Hegarty reflects on career

The seventh Marlborough Boys’ College principal may have overseen many changes during his tenure, but he started his reforms sewing buttons back on to uniforms.

Wayne Hegarty will resign as principal at the end of the school year, after a decade at the Blenheim secondary school, leaving behind several projects to better serve ‘‘our boys’’.

But his assistant Jill Pickering, who also joined the school in 2010, recalls Hegarty trying to teach students how to sew buttons back onto their shirts, in an attempt to improve the school’s uniform compliance in the early days.

‘‘He would say, ‘you’ve got to start with the basics and work from the ground up’. And the first thing he tried to do was sort out the uniform. There was buttons and cotton all through the office,’’ Pickering said.

‘‘He’s a great man, he has boundless energy and I think because he’s got five kids of his own, he’s very wise about teenagers. They can make a mistake and still redeem themselves, they don’t have to be defined by the last thing they did.’’

Hegarty’s five children, and soon-tobe eight grandchildren all aged under 6, were a large factor in his decision to retire, Hegarty said, gesturing to a wall of photographs in his office.

‘‘I’m looking forward to getting to know my grandkids better.’’

Hegarty would stay on at the college as an independent consultant from next year, to ease the transition for the new principal and do some planning and compliance work, ‘‘but I’m certainly not looking for permanent work’’, he said.

Born and raised in Christchurch, Hegarty started his career at Hornby High School in Christchurch about 42 years ago, teaching mainly geography and social studies, along with physical education, health and life sciences.

He had since taught at Nelson College for Girls and Waimea College in Richmond, before spending 12 years as deputy principal at Rangiora High School in Canterbury.

Education at a boys’ school had always appealed to Hegarty.

‘‘I expected that sport would be big and I have a background in sports, so I was keen to be a part of that. But the arts seem to be stronger in boys’ schools ... I’ve enjoyed being part of a school where boys feel comfortable to go and have a go at the arts in a way I didn’t see at other schools.’’

He also enjoyed finding more ways for students to get hands-on in the classroom, which suited the learning styles of boys more, he said.

‘‘I think the new school [to be colocated beside Marlborough Girls’ College on Mclauchlan St] will allow for the best of both worlds. There will be a better chance for interaction at lunchtimes too.’’

The co-location planners were currently trying to determine the number of students likely to enrol in the coming years before design work really started – a difficult exercise given flimsy Census results, Hegarty said.

Changes Hegarty was proud of included the strength of the arts and sports departments, curriculum innovations, improved support from the Old Boys’ Association, which sponsored the fleet of school vans and funded academic programmes, and the creation of the Inclusion Centre.

‘‘We have been really, really well supported by the Parent Teacher Association which has funded our Inclusion Centre, which supports boys who may not arrive in a teachable state, that’s an innovation our school can look proudly at,’’ Hegarty said.

‘‘These are not my projects really, I’ve supported people who come with an idea and helped them to run it.’’