Back row: Mrs Gerri Shorter and Ms Margaret Talbot, middle row: Ms Justine Mahon and Mrs Liz Battersby, front row: Ms Helen Robertson and Mrs Lynda Reid (Principal).
St Cuthbert´s College Senior Management Team
Mrs Lynda Reid, Principal
Ms Helen Robertson, Associate Principal, Head of Senior School
Mrs Liz Battersby, Associate Principal, Head of Junior School
Ms Justine Mahon, Deputy Principal, Student Welfare
Mrs Gerri Shorter, Assistant Principal, Senior School
Ms Margaret Talbot, Associate Principal, Junior School
Mrs Kathryn Yule, Business Manager, Trust Board Secretary, Privacy Officer
Mrs Lynda Reid
Principal
Lynda Reid became Principal of St Cuthbert’s College in 1996.
Previously she was Deputy Principal of St Hilda’s Collegiate School in Dunedin (1990-1996) and Head of English and Dean of Y13 at Dunedin’s Logan Park High School (1980-1990).
Active in many areas of education outside the College, Lynda is an Executive Board Member of the New Zealand Institute, a member of the Secondary Leaders’ Forum, and sits on the Community Consultation Committee of the University of Auckland as well as on the Sub-Committee on University Entrance of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee.
Previous commitments include membership of the Executive of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools from 2000-2006 and the presidency for the next two years. She was also Vice-President of Independent Schools of New Zealand.
To date Lynda is the only head of an independent school to receive the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand Leadership in Education Award.
As well as girls’ education in general, Lynda has particular interest in the development of critical thinking, the integration of ICT into rigorous academic programmes, values education, and experiential learning.
Lynda’s husband is the Associate Principal, Head of Senior Campus at Dilworth School. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was at St Cuthbert’s and is studying at the University of Auckland. Their son, Nicholas, has just completed an M.Sc. and is now an Environmental Field Officer with Auckland City.
Lynda’s leisure interests include travel, skiing, theatre, reading and art.
Lynda has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Diploma of Teaching from the University of Canterbury. Ms Helen Robertson
Associate Principal, Deputy to the Principal, Head of Senior School
Helen Robertson was appointed as Associate Principal and Deputy to the Principal at the end of 1996. In 2001 she took on the additional role of Head of the Senior School. In these roles she holds a number of responsibilities ranging from leadership of the Senior School through to curriculum and qualifications development, overview of teaching and learning, strategic planning, and budgeting.
In addition Helen is responsible for human resource management and policy development for the entire College.
She also runs the Student Council and holds the overview responsibility for Advanced Learning, Sport and a number of specific curriculum areas.
In 2002 Helen was the recipient of the Woolf Fisher Distinguished Educator award.
Helen enjoys taking senior school students on overseas trips to third world countries such as Nepal, Vietnam and South America, where the girls also provide support for students in schools that have few resources.
Prior to starting at the College Helen worked at NZQA developing NCEA. She also taught geography at a number of Auckland schools, was a Head of Social Sciences, and Head of the national subject association, The Board of Geography Teachers. Helen and her husband, Richard, have two daughters and together enjoy reading, movies, travel and the outdoors.
Their elder daughter, Briar, attended the College and is now studying at Auckland University.
Helen has Master of Arts with Hons (Canterbury); a Diploma in Business (Massey); a Diploma in School Management (Unitec); an MBA from Henley Business School (London); and a Diploma in Teaching (Auckland). Mrs Elizabeth Battersby
Associate Principal, Head of Junior School
Liz Battersby has responsibility for running the Junior School from New Entrants to Year 8.
She began teaching in 1980, and before coming to St Cuthbert’s was a lecturer in English and a deputy principal. Liz greatly enjoys the varied aspects of her role, which gives her not only a Junior School perspective on the growth and learning of students, but also a whole-College perspective, as they move through the Senior School. She is keen to ensure that every girl has opportunities to develop her potential, and believes that this can be enhanced by a creative and stimulating curriculum that draws upon and develops students’ particular interests.
Liz enjoys sourcing and learning from best practice in New Zealand and overseas schools and contributing ideas to initiatives in the Junior School. She believes that the Reggio Emilia philosophy both greatly challenges and enables teachers to create such a curriculum and she relishes the opportunity to lead the Junior School staff in gaining a greater understanding of the Reggio approach to enhance student learning.
Outside school, Liz loves get-togethers and holidays with family and friends, cooking, reading, walking and yoga. She is not averse to a spot of overseas travel, especially to visit family.
Liz has a Diploma in Teaching and a Master of Arts with first class Honours.
