Testimonials from Clients
Comments from John Ruge, Board of Trustees Chair, Avonhead School, Christchurch, February 2021, following the successful appointment of a new Principal
"Choosing a new principal to lead our school was a hugely important and challenging task for our Board. BlackCat provided us with timely advice and support for every step of the process, allowing us to concentrate on the important decisions rather than the administration and paperwork. Most significantly, their extensive network meant that we had a large and diverse candidate pool to review. We are delighted with the outcome, and can confidently endorse BlackCat for the expertise they gave us throughout this recruitment."
"Choosing a new principal to lead our school was a hugely important and challenging task for our Board. BlackCat provided us with timely advice and support for every step of the process, allowing us to concentrate on the important decisions rather than the administration and paperwork. Most significantly, their extensive network meant that we had a large and diverse candidate pool to review. We are delighted with the outcome, and can confidently endorse BlackCat for the expertise they gave us throughout this recruitment."
Comments from Roz Mexted, Limited Statutory Manager, St Joseph's School, Hawera, following the successful appointment of a new Principal, November 2020
"Blackcat Education effectively removes the anxiety from the recruitment process for School Boards. I’ve observed Blackcat over many years from multiple perspectives – as a candidate, a referee multiple times, recommending potential Principals and, more latterly, as an LSM with the statutory powers of governance and employment.
Blackcat Education’s leadership of the recruitment process is exemplary, from understanding their clients’ needs; to developing selection criteria reflecting stakeholder aspirations, to marketing, recruitment advertising and rigorous reference checking. Blackcat seamlessly leads the process through shortlisting, interview day schedules and caring for candidates on the big day.
Blackcat Education recently assisted the Board of St Joseph’s School, Hawera to identify and attract an outstanding Catholic Principal, commencing 2021. I highly recommend Blackcat to any School Board undertaking the extremely important task of Principal recruitment."
"Blackcat Education effectively removes the anxiety from the recruitment process for School Boards. I’ve observed Blackcat over many years from multiple perspectives – as a candidate, a referee multiple times, recommending potential Principals and, more latterly, as an LSM with the statutory powers of governance and employment.
Blackcat Education’s leadership of the recruitment process is exemplary, from understanding their clients’ needs; to developing selection criteria reflecting stakeholder aspirations, to marketing, recruitment advertising and rigorous reference checking. Blackcat seamlessly leads the process through shortlisting, interview day schedules and caring for candidates on the big day.
Blackcat Education recently assisted the Board of St Joseph’s School, Hawera to identify and attract an outstanding Catholic Principal, commencing 2021. I highly recommend Blackcat to any School Board undertaking the extremely important task of Principal recruitment."
Comments from Board Chair, Kelly Te Moananui Judd, Miller Avenue School following the successful appointment of a new Principal, May 2020
"Finding a new Principal for any Board is one of the most exciting and significant projects you could undertake. As professionals that place Principals as their core business, Blackcat Education delivered as promised. They provided superb support, guidance and expert advice throughout the process. This gave our Board confidence in our decision making every step of the way. We were very happy with the service provided by the entire Blackcat team. It was money well spent."
"Finding a new Principal for any Board is one of the most exciting and significant projects you could undertake. As professionals that place Principals as their core business, Blackcat Education delivered as promised. They provided superb support, guidance and expert advice throughout the process. This gave our Board confidence in our decision making every step of the way. We were very happy with the service provided by the entire Blackcat team. It was money well spent."
Comments from Principal, Jane Stanley, Principal, Westlake Girls’ High School following the successful appointment of a new HOD PE and Health, May 2020
"We engaged BlackCat to assist us in recruiting for a significant leadership position at our school.
BlackCat listened to our requirements and sent two outstanding candidates who matched our brief perfectly. BlackCat recruiters were easy to work with and professional in their dealings with us. Having two strong candidates reduced our recruitment time and allowed us to quickly fill the position – although deciding between the two applicants was not an easy task!
We’re grateful to BlackCat doing the hard work for us and we are delighted with the result."
"We engaged BlackCat to assist us in recruiting for a significant leadership position at our school.
BlackCat listened to our requirements and sent two outstanding candidates who matched our brief perfectly. BlackCat recruiters were easy to work with and professional in their dealings with us. Having two strong candidates reduced our recruitment time and allowed us to quickly fill the position – although deciding between the two applicants was not an easy task!
We’re grateful to BlackCat doing the hard work for us and we are delighted with the result."
