Andy Thompson

Andy is a principal advisor for the Auckland area, supporting beginning principals. He is delighted to be part of the Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga team as the organisation’s primary purpose of raising achievement and reducing disparity resonates clearly with him.

A teacher/school leader since the mid-1970s, Andy has taught in a total of nine schools both rural and urban, including a year in London with his family in 1991. He has been principal/acting principal of two state and four Catholic schools over the past 30 years. The schools ranged in size from 29 – 400 pupils and served a wide range of differing socio-economic communities.

Andy was an executive member of the Auckland Catholic Primary Principals’ Association for 13 years including six years as president. During this time he was instrumental in the establishment of the New Zealand Catholic Primary Principals’ Association (NZCPPA) and was a national executive member of this association for six years. He feels particularly honoured to have received an NZCPPA Award in 2004 recognising his “Outstanding Service to Catholic Primary Education”.

His last school, St Joseph’s Primary, Onehunga, was one of thirteen schools nationwide included in an Education Review Office study of effective self-review. The school was selected on the basis of high quality self-review practices identified in its 2014 ERO review. Andy has provided advice and guidance on this topic in wider educational settings.

Andy has a particular commitment, developed and nurtured over the past 20 years, to Pasifika education. He believes that home school engagement is a critical factor in maximising our children’s learning.

Married with three adult sons, his interests out of school are rugby, fishing, having R & R with family (particularly his two grandchildren) and pretending to be a builder!