New principal drops by
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He cannot tell you his favourite book but anyone looking to buy Peter Heron a birthday present will not go wrong with the science magazine, Cosmos.
Papakura High School year-12 students Sheridan De Connick and Stephanie DeVere-Ellery quizzed their incoming principal earlier this month when he paid the school a visit.
When Mr Heron starts at the school next term, he will be moving from the role of principal of Maniototo Area School in Ranfurly, a 185-student year 1 to 13 school northwest of Dunedin.
The rural school is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Papakura High School but Mr Heron is not worried about the shift – he is a former deputy principal of Manurewa's James Cook High School and knows his way around the district.
"I want to get started," he says. "It's a fantastic school – it's decile two and if its teachers weren't fantastic it wouldn't work.
"Of course you find it daunting but you get on with it."
Originally from Cambridgeshire, in England, Mr Heron has been a science and French teacher, supervised a taiaha group and a school rock band.
He also served in the Royal Air Force for six years in a neurobiological chemical warfare unit – a role he says he got because he was a teacher.
"If you're an ex-teacher, then you're numerate," he says with a laugh. "If you're numerate then you can do sums."
Although he has been out of the air force for years, old habits die hard. He is a stickler for tidy uniforms and things running to plan.
"The school uniform doesn't affect student learning but it does affect the image of the school," he says.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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