The small rural Canterbury school for year 1 to 13 students has struggled to retain experienced leaders in recent years, due in part to its isolation.
But Neal said she plans to make the move permanent after a varied career, which has taken her to some of the most remote parts of the South Island.
‘‘It’s really nice to be here. This is an awesome school.
‘‘It’s well-resourced in terms of property and equipment, and all of the teachers live locally.
‘‘This is going back to my roots.
‘‘What I do best is working with rural people, rural community, rural kids.’’
Her husband Stu Neal runs their 20,000 stock unit sheep, beef and deer farming business at Fairlie, but plans to join Neal in Cheviot, moving the business when the present lease expires.
‘‘This will be our home. We’re here for the long haul.’’
Cheviot Area School has just 180 students, but covers a large catchment, between Kaikōura and Greta Valley.
Unlike other area schools, it has no contributing schools.
The school is governed by a board of trustees ‘‘who really know their community well’’ and is supported by limited statutory manager Terri Johnstone.
Neal began teaching in 1990 before becoming the solecharge principal at Glenroy School in Mid Canterbury with just 28 students.
She has also served as principal at Ward School in Marlborough and at Fairlie Primary School.
Cheviot is the third school Neal has come into to get the school ‘‘back on track’’.
As a teacher for Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (correspondence school) for five years, she worked with 500 children across the pre-school, primary and secondary school years.
Her students included elite sportspeople, young musicians, families living on yachts in Nelson or house trucks at Takaha Hill, and children withdrawn from school.
She travelled to remote locations like Molesworth Station and D’Urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds.
At Ko Taku Reo, Neal was responsible for managing 250 teachers and 3500 students across 32 regional offices and 13 satellites throughout New Zealand.
‘‘It was a massive job. Education has so many other things you can do other than classroom teaching.’’
It means she uses New Zealand sign language and she has been teaching her new students a new sign each day.
Neal was also on the Ministry of Education's Curriculum Advisory Group during the curriculum refresh, and she supports the focus on literacy and numeracy.
‘‘It’s a fantastic curriculum. It’s solid and there is no room for gaps. It’s what we used to do 20 years ago, but we went away from that.’’
She acknowledged schools were struggling with the pace of change, especially area schools like Cheviot which are experiencing change across all year levels.
‘‘It is up to me to manage that, and we must remember that with change comes opportunity. This school is indeed a gem and I feel privileged to be here.’’
The Cheviot Area School board of trustees has been contacted for comment.
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
