Teaching in Timaru was only ever meant to be a one-year gig for outgoing Mountainview High School principal Kenny Diamond.
Sixteen years later he is saying goodbye to the school, to take on the principal’s role at Nayland College in Nelson.
Initially working in youth justice out of university, Mr Diamond had only just begun teaching at Aranui High School in Christchurch when the Canterbury earthquakes hit.
With the school’s roll dropping and the city still recovering, he said he made the decision to leave Christchurch and was told by a friend teaching at Roncalli College that there was a job at Mountainview.
‘‘I think his exact words were ‘it’s like Aranui but in Timaru, you’ll really love it’. It was nothing like Aranui, but both were great schools.’’
Despite having no real desire to move to Timaru, he came down, met the head of English at the time, Mike Gilchrist, and took on a one-year contract.
‘‘I thought since Christchurch was a mess and still recovering, I’d do this one-year contract and then make my way back up for the 2012 academic year.
‘‘But with the February earthquake Christchurch was still sort of decimated and I ended up meeting Kimberley [wife] here and the rest is history.’’
He said the biggest pull factor in staying at the school over the years had been the sense of community it possessed.
‘‘The kids here are pretty unique, everyone says that about the kids at their school but I think it’s really true here. You still hear about students who are in their mid-30s, they keep in touch and let you know what they’re up to.
‘‘It was just a great community to be a part of and I can honestly say I have never considered going to another school in Timaru at any point.’’
Over the course of his time at Mountainview, Mr Diamond made his way up to head of English, was a whānau leader, year 11 dean, deputy principal and then in 2020 became principal — a role he had never imagined he would have.
‘‘I always thought that I would probably end up in a head of curriculum role. My real passion was always around developing curriculum and helping teachers improve their pedagogy.
‘‘I think even when I took the acting principal position, right up until when we came out of lockdown, I didn’t know whether it was a job I really wanted.
‘‘As a deputy principal or head of a learning area it’s really easy to be immersed in students, as a principal you have to make a conscious effort but all that being said I think it’s also the best job on the planet.
‘‘If I’m having a bad day and I’m behind a desk, I can just get up and walk over to the gym and watch the kids play volleyball or basketball. There is a lot of responsibility but it comes with a lot of freedom as well, there aren’t many jobs where you have that level of freedom.’’
Some of the biggest highlights from his time at Mountainview came at football tournaments.
At a tournament in Nelson he injured his ankle warming up a goalkeeper, ending up in a moon boot and then the following year in Christchurch he accidentally wrecked the school van.
He said he always loved year nine orientation days, being involved with year 10 camps, school productions and was proud to be at the helm when the new wharenui building was built at the centre of the school in 2021.
As tough as it was to say goodbye after 16 years, Mr Diamond said it was the right time for change.
‘‘As teacher, a head of a learning area, or even as a deputy principal, you have the ability every year to reinvent yourself. You can create new resources, try different things in the classroom, or teach new topics but when you are a principal you work more on a five to seven-year cycle.
‘‘I had a sabbatical last year and had a think about ‘what does the next five years look like for us?’ because we’d done that cycle. I had the conversation with Kimberley and we both came to the decision that we would be happy to do another five years at Mountainview.
‘‘But with a caveat of having a list of about five or six schools around the country that I would quite like to lead at some point and if the opportunity came up we’d consider it.’’
In term three last year he received a call regarding one of the schools on the list, Nayland College.
After speaking with outgoing principal Daniel Wilson, he decided to apply for the role.
‘‘I don’t believe in fate, but it was a little bit fate-ish. If the job hadn’t come up, I would’ve probably been happy to stay here and do another five years.
‘‘The timing is good, the school is in a good position and the senior leadership team here is great.’’
Mr Diamond hoped people would look back and think he had made a positive impact during his time at Mountainview.
‘‘I think as a leader, if nothing else, what you want is just for people to say that he left the place in a better state than it was when he found it. I think that is the most crucial job of a leader and if everybody does that the school will progress.
‘‘I hope people will look back and say that I was fair with them, that I gave everybody a chance, but more than anything else that I left the place in a better place than it was.’’
From April 20, deputy principal Kiran Gibbard will take over as acting principal and a permanent appointment is expected to be made by the middle of term two.
