Principal's Foreword

---

Tēnā koutou katoa.

It is a privilege and pleasure to be writing my first foreword for our Old Collegians Newsletter. I have been humbled by the welcome into this special community. I have also enjoyed getting to know the students and staff, parents and whānau, and the Old Collegians I have been lucky enough to cross paths with. Your deep affection for our school and your experiences here is palpable when I speak with you. As a steward or kaitiaki of John McGlashan, I draw energy and purpose from this.

I was raised in Central Otago until I was thirteen, which included two years at Waipiata School in the Maniototo, and several years at Roxburgh Area School. I have been away from this region for many years and have enjoyed the sense of coming home.

My journey after university in Christchurch and time teaching at Whanganui Collegiate School took me to the UK for close to a decade, where I worked in independent schools and studied at the University of London. After time as an assistant principal at St Patrick’s College Silverstream, I returned to the UK in 2018 for my doctoral studies. After the last four years on the senior leadership team at Wellington College, I arrived at John McGlashan in October. I’m passionate about boys’ education and feel that John McGlashan College is where I am supposed to be and can make a difference.

The values and vision of John McGlashan for our college were a significant draw for me in coming here to lead the kura into its next chapter. Over the past term, we have been reviewing our school’s values. They have always been there and have been lived by members of the community since 1918. Our focus with this review has been to interrogate, reset, clarify, and amplify our values. It has been an incredibly positive experience and has presented an opportunity to bring the community together around a common goal. We look forward to sharing the outcome of this mahi with you in January.

A highlight for me this term was the community events in Waipiata and Gore, where we met boarding families and Old Collegians, and the alumni event we organised at the Lone Star in November. The unique town and country dynamic of our community and an established and passionate alumni network were further draws for me in coming to John McGlashan. I think about the concept of whakapapa as the power behind these meaningful and lasting connections.

Owen Eastwood talks about whakapapa as the idea that we are all part of an unbroken chain going backwards and forwards in time. At the heart of which is a sacred and shared identity. For us, that is John McGlashan College. We want our students to feel that McGlashan is their turangawaewae (their place to stand), in their time here, but also when they finish their journey at the college and go out into the world. That connection transcends time. We apply this to all Collegians, those in the past, the students now, and the Collegians to come. For you all, this too is your turangawaewae.

To that end, these newsletters are an invitation to connect or reconnect, to share your stories and to continue contributing to the ongoing life of our college. Your involvement keeps alive the values that define John McGlashan’s vision, which continue to drive us today.

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua - I walk backwards into the future, eyes on the past.

Dr. Aaron Columbus

Principal | Tumuaki