Mr Fraser (43) is into his third week as the new principal of Ardgowan School, but the North Otago primary school has long held a special place in his heart.
He taught there from 2005 to 2013, his wife Anna is a reading recovery teacher there, and his daughters, Ella (14) and Georgia (12), have both gone through the school.
On his first day back, the school choir sang Welcome Home and the boys performed a haka.
"That was really cool actually, it was really nice," he said.
Mr Fraser returned to Ardgowan after spending nine years as principal at Maheno School, south of Oamaru. Maheno had been a "wonderful" school and community for Mr Fraser, but he was ready for a new challenge.
He had been a teaching principal at Maheno, and the Ardgowan role appealed because it was full-time. He was enjoying having more time to concentrate on the strategic direction of the school.
But he would always make time to be with the pupils, he said.
"Because that’s why you get into teaching, the connection with kids."
Mr Fraser grew up in Riverton. He moved to Oamaru for his first teaching role, at Pembroke School, fresh out of teachers’ college. After a couple of years at Pembroke, he went travelling overseas, but returned to Oamaru a year later and took up a fixed-term position at Pembroke, before moving to Ardgowan School later that year.
Sport inspired him to get into teaching. He had always loved coaching athletics and he went to the Sports Institute of Otago, before studying to become a teacher.
"It was something I really enjoyed doing — hanging out with kids and seeing the growth, and you know, it was fun as well."
"It’s a pretty special career, it’s pretty all-encompassing sometimes, it can be pretty intense, but it’s really rewarding," he said.
One of his first priorities as principal at Ardgowan was relationship building — although Covid-19 was presenting a few challenges.
"So I’m trying to, you know, establish those relationships with staff and kids really, at the moment, and doing what I can with the whanau and trying to touch base whenever they’re there at the gate, saying gidday and giving them a wave."
Mr Fraser has replaced Julie French, who resigned last year. The announcement of Ms French’s resignation came two months after Ministry of Education appointed Dunedin independent adviser and former lawyer Kate Hesson as limited statutory manager of Ardgowan School, following a request from the board of trustees for support with employment, policy and communications.
While Ms Hesson still retained her statutory powers, she said her role was turning into one of support, as and when Mr Fraser and the board needed it.
"Ryan has only been there since the start of the month and already we’ve been able to see how engaged he is with the students and staff and the board.
"I’m looking forward to supporting him in that role, and the board, and the wider school community to ensure that continues," she said.
