Board of Trustees

 
 
Heidi Heyman – Chairperson

Hello, my journey with Upper Harbour Primary school began when my two sons were enrolled as foundation students. My eldest son has now moved onto intermediate school and my youngest has two more wonderful years left at Upper Harbour Primary. I stood for Board of Trustee’s when the establishment board handed over the school and was fortunate to be elected and voted on by the elected board as Chairperson in 2006 a position I have continued in since.
I have and always will continue to enjoy being involved in the education field and working with those involved in helping our students build a love and thirst for learning. It is a privilege to be on the Board of a school such as Upper Harbour Primary, a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The enjoyment is gained through helping develop a truly remarkable forward thinking school, watching the children that enter our classrooms for the first time, thirsty sponges, ready to absorb everything put in front of them for the next six years, working with the community, listening to the community’s needs, incorporating the diverse cultures that makes a school so rich. Ensuring we have the very best Principal, leadership teams, teaching staff and teacher aids in front of our children helping them to build their platform of learning. I always remember a saying by Gordon Brown : “to be a teacher you must be a prophet – because you are trying to prepare people for a world thirty to fifty years into the future”
On a personal level, I spend my time as a Director of Logical Toys Limited – which imports, manufactures and exports educational toys, games and puzzles for the educational retail markets and into the education market – keeping me very busy indeed.
I am also on the New Zealand Toy Distributors Committee and on the Charities Committee of the Association which supports not for profit organizations that focus on the children of New Zealand with special needs.

Jonathan Cross

My name is Jonathan Cross, I am a resident of Greenhithe and have two children attending UHPS, Ella in year 2 and Oliver in year 4.
I place great value in education and I am passionate about the children of Upper Harbour having a school we can all be proud of and one that makes a difference to the lives of everyone fortunate enough to be part of it.  

I stood for the Board of Trustees for several reasons.  I value the work that the staff do on behalf of our children and I enjoy being able to play a role in supporting the fantastic job they do.  As someone that sees the benefits and dedication of their work, it is a privilege to be able to put something back into the school and help contribute to the success of all our children.  I enjoy the new experiences and challenges that the role brings and find being involved with the governance of the school very rewarding.  

In my day job I am technical Program Manager responsible for overseeing the delivering large capital projects and leading a team engineers, project managers and support staff.  I have a good understanding of developing strategies, budgets and plans to get large projects completed as well as the necessary skills and experience to successfully deliver projects on time and within budget.   My role has also given me valuable experience of reporting into boards and therefore an appreciation of what helps to make a good board member.  I am also a director of two businesses that offer products and services with a focus on children’s development.  These experiences have helped me develop some of the skills that I believe are beneficial for the role of a Trustee.  
 
Shelley Findlay

My name is Shelley Findlay and I am the Staff Representative on the Board of Trustees. My husband and I with our four children came out to New Zealand from South Africa in 1998 and have been very happy here.  I have been teaching for a number of years but also gained experience in the business sector while owning and managing a supermarket.  
My position on the Board allows me to have a say in the strategic direction of our school. I  share my vision of providing all children with quality learning experiences from a classroom perspective. I believe the school needs to provide a safe environment where children are given opportunities and are challenged to develop a variety of life skills.  I share and support the expectation that we 'collectively' need to ensure the success of our schools and a bright future for our children.  
 
James Clark

My name is James Clark and I have been on the UHPS Board of Trustees for 2 years.  I have two daughters at the school, Dayna in year 4 and Gemma in Y 2.
 
I coach the UHPS Y2 Dragonflies Netball team who play in the A grade at Kidzplay Netball, and also coach the UHPS Y4 Sharks Flippaball team (waterpolo) who have won the North Harbour competition twice in 2011.  I assist Anne Scott in teaching Room 2 at UHPS on Wednesday mornings and volunteer for parent help during school trips and events as much as possible (I have also cooked hundreds of sausages at school fundraising events!).
 
After 10 years in marketing, and 8 years running my own business, I am now at University completing a postgraduate diploma in primary teaching.  I will finish this in December and am looking forward to beginning teaching in 2012.
 
 
Adrienne Young
 
My name is Adrienne Young and I have three children who currently attend UHPS, Oliver in year 6, Emily in year 3 and James in year 1.
 
I began ‘sharing the journey’ with UHPS back in 2003 when I was fortunate enough to be appointed by the Minister of Education to the Establishment Board of Trustees. We had recently moved into the area and I knew that my children would be attending this brand new school so it was an exciting opportunity to be involved right from the beginning. Oliver was lucky enough to be the first student enrolled at the school and we have been delighted to be part of creating such a warm and friendly community.
 
As Deputy Chairperson on the Establishment Board, I was closely involved with design and construction decisions, employment of the initial management team and the development of the mission statement and philosophy of the school. In the ensuing years, UHPS has grown from a small school with an initial roll of 89 students, to its current size where we are fast approaching a roll of 500 students. The progress along the way has been exciting with the development of a wonderful team of staff members and a group of children of whom we can all be proud.
 
The mission statement at UHPS is ‘Sharing the journey’. This small statement encompasses many of the ideals that are held in high esteem by the UHPS community, and for me the two most important are the concepts of inclusiveness and lifelong learning. ‘Sharing’ is evident throughout the school with parents being actively encouraged to be a part of their children’s learning and it is through the school that my family has developed many valued friendships. ‘The journey’ for me relates to this small part of my childrens’ life that will be instrumental in inspiring a love of learning that will see them develop into lifelong learners.
 
Personally I have a strong interest in academic issues, being a lecturer and Curriculum Leader at Unitec in the field of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. I have also continued to be a lifelong learner, having completed my Masters degree in Health Science and I love that this philosophy is so embraced by the management team and teaching staff at UHPS. I believe that encouraging this love of learning in our children is one of the most important things that our school can do to inspire our children to greatness. Being part of the Board of Trustees to support these values continues to be an interesting, challenging and highly rewarding role.