On the board from the beginning

On the board from the beginning: Ian Marshall

What Ian Marshall is proudest of in his time as a school trustee is that there used to be a grass paddock where Botany Downs Secondary College now stands, and now it is one of the top NZ state schools, with 1860 students.

The Minister of Education appointed five people from the community to be on the establishment board for the new "green-field" school development 14 years ago, and Ian was one of them.

It was hard at the start, Ian says, with meetings every second night!

The flip side is that if you are passionate about education and the school, and prepared to commit time and effort, you can guarantee the rewards are there, particularly seeing the students and the school benefit from your work.

It takes time to understand governance. Being on the board is about the strategic and governance side of a school. One of the biggest challenges, especially as a board chair, can be when the board has to work through the processes of appointing a new Principal after the Principal leaves. The average age of a teacher today is 56, so the availability of enough good teachers is an upcoming issue that boards will need to have strategies to deal with in future.

Schools are always changing, Ian says. Careers that children can go into now are very different from 10 years ago, so schools need to prepare and plan for this. The pace of change never recedes.

Succession planning is important. Ian and his board have hand-picked people from their community who will make a useful contribution to the board’s portfolio of skills and experience. They have been co-opted onto the board so when the election comes, they are already experienced and have a good prospect of being voted on to the board in the elections.

For a lot of boards, their understanding of governance has come of age, Ian says. The trick is to envisage 3-5 years ahead and to set goals and expectations that position the school for the years ahead. Boards are well supported by NZSTA which has helped with practical support and professional development (PD). PD programmes include group workshops on a lot of the things that trustees need to know about.

Boards have cemented their place in the system and are playing an important role in our schools these days.

Alongside the satisfaction of seeing the school and the students thrive, Ian has gained a lot personally as well in terms of friendships made and understanding of the schooling sector. He is very enthused about the community, and has ended up becoming a JP (Justice of the Peace) and part on the NZSTA Auckland Executive.

Ian is standing again in the 2016 Trustee Elections. He plans to stand down from being Chair midterm, but he will remain on the board.

Election Project Manager Janet Kelly says schools need informed people with a balance of skills and experiences to stand for election as trustees.

Parent, caregivers and people from the wider community can be nominated for election to a school board. It is important that the board reflects its community.

"We need people who can make a positive difference for their local school. A well run school board has the power to lift student achievement - which will then benefit the whole community", she says.

"Anyone interested in more information about trusteeship should contact their local school."

The call for nominations for school trustees will be happening for most schools by the 6th of May and closes on the 20th of May.

ENDS

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