Senior leadership team

Ben Skeen

Headmaster
View profile

Ben Skeen

Headmaster

Ben joined St Paul's as Headmaster in May 2021 from Auckland Grammar School.

Educated at St Peter's College in Auckland, Ben graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in HR and Economics and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in NZ History with a minor in Political Studies along with a graduate diploma in teaching from the University of Auckland.

He held a variety of leadership and management positions at Auckland Grammar including Associate Headmaster, Associate Dean, Dean, Assistant Boarding Housemaster and Master in Charge of Student Leadership Programmes. He was awarded a Woolf Fisher Fellowship for excellence in education and leadership.

In 2009, he initiated and led a flagship programme - a month-long biennial service programme for Auckland Grammar students. He was a teacher of history and social studies, master in charge of rugby for five years, assistant coach of Auckland Grammar first XV rugby team and then coached the first XV for eight seasons. He has also been the junior coach of the distance running squad.

Outside of work, Ben was contracted to NZ Rugby’s high performance match official squad where for 12 of his 15 years with the squad he provided refereeing services to World Rugby. After officiating 70 test matches and travelling the world numerous times, Ben retired from refereeing at the end of 2019.

Ben is married to Hayley, who is a primary school teacher, and they have two daughters Grace and Zara, and son Harrison.

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8830
Email: headmaster@stpauls.school.nz
Ainsley Robson

Associate Headmaster
View profile

Ainsley Robson

Associate Headmaster

Educated at Rotorua Boys' High School, Ainsley has a Bachelor of Science and Technology, Postgraduate Diploma in Education and a Diploma in Educational Leadership all from the University of Waikato.

Joining the St Paul's team in 2013, Ainsley comes with a wealth of practical knowledge and understanding. At the age of 29, he was appointed Deputy Principal at Hamilton's Fraser High School, with now over 10 years experience in educational management. Prior to that, he was Head Timetabler, Head of Chemistry, Year 13 Dean and mentored school prefects.

Outside of teaching, Ainsley has been an active sportsman, playing football up to a national league level and representing Northern Districts A in cricket.

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8831
Email: a.robson@stpauls.school.nz
Jeremy Coley

Deputy Headmaster - Academic
View profile

Jeremy Coley

Deputy Headmaster - Academic

Since coming to St Paul’s as an English teacher in 2006, Jeremy has moved his way up to Head of the English Department (a role he held for ten years), Leader of Curriculum (overseeing English, languages, media studies and ESOL), Director of Teaching and Learning and now to his current role of Deputy Headmaster in charge of Academics.

Originally from New Plymouth, Jeremy has a Bachelor of Arts in History and English from the University of Waikato. Passionate about literature and writing, Jeremy initially thought he would pursue a career in journalism, however a change of path led him to complete a teaching diploma at Massey University followed by a teaching position at his former school of New Plymouth Boys’ High School. He went on to spend some time living abroad, working at Hampstead School in London as well as travelling to various places including India, Sri Lanka, Asia and Europe, before returning to New Zealand and settling in Hamilton.

Since joining St Paul’s, Jeremy has been involved in major school-wide initiatives, including the earlier introduction of iPads into the junior school and ‘Write that Essay’ – a web-based writing programme which has been successful in raising the standard of student writing. He has been involved in basketball which is a passion of his, having previously been an assistant coach and coach of the Premier Basketball team and now he is involved with the Junior Premier side.

Jeremy firmly believes that St Paul's Collegiate is a special place for learning. Teachers go above and beyond but firmly encourage a heuristic learning experience for their charges. Students are encouraged to strive for their very best and there is a wonderful sense that maximising potential is the norm. He encourages students to challenge themselves to 'master their minutes' at school and enjoy the wonderful holistic opportunities that St Paul's offers but above all strive for academic achievement. This is a non-negotiable factor of this special character school.

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8769 Email: j.coley@stpauls.school.nz
Helen Bradford

Deputy Headmaster
View profile

Helen Bradford

Deputy Headmaster

Originally from Hastings, Helen has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Mathematics from Massey University. She completed her Diploma in Teaching at Christchurch Teachers College and more recently completed her Masters of Educational Leadership with first class honours from the University of Waikato.

Helen came to St Paul’s in 2008 from Fairfield College where she taught Mathematics for 25 years. She held various roles during this time as Dean, Assistant Head of Mathematics, Head Timetabler and Principal's Nominee. Returning to the Mathematics classroom as a full time teacher initially Helen acknowledges how important communication and relationships are to good classroom practice.

