Vanessa Bentley
Deputy Principal
Master of Education Practice (with Merit), Postgraduate Diploma of Educational Leadership (with Merit), Bachelor of Education (Teaching).
Upon leaving school, I joined the New Zealand Army where I had a brief career in driving troops around the country. It wasn’t really suited to me and I soon found myself working in the motor-trade for several years following.
I come from a family of teachers and had always admired their work and work ethic. When I had my first child, I decided to follow them into this challenging and rewarding profession.
I taught and led at Cockle Bay School (Howick) for 12 years before taking on the role of Deputy Principal at Oranga School (One Tree Hill) for 5 years. I have also spent some time working as a Senior Education Advisor at the Ministry of Education.
I live with my South African husband (Johannes) and together we have a 25 year old, a 22 year old and a 10 year old. Having such a wide gap in the ages of our children has meant that we have been actively involved in schools (as both parents and professionals) for a very long time.