Principal Robin Sutton’s directive is to build confidence and belief in students which has helped to improve the academic standards which is also largely helped by the teachers and team around him. Having two Hato Hone St John volunteers on staff, Katie and Nick, Robin has no problem with accommodating their volunteer duties and studies – “Supporting volunteers is something you do as part of a community. Not only is it the morally right thing to do end of story but learning how our staff have helped out in the community is just invaluable and interesting.”
Nick and Katie are extremely thankful to Robin for allowing them to pursue their Hato Hone St John journey. Both have been on their Hato Hone St John journey for a while now and have been supported by Robin and the staff of Hornby High School while they had worked to obtain national diplomas. They have found there is a lot of complementary cross over when it comes to their volunteer work and teaching work. From the teaching side, they can take communications skills and use them with a diverse scope of patients. Because of their volunteering experience with Hato Hone St John, they have been able to exercise calmness and patience when dealing with students.
Having Nick and Katie onsite has also meant that the students have instant reassurance that if something happens, they have two experts there to help. Katie says “Things pop up all the time here at school. We’ve attended a number of incidences onsite and the staff don’t hesitate to reach out for help if they need it. Recently, we had a someone come off their bike and had landed on the concrete. We were there straight away to support them with gear we had onsite while we waited for the ambulance to arrive and Nick was able to rule out immediate concerns such as concussion.”
Nick and Katie put Robin forward as a supporter of Hato Hone St John volunteers because without his support, their volunteer work wouldn’t be possible. Robin says “The mahi of these two in and around Hato Hone St John is very important. I was thinking of how we all try and find meaning in life in different ways and volunteering is one way we find a purpose which is important to support people to do this.”