Meet Linda, originally from Otago and now based in Ahuriri, Napier as N4L’s Central North Island School Relationship Manager. Passionate about working with kura, Linda is focussed on building strong relationships with her schools.
Kia ora tātou
Ko Mataruahou te maunga
Ko Tūtaekuri te awa
Nō Ahuriri ahau
Ko Roberts tōku whānau
Ko Linda tōku ingoa
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Otago and I still have strong whānau connections there and to Te Anau. Both areas have great people and stunning scenery!
What brings you joy outside of work?
Spending time with friends and family, baking, reading, and the gym. I love travel and the Pacific Island culture, it’s my goal to visit every Pacific Island nation. Each trip I put a pin on the map and I’m hoping my next trip will be Wallis and Futuna.
How did you end up working in this role?
I love working with kura, building strong relationships and spending my days actually in the schools, hands-on. Having previously worked in a sales role, I was looking for a way to develop stronger connections with schools that are less transactional and more relationship-focused.
What appealed to you about the role?
Being a N4L School Relationship Manager allows me to do all of the things I love in my work. It stood out to me because the focus is on people, providing support to leaders, kaiako and nurturing relationships with our kura. And of course, being directly involved in improving schools’ cybersecurity.
Tell us about your role.
Based in Ahuriri (Napier), I cover schools all the way up the East Cape and over to Whanganui. I’m often on the road and I really enjoy being out every day in kura – each kura is unique and I feel honoured to visit and see what a regular day looks like for them.
What feeds your passion within your role?
My passion lies in helping schools fully understand and utilise their entitlement under the Te Mana Tūhono programme so that all students can have access to reliable Wi-Fi and are safer online. I take great pride in ensuring schools understand the different upgrades in a simple manner.
What does it mean for you personally in the work N4L delivers?
I am inspired to help kura harness technology in the classroom in new and exciting ways to help kaiako and students achieve their best possible learning outcomes. In doing so, I hope this will teach them valuable real-life tech skills and instill a lifelong enthusiasm for technology.
Tell us about a highlight or stand out story in your role as a School Relationship Manager.
We’re a collaborative team at N4L, and I appreciate the technical expertise of our engineers and enthusiasm for supporting me to answer questions from kaimahi. Often I will visit a kura in person and connect online with our team so that they can meet Tumuaki, provide support, address any concerns and implement network design changes.
It has also been immensely rewarding to assist a school to reopen in new buildings, two and a half years since the original buildings were damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle. N4L worked closely with the Tumuaki and ICT to get their network up and running.
What do you hope to achieve in the future of schools and kura?
Continuing to provide outstanding internet access to kura so that all ākonga have equal opportunity to learn. With the help of innovation, there are exciting future possibilities for teaching and learning. I look forward to supporting these and delivering them with care.
Meet the rest of the Education and Engagement team by visiting our website.