Fellows

School Fellows - past and present

In recognition of outstanding contribution to St. Paul's Collegiate School over a period of time, the following members of the school community have been nominated with St. Paul's Fellowship by the School Board.

Fellow – Year honoured

AD Hart (D) – 1985
JB Mortimer (QSM) – 1984
PM Harington (D) – 1987
TJ Thorrold – 1987
DG Sadler (D) – 1987
CJC Trower – 1994
M Clough (D) – 1994
SD Upton – 1994
JES Allen (D) – 1996
JR Beckett (D) – 1996
MG Lawrence – 1996
VB Parker – 1996
RJ Reynolds – 1996
JJ Rickman – 1996
J Wallace – 1996
TK Mackay – 1997
RJ Pollock (QSM) – 2000
JR Wiltshire – 2000
WE McCulloch – 2001
SW Cole – 2001
HCN Elliott – 2002
PJC Rogers – 2006
SK Wootton – 2007
TP Watson – 2007
JE Dawson – 2009
GJ Fenton – 2011
L Eyre – 2011
MV Shaw – 2011
PW Plant – 2011
PW Johnstone (D)- 2011
JR Oliver – 2011

Dr R Carr – 2012
D Gasquoine – 2012
J Tanner – 2012
HR Rolleston – 2012
D Vettori – 2012

J R Oliver and PW Johnstone (1982 - 2011)

St Paul's Collegiate School

Fellow

Mr John Mortimer and Mr Richard Reynolds, played a key role in the establishment and eventual development of the Honikiwi Forest. Mr John Oliver and his good friend Mr Peter Johnstone and others have overseen this ambitious project, including the development of access roading and the construction of a bridge, culminating in the first trees being harvested late in 2010. In 1997, through Mr Oliver and Mr Johnstone, the School was offered a 36% share of another forest at Waimiha, owned by Boston Development Limited. Both of these gentlemen have played a key role in having the shareholders in Honikiwi Forest to gift their share of the land after milling to St Paul’s. To date, 90% of shareholders have agreed to this. For Mr John Oliver, his first official contact for the School was in 1975, when his eldest son Mark started at St Paul’s. He was followed by his three younger brothers: Todd, William and Duncan, giving John and Sarah twelve consecutive years of close association as parents. Since then, they have had six grandchildren attend St Paul’s; given that they have been blessed with 17 grandchildren, it is highly likely that more will follow. Mr Peter Johnstone and his wife Margaret had a son Allen attend St Paul’s in 1984, and his grandson, William Reeves, is currently in Year 10 at the School. An accomplished and highly respected farmer, Mr Johnstone established his first farm at Puketutu and, along with Mr John Oliver in 1972, they acquired a property at Pureora and commenced a planting operation. Over successive years, this has been followed by other blocks and more shareholders. As an indication of the Johnstone family’s long association with St Paul’s Collegiate School, it is important to recognise at this occasion that in 1954, Mr Johnstone’s grandfather, Wilfred, owned a parcel of land that now makes up the current St Paul’s site, which he sold to the Founders. For their long-standing commitment to St Paul’s, Mr Oliver and Mr Johnstone are deserved appointees as Fellows.

P W Plant (1961 - 1998)

St Paul's Collegiate School

Fellow

In 1961, Mr Pat Plant emigrated from the United Kingdom and commenced duties at St Paul’s Collegiate School, staying 37 years until his retirement from the teaching profession in 1998. Mr Plant began teaching Science, Mathematics, History and all of the PE classes, as well as coaching the 1st XV. In 1963 he took over as Housemaster of Sargood House – a Boarding House bursting at the seams and whose only heating was a couple of log fires. Mr Plant and his wife, Diana, led Sargood for 15 years (1961 – 1976). There was no question as to who was the boss and Mr Plant’s word was law. Mr Philip Morgan commented: “The other Houses envied Sargood because they always did that much better. Mr Plant instilled a sense of belief that Sargood would never be bettered.” Between 1978 and 1985, he worked the same wonders as Clark Housemaster. As a Rugby coach, the boys saw another side to Mr Plant. His demeanour changed and he was viewed as affable, friendly and more relaxed. A fine Science teacher, he taught his students well and took a genuine interest in their success. A larger than life character, he could be heard all over the School. Always well-intentioned, he had a real presence around the grounds. Mr and Mrs Plant’s on-going commitment to St Paul’s is illustrated by their regular attendance at Old Collegians’ functions in Hamilton, Auckland and Tauranga. St Paul’s has been a huge part of Mr Plant’s life and we in turn thank him for his contribution to our School. Mr Plant deserves his appointment as Fellow, given his tremendous length and level of service.

M V Shaw (1970 - 2002)