Comments from Board Chair, Dennis Christian, Nelson College following the successful appointment of a new Headmaster, March 2020
“The Board of Nelson College chose Blackcat Education to assist in the search for a new Headmaster. We sought expressions of interest from a number of recruiters and selected Blackcat as they clearly demonstrated that they understood the unique character of the College and its long history. Blackcat had access to some excellent ex Principals as consultants who knew the College. The Board was guided through the process from assistance with communication with stakeholders, consultation with staff and other parties, through to the advertising and trawling their extensive pool of potential candidates. We were very pleased with the calibre of applicants and the guidance along the journey. I am very happy to recommend them to any school.”
“The Board of Nelson College chose Blackcat Education to assist in the search for a new Headmaster. We sought expressions of interest from a number of recruiters and selected Blackcat as they clearly demonstrated that they understood the unique character of the College and its long history. Blackcat had access to some excellent ex Principals as consultants who knew the College. The Board was guided through the process from assistance with communication with stakeholders, consultation with staff and other parties, through to the advertising and trawling their extensive pool of potential candidates. We were very pleased with the calibre of applicants and the guidance along the journey. I am very happy to recommend them to any school.”
Comments from Board Chair, Ray Headifen, Wilson School Board Member, following the successful appointment of a new Principal, March 2020
" Key questions when you have engaged a consultant are:
would you use them again?
would you recommend them to another person without hesitation?
In the case of Blackcat it is a definitive yes to both questions. In fact we have just used them again to appoint a new Principal. Andrew and his team were excellent - they made the process easy (a minefield for the uninitiated) and were totally professional in their approach. We are excited about the new Principal appointment. Thank you Andrew and team".
" Key questions when you have engaged a consultant are:
would you use them again?
would you recommend them to another person without hesitation?
In the case of Blackcat it is a definitive yes to both questions. In fact we have just used them again to appoint a new Principal. Andrew and his team were excellent - they made the process easy (a minefield for the uninitiated) and were totally professional in their approach. We are excited about the new Principal appointment. Thank you Andrew and team".
Comments from Board Chair, Chris O’Connor, James Hargest College following the successful appointment of a new Principal November 2019
“As a Board we believed that the recruitment of our new principal would be a daunting process to undertake by ourselves so we were pleased to be able to engage the professional services offered by BlackCat Education.
They undertook much of the “heavy lifting” in the process which enabled us to concentrate on the most important aspects of selecting a successful candidate. BlackCat had access to a wide range of candidates, expert educational consultants to assist us and were thoroughly professional.
Our Board would only ever undertake this highly important task once, so it made perfect sense to get professional assistance from BlackCat, who have been through this process many times.
I would have no hesitation in recommending BlackCat Education for any school looking for assistance to make a high level school appointment."
“As a Board we believed that the recruitment of our new principal would be a daunting process to undertake by ourselves so we were pleased to be able to engage the professional services offered by BlackCat Education.
They undertook much of the “heavy lifting” in the process which enabled us to concentrate on the most important aspects of selecting a successful candidate. BlackCat had access to a wide range of candidates, expert educational consultants to assist us and were thoroughly professional.
Our Board would only ever undertake this highly important task once, so it made perfect sense to get professional assistance from BlackCat, who have been through this process many times.
I would have no hesitation in recommending BlackCat Education for any school looking for assistance to make a high level school appointment."
Teresa Edwards, Catholic Education Office Manager – St John’s College, Hastings following the successful appointment of a new Principal November 2019
"The Board chose to work with BlackCat Education, a recruitment agency based in Havelock North with myself as an advisor. The process was seamless and BlackCat Education staff were excellent to work with. They were understanding and flexible about our special Catholic Character requirements."
"The Board chose to work with BlackCat Education, a recruitment agency based in Havelock North with myself as an advisor. The process was seamless and BlackCat Education staff were excellent to work with. They were understanding and flexible about our special Catholic Character requirements."
Comments from Board Chair, Andy McInnes, Parawai School following the successful appointment of a new Principal February 2019
"When our long-standing principal resigned from our school we as a board decided to use an educational consultant to support us with the recruitment of our new principal. We did our due diligence and met with some consultants, checked references etc and ultimately asked BlackCat to support us with our campaign.
We were all very impressed with Andrew who travelled a long way to meet us at our school for their initial presentation to our Board. They were very professional, knowledgeable and most importantly showed great interest in our school and a determination to get us that ideal leader for Parawai School.
They guided us through the whole process, providing support and sharing knowledge as appropriate. As well as Andrew, we received fantastic support from Kevin and Kris who all helped make this a very enjoyable and exciting experience for all of our board.
BlackCat provided us with a quality field of candidates, and supported us with shortlisting as well as making the interview day itself a very smooth but thorough process.
