Anahera King - 1990sNau mai, hoki mai Anahera. Like many health professionals, midwives are in short supply. Even more so, Māori midwives. So, we are super proud that one of our former students is doing such an important job - keeping mothers and babies safe! Our Science and Health department are certainly focused on providing pathways into the health professions. We also participate in the Incubator programme which is run by Te Whatuora. On this programme, rangatahi are given the opportunity to explore careers ranging from an orderly through to being a surgeon. We currently have a number of students pursuing health science degrees and we're keeping a close eye on their progress.
Te Tini o Tamatea | Alumni
We invite anyone who has a connection to our school since it started in 1975 to join us.
All former students, teachers, support staff and whānau are encouraged to join Te Tini o Tamatea.
Many people have fond memories of their time at Tamatea High School and would love to give back to their former school. There are three ways you can do this - with gifts of time, talent or treasure! Time and talent are our main focus.
Gifts of time - come and visit (or zoom) our students and share your stories, volunteer to help out around the property, to be a sports coach or be a mentor.
Gifts of talent - as someone with HR experience, IT knowledge, Marketing or Mātauranga Māori, you might like to share your talents to help us develop as a kura.
Gifts of treasure - you might want to make a donation to the school, contribute to our school foundation or donate a scholarship.
If you would like to give time, talent or treasure to the school in any way, please click here to email our Te Tini o Tamatea, Alumni Co-ordinator.
We are organising reunions, speakers, mentoring, careers support and opportunities to give back to Tamatea High School. If you, or anyone you know are wanting to join the Te Tini o Tamatea, please join using the button above.
Founding Principal, John Ryan (right)
Former Students from the 1980s
Tamatea High School Previous Principals
Mr John Ryan | 1975 to 1988 (Term 2) | |
Mr Bill Dimery | 1988 (Term 3) to 1991 | |
Mr Bail Haque | 1992 to 1994 | |
Mr Richard Rosco | 1995 to 2001 | |
Mrs Jean Paterson | 2002 to 2006 | |
Mr Chris Neilsen | 2006 to 2010 | |
Ms Nicola Ngarewa | 2010 (Term 3) to 2015 (Term 2) | |
Mr Robin Fabish | 2015 (Term 3) to 2024 (Term 1) | |
Mr Jesse Te Weehi | 2024 (Term 2) to current |
What are they doing now?
Sam Adams - 2022Hoki mai i te whenua kangarū Sam! Welcome back from Australia Sam Adams! Our 2022 Amokura Tamatāne (Head Boy), Sam, is working in the Northern Territories, in a place called Pine Creek (although there are no pine trees) which is two hours from Darwin. Sam's team are involved in exploration drilling which is what happens to help determine whether to start a mine. In the samples they take the team are looking for graphite, gold and uranium! As a drill offsider, Sam's job is to make sure the driller has everything needed to keep the drill going - new rods have to be ready and the water kept running. How did he get into this? Sam's stepmother's brother, Vaughan, owns the company. Vaughan asked if Sam would be keen, and he thought he'd give it a shot. While he was at school Sam made sure that he got his full license so that he could drive the work vehicles. Sam says the best thing about Tamatea High school was the positive experience. We're like a family - his friend group is still strong, and the teachers are caring. Sam has great bonds with his Tamatea High whānau. For students leaving school in the future Sam says to cherish the things you have - school's a pretty good time. He also says to prepare yourself and make sure you have everything ready - get as many qualifications as you can, do courses to prepare and get your license. All those things are helpful. Great to see you Sam and keep flying the Tamatea High flag for us in Aussie!
Kaitlin McDonald - 2014Nau mai, hoki mai Kaitlin! Welcome back Kaitlin McDonald! Kaitlin visited as part of a careers programme “Inspiring the Future” for our Yeaer 9 students. Kaitlin graduated from Tamatea High School in 2014 and was the runner up to dux. Now she is working for Isaacs Plumbing in Central Hawke's Bay as a plumber, gasfitter, and drainlayer. We asked how she became a plumber, and she said that she'd done the EIT Trades course while she was at Tamatea and also had a placement with Lazer Plumbing as part of the school Gateway programme. She saw an online advert for an apprenticeship and has became a fully qualified tradie! When we asked her what the best thing about our kura was, she said Tamatea was much smaller than her previous school. This meant that she got more support from staff at Tamatea than she would have at a big school. This was a big help for her pathway goals. In terms of advice that Kaitlin has for our school leavers now, she says: Leaving school can be a very confusing time, so get some help. Leave every door open and make the most of opportunities because you never know where they'll lead to. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences Kaitlin.
Dannielle Gallagher - 2019He kaiako hou e puta mai ana! A new teacher in the making. We were lucky to have a visit from Dannielle Gallagher who graduated from Tamatea High in 2019. Dannielle is now a qualified teacher. When she left school Dannielle wasn't initially accepted for the course so worked for 6 months and then completed the 6 month Study and Career Prep course at EIT. Dannielle applied for teaching again and was accepted in 2020. Danni says the best thing about Tamatea is the teachers. Particularly Mrs Kumar, Mrs Morgan and Mrs Macfarlane who gave her lots of support and understanding - even in challenging times. Advice she has for leavers is: Don't get stressed if things don't go according to plan straight away. I didn't get into the teaching programme initially. I went motel cleaning and then got accepted on my second attempt. Hang in there and don't give up! We're not bias at all but we think Danni made a great career choice and we wish her all the best!
Katie Moorcock - 2022Tō tātou Amokura Tamawahine 2022 – Katie Moorcock is our Head Girl from 2022 and, as planned, is working for Downers and completing her Engineering Degree at the same time. Kaite will finish her diploma and start her degree, majoring in Project Management and minoring in Sealed Roads. One of the great things about Katie's pathway is that her company is paying for her degree. Rather than getting a loan, she's learning on the job and getting her qualifications for free! Cadetships are a great option! Plus, there's plenty mahi for those skills in our rohe! Taputapu kē!
Zac Hull - 2016Pai te kite atu i a koe Zac Hull! Welcome back to school Zac - our former Deputy Head Boy and BOT Rep. Zac came back to school as a Year 14 student to get his UE. Coming back for another year was a really admirable thing to do. By the end of year 13 he'd firmed up his pathway and returned to us to ensure that he could pursue tertiary study. Our kaiako supported and encouraged him, he got his UE and left us in 2016. It is wonderful to hear that Zac is now near completion of his Computer Science degree. Zac came to see Mrs Macfarlane to get her thoughts on the impact of ChatGPT on schools. Do we fight it or embrace it to our advantage? A cheating tool or learning tool? Very interesting debate.
