Peggy Panoho

Executive Officer

peggyp@thegardens.school.nz

PEGGY PANOHO
Executive Officer
I was born under a wandering star…well an extremely bright supa nova at the very
least…a long time ago in Wellington with ancestral connections to Tuwharetoa (Taupo
area) & Ngai Tahu (South Island) & a Maltese paternal great-grandfather thrown in for
good measure. Whilst still a baby, I was given to Ben & Meri Taka, a Maori couple who
couldn’t have children. They lived in Whakatane & went on to ‘whangai’ (nurture/look
after) four other tamariki from different tribal backgrounds including one of my
brothers who hails from Salamumu, Samoa. My dad was a Presbyterian Minister (my
mum being ordained in 1978 as the first Maori woman Presbyterian Minister) & we
shifted to Auckland in the early ‘70s settling in a church house in Mt Eden. I recall all
of us kids always singing in support of my parents’ work & with so many of us we were
like the Maori Osmonds (yes, I did see myself as ‘Marie’ with similar looks & singing
voice). I went to Mt Eden Normal School & Mt Eden Normal Intermediate & spent my
3rd form at Epsom Girls Grammar School, my siblings taunting me with “Pegs goes to
EGGS!” all the time. Alas my French & Latin were not the best (that’s the reason my
mum gave me) so I was packed me off to Turakina Maori Girls College in Marton. A bit
of a culture shock for me being out in the wop-wops with numerous requests home for
food-parcels (milk biscuits were my fav), addressing letters to myself just so my name
could get called out at dinner time, & having Matrons who worked as nurses at nearby
Lake Alice Hospital (for the mentally ill) looking after us, calling our dormitories ‘wards’
& wanting to give us tablets all the time! In my 6th Form year I went to Rangitikei
College. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at boarding school with many wonderful
experiences including meeting my birth parents at the age of 15 whilst on a promotional
tour of a choral record we’d released – wow, more Whanau to be part of! Once I
finished school I went on to Manukau Tech to do a one-year secretarial course, Andrea
Hewes our Admin. Assistant attended the same one (she hung out with all the cool
people, I hung out with whoever had money for the cafeteria). This led me to my first
job as a secretary for the Dept. of Maori Affairs in Manukau. After five years or so I
left for a tourism company that focussed on German inbound travel – I was often asked
whether I was a Maori Maiden “Yes I am, MADE IN New Zealand!”. After numerous
years as a secretary for NZ Police HQ, then five years at Manurewa South School, I
came to The Gardens School in August 2002 & here I am - extremely fortunate to be
in a job I love, working with awesome people & meeting many wonderful children & their
families. I live at Clarks Beach with hubby & four kids & say “Kia Ora!” to you all.