Ben is Principal of Lytton Street School in Feilding. He has been in this position since May 2014. Previous to this Ben was Principal of South Makirikiri School, situated 10 kilometres outside of Marton township.

Lytton Street School has a role of over 550 students aged 5 to 11 years old. The school operates 21 classrooms with the junior rooms focusing heavily on the Walker Learning philosophy.

Ben was previously at Milson School (Palmerston North) and Blockhouse Bay School (Auckland).

Ben studied at Massey University and Waikato University undertaking papers in Political Science, Law, Education, Anthropology, Social Work and History.

Ben is an avid runner and mountain biker.

Tena Koutou Katoa

I have had the pleasure of working in this community, on and off, for over 27 years. My career started here in Feilding at Lytton Street School and continued on in Australia and then back to Feilding Intermediate where I was Deputy Principal. My family and I have returned after 5 years in the Waikato where I was Principal at Waitetuna School then back to the role of Principal of North Street School. Its great to have already established networks, family and friends.

I have a true connection and understanding of the Feilding community, whanau and iwi. Through my time at 3 schools in Feilding I have built trust, mana and strong relationships and networks. I feel this is the key to a successful Community of learners.

I look forward to building a community, especially one that works together for the benefit of the children and their community. My experiences have provided me with a platform for further development of relational trust in the wider Kāhui Ako development, reinforcing the collaborative vision, ensuring new resources are aligned to clear achievement goals and strategically allocating resources of teaching expertise and inquiry time.