We have been honoured to have had such a caring, funny and capable Principal at Avonhead for the past 14 and a half years. We will miss his jokes, his tales and his leadership but know he has earned the right to put his feet up and relax and feel confident knowing he is leaving our school in a great place. The following memories and messages are from our esteemed leader during an interview with him.

How long have you been in education and what inspired you to become a teacher and Principal?

From a very young age (standard two) I always wanted to be a teacher and in1976 I began my first year teaching at Longford Intermediate in Gore. In 1980 I got a teaching position at Heaton Intermediate and in 1983 I won a position as Principal of Drummond School in Southland. It was here I learned that leadership is all about stepping up and leading by example, and often doing things that you don't always anticipated or plan for like; birthing a lamb for the first time by myself and droving the country school bus! From Drummond School I went to Mararoa School (26km out of te Anau) as a Principal for 5 years, and then I moved back to Christchurch as DP in a bigger school - Opawa School. In 1993 I took over as Principal of Heathcote Valley School and enjoyed 13 years there and in Term 4 of 2006 I became Principal at Avonhead School. I have had 12 and a half years amazing years at Avonhead and while I am sad to leave I am ready to put my feet up knowing Avonhead School is in a great place moving forward. 

His Involvement in Music over the Years

Avonhead has been very lucky to have such a talented and qualified musician and Principal at our school for the past 12 years, and as a result the wide variety of our music enrichment programmes are as a result of Charles' passion.

For those who don't know Charles is also is a highly qualified musician as well as a Principal with FTCL qualifications in Speech and Drama and and LTCL in singing. Charles had a strong musical teacher at his school growing up who inspired him as a child to pursue his love of music from an early age. This teacher also turned out to be his music tutor at teachers college and continued to inspire him to pursue his love of music. It was through his teacher's passion in music that fuelled Charles' desire and use his musical skills to inspire other students also as a teacher. 

Some of Charles Levings musical accomplishments over the years are: conducting the Eastern Southland Schools Music Festivals for 6 years, involved in and conducting music festivals across southland for 10 years, co-music director of the Christchurch Schools Music Schools Festival with Richard Oswin for 21 years (17 as conductor), conducting the Canterbury Childrens’ Chorus as well as being Principal at Heathcote Valley School.

In 1993 Charles was appointed the conductor of the Christchurch Junior Special Choir CSMFA with Richard Oswin as his accompanist. In the following year he took over the Senior Special Choir and continued to do this for the next 17 years! He was also the conductor of the Christchurch Boys Choir for 6 years. One of our current student's parents even learned music from the same singing teacher as Mr Levings when he was in the Christchurch Boys Choir!

At Avonhead School Charles established our auditioned School Chorale and was responsible for the redevelopment and taking our orchestra to the next level under the guidance and expertise of the very talented Canterbury composer - Richard Oswin. This is a legacy he hopes will continue to grow at Avonhead and so that children continue to know and feel the joy of music and the opportunities that can come from this. 

His Fond Memories at Avonhead School

When he first arrived the Library Learning Centre was the school hall so trying to fit 500+ students into the old hall was a challenge. Being involved in overseeing and guiding the building improvements such as changing of the new hall and our new spaces has been rewarding to see.

Charles says his biggest achievement is being able to affect positive change, freeing up leadership positions such as the DP and AP to help support and guide our students and teachers and working build collaborative teams together and using everyone's expertise and talents to support our all students to succeed.

While there have been some difficult times such as major events over the past decade which have been challenging not only for schools but for all families and communities including the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, the tragedy of March 15th and of course Covid. While they were difficult times and new things we all had to navigate these events brought our community and school together and built a stronger resilience and made us all focus on what’s important - connecting more with each other.

He is also proud of how the Avonhead Logo has developed and grown over the years - before when he arrived it was simple a shield. From there the concept of the tuakana was derived and it now connects and says more about us as people and a community and embodies our values and learner qualities.

Charles is proud of the wonderful team of people we have here at Avonhead, from our teachers, specialist staff, TA’s, students and families. Staff and families who have left and come back says something about our school and our culture and who we are. He is proud of the 'family feel' we have all created here at Avonhead and Charles is proud to have been part of that journey.

Charles remembers Fun Times at Avonhead

Charles says there are too many to remember but dressing up as a Christmas with Mrs Lewis and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, while conducting a Ministry meeting took some convincing but was a lot of fun and why being at Avonhead is so great. He describes the wonderful family feel in the school, the great kids and our wonderfully diverse community. Our values and restorative practice is well embedded and that is why our students are very positive and Avonhead is a great school to be part of.

He has loved coming to work every day because Avonhead is a fun place to be. He said being able to see the positive side of things and the joy on kids' faces is what he will remember. He says 'children are still children, they haven’t changed much. While the environment around them has, kids still love the same things, they love having fun, being challenged and engaged in their learning and need people who care for them, understand them and look out for them.

Words of Wisdom 

Charles says the strength of his leadership has been because of the strengths of the the people who surround him, his leadership team and incredible team of teachers. Being a leader is having the ability to recognise and use the talents of others around you. It takes a village to raise a child and a team who believes and shares the same vision. Leadership is about modelling the behaviour you expect of others "I didn't ask them to do things I wouldn’t do myself".

Challenges Moving Forward for Education

He has a lot of confidence in the leadership team we have in our school, the passionate teachers and the direction our school is heading in. Our school has a very good reputation for music and that is something he would like to continue. Continual Improvement  is all about getting the best people around you to continue to support and grow and support our students through excellent learning programmes, smart systems, excellent people skills and innovative practice. 

His passion for kids, for teaching and learning has been a driver for him. He has loved his job, being able to have a positive impact on students and ensuring we set them up for success. That has been why he’s been in schools for so long. However, he says now it is time to hang up his boots and pass that mantle on to others to continue.

He will continue to maintain his interest in music and be back to water the fruit trees and help out with our sustainable initiatives moving forward. 

We want to take this time to thank Charles for all his contribution to Avonhead School as Principal over the past 12 years, for believing in his Leadership Teams and the skilled teachers and staff we have and growing our vision together. 

We wish him the greatest joy in retirement - well earned Mr Levings!