2019 Common Election results

Charlotte Brook
Elected

It is a great privilege to serve on the Board of Trustees of Seatoun School. I have three young sons, two of whom are already at Seatoun School and one who will be joining in 2020, so I am very invested in the continued success of the school. I am a lawyer at the Crown Law Office, where I manage one of the Criminal Teams. My background is as a Crown prosecutor but I have also done regulatory work and general public law work. I currently manage a team of about 12 lawyers in Wellington and Auckland. While I would hope there would be no need for my criminal law expertise on the Board, I have a lot of experience resolving disputes and negotiating for good outcomes. My management role means I also have experience managing budgets and resources, recruiting staff and dealing with general employment matters. We are fortunate to have a wonderful teaching staff and Principal; I see our role as a Board as supporting them to help our children be the best they can be.

Nick Conn
Elected

Kia ora tatou,

my name is Nick Conn and my wife Claire and I have 3 boys at Seatoun School - Stanley (year 7), Freddie (year 5) and George (year 2). Our boys have all had an amazing start to their education at Seatoun. I have been impressed by the dedication of the staff and the school’s strong values and leadership.

I am a physiotherapist and business owner. I love my work as I interact daily with staff, patients and clients and meet many interesting people. Since starting the business in 2003, it has grown to employ 35 staff across 3 businesses. Last year we started a social enterprise with the objective of delivering physiotherapy services to communities who face barriers to accessing services. My role requires me to have a broad range of skills including technical, HR, finance, marketing, quality assurance, as well as service development. One of the best things about my work is that it gives me the flexibility to be involved in the boys’ school life.

I am a member of the Institute of Directors and sit on 2 boards and a Finance, Risk and Audit committee.

My interest in education comes from my mum who was a teacher. She taught me that learning never stops and this love of learning and inquiry is something we want our kids to have. Dad taught me to listen to my mum. I’m currently trying to learn Te Reo which is challenging and fun.

One of the many benefits of having three kids is that I have good reach across the Seatoun School community. I think my broad-based business skills, in particular, my pragmatic approach to problem solving would be an asset on the board.

Nga mihi

Justine Crawford
Elected

Kia ora. My name is Justine Crawford and I am standing for the Board of Trustees for Seatoun School because I enjoy serving our school community and would like to see continuity between the current board and new board. I am also interested in the government review of the governance, management and administration of our schools that may result in changes for Boards and establishment of Education Hubs.

We currently have Tobie in year 6, Charlie in year 8 and Max in year 10 at St Patrick’s College.

My recent governance experience is BoT Seatoun School, Worser Bay Life Saving Club committee, SLSNZ Local Sport Committee, BoT Gisborne Central School, Montessori Council, Chairperson of Tairawhiti Child Protection Network and community representative on Tairawhiti District Health Child Health Governance Group.

There hasn’t been any grand career development plan but various moves have facilitated changes in career direction. After graduating from Waikato University with a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education and Diploma of Secondary Teaching I taught at Fraser High School and Sacred Heart Girls’ College.

For the next decade I worked for ICT companies [Telecom, IBM, Gen-i] in training specialist, training management and project management roles.

A return to my home town of Gisborne resulted in another career transition into community development. I led the Gisborne Voter Participation Project, designed to increase voter turnout in the local Council and DHB 2010 election. Following that, I was employed by Te Ora Hou as researcher, analyst, project manager for Tiakina ô Tâtou Tamariki, or Keep our Kids Safe. This project focussed on building strong neighbourhoods and communities to prevent child abuse and neglect. I also supervised a research project on local attitudes, beliefs and awareness of sexual violence against children.

Since moving to Wellington I’ve worked as a Programme Manager at the Ministry of Social Development for two years. I am currently employed as a Programme Manager in the Building System Performance branch at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

I value teachers and education extremely highly, and consider schools to be dynamic and vital hubs within our communities. I would love to continue helping Seatoun School build on its many strengths through the Board of Trustees.

My name is Lloyd Davies and I am standing for the Board of Trustees at Te Kura o Kirikiri Tatangi. I currently have four children at Seatoun School, ranging from year 3 to year 8. I want to provide the best opportunities for my children, and to have them thrive in a supportive and progressive environment. I am a partner at Succeed Legal, a boutique general practice law firm . I have had extensive experience in resolving governance issues and providing robust and fair guidelines for organisations to operate in. I have also had the privilege of being on the Board of Trustees at Seatoun School for the last three years.

Seatoun School's whakatauki is about preparing children to make their mark on the world (Kia kirikiri tatangi ki te ao) and to be the best that they can be. Seatoun school already delivers a high standard of learning for our children. I think there is the potential for the School to go even further and be a thought leader in education, and deliver some amazing outcomes for our children and meaningful professional opportunities for our teachers. I would like to encourage and support the unlocking of this potential.

I would consider it a privilege and a pleasure to contribute to the Board of Trustees for another three years.

Melanie Matthews
Elected

My name is Melanie Matthews and I am standing for the Seatoun School Board. I live in Seatoun with my husband Andrew and our two children, George (Year 5) and Emily (Year 3). When we first moved to Seatoun, I was immediately drawn to the school motto “The Best We Can Be”. I believe every child is unique and has a talent or passion that can be harnessed for their future. As parents, teachers, or members of the wider community, we can help each and every child reach their full potential and be the best that they can be.

My governance experience

After qualifying as a lawyer, I gained a broad range of experience working for government and the commercial sector, both here and overseas. More recently, my career has been commercially focused, working as a Director for an overseas company providing advisory services in emerging markets. In that role I served on two Boards, giving me a sound understanding of the legal and financial reporting requirements for organisations and the importance of effective team management. I am a member of NZ’s Institute of Directors.

At one point in my career I worked for the State Services Commission, which has governance responsibility for the State Sector including School Boards. This gave me a great insight into how effective governance can help organisations achieve a common goal – even though they may be different in size, scale and purpose. I’d love to use this experience to make sure the many and valuable parts of our school community – including parents, teachers and the wider community – achieve our shared goal of guiding our children to be the very best they can be.

Why now?

I really enjoy being involved in school life and have welcomed opportunities to help out with maths or spelling bugs, the energetic madness of PMP or school trips. Sadly, my overseas travel commitments have limited the time I’ve been able to commit to school. However, having recently ended the overseas aspect of my role, I would now welcome the opportunity to fully support our school community and act as your Parent representative on the Board.