Mike Wilson  - Chairman - I am married to Susan, we   have  three children, two of whom are still at University,   one has  completed and is in the work force. Susan and I   are arable  farmers 10Km out of Methven. I am currently  a member of  the Mt  Hutt College/Lauriston School  combined  Board, having just stepped down as  Chairperson after 8 years. I  previously chaired the Methven Primary School Board and have been a Trustee since 1990. I have been actively involved in CSTA since 1994 and helped drive the need for a body to support and advocate for trusteeship. Yes, we have stepped aside from NZSTA as we disagreed with their philosophy and lack of action and we have made some subtle differences to Trusteeship since the formation of CanSTA. It is my aim to reinforce this support for Trustees which will be based around our Strategic Goals:
  1.Be recognised as the pre-eminent local representational body for                    Canterbury school trustees.
  2.Actively and effectively represent the interests of Canterbury boards of          trustees.
  3.Focus on servicing members by providing support, information and                training that makes boards more effective in their role.
  4.Manage CanSTA’s resources effectively and efficiently.
As a group we are concerned at the lack of trustee involvement in major issues such as School Bus Transport, the inadequacy of the Operations Grant and the recent passing shot from the PPTA about reviewing Tomorrow’s Schools with a view to exclude trustees.

 Christine Nijadam - Christine has been a member of  various Boards of Trustees since 1989 at Primary,  Intermediate and Secondary schools. She is currently  Chairperson at Wainoni Primary School and Deputy  Chairperson at Cashmere High School. Her experience  includes STA representation on various MoE and other  education sector advisory committees and membership of the NZSTA National Council. Current membership includes: the Regional Network Forum (MoE), the local School Support Committee (MoE) and the Canterbury Education Forum. Christine is passionate about equitable access to quality education for all our children.

 Stuart Browning -  I manage a 387 hectare dairy support  farm at Blue Cliffs south-east of Timaru. I am married  with three daughters. I served 5 years on Board at Morven  School near Waimate and was elected to the Board of  Timaru Girls' High School late 2008. I have been heavily  involved with School Transport issues for more than 3  years. At a board level I believe that the task of being a trustee should be straight forward, using common sense to differentiate between governance and management. 

 Rab McDowell - I have now served seven years on the  Board of Ashburton College. I was also chair of the  Mayfield School BoT for nine years. During my time as a  trustee I have served as chair of CanSTA, been a trustee  trainer and represented trustees on a number of forums. I  am currently chair of the Mid Canterbury School Transport  Trust which has been established to operate Direct Resourced busses over thirty three routes for fifteen Mid Canterbury schools.
I am a farmer, married to Maggie, and have two daughters. Our younger daughter is attending Ashburton College.

 Kevin McDonald -
     Kia ora kotou
     Ko Taupiri toku Maunga
     Ko Waikato toku awa
     Ko Tai-nui toku waka
     Ko Tai-nui toku iwi
     Ngati Haua toku hapu
                                Ko Rukumoana te marae
                                Ko Kevin McDonald toku ingoa.

Kia ora my 4 kids were fortunate to have the benefit of a bi-lingual primary education. I joined the B.O.T. at Shirley Intermediate 5 years ago when a bi-lingual unit was being set up to follow on from primary school. I realized the importance of governance for impetus and support of the system.
I believe a board position is a great opportunity. I would encourage any interested parent to consider serving.
A good relationship with the principal and a forward thinking board can achieve wonders.  

 Tim Anderson -  I have been a parent representative on  the  Linwood College Board of Trustees for four years and  have  served as chair for the past three. I am also a  proprietor  of an integrated Anglican school, St Mark’s,  Opawa. As  chair I have had experience with the full range  of issues  that faces boards. My particular interests lie in  the challenges associated with property and finance and catering to the needs of students who are under-achieving. As chair of Linwood College I am excited to be part of the Linwood Cluster where the boards of the college, the intermediate and three contributing schools are beginning to work in collaboration on common issues that we see as relevant to our community. I understand that this is an uncommon arrangement and hope that we can prove it to be a worthwhile model that might be emulated by other boards.