Who is involved?

Working group

A working group of eight community members from Woodville, Pahiatua, Eketahuna and rural areas, plus a representative from the Ministry will lead and be the public face of the project. Members have experience working with and in various sectors of the community including local government, pre and post school education, community service organisations and iwi.

The group’s key role is to work with the facilitators to undertake the CIEP process and ensure that it is developed and carried out in the best way it can for the whole community. The group will plan and undertake consultation, develop a vision statement or set of desired outcomes, and produce a strategic plan of how it will be achieved.

Members of the Working Group are collectively representing all of the Bush District. Individual members may take on "liaison portfolios" of community sectors where they will be responsible for general liaison about the project and will seek feedback from groups and individuals in their sector during the two consultation phases.

Working Group community members are: Carolyn Barrell, Annette Castles, Diana Eagle, Hiria Tua, Gary Nation, George Ross and Maureen Reynolds. Roger Marshall from the Ministry of Education’s Lower Hutt office is also a member of the Working Group.

Carolyn Barrell is Manager of Pahiatua Community Services Trust. She lives in Woodville. Her special area of interest is early childhood education, the social service sector, and Woodville and the wider northern area of the Bush District.

Annette Castles is an education consultant and former Bush District principal. She lives in the Oringi area. Her special interests are teachers and principals, and the northern Bush area.

Diana Eagle is an education advisor who lives on a farm in Eketahuna. Her special areas of interest are teachers/boards, post secondary links, and the southern Bush district.

Gary Nation is a semi-retired real estate agent from Pahiatua, formerly the fire chief. His special areas of interest are business, retailers, community service groups and the Pahiatua area.

Maureen Reynolds is the Mayor of Tararua District and lives in Dannevirke. Her special areas of interest are general community contact, local authorities, business and social services.

George Ross is a sheep and beef farmer from the Makuri area. His special areas of interest are the farming community across the district, and the Makuri/eastern Bush area.

Hiria Tua has a social issues background and is presently furthering her interest in Te Reo Maori and raranga (weaving). She lives in Pahiatua and her special areas of interest are Maori interests, school boards of trustees and the Pahiatua area.

The group has adopted this values statement to guide its work:

"A commitment to work collaboratively to identify and recommend the best educational environment for learners in the Bush District"

back to top

Professionals group

A professionals group of board chairs and principals of the Bush District schools and representatives from the early childhood centres is liaising with the Working Group, to provide or ask for information and to act as a sounding board for ideas.

The two groups meet together on some occasions. Members of the Professionals Group are expected to represent their schools and centres by reporting back to and consulting with their communities, and bringing the questions, comments and preferences back to the Working Group.

back to top

The Bush Community

The process includes extensive consultation so that everyone in the community has an opportunity to contribute to the ideas and to comment on recommendations.

Facilitators

The Ministry has engaged independent facilitators Richard Thompson and Tim White to facilitate the process.

Richard Thompson is based in Wanganui and has been an independent consultant for over 15 years. He also has more than 10 years as a board member of Crown owned and Crown funded organisations, and is presently chair of the NZ Landcare Trust and the Whanganui Community Foundation.

Richard is a very experienced facilitator often working at senior levels. He has worked with school boards, a range of NGOs, government organisations and private organisations as a facilitator. He has a business diploma in dispute resolution.

Over the past seven years Richard has undertaken a number of schooling network consulting roles for the Ministry of Education and the Catholic Schools Board (Wellington).

Contact Richard Thompson by phone: 06 342 5728, or by email: richard@richardthompson.co.nz [no spam].

Tim White established his education consultancy in January 2005. Prior to independent consulting Tim worked for the NZ Principal and Leadership Centre, Massey University and as an adviser to schools. He has extensive experience as a primary school principal.

Tim is a trained Secondary Futures Facilitator and has been working very successfully as an Education Lift Facilitator throughout the Central South region of the Ministry of Education. Tim has a good knowledge of the Bush District schools and existing relationships with most Principals and many Board members.

Tim is based in Plamerston North and has recently been appointed as Commissioner of Makoura College in Masterton.

Contact Tim White by phone: 027 499 8652, or by email: tim@timwhite.co.nz [no spam].

Ministry contact

You can also contact the Ministry of Education representative Roger Marshall: roger.marshall@minedu.govt.nz [no spam].