Principal picked for new Melville college
A principal has been chosen for Melville’s school merger, which will create a college expected to open at the start of 2024.
Dr Thilo Govender, currently the deputy principal at Morrinsville College, will lead the year 7-13 college and has previously taught and advised on education from Ngatea to Abu Dhabi.
Govender says the new school will open with a roll of slightly under a thousand students.
‘‘Essentially my role begins at the start of 2023, the two existing schools – Melville Intermediate and Melville High School – will continue to run as normal next year. It’s a merger of the two schools,’’ she says.
She is originally from South Africa and said her formative experience during the Apartheid period has informed her aspiration that the new college will rest on ‘‘foundations of hope and equity.’’
With population growth set to continue in the south of the city through the Peacocke development, Govender says the school anticipates ‘‘quite a bit of roll growth.’’
Peter Leggat, the Ministry of Education’s governance facilitator, says that the school will be able to cater to nearly 2000 students should it need to.
While it’s too early to say definitely what the didactic approach of the school will be, Govender says a shortlist of deputy principals for interviews has been established.
‘‘Once the senior leadership team is in place, the work around the teaching and learning will start in earnest in the new year.’’
The new college will be staffed by ‘‘about 100 new staff members,’’ Govender says. The city’s most recently opened school complex, Rototuna Junior and Senior High, will be one of several yardsticks against which Govender and the new school measure their new facilities.
‘‘We are hoping that, the same way that other new schools in Rototuna, which is a decile ten area, has been afforded all of these brand-new buildings, the ministry will understand that Melville has not enjoyed wonderful facilities for a long, long time.’’
Govender says that by adding amenities to the wider Melville community via the new college – as has been done in Rototuna – the whole community will benefit.
With a large, spread-out campus there will be the added challenge of ensuring students can make their way around with ease and comfort, says Govender.
Most important for Govender will be ‘‘raising student achievement, that is always the core business of schools,’’ she says.