HBHS Staff 2022
When you have a school of our size, there is always something happening in the staff room, so it's time to check in and see what's new in 2022. At the beginning of Term 2, we celebrated a new addition to Argyle House and the Marrow family, with Hayden and Amy welcoming daughter Millie.
Term 2 also began on the saddest of notes, with the remembrance service for Mr Peter Skerman, former Head of the Social Sciences Faculty, and History Teacher extraordinaire, who passed away on the 29th of April, 2022, after a long battle with illness. HBHS welcomed those who had been impacted and inspired by Peter back to the school and celebrated all that he had achieved in his decades of exemplary service to education on the first Saturday in May, along with his beloved family.
Later in Term 2, Mr Murray McKenzie received two awards in recognition for his years of service at Argyle House at the National Boarding School Conference. One was for long service (19 years and counting) and the other was as the Top Boarding House Leader in New Zealand. Fellow Argyllian, Mr Rahiti Teokotai-White, was recognised for his achievements in Water Polo at the New Zealand Water Polo 2021 National Awards, as he was named Coach of the Year. The HBHS team he coached to gold was also recognised, named as the Team of the Year (Male). Joining the HBHS staff was Mrs Anna Ryan, as the new Head of Social Studies. Former HBHS staff member, and now former reliever, Mrs Rosy Ellis, welcomed a son, Monty, after completing a full day of relief teaching! Mr Graham Nolan was appointed as the Head of the Mathematics Faculty, as Mr Charlton Thompson moved into the Principal's Nominee role, vacated by Mr Phil Basel.
Term 3 saw Mr Rahiti Teokotai-White depart for Serbia, as the coach of the New Zealand Under 20 Men's Water Polo team. We celebrated Mr Caleb Shepherd's engagement to Rachel, and Mr Cameron Moorby's engagement to Tori.
When we returned for the final term of this year, we congratulated Mr Rahiti Teokotai-White (who has had a very eventful year!) on his marriage to Kelsi.
Nau mai haere mai to the HBHS Staff class of 2022...
This year we welcomed (or rather re-welcomed back) Mr Oliva Cowley, who joined the English Faculty and taught Junior English, Social Studies, Pasifika Studies and Aotearoa Studies. Mr Cowley is the Teacher in Charge of the Pasifika Tutor Groups and helped raise the profile of our Pasifika boys, strengthening the relationships with Pasifika families as well. He helped develop a Pasifika singing group and worked with our Ultimate Frisbee team.
Joining the Science Faculty from Palmerston North Boys' High School was Mr Levi Ensing, who taught Science and Physics classes. He had a very successful year, getting involved in our Senior Debating programme and helping them to achieve success at regional and National levels.
Another returnee to HBHS was Mr Bevan Galbraith, who took up the role of Teacher in Charge of Music after the departure of Mr Josiah Abbott in Term 1. He worked hard to push our Music students to explore compositional techniques and realise their work in a practical sense through scoring for themselves and other instrumentalists in order to record their work to a higher standard, which we all thoroughly enjoyed throughout the year! Mr Galbraith has a wide range of musical interests such as instrument building and studio recording, and wants to foster this wider view of music for our students to see it as a lifelong endeavour.
Mrs Rebecca Greenhalgh joined our HPW Faculty from St Peter's Cambridge and taught Physical Education and Health. She enjoyed pushing her senior Physical Education students to gain confidence in themselves and apply their knowledge to succeed. She was very happy to join such a great faculty as well!
Mr Arndt Heuer joined our Mathematics Faculty from Howick College in Auckland, and taught Mathematics from Year 10 to 12. He involved himself in karate and archery in 2022.
Mrs Amy Pye joined our Mathematics Faculty from Alfriston School, and taught Year 9 Mathematics, Year 10 Integrated Mathematics and Science, and Year 11 Mathematics. She enjoyed getting to know her students and wants to learn about Canoe Polo at HBHS.
