Fortunately for former College Street School principal Gary Tenbeth, his new job won't be far removed from the career he has loved from day one.
Mr Tenbeth has effectively been made redundant by the merger of College Street School with Caversham and Calton Hill Schools.
The move is part of the South Dunedin schools review, which included the merger of Forbury School and Macandrew Intermediate.
The mergers aim to use education resources more efficiently in a period of declining pupil numbers.
The closure of College Street School meant Mr Tenbeth has had to look for a new job.
As a result, he is now working for the Consortium for Professional Learning (CPL) - a partnership between School Support Services at the University of Auckland, Evaluation Associates and Learning Media Ltd.
"The consortium bids for the professional learning and development contract in leadership and assessment, and was successful in three Ministry of Education regions - Southern [all of the South Island], Central South [Wellington, Manawatu and Taranaki] and Northern [Auckland and Northland].
"The contract is to deliver assessment best practice to leadership teams in schools, prioritised by the Ministry of Education as most needing support.
"I will have seven to eight in-depth schools to work with, up to a two-year period.
"On top of that, I will provide flexible support to schools that ask for it through the regional Ministry of Education."
A small amount of his time would also be spent supporting new principals who might need more extensive support beyond what is provided by their principal mentor, Mr Tenbeth said.
Fortunately, his work would cover the Otago and Southland regions, which meant he would not have to leave Dunedin, he said.
"So I will be challenged, but those who know me well will appreciate that it is challenges that motivate me the most.
"I am left with the feeling that a lot of my work will be dependent on effective relationships - something that I value highly."
Mr Tenbeth is excited about his new career and hopes his work will be a "catalyst" in enhancing and supporting school leadership that enables high-quality teaching and learning.
However, there were many aspects of his 30-year career as a principal and 35-year career as a teacher he would miss.
"Most of all, I'll miss kids and what they will teach you.
"Watching the kids live by the school's values, and watching them come together in a unified way for things like school concerts - it's pretty privileged stuff."
