Editor
Principals’ retirement parties are always up-beat. They’re a time to celebrate the great achievements of the retiree, to reflect on their career and to listen to the string of career gaffes and embarrassing moments that loyal colleagues no longer have to keep secret because this principal won’t be at school on Monday to endure the ridicule. They are marvellous events and I heartily recommend you all get yourselves invited to someone’s retirement celebration before it’s your own turn to become the party entertainment! I was thrilled to be invited to join the hundred or so people at Peter Simpson’s party. Peter had been the President of NZPF in
catastrophe like this. No one would have blamed Peter had he decided to step down as President that year and return home to Christchurch. He didn’t do that. His sense of duty and commitment to the job he had been elected to do in Wellington drove him to continue. At the NZPF national office we felt privileged to have our share of Peter and while he never for a moment ignored the plight of his Canterbury colleagues he represented the nation’s principals with conviction and strength. As spokesperson for principals throughout the country, he always presented with genuineness, truth and compassion,
NZPF President Whetu Cormick presents Peter with his principals’ service award
Belfast School Teachers share their school experiences of Peter Simpson
2011 which was also the year of the unforgettable Christchurch earthquake. Peter first heard the news from his wife, Adrienne as she and her elderly mother rocked about helplessly inside their car, in a Christchurch parking building. That’s when the horror sunk in for Peter and he was on the first plane out of Wellington heading south. Having established that his wife and family members were all OK, Peter turned his attention to his wider family – the schools of Canterbury. His first contact was with his colleagues in the Canterbury Primary Principals Association (CPPA) who were already coordinating support for the affected school communities. Stories of extraordinary human selflessness and generosity were pouring out of the city which had been brought to its knees by the chilling freak of nature. Schools were right at the heart of the aid operations. They became hubs of security for families and centres for the distribution of essential services and reliable information. They became the place for people to find some common sense calmness and reassurance. Schools were living examples of just how much communities regard, trust and depend on their local schools, especially when facing
attributes that shone through in every public statement Peter ever made. He radiated sincerity and the media were drawn to him. His presidency coincided with the implementation of the controversial national standards. The profession had not welcomed standardisation, believing it would not make for a better education system and would threaten innovation, individualised learning and the revered NZ Curriculum. Peter did not hold back from expressing the profession’s views and went so far as to bravely call a vote of no confidence in the government’s national standards policy at the NZPF conference that year. The vote was almost unanimously supported. As ever Peter had truthfully and fearlessly represented the views of his colleagues. The extraordinary thing about Peter Simpson is that he never counts his own achievements. In all of his work, he is driven by a moral compass of what is the right thing to do for others and especially for children and their learning. It is a motivation that pervades his whole life. At his retirement party we heard wonderful moving stories of Peter’s life as a principal, a teacher, a family man and a
Proud Poppa Peter with speech maker grandson Jacob
community man. The difference between this and many other retirement parties is that the speeches were all about his strong values and attributes and his sense of service to the community. The night was little about his many personal achievements, trophies or honours. We heard from Paul Drummond, former principal and president of NZPF, of Peter’s humility and how ‘he mentors and guides others enabling them to flourish and grow in their roles.’ Drummond went on to say ‘ . . . he can park his own ego and allow others to have the kudos and recognition and be happy for them to shine.’ ‘Peter is the consummate statesman,’ he said, ‘He has a deserved reputation for matching his words with action and leading from a strong foundation of principles and beliefs.’ His most enduring quality as a leader and a friend, Drummond told us, is being present. ‘No matter who they are or where they are from, Peter engages people and talks to them in a genuine and respectful way. He allows other people time and space and voice,’ he said. Staff of the school echoed these sentiments, telling their story of Peter through a series of light-hearted video vignettes. They concluded their presentation saying that he was the man who had inspired and respected them, grown them, and humoured them. Most importantly he had trusted them to help him lead their school. Peter’s wife Adrienne, also a teacher and Deputy Principal spoke of his loyalty, tenacity and work ethic, his sense of humour and fun and especially the love of his daughters and grand-children. With two parents working in education the rub off was inevitable. ‘Rebecca remembers getting certificates for tidying her room,’ she said, ‘and the girls were constantly playing
