Baradene College principal Sandy Pasley is retiring after more than 13 years in the role, which included time as the first female president of the Secondary Principals' Association. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Baradene College principal Sandy Pasley is retiring after more than 13 years in the role, which included time as the first female president of the Secondary Principals' Association. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
After more than 13 years, Baradene College of the Sacred Heart prinicipal Sandy Pasley is retiring from her role.
She was also the first laywoman principal of St Mary’s College in Ponsonby and stayed there a decade.
Following 40 years in teaching and 13 as Baradene College principal, Sandy Pasley is retiring from the role that also saw her become the first female president of the Secondary Principals' Association New Zealand.
“I was nervous doing that because I felt like maybe I wouldn’t doa very good job,” she told the Herald.
“I did it because I can’t tell girls at Baradene to step up and take leadership roles if I actually don’t do it myself.”
Sandy Pasley started her education career at Waitaki Girls’ High School in Ōamaru. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Pasley said New Zealand’s education system has changed a lot over the course of her career, teaching in particular has become more attuned to individual students than it used to be.
“Teachers now are a lot more innovative in the way they develop their lessons. They’re thinking of the different kinds of learners in their class.”
At her first school, Waitaki Girls’ High School in Ōamaru, Pasley said she taught chemistry with her baby there in the classroom.
“I don’t think having a young child in a chemistry lab would be approved of in today’s world,” she said. “She used to do some mischievous things.”
Baradene College in Auckland's Remuera was established in 1909 and has a roll of about 1300 girls from Year 7 to Year 13. Photo / Jason Dorday
On the other hand, some of the things that attracted Pasley to teaching as a young person haven’t changed.
“Going into education, I have had such a fabulous career. Teachers can really influence students and the outcomes they have in their lives.”
This is what has kept her in the profession all these years, she said.
Career highlights include moments when students have excelled academically or on the sports field.
“It’s also great to see a student who thought they would never get say, university entrance, achieve it.
“There can also be the really sad things. You know, you lose students and that’s awful for a teacher, and those times hit hard.”
In 2022, one of Pasley’s students collapsed while running at an Auckland park after school hours and later died in hospital.
“Having that happen, it’s just tragic,” she said.
Sandy Pasley says New Zealand’s education system has changed a lot over the course of her career. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Having been a principal at multiple schools, including as the first laywoman to helm St Mary’s College in Ponsonby, Pasley feels she has been able to have a greater influence on student outcomes than she did as a classroom teacher.
“What I love to see is everybody feeling like it’s their school: the parents feel it’s their school, the students feel really engaged and connected and the staff too.”
And when she was the Secondary Principals’ Association president, Pasley said she also discovered what it was like to bring change on a bigger scale.
Sandy Pasley has resigned as principal of Baradene but plans to keep working in education. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
“I learnt it’s really important the ministries listen to the voices of practitioners and people on the ground when they’re making policy.”
She still sees teaching as a fantastic profession, but says it is undermined.
“When I started, teacher salaries were near to what backbench MPs were getting and now that gap has widened. That’s a shame because education is everything. It gives people a future.”
While Pasley’s time as a principal has come to an end, next year she hopes to continue working in education.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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