Ashworth-while tenure

A 70 per cent roll increase, surging staff numbers, modern buildings, accomplished graduates and a sporting juggernaut. Andy Ashworth is hanging up his pad and red pen after nearly a decade at the Murchison Area School (MAS) helm, a “very tough” call given his mahi to get the kura (school) back on an even keel.

But he says family circumstances and the need to be in Christchurch to address them were his resignation grounds.

“I’ve invested a lot of time, energy and commitment to this school and the community, and we certainly don’t want to let anybody down… but now the time is right that family comes first,” he says.

“The school had a number of issues in its fairly recent past and chewed through a number of principals. The school roll was 129 kids on the day I arrived… what I’ve managed to turn around is to prove to our community and our kids that the opportunities that we can offer here at Murchison are equal to anything you can offer in the Nelson schools.”

Murchison Area School was Andy’s first principal role in his education career which has included in his homeland, the Isle of Man, and at Kaiapoi High School after emigrating to Aotearoa in 2002.

He’d progressed to deputy principal and “in the nicest sense” was advised to apply for top jobs.

“I applied for [MAS principal] because where we’re from, the Isle of Man, it’s very rural and similar to Murchison, so it made sense and I was fortunate enough to get offered the position,” he says.

“Probably, like most people, I was familiar with the coffee shops driving through up to the Marlborough Sounds or Nelson, but didn’t really know the area at all.”

Andy and his wife Lesley, who teaches primary level at MAS, have since resided at the school’s dedicated principal’s house, with their commute around 35 seconds by car.

He says he wouldn’t treasure making national headlines this year amid his kura’s issues with the government’s “appalling” school lunch programme, but instead recouping the roll to more than 200, obtaining 61 staff and modern buildings, and pupils exceeding their potential.

“My mantra is providing opportunity, excellence and equity… I widened the curriculum specifically in the senior school, so all of our kids that leave us either go to trade employment or to tertiary education, I’m really proud of that,” he says.

“Over the last three years, I’ve really pushed all members of our community not to leave our community, to come and work and teach at our school. So, I’ve got our school involved in a number of tertiary education establishments.

“I’m exceptionally proud of the level of sporting prowess at our school. We’ve got students representing New Zealand and we are the top sporting school in the top of the South Island within the seven area schools.

“Significant building works were done over the years with seven new classrooms, a new hospitality unit, a new tech unit, new science labs, and one building left to develop, which is the gym.”

The Ashworth’s last day is set for 13 December.