Former Karāpiro School principal Tina-Maree Thatcher has swapped the classroom for the courtroom after completing a law degree last year.
Thatcher said she had worked in education for 21 years, including 15 years in school principal roles around the Waikato region.
Person/s of the year: Karāpiro principal Tina-Maree Thatcher, chair Marilynn Jones and the whole school celebrate. Photo: Roy Pilott.
She became interested in studying the law while undertaking a Master of Educational Leadership degree from the University of Waikato, which she finished in 2014.
“I had taken a paper, Educational Leadership for Social Justice, and it really interested me as a school leader,” she said.
Realising she had “a justice thread” running through her life, she began a Diploma in Law at the University of Waikato, hoping it would help her navigate the complexities of her principal’s role.
“And I did the first paper and I was hooked,” she said. “I absolutely loved it and was totally hooked and started to consider becoming a lawyer at that stage.”
Once she finished the two-year diploma, Covid struck and “put the entire degree online”.
“It suddenly became an option for me to go the whole way and so I did,” Thatcher said. “I handed back the diploma of law and I applied to do the full degree.”
Editor Roy Pilott with Karāpiro principal Tina-Maree Thatcher.
After eight years of part-time study, she completed her Bachelor of Laws degree last year and was admitted to High Court in Hamilton as a barrister and solicitor in March.
Her 31-year-old son Jadin Hooper, who was admitted to the Bar in 2018, was her moving counsel, which she said was “really special”.
Thatcher retired from her Karāpiro School principal job at the end of term one and is now volunteering as a caseworker at Community Law Waikato while job hunting for a graduate lawyer position.
She said work to create safe roads around Karāpiro School helped her to see the power of advocacy.
“And I think that’s what I’m looking for in my future in a legal career, is to be able to work alongside someone when they’re having their worst time and, whatever the matter is, to be really effective and to advocate for them and help them achieve their legal goals,” she said.
Thatcher was principal when Karāpiro School received Cambridge News’ Person of the Year award in December 2022 for its persistent advocacy, which resulted in Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency putting in place a temporary speed reduction, installing signage and embarking on a series of safety improvements.
Reflecting on her time at the school, she said she was probably most proud of working with staff and principal colleagues to meet the needs of the community and students during the Covid lockdown.
“When we said goodbye to our children and we locked down the school and the community locked down behind us, we actually didn’t know if we were going to see people again, you know, we didn’t know what was going to happen.
“We all worked really hard to pivot and take our learning online and we really looked after our children and our families, and I think we had a stunning example of the success that you can achieve when you work together and you’re focused on what’s best for the children.”
Thatcher lives in Cambridge with her partner Steve Dunsmore, principal of Horsham Downs School. She has three children – Jadin, a lawyer, Chloē, who manages an agritech company in Palmerston North, and Abby, a psychology student who currently lives in Brisbane.
Tina-Maree Thatcher with her son Jadin Hooper, who was moving counsel at her Hamilton High Court admission ceremony in March.
