People Changing Dilworth

The People Changing Dilworth - Mattie Naseri, Head of Safeguarding

“The Child Wise review and our journey to accreditation have given us a clear roadmap and an ongoing plan of continuous improvement.”

Growing up as one of two Pasifika children in Mount Roskill, Mattie Naseri learned strong values at a young age. Her parents immigrated from Samoa in the 1970s, with both working multiple jobs to help provide for the family and create a space that was safe, warm, and one where the children knew they came first. “Faith is a big thing in our family,” Mattie says. “Faith is how I learned that service and giving are incredibly important values to hold. They are family values, and values I believe align me with Dilworth.”

Achieving Child Wise accreditation (Child Wise is part of the Australian Childhood Foundation) in September 2022 was a key milestone for Mattie and the entire team at Dilworth. “It was a major piece of work and one that we’re really proud of,” Mattie says.

“The Child Wise review and our journey to accreditation have given us a clear roadmap and an ongoing plan of continuous improvement. Dilworth now has systems in place to ensure students can easily speak up about any issues that matter to them, they can do this anonymously and in many ways. We have embedded a culture of safeguarding, and we have zero tolerance towards any abuse at Dilworth. We have a parent safeguarding committee, where we gather parent and whānau input. It’s become part of our cultural DNA.”

 

The People Changing Dilworth - Tom Murdoch, Head of Senior Campus

"The expectations are high, and they should be. This is a place where you can belong, but you’re also expected to contribute. Our school values are truly lived here.”

Tom Murdoch has had a great career in education. Starting out as an English teacher at Auckland Grammar School, he has worked at both state and independent schools, including six years at the highly regarded Reed’s School in the UK, time as a House Leader at Macleans College, and then Deputy Principal at Mount Albert Grammar. Now Dilworth’s Head of Senior Campus, Tom has been part of the critical change happening at the school since 2022.

Tom says. “I’ve been lucky to work in really good schools, that have been well run, with a vision, a strong direction and educational philosophy, where student safety has always been the priority. So I know what good looks like, and here at Dilworth we have a Headmaster in Dan Reddiex leading essential change and rebuilding the school from the ground up. We have enormous resources we dedicate to our students to help them fulfil their potential, both academically during the school day, and more holistically, in boarding. This removes so many of the obstacles to educational progress that exist elsewhere - if that doesn’t give you meaning and purpose as a teacher, you might be in the wrong profession.”

In describing the ground-up rebuild of Dilworth School undertaken by Dan, the leadership team, and staff, Tom says the foundations have now been laid: “The expectations are high, and they should be. This is a place where you can belong, but you’re also expected to contribute. Our school values are truly lived here.”

 

The People Changing Dilworth - Dan Reddiex, Headmaster

"Our commitment to the next generation of students is for Dilworth to provide the safest and best education available in New Zealand.”

Dilworth School is one of the largest boarding schools in Australasia. With junior, senior, and outdoor campuses across three locations, a day school option soon to be available at Year 7 & 8, and approximately 500 students, all on fully funded scholarships, it stands alone in the New Zealand educational landscape for both its model and the opportunities it provides.

Education expert and reformer Dan Reddiex became Dilworth’s Headmaster in 2019, just as the truth about historical abuse at the school was emerging.  With the full backing of the Dilworth Trust Board, he and his senior team have made profound changes at the school.  They have reset its culture, putting students’ education, safety, care, and development at the centre of everything they do – in line with the mission of Dilworth’s founders James and Isabella Dilworth.

In September 2022, Dilworth became the first school in New Zealand to gain Child Wise accreditation. “Our safeguarding commitments are now part of our DNA. And the changes in Dilworth’s culture mean we’re shifting to a critical mass of students now asking themselves, ‘Why wouldn’t I be the best version of me? Why wouldn’t I try as hard as I can?’ It’s all about personal excellence.” 

The promise for the next generation is the safest and best education available in New Zealand: “What’s coming next is tremendous. So come, be a man of great values, achieve personal excellence, then go and effect change in your life beyond.”

 

The People Changing Dilworth - Justine Scott, Head of Junior Campus

"I get to really focus on why I came into education in the first place - to make a difference in the lives of these exceptional students.”

Before joining Dilworth as Head of the Junior Campus, Justine spent eight years as Principal of Sunnyhills School in Pakuranga. Under her leadership, Justine helped take the school to one of New Zealand’s highest achieving primary schools, known for best practices in structured literacy, education for sustainability, digital technologies, and integration, as well as becoming the country’s first Google Reference Primary School. 

Joining Dilworth at the start of 2024 with the aim of bringing her educational magic and promoting the Dilworth mission, Justine says, “I believe I can make an impact here. I get to really focus on why I came into education in the first place - to make a difference in the lives of these exceptional students.” 

Justine says being the first female Head of the Junior Campus is really important. “Not just because of my skillset, but for facing outwards into our communities, and for parents as their first port of call for anything to do with their children.” 

She believes Dilworth offers unique opportunities for young men. “Our junior curriculum is exceptional. We teach specialist subjects with specialist teachers. This creates a truly outstanding learning environment for our students, and along with our small class sizes and wrap-around support, gives them every opportunity to grow into extraordinary young men.”