Wellington Principal Elected NZEI President

September 24, 2003
From: NZEI Te Riu Roa Media Release

Wellington Principal Elected NZEI President

Wellington primary school principal, Colin Tarr, has today been elected the next National President of NZEI Te Riu Roa, the country’s largest education union.

He was elected unopposed on the final day of the union’s 120th Annual Meeting attended by 400 members in Wellington.

NZEI Te Riu Roa represents 42,000 members who work in all education sectors - early childhood teachers, primary teachers and principals, support staff in primary and secondary schools, special education staff working in primary and secondary schools and advisers in the tertiary sector.

Colin Tarr is currently serving as the Vice President of the union. He will become National President on January 1 next year, taking over from Bruce Adin. Bruce will serve on the National Executive next year as the Immediate Past President

Colin was also the convenor of an NZEI working party that produced a discussion document on the union’s vision of a unified teaching profession, which was adopted by members at the Annual Meeting.

He is the principal of Pukeatua Primary School in the Wellington suburb of Wainuiomata. It has 235 students and 28 staff. He has been a principal at Manurewa East and Northcote Primary schools in Auckland and at Morrinsville Intermediate. Colin has also taught at a secondary school and worked as reviewer for the Education Review Office.

“I joined NZEI on the first morning of my first year at Teachers College 23 years ago and I’ve been actively involved since then,” says Colin Tarr.

“I’m proud of being a teacher and a unionist and I’m proud of the members and staff of NZEI Te Riu Roa and the work they do.”

Irene Cooper was elected National Vice President of NZEI Te Riu Roa. She is principal of Hillcrest Normal School in Hamilton which has 393 students and 27 staff. She is on the union’s National Executive and heads the working party set up to sort out the confusion surrounding primary teachers qualifications, following the ruling by the arbitration panel that resolved the secondary teachers dispute.

Six new members were elected to the union’s National Executive. The sector they represent is in brackets.

They are:
- Rangiamohia Brown, principal, Rangiriri School, at Te Kauwhata (Te Reo Areare)
- Pamela Cooper, administration manager at St Johns Hill School, Wanganui (Support Staff, Primary)
- Mereana Epi-Mana, librarian at Ellerslie District School, Auckland (Support Staff, Primary)
- Ian Leckie, principal at Insoll Avenue School in Hamilton (Primary)
- Zachary Markham, head teacher at Hillpark Kindergarten, Manurewa, Auckland. (Early Childhood)
- Kiritana Johnstone, senior teacher at Pukeatua School, Wainuiomata, Wellington (Te Reo Areare)

Fifteen members were returned to the National Executive. The sector they represent is in brackets.

They were:

- Judith Clarkin-Phillips, teacher at Hamilton West Kindergaten (Early Childhood)
- Ihipera Kerr, senior teacher at Pukeatua School, Wainuiomata, Wellington (Primary)
- Brian Laing, principal at Wesley Primary School, Mt Roskill, Auckland (Primary)
- Diane Leggett, principal at Karori Normal School, Wellington. (Primary)
- Caroline Mareko, at assistant principal, Porirua East School, Wellington (Primary)
- Frances Nelson, principal at Northcote Primary School, Auckland (Primary)
- Rebecca Power, teacher at Seatoun School, Wellington (Primary)
- Robyn Tataurangi, assistant principal at Royal Oak Primary School, Auckland (Primary)
- Nigel Wilson, principal at Kaikorai School, Dunedin (Primary)
- Judith Nowotarski, head teacher at Hawera Kindergarten, Taranaki (Early Childhood)
- Kiriana Tawhihirangi, principal at Te Kura Reo Rua o Waikirikiri, Gisborne (Primary)
- Margaret Thomas, librarian at Tuatapere Community College, Southland (Support Staff, Secondary)
- Wini Emery, adviser at School Support Services, Rotorua (Primary)
- Tiahuia Kawe-Small, resource teacher at Maori, Te Wharekura o Arowhenua, Invercargill (Primary)

ENDS

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