School's out at last for visionary head

Greg Taylor is carried out of his last assembly by head boy Michael Boxall (left) and Tyson Tamihere. Picture / Greg Bowker

Greg Taylor has always called himself the headmaster, not the principal.

It is a measure of the inclusive style and love of teaching of the man who for 18 years has led Mt Albert Grammar, one of the country's largest secondary schools.

At "Mags", as he calls it, he was school dux and returned as its head after teaching at Otahuhu College and Auckland Grammar and five years as an inspector of secondary schools.

At a special assembly to mark his retirement yesterday, Mr Taylor said he was most proud of the caring atmosphere that pervaded the school with a roll of 2100.

He was also proud of his deputies who had gone to lead schools of their own.

It was his idea for Mt Albert Grammar to become co-educational for the first time in 77 years by developing a girls' school, starting with third-formers only in 1989.

It was a way round the school board's concern that responding to the demand for more secular schooling for girls in the area might deplete the energy and heritage of the successful all-boys school.

The roll of the school for girls is now 700 and Mr Taylor said it proved to be the best development in his time.

"It had the potential to shake the foundations of the school but in fact the school is the better for it."

Families were grateful that daughters of past pupils could keep the grammar link.

He recalled a "new sense of freedom" and euphoria when the Tomorrow's Schools reforms came in 1989, transferring operating responsibility from the Department of Education to each school's board of trustees and offering the bulk-funding of teachers' salaries.

Mr Taylor also led the school to establish academies in soccer, rugby, cricket, squash and netball and the building of the Philips Aquatic Centre - a facility shared with the community.

He has been a chief examiner of University Entrance and Bursary examinations and since 2001 has been the Government appointee on the Council of Auckland University.

Board of trustees chairman Peter Thorp said that under Mr Taylor the school had seen more change than at any time in its 83-year history.

He said Mr Taylor "leads with the brain - not with the bite".

The headmaster's attributes were remarkable energy, a can-do attitude, intellect, calmness, and a general and unconditional affection for every pupil. An example of his drive to include people was the establishment of a refugee summer school programme to help students to settle in and achieve.

Prefects presented Mr Taylor with a carved model of a Polynesian voyaging canoe, saying he had their respect for his leadership in turning the school into one of the most culturally diverse in the country. To them, he was the "Michael Jordan" of teachers for his contribution, character and influence.

Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is MP for Mt Albert, attended the assembly, saying she had great respect for Mr Taylor's immense contribution to the school and teaching.

It was thanks to leaders like him that the Schools 2004 Report showed that students were more likely to leave school now with a qualification and were performing to higher standards.

Mr Taylor's successor is the present associate principal, Dale Burden.