Royal Road Primary

Wayne Leighton

Principal, Royal Road Primary

Although he was born on the North Shore Wayne’s family moved to Massey when he was five and he started at Royal Road School. So far Wayne is the first principal I have interviewed who attended the school they now lead, as a pupil. “If you had told me at thirteen that I’d be a teacher I wouldn’t have believed you.” From Royal Road it was to Massey High School and then to teachers’ college at the Auckland College of Education (ACE). From college, Wayne’s first school was Birdwood Primary in Ranui where over a ten year stay he handled most responsibilities, ending up as deputy principal. The opportunity then arose for Wayne to return to Royal Road as deputy principal, “and then when Neil Mahoney moved on three years ago I was fortunate to gain the principal’s role.” “One of my passions is environmental education, education for sustainability. We have a Waitakere Ranges-type property at the back of the school to develop and with my brother being a ranger at the Arataki Visitor Centre, which we visited we now have the great support from the ARC along with ACE’s Team Solutions. While the project is teacher-led we have heavy pupil involvement. Last year we did an environmental report on what we have. This year the senior school is taking this further through a research phase, with bird counts, tree species, etc.” “Another initiative that we have taken along these lines is to start a school vegetable garden with the welcomed assistance of West Harbour Rotary. We have spent time with the relevant people from the Waitakere City Council learning how to make worm farms and compost and there’s huge enthusiasm for this project too.” “It’s all about learning in context not learning in theory. The teaching and support staff are so professional and committed and together we are moving towards enquiry learning. At the same time we are having enormous fun together.”