The College is overseen by a board of governors who bear responsibility for protecting the vision of the school, overseeing health and safety, creating and updating policy, and making decisions about finances, employment, and curriculum. The day-to-day leadership responsibilities fall onto the educational leadership team, who manage all aspects of life and education at King’s College. These are the talented people turning the vision into a reality while making sure that our students are well and thriving.
Decision-makers at King's College
Education Leadership Team
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Simon Lamb
Head of King's College
BA, DipTchg, LTCL, SMMCertAs Head of King's College, Simon Lamb is responsible for maintaining and evolving the College's vision and direction and ensuring the educational, spiritual, cultural and financial wellbeing of the institution. -
Geoff Smith
Deputy Head, Academic
BE, DipTchgThe Deputy Head - Academic is responsible for ensuring that personalised programme design, as well as future staff and student attainment is measured, informed, reported and rewarded through data analysis and data synthesis. -
Kelly Bigwood
Deputy Head, Pedagogy
MProfSt Education, BCom, DipTchgThe Deputy Head - Pedagogy is responsible for ensuring that current and future staff are professionally and personally supported and developed to assist them in receiving the best possible learning experience in the best possible learning environment. -
Rob Griffiths
Deputy Head, Operations
MA (Hons), GradDipTchg (Sec), PGDipEdLdThe Deputy Head is responsible for the daily operations and student welfare programmes of the College. The Deputy Head is expected to ensure that the College provides the best possible staff and student welfare programmes and environment through the promotion of health, wellbeing, resilience, and academic care. -
Aaron Farr
Deputy Head, Pastoral
Board of Governors
The King’s College Board of Governors looks after the governance of the College. The Board is headed by Chair Shan Wilson.
Together, the members bring a wealth of experience from a range of industries: education, leadership, finance, business, legal, human resources, marketing, farming, commercial real estate, not-for-profit, and theology.
Headmaster Simon Lamb attends Board meetings along with Board Secretary Johnina Salmon.
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Shan Wilson
Chair – Partner, Simpson Grierson
BA/LLB (Hons)Shan Wilson is the pro bono practice Partner for law firm, Simpson Grierson. Before taking up that role she was a Partner specialising in employment and education law within Simpson Grierson. Previously, she worked at Allen & Overy in London.
Shan has been an advisor on employment and education law issues to a number of schools in both the state school and independent school sectors. She has also worked with the Independent Schools of NZ Association (ISNZ) on occasion, presenting seminars and advising on legal matters and policies for ISNZ. Shan has a Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Law (Hons) from the University of Auckland.
Shan Wilson is an Old Collegian (Middlemore, 1987) and with her husband Gavin Scott, has had two sons attend King’s College; Eddie (Greenbank, 2017-21) and Patrick (Greenbank / St John’s, 2020-24). -
Hugh Cotterill
Deputy Chair – Director at Direct Capital
MBA, BComHugh Cotterill has over 25 years’ experience in the New Zealand financial markets, and currently works at private investment company Direct Capital overseeing new investment opportunities. He was previously a Partner at Cameron Partners Investment Bank and worked in the global markets team at Bankers Trust and Deutsche Bank. He is a co-founder of 3 Wisemen and is on the board of the Waitangi National Trust. Hugh has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury and an MBA from Cambridge University.
He and his wife Olivia Haddon (Middlemore, 1993) have three children who have attended King’s College; Mataia (Parnell 2018-22), Kahu (School 2020-24) and Isla (Taylor, 2025-). -
The Right Reverend Ross Bay
Bishop of Auckland
BTh, PGDipTheolBishop Ross was ordained and installed as Bishop of Auckland on 17 April 2010. Ross was raised in Auckland and grew up attending local schools in Papatoetoe. He worked for the Bank of New Zealand until beginning study and training for ordination. The Anglican Church has been his spiritual home since his teenage years, and most of his ministry has been in the Auckland Diocese. He was Vicar of the parishes of Ellerslie and St Mark’s Remuera, before becoming Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral.
He holds a Bachelor of Theology from the Australian College of Theology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Pastoral Theology from London University. Ross is married to Jacquie, who is Director of the Liggins Education Network for Science at The University of Auckland. Prior to that she was Head of the Science Department at Diocesan School for Girls.
For relaxation Ross plays squash and is an occasional tramper. -
John Coop
Managing Director, Warren and Mahoney
BArch (Hons) FNZIA Reg Arch PDINZJohn Coop is Group Managing Director of Warren and Mahoney. He brings with him his experience as an Architect along with his creative and analytical thinking skills, and governance experience. John is a current board director of Eke Panuku Auckland, a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), and a former Chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Board.
John grew up in rural Canterbury, attending Christ's College between 1985 and 1989. He and his wife Catherine have had three sons attend King’s College; Walter (Peart, 2018-22) and current students Ted (Peart) and Sam (Peart). -
Roween Higgie
Associate Director and Educational Consultant, The Education Group Ltd
MEdMgmt (Hons), Dip Tchr Ed, Dip Tchg, TTCertRoween Higgie has a strong background in teaching and school leadership and has been a Director of The Education Group since 2009. Prior to that, she was the Principal at Remuera and Bayfield Primary Schools.
As a recent leader, she has experience and expertise in all areas of school governance, leadership and management and works in a wide range of capacities in education throughout New Zealand. She is also an accredited educational coach. She was awarded the ASB/APPA Travelling Fellowship and during this time focused on teacher professional learning and development, and as an extension of this attended a course at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Roween is married to Gavin and has three adult children, two of whom attended King’s College; Nathan (Averill, 1999-2000) and Michaela (Middlemore, 2001). -
Jonty Kelt
Founder of Fantail Ventures
BA and BComJonty Kelt is the Founder of Fantail Ventures, a venture capital business investing in early-stage technology companies. He serves in a number of commercial governance roles, as well as Chair of the New Zealand Dementia Prevention Trust. Previously, he worked in executive roles for Palantir, Google and DoubleClick, and co-founded internet technology companies in the UK and USA. Early in his career, he helped establish Macquarie Bank in New Zealand. Jonty has a BA and BCom from Otago University, is a graduate of Stanford University Law School’s Directors’ College and holds a Certificate in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, London.
Jonty is an Old Collegian (School, 1985-89) and was Senior Sacristan in his final year. He and his wife Mary Helen have two children, with their son Jack (School, 2024-) currently attending King’s College. -
John McKay
CEO, Mainland Poultry
MBA, BComJohn McKay is an experienced business executive having worked in an array of roles in New Zealand and internationally. John is currently the CEO of Mainland Poultry, New Zealand's largest egg producer. He is also an active investor in New Zealand dairy farming and chairman of Waitonui Holdings Ltd, a company with three dairy farms in North Otago. John has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury and an MBA from the London Business School. He is a rugby enthusiast, coaching College Rifles Junior and Touch Rugby.
John is an Old Collegian (Parnell, 1983-87) and was Head Prefect in his final year. He and his wife Krista have three sons, all of whom have attended King’s College, Jack (Greenbank 2018-22), Charlie (Greenbank, 2018-22) and Sam (Greenbank, 2020-24). -
The Very Reverend Anne Mills
Dean of Auckland
Dip.Tchg; B.Ed.; B.Theol.; M.Theol. (Hons)Anne was Installed as the Tenth Dean of Auckland on 6 July 2017.
Anne was born in Papua New Guinea where her father was involved in education. She and her family returned to New Zealand when independence was declared. They moved to Katikati where she completed her schooling.
After gaining her Bachelor of Education and Diploma of Teaching from the University of Waikato, Anne worked as a primary school teacher, including roles in senior management.
After a spell as Lecturer at the School of Education at the University of Waikato, Anne gained her B. Theol and M.Theol (Hons) from the University of Auckland. She was Priested in 2002, and worked in the parishes of Saint Mark’s, Remuera, Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Hamilton, and as Co-Vicar of Chartwell Cooperating Parish, Hamilton before returning to Saint Mark’s as Vicar. Anne has held several Diocesan positions, including being Archdeacon of Waikato. She has been on the Board of Trustees of Waikato Diocesan School for Girls, and is Chair of their Proprietors Board. She also Chairs the Council for Ecumenism and is on the Executive of the National Dialogue for Christian Unity. She has served two terms on General Synod.
Anne enjoys cooking and gardening, spending time with family and friends and walking her Shetland Sheep dog. Anne is married to Chris who is a teacher at Dilworth School, and together they have two teenage daughters. -
Stacey Morrison
Broadcaster and Author
Stacey Morrison (Te Arawa/Ngāi Tahu) brings with her a huge amount of knowledge and experience in media and communications, governance experience in both education (having been a member and Chair of Pasadena Board of Trustees) and the not-for-profit sector (as a Trustee of the Spark Foundation). Very importantly Stacey has a depth of wisdom and cultural advice which will support and enhance the education experience for our Māori students and whānau. Stacey is a leading voice in Aotearoa for learning and using te reo Māori. She is a published author of several books and works as an ambassador for several New Zealand charities.
Stacey and her husband Scotty have three children, including son Hawaiki (Parnell, 2020-24), who attended King’s College. -
Fiona Roydhouse
Corporate Tax Director at Ernst & Young (EY)
BCom/LLBFiona Roydhouse is a corporate tax director at Ernst & Young (EY) in Auckland. She has over 12 years of tax experience working in professional service firms, having worked at KPMG in New Zealand before joining EY and also spent several years working in London where she also obtained her Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) qualification. Prior to joining the Board, Fiona was Treasurer of the Kings College Old Collegians Association (KCOCA). Fiona has a Bachelor of Commerce and Law from Auckland University.
Fiona (nee Sullivan) is an Old Collegian (Middlemore, 2004-05) and is married to another Old Collegian, Tom Roydhouse (Marsden 1999-2003). She has two young daughters, who were both baptised in the King's College Lady Chapel. -
Tristram van der Meijden
Director at Westend Consulting
Tristram van der Maijden has held various roles over the past 25 years primarily in the Financial and Accounting disciplines of business and his areas of expertise are Retirement, Financial, Management, Property and Public Markets. He is a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand and The Institute of Directors.
Currently he is focused on applying his 25 plus years of learning to various Directorships, Consulting to various private businesses and managing his own business interests. His experiences at retirement village operator Metlifecare between 2011 and 2017 provide expertise in the sector which is being applied to several directorships and advisory roles. Current Directorships include Retirement Australia, Cuesko Limited, Sudserella Laundry & Drycleaning and Black & White Trustee Services.
Tristram and his wife Nicola have two daughters who have attended King’s College; Sophie (Marion Bruce, 2022-24) and Abi (Marion Bruce, 2025-). -
Simon Lamb
Head of King's College
BA, DipTchg, LTCL, SMMCertSimon drives our vision and direction to safeguard our educational, spiritual, cultural and financial well-being, and ensuring our top performance.
As previous principal of Takapuna Grammar School, he brings much experience in leading high decile traditional schools.
Simon holds a Bachelor of Arts with Mathematics and English to Stage III, a Secondary Teaching Diploma and an LTCL for Trumpet.
His passion for King’s College is palpable as he furthers our great reputation for delivering a traditional education while preparing our students for a dynamic future.