Throughout the recruitment it was obvious that the BlackCat team cared. They listened, gave timely advice, and ultimately wanted to get us a result. They made it very clear, and we concurred, that we were not going to appoint for the sake of appointing. The person had to be the right fit for our school. As well as supporting us as a school, they also had outstanding communication with our applicants providing support and feedback to them.
I would strongly recommend BlackCat to any School about to make this journey. I would certainly use their services again if the need arose, they were simply outstanding."
Comments from Board Chair, Gareth Jones, St George’s School following the successful appointment of a new Principal June 2018
"BlackCat led an excellent recruitment process for us and they were able to use their ‘market reach’ to access an excellent pool of talent. They provided a templated approach that ensured a robust process is followed. They outlined that a good process improves the outcome and this proved to be the case.
BlackCat were responsive and available for follow ups mornings, nights and weekends. Furthermore, they often proactive in making contact to update me. This gave me confidence throughout that we were on track.
They build relationships with the applicants giving them comfort that the school was the right fit for them. It is this relationship that helped applicants and the school be on the same page, ultimately leading to an excellent outcome.
I would highly recommend working with Black Cat and would be very happy to use them again for recruitment."
Comments from Board Chair, Russell Grainger at Edgewater College following the successful appointment of a new Principal March 2018
"Right from the start we could see BlackCat Education had the professionalism and contacts that were needed to help us get the very best principal for our school. Through every step of the process we were impressed with their communication and follow up of anything that was needed.
BlackCat were an absolute pleasure to deal with and made the whole process as seamless as possible. Everything was timetabled and the timetable was adhered to except when, through no fault of theirs, it had to be changed and this change was accommodated with grace.
Through their guidance we were successful in attracting a high number of exceptional candidates. Having their Education Consultant as part of our interview panel was such a bonus and extremely helpful.
I would have no hesitation in recommending BlackCat Education and would certainly use them again if needed.
Comments from Board Chair, Ellen Bartlett at Feilding High School following the successful appointment of a new Principal March 2018
"We were very grateful for the assistance we received from BlackCat Education whilst going through the process of finding a new Principal for Feilding High School. On my very first conversation with Andrew he assured me that BlackCat were there to make sure the Principal recruitment process was made as easy as possible for us and this proved to be the case.
They were available from start to finish and any problems or concerns were quickly dealt with which was a great help.
The process began with meeting the Board to find out what we were looking for in our Principal which was very useful to go through.
The advertising of the role was made easy and their knowledge of possible candidates along with the adverts helped us to get a list of applicants of a very high standard.
The shortlisting meeting went well with Andrew's organisational skills being used to facilitate the process and to keep us on task.
Assistance in running a professional process on interview day meant that all was well managed and ran smoothly. Having Kevin’s Principals knowledge aided our thinking in decision making as well as probing questions from Andrew that helped to clarify. All this made for a rigorous process that led us to making our choice for our new Principal appointment and we are very happy with this.
Thank you so much BlackCat for making the whole process go so well."
Comments from Board Chair, Peter Schuyt at Wellington College following the successful appointment of a new Principal November 2017
"After a competitive process we selected BlackCat Education to assist us in the recruitment of a new Principal. The specialist education recruitment expertise that sat within BlackCat was a major factor in making that decision.
We were extremely pleased with how Andrew worked with us right through the process. The timeline and approach was clear and totally committed to by BlackCat. They fully engaged with us to be clear as to the attributes we were looking for in our new Principal and applied that discussion into the recruitment process. They were fully professional, communicated well and adapted really well to some timeline changes that we imposed as we progressed. they were a pleasure to work with.
The sector knowledge and contacts that BlackCat had meant that their reach across the potential candidate base was wide. Their processes to assist us through the selection process were robust and smooth and we faced a candidate list of very good quality.
We are delighted with the appointment we have made and very appreciative of the value that BlackCat bought to us."
Comments from Board Chair, Greg Davey at Wilson School following the successful appointment of a new Principal October 2017
"Blackcat Education helped us with the process of finding a great new Principal for our school. Their experience and advice took a lot of the stress out of the process. They did a particularly good job of working with us to design an eye-catching advertisement, and comprehensive application pack. Applicants had to think hard about why they wanted to work at our school. That was a big help for us in making our final decision."
Comments from Board Chair, Pene Faumuina at Tangaroa College following the successful appointment of a new Principal March 2017
"Our school had the privilege to use the services of BlackCat Education in searching for our new Principal. Blackcat made the Boards job of finding a new Principal a very easy and simple one. The professionalism and honesty shown by the consultants at BlackCat made our decision in appointing our new Principal a clear and decisive one. BlackCat's work at the candidate selection and interview process, again made the Boards work very light. I have enjoyed the collaboration and partnership during our search for our new school Principal. I have no hesitation in recommending their services to any other school looking for a future principal."
