Mr Dunn spent the first 18 years of his life in Winton where his father was the policeman.
He was head boy at Central Southland College in 1998. As a talented young sportsman, he developed a healthy respect for his physical education teachers Tony Meechang and David Drew and the hard-nosed rugby coach and deputy principal Ross Brockbank.
Mr Dunn studied to be a physical education teacher in Dunedin and went on to teach at Western Springs College in Auckland and then teaching in Hong Kong.
After marrying Angela Strafford, the couple had four children; Lilly, Fred, Harry and Jack.
In 2018, the family was tiring of the Auckland "rat race" and it was apparent that easily attending activities away from the house was going to be an issue for the Dunn family.
"We didn’t want our family to be stuck at home watching the screens for entertainment so we made the big move," Mr Dunn said.
He described the Blenheim lifestyle as awesome.
"It’s so easy to get around town and take part in all the sports and everything else that goes on."
Mr Dunn has taught physical education at Marlborough College for the past five years and has also served as assistant principal for all but his first year.
Overseeing 1000 students at the college came with some pressure, he said.
"I’m really looking forward to it; the senior leadership team is very good. The staff and students are really good too, the college has improved a lot in the last five or six years. It is an awesome community, I’ve been humbled by the support I’ve had."
Away from work, Mr Dunn enjoys fishing and water sports with his family in the Marlborough Sounds and helps coach his daughter’s touch team.
He also helps coach his sons’ rugby team with a group of parents that includes fellow Southlanders Hoani McDonald and his wife Michelle, who are also living in Blenheim with their three children.
Mr Dunn said Marlborough Boys’ was an academic school, but also did very well at sport.
Outgoing Marlborough principal John Kendal resigned after landing his "dream job" as principal of Rotorua Boys’ High School, where he was once head boy.
- By John Langford
