Kia ora staff, whanau and students of Kuratau School.

I am very excited to be joining you next term as Principal. My journey to this point as a teacher has taken many twists and turns. I began teaching in Auckland, married a soldier at the end of my first year and moved to Waiouru, where I taught at the local primary school, and also at several rural schools around the Ruapehu region. Another posting took us to Christchurch, where I taught at Burnham Camp School, and at Middleton Grange. Moving to Tauranga in 1997, my family ran a small business for a few years. I returned to teaching at Bethlehem College for sixteen years, and was in middle management as Literacy Leader, Reading Recovery teacher, New Entrant teacher and Team Leader, also leading school wide professional development in several areas over that time.

Since moving to Turangi in 2017, I have worked at the Turangi Library and am currently Team Leader for Year 1 and 2 at Tongariro School. We chose this area as we enjoy the outdoors, walks, mountain biking and motorcycling - my husband, Phil, who is now a Corrections Officer is also a keen fly fisherman. We have three grown children, and two amazing grandchildren.

I am passionate about literacy, early identification of needs and early intervention.
I completed my Master of Education in 2015, with a focus on literacy papers, and wrote a dissertation about Dyslexia, an area that I have since worked in extensively. I believe excellent listening and communication is crucial in every aspect of school life. I value staff, student and whanau wellbeing and engagement, and look forward to working alongside you all to ensure that Kuratau School continues to flourish and serve its community as successfully as it has been for many years. I love the notion that leadership is not about being the best, but about making everyone else better.

Nga mihi,

Janet Ness