“As Aotearoa’s national food movement we have many and varied stakeholders. Sarah’s ability to hold space for people from different backgrounds is exactly the type of leadership and facilitation that we all need for learning about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I would highly recommend her work.”
Angela Clifford, CEO, Eat New Zealand
“We are incredibly grateful for the expertise and dedication that Sarah brought to develop and build our school’s local curriculum, involving all stakeholders. Her energy is infectious, she wants schools to thrive and to be their very best. Sarah’s innovative approach and attention to detail have challenged and enhanced the way we want our tamariki to now experience their learning journey.
The impact of her work is evident in the positive feedback we received from the staff and the community. I would highly recommend Sarah’s services to any educational institution looking to elevate their curriculum development. She is an absolute treasure and has lots to offer in a variety of educational settings. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with Sarah again. I hope our paths meet again.”
Chris Els Principal, Pukerua Bay School
“E te hoa-whenua. Kua rongo koe i a matou. Kua rongo koe i a Koro Taranaki. Kua rongo koe i nga taiao. Thank you so much for your words, your understanding and your aroha. When our people at Parihaka sat for several years trying to work out how to ‘settle’ or reconcile with the crown and our pakeha neighbours, we wanted a relationship. A relationship built on reconciliation and justice so that in time and struggle together we can all heal. Our history is your history. Your history is ours. Your words give me so much hope that the world is finally healing and so in turn will the whenua. Please come visit us at Parihaka.”
Tuhi Ao Bailey, Tiamana, chairperson, of Parihaka Papakāinga Trust
“Sarah is fun, kind, knowledgeable and amazingly talented as a facilitator. She worked alongside our team to help us create an innovative, inclusive and rich local curriculum for our school. Sarah was able to facilitate thought provoking sessions to ensure our team was challenged and thought deeply about what our tamariki need to enhance their learning. She was able to adapt her approach to all our different stakeholders so they felt included, comfortable and able to share their thinking and aspirations. Sarah listened to our needs as a school, communicated clearly and is skilled at bringing everyone along together on the journey. I cannot recommend Sarah enough and cannot wait to work alongside her again in the future. “
Martin Hett, Principal, Raumati South School
“Having previously run the world’s largest international school, I am familiar with the work of a great many consultants: I regard Sarah as outstanding in her field. Sarah is entirely authentic and driven by a vision for education which is manifest in all she does.
My experiences of working with Sarah during the setup of Green School New Zealand left me in no doubt as to why she was in demand at national and international level. Sarah can soar to exciting conceptual heights and then swoop low to help an individual teacher get to grips with what that deep and challenging thinking might look like with learners. She offers design, development and delivery. She is unafraid of thinking radically when needs be, but also understands that solutions need to have buy-in and work on the ground.”
Chris Edwards, Establishing CEO, Green School New Zealand
“Sarah has a very inclusive approach. She is able to identify the skills and abilities of contributors to a project and bring the very best out of them. In this respect, her people management capabilities are outstanding… Sarah was able to understand Māori perspectives… She could see the vision and understood how this was important to the project. This is a rare skill. It is not common to find someone who is able to understand a different cultural viewpoint and realise its place in a kaupapa. I have no hesitation in recommending Sarah to any organisation interested in her services.”
Wairangi Jones, Te Arawa. Pou Matua, Tutira Mai Ltd.
“We wanted transformational change and we got it! Sarah very quickly absorbed and translated our organisation’s strategy, worked with key stakeholders, and created effective messaging which brought to life to our programme and the visitor’s experience. We simply would not have made the progress we did without Sarah’s guidance, knowledge and expertise.”
Gabby Lawton, Tourism, ZEALANDIA eco-sanctuary
“I have worked with Sarah on a range of public and private sector projects over the years and can say without hesitation she is an outstanding educational consultant who combines a sharp intellect with a pragmatic and principled approach. Sarah is adept at relationship and project management, innovative curriculum design, facilitation, culturally responsive pedagogies, and sustainability.”
Chris Sullivan, Springboard Trust.
“Clarity. Organisation. Curiosity. Creativity. This is what Sarah brought to our project. She has an impressive and comprehensive knowledge of pedagogy and curriculum writing. Her passion for sustainability in education is mirrored in her life and makes her a remarkable role model for others beginning their own journey in this field – either personally or as an educator. Sarah is fun, funny and deeply intelligent which earns her respect. She builds teams quickly and draws out the collective best of the people she works with.”
Leslie Medema, Head of Learning, Green School International.
“Just wanted to congratulate you on a fantastic job done on the Lisa Reihana Biennale resource. It’s phenomenal. I haven’t made my way through its entirety because there’s just so much depth, but undoubtedly it is a world-leading resource for arts education.”
Claire Chamberlain, President of the NZ Art History Teachers Association.
Sarah Alice Hopkinson 