Ben Witheford | Principal
Shotover Primary School

I am the principal of Shotover Primary School, a fantastic school in the stunning town of Queenstown, New Zealand. Shotover opened in 2015 and was a greenfield development.  Opening with 88 children, its current roll is approximately 600.  It has a reputation for providing a highly effective culture of learning using a combination of contemporary learning spaces, authentic learning design, and learning-focused professionals. With over 29 years in education and the last 20 as a principal, I have a keen interest in creating environments that enable professionals to do their best work, empowering them to cause learning for the children in their care. My work in recent years has concentrated on building effective teams, cultures of coaching, authentic curriculum design, and coherent, learning-focused cultures.  Organisational Cultures that know what they’re about and work hard each day to make that happen.