St Dominic's College

Carol Coddington

Principal, St Dominic's College

As Carol’s father was employed in civil aviation her upbringing meant living here and overseas. However, her move into teaching came through her four year Education Degree and Teacher’s Diploma at Waikato University. Murray’s Bay School was her first school, but because she’d always wanted to be in the secondary sector, she quickly moved to Carmel College in Milford. A year at Milford Primary followed and then Carol moved to Taupo where she spent fourteen years, in two seven year periods, with two local high schools. The first was Taupo-Nui-a -Tia College, the second, the new Tauhara College where Carol became Senior Dean and Careers Advisor as well as being Head of English and Drama. “At the time, Tauhara had a Principal with an integrated vision – together we developed a new School Certificate programme which, to some degree, is the basis for the proposed 2008 curriculum design, based on skills and competencies.” In 1986 Carol moved to the Correspondence School in Wellington where she spent two enjoyable years in charge of assessment and evaluation and then back into school administration as Deputy Principal of McAuley High School in Otahuhu, for seven years. And then, in 1996, Carol was appointed Principal of St Dominic’s College in Rathgar Road, Henderson. “St Dominic’s is a strong and vibrant school. It is a College with a strong Catholic character, a strong set of values, a high expectation of every student and a place where all staff work hard. We create the opportunities for the girls so that all can walk out of here with a very wide range of choices. We are seen as a fairly traditional school, with discipline built on respect for people and their cultures. We are strong on moral decision making, on actions and implications and in developing young women with leadership qualities. “Dominicans traditionally have strong links with education, having established several of the earliest universities including the first university in Spain. There is therefore a sense in which we are preparing girls to stand tall in an international world!” Carol is married to Peter who is Deputy Principal at Henderson High School and they have one adult daughter.