2019 Common Election results

I am a parent of a child who attends Kimi Ora School and I am interested in being involved with the school board and its role. I have experience of being a Chair of the board at the previous school my daughter attended. I have a broad life experience through my career as a nurse and being a parent to a special needs child. I feel I can offer the school valuable skills and experience.

Pamela Margaret Johnston
Elected

I am the mother of Rachel McDermott who is at Kimi Ora EBIS campus. My husband Peter and I have two other children – Julia who is Rachel’s twin sister at Wellington Girls and Nicholas her older brother who attends Wellington College. Rachel has been attending Kimi Ora for around 5 years after starting out in a mainstream school. Kimi Ora has provided an amazing learning culture for Rachel and she has made significant developmental advances in this stimulating and caring environment. I would like to help guide the future direction of the school to make sure it is managed to its best potential within the resources provided by the Ministry.

I have professional qualifications in resource management planning and property studies. My career has included working as a planning consultant and more recently working as a Programme Manager on earthquake rebuild issues. I am currently the Principal Advisor, Risk Reduction at the Earthquake Commission and also provide consultancy services to the Asian Development Bank. In my spare time I am trying to complete all of the Great Walks of NZ and am up to number six.

If elected I could help assist Kimi Ora school to prepare for natural disaster events, develop strategy and measure performance, respond to policy proposals, and contribute to managing school property issues. I am passionate about working with a team that can help make sure Kimi Ora students continue to receive a high quality of education and have fun!

Peter McDermott
Elected

I'm Peter McDermott, the father of Rachel, aged 16, who is at EBIS in Pohutukawa class. I've been on the Board for a couple of terms and enjoy making a contribution to the school. Rachel has done very well at Kimi, and has achieved so much as a result of the dedicated staff. I do believe Kimiora is a world-leading school, given the expertise and dedication of everyone, and the high quality leadership. I would see my role, if elected, as being to support the principal and staff and let them run the school, but provide a perspective for the overall direction. I currently work as a project manager in IT, and have previous past experience on a couple of boards - one public and one private. I'm experienced dealing with finance matters. In my spare time, when not viewing Storypark(!), I'm active in Toastmasters, and like walking and tramping.

Rosie has been at Kimi Ora for 11 years and I came on the board around 7 years ago and have been chair for nearly 6 years. I am passionate about our school. I came from a background of Organisational Development both in New Zealand and in 'developing' countries as a consultant and I never saw an organisation with the strength of purpose, ability to implement innovation and sheer dedication that I see at Kimi. I am now retired. For myself as a parent it was a relief the day Rosie was accepted to the school and she has grown from a little girl who was a bit off the walls to a most of the time, thoughtful, happy young woman. I see the role of the board as one of oversight; of the strategic directions, the leadership and systems (including health and safety) and mitigating financial risks. We also have to ensure transparency of how the school operates and that we have a relevant place in our community. Unfortunately we also have to fight at times for the right for children with a high level of disability to be able to attend a special school, if that is what is right for them and their family/whanau. I am happy to continue on the board for another three years if I am elected to do so. Nga mihi Philippa