The Orewa College Board of Trustees (BOT) have announced the impending retirement of Principal, Ms Kate Shevland at the end of this school year.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, staff, students, families and community I wish to thank her for her long and dedicated service and also acknowledge her outstanding contribution, measured not only in time but also in significant achievements of our students and staff, past and present. The school has been fortunate to have had such professional and effective leadership and we can’t thank Ms Shevland enough for everything she has done over her career here. However, it is understandable after such a long and successful term as the Principal, Ms Shevland is wanting to focus on other aspects of her life” says Phil Newman, Chair of the Board of Trustees.

After starting out at Orewa College as a Mathematics Teacher Ms Shevland moved through leadership positions to become Principal in 1996. At that time Orewa College was the only secondary school on the Hibiscus Coast with around 1100 Year 9-13 students.

Ms Shevland’s early vision was to ensure the school was catering for the growing and changing community of Orewa. She has built and led a professional team of educators and administrators to ensure local students get ample opportunity to be successful in both curricular and co-curricular activities.

Under Ms Shevland’s leadership the school established itself as a supportive and challenging centre of learning for students and staff alike. The Manaaki Orewa values programme of acknowledgement and recognition of three areas, Respecting Oneself, Respecting Others and the Respecting the Environment, has been one key initiative to support the school community. This reflects Ms Shevland’s belief that success comes in many forms and our young people should emerge from our school ready to contribute to the future for themselves, their families, their communities and the world.

There have been many key milestones that Ms Shevland has skillfully led the school through as it grew to accommodate the burgeoning population and changing needs in education as society transitioned into the information and cyber-age. These included the early adoption of digital devices and BYOD policies, which enabled the teaching and learning to develop in a future focussed way. The COVID-19 lockdown period has demonstrated the benefit of this preparedness.

Strong collaboration has been one of Ms Shevland’s hallmarks. The successful addition of the Year 7-8 campus to the school in 2005; the establishment of Harbournet which is the Auckland Virtual Learning Network; management of North Harbour alternative education consortium since it inception twenty years ago; the establishment of the local Asian Language Cluster and Hibiscus Coast’s first Community of Learning/ Kāhui Ako which was launched in 2017, are testament to high levels of collaboration with other schools on the Hibiscus Coast and the wider Auckland region.

Ms Shevland is extremely well networked and is highly respected across education with active involvement in a wide range of boards, panels and committees including; NZQA Board, MOE 21st Century Learning Reference Group, Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards Panel, AASPA, ANZELA Committee, Pathways to Employment Trust, RTLB Advisory Group, Harbour Sport Advisory Committee, INEE contributor, Rodney Economic Development Trust Board Member, HArbour Sport Board Member to name a few.

As Jennifer Palmer, an ex-Head Prefect, currently studying at the University of Otago summarised “Ms Shevland has always looked towards the future for Orewa College and education in general, and has led us through big changes with strong leadership, such as the early implementation of BYOD. She has shared her wisdom and guidance with us at many a school assembly, and encouraged us to jump at opportunities. She will leave a lasting impact on Orewa College, its students past and present, and the New Zealand education community as a whole.”

We are now embarking on the recruitment process to find a capable new leader for Orewa College, who can build on this legacy and who can continue to develop a high performing school, that is the pride of its community. Our aim is to have a new Principal in place at the beginning of the 2021 academic year.

The school and the Board of Trustees will formally acknowledge Ms Shevland’s contribution and achievements later in the year. We know you will join us in thanking her for the professional leadership, numerous achievements and the great care she has taken of our students and staff and wish her well for an enjoyable retirement.