New principal starts work at empty school
New principals at Southland secondary schools have had a difficult time introducing themselves as they start their roles to empty classrooms.
James Hargest College’s new principal Mike Newell took on the job at a school that boasts a roll of more than 1800 students.
However, in the second week of term two, the school had fewer than 30 students across its two campuses. Newell said it was a difficult transition because schools were built for kids and there were hardly any there.
On his first day, he had a meeting with 100 staff members via Google Hangouts. It proved too difficult so they had to be divided into two groups. ‘‘It’s not a normal way to introduce yourself but it is a sign of the times, I guess.’’
Newell had met some of the students by joining the start of teachers’ virtual classes.
One positive aspect of meeting staff members under lockdown circumstances was that when he did get to talk to them, they could have a conversation instead of a quick catch-up before a teacher went to class, he said. It also gave him time to get an understanding of how the school operated for when it did return to normal.
For the new principal taking over Newell’s previous job at Northern Southland College, there were no students on campus at all.
After 23 years of teaching experience, the thing Pete Wilkinson was looking forward to as a first-time principal was interaction with staff and students once he was allowed to do so.
Wilkinson said he had met about eight students since starting the role on April 28.
During the lockdown, he had been working with Newell to understand how Northern Southland College would operate during the start of term two.
Despite having no students on campus at the moment, the school was prepared if parents’ circumstances changed and needed to take students in, Wilkinson said.
For him, it had been a strange transition but being his first time taking on a principal role, he didn’t know any different.
Despite not meeting a lot of the staff face to face, he said he felt he knew them already from regular Zoom meetings.