Matt has been a Board member (Parent) for the past seven years. Matt has a daughter in year 13, and a son who finished college in 2018.
In particular, Matt is keen to ensure that the programme of property projects now in progress comes to a successful completion, after all the challenges and hard work.
Matt has found his first term as a Board member really rewarding. With the dedication of staff, students and parents see the ongoing success of the College, both academically and in a range of extra-curricular activities.
Matt is an experienced financial manager and Chartered Accountant. He believes his background of financial management, financial planning, governance, risk management, budgeting and commercial decision-making is beneficial in the role of Trustee. Matt has worked as Head of Finance or Financial Controller for several organizations, including Southern Cross Health Society, the leading not-for-profit health insurer. Matt has originally worked as an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Matt is currently working for Evolve Education Group in the early childhood education sector, and has worked in the health sector for a number of years. This experience is very relevant for a College Trustee, in particular the challenge of trying to balance ever-growing demands with finite resourcing.
Matt was a keen sportsman, and now takes an active role in supporting his children’s numerous sports. He has umpired both boys and girls College cricket 1st XIs, and has been part of a group seeking to boost the quality of cricket at the College. Matt enjoys Saturday mornings watching the various teams competing and enjoying their sports.
As a history graduate, Matt considers it vital to continue to support the arts and humanities, as well as technical and scientific education, to ensure students achieve a rounded education.
Gordon Robertson
Gordon is a long-serving staff member of Glendowie College and has been appointed as Principal in August 2020.
Gordon started teaching in 1983 at Queen Elizabeth College in Palmerston North. Since arriving at Glendowie College in 1986, he has had a range of responsibilities being a Dean and the Head of Social Sciences Faculty. Gordon has been a member of the Senior Leadership Team at the college since 1997.
Gordon started teaching as a Geography and History teacher. His qualifications include an M.A (Hons) Auckland and a Diploma in School Management. He was fortunate to be awarded the Woolf Fisher Fellowship in 2007 and used the opportunity to study Professional Learning practices in Canada, the United States and Britain.
Gordon is passionate about providing a quality holistic education for the students of Glendowie College. Gordon considers that the college has a responsibility to prepare young people for whatever career or educational direction they want to pursue as well as giving them the skills to be positive, caring and engaged members of society.
Gordon and his partner, Jo, have two adult children, both of whom work in education. As both a parent and teacher, Gordon has been actively coaching, managing, refereeing and scoring a wide range of sports. Occasionally he is able to make it out onto the golf course.
Warwick was elected as a Board Member (Parent) in 2019. He was previously on the Glendowie School Board for six years and frequently held the Chair position during the absence of the elected Chairperson.
Warwick is a stay-at-home Dad having retired after 33 years with a major International Airline. He is a Volunteer with the New Zealand Police, however all Volunteer duties are currently on hold pending a Safety and Security review. He is currently President of the Canadian Club of New Zealand.
Warwick is married and has one child in year 13 with the College. He participates wherever possible to support the College’s Junior Boys Underwater Hockey Team.
He looks forward to the opportunity, wherever applicable, to bring his previous experience to Glendowie College. He is passionate about the need to provide a First Class education to all students and hopes his involvement with the College’s Board will contribute to that end.
Belinda Sutherland
Belinda has been appointed as a Board Member (parent) in 2021.
Belinda is a Glendowie College Alumni (1983 – 1987) and has been a part of the Glendowie/St Heliers community for most of her life.
Following gaining a BA (Geography) she held many roles in Customer Services for a homewares and printer importer, Retail of homewares in London, Personal Assistant at a design practice in London, Office Administrator, Event Manager, Business Development & Marketing Manager for an Auckland design practice then Resource Planning Advisor and currently a Finance Coordinator for Jasmax where she has worked for over 13 years. It is interesting to see how each opportunity taken has led to more opportunities that interrelate.
