments:
You didn't hear the word "weave"? Yes, Te Tiriti must be taught every year, K-7th form, every year at polytechnic or uni, then all NZ residents must take annual refresher courses as the treaty is a living document and evolves (and becomes wiser) each year as it ages.
Conclusion: infiltration and / or social engineering succeed?
PS to Anon at 9.12am: the Diocesan School Board must be fully behind this policy.
To Anon at 6.40am:
To complete your comment on Te Tiriti "..... as it ages and moves towards total financial control of the NZ economy by Maori by 2040."
Thank you Judy for your excellent account of a day at 'Dio'. What a wonderful school - except for the embarrassing omission of anything Christian, and the somewhat laboured emphasis on a superficial layer of Maoritanga. I wonder who determines this -um- artifice? My vision of strong, intelligent, thinking women wavers.
That is nothing. Everyone knows how english christchurch is right? If i look up my old state school of Linwood High School, it has now had a complete name change. It is now called Te Atatai College, which is fine i suppose because it is just a state school. Then you loiok up Christ's College which is based on Eton and is an extrenely elite private school for boys. Google says the college is actively engaging with it's obligations under te tiriti and has complusary courses in te ao maori for all students. . Founded in 1850 the school is undergoing a curriculum refresh to align it's understanding of aotearoa's history. As an anglican school it operates under the Anglican Church of Aotearoa nz and polynesia which strongly emphasises commitment to te tiriti o waitangi. All the other private schools are the same. Currently chrust college has 7% of students who identify as maori.
A Christchurch Anglican school has adopted much the same which I find abhorrent. It beggars belief that this is occurring and the settlers who founded these schools would ‘turn in their graves.’ Money talks however and these private schools are reliant on Government funding, so I assume this is the ‘price paid ‘ for such. The education sector is riddled with ‘left leaning ‘ personnel, indoctrinating our young people starting at pre school.
Heard today that some schools are teaching Maori studies for 12.5 hours per week.
Thats an obvious indoctrination method, setting g this kids up to fail in the real world.
In the real world they will be competing with kids who have studied useful things like maths, real science, and English.
Yes, thanks for the insight Judy. It doesn't really surprise me given the takeover that's now in full flight but, I still do wonder, what understanding and therefore 'effect' of the Treaty, these kids are actually fed?
I'm prepared to wager it's not: Maori ceded sovereignty (i.e. the elected Government makes and enforces the rules we all are to live by); Maori have full rights to their ownership and control of their possessions (just like everyone else); and, that Maori have equal citizenship with all its privileges and obligations.
Naturally, the Treaty doesn't provide that Maori Corporations pay a reduced rate of tax, and whenever one identifies as "Maori", they are to be accorded 'special' provisions that give rights and benefits no other citizen of New Zealand enjoys - so none of that will be mentioned, much less taught.
This is the march through the institutions that Erica Stanford has no problem with. She was highly derogatory towards those NZers who took exception of her non-removal of an easy to discard and unnecessary treaty-related clause some months back. Bottom line is that National is ok with this cr*p being rammed down NZ kids’ throats. NZ is being screwed over by this govt almost as much as the last Labour govt. National is truly the purple party - as much red as blue.
Judy, thank you. An insightful account. No surprise to me. The Anglican church, [but for a few trad exceptions I will not name], has simply lost itself in terms of Christianity. It is now a wing of the Labour pardy.... such that Election nights are celebrated boose-ups inside St Matthews in the City.... and wokery is Rainbow everywhere. No surprise Christianity is sidelined at Dio.... the Chaplain has forgotten it.
The more the intellectually arrogant self-righteous try to change the world for what they think is best for the rest, unintended consequences is inevitability the end result.
Anon 6.11 I think she was pointing out that the fact that maorification is being pushed onto kids who don't have maori as their culture. There are special schools for maori kids that want a te reo based education already so why aren't christian schools also allowed that? Plus te tiriti is a false interpretation of nz history that children are now being taught as fact. If we look across the ditch, you do not see australian kids all saying aboriginal prayers at their school assemblies or being taught to see the aboriginal culture as their own.
In south africa it is compulsary for kids to all learn english, afrikaans and zulu. But the language only. Not the spiritual side. It is more for practical reasons as these are the three main languages spoken. You would never see for exmple
an english or afrikaans kid being told to dress in zulu national costume, do a zulu dance or think in the spiritual way that the zulu people do. It is indoctrination here.
Actually, Zulu is only 1 of the 9 recognised indigenous official languages (Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu). Zulu is spoken as a mother tongue in Kwazulu-Natal and in Zulu enclaves in a couple of other provinces. South African language policy at lower primary level is to focus mainly on the mother tongue (one of the 9) for literacy acquisition but by mid-primary at least one of the non-indigenous official languages (English and Afrikaans) is added. Social mobility relies heavily on mastery of English in RSA.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.