I knew Ken Havill as the principal of my sons’ high school. I valued the occasional chats we had on the sideline as we watched Saturday sport at Western Springs.
Ken Havill lost his battle with cancer last month, just months after his retirement as principal of Western Springs College. He had served Western Springs for 24 years, 19 as principal.
Ken (there was never Mr or Ms or Sir in his vocabulary) saw Western Springs double in size in his time, top New Zealand pass rates for UE, and he oversaw New Zealand’s first co-governance structure under the Treaty of Waitangi.
It is a shame that Ken did not live to see the rebuild of Western Springs College he fought so hard to achieve. The record $79 million, Minister of Education, Nikki Kaye, announced for the rebuild was in part a tribute to Ken Havill’s persistence.
As a former teacher, I understand about school ‘tone’.
There was always a warm and friendly greeting from students and teachers at Western Springs, and there is always a positive, active learning environment on display. Ken once said, “this isn’t a sit down, shut up and listen school.”
I visited the school to chat to Ivan Davis, Ken’s successor as principal. Ivan was deputy principal under Ken for 14 years, before his elevation in October 2016, on Ken’s retirement.
I asked Ivan if my assessment of Ken was accurate: that he was understated, didn’t seek the limelight, and gave staff their head to get on with the job. That he was modest, humble.
Ivan Davis called him a "considered man, erudite," and said that he grew in confidence as the school achievements flowed. "His hardest task he always said, was selecting staff. He put a huge amount of time and energy into it."
In staff meetings Ken listened hard to all staff members and measured his responses carefully. Sometimes he would say he’d think on an issue and report back at the next staff meeting.
Ken Havill had a respect for his fellow man. He would never attack the person, only ever the idea or philosophy being discussed. Ivan told me, “Ken saw most things and understood their relevance and impact, usually well before the rest of us.”
Western Springs has been described as a teachers’ school,
a tribute to Ken Havill who embodied the school motto ‘Pursue the bird of learning’. A recent ERO report notes the ‘strong working relationships between students and teachers’.
An excellent staff can take credit for those relationships, but this excellence comes from the top down.
Ken was proud of the school’s mission statement “All students and staff, inspired by a love of learning, are challenged to discover and develop their unique personal strengths so that they are well equipped to share in the building of a just and sustainable society.”
Western Springs is a happy school, a tolerant school, a harmonious school where cultural differences are valued, and Ken Havill and the staff he gathered around him must take great credit for that.
As a very young teacher at Bay of Islands College, in Northland, Ken Havill, a talented rugby league player, joined the Moerewa League team as the only pakeha in the team. They made Ken their captain. His reverence for Maori and the Treaty of Waitangi blossomed there in the North, and he always gave Maori students and staff pride of place at Western Springs
A leader who knew the value of people, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata, Ken Havill leaves a wonderful legacy behind, as well as Lorraine, his wife of 47 years and daughters Paola and Si’a Lei. He will be greatly missed. (JOHN ELLIOTT)