English

Claire Hall

Glasgow House Dean 
HOD Learning Support
Art History and English Teacher

BA, DipTchg
Phone: 04 388 0850 ext 601
Email: hallc@scotscollege.school.nz

Claire was educated at New Plymouth Girls’ High School and Canterbury University. Her Bachelor of Arts is in Art History, English and History.

She has been at Scots since 2010 and is Dean of Glasgow House and Learning Area co-ordinator of the Arts. She teaches Art History and English. Previously Claire was Director of Leadership and wrote the College’s Leadership and Learning for Life courses. She also established the Launching Leaders Conference and managed the first three of these events. Claire was the producer of The Jungle Book, Aladdin and Fame and is looking forward to this year’s production, You’re History. Previously Claire taught for twenty two years at New Plymouth Girls’ High School where she was Dean of Years 9 and 13, Head of Health and the director of three National title winning Stage Challenges. She won the National Excellence in Teaching award in 1998. Claire loves teaching and the Scots College emphasis on ‘Building the all-round man’.

Claire has two adult daughters. She loves food and wine, reading and the arts.

Sarah Brown

LAC English
HOD Senior English

BA, LTCL, Dip Tchg
Phone: 04 388 0850 ext 873
Email: browns@scotscollege.school.nz

Sarah Brown was appointed Head of English at Scots College in 2001. Since then the department has grown considerably and she is now LAC English. She predominantly teaches NCEA and IB English in the senior school but also enjoys teaching Middle School students.

Sarah has taught in several state and independent schools both here and in the United Kingdom. A highlight for her was a year long exchange to Cheltenham College in England in 2007.

She enjoys being part of a vibrant community and is a loyal supporter of Fergusson House. Currently she has a Year 11 tutor group.

Sarah enjoys being involved in the extracurricular life of the college. Throughout her time at Scots she has coached hockey, basketball and debating and has directed school productions.

Outside school Sarah enjoys walking the dog, reading a good book and spending time with her family.

Ian Leslie

TIC Film and SCTV
Teacher of Drama and English
Pipe Band Manager

B.A. (Theatre; Otago), NZ Dip. Tech. Prod. (Toi Whakaari), P.G Dip Tchg (Secondary, Otago)
Tel: 04 388 0850 ext 507
Email: lesliei@scotscollege.school.nz

Ian Leslie has been employed at Scots College since the middle of 2012. Prior to teaching at Scots, Ian taught at South Otago High School in Balclutha where he was TIC Drama. Ian was appointed to his position as Pipe Band Manager shortly after arriving at Scots. Since then, Ian has developed and instigated two new subjects to the school: IB Film and Scots TV.

Ian also has a very clear passion for the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work involved in productions. Ian has developed and mentored a core of Scots students with a similar enthusiasm, who have become integral in the shows produced by the College. He currently teaches a mix of Drama, English and Film.

Ian is a graduate of Otago University, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies and English. He then went on to attend Toi Whakaari: The New Zealand Drama School, completing a Diploma in Technical Production, with a focus on lighting. After travelling throughout Europe and the United Kingdom, Ian returned to Otago University to train as a Secondary School teacher. He completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching, and began his teaching career.

As the Film teacher, Ian enjoys a good movie. He has also been known to enjoy a bad one as well. Ian is passionate about learning, and is very keen to continue to develop his own understanding.

Will Struthers

Deputy Principal Middle School (Operations & Pastoral)
Teacher of English 

Bachelor of Arts, DipGrad Otago, QTS Sussex, Dip Tchg BTI 
Phone: 04 388 0850 ext 657
Email: struthersw@scotscollege.school.nz

Since arriving at Scots at the beginning of 2010, Will has held numerous positions of responsibility including Head of English for the Middle School, IB Assistant and Boarding House Assistant. At the start of 2016 he was appointed to the role of Deputy Principal for the Middle School. 

Originally from Timaru, Will completed his studies at Otago University before heading overseas at the end of 1999 to travel through South America and take up his first teaching role at The American University in Asuncion, Paraguay.  He held a similar ESOL teaching role in London, before moving to Brighton to complete his secondary teaching qualification at the University of Sussex.  Having spent four years teaching in Sussex, in 2005 Will took up an English teaching position at Merchant Taylors’ School in Middlesex where he also held the position of Assistant Head of Sixth Form until the end of 2009.

Will is passionate about developing purpose driven students who strive to make a positive difference in the world. He recognises the importance of fostering the strengths of each student in his care and helping them develop their ‘all-round character’. He takes an active role in all aspects of college life, is teacher in charge of tennis, Year 7&8 1st XV rugby coach and chair of the co-curricular committee. When not at work, Will enjoys spending time with his family, playing tennis, attempting to surf, reading good books and sampling the occasional craft beer.

David Berry

Fergusson House Dean
Teacher of English
Middle School, Senior School

BEd (Sec)
Telephone: +64 4 388 0850 ext 706
Email: berryda@scotscollege.school.nz

David joined Scots College in 2020 as an experienced English literature teacher. He has a strong background working with the IB Diploma as a result of teaching internationally in Lima, Peru. He has previously held the positions of Head of House and IB Extended Coordinator, both of which will assist him in his current roles as Assistant IB Diploma Coordinator and Glasgow Year 9 Tutor.

He has a particular interest in developing the IB Core and Extended Essay and is a strong supporter of the international values that underpin IB. David enjoys teaching about the power of language to shape our perception of the world, with a strong focus on social justice and gender equality. He believes that education should prepare students not only to excel but give them the confidence and skills to foster positive change within the world.

Outside of the classroom, David enjoys tramping, camping, swimming, reading and cooking.

Hazel Redpath

HoD MS English
Teacher of English and Drama
Middle School, Senior School

MA(Hons) English Language and Literature, Edinburgh University
PGCSE (Secondary) English and Drama
Phone: 04 388 0850
redpathh@scotscollege.school.nz

Hazel has been teaching – first in Scotland and then in New Zealand – since 1993, and joined Scots College at the end of 2020. She loves all aspects of literature and language and enjoys being involved in co-curricular debating, Shakespeare performance and creative writing.

She is proud to be a member of the facilitation team for the LEV Institute (Leadership: Evolving Vision) at Harvard Graduate School of Education), and she also co-led the facilitation team for HGCE’s first outreach programme – Leading Schools – that took place at the University of Sydney in January 2020.

In her spare time, she enjoys cinema, collecting sea glass, and looking for dolphins and whales in the Wellington bays.