infonews.co.nz
INDEX
EDUCATION

New Rangi Ruru Girls' School Principal Announced

Tuesday 8 December 2015, 2:24PM

By RedPR

1830 views

Dr Sandra Hastie
Dr Sandra Hastie Credit: Supplied

CHRISTCHURCH

Highly respected educationalist Dr Sandra Hastie has been appointed as the Principal of Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in Christchurch.

Board of Governors Chair, Mr Stuart Nattrass, today announced the appointment of Dr Hastie, who will start with the school in early January next year.

Mr Nattrass says Dr Hastie, who attended the Christchurch College of Education, Canterbury University and Auckland University where she completed her Doctorate in Education, is a vastly experienced teacher and principal who will fit very well into the Rangi Ruru family.

“Sandra is a very collaborative leader. She has an extensive background in independent schooling and like the Rangi Ruru ethos, knows how important a strong, happy school community is. She is very family focused,” he says.

Stuart Nattrass adds that Rangi Ruru has been exceptionally well served by Julie Moor for more than 13 years and he and his fellow board members know that Sandra Hastie is the right person to take ownership and leadership of the next stage of the school's future strategic direction.

Dr Hastie says “I am excited and honoured to be given the opportunity to be the next Principal of Rangi Ruru, one of New Zealand's best performing independent girls' schools. It is a privilege to become part of the Rangi family and to build on this strong foundation, ensuring that we continue to provide an education which is exemplary in preparing our young women for their futures.”.

Dr Hastie began her career within the education sector 29 years ago and for 24 of those years has held senior leadership roles in both state and independent schools. In 1995, she was appointed Dean of the Senior School at Saint Kentigern Boys’ School in Auckland and in 1999 applied for and was appointed in the role of Deputy Principal, a position that she held until 2010. 

In 2010 she was appointed as Principal of Saint Kentigern Girls’ School with responsibility for growing the roll and establishing the first Saint Kentigern Pre-School. At this time, she was also appointed as Head of Primary for both Saint Kentigern Schools to provide strategic and curriculum leadership, a role that she held until the end of her 19-year tenure in the Saint Kentigern environment.

Dr Hastie will be returning from the UK where she has been in the role of Headmistress of Tavistock and Summerhill Preparatory School.

ENDS

For more information, please contact Ali Jones on 027 247 3112.

Please note Dr Hastie arrives in New Zealand in early January and starts at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School on January the 11th. There will be an official welcome soon after Term One commences.

 

About Rangi Ruru Girls’ School:

Rangi Ruru Girls’ School is an independent (private) school for Day and Boarding students in Years 7-13 (ages 11-17), located in Merivale in Christchurch.

After the Christchurch earthquakes, a number of school buildings were removed and others deemed uneconomic to repair. Instead of taking the traditional, evolutionary approach and replacing the buildings it had lost, the school decided, to take the opportunity to completely review, revise and potentially rebuild much of the school in a completely different shape and form.

Rangi Ruru is 126 years old and yet the school has been able to plan, design and implement a student centred learning environment, using the latest design and “fit out”, focused totally on creating the best educational environment for the next 100 years. Rangi has restored two buildings and designed and built four new buildings in the last three years. The latest building, the Performing Arts building, opened in June this year.

Rangi Ruru has a long and distinguished history in the education of young women. In 1889, Helen Gibson founded Rangi Ruru with the intention of creating a school where girls were nurtured and challenged and where a wide range of opportunities was available to them. More than one hundred years on, Rangi Ruru builds on her dream. It has firmly established itself as a setting where girls can pursue their individual goals in a supportive and challenging educational environment.

Every year Rangi Ruru is placed in the top New Zealand schools for a wide range of Academic, Sporting, Creative and Cultural activities, competitions and events; with more than 90% of Rangi Ruru students going on to further tertiary study in New Zealand and overseas.

www.rangiruru.school.nz