How long have you been an educator, and where did you train?
I’ve been an educator long enough that the children of my first class are in the same year 12 class as my middle child! I taught my first class in 1997.
When did you become principal of Bucklands Beach Primary School?
I had the pleasure of becoming principal in 2017.
What’s the best thing about being an educator and principal?
Working with our most precious resource in Aotearoa, our tamariki. We get to watch them learn educationally, socially, learn about themselves and help them find their unique talent or passion and be proud of themselves. Every day is different. If I’m feeling stressed, I go and hang out with the five-year-olds who always want a cuddle or give lots of compliments. If I need to laugh, or some honest feedback on something we’re doing, I’ll head to the other end of the school.
What’s special about Bucklands Beach Primary School?
We have wonderful staff who are like a family, who are also happy to learn, adapt and are a very special multicultural community. We’re innovative, using research as our base and work on a model developed in the hi-tech high schools in America, where all learning is centred around authentic projects that serve either the school or wider community. This is really motivating for our students and in a selfie world, teaches our students how important it is to contribute to the bigger picture, to make life better for everybody, whether that be people or the environment. I’m very proud of the amazing learning that happens in our school. Students often surprise us with what they have learned along the way.
Is there anything you’d like improved in the education/school management sector?
Funding primary schools, so we’re not trying to fundraise, get grants and find other ways to make our school run well, while trying to focus on our core business of teaching and learning. As long as I have been in management, the one thing we have asked for is money to meet the needs of all students, or much smaller class sizes to allow teachers to do this effectively. This includes having access to people available like counsellors, psychologists and teacher aides. The current model is slow to access and has a medical model approach, assuming that students will be ‘fixed’ after a 12-week intervention, when often their brains just work differently and so accommodations need to be made for the student and supports put in place until the student no longer requires them.
How is the relationship between Bucklands Beach Primary School and its immediate local community?
We have a very supportive multicultural community. Recently, we had an international evening, with parents cooking and selling their traditional food. Groups of students worked with teachers to prepare items from different cultures. The performances ended with a wonderful dragon dance featuring one of our pupils. Ex-pupils came back to visit and update us on what they were up to, as well as to enjoy the celebration. We open the school at the end of most terms for students to share their learning, and we have parents, grandparents, and other family walking around the school with their children to celebrate the term.
