Principal 'ticks all the boxes'

Sign at the Queenstown Primary School. Photo by ODT.
Sign at the Queenstown Primary School. Photo by ODT.
A principal with a passion for bolstering education standards will take charge of Queenstown Primary School.

Fiona Cavanagh has been appointed by the board of trustees to head the decile 10 multicultural school of more than 600 pupils and 60 staff in term two on May 5.

Ms Cavanagh is principal of the decile one Sutton Park School, which serves the Mangere community in Auckland. She has two adult daughters and a granddaughter.

Ms Cavanagh was unavailable for comment yesterday.

However, board chairman Noel Saxon said yesterday Ms Cavanagh had experience from Sutton Park of being a principal of a culturally diverse school of similar size to Queenstown Primary and eight years before that in a mid-decile North Shore school.

Ms Cavanagh ''ticks all the boxes'' of qualities trustees were looking for from 14 national and international applications.

''She has a high level of enthusiasm, well respected by her peers, very good feedback from referees, she's passionate about community and certainly keen to get herself among the parents,'' Mr Saxon said.

''She's ... done a lot of work to raise the standard of achievement there, so we're looking forward to her continuing the good work set up by Lyn [Bird, past principal].''

Dr Bird vacated the position after two and a-half years and is on leave due to an illness in her family, although she is working with Queenstown Primary School ''by remote'' and will help the new principal settle in.

Deputy principal Sandy Cochrane is acting principal until Ms Cavanagh starts work.

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