Ranui Principal retires

By LEANNE WARR

Pene Burridge loves hearing about former pupils and how they've done.  

The Ranui Primary School principal hopes she'll still hear about their achievements once she retires at the end of this term after 11 years. 

Mrs Burridge will miss the people she has met in 45 years of teaching. The Henderson resident decided to become a teacher as a small girl, following in her mother's footsteps. Her first job was at a Canterbury country school where there were only five staff.

She also taught in New Plymouth before taking a position in a school at a steel mill town in England where there were students of 75 nationalities. "It was a very raw new town," she says.  

The mother of two has seen a few changes in education during her career. The curriculum, which was once exercise orientated is now more "hands-on" and incorporates the different learning styles of the children, she says.  

"It's more interesting," she says. "You can adapt your programme to suit different learning needs."  

Mrs Burridge has no immediate plans for her retirement but will go to Ireland next year to visit her daughter.  

She would like to continue working in Ranui. "It's a wonderful community," she says. "People are very appreciative - so are the children."  

She says low decile schools are often the best to work in. "They have a nice culture and nice friendliness." 

Western Leader