Page 147 - Kimihia Volume 2

Floor plan of the proposed school assembly hall - the finished building was a flipped-image of this sketch.

Kimihia welcomes new Principal

Huntly Press 19 6 91
Kimihia Primary School has a new principal who took up his position at the beginning of this term. He is John
Robinson and he is married with three children.
He is a staunch advocate of the New Zealand education standards which he says “rated very highly” by people
familiar with the education systems and education researchers, who are qualified to judge from their experience of educa-
tion in many countries.
This contrasts strongly with the message being put across by such groups as the Business Roundtable he says,
who tend to see education in terms of fodder for their employee needs.
“New Zealand redaing standards are recognized as being among the highest in the world’” he adds.
He comes to Huntly from Kaurilands Primary School, Titirangi in West Auckland where he was deputy prin-
cipal for three and a half years. The school had about 500 puypils.
During his time there he and his family also enjoyed a year’s exchange in a Yorkshire primary school at
Grimethorp.
Most of his teaching career of 15 years has been spent in Auckland except for two short stints in Christ-
church and New Plymouth.
He has been impressed by the “commitment and professionalism” of staff at Kimihia since arriving there
three weeks ago and expects to build on this good base.
“I believe you have to set high standards for the students and that means setting them for yourself.”
Administration tends to be an ever increasing burden for principals, especially since Tomorrows Schools, but
Mr Robinson wants to keep it in its rightful place as subordinate to human needs.
He is presently in the second year of a masters degree in education administration at Massey University which
eats up a lot of his leisure, leaving little time for sport which he normally enjoys, though he still manages some “light jog-
ging” to keep fit.
Elevation sketches of the proposed Kimihia School assembly hall.