New Kamo head is a familiar face

Kamo High School principal Joanne Hutt. Photo / Supplied

A new principal has been appointed at Kamo High School - and it's a face some senior students may recognise.

Joanne Hutt, a former assistant principal at the school, is returning after a stint in the South Island where she spent three years as principal at South Otago High.

"I have no illusions, it is going to be a big job," Ms Hutt said. "But the staff are absolutely fantastic. I've been following Kamo High School and have kept in contact."

At her previous school she turned academic performance around and raised the Maori students' achievement rate from 38 per cent to 100 per cent. Ms Hutt has been teaching for more than 30 years, including in large co-ed schools, single sex schools, small rural schools and even in the National Youth Remand Centre. She was assistant principal at Kamo High School in 2010 and 2011.

Ms Hutt said part of her strategy would be to customise the NCEA framework to better cater for Kamo High students' needs. She said the system offered a lot more flexibility than many people realised.

"There is no 'one size fits all' - and that is the real power of our New Zealand education system, every school can create their own road to success."

She was the third principal around the country to be employed using the Principal Recruitment Allowance. The allowance gives the principal the opportunity to earn up to $50,000 bonuses in each year for seven years. Kamo High School board of trustees chair Thomas Biss said there had been a good field of applicants and perhaps some were motivated to apply for the allowance.

"I can't really speak for her but my feeling is that she'll not be doing it for the money."

Mr Biss said the allowance was positive for the school as it did not come out of its budget, but was paid by the Ministry of Education.

To move to a new region was often a "big call" and anything that made that decision easier was positive, Mr Biss said.

Ministry of Education head of sector enablement and support Katrina Casey said the allowance was part of the Government's Investing in Educational Success package.