New students, new principal
Bay of Islands College has begun the new year with the usual crop of new students, and a new principal. Edith Painting-Davis is the first woman, and the first former student, to lead the school.
Her predecessor, John Paitai, retired at the end of last year after 48 years of service to education..
Nine orators spoke at the po¯whiri, welcoming the new principal, new staff member Muritere Apiata, and all the new students, including those newly enrolled in Year 9, including parents, current and former students, community members, kaumatua, and family members.
Ms Painting-Davis, who has begun her 30th year in teaching, is well known in the community, and is held in high esteem within the education sector for her passion, her vision and drive to ensure the best for her students.
Born at Bay of Islands Hospital, she attended Kawakawa Primary School, Bay of Islands Intermediate (in Moerewa) and Bay of Islands College. The youngest in a family of eight, including two foster sisters, she trained as a primary school teacher but most of her career has been in middle management roles based around Ma¯ori education, coaching, mentoring and leadership.
She taught for seven years in a bilingual unit at Whanga¯rei Intermediate, then moved to Auckland, where she was The powhiri for new Bay of Islands College principal Edith Painting-Davis, at the centre of the photo being congratulated by MP Willow-Jean Prime (in green).
the assistant principal and senior leader of Te Puawaitanga, a Ma¯ori immersion unit at Birkdale Primary School. Her sister, Ruth Hills, encouraged her to apply for a position at Bay of Islands College, and in 2003 she returned to Kawakawa, where she has remained ever since.
During that time she has taught te reo Ma¯ori, maths, science, social sciences, PE, kapa haka and English, saying she had loved every minute of being back amongst the community in which she was raised.
She has a long history of advocating for Ma¯ori education, including the role of
lead facilitator of professional development programmes. For the last eight years she has been the regional coordinator of Nga¯ Manu Ko¯rero, and is the treasurer for Te Reo o Te Tai Tokerau (TRoTT), a collective of te reo Ma¯ori teachers in Northland.
She has been the event manager for Northland secondary schools regional kapa haka competitions, and managed the national secondary schools kapa haka in 2009 and the Nga¯ Manu Ko¯rero nationals in Whanga¯rei in 2016.
Her and husband Tawio Davis’ four children were all educated at Bay of Islands College. Variety — the Children’s Charity is urging talented young New Zealanders to apply for funding under its Gold Heart Scholarship programme.
Applications are now open for grants of up to $5000 per child, the only criteria being that applicants are no older than 18, have an exceptional talent in sport, the arts or education, and are disadvantaged financially or living with an illness or disability.
Chief executive officer Lorraine Taylor said she was looking forward to delving into this year’s applications.
“We have seen so many children who have gone through this programme go on to great things, like Sam O’Dea, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, and Mary Fisher, a Paralympian swimmer,” she said.
“We are looking forward to welcoming more talented Kiwi kids into this programme in 2019 and watching them progress even further as the year goes on.”
Scholarships are available for all specialties, be they sporting, arts or education-related, with funding to help with costs including travel, equipment and fees.
Applications, which close on March 29, can be lodged using the form available at www.variety.org.nz