Principal: Primary curriculum changes good, but challenging

Nicole Higby is in her first year as principal of St Peter’s Catholic School in Cambridge during a time of significant change for New Zealand education. Primary curriculum changes have introduced structured learning in key subjects such as English and maths, and the Government has moved to replace open-plan classroom teaching in favour of a more flexible format.

St Peter’s is well-placed for the latter, Ms Higby said. Open classrooms built a few years ago can be easily partitioned for single-class or group teaching, and she is positive about changes to the curriculum.

“I like the structure of it. . . the science of learning is probably my favourite thing about education. If I were to express a concern it would be about the speed of implementing the changes, particularly in smaller schools where you have crossover levels in terms of student groupings,” she said.

“It’s important to get the fundamentals right, and I am optimistic there will still be space in there to encourage children to be creative in their learning. We see our students come to life through opportunities such as our garden and the recent production.

“Children have always got a good education here . . . this is about making sure no children are left behind. Once you have the pedagogy right, you can apply it anywhere.”

Results in the 2025 school board elections come out next month. That exercise has validated Ms Higby’s positive view of her school community, one she suggests many schools would be keen to emulate.

“We are incredibly lucky here with the number of people who have put their names forward for the board,” she said.

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New principal strikes it lucky (By Viv Posselt/Cambridge News)