The first female headmaster at St George's School Julie Gifkins is welcomed by student Sarah Gillman. Photo / Bevan Conley Conley
For the first time in its 91 years of existence, St George's School has a female headmaster.
Julie Gifkins arrived in Whanganui last Tuesday and was welcomed to her new school with a whakatau on Monday.
Parents, teachers and students gathered at the Liverpool St school to welcome Gifkins, who arrived wearing a korowai made by her former students.
Gifkins said that she felt humbled and privileged to be the new headmaster at St George's following the departure of Andrew Osmond.
"I'm the twelfth headmaster here and the committee were very comfortable for me to choose what I wanted to be called because I'm the first female headmaster," Gifkins said.
"I chose headmaster rather than principal because I firmly believe that as one, you are the leader of learning in a school community. Headmaster resonates better for that meaning."
Gifkins came from St Cuthbert's College in central Auckland where she was the head of junior school for 5-1/2 years.
She said headmaster needs to be a gender neutral term.
"The history of the academic gown is that they were worn by the masters in the school and they were all male, whereas now you've got females as well.
"A lot of the kids will see their staff wearing academic gowns and it is not just males that wear them. I wanted to send that message to our future leaders."
Gifkins has worked in senior leadership roles for 25 years and also spent time at the all boys' King's School.
She is looking forward to leading a co-educational school.
"I have firm beliefs that all students can achieve, but first of all the achievement has to be on their wellness, hope, engagement and happiness," Gifkins said.
"We get those things in place and then the world's their oyster for learning."
There will be a heavy focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and arts at St George's School under the eye of Gifkins.
They are not throwing out the core subjects, but they will have a future-focused approach to education because as Gifkins says "change is constant".
"As adults, we can get set in our ways and think 'oh the technology's changing too quickly, I can't keep up,' but we actually have a duty as educators to be open to change.
"It's not about knowing all of the answers when it comes to new technology, it's about embracing it, learning with it and learning through it."
Outside the school grounds, Gifkins exhibits that desire to continue learning. She is learning golf and has plans to embrace her Māori heritage by learning te reo.
Gifkins was born in Stratford, her father was from Opunake and they are descendants of Te Atiawa.
She was stoked to receive an invite to visit Putiki Marae upon her arrival.
"It was lovely to have the special invitation to the marae, I will definitely be there and that has to be a key relationship for us going forward," Gifkins said.
"Being a great citizen is appreciating tradition and ancestry and providing a solid base in going forward and building a community.
"Understanding language and learning language is something that's very important, it builds a stronger New Zealand."
Despite leaving behind her daughter and son, Grace and Michael Wheeler in Auckland, Gifkins said it was nice to get out of the traffic and into a small, energetic community.
"This community has a really good feel to it, not just in the school, but also in the town. There's real hope and energy here," she said.
"I love communities of learning that are steeped in tradition, but are brave in being future focused to be responsive to the needs of students.
"This is a brave community and they're ready to lean forward."
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