Struan George is feeling energised and excited by his new role as Assistant Head of Boarding at St Andrew’s College.

In Term 2, he was appointed to take on the responsibilities of the newly created role to support Director of Boarding, Matt Parr, who is now in dual roles after becoming the Head of Middle School. “This is an unexpected opportunity to step into a new challenge. I’m really excited to be working more closely with Matt, our great boarding management team, and our various student leaders, to make a lasting impact across the wider boarding experience and community.”

Since the rejig of the boarding management structure, Matt and Struan have been putting new leadership structures, roles, and responsibilities in place, with Struan already taking ownership of several management tasks. “Matt is still very much the front face of boarding at St Andrew’s College, and I’m doing a lot of the administrative and behind the scenes tasks in support,” says Struan.

The new role sees him working more closely with boarders across all three of the boarding houses. “I am looking forward to being much more involved with boarding-wide initiatives, particularly student leadership groups such as the Boarders’ Council and Heads of House.”

Struan continues in his existing role as Head of MacGibbon House for boys in Years 9–10. His timetabled hours as a Physical Education and Geography teacher have been reduced by 10 hours per week to give him more time to spend in the Assistant Head of Boarding role. “It’s fantastic to have greater flexibility and more hours in the day for boarding.”

Living on campus at St Andrew's since 2014, when he took over as House Manager of MacGibbon House, has given Struan vast experience and knowledge of boarding at the College. He is the father of four boys himself, and has played a key role helping boys at St Andrew’s to settle into boarding life, and take advantage of all the opportunities on offer.

Before coming to St Andrew’s, Struan was a tutor and teacher at various schools, including Timaru Boys’ High School and Ellesmere College. He also taught Physical Education for a year at St Andrew’s back in 2003.
A keen sportsman, and former Canterbury cricketer, Struan has started a MacGibbon House T20 cricket team and basketball team in the last year, which have been embraced by the boys. A manaakitanga initiative, introduced with the support of former tutors, Pete Westrupp and Ru Kawenga, encourages daily actions to show respect, generosity, and care for others. “All three boarding houses have great initiatives in place to foster a strong boarding spirit, and we are keen to see these continue to develop.”

Struan has eagerly embraced the challenges of his new role and responsibilities, and the opportunity to work closely alongside the entire management team in boarding. “We are all on same page as managers, striving to achieve best practices in boarding and education, while creating lasting memories for our boarders which will last a lifetime.”