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Photo by Julie Bassett

Board of Trustees

Julie Bassett —

Craig Weston's Profile

My family have lived in South West Christchurch for a number of generations. I have had a long connection to Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo. My Grandmother and my uncle attended the school. I have three boys, the youngest of which is in his final year. After being part of the school community for 12 years, our family has been truly blessed. We will be very sad to leave.

Having lived in the same spot in Somerfield for nearly 16 years, and with many in our street being here for a similar period, there is a real sense of community. That is something I really appreciate about this place.

I spend most of my spare time watching my sons' sporting endeavours - something I love - and helping out on our church cross-cultural mission leadership team. I have also volunteered as a basketball coach over the years and been coaching First Kicks (football for 4-6 year olds) for over 10 years. That has been pretty special, especially as I could see how it contributed to a real feeling of community.

I think Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo is an awesome place. There are a number of factors but two stand out. Firstly is our fearless, challenging and dedicated leader Denise. We are very blessed to have her as our Tumuaki. Denise will tell you she has 500 kids and I have seen her express genuine compassion and empathy for each one. This drive to ensure every child achieves their potential is one of the foundations of our caring community. Secondly, our amazing staff. Every year our leadership, teachers, learning and support staff go above and beyond for our kids. We are very fortunate. They find new ways of improving the learning outcomes and ensure that our leavers are truly SMART (all on a shoestring budget!).

I am coming up to the end of my third term on the Board of Trustees and this term will be my last. I was inspired to get involved seeing the long hours that our staff put in and I wanted to do my bit. I work as a Director in a national quantity surveying firm, so I felt I could bring some useful skills. One of my strengths was strategic thinking but I really had no idea what I was getting into or how I could contribute.

In my nine years on the board I have enjoyed being part of a team. We have always had an approach that as a Board of Trustees we have 500 kids and each strategic decision we make takes account of how their learning will be improved. We have always considered our SMART values as just as important as academic learning.

Being part of the board team I have contributed strategically to our planning and direction of the school. In addition to being on the Health and Safety committee I have used my construction sector skills to oversee our school property redevelopment. The next phase is to ensure we can efficiently maintain our buildings within the available funds and this will be the key challenge for future trustees.

If you're considering putting yourself forward for the Board of Trustees, the best way to find out what it's like is to come along to one of our meetings. They are public, and you are very welcome. I would encourage you to make the most of getting involved where you can, as early as you can.

While my family and I will say goodbye to the school at the end of 2021, I will always remain connected to it. At the final school assembly of 2020 the school gifted me a taonga named Te Mauri ō Somerfield – Ngākau Whakaute in appreciation for my assistance during the property redevelopment. It was a complete surprise and I was overwhelmed with gratitude. The taonga has the school's kōwhaihwai engraved, which will allow me to remain connected to this place of my tupuna and tamariki.

Our BOT website page is now available - here is the link  https://www.somerfield.school.nz/our-bot/.