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Matt Sides says that many challenges lie ahead as he takes up the role of principal at Stanmore Bay School in Term 3.
He replaces Carol Abley, who was principal there for 30 years.
Matt, who turns 40 soon, has been a Primary and Intermediate maths, science and IT teacher for 16 years and was deputy principal at Birkdale Intermediate.
His CV includes four years teaching at Hiroshima International School in Japan along with his wife Julia.
The couple and their three young children live in Glenfield.
As well as the step up involved in becoming principal, Matt says he is mindful of the importance of continuing Stanmore Bay School’s strong ties with the community.
“The biggest challenge is the new position itself, and doing my best to be a lead learner in a community that is not my own,” he says. “I want the children to be proud of their school and for them to have every opportunity they can.”
Matt’s first love is teaching, and he hopes to have some involvement in the classroom. “We are preparing the kids for jobs that don’t exist yet and that means developing their thinking and enriching them in every way we can.”
Matt is a keen football player and while visiting the school last term, he told them that in 2015 he scored his last senior goal in the Auckland first division reserve league against the Hibiscus Coast.
However, he will not be putting himself forward to play for a local team. “I have decided not to play this year, to focus on career and family,” he says.
