10 minute read
New Executive and Head of Faculty appointments
NEW EXECUTIVE AND FACULTY APPOINTMENTS
Changing the guard at the Junior School
SUE CATTELL, HEAD OF THE JUNIOR SCHOOL
Waking up with a sense of excitement for what the day will bring is how Diocesan’s new Head of the Junior School, Sue Cattell, views her chosen career. And she wants the same for all the students and teachers under her care.
Sue joins Dio after over eight years as Principal at Milford School, preceded by four years as Deputy Principal at Takapuna Normal Intermediate and eight years at Kristin School. She has also worked as an International Baccalaureate (IB) workshop leader and school evaluator for the past 17 years, travelling within Asia-Pacific, to work with many schools.
She says early childhood and primaryaged children are her favourite groups, with the learning environment providing the opportunity to explore, inquire and experience new things. It’s this sense of adventure and excitement about learning that she wants her students to go home with every day.
“I will be bringing my energy and passion for lifelong learning to Dio, ensuring the students have as many opportunities as possible, so they find what brings them joy, and perhaps uncover a talent they didn’t know they had. I aim to ensure there are many opportunities for the students to have agency and to be self-directed learners and leaders.”
It’s not just students that she sees as learners, but everyone in the teaching team. Having recently completed her Master of Educational Leadership, she hopes to inspire and encourage others to continue their learning, taking opportunities to grow themselves and their leadership.
Sue is passionate about the IB programme, and in particular the Primary Years Programme run at Diocesan.
“It teaches students big concepts that are important through life. Students follow purposeful inquiry that ensures they are actively involved in their learning, following their interests, and building on their capacity through voice, choice and ownership. It’s such a great framework for teaching and, as Dio runs the IB programme across the School, students are well set up for long term authentic learning.”
Sue took a sabbatical in 2021 to conduct research into the glass ceilings that are sometimes unintentionally placed on students. She strives to create an environment where there are no such ceilings, where students can grow beyond expectations and surprise themselves and others. She mentions one student she taught, and has never forgotten, who would have upside down and backwards days, even to the extent of mirror writing all day. Sue recognised and celebrated her uniqueness, something she believes is essential for all neuro-diverse students. That student is now a doctor and is an inspiring young woman.
Says Sue: “The experience of teaching that particular student taught me a lot about our students not needing to fit into a box, and how, as a school, we can work to help them be successful without stifling what makes them special.”
Sue lives on Herald Island, next to the water and says it’s this closeness to nature and time with her family that recharges her every night. When she’s not on the water paddle boarding or kayaking, she’s looking at the sea with a good book and coffee in hand. She is surrounded by teachers at work and at home – both her husband and two of her three children are involved in education.
Asked what drew her to Dio, Sue says: “Having been involved in leading IB workshops at Dio over the past few years, I have always felt a special warmth that exudes from the staff. Dio has a very good reputation as a school
Incoming Head of Junior School Sue Cattell (left) and Acting Deputy Head Nicole Lewis (right).
of excellence and is highly thought of. I am excited to be joining this community and look forward to meeting parents and students from early next year. My door is always open and I welcome the opportunity to talk about how we can deliver the best possible experience for every student.”
Sue will be supported in her role by Nicole Lewis, who has become the Junior School Acting Deputy Principal.
Nicole will be known to many at Dio as a teacher in the Junior School, Year 6 Dean and a water polo champion. She’s also a third generation Old Girl, returning to the School in 2018 after first teaching at Bucklands Beach Intermediate and then being lured to France to play water polo in Bordeaux. Nicole returned to New Zealand to prepare for World League and World Champs with the New Zealand Water Polo team, while working at Auckland Normal Intermediate, and says one of her proudest moments was wearing the Silver Fern and representing New Zealand on the world stage.
Along with her teaching role at Dio, Nicole is also the Primary Years Programme Co-ordinator, and oversaw the Junior School’s International Baccalaureate five-year review in 2020.
“We received incredible feedback from the Evaluators as one of the best PYP schools in the world and were encouraged to share our practice with other IB PYP schools.”
Nicole believes Dio is a special place and says it’s the Dio community who make her want to come to work each day. “It is unique and there’s nothing like being part of the Dio family. Every day as I walk past School House, I’m so proud to be teaching at Dio. It is such a special place, with passionate girls who love learning, inspiring colleagues, and a supportive parent community. The students are the changemakers and leaders of the future and I feel fortunate to be part of their learning journeys. They inspire me to do my best, every day, for them.”
Nicole says she hopes to inspire students to follow their passions, to be risk takers in their learning and help them to develop open mindedness, and empathy for those around them and the environment. “It’s important for me to grow leaders in the Junior School and ensure our girls are knowledgeable, confident, kind and active young women who make a difference in their communities.”
She’s looking forward to supporting Sue and working with the Dio team to continue building on the excellent reputation, pastoral care and learning environment in the Junior School.
