Headmaster, trustees shaking up Grammar leadership

Tim O'Connor, the headmaster of Auckland Grammar School. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A management shake-up at one of the country's most conservative state schools is being considered.

The restructure would mean more change at Auckland Grammar School after a new corporate dress code for teachers was drawn up.

Headmaster Tim O'Connor, who has been in the job for just over two years, and the board of trustees want to restructure the school's executive positions.

"We are just working through a proposal with them [affected staff], about how the board and I would like to see the structure of our executive team," Mr O'Connor told the Herald. "We have one very long-standing Grammar master who is retiring. So it is an ideal opportunity for us to have a look at what the structure is, and where it should be ... It hasn't been looked at for many years."

The positions included in the proposal are the four deputy headmasters, head of operations, director of development and communications, director of HR, director of sport and senior housemaster.

Asked if positions would be scrapped or if there would be job losses, Mr O'Connor said it was too early in the process to know or comment.

"We are just not there, and I would hate to prejudice anything in terms of where it could or might not go. Because those discussions have not been had.

"The proposal at this point is confidential to them, because they are the only ones who are impacted. And we really need to get all of their feedback before we then decide what the structure could look like."

Last month, the Herald on Sunday revealed the school had issued a strict new dress code for teachers.

Low-cut tops and spaghetti-string straps on tops or dresses were deemed inappropriate for female staff. Male teachers will need to stop wearing the traditional walk shorts, knee-high socks and sandals.

Instead, a corporate wardrobe of ties, business shirts, dress pants and formal footwear will be required. Suit jackets were also deemed desirable.

Dr Linda Bendikson, director of the University of Auckland's Centre for Educational Leadership said that, generally speaking, schools that had a clear focus at all leadership levels were the ones that did well.

"The research in secondary schools, in particular, suggests that when you've got senior and middle leadership teams that are cohesive and united by a clear goal focus ... then they tend to have good effects."

Dr Bendikson, whose PhD research looked at education management and leadership, said another important fact was that restructuring was not always the best solution.

"In the general sense, structural changes are not always as important as the goal focus and getting on the same page - in any organisation."