Our board
Like face-to-face schools, we have a Board of Trustees responsible for ensuring the school is governed and managed according to the relevant legislation and the National Education Guidelines. However, unlike other schools our Board is appointed by the Minister of Education.
Our Board members are:
Nicola Ngarewa (Chair)
Mele Wendt
Barbara Cavanagh
Will Flavell
Hinerangi Edwards
Andrée Atkinson
Danny Tuato’o
Nicola Ngarewa
Nicola (Ngāti Ruanui and Ngā Rauru) was appointed as chair of the Te Kura Board of Trustees in July 2022. She is currently the principal of Spotswood College in New Plymouth and was previously principal of Tamatea High School and Patea Area School.
Before taking up her role at Te Kura, Nicola was the chairperson of the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. Nicola has worked in early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary teaching roles, as well as in prisons. She has a strong interest in authentic learning and describes herself as being passionate about disrupting the educational norm through transformative leadership and being Te Tiriti O Waitangi-led and future-focused.
In 2013, Nicola received a Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award for transformative work at Tamatea High School. In 2016 she was the recipient of the Taranaki Daily News Person of the Year for transformative work at Patea Area School, with the school receiving the National UNESCO award for Education - Global Citizenship 2018. Nicola is a member of the Advisory Board for N4L and the International Lego Foundation. She is also a NZ Honorary Advisor for Asia Foundation.
Mele Wendt
Mele Wendt has over 23 years of governance experience and 17 years of leadership/management experience. Her roles have included being a high school teacher, the founding Pacific Islands Liaison Officer and manager of the student recruitment office at Victoria University of Wellington, and Executive Director of Fulbright New Zealand for ten years. In the last few years, Mele has been doing a mix of consultancy work and governance. She currently serves on the Te Kura board, Toi Mai Workforce Development Council, the Real Estate Authority, and Wellington Community Trust. Recent past chair roles included Massey University's Pacific Student Success Working Group, and the Pasifika Education Center in Auckland.
Mele is Samoan (Malie, Vaiala, Lefaga) and palagi (NZ/Britain), and lives in Wellington. In January 2019, Mele was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to governance, the Pacific community, and women.
Barbara Cavanagh
Barbara has had a long career in education, mostly as a secondary school principal. She joined the Te Kura board in 2021.
Up until 2022, she was the principal of Te Kura Tuarua o Raahui Pookeka (Huntly College).
Barbara is very familiar with Waikato, where she has been principal at Ngāruwahia High School and Te Awamutu College.
She was also the foundation principal at Albany Senior High School in Auckland.
Will Flavell
Will (Ngā Puhi and Ngāti Maniapoto), who joined the board in 2022, is currently the Māori Manager of COMET – a non-profit education trust in Auckland. He is a former secondary teacher, teaching Te Reo Māori and Japanese. He is a member of the Auckland Council Henderson-Massey Local Board and in 2022 received a Fulbright Scholarship.
Hinerangi Edwards
Hinerangi (Taranaki whānui, Tauranga Moana, Te Arawa and Samoa) joined the board in 2022. She and her husband, Kiwa Hammond, head up AATEA Solutions, a professional kaupapa Māori consultancy. A former vocational guidance advisor, Hinerangi is a professional facilitator and governor, and currently serves as chair of Ringa Hora Workforce Development Council among other governance roles. Hinerangi lives in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay and is mum of five rangatahi.
In 2022 Hinerangi was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Education, Governance and Māori.
Andrée Atkinson
Andrée is experienced in using a financial and business lens to help owners achieve their goals and objectives. As a former associate principal in an accounting firm, and now running her own accountancy business, she brings in-depth experience in business advisory, audit and information systems, along with extensive experience in training and teaching accounting. As well as her strong financial skills she has seasoned governance skills with over 20 years of experience as a member on clients’ boards, often chairing the risk and audit committees. She is an NZQA Board member and Deputy Chair of its Risk and Audit Committee.
Danny Tuato’o
Danny is Deputy Chair of Fire and Emergency New Zealand and is a Board member for Maritime New Zealand. He has also been on the Airways New Zealand Board where he chaired the Risk and Audit Committee. He was also a panel member on the Air Navigation System Review commissioned by the Ministry of Transport which concluded in May 2023. He is involved in a number of community endeavours including Kiwi recovery. He chaired Water Safety New Zealand and has been on the Boards of the New Zealand Coastguard and a local secondary school.