FUTURE GENERATION

ACCOLADES FOR POWERHOUSE PRINCIPAL AT DIOCESAN SCHOOL

With a love for rock music, running and the beach, Heather McRae is Principal of Diocesan School, one of New Zealand’s top girls’ schools, with responsibility for the education of more than 1,600 students and a team of 263 staff.

Heather lives the Diocesan motto, Ut Serviamus (“that we may serve”), giving back to the sector she loves in pursuit of advancing knowledge for all. With her extensive involvement in curriculum design, planning and development, it was no surprise that she was recently appointed to the Curriculum Advisory Group, established to support the new Ministry of Education Curriculum Centre.

Heather understands and actively promotes the need for collaboration and collegiality across the wider education sector and is delighted to be part of the group, saying she is looking forward to working closely with people who are passionate about knowledge and making it accessible and available to all parts of society.

With experience working in government, public and private schools, in New Zealand and offshore, she brings a vast bank of knowledge to all she does and is in demand when well considered and future thinking solutions for the education sector are required. She is the first to put her name forward to contribute to the Government’s education goals and, as such, has served on numerous reference and advisory groups.

The recent bestowal of the 2021 Independent Schools NZ Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service is the latest in a long list of accolades and achievements. The award is recognition of Heather’s long service, contribution to the wider community and outstanding contribution and dedication to students, with less than 10 such awards presented in the history of the ISNZ Honours Awards Scheme.

Driven by a passion for science, Heather graduated university with a double major in Chemistry and Biochemistry and initially pursued work as a biochemist and organic chemist. However, the downturn in the economy and the opportunity for a ‘studentship’ to help pay the cost of her degree propelled Heather into the sector of which she is now an intrinsic part. She has since completed a Masters in Educational Administration with first class honours and received a Sir Woolf Fisher Trust Scholarship, graduating from the Hillary Leadership Programme facilitated by the NZ Leadership Institute at the University of Auckland.

Heather comments: “Education is no longer about learning from books; it’s about gaining the knowledge and skills to adapt to different situations in a world where technology is changing how we live; education is about the art of human learning – a venture involving creativity, imagination and discovery. We need to be continually looking forward, addressing new equitable social frameworks, and teaching our young people how to thrive and create value in society, now and in the future.”

Heather is no stranger to the need to be flexible and agile when the unexpected happens. The current Covid-pandemic is no new experience for Heather, who was working in Beijing when SARS broke out in Asia. Today’s quick pivot to online learning, daily updates to the Diocesan School community and the daily ‘checking in’ to ensure student wellbeing, are all built on her previous SARS experience of the need to adapt quickly in an ever-changing environment, with people safety and wellness as a priority.

As she heads off for another day developing a new generation of leaders and valued society members, Heather says: “Every person has leadership potential within, and the role of our school is to help students place their feet firmly in life by developing mental strength, discipline and resilience.” It could be said that Heather is leading by example, living a life underpinned by service and a belief in education and the potential for greatness in all of us.

Heather McRae, Principal