Kia ora koutou. I hope the year is going well for you and your whānau. The school board has met twice this year already, hitting the ground running, and this is a good time to introduce what we do and who we are.

Board structure

The school board is currently made up of two parent-elected representatives, two selected representatives, two co-opted members, a student representative, a staff representative and the principal. 

What we do

Our role is to provide governance to the school with general oversight of all factors relating to the running of a large school including finance, property and staff.

Our goals are broadly based in the strategic plan, with a focus on safety and wellbeing of students and staff, and on a quality education for our young people. Within these goals we support the school leadership team to achieve government requirements to increase attendance and achievement. We are so pleased that last year the school had an increase in NCEA level 1 attendance, higher than expected achievement of the literacy and numeracy CAAs and a strong increase in attendance. 

Coming up

• Around the school you will notice that we are continuing to work on our school property, with the near completion of the refurbishment of the gym and other ongoing works.

• This year is a board election year, with the general elections held in September. We will also be running a by-election in May as we are short, by one, of elected parents. We are  required to have a by-election to change the weighting of member types, even with the general election taking place only a few months later. 

• As a lead-up to both elections, we will be sharing more about the board and who current board members are, starting with the presiding member. 

Board introductions

Dr Alison Arrow, Presiding Member

I”ve been the presiding member since July last year when our previous presiding member moved away from Christchurch. Since joining the board at the last election I have had the pleasure of seeing our two new buildings completed and the appointment of a new principal. My two daughters have attended Papanui High School, one who has since finished school and my younger daughter is in Year 12. When I am not at the school, I’m an Associate Professor in literacy education at the University of Canterbury. During winter weekends you will also find me on the sidelines of girls’ rugby as a co-manager of an U18 girls club team or managing results at some of the largest gymnastics competitions in the South Island.