Cognition

Our governance facilitators come from a range of backgrounds as parents, board members and chairs, primary and secondary teachers and principals and working with the Education Review Office and the  Ministry of Education. All have previously worked for Cognition as part of the Board Training and Support contract.

	Jim Peters has been a secondary teacher, guidance counsellor and teachers' college lecturer. He was principal of several schools and in recent years has worked in programmes including: school improvement projects in Tonga and Vanuatu, alternative education, student truancy and transience, restorative practices and stopping domestic violence.
	Bill Gavin was principal of Otahuhu College from 1985 to 2001. More recently, he has coordinated the AIMHI schooling improvement initiative and acted as a NZAID consultant in Vanuatu. He presently chairs the City of Manukau Education Trust.
	Karen Holmes is an experienced teacher and principal of three highly successful schools ranging from rural to large urban. Her last position was as Principal of Kerikeri Primary School from 2002 – 2008. Karen has been president of two NZEI Branches and of the Whakatane Principals’ Association.
	Chris Saunders was principal of Onehunga High School from 1990 to 2007. In 2001 he was awarded a Wolf Fisher Principal's Fellowship. More recently he has been Executive Director for Cognition Consulting in their school reform contract in Qatar.
	Greg West has been the principal of two primary schools, and area school and a secondary school. He left teaching to become the manager for the Bay of Plenty for the Ministry of Education, a position he held for 5 years. He then joined Rangitaiki Independent School as the school's Development Manager and as a year 9-10 teacher.
	Micheal King brings a wide variety and depth of experience in teaching and learning in both mainstream and Maori Immersion classrooms at year 1 – 8 in both low and high decile schools. He has been a deputy and principal of a number of primary schools in the Waikato and Taranaki.
	Ian Gardiner has considerable experience as a trustee on a range of school boards. He was the first Field Officer for NZ School Trustees Association in Auckland and was part of the group of trustees who established the Auckland STA, being first vice president and then president. Since 1995 he has been a  consultant to boards of trustees.
	Charlene Scotti has been a secondary teacher, deputy principal and education advisor. From 1993 to 2006 she was the Auckland Area Manager of the Education Review Office reporting on the quality of New Zealand's schools and early childhood centres. She has participated in international evaluation projects and in 2007 became an associate of Cognition Consulting.
	Alan Burton has had successful experience as principal and acting principal in a range of schools and held senior positions in the Ministry of Education.  In recent years he has been involved in a number of school establishment and restructuring projects.  He has had long experience of working with the boards of trustees of state, integrated and independent schools.

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"The wonderful working relationship that we have built up through [the Cognition Education BTAS coach] has meant that the training has been tailored especially for our community of schools
The relaxed, informal style has given rise to plenty of interaction between BoTs of different schools.  This has been very good for networking."
-    A committee member of a board cluster group

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