Meet the Leadership Team & Administration Staff
DANIEL BIRCH
Principal | Tumuaki
Daniel is our foundation Principal at HPPS. His vision for HPPS is to make schooling focussed on the learners and for us take the opportunity to reimagine the possibilities of what we can achieve. Through approaching education in a future-focused and evidence-based manner we have had over 4000 educator visitors come to see what we are all about thanks to his encouragement, leadership and visioning. He has connections with some well-known educationalists such as Dr Julia Atkin who have partnered with us in the foundation stages helping to set us up for success in a rapidly changing world.
Daniel is driven, energetic and a leader who is extremely hardworking. In a growing school, he always puts children first and can often be found in the kitchen sharing his love of cooking with our learners.
His family moved to Auckland in 2012 for exciting possibilities and to watch Hobsonville Point Schools' grow. His two daughters and son, are or were enrolled at HPSS and wife, Sarah is a teacher at HPPS. Prior to moving, he was Principal of Discovery 1 school based in Christchurch's CBD.
He has a wealth of experience in pushing the boundaries of education and supporting schools through change. He is an accomplished presenter and facilitator with a passion for supporting others to succeed. He has been recognised as an Apple Distinguished Educator and has embarked on his Master's in Education journey.
In his spare time, you'll find him at Muriwai Beach, spending time with family, collecting vinyl records and cooking up delicious meals.
LISA SQUIRE
Deputy Principal
Lisa, as the Foundation Deputy Principal at HPPS, has over 20 years of experience in primary and intermediate education and private sector educational consultancy. She's deeply committed to student-centered education, where children are at the core of decision-making.
For her, the essence of teaching lies in making a genuine impact on the lives of learners, their families, and the broader community through positive relationships. She sees this responsibility as both humbling and highly rewarding. Central to her educational philosophy is the belief in the uniqueness of each child, viewing it as a gift and everyone has strengths and can contribute meaningfully to society.
In her vision of education, every child's unique strengths should be the foundation for their learning. She advocate for innovative practices in education, striving to cater to diverse learning needs and create inclusive schools. She has supplemented her educational journey with qualifications, including a Post Grad Certificate in Digital and Collaborative Teaching & Learning, a Certificate in Counselling, and ongoing work toward a Master's degree in Education with a focus on contemporary education.
During her downtime, you'll find her spending quality time with family and friends or unwinding by dining out, fishing, gardening, or indulging in a good book.
KRISTYN DEMPSEY
Deputy Principal
Kristyn is a foundation staff member of HPPS who was attracted to this brand new school because its vision and pedagogy offers students authentic learning that helps them to develop the real skills to be successful citizens. She is passionate about teaching children to understand themselves as learners, how to deeply reflect on their academic and dispositional learning, and how to make good learning decisions so they can reach their potential.
She presented at the International Thinking Conference in 2013 on ‘empowering learners with the tools to drive their successes’.
For her, the best aspect of working in education is that every day is different and that she has the opportunity to help people grow and develop to be the best they can be. She is passionate about coaching and also skilled in coaching adults and young people to reflect on their thinking and actions in order to enhance their performance. In fact, she always answers a question with a question! If she wasn’t a teacher she would likely be involved in a coaching role within a range of professional settings.
Kristyn enjoys sport and has been involved with soccer, netball, cricket, softball and basketball. She has also run large sports competitions for schools across the West Auckland cluster. Her other interests are drawing, painting, and photography. When not at school she enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her family whether that’s boating in the Hauraki Gulf, mountain biking, tramping, or walking and park-hopping around Auckland. In fact, her ‘happy’ place can be summarised as exploring nature anywhere in the outdoors with her husband and children.
JANENE LEVETT
Deputy Principal
Janene joined the school in 2022, due to forecast roll growth. She is passionate about ensuring equitable, accessible education for all and strongly believes in rejoicing and celebrating cultural diversity. She aims for all students to have a holistic and global view of the world with a key focus on developing a growth mindset in doing so. Her extensive past experience in a realm of different areas and school settings has given her a multitude of lenses through which to see a school in its entirety. Janene has taught abroad and engaged in conferences about International Education, including visits to investigate cultural norms in Korea, China and Japan. Janene thrives on empowering people and seeing them flourish. She has a core belief that we need to rejoice in each other's strengths as everyone has valuable contributions to make - students, staff, whānau and the wider community.
Janene enjoys traveling with her husband Reuben and their two daughters. Family highlights include annual vacations to Fiji, where the snorkeling and beach lifestyle is right up their alley. You may find Janene deep in the middle of the latest bestseller or more likely unpacking the current research, trends and the next steps of Educational Leadership whilst on vacation. She begins each day with a beach walk to set herself up for a successful day ahead.
MARGO THORPE
Associate Principal
Margo applied for a position at HPPS because it values dispositions, teaches the whole child, and has a vision that resonates with her own values and beliefs of education. She loves being part of learners’ journeys, helping them to own who they are and use their strengths to define their learning path. She has been teaching for a number of years and has vast leadership experience both with children and adults. She brings enthusiasm, expertise and a willingness to push the boundaries to our team.
She is passionate about learning and has completed her Master in Education focused on seeing how the wonderful key competencies are lived out in school - she has a deep knowledge and understanding of the learning process and applies her extensive experience into her learning environment at school. For her, watching her learners become the best version of themselves is like gold.
Outside of school, her interests are in visual arts and design, and social issues. She also enjoys being in the outdoors, cooking, entertaining friends and family, and travelling with her family to explore new parts of the world. In her spare time, she is planning a new home. If she wasn’t a teacher, she would like to be a chef or involved in something creative.
