Sharleen Nathan
Waikato teachers are among 200 educators nationwide selected for a programme designed to grow confident, capable principals and strengthen school leadership for the future. Mary Anne Gill finds out more.
Sharleen Nathan is delivering the Ministry of Education’s Aspiring Leadership Programme for Waikato University. Photo: Supplied
For Sharleen Nathan, leading the Ministry of Education’s new Aspiring Principal Programme at Waikato University is both professional and deeply personal.
She knows the programme from the inside. More than a decade ago, Nathan was herself an aspiring principal, grappling with the same questions now facing this year’s cohort – am I ready, what does the role really involve, and what kind of leader do I want to be?
“That experience changed the way I saw myself as a leader,” she says.
“It gave me confidence and it made me think bigger.”
Now director at Waikato University’s Te Whai Toi Tangata: Institute of Professional Learning she is overseeing the national delivery of a programme designed to prepare the next generation of school principals for one of the most demanding leadership roles in the country.
Waikato is the right place to base the programme, she says, because of its long‑standing reputation for innovation, strong research foundations and deep, trusted relationships with schools across the country.
The university is known for combining academic rigour with practical impact, and for designing professional learning grounded in the real work of schools rather than theory removed from practice.
Just as important is her own credibility. Nathan brings more than 25 years’ experience across classrooms, senior school leadership, the Ministry of Education and governance roles. She has worked as a Student Achievement Practitioner and Waikato professional learning and development lead, supported schools through major NCEA changes, and understands how policy plays out on the ground.
“I’ve been an aspiring principal myself,” she says.
“I know what it feels like to test your readiness and start thinking bigger.”
Caroline Gill, formerly of Cambridge.
The programme starts in term two following investment in Budget 2025 and has attracted strong national interest.
All 200 places were filled, with 15 teachers from Waikato.
Caroline Gill, a former St Peter’s School, Cambridge teacher who was educated at St Peter’s Catholic School, is one of the 200. She is now deputy principal at John Paul College in Rotorua.
See: Growing future principals
Participants were chosen through a Ministry-led application and interview process and require the backing of their home schools.
Anna Welanyk
Deputy Secretary Education Workforce Anna Welanyk says the programme responds to the increasing complexity of the principal role.
“Principals need a wide range of skills, as well as the ability to connect with students, families and communities,” she says.
“This programme provides intensive learning and practice opportunities to help participants build confidence and capability before stepping into the role.”
The programme – funded at $12.8 million over seven years, with an initial three-year delivery period and formal review points built in – was awarded to Waikato University following a highly competitive procurement process.
Unlike traditional leadership courses, the programme is designed to sit alongside participants’ existing roles.
“This is not a full-time course,” says Nathan.
“Participants complete their leadership inquiry within the context of their own school, applying what they learn directly to their day today leadership practice.”
The curriculum aligns closely with the Beginner Principal Programme and is delivered through a mix of online modules, leadership inquiry and face-to-face learning. Each aspiring principal is supported through three key relationships: their home principal, a mentor principal from another school, and a programme facilitator who leads regional communities of practice.
Our responsibility is to make sure people don’t step into principalship under‑prepared
Mentoring is one of the programme’s defining features.
“Being supported by a current, practising principal gives participants access to lived experience and honest insight into the realities of the role. That kind of support is invaluable.”
The programme also offers a reality check. Research shows many principals leave the role within their first five years, often due to workload and burnout. “This gives people a chance to explore the full scope of the job – governance, finance, property, people leadership – and decide if and when they are ready,” Nathan says.
For school boards, the programme provides reassurance that candidates who complete it have been exposed to the full breadth of principalship.
“Our responsibility is to make sure people don’t step into principalship under‑prepared,” Nathan says. “This programme is about confidence, capability and support – not throwing people in at the deep end.”
Selection marks both recognition of their leadership potential and the beginning of a nationally supported pathway toward leading schools where students, staff and communities can thrive.
Strong leadership, prepared early, is the foundation of sustainable performance – in schools as in business. It is succession planning at scale: identifying talent early, investing deliberately, and preparing leaders before the role requires it.
Whangamatā Area School prinicpal Alistair Luke
Whangamatā Area School Principal Alistair Luke has put his name forward as a mentor, having been a graduate of the Aspiring Principal Programme in 2015.
“The role of a mentor is really to help participants understand the realities in the first instance but also open up a network of support if they do go on to become a principal,” says Luke.
“That network was one of the most valuable things for me in those first few years, when I was facing a constant stream of challenges I’d never seen before.”
The step up to principalship can be more complex than many expect.
“It’s one of those jobs where the experiences you have in preparation, as a classroom teacher or even a senior leader, don’t necessarily prepare you for the realities of principalship, especially in areas like finance and HR which you often don’t encounter until you’re in the role.”
He believes programmes for aspiring principals can help address this gap.
“A programme like this can play a real part in building that workforce desire back up again, while also helping people understand whether principalship is the right path for them before they step into the role.”
See: Growing future principals
Programme Director Sharleen Nathan
