Success Stories
St Stephen’s and Queen Victoria kura have seen several graduates go through their doors, each leaving with a set of values and skills that shape their character as SSQV graduates.
Read the stories of some of our alumni and alumnae below to find out how their time at SSQV kura helped mould them into who they are today.
Tama Potaka
Alumni – St Stephen’s | Tīpene
Dr George Foote. A scholar, physician, and proud TIPENE old-boy
Dr George Foote attended TIPENE in 1955 and was part of a cohort of about nine other non-Māori boys who started that year. His path to TIPENE was somewhat unconventional, and was largely inspired by a meeting with the then Principal Mr Joe “the boss” Lewis. Further, his parents’ confidence in the ability of Lewis to develop and support their son. George describes Mr Lewis as “an incredibly impressive individual” a man of great mana and who was both revered and respected by the boys.
While you might expect that being one of the few non-Māori boys at an all-Māori school would be challenging, George never felt out of place or isolated and in fact developed many close friendships during his time at the school. Including Brian Old, Hone Kaa, Mako Haronga, and Jim Nichols. Their head-boy in 1955 was the late Awi Riddell who George described as a fantastic leader and role-model.
As most of us could appreciate, the one aspect of TIPENE life which didn’t sit well with him was the food. Sometimes harvested from the school farm or even the local creek.
“..I remember going eeling with the other boys. These things were so large that it took two of us to pull them out. We’d drag them back to school, straight to the kitchen, and immediately on to the dinner menu !..”
George especially enjoyed studying te reo Māori while at TIPENE and even received top marks in this subject – much to the surprise of his lifelong friend and academic rival Hone Kaa. Kapa haka and taiaha training was also a favorite of his and he would sometimes be placed in the front row at various cultural performances. Something that would both entertain and often bemuse the audience. However, the gift of the Māori language and an appreciation of Māori culture were not the only enduring outcomes of the school. As George notes – “almost from day one, the name George Foote was gone and replaced by my new TIPENE name Hori Waewae. Even now my family call me Hori and our whanau trust is called the Te Waewae Trust !”
As a final point of reflection, George notes that while he only spent a single year at TIPENE: “my perspectives on life were more profoundly shaped by this school than any other”…”there is a huge need for this type of school and I am so excited about the future..”
This summary article was prepared by Professor Te Kani Kingi and is based on an interview with Dr George Foote at his home in Auckland on March 18 2024. Upon leaving school, Dr Foote attended Otago University Medical School where he eventually trained as a Radiologist. From 2025, the Te Waewae Trust will be supporting a scholarship for a boy to attend TIPENE. On behalf of the TIPENE community, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to “Hori” and his whanau for their incredible generosity.
Karleen Everitt
Alumnae – Queen Victoria | Kuini Wikitoria
She is proud to be the Deputy Chair of the St Stephen’s and Queen Victoria Schools Trust Board, elected in 2018.
Te Kani Kingi
Alumni – St Stephen’s | Tīpene
After spending much of his early academic career at Massey University in Wellington, he recently returned home to Whakatane in order to take up a role as Professor of Research at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. His specialist areas of expertise are mental health, psychometrics, longitudinal research, and public health. He has been an executive member of a number of national health and scientific boards and is the former Chair of the New Zealand Mental Health Commission.