Comments from Board Chair, Nicky Primrose at Glenfield College following the successful appointment of a new Principal, March 2016
"Andrew and Bruce from Blackcat recently guided our Board of Trustees through a Principal Appointment process. As one of the biggest decisions a school Board can make the process seemed a little formidable. Blackcat managed this process for us with the utmost professionalism and efficiency. From their screening of candidates through to the last interview, their service was outstanding. We found them to be knowledgeable, very approachable and a real pleasure to work with. We are delighted with the candidate chosen and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Blackcat to others."
Comments from BOT at Whangarei Boys' High School following the successful appointment of a new Principal, March 2015
"Whangarei Boys’ High School engaged Blackcat to assist with the recruitment of a new principal. From the outset, Andrew and the team engaged with us in a totally professional manner, and our board was able to build a very good process from start to finish, resulting in a great appointment that we know will benefit our school for years to come.
From the board’s perspective, the actions and involvement of both WBHS and Blackcat achieved the right balance to ensure the school’s requirements were matched with best practice recruitment processes, and ensured that we attracted high calibre applicants, several of whom gave feedback on the excellent process throughout.
We would warmly recommend Blackcat to any school seeking a senior appointment. As the most important job that a board will ever do (hiring a Principal), getting it right first time is critical, and Blackcat were instrumental in assisting us with achieving that objective”
Comments from BOT at Albany Junior High School following the successful appointment of a new Principal, April 2014
"Recruiting a new principal is the most daunting task for any Board of Trustees, especially a board of busy professionals to whom time is a precious commodity. We recognised we needed the assistance of an external recruitment consultancy to manage this process. Blackcat provided a robust, professional recruitment process complemented by their extensive knowledge and experience as principals and recruitment experts to ensure we hired the best principal for our school. The Blackcat team have been our
trusted advisors, administration and marketing resource and HR department throughout this process and I would recommend them to any school board without hesitation."
Comments from the BOT at Marshall Laing Primary School following the successful appointment of a new Principal, May 2013
“Marshall Laing recently appointed a new Principal with the assistance of Blackcat Education. Due to outside factors, the selection process had to be completed within a very tight time frames. Blackcat moved quickly and guided the Board throughout the process efficiently and with great integrity. All candidates were considered and assistance was given in short listing and interviewing candidates. One feature of the process that stood out to us was that Blackcat provided feedback to the unsuccessful candidates, something we felt showed respect to all the candidates that applied. We felt in control through the process and excellent communication was given at each step of the process. While in the middle of this process, Board elections occurred and new board member were appointed. We would happily recommend Blackcat based on our experience."
-Stephen Muir
Comments from the School Board, following the successful appointment of a new School Principal for Papatoetoe Intermediate School, November 2012
“Alan, I have really enjoyed the whole process of appointing a new Principal with your expert guidance along the way. Your clear and easy to understand instructions, guidelines and care were just wonderful and made the whole daunting experience a lot easier. Thank you so much for all your hard work and please, also pass on my thanks to Wayne for his expert help on the day."
-Ingrid
"When our long-standing principal resigned from our school we as a board decided to use an educational consultant to support us with the recruitment of our new principal. We did our due diligence and met with some consultants, checked references etc and ultimately asked BlackCat to support us with our campaign.
We were all very impressed with Andrew who travelled a long way to meet us at our school for their initial presentation to our Board. They were very professional, knowledgeable and most importantly showed great interest in our school and a determination to get us that ideal leader for Parawai School.
They guided us through the whole process, providing support and sharing knowledge as appropriate. As well as Andrew, we received fantastic support from Kevin and Kris who all helped make this a very enjoyable and exciting experience for all of our board.
BlackCat provided us with a quality field of candidates, and supported us with shortlisting as well as making the interview day itself a very smooth but thorough process.
Throughout the recruitment it was obvious that the BlackCat team cared. They listened, gave timely advice, and ultimately wanted to get us a result. They made it very clear, and we concurred, that we were not going to appoint for the sake of appointing. The person had to be the right fit for our school. As well as supporting us as a school, they also had outstanding communication with our applicants providing support and feedback to them.
I would strongly recommend BlackCat to any School about to make this journey. I would certainly use their services again if the need arose, they were simply outstanding."
Comments from Board Chair, Gareth Jones, St George’s School following the successful appointment of a new Principal June 2018
"BlackCat led an excellent recruitment process for us and they were able to use their ‘market reach’ to access an excellent pool of talent. They provided a templated approach that ensured a robust process is followed. They outlined that a good process improves the outcome and this proved to be the case.
