Adventures with Mr Stewart (Staff Alumni)

What were your fondest memories from your time at Tanglin?

Undoubtedly the children and the adventures we had together. The trips to Taman Nagara, climbing Mt. Kinabalu, and travelling by ship to Brunei, and the reactions of the students were real highlights. I was working with 9–11-year-olds and was amazed at how well all these experiences turned out - many of them were first visits by school groups of primary school aged students to these places. Introducing snakes to the school in an effort to prevent so many being killed at home was particularly satisfying, and I am convinced that as the children conveyed the conservation message to parents, we saved the lives of many an innocent snake. I still have contact with some of those students and ‘Mr Stewart’s snakes’ appear to be well remembered.

What have you been up to since leaving Tanglin?

While teaching at Tanglin, I had also built up a good relationship with the curator and staff at the Singapore Zoo. This led to us starting a Junior Zookeepers’ Club whereby I took a group of students to the zoo on weekends where they worked with the keepers. It was the success of this little project which, on my return to New Zealand in 1980, led me to seek a job where I could work with children and animals in an educational setting. The first possibility that came up was a position at Marineland in Napier. Although my position was officially Assistant Superintendent, and my main job was working with the animals (dolphins, sealions, seals, etc.), I spent as much time as I could visiting schools and guiding school groups around Marineland. It was generally most satisfying, but there were things going on at Marineland that I found increasingly difficult to justify. I eventually left and returned to teaching in 1986. I taught ‘special needs’ classes for ten years or so before the chance came to move into international education. I became the international director at a high school here in Napier, a position I held until my retirement at the end of 2023. The position involved marketing the school to high school students from overseas and generally ensuring their care and education while they were enrolled at the school. The school was not large - a student roll of around 500, but during my time as director, we hosted nearly 800 students from over 30 different countries. I was pretty humbled when I was invited to Auckland to receive an award, presented by the International Education Business Association of New Zealand, for ‘Services to International Education’. 

Why did you decide to become a teacher and how did you end up at Tanglin?

The reason for becoming a teacher was simple. I enjoyed my own schooling so much (in a small country school) that I did not want to leave. A visiting careers advisor suggested teaching. It sounded like a good idea, so at the tender age of 16, I found myself enrolling at Dunedin Teachers’ College at the beginning of 1963. Apart from the few years at Marineland, I have been in a classroom more or less since I was five years old. Before taking up the position at Tanglin Preparatory School in 1976, I had been teaching in Borneo for six years. I first went to Brunei as a volunteer teacher (St Margaret’s, Seria) in 1969. During this time, I married a Brunei girl. We returned to New Zealand (1971 to 1972) before moving back to Brunei for another two years and I became the first appointed principal at the newly established Kinabalu International School in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It was on the way back to New Zealand at the end of my two-year contract at K.I.S. that I called in for an interview with the then Secretary of Tanglin Trust on the off-chance of finding a job. To my great delight, I got a message three weeks later, while working in the shearing sheds of my brother-in-law’s farm in New Zealand, asking if I could start at Tanglin Preparatory School the following week. The rest, as they say, is history.

How has your experience at Tanglin influenced your career choices or life?

Undoubtedly my ten years of teaching experience in Southeast Asia, and particularly the four years at Tanglin, greatly influenced the rest of my life. My time at Tanglin led directly to my seeking the Marineland position. When that didn’t work out, I discovered that my overseas teaching experience had prepared me ideally for a position in international education. 

What are some projects or initiatives you are currently working on?

Having retired some time ago, I have no particular projects on the go at present apart from trying to adjust to retirement. It is not easy and I do miss working with students. We are not entirely out of the picture as my wife and I still host international students as homestay parents. We currently have a boy from Germany and a Japanese boy who recently arrived.

As we approach Tanglin’s centenary, is there anything you’d like to share with the students and staff of our school?

Tanglin - 100 years. Wow!! I am very proud of having been associated with the school for just a small fraction of those 100 years. I visited the school a few years ago and was amazed at the transition. Our own two boys attended Weyhill School when it, along with Raeburn Park, was operating on the site where the huge school now stands. I have followed the school on Facebook over the last few years and never cease to be amazed by the wonderful adventures and achievements undertaken by the students. Administrators, staff and students, past and present, must be congratulated for what the school has now become. I look forward to hearing all about the celebrations.