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Issue 52 – February 2015 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
H
annah
attended
both
St
Cuthbert’s
College
and
Tauranga Girls College as a
young student. She attained a Bachelor of
Design Innovation, majoring in Industrial
design from Victoria University and a
Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching
from Bethlehem Tertiary Institute.
Hannah’s Technology students are in
good hands because before starting her
teaching career she worked at five time
Academy Award winning company Weta
Digital in the facilities team. She says
she turned to teaching because she had
always enjoyed the process of learning
N
ew HOD of Commerce Grant Muirhead studied
Economics at Victoria University. After graduating, Grant
travelled oveaseas working for Thomas Cook in foreign
exchange. He could not stay away fromNew Zealand long, returning
to work for AMP Finance.
After leaving AMP Finance Grant decided to become a teacher.
“It seemed to be something more useful than profit margins and
points.” Grant says. His philosophy on teaching is not to be a
regurgitator, but to be a thinker and a carer. “Knowledge is changing
all the time so it is more about teaching the thinking process.” It
needs to be fun, Grant also adds. He says students often think
Commerce is just about money. “It is more than that, it is about
people, the impact on people.”
The decision to come to Queen Margaret College was a
simple one for Grant, who loves Wellington. He was also keen
The world of Commerce is not just about money says new teacher Grant Muirhead.
Hannah Warren loves the ever changing nature of Technology.
W
hen new teacher Barbara Manighetti heard there was a
teaching position at an International Baccalaureate (IB)
school, she jumped at the chance.
“I knew it was the perfect opportunity to take my love of
teaching science further, as it is a wonderfully holistic and integrated
curriculum.” Barbara explains.
Born in London, Barbara left school at 16 and spent some
time in Israel, studying Judaism and learning Hebrew. She went to
University to study Geology, and received her first Honours degree
from Leicester. At Cambridge, Barbara began studying volcanology
but eventually ended up working in palaeoceanography. As part of
her research she went to sea on research vessels and had a great time
indulging in multidisciplinary science.
Barbara was offered a two year Post-doctorate after finishing
her PHD and was lucky enough to be employed by the Scot Polar
Research Institute over the winter to travel to Antarctica a few times,
lecturing on a tiny Russian research vessel.
“I twice sailed all the way up the Atlantic from Antarctica to
Britain, stopping at amazing places such as the Falklands, Tristan da
Cunha, the Cape Verde Islands and St Helena,” Barbara comments.
Barbara also cycled across Russia, from Murmansk in the Arctic
to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast. “I can honestly say that despite
13,000 kilometres, I am still a bad cyclist.”
Barbara Manighetti: No knowledge is ever wasted in teaching.
An opportunity for
Barbara arose to work in
Wellington, at the National
Institute of Water and
Atmospheric
Research
(NIWA). She also took on
part time study at Massey
for a Graduate Diploma in
Psychology and went on to
study Clinical Psychology
at
Victoria
University.
Barbara then worked as a
psychologist for the Adult
Mental Health service.
Finally Barbara decided to try her hand at teaching, qualifying as
a secondary Science teacher.
“If nothing else, my experience certainly illustrates that it is
‘never too late’ to reinvent yourself, and find a new path to pursue
your passion!”
My two sons are at Scots College and I am hoping that they
will choose the IB Diploma for their own education when the time
comes. So I find myself in the delightful position of being at QMC
this year, teaching Physics and Chemistry, and Year 7 Science.
to start teaching Business
and Management Studies
as part of the International
Baccalaureate Diploma. “It
is a broad and useful subject;
a true Commerce subject,”
Grant says.
Grant’s previous teaching
position was as House Master
of 71 boys at Wanganui
Collegiate.
Grant will also take the
roll of Future Pathways and
Careers mentor with Senior
School students.
and teaching others. “I am interested in the
way individual students perceive knowledge
and approach problem solving differently;
something that I think must be celebrated.”
She will be teaching both Art and
Technology. She enjoys Digital Design because
technology is changing all the time and
knowledge is never static. “In this industry,
we are preparing students for jobs that do not
yet exist,” Hannah comments. Her philosophy
on teaching is that developing a student’s
ability to think both critically and creatively
is fundamental to problem solving and can be
applied to any situation in school and in life.
