In 2020, the Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust gifted $100,000 to support six students from low-decile secondary schools in South Auckland to take up study for Te Herenga Waka’s Master of Secondary School Leadership (MSSL). In 2021, the trust cemented its commitment to increasing leadership capability in secondary schools by gifting a further $500,000 that will enable six students a year for the next five years to study for an MSSL.

Research has shown that schools making the most difference to students’ progress and success are those led by effective principals. In fact, good leadership is a critical driver in school development.

Te Herenga Waka offers the only MSSL in the country, a course that gives aspiring principals the skills they need to lead a secondary school and elevate student achievement.

Normally, higher-decile secondary schools can fund this programme for their senior teaching staff but, thanks to the trust, the programme is now a possibility for aspiring school leaders from the South Auckland area.

Byron Bentley, the trust’s education committee chairperson, says there are a lot of very good teachers in South Auckland schools, and providing support for them to participate in the MSSL helps build leadership capability.

“This flows on to increasing student success in their curricular and extracurricular activities and in their post-school study and careers.”

The MSSL began at the University in 2014. Since then, 21 students have either completed it or the shorter qualification—a postgraduate diploma in secondary school leadership. Forty-one students are currently enrolled. Eleven students have become principals and another 23 have gained more senior leadership positions. Only one student before 2020 was from a South Auckland school.

The programme is designed to give students the tools they need to manage and lead a secondary school. It allows them to continue to work while they study and incudes three three-day placements at different secondary schools. It combines educational and business thinking, giving students the skills to develop innovative solutions to the problems they might face managing a secondary school. They are also introduced to sophisticated data analysis techniques that will allow them to make sound evidence-based decisions about the organisation and management of the school, and a leadership element ensures they not only become great leaders but learn how to foster leadership in others.

Denis Tutaka, a current MSSL student who teaches at John Paul College in Rotorua, and previously taught at De La Salle College in Mangere, South Auckland, says the programme provides a great learning adventure as the course takes students to the core of leadership, guided by human values.

“You learn to appreciate your personal values and the nuances these bring to the values of the communities you belong to.”

Maria Coyne, another current MSSL student, who teaches at James Cook High School in Manurewa, South Auckland, says she would like to thank the Joyce Fisher trust for believing and investing in the value that aspiring educational leaders in South Auckland can have in the future of education in New Zealand.

“I want all young people to be able to access quality teaching and learning experiences that motivate them to believe they can go out and be anyone and anything they aspire to be,” she says.

“To all aspiring principals out there, I would say, ‘Go for it now, don’t wait, or it may pass you by’. New Zealand needs educational leaders that will stand up and stand for our young people.”

Manurewa High School’s Ed Hendrikse thanks the Joyce Fisher trust for funding his study and for its continued encouragement and support.

“Without it, I wouldn’t be in a position to undertake this programme, as it has enabled me to continue to work full time and support my family while still being able to meet my financial commitments.”