Kieran Udy will be taking the reins of the principal job, replacing Tara Quinney who resigned last year.
Mr Udy is new to the Gore area, and said he was pleasantly surprised by just how nice it was down south.
‘‘It’s really good, I’m quite surprised at just how much there is here in Gore, how much there is to do, how pleasant it is.
‘‘It’s such a beautiful part of the country that I haven’t seen much of, because I’ve been living in the North Island.’’
Mr Udy said he was excited about his new role with St Peter’s College, considering it a strong school in need of small tune-ups.
‘‘It’s a great school, with a proud history of great academic achievement and success, the latest NCEA results put us among the top schools.
‘‘Plenty to work on moving forward, but there’s some really great stuff here. It’s just reminding people of that and getting back to normal school achievements,’’ he said.
Mr Udy, who comes from the North Island, said his passion was not just academic achievement, but also in getting students to excel in all fields.
‘‘Extracurriculars have always been a big thing for me.
‘‘Students who might not excel in the classroom will often excel in the sports field, or out on camps, things like that,’’ he said.
His last job was acting principal at Paeroa College in Hauraki. Mr Udy said he was dedicated to helping students become strong and resilient people.
‘‘Resilience is a key skill we all need. It’s through adversity, small risks, that we build resilience, which is definitely something I encourage in all students.’’
St Peter’s College is currently under statutory management, which has been the case since April 2023.
Mr Udy, who has a Master’s of Education (Hons) and a degree in theology from the Sydney College of Divinity, said one of his goals was to get this sorted and right the ship back to being one of the strongest in the country.
‘‘It’s a school with a long proud history of being a top-achiever, so returning to that would be a top goal.
‘‘Listening to the students, community, whanau, and making sure the school reflects their goals and ambitions and what they want, there will be a bit of work around that,’’ he said.
Mr Udy said he had experience in dealing with ministry interventions and was confident in the school to get back on track.
‘‘I have done a similar thing in a previous school, where there was a higher level of interventions from the ministry and a lot more going on, and we got back to normal operations within 12 months.
‘‘I quite enjoy that, I think it gives confidence to the community that their students are well catered for and looked after, and getting all the opportunities they should,’’ he said.
Mr Udy was confident in the trajectory of the school.
‘‘Watch this space. I think St Peter’s will be back to normal operation. We had great results last year and it’s a reminder this is still a high performing academic school.
‘‘We will continue to grow on that. It will be an exciting journey for the next couple of years.’’