Whaea Andrea Randell joined the English Faculty from Cambridge High School, and taught classes from Year 9 to 12. She involved herself in our sports programme as the Teacher in Charge of Softball, and created a Basketball Referees Academy. Whaea Randell continues to work to raise the profile of Māori and Pasifika boys in classes in order to build confident and courageous young men, and took on the role of Year 13 Dean mid-way through 2022.
Mr Caleb Shepherd is another returnee to HBHS as an Old Boy and Olympian, where he coxed the New Zealand Women's Eight to a silver medal at Tokyo last year. He taught in the English Faculty where he has Year 10 to 12 classes, and threw himself into our school rowing programme as the Coach of the Under 18 crew where he added a Maadi Cup win in 2022 to his already impressive list of titles and trophies.
Mr Jacob Sparrow crossed the road from Peachgrove Intermediate to join our LAM Faculty, where he taught Photography and Art Design. He has worked hard to support the creative work of our up-and-coming artists and designers, and helped them to celebrate it through exhibitions and success in NCEA.
Mr Willem Steenkamp joined our HPW Faculty from Leamington Primary School in Cambridge and taught Gateway, Mathematics and Social Studies. He has thoroughly enjoyed continuing his involvement with HBHS sport, after helping out with the Senior White Rugby team last year.
Joining the Science Faculty from Melville High School was Mr Jason Steyn-Ross, who taught Year 9 - 11 Science and Year 12 - 13 Physics. He has involved himself in our summer sports programme as the Coach and Manager of the Year 9 Maroon Cricket team.
Miss Lynley St George joined our Technology Faculty as an I.T. teacher and got involved in archery and tabletop gaming. She finished her teacher training here last year and is hugely grateful for the support she received from our school community, both last year and this year. At the start of the year she was looking forward to the House Competition and seeing how Steel House fared. Oh, well...
Mr Jonnie Te-Ruki Chambers was another Old Boy who returned to HBHS, this time from Wellington College, and taught Year 10 Adventure Based Learning, Year 12 Outdoor Education, and Year 12 Sports Studies in the HPW Faculty. He relished the opportunity to give back to the school community and involved himself in outdoor education trips and the HBHS rugby programme.
Miss Jessica Weller has joined the HPW Faculty from Cambridge High School and Maeroa Intermediate where she worked with Mrs Bower as a member of our Guidance Department. She has worked hard on supporting the mental and emotional well-being of our staff and students, as well as getting involved with our Squash team.
Mr Chris Winks joined our HPW Faculty from Whangaparāoa College where he is teaching Junior Physical Education and Health, Year 12 Physical Education and Year 13 Outdoor Education. He enjoyed making the most of the sporting opportunities available at HBHS and going on the outdoor education trips on offer.
We also welcomed Mr Patrick Harrison, Mr Maihi Jones, Mr Paul Norman, and Mr Shaun Sanders.
Joining our administration staff this year were Mr Sean McCarthy as the Facilities Co-ordinator and Sports Assistant. Sean oversaw all internal and external hireage of the school and assisted Mr McKenzie in the Sports Department.
Ms Leah Saunders joined the team in the Health Centre, working three days a week to assist Diana and Raewyn.
Finally, last year we reluctantly farewelled Mrs Jill Skerman, so we were delighted to welcome her back, this time working in the School Library.
And now, as we said haere mai, we must say haere rā to those leaving us in 2022.
In Term 2 we said goodbye, not farewell, to Mr Logan Asplin, who has taken a year off to live in Hong Kong and coach rugby professionally. We also said farewell, sadly, to Mr Phil Basel, who has left HBHS a far better place for having been here over 13 years. His enthusiasm, passion and determination to get things done, not to mention his extraordinary energy levels, were appreciated by all. Mr Basel moved between senior Physics, Maths, and Science classes, and did this seemingly effortlessly. He was never bothered, always cheerful and willing to help no matter how busy he was (and he was always busy!), and never found any problem or challenge too big or too much. He took on the not-inconsiderable role of Principal's Nominee which put him in charge of examinations and assessments, including Cambridge and more recently SATs, and was also the Master in Charge of Hockey and Mountain Climbing. Such was Mr Basel’s standing within the Cambridge International Examination community that he was recognised in their New Zealand update in July, with his extensive accomplishments in construction within the education sector, including his innovative use of 60 tonnes of recycled plastic in the hockey turf, a first for New Zealand, celebrated. His contributions to the hockey turf, the swimming pool and the cricket nets were immense, and it is project management he has now moved into full time, with Octa Associates Limited, where we are certain he will continue to enjoy the same levels of success.
