College – Issue 42

Tamara Lerios – making it count C ollege’s Assistant HoD Mathematics, Tamara Lerios,

a permanent member of the Mathematics department in 2019. “I’m going to miss the Maths department here a lot. It has been fun and they’re a great group of people. And I’m going to miss College a lot, too. I walked in here and straight away I was treated like a full member of staff; I felt as if I belonged.” One of the things she will miss most though “is hearing the boys sing in Chapel to the beautiful pipe organ”. “Those experiences will remain in my memory.”

Teaching boys has

was appointed Head of Faculty – Mathematics for St Margaret’s

been a joy,

College Middle and Senior schools at the end of 2021.

but she expects that

With her six-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, on-site as a Year 2 in 2022, the move was a perfect one for Tamara who joined Christ’s College in May 2016 as a reliever in Mathematics. She had moved south after six years teaching at Western Heights High School in Rotorua. She taught part time at College in 2017–2018, and was made

teaching girls will be equally satisfying.

“I went to an all-girls school in Johannesburg, and I loved it. Having a single sex school means you focus more on your education without any gender bias or other distractions.”

Peter van Arendonk – from school to staff P eter van Arendonk watched Upper ripple and roll in the The diversity evident on campus is just brilliant. It has been a privilege and a pleasure working at College.” white crosses

2010/2011 earthquakes, saw the original Flower’s House demolished and the new one built, and took part in the refurbishment of School House. Over nearly 20 years as a carpenter and maintenance staff person, Peter has seen much more than myriad physical changes to the College campus. The whole feel of the place has changed, he says. “It’s a far more inclusive place

placed on the Quad for Anzac Day. “That was one of the things I

Peter spent a term in Corfe as a third former, then switched to Burnside High School, little dreaming he would return to College as a staff member in 2002. One of his first tasks was to repair the Dining Hall tables – no sanding nor filler allowed on the oak, and all repair work completed with new oak. “There were 21 tables and it took one and a half years, and then I started on the forms, but I never finished them because of the earthquakes.” Peter’s legacy is the distinctive

pushed for. It means something, and the fact that I had a son in the army probably made me feel more strongly,” he says. Retirement for Peter and his wife is in Waikari, where his strong North Canterbury roots mean he can enjoy his semi-rural lifestyle, catch up with his 10 children and 18 grandchildren, and continue to make things in steel and wood.

these days than it was two decades ago,” Peter says.

“By that, I mean from the teaching staff, to the domestic staff, the boys, and the boarding Houses.

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