Peninsula Primary

Grant Hope-Ede

Principal, Peninsula Primary

Grant grew up on the North Shore and attended Northcote Primary, Northcote Intermediate and Westlake Boys High. From school he went to ATI as it was then to study architectural design and was led into structural engineering. “At the commencement of a year when I had to go and re-enrol I noticed a recruitment drive for school teachers and after enquiry I filled out the necessary forms and ended up at North Shore Teachers College!” Grant’s first school was Glen Taylor Primary School in Glendowie and then he was ‘posted’ to Meremere Primary where he stayed for three years. “I then had another three years at Pukekohe North School and then a very exciting job, running a special unit at Viscount Primary School (Mangere) for three years.” From Viscount Grant moved to Northcote Intermediate, starting as a senior teacher and progressed to acting deputy principal before coming to Peninsula Primary in 1991 where he was deputy principal and acting principal at various times until late last year when he was appointed principal. Through the time Grant played soccer for Takapuna AFC, and national league soccer for Blockhouse Bay. A musician, Grant teaches music an hour a day at school and maintains the school’s high standard in the annual Lewis Eady Junior Music Contests (in which the school participated in late August.) Grant plays the mandolin and plays an important role in the Auckland Mandolin Ensemble. “We have a lovely school and a dynamic and warmly supportive community. We have everything you’d expect at this school; excellent staff, we swim all year round in our heated pool, we have a great Kapa Haka group, an arts intensive, a delightful clubs programme and a nice little niche of gifted and talented children.”