Parent Elections - Candidate Withdrawal
Parent Elections - Candidate Withdrawal
Please note that Geetha Lewke Bandara has withdrawn from the Parent Elections for the Board of Trustees.
The candidates for the parent Board of Trustees representatives are:
- Irshad Ali
- Vimmi Bhatnagar
- Dr Judith Bingham
- Ella Kumar
- Ewe Leong Lim
- Sue Mulrennan
- Rakesh Pandey
- Vijay Parulkar
- Marjet Pot
- Sarat Singamneni
- Kima Tuialii
MRGS Trustee Elections
In May this year the School Trustee Elections will be held. Board members are entrusted by the community to ensure the success of our schools and a bright future for our children. We need an education system where all children are expected to succeed and one where we all take shared responsibility in ensuring this happens.
Key Dates
- 8th April Call for nominations
- 15th April Evening for our current Board to meet prospective candidates at 4.45pm in the Conference Room (main Administration Building).
- 10th May Nominations close
- 17th May Voting papers issued
- 21st May Meet and greet the trustee candidates 7.00pm in the school Library
- 30th May Midday voting closes
- 5th June Votes counted and results declared
- 6th June New BOT takes office
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is responsible for the governance of the School. There are five members elected by the parents, one elected by the staff and one by the students, as well as three co-opted members.
Chairperson: Ms Marjet Pot
Principal: Mr Greg Watson
Members:
Ms Dora Alefosio
Dr Judith Bingham
Mr Peter Gray
Mrs Ella Kumar
Mr Ewe Leong Lim
Ms Sue Mulrennan
Ms Helen Oge
Mr Vijay Parulkar
Staff Representative: Mr D Williams
Student Representative: Viliami Tutone
Proposed Meeting Schedule 2013
DATES OF BOARD MEETINGS 2013
- February: Monday 18
- March: Tuesday 19
- April: Monday 15
- End of Term 1: Friday 19 April
- May : Monday 27
- June: Monday 24
- End of Term 2: Friday 12 July
- July: Monday 29
- August: Monday 26
- September: Monday 23
- End of Term 3: Friday 27 September
- October: Tuesday 29
- November: Monday 25
- December: Monday 9
- End of Term 4: Wednesday 11 December
BoT Profiles
Meet the Board of Trustees:
Dora Alefosio is a Social Worker with ATWC, Family Start, Auckland Central. She lives in the Three Kings/Mt Roskill area. She previously worked for Child Youth and Family (CYF), children’s department, Community Approach and Mt Roskill Police Projects for a number of years. She and her family attend the Three Kings Congregational Church where Dora is in the leadership team and is a youth group leader. She is passionate about working with families with children who struggle to find positive outcomes.
Dr Judith Bingham will have two children at MRGS by 2013. She currently runs an environmental consulting business with her husband. Judith has worked in the past as a General Manager at the Crown Research Institute, ESR, and as an advisor with Fletcher Challenge. Over the years she has assisted in a voluntary capacity with running various professional groups and more recently with local community organisations involved with children.
Peter Gray is an elected parent representative to the board. He first served as a co-opted board member from May 2008 until the recent elections. A chartered accountant in public practice with the firm Hayes Knight, Peter has had an involvement with many financial aspects of schools including a role as board member and treasurer of Three Kings Primary School for a number of years.
Ella Kumar is married with 3 children attending the Mt Roskill Campus schools. She has a passion to help our communities live healthier lifestyles and loves working with people and assisting the community. Ella is a Justice of Peace of NZ, a Marriage Celebrant, and is on the Mt Roskill Grammar and Primary School Board of Trustees. She takes a lot of interest in children’s activities to help those who are our leaders of tomorrow.
Ewe Leong Lim is a senior partner of the Auckland office of Anthony Harper, Lawyers. He specialises in corporate and commercial law. Ewe Leong has been an elected trustee of the school since 2007.
Sue Mulrennan is the mother of two Year 9 students and two graduates of MRGS. Previously she has served on the Board of Trustees of a local Primary School and is currently a Mt Roskill Community Board member (not seeking re-election because of work commitments). Sue is an Educational Consultant, working in secondary schools from Auckland to Taupo.
