New year, new faces
Marlborough Girls’ welcomes 18 new teachers
Eighteen new teachers have started at Marlborough Girls’ College this year, with the region’s laid-back lifestyle a major drawcard for some.
Among the ‘‘new entrants’’, who had their first proper backto-school day on Friday, were two new deputy principals and three curriculum leaders.
New deputy principal Tina Utting moved to Marlborough two weeks ago, and was excited to teach girls about coding and computer science.
As a computer science engineer, Utting was passionate about getting girls into a maledominated field.
‘‘Even though the number of girls in the field is growing there is still some gaps between boys and girls choosing computer engineering and, as a female computer scientist, where better to be doing computer science than with girls,’’ she said.
Utting also belongs to Code Club Aotearoa, a nationwide network of volunteer-led coding clubs, and was concerned with the small number of girls coding.
‘‘That’s where my passion is to get girls coding and change that by helping staff to do more things digitally, so we create that ethos here,’’ she said.
Utting taught business studies and IT in Wales for 15 years before moving to New Zealand two years ago as director of digital learning at Auckland’s
Macleans College.
The turmoil in Britain around Brexit prompted the shift to New Zealand for a better lifestyle for herself and her two young boys, she said.
‘‘We thought what could we do differently, where could we go, we wanted to go to an English speaking country, wanted to be different and exciting. I was overworked, had two young sons, and I felt that I wanted to be somewhere which would give them more opportunities.’’
Fellow new deputy principal Lynda Shanks said the main reason for her move to Marlborough was for the lifestyle.
Shanks has a background in physical education and social sciences. She was at Auckland’s Alfriston College for more than nine years before moving to Rolleston College, in Christchurch.
New staff and entrants at Marlborough Girls’ College were greeted at the college’s auditorium on Wednesday afternoon, as Ko Te Waipounamu reverberated around the hall.
Marlborough Girls’ College principal Mary-jeanne Lynch said in 2020 ‘‘our focus is on strengthening wellbeing and engaging students in relevant, meaningful learning’’.
‘‘I wanted to be somewhere which would give them [two young sons] more opportunities.’’
Tina Utting
New deputy principal of Marlborough Girls’ College