Te Mata School principal Michael Bain has been awarded a prestigious Woolf Fisher fellowship, which he intends to use to further efforts to improve community health through education in Hawke's Bay.
The late Sir Woolf Fisher, co-founder of Fisher and Paykel, was a passionate supporter of education in New Zealand, and in 1960 founded the Woolf Fisher Trust for the advancement of scientific and general education in New Zealand through fellowships and scholarships.
Woolf Fisher fellowships provide overseas study and travel for outstanding secondary school principals and teachers, polytechnic senior managers and, most recently, primary and intermediate school principals.
Mr Bain, who has been principal at Te Mata School for 13 years, said he was delighted to find out he was a recipient.
"It's a bit of a mystery - it's not done by application it's by nomination - you get informed through the mail to say you have been awarded, which is exciting," Mr Bain said.