St Paul's Collegiate School

Fellow

Mr Mike Shaw joined the St Paul’s Collegiate School staff in 1970 fresh from two years at Timbertop, the outdoor pursuit centre of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. Mr Shaw found at St Paul’s a Headmaster and a Chairman of the Board who had a similar vision for St Paul’s. He took over School House in 1971, taught full time, and coached Rowing in summer and Rugby in winter. After the decision to establish Tihoi was made, the Shaw’s moved to Tihoi in December 1978 and settled into the “Brick House”. The campus was the site of a former mill town: desolate, covered with rubbish, broken glass and vandalised houses with rotten floors, stoves full of missing parts, little spouting, rusted water pipes, toilets/basins smashed and plenty of blackberry. The Shaw’s and others had to work hard. On the Saturday, two days prior to Tihoi opening, the staff were still digging ring water-mains. If anyone was to have a chance of making Tihoi’s start a successful one, it was Mike Shaw. He needed to be a mechanic, plumber, builder, drain layer, glazier, farmer, electrician, on top of being a fulltime teacher and instructor. His wife Judy, had to be a courier, nurse, matron, postman and teacher, as well as running a home for their two children. Mr Shaw believed that the Tihoi experience should be a fresh start for every boy. No boy was to bring any “baggage”: no previous school reports were to be sighted. Instead, a sealed envelope was to be kept on each boy, to be opened only in emergencies. Many a St Paul’s boy was to undergo dramatic personal change as a result of their six-month experience at Tihoi. Mr Shaw introduced a new ablutions block/staff room in 1980, planted a vegetable garden, established paths and cleared the blackberry. Mr Shaw returned to St Paul’s Collegiate Hamilton campus in 1982 and took over the teaching of Chemistry – early morning tutorials and the demands he made on his students for hard work, self-discipline and punctuality meant his national exam results were consistently outstanding. Mr Shaw ran a myriad of activities (camera club, canoe club, scuba courses), drove buses and became sort of a trouble-shooter for Headmaster, Mr Steve Cole, taking over the Rowing Club and setting up School House as a day boy House, while in addition he took charge of the Prefects and ran the detention system. Mr Shaw retired in 2002 following 32 years service to the School. Housemaster, Science teacher, coach, first Director of Tihoi – St Paul’s owes Mr Mike Shaw and his wife, Judy, a huge debt of gratitude for outstanding service, and his appointment as a Fellow is most deserved.

L Eyre (1974-1981)

St Paul's Collegiate School

Fellow

Reverend Loris Eyre joined the Board in July 1974 when Mr Tony Hart was Headmaster of a School of 443, of whom 295 were boarders. The new Clark House had just been built (1973) and the Art & Craft block completed. Mr John Mortimer had just taken over as Chairman and the first generation of Founding Trustees, many of whom had served St Paul’s Collegiate School since its establishment in 1959, had just stepped down. On her appointment, Reverend Eyre became the first woman to be appointed to the St Paul’s Board of Trustees. The early 1970s was a challenging time for the School and the country as a whole, with very high inflation (18-20% per annum) that resulted in the average costs of running the School rising from $147,000 to $292,000 between 1970 and 1974, with no increase in the number of staff employed by the School. A mother of four children, Colin, David, Grant and Stuart, all of whom attended St Paul’s, Reverend Eyre brought a new dimension to Board deliberations. She and her group of Trustees had many significant decisions to make, not the least of which was the appointment in 1980 of a new Headmaster, Reverend Michael Lawrence. The opening of the Mary Hornsby Music School, the decision to establish a Tihoi Venture campus, cafeteria style meals in the dining room, right down to the cloth material for the Blazer jacket, were all matters she played a part in. An enthusiastic supporter and fundraiser of Tihoi, her son Grant was the first Tihoi Campus tutor. From 1992 through to 2008, Reverend Eyre was also a Trustee of the Whesby Scholarship Fund Trust Board developed to support the sons/daughters of Clergy enrolling into the School: to date, 43 students have benefited from this scholarship. Her support and wisdom on this Board was greatly appreciated by all who served with her over the 17 years of her tenure. Forthright and sensible, Reverend Eyre made a most valuable contribution to St Paul’s governance, and it was not surprising that this was recognised in 2005 with the naming of the newly expanded Harington boarding house, the “Loris Eyre Wing”. It was most appropriate that in July 1981, having come in with John Mortimer’s Chairmanship, she retired when he stepped down from the Board of Trustees. Reverend Eyre has continued her support of St Paul’s, recently addressing the School community at a Founders’ Day Service. Her long and wise contribution to the governance of the School is reflected in her appointment as a Fellow.

G J Fenton (1997 - 2009)

St Paul's Collegiate School

Fellow

Mr Greg Fenton came to St Paul’s Collegiate School in 1997 when he was appointed as Deputy Headmaster, a role he carried out during the second half of Mr Steve Cole’s tenure as Headmaster. In July 2001, Mr Fenton took over as Headmaster during a period of considerable challenge and competition. He, together with the Board of Trustees, saw a real need to implement the “Strategic Plan” presented to the Board in 1990, which called for a major upgrade and rebuilding of the School. As such, Mr Fenton played a pivotal role in many significant Capital Expenditure projects. These included: the extension of Harington Boarding House with the construction of the Loris Eyre wing in 2006; the opening of the Sports Centre with gymnasium, fitness centre, squash courts, indoor cricket facility and changing rooms in October 2007; the completion of the Astro-Turf Hockey facility in April 2007; the renovation of the Great Oaks farm house, which has become the home to our International students, archives and the Marketing and Development Office; the completion of the rebuilding of Tihoi with the Gallagher Dining Room (2006) and construction of six new houses by 2008. To fund this capital expenditure, Mr Fenton worked vigorously to promote and market the School in order to grow its roll, which reached 653 students, the highest level in the School’s 52 year history. Totally committed, Mr Fenton worked tirelessly to ensure academic standards were raised to the high levels we enjoy today. NCEA pass rates and Scholarship grew significantly under Mr Fenton’s tenure. Ably supported by his warm, friendly and hospitable wife, Lyn, the Fenton’s two children, Ciaran and Michaela both attended St Paul’s. Genuinely passionate about St Paul’s and its community, Mr Fenton put his heart and soul into the School during his nine year tenure as Headmaster, and the results of his efforts are clearly evident in the St Paul’s you see today. Mr Fenton moved from being a highly regarded Deputy Headmaster through to a Headmaster who had a huge impact on St Paul’s development and School culture. In recognition of his outstanding contribution, it is my great pleasure to announce his appointment as a Fellow of St Paul’s Collegiate School.