International qualifications
Young New Zealanders' Challenge
We have a very active group of young ladies aged 14 to 18 taking part in the Young New Zealander's Challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh award. The challenge is a voluntary, non competitive program of leisure activities, designed to offer a personal and individual challenge to each girl who decide to take part.
We run a training camp at the start of each year with the help of the Kiwi Adventure Company in Ahururi for all participants from Bronze level up to Gold level. This camp gives the girls the skills needed to participate in the expedition part of the challenge which usually involves tramping all over the Hawke's Bay area and even further afield.
The expeditions combined with the skill, service and physical recreation ensure the participants become well balanced and caring girls the school can be proud of!
Australian Mathematics Competition
The Australian Maths Competition is run in early August of every year. It is an Australasian competition that incorporates Australia, New Zealand, Asia and some of the Pacific Islands. Girls from Year 9 through to Year 13 can enter. The competition consists of 25 Multiple-choice questions and 5 extended response questions, which the girls have 75 minutes to work through. The questions are set in real life contexts but are not related to the New Zealand Curriculum.
Australian English Competition
ICAS is an initiative of Educational Assessment Australia (EAA). EAA is a not for profit organisation owned by the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
ICAS provides an opportunity for all students to gain a measure of their own achievement in an external assessment situation. All students receive a certificate and an individual student report indicating which questions they answered correctly, their total score as well as their average compared with the rest of the students in New Zealand.
Certificates are awarded for each year level in New Zealand as follows:
- High Distinction to the top 1% of entrants
- Distinction to the next 10% of entrants
- Credit to the next 20% of entrants
- Participation to all other participating students.
The Writing Competition assesses students' ability to write an extended response to a given task. Students may be asked to develop an aspect of narrative writing, such as a character description or a conclusion to a short story, or types of arguments such as expositions, discussions or reviews.
Young Enterprise
Year 12 and 13 students can take part in the Young Enterprise programme as an extra-curricular activity or alternatively Year 13 students may choose to take Business Studies as part of their Level 3 programme. As part of this programme students take part in the regional and national competitions available, striving for prizes available to both themselves and the school.
Young Enterprise involves students in establishing their own company, complete with directors and share capital. They develop a product or service, incorporating market research, and complete a business plan. They then arrange the cost effective production of their product or service and sell in ‘real world' markets. At the end of their trading activities they prepare an Annual Report and conduct winding up activities that include submission of a tax return to Young Enterprise Trust and distribution of final dividends and capital.
In 2007 Napier Girls' High School company, Altitude, won the national ASB prize for best financial management for the company. Altitude produced and sold stilts. In 2008 NGHS 008 Garter Girls won the regional award for innovation. 008 Garter Girls produced leg garters that could hold a cellphone (for use under a ball dress).