In 1997, when I arrived at Hillary College as Principal, many struggles were evident, mainly due to policies that were not the school’s making. I remember the welcome when I arrived with students and staff from Te Awamutu College. My family was perplexed about what I had taken on, but my mother, wife and children were there and supported. Many schools in the area were struggling, and principals were competing for students in ways that I found unacceptable. It became clear to me that to serve the community well, we needed to create a pathway for students to be successful from preschool through to tertiary education.
I had the privilege of working with many great teachers and leaders. One of those, Ruben Riki, was a city councilor, and he joined me as Deputy Principal in my second year, 1998. Ruben’s parents were strong educationalists; his dad was a respected leader and visionary in the Education Review Office and this gave him a deep appreciation of quality learning.
High lights to each year were always Polyfest, the sports exchange with Inglewood High School and visits to Sir Edmund Hillary with the head boy and head girl.
The proximity to Manukau Institute of Technology was inspirational, and I remember talking to the CEO at the time, Jack McDonald, about a vision for high-quality outcomes for our young people. Since we needed a approach to show political masters in Wellington that we were progressive, the idea was suggested that we form a new pathway from preschool to year 13. The idea was that this pathway would be a high-quality learning experience tracked against national benchmarks from start to finish, that we would provide education as good as anywhere, and that we would enhance the idea of the collegiate. Many people blamed each other at the time, and ERO did not help when it came out with a public report stating how poor education in Mangere and Otara had become with initially no support for what to do. Significant community leaders at the time showed great fortitude in finding new ways to do things. One of those was Pat Kake. He believed that the parents of Otara could rise and contribute to education in a way that made a difference for the young people. He formed alliances with businesses and convinced them that investment in the young people of Otara was a meaningful contribution to society. Mrs Teioa George, also, was supportive as an outstanding board chair and always in attendance at Polyfest and prizegiving.
Strengthening Education on Mangere and Otara (SEMO) became a project that united efforts and brought collaboration, staunchly supported by Mary Sinclair from the Ministry of Education. High Schools started working under the AimHi banner with culturally embedded testing coordinated by the University of New South Wales.
Sir Edmond Hillary, supported by his wife June, visited many times to the delight of students and parents. His conquering of Everest and his contributions to the education of the Nepalese people formed an example of selfless leadership for us to follow, Sadly, in 2005, Reuben passed away, a great loss to the school, community and a believer in the Collegiate. His aspirations live on today, and like Sir Edmond Hillary, his legacy will not be forgotten.
At the start of 2025, it was an honour for me to return and talk to staff at the beginning of the school year on their theme of Kotahitanga.