Waihī East school is welcoming its new principal to the campus this term.
Timaru-born Andrew Wilkinson said he was looking forward to the change of scene after a decade in his former role as principal of Christchurch’s Gilberthorpe School.
“My wife is a born and bred North Islander, so she was born in Matamata,” Andrew said.
“[We wanted] to be around her family and friends. And we’ve got three kids; four, seven and nine, so wanted to get up somewhere that way before the kids get too old as well.”
The logistical challenge of moving a family cross-country completed, Andrew is now keen to get settled into life in Waihī.
“We’re just really excited to get up and join the community and get to know people,” he said.
“[I want to] make it clear that I really want to build on the strengths in the school as well. I’m certainly not coming up there to rip things apart and change a lot; more to just build those relationships, get to know people, work out where the strengths are and listen and talk a lot and go from there.”
This casual, people-first philosophy informs Andrew’s approach to leadership in general, he said.
“I believe quite firmly that if you have strong relationships then everything else has got a much better chance of succeeding,” he said.
Also important, he said, is the need for specialised approaches to meet each child’s individual needs.
“I’m really, really passionate about trauma informed approach and also using the neurosequential model of education – learning a lot about the brain, how our brain works and develops,” he said.
“The needs that are coming to schools now, it’s just incredible.It’s very, very challenging for educators because the support’s not really there or the expertise isn’t there and there’s a lot of children not able to get the help they need.”
The trauma-based approach goes hand-in-hand with behavioural development and communication, and Andrew said part of his style is being open and approachable with the students.
“I’m the sort of person that’ll be doing manus in the pool with them and I like to have a lot of fun; like to make a lot of lego, love kids coming to show me their work, love visiting the classes all the time, like to be quite hands on so that the kids see me and I’m visible,” he said.
“And obviously that’s really important, particularly when you’re starting in a new place.”
