Four Catholic educators have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for their contribution to education.
- Maretta Tuasivi Solomon and Pulotu Arthur Solomon have been made Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
- Elizabeth Horgan has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of merit.
- Anne Miles has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
The Solomons co-founded the Pacific Peoples Learning Institute, Martin Hautus (MHI) in 1990.
MHI was established to cater for the growing number of predominantly Pasifika learners who were failing in mainstream education.
MHI has around 300 students each year and is considered a leading learning institute for the Pacific.
Elizabeth Horgan has worked at St Joseph’s school in Otahuhu for more than 40 years.
For the last 22 years she has been the School’s Principal.
She introduced the Reading Together Programme to South Auckland Catholic schools.
The programme fosters parents’ involvement with their children’s literary development.
Horgan is also involved with the Gladiators of Change programme, organised for parents from Otahuhu and Mangere to be more involved in their children’s lives.
Anne Miles has made significant contributions to McAuley High School since becoming its principal in 2003.
She has spearheaded initiatives to raise academic achievement and the decile one school has seen outstanding improvements in NCEA and University Entrance results.
Using the findings of the master’s thesis of one of her staff, she has also improved parental engagement with the school.
More than 500 family members were able to improve their skills and gain confidence, leading some into further education, employment or to volunteer for boards of trustees of other schools.
The school’s pastoral care network has also been strengthened to provide a support network to enable all students to succeed.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
- stuff.co.nz
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