Kerry Burridge Director of Business and Planning for Diocesan.
Anglican values big drawcard for Dio’s new Director of Business and Planning
With a love of community, a commitment to Anglican values and extensive management and finance expertise, Kerry Burridge is excited to be taking on the role of Director of Business and Planning for Diocesan.
“For me, serving a community is not about profit, it’s about achievement. I see the Business and Planning role as helping to create the best possible learning environment, which then allows Dio’s teachers to support our students to achieve their best.”
Kerry is joining the School after eight years as GM Business Manukau, where a large part of her role was stakeholder engagement for the second largest retail district in New Zealand. She notes highlights including the association’s role in improving the social and economic standing of Manukau’s diverse community and the partnership with a range of stakeholder organisations to rollout the 20-year Transform Manukau programme. She is also a professional director on the board of Anglican Financial Care, which manages a range of funds including Christian KiwiSaver.
Adding to her resume, Kerry has worked extensively across the Pacific Islands, providing specialist banking, finance and business advice to support private sector development. She lived in Niue for a year, while providing economic advice to the government, and has also been a director of the Bank of the Cook Islands. When asked which of the islands is her favourite, she names Vanuatu which she says provided her an opportunity to use her university level French.
Kerry grew up with a father who was always renovating houses, and as a preschooler she was trained in passing tools up the ladder to him. This interest in property continued into adulthood, and Kerry and her husband went on to own a residential and commercial property maintenance business, which quickly became the biggest insurance reinstatement company in the Bay of Plenty. Kerry says her experience in property maintenance, strong finance and management skills and ability to successfully lead a team to deliver on complex and challenging projects will be strengths in her role at the School.
She acknowledges the great work done by outgoing Director of Business and Planning, Ian Walker. “This is a wideranging role, encompassing property planning and development, health and safety risk management, finance and the delivery of technology and business information. Ian has delivered on some fantastic projects, including the new Arts Centre, and I’m looking forward to carrying on his work and picking up on other exciting initiatives in Diocesan’s long term development plan.”
While sad to be leaving Diocesan, Ian’s family was keen to move out of Auckland and the appeal of a rural lifestyle near Taupo was too strong to resist. The School thanks Ian for his contributions and efforts.
Asked for a good work story, Kerry mentions a two-year campaign to expand Manukau’s business improvement district. “I ended up campaigning for the expansion over
Kerry Burridge
24 months, including going door to door to hundreds of business owners, to get the vote successfully passed through Election Services. It definitely put an end to any notions I may have had about being a politician!”
Kerry lives in Remuera with her husband, three children and Rosie the Labraspoodle. Her children all attended local schools and she says Diocesan is well known to her. “It’s one of the great things about our local community – all the schools and students are connected and know each other, regardless of which school they attend.”
She started the role in November and is looking forward to supporting Diocesan School and its community.
Dio’s newly-appointed HOF Creative Industries, Matt Bennett, is very much a career teacher, having spent more than 23 years in the classroom, sharing his passion for design and technology.
Born and trained in the UK, Matt moved to New Zealand in 2002 and taught for 15 years at Auckland Grammar and was head of the technology department, before taking on the Deputy Principal role at Avondale College. In 2018, Matt completed a Master of Educational Leadership. His dissertation focused on the opportunities that flexible spaces offered technology educators, and teacher experiences with these types of spaces. Matt has been working at Dio for the past year and is looking forward to taking on the faculty leadership role.
“Dio has fantastic resources and I’m excited about how these can be utilised to provide opportunities within Creative Industries and with other faculties.”
When asked about career highlights, Matt mentions taking a team of students through the F1 in Schools programme and on to the World Championships in Malaysia. This programme sees teams of students deploy CAD/CAM software to collaborate, design, analyse, manufacture, test, and then race miniature compressed air powered cars made from an F1 model block.
He also mentions leading a biennial school exchange to Avondale College’s sister school in Japan for 16 days to experience Japanese life, exploring Tokyo, attending a Japanese school and touring the Kansai province and Hiroshima.
Matt is looking forward to taking on a leadership role again and says he’s inspired by providing opportunities to excel.
“The highlight of my job is seeing the reaction of students when they achieve what they didn’t think they were capable of, or seeing students develop in their ability over a course or series of years in classes.” Matt tells the story of one particular outstanding student who was preparing an application for a prestigious tertiary scholarship.
“The student spoke of the life challenges they had overcome and it made me realise that there is so much going on for our students that we don’t know. The conversations with this student shaped my approach to teaching and also opened my eyes to how much impact a teacher can have on a student’s life.”
Matt is married to Lana and has two children and a pet chicken. He’s a keen runner, enjoys a range of outdoor sports, is an enthusiastic DIYer and brews his own craft beer. Matt is also a committed football fan, supporting Ipswich Town, and has coached at a variety of levels and age groups.
Matt Bennett, new HOF Creative Industries
