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 leadership team composed of the deputy principal, assistant principal and SENCO leader in order to continuously improve the educational experiences of our students. Our Leadership Team at Whangarei Primary School are:
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.
I have currently been teaching for 18 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.
Prior to moving my family to Whangarei in 2016, I worked at a number of schools both around NZ and abroad. Since working at Whangarei Primary I have enjoyed working in an environment of high challenge and innovation having been the Curriculum Leader for both Literacy and Languages along with sitting on most other curriculum lead teams while teaching in the senior syndicate. I am passionate about empowering students throughout the learning process and feel privileged to be part of this great teaching and learning team.
I moved to Whangarei in 1993 with my husband, after teaching in many schools around NZ and overseas. I taught at Portland Primary for a number of years before joining the Whangarei Primary School team in 2007. During my time at WPS I have carried many roles including teaching NE and Years 5 and 6 classes then specialising in Reading Recovery and my present role, supporting families and students with special educational needs. I have a love and passion for teaching and a commitment to empower students to achieve personal success. I believe in forming strong, trusting relationships within a safe, caring and positive learning environment; where students feel valued and understood; an environment that allows students to develop self-confidence and positive self-worth and in doing so build the courage to try, succeed and be proud.
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:
"The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you'll go." - Dr Seuss
"Colour your life outside the lines."
"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." Anthony D'angelo
"Curiosity is the engine of achievement." - Ken Robinson
"Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best" Bob Talbert
"You don't need eyes to see. You need vision."
“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.” - C.S. Lewis *
Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.
"Think and wonder. Wonder and think."- Dr Seuss
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if you only try.” by Dr Seuss
"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
"There are secret opportunities hidden inside every failure"
"Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire."
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. A. A. Milne
"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you!" - Dr Seuss
"What we learn becomes part of who we are."
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
"I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
"Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care" Anonymous
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."
"If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good." Dr Seuss
Be yourself, follow your 💙 & enjoy the journey. Kia pono, whaingia to 💜 me kia ngahau to haerenga.
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.
Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia ō tātou māhi - "Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work"
Learn from the world around you.
"Your attitude determines your altitude"
"If at first you don't succeed, you're normal!" - Kid President
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Ki whakanui i te tikanga, i te reo, i te wairua me te iwi. To celebrate culture, language, Spirit and people.
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed "until" it is faced."
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
"It takes a big heart to help shape little Hands."
"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."
"If knowledge is power, and a library is full of knowledge, then we have a powerful library."
"Hello Trouble."
"Some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen, others make it happen." Michael Jordan
TBC
"What we learn becomes a part of who we are"
"If you can imagine it you can create it! If you dream it you can become it!"
TBC
"Imagine with all your mind. Believe with all your heart. Achieve with all your might."
"Behind every good teacher" "There is a great Teacher Aide"
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" - IT Crowd
TBC
"It takes a kind heart to help shape developing minds."