St Peter's School Cambridge changes leadership structure and replaces principal position

St Peter's Cambridge is replacing its vacant Executive Principal position with two new leadership roles.

St Peter's School Cambridge announced a new leadership structure that replaces the vacant Executive Principal position and replaces it with two new positions that report to the school's trust board.

The two new leadership positions are a Head of School and a Head of Commercial.

While the Head of School will be responsible for the strategic development and delivery of teaching and learning, the Head of Commercial looks after the management and development of the school's commercial functions.

The position of the Head of Commercial has already been filled. The school confirmed current chief operating officer Rob Campbell will be stepping into this role.

Trust board chairman John Macaskill-Smith says an international search for the Head of School began two weeks ago through a national executive search firm. The school hopes to have the new position filled by the start of the 2023 school year.

Macaskill-Smith says the decision to disestablish the Executive Principal position and create this new leadership structure comes after extensive consultation with staff, students, parents and external parties.

"Our new leadership structure will allow the school to make a step-change in our education offering while effectively managing our varied and complex commercial operations.

"St Peter's has the best educators in New Zealand and some of the best facilities to match. Now we need a leadership duo who can, together, deliver on the high expectations we have set for ourselves and our learners."

The school confirmed that the new leadership structure did not result in any staff redundancies and the existing key operational staff positions remain.

St Peter's has been without an Executive Principal since June 2021. Former executive principal Dale Burden resigned in late May after an investigation into workplace bullying at the school and a period of unexplained absence.

His wife and deputy principal Yevette Williams resigned to do a PhD programme in education leadership.