New principal wants to include more te reo Māori
The newly appointed principal of New Plymouth’s only Catholic girls’ high school says she has big plans to introduce more te reo Māori.
Barb Costelloe has been acting principal of Sacred Heart Girls’ College since the start of the year, and has now moved into the job permanently.
‘‘It was a natural process that I was asked to do the role and I jumped at it, I was delighted,’’ Costelloe said.
‘‘I had short-term goals, but now I can have longer-term goals.’’
And at the top of her list is integrating more Māori language into the curriculum.
‘‘We haven’t got very many fluent speakers and I want everyone who identifies as Māori to feel really proud, and for all of us who are tangata Tiriti (non-Māori) to feel like we are on that waka, too.’’
Costelloe has taken over from former principal Paula Wells, who has moved on to the top job at Wellington’s Samuel Marsden Collegiate School.
Born in Sweden, Costelloe grew up in South Africa, where her parents were antiapartheid protesters, and moved to New Zealand when she was 18.
She has been a secondary teacher for more than 30 years, and has worked in Auckland, Bay of Plenty, and Singapore.
But her longest role is at Sacred Heart, where she started as head of maths 10 years ago.
Costelloe said her favourite part of the job was that she was constantly learning, and after noticing how important it was to have a second language, she decided in 2016 to learn te reo.
‘‘We haven’t got very many fluent speakers and I want everyone who identifies as Māori to feel really proud’’ Barb Costelloe
Now she is nearly fluent, and said she wanted to be a role model for her students.
‘‘We have had compulsory re reo Māori for years 7, 8 and 9, and that remains, but every workplace is recognising the importance of it, so we do need to equip our students to leave confident,’’ she said.
The school was already offering independent classes for students who wanted to immerse themselves in the language during their study classes.
Another of Costelloe’s long-term goals was to continue honouring the charism, or gift, of the mission sisters who founded the school.
‘‘It’s about being really future focused but resting solidly on our traditions.
‘‘I am blessed to be supported by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, the Catholic Parish of Ngāmotu and the Diocese of Palmerston North as well as our local iwi and Parihaka whānau whānui.’’