Whilst at GDC with her two siblings, her mother was an active member of the PTA and her father was on the Eastern Schools Board, which covered Selwyn College, Penrose College (now One Tree Hill College), Metropolitan College (closed) and Glendowie College. So she observed and understands the roles of governance vs management – as board members we are there to set clear policy to guide our teaching staff so they can focus on creating the very best learning environment for our children. And she’s keen to attend Professional Development courses to improve her effectiveness in this area.
Belinda has two daughters, one in year 7 at St Heliers School and one in year 13 at GDC. She’s actively involved in the rowing squad by way of the Fundraising and Catering committees, having been a Rower for GDC too.
Belinda hopes that through her skills of financial acumen, strong organisation and process, HR experience, volunteer management, is a good listener and able to ask good questions, will be strong attributes to assist the Board reach its goals.
Belinda strongly believes in providing a variety of learning opportunities to enable developing well rounded individuals who can find their place in our community and the wider world.
Stephen Sutherland
Steve has been appointed as a Board Member (parent) in 2022.
Steve's family have been residents of Glendowie/St Heliers for most of the past 25 years. Steve and his wife have 2 children attending Glendowie College and he is looking to continue a role supporting community schooling which began at St Heliers School over 12 years ago.
Steve was a volunteer basketball coach at St Heliers School for 6 years. At the same time, he was an active member of the PTA for 10 years, culminating in 2 years as PTA Chairman. This involved working closely with the Board and Principal and included working on 3 school fairs and multiple fundraising events that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support improvements to school grounds, facilities and learning environments, as well as providing equipment and uniforms for sports teams and investment in digital learning assets.
Steve is keen to grow his school involvement now that his children have moved to college, and wish to bring his previous school experience plus over 25 years of marketing and business consulting knowledge to the Glendowie College Board. Glendowie College is an outstanding college and Steve looks forward to this opportunity to work with the Board, the Principal, the children and community to assist with its future success.
Elizabeth Studholme
Liz has been appointed as a Board Member (parent) in 2022.
Originally from Christchurch, Liz moved to Auckland six years ago for a work opportunity. With no prior knowledge of Glendowie College, Liz feels very lucky to have found they were zoned for such a great local high school. Liz has three children at the college in Year 13, Year 11 and Year 9.
In Christchurch, Liz was a member of the Sumner Primary school board. Liz’s career is in marketing management. Over the last 6 years, Liz has worked for BOMA, a marketing software tool for accountants as Content Marketing Manager providing accountants in NZ, UK, and AU with tools and content to market their firms.
Prior to this role, Liz was Community Manager for a public space project in Christchurch - The Christchurch Coastal Pathway. This role involved project management, marketing, fundraising with local and central government agencies, and community stakeholder engagement.
Liz believes that the college years should provide a motivating and supportive environment for students to build their confidence, establish friendships and enjoy learning, whatever their talents are. Liz looks forward to contributing to the school, in support of the students and Glendowie College staff.
Bridget Rothbart
Bridget has both primary and secondary school training and experience. As well as lecturing business management at a tertiary institution. This means that she has an understanding of the educational flow and some of the challenges faced by students at each level.
She has taught at Grosvenor Girls’ High School (South Africa), Technikon Natal (South Africa), Howick Primary, Kadimah College and has been part of the Glendowie College staff since 2007. She teaches Economics and Enterprise and is the Teacher in Charge of Year 13.
She is married with two daughters who also attended the school.
Braxton Savage
Braxton is a Year 11 Student at Glendowie College, and was elected as Student Representative in September 2023. As the voice of the student body, he is responsible for advocating for the student's needs and concerns as well as delivering the opinions and voices of the students within the college to the Board.
Actively involved in the community, Braxton participates heavily in multiple aspects of school life at GDC, including volunteering opportunities, co-curricular activities and clubs, organising and executing fundraisers and Campus Vision. Outside of school, he enjoys participating in scouts and academics such as political and history studies. In the past, he has been committed and involved within the community, participating in tree-planting, gardening and civil engagement.
Braxton is committed to influencing and delivering positive change on the Board and ensures that he will take every possible opportunity to do just that. He is looking forward to having the opportunity to make a difference for the student body of GDC, and looks forward to seeing what the future holds next year for the college and the Board.