Marjet Pot has been on the BoT for 6 years and enjoys working with the committed Board members to lead the school. She wants to ensure that Mt Roskill Grammar offers a wide range of educational, sporting and social opportunities to enable all students to realise their dreams and potential and to become valued citizens in the community.
Helen (Tumau) Oge is currently working at Tangaroa College as the Careers & Gateway Coordinator. Of Samoan heritage, Helen is a proud and loyal Kiwi who absolutely enjoyed her schooling experience. Both her parents migrated to New Zealand in the early 70s, married and started a family who have all been active students at Mt Roskill Grammar School. After completing her BA and working for the University of Auckland General Library, Helen went on to work for the Manukau Institute of Technology in pastoral support and then as the Pasifika Liaison working with Auckland's secondary school community and other tertiary providers. During her first term on the board, Helen returned as a volunteer for a non for profit organisation, Crosspower Ministries Trust and later joined as a full time mentor in the trust's Pacific Employment Support Services for two years. Helen feels honoured and is excited to continue her family’s connection with the school.
Vijay Parulkar is an analyst with a law enforcement agency, specialising in strategic management. Being the father of an incumbent and a graduate, Vijay strongly supports the vision of MRGS. Vijay wants to contribute towards the school’s goals of providing its students the best possible learning environment, sporting opportunities and social engagement. Vijay firmly believes that every student and staff of MRGS deserves the opportunity to realise their potential.
David Williams (Staff Representative) grew up in Christchurch and came to MRGS after studying at Otago University before working and travelling through Europe. He has been a Physical Education and Health Teacher at MRGS for 7 years and has enjoyed the challenge of working within such a multicultural school with such a dedicated staff. In his “spare” time he enjoys either keeping active mostly through cycling and running or supporting and watching a range of sports.
Interested In Becoming a Member of the Board?
If you are interested in being on the Board of Trustees please contact the BOT chairperson Marjet Pot on 021 977201 or (09) 6388872.
Time requirements:
Approximately one meeting per week . This would be the maximum but can vary hugely from month to month depending on what projects the BoT is running. Meetings are held at a time to suit the BoT members and when planning meetings we take into account the fact that BoT members also have other paid and non paid commitments.
Regular monthly BoT meetings are generally held on the fourth Monday of the month at 5pm.
Skill Requirement:
- Communication skills At BoT level you are required to communicate your thoughts and ideas to the Board. You need to have the ability to work within a group and to work with other individuals on the BoT.
- Governance A need to understand the difference between governance and management. BoT members need to be able to see the ‘bigger picture’ and be forward thinking.
- Finance and Business It is not essential that every BoT member has these skills. The BoT needs to have some members with these skills but we also need to have members who have other life skills and expertise to bring to the BoT. The school financial statements are managed by staff at the school and presented monthly by the Business Manager. ·
Do I need to have a child at the school?
One does not need to have a child at the school to be a BoT member. Community members are welcome on the BoT. The current BoT at MRGS has 6 members, two of whom do not have a child at the school. ·
Sub-committees:
At MRGS there are number of sub-committees. Members need to be involved in some of these sub-committees. They include Finance, Property , Personnel, Policy and Discipline.
Appointment of staff:
The BoT is required to appoint the Principal and Deputy Principal. All other appointments are the responsibility of the senior management team.
Chairperson role:
The role of the Chairperson involves a greater time commitment. It is usual for the Chairperson to meet with the Principal once a week. The Chairperson is also the person who will liaise with outside organisations, give the end of year speeches, and front any significant issues at the school. The Chairperson needs to lead the BoT, plan agendas and undertake annual Principal Appraisals .
Training:
Training is available for any BoT member and new members are encouraged to attend these evening meetings to ensure they understand their roles. A starter pack of information is also available to new members and outlines information specific to MRGS.
Commitment:
The term for a BoT member is three years. It takes at least a year to understand the role and the issues which the BoT has to deal with. Ideally members are encouraged to stay for 6 years. This gives continuity of the governance role and allows for co-option of members . This means a BoT member needs to stand for re-election after their first three year term. For some of us it is hard to commit to six years when we first stand for the BoT but once on the BoT you can see the benefits of continuity and being a productive BoT member.