Ms Justine Mahon
Deputy Principal, Senior School
Justine Mahon was appointed as Deputy Principal in 2003 from her role as Senior Lecturer at the Auckland College of Education where her research interest was in the area of interaction between symbolic thinking and pedagogic practices.
She was also Senior Lecturer in charge of the Adolescent Pastoral Care Section for Professionalism and Praxis.
Some of Justine’s responsibilities at St Cuthbert’s College include pastoral care and discipline, academic monitoring of students, staff professional development and appraisal, leadership and values programmes as well as College events such as the Ball and Prize Giving, and working closely with the Department of Admissions and Scholarships.
Justine has taught in schools in New Zealand, Germany and the United Kingdom where her teaching subjects were German, English and Classical studies. She is a past member of the Executive of the New Zealand Language Teachers’ Association and while Head of Languages at Birkenhead College, Justine was awarded a Goethe Institute Scholarship to study in Berlin. Prior to the reunification of Germany, Justine had worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the New Zealand Embassy in the then capital, Bonn, and later had a period as an actor and translator for a series for Cologne Television.
In her spare time Justine enjoys anything to do with the arts, the written word or the sea.
She is an Old Girl of the College as is her daughter Celia who is currently completing her Master of Architecture at the University of Auckland.
Justine’s two sons, Will and Jonny are both studying Law and Arts.
Justine has a Master of Arts in German, a Bachelor of Arts in English and German, a Diploma of Teaching and a Post Graduate Diploma of Education majoring in Counselling. Mrs Gerri Shorter
Assistant Principal, Senior School
Geraldine “Gerri” Shorter joined the College in October 1990 as head of the Mathematics department, later becoming a member of the Senior Management Team.
Her responsibilities include the College databases and timetables, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) department, assessment and reporting and College arrangements.
Gerri has been teaching girls since 1972, and also has experience in co-educational education. She was Head of the Maths Department at Auckland Grammar School and worked at Wellington Girls High School.
Her involvement with Information and Communication Technology dates back to 1969.
She has had a wonderful time teaching mathematics, particularly with the fascinating computer applications that can bring mathematics applications to life, and is very interested in reading research into how young women learn and achieve in mathematics.
In her spare time, Gerri loves jazz, reading, movies and Sudoku.
Two of her three grown-up children are overseas. Her daughter Zoe attended the College in Y13.
Gerri has a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) from Otago, a Bachelor of Arts Hons. (Philosophy and Mathematics) from Otago and Victoria, a Diploma in Mathematics Education fom Auckland, a Master of Education Management from Auckland, and a Diploma in Teaching from Wellington. Ms Margaret Talbot
Assistant Principal, Junior School
Margaret Talbot was appointed as the Assistant Principal of the Junior School in 2005.
Her responsibilities include assessment and reporting, curriculum development, staff professional development, budgeting, the development of EOTC programmes, and overseeing the Travelwise programme in the Junior School.
Some of the projects Margaret has undertaken recently include creating a Junior School Central resource Centre and implementing a walking school bus.
She teaches year 7 and 8 mathematics and runs the Year 8 environment team.
Prior to starting at St Cuthbert’s College Margaret had been head of mathematics and ICT at a large Intermediate school.
She came into teaching after many years in the work force where she combined work with travel and education and had roles with Housing New Zealand, Kmart, LWR, The University of Auckland, and the Department of Justice.
Whilst working as a hotel manager in London she completed her Higher National Certificate in Business and Finance at Hammersmith and West London College.
In her free time, Margaret is a keen (but fair weather) cyclist, tennis player and wave skier.
Margaret has a Master of Philosophy (Management and Employment Relations), a Post Graduate Diploma in Computing, a Diploma in Teaching: Primary and a Bachelor of ArtsMrs Kathryn Yule
Business Manager, Trust Board Secretary
Kathryn Yule was appointed as the Business Manager / Trust Board Secretary for St Cuthbert's College in March 2002 and is also a member of the Senior Management Team.
She has various responsibilities including financial management, project management, policy development and implementation, strategic planning, risk management, human resources management advice, budgeting and forecasting, legislative compliance and facilities management.
Some of the special projects that Kathryn has managed on behalf of the College include the Trio of Turfs, the development of the Kahunui Campus and the Performing Arts Centre.
Kathryn is also the Trust Board Secretary and as such is responsible for the preparation for Board meetings, recording of minutes and resolutions, and Board correspondence.
In her spare time, Kathryn plays Bridge and has represented New Zealand at the World Championships many times since 1987.