Board of Trustees

All of New Zealand's state and state-integrated schools have a board of trustees. The board of trustees is the Crown entity responsible for the governance and the control of the management of the school. The board is the employer of all staff in the school, is responsible for setting the school's strategic direction in consultation with parents, staff and students, and ensuring that its school provides a safe environment and quality education for all its students. Boards are also responsible for overseeing the management of personnel, curriculum, property, finance and administration.

The Board of Trustees is entrusted to work on behalf of all stakeholders and is accountable for the school’s performance. It emphasises strategic leadership, sets the vision for the school, and ensures that it complies with legal and policy requirements. Policies are at a governance level and outline clear delegations to the principal.

At Bucklands Beach Intermediate our Board of Trustees is comprised of 8 elected members which meet monthly on a Wednesday night. Elections for Board of Trustee positions are held every 18 months. If you would like more information about applying to be a trustee or if you would like to attend a board meeting please email mailbox@bbi.school.nz

Current Board of Trustee members:

Alan Figgins (Chairperson)
Diane Parkinson (Principal)
Chris Griffiths
Ben Thornton

Rita Williamson
Nic Bishop
Ariel Zhang
Anne Burgess (Staff Trustee)

Board of Trustees Profiles

Alan Figgins - Presiding Member

I have been a trustee at Bucklands Beach Intermediate School for about eight years, looking after finance, strategic planning, and now as Presiding Member of the Board of Trustees. I have also been a trustee at a primary school, and am also a trustee at Macleans College. Professionally, I have been an accountant, IT consultant, and business consultant for more than twenty years.

Over the years, I have also been a coach / manager for both the Howick & Pakuranga Cricket Club, and Howick Pakuranga Hockey Club.

BBI is clearly a well positioned school. It has an excellent team of teachers under Diane Parkinson’s leadership with a strong culture of achievement.

The board has been achieved much over the ten years and I want to see a continuation of the success that has seen BBI perform so well, academically, culturally, and in the sports arena.

I believe that it is the responsibility of the Board to support and lead the development of the school in line with the values set out in the school's vision and mission statements, to implement and maintain an effective governance structure, and to both support and hold accountable the leadership team as they facilitate each student in realising their full potential.

I welcome discussion with, and input from, the school and wider community. If you would like to contact me, please email or call via the school.

Anne Burgess - Staff Representative

It is a privilege to have been elected as the Staff Representative on the Board of Trustees by the staff of BBI. I have worked at BBI since 1999, beginning as a Year 8 teacher and becoming a senior teacher/team leader in 2008. Before coming to BBI I taught Years 2-4 for 5 years in NSW Australia, Year 4 for 4 years working in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea for the International Education Agency and 2 years teaching a Year 7/8 composite class at Kaitao Intermediate in Rotorua.

Living in Northpark, Botany, I have been happily married to my husband Steve, an electrician, for 38 years and have 3 adult children. Alana teaches at Somerville Intermediate, Glenn at Tyndale Park Christian School and Shae works for STAR insurance. So we have a few teachers in the family! All three passed through BBI for their intermediate school years and enjoying all the opportunities that BBI provided.

I love teaching and seeing students through their developing years to become independent learners and thinkers and caring, open minded citizens.

I bring to the board a teacher’s experience as I am still teaching in the classroom, and represent BBI’s teachers' perspectives and viewpoints.

Chris Griffiths – Emotional Wellbeing and Inclusivity

I am very proud to be on the BBI board for over twelve years; I find being a trustee is an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable role. I understand my role as a trustee is a combination of looking forward by designing the future of the school, looking back and being accountable for BBI's performance, acknowledging the requirements of BBI's stakeholders (including the Crown and the community), and of course, being a good employer.

In 2016 I graduated from university with a Master of Business Administration, majoring in operations and management. I am continuing my learning part-time as a doctoral candidate while lecturing at Auckland University of Technology; my research considers how individuals foster inclusion within New Zealand's manufacturing industries. To support my lecturing work, over this year I am also completing a qualification in adult and tertiary teaching and have already found this useful in my governance role at BBI.

Towards the end of 2020 I approached our Board's Presiding Member and Principal asking if I could lay the groundwork for a new Board Portfolio: Emotional Wellbeing and Inclusion. New Zealand’s new Education and Training Act 2020 signals very clearly that Boards need to pay attention to emotional wellbeing, inclusivity and draw in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. While the school does this every day and so well, the BBI board intends to lead in this new attention for governance, with work underway to bring emotional wellbeing, inclusivity and Te Tiriti o Waitangi into our conversations.

Diane Parkinson - Principal

I am very proud to be the Principal of Bucklands Beach Intermediate. My personal history began in a small New Zealand country town where I went on to study at Massey University in Palmerston North. I have enjoyed 33 years of teaching and learning in Auckland. I am fortunate to live in one of the most picturesque parts of New Zealand. My husband and I have two boys are 14 years and 17 years old. Both boys attend the local college.

I would value any member of the community to contact me about BBI. We can only enhance what we already do or improve what we already do when our local community provide us with feedback. Certainly, we will listen and do our best to make changes in the best interests of all students.

Nic Bishop

I have joined the BBI board recently and it's a privilege to serve a school with such social and academic integrity. As I'm am new to participating on a school board, I find it fascinating discovering how a school functions from finance to academic certification and the sheer effort required by staff, parents and board to enable smooth running of the school (something, perhaps I took for granted previously). For my first year, I'm focused on Personnel and will be working with the principal to ensure a continued high standard of teaching faculty staff.

As way of background, I moved from the UK 4 years ago with my family and have settled in Mellons Bay. I have two children of 8 and 11 and my eldest attends BBI school. I started my career as an archaeologist followed by an unnatural career move working for Microsoft in IT. In the UK, my role required significant travel and time away from home. When I moved over to New Zealand I wanted to play a bigger part in my children's education and being on the board, was a great enabler for this. I look forward to serving on the board, growing into the role and being impactful into the success of the school.