New rector’s first week goes ‘to plan’
HIS FIRST schoolterm week can be chalked up as a win, Waitaki Boys’ High School’s new rector, Darryl Paterson, says.
Mr Paterson described his first week at the Oamaru school as ‘‘good’’.
‘‘It has gone to plan. It’s been pretty wellorganised, except I wasn’t planning to stand up three pupils in assembly [yesterday] for talking.’’
Mr Paterson was appointed to the position in November 2016 after two recruitment drives to fill the school’s top role.
He replaced Clive Rennie, who was appointed by Commissioner Nicola Hornsey, to manage the school after the board of trustees stood down in October 2014 in the face of three independent reports that identified serious issues at the school.
Ms Hornsey filled the role until the end of 2016, when she was replaced by Invercargill lawyer Craig Smith.
Mr Paterson said his immediate plan was to establish expectations for staff and pupils and engage in as many meetings as possible with the people he managed.
‘‘I’ve got 34 staff working for me and 21 so far have had a onetoone interview.’’
He had also enjoyed meeting the pupils, Mr Paterson said.
‘‘It’s been great. The boys have been awesome. It’s been the most enjoyable part of the week . . . the last couple of days just seeing the potential. They’re the kind of boys I want to be working with.’’
He aimed to use his time with each pupil to instil values such as respect, resilience and integrity.
An example of such values being emphasised this week was for the boys to allow girls to go first when using the school bus system.
This was to help the boys learn to respect girls and make that level of respect second nature.
His other goals were to learn all his pupils’ names by the end of the year and to increase the school’s community engagement.
shannon.gillies@odt.co.nz