Henderson High School

Joy Eaton

Principal, Henderson High School

Joy Eaton grew up in the Yorkshire Dales in a village near Skipton, a lovely part of England! Her family moved to New Zealand when she was ten and Joy finished her compulsory education at Onehunga High School. While her mother had been a primary teacher Joy signed up in the 7th form to study to be a secondary teacher with a degree through Auckland University and her teaching diploma from the Auckland College of Education. “I was always very interested in geography and history – social studies and felt I related better to secondary students.” Joy’s first school was Tangaroa College in Otara where she taught for seven years. “I learned to be a teacher there. I enjoyed it enormously – good staff and good kids too!” Having moved to live in the Waikumete area Joy began looking at local schools to find a school more convenient for travel. In 1987 she moved to Waitakere College to once again teach in geography and social studies. “I was at Waitakere College for 19 years, a number of years as deputy principal, the five latter years as Associate Principal, with responsibility for curriculum development and assessment.” I’ve been interested in leadership for some time and in 1999 I had a research fellowship at UNITEC’s School of Education studying change management. Then in 2000 I had a term as acting-principal of the Kelston Deaf Education Centre when they were without a principal. What a tremendous group of people: a totally different culture: in hindsight a wonderful learning experience!” Two years ago Joy had a term in England on an international research fellowship supported by UNITEC and then last year she applied for and won the principal-ship at Henderson High School when Owen Hoskin moved to an international school, taking up the role in June 2006. “I like the fact that it’s a smaller school – about 1,000 students – with a great tradition of warm and friendly relationships among students, staff, parents, the board and former pupils. A strong feature of Henderson High is the willingness of students to take part in community service. For example the choir has spent time entertaining and talking to residents of the Waratah Retirement Home. Another example is the tree planting project on the banks of the Opanuku Stream. We look forward to playing our part in honouring the traditions of Henderson and our school.”