Issue 87 December 2008

Maungaturoto Matters

Mrs Perry Retires from Otamatea High School

Page 41

Never Mind Mother Goose

In 1965 the young Miss Elizabeth Bell, now Mrs Elizabeth Perry, faced her first class, at a girls’ secondary school in Derby, England. On 12 December this year, more than 18,500 km across the world, she retires from her position of Assistant Principal at Otamatea High School in Maungaturoto, where she has taught for the past nine years.

At the opening night of Otamatea Repertory Theatre's latest pantomime, 'Never Mind, Mother Goose' a thief stole the much-coveted raffle prize.

Mrs Perry has mixed feelings approaching the end of her teaching career, “I’ve loved teaching and I’ll miss the excitement and the challenges of the classroom, but I won’t miss having to do all the late night marking, report writing and documentation that we have to do … but I also want to build a new life for myself … and I’m quite excited about that … but I will go with regrets and I will miss the students and my colleagues very, very much indeed,” she said.

But even the actions of the thief couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the cast and crew.

In 1974, Mrs Perry successfully applied for a oneyear exchange position with a New Zealand teacher that brought her to Grants Braes Primary School in Dunedin. She enjoyed the experience and decided to come back again, shortly after returning to England – as required at the end of the exchange.

The stellar cast is headed by the inimitable dame, Mother Goose, played by the very talented Nathan Roberts, who had the audience in hysterics with his sparkling performance. His mother, Coralie Roberts, makes a wonderful solo debut for ORT as the Christmas Angel of Hope. The show features two other members of the Roberts family - Rachel who is in the chorus and Bruce who is helping in the backstage crew.

Back in New Zealand Mrs Perry was promoted to higher positions, including Head of English at Northern Southland College and Assistant Principal at Dannevirke High, before being invited to take up an appointment as lecturer in Communications Studies, at Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT). After her stint at MIT, Mrs Perry decided to return to secondary teaching and gained her present appointment to Otamatea High School, where she has relished the opportunity to develop NCEA drama in addition to teaching English and working as a member of the senior management team. Never one to rest on her laurels, Mrs Perry has continued to improve her professional qualifications throughout her teaching career, completing a Higher Diploma of Teaching, a Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults and a Master’s Degree in Education with First Class Honours, since coming to New Zealand. Outside the classroom, Mrs Perry has welcomed opportunities to become involved in amateur and professional drama. In New Zealand she has written scripts for the television children’s series “Play School”, acted in and directed productions in professional and amateur theatre, and directed more than 25 school productions including “Feathers to Fly”, a play she wrote herself, based on a Dannevirke Maori legend. More recently, Mrs Perry accepted an invitation to join the Rotary Club of Maungaturoto and Districts. Mrs Perry will be remembered by many students in England and New Zealand as a teacher who insisted on high standards but was also kind and understanding.

It only took a minute but that was all the opportunist needed to run off with the huge basket of goods, many of which were donated by members.

'Never Mind, Mother Goose', written and directed by Helen Morton-Jones, is pure entertainment from start to finish. The show features a chorus of cute children, talented teens and dependable doyens, working as a team to create a memorable tale of good triumphing over evil.

Suzanne Lappin gives a stunning performance as the hapless goose, in a role which is entirely mimed. ORT stalwarts, Maura and Peter Flower play the villains Madame Chlorophyll and Sir Sly, delighting in their malevolence and evoking many boos and hisses from the appreciative audience. They are aided and abetted by their fiendish side-kicks, Vomit and Grommet, ably portrayed, by new-comers Danielle Jamieson and Ngaio Heron-Fraser, respectively. Mother Goose's children, Andy and Mandy, (Paige Carter and Myra Van Den Bergen) and their friends, Neeva and Sophia (Chris Dent and Jesse Lovie) were convincing in their roles as the heroes and heroines of the piece. Watch out for some stunning choreography in the sewer scheme, and some toe-tapping sequences by the chorus. The black-light scene, as with every ORT pantomime, is a highlight. The show also featured wonderful costuming and makeup, with creative lighting effects and some great cameo performances throughout.

From the team at ORT

Page 42

Maungaturoto Matters

Maungaturoto Matters

Page 43

Maungaturoto Welcomes Vipin and Mina Patel new owners of the Maungaturoto Four Square Story from the Kaipara Lifestyler Vipin and Mina Patel are the proud new owners of Maungaturoto’s Four Square and they are keen to give their customers the best possible service. Vipin has already extended the hours for shoppers who will now find the supermarket open from 7.30am Monday to Friday and from 8.00am on Saturdays and 9.00am on Sundays. Closing time all week is 6.30pm. But he’s not stopping there. "If people need something that we don’t have in stock," he says, "they only need to tell us and we will do our best to get it in for them. I will also be extending product lines and manager’s specials." Family is very important to Vipin and Mina who have moved to Maungaturoto so that they will be closer to their daughter who lives in Auckland. For the last eight years they have run the Four Square in Kaeo. However when the chance came up to move south they jumped at it. Vipin enjoyed his time in Kaeo. "We had a great relationship with our customers up there and I hope we can do the same thing here," he says. "At the end of the day if my customers are happy then so am I." Vipin also said that he was very impressed with the staff and will be retaining them.

Page 44

Maungaturoto Matters

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year To a great community THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT FROM ALL OF US HERE AT THE MAUNGIE MATTERS NOTES

Wishing you all Merry Christmas From the team At Ray White Bogue Real Estate Ltd MREINZ Phone 09 431 8820