ISNZ Awards Honours awards and long-service awards for Dio staff.

Recognising excellence The 2019 Honours Awards recipients with ISNZ Chair Heather McRae, Roger FranklinSmith of Cambridge Assessment International Education, and Associate Minister of Education Hon Jenny Salesa.

AWARDS TO STAFF

The 2019 ISNZ Annual Conference was held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington at the end of August. The conference explored the Future of Talent, and delegates enjoyed hearing from a variety of futurists, thought leaders and education experts about what the future holds and how our schools can best equip themselves for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

At the conference, two Dio staff members, Susan Marriott and Deb Sharpe, received Honours Awards. These awards give recognition to staff – academic, support and others – who stand out above and beyond what might reasonably be expected as part of their paid employment.

SERVICE TO SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND LANGUAGES LEARNING

Susan has served at Diocesan School for Girls for 27 years, as a languages teacher, then as Head of Faculty Languages and International Baccalaureate Coordinator. She has refreshed the IB programme, attracting many more girls to the pathway and achieving outstanding results.

Susan is passionate about encouraging students into the Diploma and supporting them through to graduation. She effectively operates as dean of the Diploma girls, managing both academic and pastoral concerns – this personal touch is hugely appreciated.

Susan is also a capable and efficient head of languages and a much-loved teacher of Japanese. She has led the biennial exchange trip to Juntoko School in Japan for 20 years, and her enthusiasm and care ensures its success. Exchange students who visit Diocesan experience key aspects of New Zealand life, from jandals and Lord of the Rings to fish and chips on the beach.

Diocesan’s language results are outstanding and consistently ahead of world and Asia/Pacific averages. To maintain these results across all the languages on offer owes much to Susan’s leadership.

A colleague says: “Susan is a motivated and dedicated educator whose students are at the centre of everything she does. I’m impressed by her generosity of spirit and the mutual respect between her students and her fellow educators. She deserves every accolade she gets!”

SERVICE TO HORTICULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Over 10 years, Senior Gardener Deb has dedicated herself to the gardens at Diocesan School. Thanks to her work, the beauty of the campus gives staff and students a sense of welcome, calm and pride in the School.

Deb’s passion for the School’s roses has protected a significant part of Diocesan’s history. To build the School’s Performing Arts Centre, the roses had to be moved. This was complex as they could only be moved at certain times depending on the temperature and the length of the day. Deb dug up, nurtured and replanted more than 80 roses over four years. She also created a register of each rose in the garden.

In the past year, Deb has developed a kitchen garden, which is now in daily use, with students and staff coming to pick produce. Deb has also done a lot of hands-on work with the Junior School girls around growing plants, composting waste, and developing gardening skills. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and encouraging interest in gardens in her wonderful quiet manner.

Director of Development Angela Coe says: “Deb has made an extraordinary difference to our School – she is our environmental conscience, a person who reminds us how the beauty of flowers and plants can enhance a sense of wellbeing for us all.”

“Congratulations to these outstanding people who have contributed enormously to the culture of our School over many years.” Heather McRae

ISNZ LONG SERVICE AWARDS

At a Full School Assembly on 10 September, the School was pleased to welcome special guests Board Chair Andrew Peterson; Board members Jane Latimer, Laurent Kinet and the Reverend Sarah Stevens-Cross, and Deborah James, the Executive Director of the Independent Schools of New Zealand.

One of the purposes of the assembly was to honour people who have worked in our School for 20 years or more. These people have made an incredible contribution to our whakapapa at Dio and it was great to have Deborah James with us to present the awards. The awardees were: Rebecca Abbott, Jean Alpe, Kate Burkin, Suzanne Buswell, Marilyn Carter, Scott Christie, Sue Couldwell, Dian Fisher, Craig Harrison, Christine Lewis, Susan Marriott, Liz McKay, Michelle Paddison, Lynette Quin, Shelley Ryde, Susan Smith, Margaret van Meeuwen, Jenny Williams and Katherine Woods.

Principal Heather McRae said, “Congratulations to these outstanding people who have contributed enormously to the culture of our School over many years. The love and loyalty you have shown to Diocesan School for Girls over most of your working life is exceptional – special thanks from the Board, ISNZ and us all.”

Caption heading (Left to right) Back row: Christine Lewis, Susan Marriott, Rebecca Abbott, Principal Heather McRae. 3rd row: Scott Christie, Kate Burkin, Dian Fisher. 2nd row: Jean Alpe, Lynette Quin, Susan Smith, Jenny Williams, Michelle Paddison. Front row: Sue Couldwell, Craig Harrison, Margaret van Meeuwen, Marilyn Carter, Shelley Ryde. (Absent from photo: Suzanne Buswell, Liz McKay, Katherine Woods.)