ERIN HALL
Associate Principal/SENco
Erin was a foundation staff member before we officially opened with children. She listened to Daniel speak about the vision for the school and was hooked. She loves a challenge and sees our environment as a great fit for her. She is a passionate educator with a love of getting students out of the classroom and engaged in real-life learning. In her spare time she loves being on the water and is our go-to person for fishing tips.
Her personal interest in gardening sees her leading learning out and about amongst the veggies and flowers developing mini horticulturists. Close to Erin's heart is celebrating students' achievements as it boosts self-esteem and is inspirational to others. She is driven by teaching children to love learning and designs projects that are creative and hands-on. Erin is a strong advocate of student voice. She also works tirelessly to support some of our more vulnerable students in her SENco role.
If Erin wasn't a teacher she would be a florist as it combines two of her favourite things - flowers and making people happy which is a winning combo! During the weekend you'll find her spending as much time with family as possible and pursuing her interests in photography, fishing, bushwalking, and being at the beach.
REID WALKER
Senior Leader
Reid is happiest learning, whether it is his own education or working with others to inspire and lead them. Before Reid joined HPPS in 2015 he had already worked in several other roles that have helped to form a teacher that can thrive in our setting. Reid has worked in hospitality, sales and retail management settings, while completing his Masters in Tourism at the University of Otago he began tutoring and this has ignited his passion for teaching and learning. He went on to teach Tourism, Marketing and Event Management at PIHMS (Pacific International Hotel Management School) before retraining to become a teacher. PIHMS blended the theoretical and practical side of hotels and provided Reid with a vision for authentic, hands-on and collaborative learning.
Since becoming a teacher Reid has regularly engaged in or led large collaborative projects such as the Kidedchat twitter program, collaborative Timelapse projects across NZ and the Hobsonville Point History Game. He regularly presents these passions and experiences to large groups, enjoying the chance to inspire or upskill others. His time at HPPS has included running our growing sports program, taking ski trips to Queenstown and looking for ways to collaborate with the high school.
Reid’s life outside school is dominated by his two children Abby and Elliot, and his wife Hillary where cooking, lego, making books come alive, Star Walks, and bike riding are the order of the day. Reid is an avid golfer, enjoys biographies, dark comedy and fantasy, is learning to love gardening and most importantly sharing quality time with friends, family, coffee and food.
MEGAN BOWDEN
Senior Leadership Team Support
Megan is a retired primary school principal who supports the senior leadership team at HPPS. She was on the Establishment Board of Trustees for both Hobsonville Point Schools and returned to work at the primary school as she loves its positive culture and attitude towards children as people and as learners, its innovative approach towards learning and teaching, and its friendly and supportive staff. Highlights of her 50 year teaching career were being a Commonwealth Exchange Teacher to England in 1976, the foundation principal of Oteha Valley School, and being awarded a Queen’s Service Medal in 2012 for services to primary education.
She has always believed in helping students to be positive and resilient, to interact successfully with others, and to develop the skills of ‘how’ to learn. She so enjoys watching her former students grow into stunning and successful adults. Since her Teachers’ College days she umpired netball, holding the NZ level qualification for 28 years and umpiring at many national tournaments. She is now a Life Member of Netball North Harbour. Another interest is music education and, in retirement, she leads ‘Mainly Music’ sessions for pre-school children every week. She is also involved with the ‘Seasons for Growth’ programmes that provide support for people coping with significant loss or change in their lives. At home she enjoys her wonderful pug dog and trying out sophisticated recipes in her Thermomix.
LISA PYNE
Learning Support Coordinator
Administration Team
Karma
Administrator
Karma joined the HPPS staff a few weeks after the school opened in 2013 and, at that time, was the only administration person. She loves working with the children and also being employed within her local community.
At HPPS she enjoys seeing how education has changed since she went to school, and observing the way teachers and children develop relationships and work together. As well as her administrative skills she is very good at ‘patching up’ children and nursing them with love and kindness when they are unwell.
Her other talents are baking and sport, particularly netball. She loves playing pranks and can often be traced as the initiator of funny things that happen. Outside of school her time is taken up with her own family, being ‘mum taxi’ to and from her children’s sports activities, and playing netball herself.
Yodette
Administrator
Yodette began her career in travel and spent over 15 years travelling the world through her work and during her time living abroad.
She is one of the early settlers to Hobsonville Point and it wasn’t long before she looked for the opportunity to enjoy working in the wonderful community her family calls home.
She encourages the children to be kind and be the best version of themselves by taking the time to listen & care for them. Outside of school she is happiest when spending time with family and friends and her interests are reading, being at the beach and travelling with her family in tow.
Carmen
Office Support/Library
Carmen came to us with many years of administrative experience starting her career in banking through to working where her tamariki attended Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori. She has seen the growth of HPPS and enjoys the challenges of her job working alongside staff and continuing to build relationships with students. She loves the engaging and collaborative environment here at HPPS and observing the differences with Māori education.
Carmen's happy place is being surrounded by books! Our children really appreciate her knowledge of books and often you'll find them having a chat with her as they discover their next adventure found in the pages of a novel.
Outside of work she is busy with her tribe of 6 tamariki and her 2 mokopuna. She has spent many years supporting her tamariki in Kura Kaupapa Māori and in their sporting pursuits of Touch, Tag, League and Netball. She remains actively involved in her son's Kura as Treasurer for the board of trustees.
Sarah M
Office Administrator
Sarah is currently studying towards a Bachelor of Applied Counselling. She thought a school environment as innovative as HPPS, would be the perfect place to amerce herself during her studies.
As a former nanny, she loves watching the children discover and express their individuality. She has an incredible passion for exercise and nutrition, and is constantly looking for ways to self-educate in these fields.
Outside of school you will find her being active, reading or spending time with her friends, family and dog.