St Andrew’s appoints inaugural Head of Hauora

St Andrew’s College has appointed Matt Parr as its inaugural Head of Hauora, a newly established executive role designed to strengthen and align well-being and pastoral care across the College.

Hauora is a Māori concept widely used in New Zealand education, encompassing the physical, mental, spiritual, and social dimensions of well-being. The creation of this position reflects the College’s strategic commitment to enhancing student well-being and delivering a more integrated approach to pastoral care for Year 1–13 students across both the Preparatory and Secondary Schools.

Rector Mark Wilson says the appointment follows an independent external review completed at the end of 2025, which acknowledged the strength of the College’s existing pastoral systems while identifying an opportunity to further align and integrate practices across the College.

“One of the key recommendations was the creation of a senior leadership role dedicated specifically to hauora and student well-being,” Mark says. “We are pleased to have appointed Matt, whose experience and leadership will support our strategic priority of ‘Well-being: growing and caring for our people’.”

Matt brings extensive experience to the role, having held the dual positions of Director of Boarding since 2019 and Head of Middle School since 2023. He will commence as Head of Hauora in Term 3, continuing in his role as Director of Boarding.

“I’m excited to be working on high-level alignment between pastoral care, well-being, and student management across the College,” Matt says. “I’m also looking forward to connecting more closely with the Preparatory School.”

In the role, Matt will focus on long-term strategic initiatives, including the continued rollout of the College’s PERMA‑V framework and the development of a new, whole‑school pastoral care and student management system to support consistency in communication and documentation.

He will also support the Middle School leadership team through the transition period.

“There’s a little bit of the unknown because it’s a brand-new role,” Matt says. “But that’s exciting. We’ll be looking closely at what’s already working well and identifying where we can continue to grow and improve.”