With Steve Hargreaves, Macleans College
- How long have you been an educator, and where did you train?
I started teaching at Otahuhu College in 1998 after a short career working for Telecom and SC Johnson. My degree is in business economics from Waikato University and my teacher training was at Auckland University.
- When did you become principal of Macleans College?
In 2018, after three years as principal at Wesley College. I had been at Macleans for 13 years prior to that.
- What’s the best thing about being an educator and principal?
Working with conscientious and dedicated staff and interacting with students. Young people have energy and optimism which makes them very motivating to be around. One of our retiring teachers said that being a teacher you get to touch the future. Teaching is a very rewarding job.
- What’s special about Macleans College?
Macleans is a world-class school. I had a sabbatical this year and visited schools overseas. Our academic programme, facilities, extracurricular offering, and school tone are as good as any I saw overseas. The Whanau House system that is unique to Macleans plays a huge part in our success. The Whanau House fosters a strong sense of belonging and pastoral care and that leads to student success. The talent at Macleans is amazing – staff and students. We have students that excel at national and international level in sports, performing and creative arts, and of course academically. Macleans’ reputation means we attract high quality staff. And our setting in Macleans Park overlooking Eastern Beach is pretty special.
- Is there anything you’d like improved in the education / school management sector?
I mentioned earlier I’ve been on sabbatical. I got to discuss schooling systems with principals from about 10 different countries. The New Zealand system stacks up pretty well. We have a focus on holistic education that includes broad subject choice, extracurricular activities, counselling support, leadership opportunities and much more. Schools can respond to their community’s needs with some autonomy. Our schools are designed for students to be active and have areas to play. Many countries would be envious of those features of our system. However, we need cross-party agreement on some fundamentals including curriculum content, the senior school assessment regime and teaching strategies. We’re subject to fads and need to take more notice of the science of learning. Funding for property is inadequate and the process for delivering property projects is overly bureaucratic.
- How is the relationship between Macleans College and its immediate local community?
Our local community is very supportive of the school. Our parent community places a high value on education and rightly so. That means our students come with great family support, a readiness to work hard and excellent attendance. We have growing alumni involvement in coaching, sponsorship from local businesses and local clubs using our facilities.
