“Class sizes are small so we can really engage with the students in their learning. We also have specialist staff, like our own dedicated Learning Support Teacher which is incredibly rare.”
Justine Scott, Head of Junior Campus
A widely respected leader across the education sector, Justine joined Dilworth at the start of 2024, with a clear mandate to bring her educational magic and promote the Dilworth vision.
Formerly the principal of Sunnyhills School in Pakuranga for eight years, Justine Scott joined Dilworth as Head of Junior Campus for the start of the 2024 school year. Highly regarded as a passionate and innovative educator, one of the key reasons she joined the school was to support Headmaster Dan Reddiex in rebuilding Dilworth. A year into the role, she’s spearheaded a change in the culture on the junior campus, making it a warm accessible place for parents and the wider community.
“I’m very much a people person, and engaging with whānau is incredibly important to me,” Justine says. “I noticed I was mostly only seeing parents at pick-up and drop-off, as well as sporting and other events. Being a boarding school for most of our students, I didn’t really have the daily contact with parents that you get at a regular intermediate school. So right from the start of Term One, I was out there shaking hands and introducing myself, starting to build relationships.”
She says that was great while summer lasted, but once the school was into Terms Two and Three and the weather became miserable, a new strategy was needed. She noticed the parents would still congregate at the barbecue tables by the sports field and catch up with each other. “So I went over and said to them, ‘Come into the staff room on Friday, have a cup of coffee and we’ll sit down and have a chat. Because if I’m not teaching a class, that space is available.’ And they said, ‘Oh no, we can’t come into the staff room.’ I said, ‘This is a space for everybody’, and opened the doors. It’s a simple thing, but now we do it every Friday, and it’s allowed us to provide better, more informed pastoral care, as well as deepened our relationships with families.”
Justine is also the junior campus representative on the Dilworth Family Connect Group, which has monthly meetings online or in person at either the junior or senior campus. “It’s all about connecting families, and I’m obviously hugely supportive of that,” she says. “I think being a woman makes a difference for some parents and caregivers too, just feeling they can approach me and talk through any issues they or their sons might be experiencing.”
As well as getting to know families, she’s also spent the year building deep relationships with staff. “Getting to know the place, it operates quite differently to a regular public school, which is what I was used to,” Justine says. “But I can no longer say I’m new to Dilworth, and investing the time in getting to know our people has been invaluable. As a boarding school there’s a lovely synergy here between learning well, and living well, and it’s those relationships that make it all work.”
Justine says she’s been hugely impressed with the quality of teachers and the resources available at Dilworth. “We teach small class sizes so we can really engage with the students in their learning. As teachers, we absolutely love that, because we’re doing what we’re best at and what we’re most passionate about. Our staff are wonderful, they’re all highly motivated to make a difference and make learning fun. We also have specialist staff, like our own Learning Support Teacher, which is incredibly rare, as well as specialist mathematics extension support from senior campus staff. It all means our students get the time they need with excellent educators and that gives them the best opportunities to learn.”
She says the staff are incredibly committed to helping the students thrive. “We always go the extra mile because we really believe in the place, in the vision of the school and the work that Dan and our leadership team are doing to constantly improve the experience here for our tamariki. In order for that to happen, you need your staff to be valued and working harmoniously together. In each of our learning areas we have good opportunities to collaborate because Dilworth works together across three campuses. My job is to make sure we are delivering for our students in an exceptional way.”
The curriculum focusses strongly on literacy and numeracy and puts the junior students on a clear pathway to later learning at the senior campus, giving them the best preparation for the concepts and knowledge they’ll experience later. “We instill a robust foundational skills programme around literacy and numeracy because it’s so critical to later learning,” Justine says, “and the curriculum is scaffolded across all three of our campuses. The whole school has done a huge amount of work to ensure it is properly designed, intentionally integrated and cohesive. It means our students are getting an ‘all-of-person’ education, developing them intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. It’s all about giving them the best chance to succeed in life.”
The facilities are also outstanding, with two modern boarding houses equipped with everything to keep the students comfortable, safe and secure, including dedicated sports fields and a gym, as well as scheduled outdoor excursions at Dilworth’s Mangātawhiri campus. “Learning in the Outdoors has been an absolute highlight for all of us,” Justine says. “I biked the Hauraki Rail Trail with the students and did the high ropes to show them I could. The only thing I didn’t do was stay overnight in a tent.”
For parents looking for an intermediate school, the junior campus has day or boarding school options for students in Years Seven and Eight. A lot of work has been done to ensure the timetable allows students to fully participate in all the extracurricular activities the school offers after 3.30PM - and that it works for their families too.
The extracurricular activities include a wide range of sports, as well as drama and music, with every student required to learn at least one instrument. “Another big area which is hugely different from public school is the music programme we have. It’s exceptional. We have a string orchestra, a concert band and a choir. I think it’s phenomenal how our students can learn their instrument and then come together at 11 and 12 years of age and play.”
Justine says Dilworth students have an exceptionally positive response to their environment and get along well with each other. “They’re all good young men, you know? They’re just lovely students. The cultural feel of the place is unique. We have a wide range of students from different backgrounds.”