My time as Acting Principal

 I was acting principal for the end of Term 2 while Tara was on sick leave, and again in Term 4 2025. 

This was a huge learning curve, and I leaned into what I was learning through the Growth Culture course. 

In term 2, we had a staff changeover, and they were not happy with how things were going. For example, Antoinette was spending half the morning in Kapuka, then coming over the Huatea, and Debbie was teaching maths in Huatea and then going over the Kapuka. It was a mess, and neither of them liked nor really understood the why. 

After hearing these conversations and thinking about it, it became clear that something needed to change and that something was me and where I was to be. 

After talking to the kaiako and sharing my idea with Tara, we decided to move forward. 

The idea was as follows:

Antoinette became the main teacher in Kapuka, Debbie became the main teacher in Huatea, and I became the CRT/roaming teacher who can still do the intervention groups in the morning. 

Once we had this worked out, Term 3 went well until Tara handed in her notice. I then became acting principal for Term 4 and decided to apply for the job. 

Term 4 was filled with a lot of cleanup and reminders to the children, community, and staff about expectations, plus I was dealing with a sick team member who took 2-5 days off each week. After talking to them about that, she decided to take the end of the year off to 'recover' and start fresh in term 1. 

While the time in the chair was challenging, it was, in fact, something that I enjoyed. The good times far outweighed the learning conversations I had to have, and since taking the job as Principal, I have done a huge amount of learning, especially about myself and how I handle tricky situations. For me, it is about forming relationships with others so they can trust me and know I am here to help them. I have the children and the community at the heart of everything I do and every decision I make. I work alongside the team to make informed, carefully weighed choices that will have a positive impact. 

Don't get me wrong, Term 4 and Term 1 2026 haven't been a walk in the park; they have had their fair share of challenges, learning, and joy, but it has definatly been what I have needed to move forward and grow in who I am and the way that I operate. I definatly am still in the learning pit, and feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get things achieved, but my thoughts are that if something doesn't get done, then it can wait for tomorrow, and I have to put my family first and encourage others to do the same. Those boundaries that have been blurred for the last 5 years under others, the phone calls at night, at weekends, and on holidays, they have all stopped, and now they are precious times with those that I love.