Tom Gerrard, Principal of Rosmini College

Tom Gerrard - 34 years at the helm of Rosmini College

In each issue of CHANNEL we are keen to highlight those in our community who are making a difference - the local personalities, characters and leaders who make our community what it is. One such person is Tom Gerrard, the long-serving Principal of Rosmini College. When Tom Gerrard was appointed Principal at Rosmini College, the Catholic School for Boys in Takapuna, he intended to stay for four years. 34 years later he’s still going strong. No, this is not a printing error. 1976 was the year he took the helm at Rosmini. Aidan Bennett went to Rosmini to find out the secret to his longevity.
I had never had the pleasure to meet Tom prior to this interview. So I did a bit of research on him beforehand. The feedback was he is a real character, a good bloke. Loves his sport and loves to socialise. Every person I spoke to only had good things to say. When I rang to set up the interview the telephone conversation was full of laughter. Tom’s initial reaction was “Why me. Are you trying to cure your insomnia?” So I knew it was going to be fun. The phone call ended with “God bless you Aidan”.
You only have to spend a short time with Tom Gerrard to see why he is so valued by all around him, why he has been encouraged to stay on as Principal for so long. He is immensely proud of the school, loves living on the Shore, and has a real jovial warmth about him. Before getting the top job at Rosmini, Tom Gerrard taught English and Philosophy at schools in Miramar (Wellington), Palmerston North and Ruawai (Northland, near Dargaville). He also taught at Rosmini for a period before taking a posting in Fiji. He returned from Fiji to the Principal’s chair at Rosmini. Tom has three daughters he is extremely proud of - Antonia is a lawyer, Michaela a doctor and Cassandra is in the business field - as well as three granddaughters and a grandson.
I never liked the headmasters office when I was at school, but meeting Tom in his Rosmini office was a real pleasure. The walls are covered with over three decades of photos he was only too pleased to talk me through. There are many well-known faces in these photos. I started by asking Tom the obvious question.
Why so long at Rosmini?
“I just love the school, it’s as simple as that,” explained Tom. “It’s a good school, great staff and kids, a good local community and I have been fortunate to work with some superb school Boards in that time. I have had opportunities to go elsewhere but at the end of the day none were good enough to persuade me to leave Rosmini and the Shore. When I started I intended to be here four years and move on.”
(he laughs).
Are you thinking about retiring?
“Like the top sports stars say I take it year by year,” (he says with a grin and a chuckle).
So what constitutes a good school for Tom Gerrard?
“I find that many get confused about what makes a school good. Some schools go out of their way to pick the best sports people and the brightest kids, which really does create a false impression. Anyone can teach good sports people and bright kids.
“I feel schools need to be judged from two perspectives. Firstly, on it’s achievements right across the board - overall results, that pupils are doing their best and that they want to come to school. They must enjoy what they are doing at school and if this is the case results will follow. The second way you can judge a school is by the quality of the past pupils, in our case the old boys, and what they give back to the school. We are very proud of our old boys and many of them are still involved with Rosmini.
“It is warming that someone like Sir Stephen Tindall chose to send his three boys to Rosmini and give so much to the school. He could obviously afford to send them to any school but he chose to support the local school. Indeed, if it wasn’t for generous people like Stephen Tindall, Paul Byrnes, Paul Blackwell, Mike Chatterley and John Copson we would not have the facilities we now enjoy.”
The Rosmini College old boys list is certainly an impressive one. From the business and academic world the names include Peter Maire (Navman founder), John Copson (Crown Money), Matt Casey (Queen’s Counsel - who also was Chairman of the Rosmini Board of Trustees for two decades), Dr James Church (Surgeon) and Dr John Mayhew (Doctor). From the sports arena there are All Blacks Anthony Boric, Rudi Wulf, Graham Dowd, Liam Barry, Blair Larsen; cricketer and Rugby World Cup 2011 boss Martin Snedden as well as many others who have represented New Zealand in a wide range of sports. Craig Stanaway, who has been prominent on the television recently as lead reporter from the Football World Cup in South Africa is also a Rosmini old boy. The current Rosmini Board of Trustees is chaired by old boy Mike Taylor (GM, Westfarmers Safety) and includes other old boys, Dr John Mayhew, Andy Coupe, Shayne Doyle, in addition to well-known Shore identities, Bob Haddon, Tony Mullins, Sue Emmitt, Martin Allison and former All Black Gary Whetton.
“We are fortunate that we have some of the finest schools right here on the Shore, all with something special to offer,” adds Tom. “While there is Alison (Gernhoefer) at Westlake Girls and myself who have been around for a long time there is also some excellent young blood coming through when you look at the quality of Kath Deady at Carmel, David Ferguson at Westlake Boys, Vicki Barrie at Northcote College, Simon Lamb at Takapuna Grammar and Peter Clague at Kristin. We are blessed with some very fine schools who share healthy competition, which is good.”
“We are also very well served with the options open to our young people in terms of tertiary education on the Shore. With AUT, Massey etc., and others just over the bridge, we want for nothing. I believe that providing young boys with apprenticeships in the trades is important as well. We need to make sure there is just as much importance placed on this as academic opportunity. That’s why I was very keen for us to establish a strong technology facility at Rosmini, which we now have with the building of our new technology block around six years ago.”
While it is hard to get Principal Gerrard to look on the down side of anything, I asked him if there was anything he thinks we can do better as a community on the North Shore.
“I feel we are under catered for when it comes to community swimming pools and leisure centres. I have three daughters who live in Australia and when you compare the facilities they have with ours there is a gap. I swim most days at Glenfield, which is currently closed for renovation, and the only other option is Takapuna and that is already very busy. Having better leisure centres would provide great benefits for the community.”

Tom Gerrard has lived in Chatswood (Birkenhead) for many years and lists his interests as reading, philosophy, watching sport, particularly rugby. He joined a gym once but wasn’t allowed to wear the t-shirt!

To paint the full picture I quizzed him about a few of his favourite things to finish the interview:

Favourite Books - “I love reading Philosophy books, Plato/Machiavelli/Kant - I read a book every night. Dr John Mayhew drops me off a stack of books every fortnight to read. I am currently reading The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson.”
Favourite Movies - “I like to go to the Bridgeway. The last movie I really enjoyed was Secret in their Eyes”.
Favourite Food and local Restaurant’s - “Chinese, Indian, European, Irish - do I need to say anymore. I love it all! My favourite restaurants on the Shore are Aubergine in Takapuna and a little Vietnamese opposite Kristin School called Sapa.”
Favourite Drink - “Love a good Chardonnay in moderation!”
Favourite Holiday Destinations - “Perth and Melbourne in Australia where my daughters live. I also really enjoy Rome.”
Favourite Sports Team - “The All Blacks. I love watching all sports but particularly rugby and cricket.”

THE FACTS: There are 980 boys at Rosmini College spread from year seven (form one) through to year 13 (form seven). The school was established in 1961 with 125 pupils. When Tom Gerrard became Principal in 1976 he was the first lay Principal to be appointed to a New Zealand Catholic School. Rosmini is named after Antonio Rosmini, a young Italian priest (read about him on the school website: www.rosmini.school.nz)