Ms Katrina Hartley joined HBHS in 2021 as a Metal Technology teacher, becoming the first female teacher in this role in the history of our school. She spent much of her time in the workshop, helping our boys complete their projects, and popped out to assist with the Refugee Swimming programme at lunchtimes. A highlight for her has been seeing how happy the boys were when they mastered a concept or completed their projects, but she admits it has been challenging studying and working full time, along with being a Mum to three children. Next year she returns to graduate study full time, and we wish her every success in this.
Mr Kyle Martin arrived at HBHS at the beginning of 2021, and has been the TCR of Design and Visual Communication Technology as well as a Grove House Master in his time here. Next year he returns to Auckland and we wish him well in his new teaching position at Howick College.
Mrs Leeann Morgan began teaching at HBHS in 2019 as the Teacher in Charge of Agribusiness, TCR of Year 10 Science and TIC Mountain biking and Multisport. If this wasn’t enough, Agribusiness was a new subject to HBHS in 2020, so that involved a lot of extra work after hours to get the subject up and running. Mrs Morgan has been heavily involved in HBHS sport, and has overseen National title wins in Multisport and Mountain Biking, including two championships and two runners-up medals in 2022 alone. Creating a new subject was a highlight as was bringing guest speakers into class to talk to the boys about Agribusiness and the possible career opportunities. Being able to see her two boys (and two nephews) and their friends at school each day has been very special. Having said that,being a Mum and a teacher has been tricky at times, and being the first aider with the school Mountain Bike team has meant having to deal with lots of blood, broken bones, broken boys and bikes! Mrs Morgan is going back into the Agribusiness industry working with farmers in a role at Federated Farmers in 2023. She will be spending her days on farms (wearing gumboots) across Auckland, Waikato and Northland, and we hope she will be a future guest speaker at the HBHS Agribusiness classes sharing her experiences in the years to come.
Mrs Meaghan Cooley arrived at HBHS in 2017, and has taught in the English Faculty for six years, becoming the Teacher in Charge of the Supported Learning classes in 2021, a role she has performed superbly in. She has thoroughly enjoyed her experiences teaching in an all-boys school for the first time, and rates taking the HBHS Lacrosse team to the National Championships this year, winning a silver medal, as a highlight. Mrs Cooley is off to another boys school next year, and heads just up the road to St Paul’s Collegiate, where she will continue to teach English. We will miss her expertise, her kindness and her care, and wish her every success in her new role.
Mr Philip Hague began teaching at HBHS as a permanent part-time Social Studies teacher, but within a week had acquired a Year 9 Mathematics class. By the end of this year, he will have taught here for 11 years, mostly in the Social Sciences faculty, having also taught a Year 9 Financial Literacy class. He enjoyed creating learning activities and using his life experiences to make the content relevant for his students, although getting through material at times was challenging. He also found time to manage a junior cricket team. We will see Mr Hague in school next year as a relief teacher, and he is looking forward to the slower pace and more personal time this role brings.
Finally, Mr David Stowers leaves HBHS after teaching here for 21 years, having arrived in 2002. However, this was his second stint at HBHS, having first arrived in… , which was the same year that Mrs Hassall started teaching at HBHS! Mr Stowers has been the Head of the Maths Faculty, and more recently, the Dean of Pasifika students. We thank him for all he has contributed, and wish him every happiness in his retirement.