At St Paul’s Helen took on the role as Teacher in Charge of Netball organising tours to Australia and within New Zealand to compete in our Trans Tasman Tournament. As the manager of our Open A Netball team she was pleased to be part of the team that went to National Level in 2018.

An important part of her role is to ensure that the young men and women transition easily into St Paul’s and that they are set up to enjoy every success and opportunity available to them.

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8869
Email: h.bradford@stpauls.school.nz
Craig Hardman

Deputy Headmaster - Pastoral Care
View profile

Craig Hardman

Deputy Headmaster - Pastoral Care

Before taking up the role of Deputy Headmaster for pastoral care, Craig was the Head of Physical Education at St Paul’s. He has also been the Housemaster in charge of Williams House. He joined the school after completing a conjoint degree in teaching and sports and leisure.

Teaching aside, Craig is also an experienced coach, he has coached at various levels from school through to Waikato and Midlands Hockey. Since his arrival, he has coached the 1st XI hockey team, culminating in the team becoming national secondary school champions in the Rankin Cup and being named the secondary schools’ ‘team of the year’ at the Brian Perry Waikato Regional Sports Awards.

Craig has developed and implemented various school initiatives such as the Xccellerator programme for junior high performance sportsmen and the Character Education programme, a drive to introduce character development into the curriculum. He also forged a partnership with the regional Midlands Hockey organisation and helped establish a Collegians' Hockey Club to enable past students and members of the community to play hockey through the school.

Significant awards:
ISNZ Honours Award for service to students and sport (2018)

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8848
Email: c.hardman@stpauls.school.nz
Josh Hay

Deputy Headmaster - Co-curricular
View profile

Josh Hay

Deputy Headmaster - Co-curricular

Josh has an extensive background in secondary school sport and education and is an able practitioner.

Josh previously spent 13 years at Hamilton Boys’ High School holding a variety of positions including senior teacher, hostel master, First XV Coach, year level Dean and director of sport. He then took a break of two years to take on the role of Account Manager for The Lion Foundation, before being drawn back to the area he is immensely passionate about – secondary school sports and developing the whole student athlete.

Josh has a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science (Coaching and Sport Psychology) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary). He has a strong coaching background in rugby, having coached teams such as New Zealand Secondary Schools, Waikato Development and Under 20 teams, as well as coaching experience in Japan and Wales.

Josh’s position at St Paul’s is to oversee the promotion and support of sporting opportunities that maximise the personal and collective growth and development of skills and opportunities of as many St Paul's coaches and sports men and women as possible.

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8737 Email: j.hay@stpauls.school.nz
Reverend Peter Rickman

Chaplain
View profile

Reverend Peter Rickman

Chaplain

Peter has 20 years of impressive and varied experience in the Anglican Church of New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA. He has worked as a community and youth worker, counsellor, teacher, prison and school chaplain, vicar and, prior to returning to St Paul’s, he was Dean of the Waikato Cathedral Church of St Peter. Peter was St Paul’s Chaplain for four years, from 2001 to 2004, before he returned to Parish Ministry in the United Kingdom.

In his role as Waikato Cathedral Dean, he had extensive management and leadership experience, working with over 200 volunteers and 10 employees, assisting the homeless and mentally ill, providing outreach services programme for youth, the elderly and the vulnerable, while overseeing the Cathedral – a church that plays a central role in the life of the Anglican Church in the Waikato.

Outside the church, as a first aid instructor, Peter has had experience as a community ambulance first responder, is an active leader in Hamilton Sea Scouts as an instructor in kayaking and sailing and is a qualified PADI scuba dive instructor. Articulate and engaging, Peter relates comfortably and easily to young people and has strong pastoral care and guidance skills.

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8842
Email: revpeter@stpauls.school.nz
Peter Welham

Business Manager
View profile

Peter Welham

Business Manager

Peter is a Chartered Accountant with an honours degree in accounting and has worked in a number accounting and auditing practices including Ernst and Young in Auckland and Christchurch.

Since then he has been employed in finance and business manager roles in a variety of commercial enterprises including AMI Insurance and Fairfax where he managed the finance functions of both the Christchurch Press and Timaru Herald newspapers.

Peter was the Business Manager at St Margaret’s College in Christchurch and helped manage the school through the earthquake crisis and subsequent rebuild. Prior to moving to Hamilton and St Paul's Collegiate School in 2012, Peter was the manager of the College of Science at the University of Canterbury.

Contact:
Tel: +64 7 957 8899 ext 8827
Email: p.welham@stpauls.school.nz