Birkdale, New Zealand

Birkdale is a suburb of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area located in New Zealand. Originally called Parkview, comprising the area from Balmain Rd to the Birkdale (now Beach Haven) wharf, it was renamed Birkdale at a meeting of the Birkenhead Borough Council in 1889, after the suburb of Birkenhead in England of the same name. It now comprises statistical area units such as 'Birkdale North' and 'Birkdale South'. The suburb is located in the North Shore, and is under the governance of Auckland Council.

Demographics
Birkdale covers 2.90 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Before the 2023 census, Birkdale had a smaller boundary, covering 2.80 km2. Using that boundary, Birkdale had a population of 8,898 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 561 people (6.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,002 people (12.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,856 households, comprising 4,392 males and 4,506 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female, with 1,932 people (21.7%) aged under 15 years, 1,956 (22.0%) aged 15 to 29, 4,242 (47.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 771 (8.7%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 65.2% European/Pākehā, 13.1% Māori, 9.7% Pacific peoples, 22.2% Asian, and 5.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 39.3, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 49.4% had no religion, 36.9% were Christian, 0.5% had Māori religious beliefs, 2.5% were Hindu, 2.0% were Muslim, 1.3% were Buddhist and 2.3% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,202 (31.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 828 (11.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,455 people (20.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 4,143 (59.5%) people were employed full-time, 906 (13.0%) were part-time, and 237 (3.4%) were unemployed.

Education
Birkenhead College is a secondary (Years 9–13) school with a roll of students. The school began as Birkdale College, opening in 1972. The name of the college was changed in 1988. The college has a proud history of producing educators, engineers, scientists and creative artists. Notable alumni include All Whites Duncan Cole and Bill Tuiloma, round-the-world sailor Don Wright, singer Kim Willoughby, gymnast Tania Jack, children's author Sally Sutton and comedian Melanie Bracewell. In 2020, Birkenhead College was named a top-10 school for Art by Metro magazine. Due to Covid disruptions, the Golden Jubilee celebrations were delayed, and took place in 2023.

Birkdale Intermediate is an intermediate (years 7–8) school with a roll of 429 as of July 2022. Contributing local primary schools are Beach Haven, Birkdale, Birkdale North, Kauri Park and Verran.

Birkdale North School and Birkdale Primary School are primary (years 1–6) schools with rolls of and, respectively.

Birkdale Primary was established in 1894. In 1892, Birkdale parents asked for a school for their 49 children. The Northcote and Mayfield School Committee denied their request. As a result, 20 school age children in the Birkdale area were not receiving an education. In 1894, the Loan and Mortgage Company offered the school site to the Education Board. Local residents prepared the site and a single classroom was built, at the cost of 109 pounds, opening on October 1. The roll was 32 pupils and 1 teacher, a Miss Rosanna Brown. With a growing roll, another room was added to the classroom building in 1895. In 1897, a large house was transported from Matakana to the school site as accommodation for the first principal, Mr Julian Brook. The school badge/logo has had a strawberry leaf in it since it first opened, reflecting the role students played as strawberry pickers for local growers. Today, Birkdale Primary has both English and Maori immersion units. The Maori immersion unit,Te Puāwaitanga, was established in 1986. It was the first such unit on the North Shore.The oldest building on the site is Durham Hall, which was originally a classroom built in 1940. It was named in honour of life-long Salisbury Rd resident Glady Durham, a past-pupil of the school, long serving board member, and occasional driver of buses taking Birkdale Primary students to camps or day events. The hall was given historical protection by the North Shore City Council.

Kauri Park School was originally called Birkdale West School. Verran Primary was first mooted as Birkdale East School.

All of these schools are coeducational. All rolls except for Birkdale Intermediate are as of