schools’. Holidays were always cut short so that both Peter and Adrienne could return to their respective schools in preparation for the new term. This is when the girls turned into ‘teacher aides’ helping with the classroom displays and organising the filing drawers for their dad’s office. There were many moves in the early days and many school houses of dubious quality, she said, but there were also the positives for their young family who could experience the joys of country life as Peter completed his country service. No retiree can get away without someone sharing a few embarrassing moments. In this regard, Paul Drummond shone. He started with the story of Peter confronting a suspicious looking group of teenagers congregated on his school basketball
Peter Simpson (R) catches up with friends at his party
courts during a weekend break. He won immediate cred with the group when he boasted he could shoot a basket from midcourt, then stepped up and nailed it! All of this was recorded on YouTube. ‘He then emailed the link through his Belfast School newsletter and sent it on to all his contacts,’ said Drummond. ‘He will resend the link if you would like it again,’ smiled the mischievous Drummond. Drummond then challenged his
night we had heard of Peter’s honesty and integrity. Whilst these are great virtues which Peter undoubtedly has, Drummond said they can be taken to extreme, like the time, again on the golf course, when he had asked Peter ‘Can I reach that hole with a five iron Pete?’ Peter’s answer echoed back across the fairway, ‘Eventually, Paul!’ The most resounding story of all though was told by the
Canterbury colleagues enjoying the night
Another group of Canterbury colleagues gather to celebrate Peter’s retirement
audience to dare ask Peter about his golfing hole in one! ‘You’ll wish there was a video of that too,’ he said, ‘because the narrative will be a much longer story and you may also have to endure a viewing of the trophy he presented to himself!’ Drummond then reminded the audience how many times that
children themselves. They had provided pictorial and written messages describing their principal and telling him how they feel about him. These were displayed on the party room’s walls. They included, Mr Simpson is entertaining; he sorts things out; he has interesting ideas; a positive attitude to everything; never gives up; makes our school the best; often talks to me; one thousand people like him; he makes our parents comfortable; he’s magic; he is our biggest supporter; makes school really fun; looks after new people; strolls around the playground; helps us achieve incredible things; never lets us down; puts other people before himself; he’s sporty. A couple of my personal favourites include ‘he is overcoming leaving us!’ and ‘He’s often here!’ But perhaps best of all are these two: ‘When Mr Simpson dressed up like a lady, and wore bright pink heels. I can never get that image out of my head’; and ‘Mr Simpson, I remember trying to play in your rugby team. I found out rugby’s not my thing!’ Remarkably all of the children’s comments were about how their principal affected them as people. Like so many others that night, they were talking about values, attributes, resilience, making human connections, empowerment and not taking themselves too seriously. Despite B e l f a s t S c h o o l ’s undisputed high academic standards and a ch i e ve me nt , these were not the focus of the children’s remarks. Perhaps they have already worked out that developing Adrienne Simpson shares family life social competencies
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with Peter the Principal
and connecting with people is more important to life than worrying about whether they meet an arbitrary academic standard. Peter’s eldest grandchild, Jacob, was the final speech of the night. ‘Poppa,’ he said, ‘has been my principal for the last seven years, except for one when he went to Wellington to be the Prime Minister!’ Clearly inheriting his Poppa’s sense of fun, he quickly
in the swimming sports. Displaying a touch of Poppa’s hard out honesty, Jacob told us that Poppa won the swimming race! Then, again with a knowing grin, he said, ‘But I think he might have cheated!’ The downside of having Poppa as his principal, he said, was having to do everything even if he didn’t want to and ‘He knows if I have been naughty at home and at school! The best thing of all about Poppa, he said, is that he loves me!’
Accolades from the children
corrected the statement with a knowing grin for the audience saying, ‘oh, I mean NZPF President!’ He shared with us the good and the not so good aspects of having Poppa as his principal saying, ‘some good things are that I always have sausage sizzle money, I can ring Mum if I’ve forgotten something, I get to see my teachers outside of school, I get to be his spy at weekends if kids aren’t looking after Belfast School and I got to race him
Peter leaves Belfast school after 23 years as its principal, to take up a new role as Leadership Advisor in the newly established advisory service. Principals across the Canterbury region will now benefit from his mentoring and coaching skills, his extensive knowledge of principalship and his skills of empowerment. We have no doubt that Canterbury schools will all be better off for his new career choice.
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