Principal's Foreword

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In his excellent book Belonging, Owen Eastwood emotively argues that each of us is part of an ‘unbreakable chain’ of people ‘going back and forward in time’. Eastwood places the Te Ao Māori concept of whakapapa at the heart of his book, and it is something I have seen at the heart of John McGlashan College as I have been warmly welcomed into the community this week.

I was humbled by the welcome at the mihi whakatau on Monday, when I stepped into the whakapapa of our school. Principalship is a privilege I do not take lightly, particularly the awesome responsibility of stewardship, as I look back to the Headmasters and Principals who have preceded me. This is something I emphasised to our students at the year-level assemblies I ran on Monday afternoon. As I shared with the boys, it was essential to me to have face time with them on my first day. This provided an opportunity to share a little about my life journey, what matters to me in education, and what they can expect from me as their principal.

As I prepared to visit our college to interview for the role of Principal back in early June, I thought about my first knowledge of John McGlashan. This was towards the end of Year 8 at Roxburgh Area School, although the story starts a little earlier in the Maniototo. I began my education journey at Waipiata School, before we moved to Roxburgh.

My best mate at Roxburgh Area School was Sam Eckoff. We lived in the Hydro Village, and Sam’s family lived on a farm close by at the base of the Old Man Range. I have enduring memories of time spent with Sam on the family farm and during our days together at school. Growing up in the Teviot Valley was an incredibly formative experience, as were the friendships that were forged. The area school was a busy and energetic place, and the community was a diverse mix.

John McGlashan appeared on my radar at the end of Year 8 when Sam shared that he would attend the college as a boarder in Year 9. I remember receiving letters from him relaying his initial impressions and experiences of Jonnies. A few months into Year 9, I moved to Greymouth on the West Coast, and we lost touch. 

Years passed, but those connections to the Teviot and the relationships forged there were something I often thought about, particularly when I returned to the valley. The anchor and pull of the Teviot endured and strengthened over the years. Jacqui’s (my wife) family also whakapapa to the Teviot, her father growing up on a farm behind the Roxburgh Dam. As I shared at the mihi whakatau on Monday, the area is our family’s turangawaewae, our place to stand.

I did think about Sam when I was interviewed in June. I wondered if he was connected to the Old Collegians network. In July, once the appointment was made public, a reporter at the ODT reached out with a few questions for a short piece. It was published on a Tuesday, and out of the blue that day, I received a message from Sam, who lived in Dunedin. This was a story I shared at the year level assemblies on Monday, and at the Year 13 assembly, it turned out that Sam’s nephew, Ben, was a student in the year group.

On Tuesday night, I was privileged to attend the senior Drama performance of The Battalion by Helen Pearse-Otene. Ben was performing in the play, alongside an impressive group of very talented senior students. At the end of the performance, a familiar face approached across the chapel, Sam’s mum, Marg. Again, a special moment, in a special week.

As I step into the whakapapa of this great college, I am struck by the hint of a connection to our school to my time in Roxburgh all those years ago and the relationships there. Owen Eastwood talks about whakapapa offering a ‘sense of immortality’ and weaving groups together, creating an ‘inclusive and highly personal sense of belonging.’ It is relationships and shared experiences, alongside places that connect people so powerfully and transcend time.

I am excited and humbled to be joining this community. As I said to the boys at the mihi whakatau, we’ll enjoy Monday (my first day), but we get to work on Tuesday. We have much to do together if we are to make our threads strong and add them to the rich tapestry that is the whakapapa of John McGlashan College. As stewards of the college, we work to ensure we thrive in our time here, but equally, that we leave it stronger again, for those who follow us. 

I look forward to meeting parents and whānau over the coming weeks, and along with the boys and staff, talking to you about what makes John McGlashan College so special and successful, and how we can work together to build on that. Ngā mihi nui.

Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou
ka ora ai te iwi

With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive