A teacher who has guided young people on their education journeys for four decades is retiring on her terms at the end of the school year.
Carolyn Brinkman has faithfully taught at Tyndale Park Christian School on Murphys Road at Flat Bush for 40 years and knows it’s the right time to stop.
“The arrangement with my mother was always that she would let me know when it was all getting too much for me,” she told the Times recently, at the beginning of this year’s last term.
“But she passed away 11 years ago so I had to make the decision myself.
“I wanted to be a teacher for which this is a passion and not be worn out. I want to finish really well. That’s so important,’ Brinkman says.
“For most people it’s a job. For me, it’s a joy and has always been.
“I always say I’m going to school, not going to work, because I’ve never considered it work.
“That’s what it’s been the whole way through.
“You need to know when to stop. I’ve seen examples of people who have gone on too long, and others who wisely knew it was time.”
Tyndale Park Christian School, with a roll of around 150 students who mostly come from east and south Auckland, started in May 1981, and has new entrant year 1 students through to year 13s.
It’s nestled in a beautiful setting which was originally surrounded by small farms but now has housing all around as urban spread has evolved.
“It was chosen because the property next door was owned by the Guy family whose vision was to start a Christian school,” says Brinkman.
“They did the subdivision and this where they dreamed the school to be.
“It’s very much a Christian curriculum. It’s interdenominational. The staff have to have their own personal faith, but that’s not for the students.
“We’re here predominantly for Christian families to support them, but we also see it as a mission, so we do have children in our classrooms who do not come from Christian homes.
“We’re here to honour God. That should permeate every subject we teach. It doesn’t mean we hear just Bible verse, it’s more than that.
“The whole idea is we live our life with Christian values. It does make a difference in how you view things.”
Brinkman is a born and bred Aucklander who attended Mangere College.
As a young one, she attended Mill Road Primary, now called Mountain View Primary School at Mangere Bridge; then went to Manukau Intermediate, now Royal Oak Intermediate School; and first taught at the former Arahanga School in Mangere for a year.
“I find this interesting. My first school got renamed after I left, my second school got renamed years later, and the first school I taught at no longer exists. Does that mean something?” she says, laughing.
Brinkman trained at the former Epsom Teachers Training College in 1983-84.
“I never had any intention to teach at a Christian school. When I went to teachers’ college the idea was to be that light in a school that wasn’t a Christian school.
“I was never going to teach. I was never going to teach in a Christian school, and I was never going to teach at a secondary. God has got a sense of humour because I’m doing all those.”
She’s been teaching years 9-10 students for more than half of her time at Tyndale Park: “I really do love teaching this age group.”
And when it comes to teenagers leaving school: “They really need to know what they need to do next,” Brinkman says.
“It doesn’t mean every student who leaves here knows that. It is important. It’s not university for everyone.
“I often say to them when you’re at school it’s just a stepping stone to the rest of your life. It’s not the end. It’s the beginning.”
As life can be, there have been hard issues to face up to as well, Brinkman explains.
“There are definitely experiences you go through. One of our students passed away. He had leukaemia. That was a tough time, but also a good time because that drew us together.
“It really did rally us together as we had that in common. It was life changing for some of the students too. I’ll never forget that experience.
“This is a peaceful place, where you’re welcome as a family. Everybody cares about everyone else, that’s what it’s meant to be like.
“That’s part of why you come here. You feel like you belong.
“People often ask, what do you teach? I always say I teach students. That’s the privilege I’ve had. That’s why I’ve enjoyed it so much,” Brinkman says.
“I’ve often said the more I talk to the parents the better I’m at teaching their children.
“Because who knows them better, and who cares for them more? That’s where parents really make the difference.”
