The principal has been delegated authority by the school’s board of trustees to take responsibility for ensuring the school’s strategic plans and annual action goals are successfully achieved, and for leading the day to day operation of the school. The principal works in collaboration with the a leadership team composed of the deputy principal and three syndicate leaders in order to continuously improve the educational experiences of our students. Our Leadership Team at Whangarei Primary School are:
Principal
After a successful career working as principal of leading international schools in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Martin returned to New Zealand to take up the role of principal in our school in July 2014. His experiences overseas have emphasised the importance of preparing our young people for lives as 21st century global citizens.
Deputy Principal
I have currently been teaching for 17 years and arrived at Whangarei Primary School to take up the Deputy Principal position at the start of 2015 from Wellington. Whangarei is home for me, and where I taught before going to Wellington so am honoured to be home with family and friends and working at a school with passionate students, staff and families who together, who are dedicated to equipping our students to be 'Kiwi Kids who are global citizens equipped or success as lifelong learners'. I am forever grateful to be in a career that allows me to shape and equip our young people for their present day and whatever the future may bring them.
Assistant Principal - Junior School
I have been at Whangarei Primary School WPS) for the last 19 years, and have been part of the leadership team for the past 12 years. During my time at WPS I have worked as a teacher and a leader in both the Senior Year 5 & 6 Syndicate and the Middle Year 3 & 4 Syndicate. For the past two years I have been the school’s Mathematics Specialist Teacher and I am a member of the Mathematics and Literacy lead teams. I am currently the Assistant Principal leading the Junior Syndicate. I am passionate about making sure that our school provides the best quality learning programmes that are informed by current research, that are relevant and meaningful for our students, and that offer opportunities to learn in a variety of areas.
Assistant Principal - Senior School
I have been teaching for 15 years now and have had the opportunity to work both nationally and internationally at different levels. I have learnt from my experiences, that successful learning starts with the student and making them feel valued and encouraging their voices to emerge. I am also fortunate enough to work for the International Baccalaureate Organisation as a consultant, leading workshop and helping schools develop their pedagogy.
All of New Zealand’s state and state-integrated schools have a board of trustees. The board of trustees is the Crown entity responsible for the governance and the control of the management of the school. The board is the employer of all staff in the school, is responsible for setting the school’s strategic direction in consultation with all stake holders, and ensures that the school provides a safe environment and quality education for all of its students. Boards are also responsible for overseeing the management of personnel, curriculum, property, finance and administration.
Trustees are elected every three years by the school’s parent community and staff members. Our school’s Board of Trustees is generally made up of four trustees elected from amongst the parent community, one elected staff representative, and the principal of the school. The board can also co-opt additional trustees when it needs a particular skill set in order to strengthen its operation.
We are most fortunate to have an extremely dedicated and very capable team of teachers at our school, who have a reputation for going the extra mile for the students in their care. The on-going professional development of our team has a high priority in the school’s strategic plan, and as such every teacher has access to regular training opportunities to ensure they remain at the forefront of the most effective research based teaching practices. Our team of teachers at Whangarei Primary School are:
Room 01 - Year 1 & 2
"Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world." Roald Dahl
Room 02 - Year 1 & 2
"There are secret opportunities hidden inside every failure"
Room 03 - Year 1 & 2
"You don't need eyes to see. You need vision."
Room 04 - Year 1 & 2
"If at first you don't succeed, you're normal!" - Kid President
Room 04 - Assistant Principal - Junior School - Year 1/2
"Think left, and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try." - Dr Seuss
Room 05/26 - New Entrants & Year 1
Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.
Room 06/26 - New Entrants & Year 1
Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia o tatou mahi. Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work.
Room 07a/25 - Year 1
"The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you'll go." - Dr Seuss
Room 07 - New Entrants & Year 1
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant" - Robert Louis Stevenson
Room 10 - Year 2
"Think and wonder. Wonder and think."- Dr Seuss
Room 11 - Year 2
"Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. BE OUTRAGEOUS go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is SO COMPLETELY CRAZY it's unbelievable." - Matilda, Roald Dahl
Room 12 - Year 1 & 2
“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.” - C.S. Lewis *
Room 08 - Year 3 & 4
"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens" - Jimi Hendrix
Room 09 - Year 3 & 4
"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." Anthony D'angelo
Room 13 - Year 3 & 4
"It takes a community to raise a child - lets do it together."
Room 14 - Year 3 & 4
"If 'Plan A' didn't work. The alphabet has 25 more letters! Stay cool."
Room 15 - Assistant Principal - Senior School - Year 3/4
"There is growth in struggle"
Room 15 - Year 3 & 4
"Curiosity is the engine of achievement." - Ken Robinson
Room 16 - Year 3 & 4
"The more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves" Roald Dahl
Room 17 - Year 5 & 6
"We don't grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges."
Room 18 - Year 5 & 6
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."
Room 19 - Year 5 & 6
"What we learn becomes part of who we are."
Room 20 - Year 5 & 6
"Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care" Anonymous
Room 21 - Year 5 & 6 (Boys)
He aha te mea nui o te ao, maku e ki atu. He tamariki, he tamariki, he tamariki ma. What is the the greatest thing in this world. It is the children, it is the children, it is the children.
Room 22 - Year 5 & 6
"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." - Sydney J. Harris *
Literacy Support Teacher (LST)
"Your attitude determines your altitude"
Math Specialist Teacher (MST)
"If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good." Dr Seuss
ORS/Reading Recovery
Learn from the world around you.
On Leave
"Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire."
Room 24 - Te Reo Maori
Ki whakanui i te tikanga, i te reo, i te wairua me te iwi. To celebrate culture, language, Spirit and people.
Room 23 - Music
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed "until" it is faced."
SENCO
"Choose kindness and laugh often"
Executive Officer
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
School Secretary
"It takes a big heart to help shape little Hands."
Office Assistant
"God give strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Library Media Centre Co-ordinator
"If knowledge is power, and a library is full of knowledge, then we have a powerful library."
Caretaker
Grounds Assistant
"Hello Trouble."
Teacher Aide - NZEI Support Staff Tai Tokerau Rep
"Some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen, others make it happen." Michael Jordan
Teacher Aide (Senior School)
"What we learn becomes a part of who we are"
Teacher Aide (Junior School)
"If you can imagine it you can create it! If you dream it you can become it!"
Teacher Aide
"Trying is the key to succeeding in life ❤"
Teacher Aide
"If you are tempted to say "I can't", have the courage to say "Yet"" *
Teacher Aide
"Why fit in when you were born to stand out" - Dr Seuss
Teacher Aide / ESOL
"Imagine with all your mind. Believe with all your heart. Achieve with all your might."
Teacher Aide
"Behind every good teacher" "There is a great Teacher Aide"
Teacher Aide
"Who am I to judge another, when I myself walk imperfectly."
Technician - ICT Support
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" - IT Crowd
Teacher Aide
"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all."
Teacher Aide (Junior School)
"It takes a kind heart to help shape developing minds."