BlackCat were responsive and available for follow ups mornings, nights and weekends. Furthermore, they often proactive in making contact to update me. This gave me confidence throughout that we were on track.
They build relationships with the applicants giving them comfort that the school was the right fit for them. It is this relationship that helped applicants and the school be on the same page, ultimately leading to an excellent outcome.
I would highly recommend working with Black Cat and would be very happy to use them again for recruitment."
Comments from Board Chair, Russell Grainger at Edgewater College following the successful appointment of a new Principal March 2018
"Right from the start we could see BlackCat Education had the professionalism and contacts that were needed to help us get the very best principal for our school. Through every step of the process we were impressed with their communication and follow up of anything that was needed.
BlackCat were an absolute pleasure to deal with and made the whole process as seamless as possible. Everything was timetabled and the timetable was adhered to except when, through no fault of theirs, it had to be changed and this change was accommodated with grace.
Through their guidance we were successful in attracting a high number of exceptional candidates. Having their Education Consultant as part of our interview panel was such a bonus and extremely helpful.
I would have no hesitation in recommending BlackCat Education and would certainly use them again if needed.
Comments from Board Chair, Ellen Bartlett at Feilding High School following the successful appointment of a new Principal March 2018
"We were very grateful for the assistance we received from BlackCat Education whilst going through the process of finding a new Principal for Feilding High School. On my very first conversation with Andrew he assured me that BlackCat were there to make sure the Principal recruitment process was made as easy as possible for us and this proved to be the case.
They were available from start to finish and any problems or concerns were quickly dealt with which was a great help.
The process began with meeting the Board to find out what we were looking for in our Principal which was very useful to go through.
The advertising of the role was made easy and their knowledge of possible candidates along with the adverts helped us to get a list of applicants of a very high standard.
The shortlisting meeting went well with Andrew's organisational skills being used to facilitate the process and to keep us on task.
Assistance in running a professional process on interview day meant that all was well managed and ran smoothly. Having Kevin’s Principals knowledge aided our thinking in decision making as well as probing questions from Andrew that helped to clarify. All this made for a rigorous process that led us to making our choice for our new Principal appointment and we are very happy with this.
Thank you so much BlackCat for making the whole process go so well."
Comments from Board Chair, Peter Schuyt at Wellington College following the successful appointment of a new Principal November 2017
"After a competitive process we selected BlackCat Education to assist us in the recruitment of a new Principal. The specialist education recruitment expertise that sat within BlackCat was a major factor in making that decision.
We were extremely pleased with how Andrew worked with us right through the process. The timeline and approach was clear and totally committed to by BlackCat. They fully engaged with us to be clear as to the attributes we were looking for in our new Principal and applied that discussion into the recruitment process. They were fully professional, communicated well and adapted really well to some timeline changes that we imposed as we progressed. they were a pleasure to work with.
The sector knowledge and contacts that BlackCat had meant that their reach across the potential candidate base was wide. Their processes to assist us through the selection process were robust and smooth and we faced a candidate list of very good quality.
We are delighted with the appointment we have made and very appreciative of the value that BlackCat bought to us."
Comments from Board Chair, Greg Davey at Wilson School following the successful appointment of a new Principal October 2017
"Blackcat Education helped us with the process of finding a great new Principal for our school. Their experience and advice took a lot of the stress out of the process. They did a particularly good job of working with us to design an eye-catching advertisement, and comprehensive application pack. Applicants had to think hard about why they wanted to work at our school. That was a big help for us in making our final decision."
Comments from Board Chair, Pene Faumuina at Tangaroa College following the successful appointment of a new Principal March 2017
"Our school had the privilege to use the services of BlackCat Education in searching for our new Principal. Blackcat made the Boards job of finding a new Principal a very easy and simple one. The professionalism and honesty shown by the consultants at BlackCat made our decision in appointing our new Principal a clear and decisive one. BlackCat's work at the candidate selection and interview process, again made the Boards work very light. I have enjoyed the collaboration and partnership during our search for our new school Principal. I have no hesitation in recommending their services to any other school looking for a future principal."
Comments from Board Chair, Nicky Primrose at Glenfield College following the successful appointment of a new Principal, March 2016
"Andrew and Bruce from Blackcat recently guided our Board of Trustees through a Principal Appointment process. As one of the biggest decisions a school Board can make the process seemed a little formidable. Blackcat managed this process for us with the utmost professionalism and efficiency. From their screening of candidates through to the last interview, their service was outstanding. We found them to be knowledgeable, very approachable and a real pleasure to work with. We are delighted with the candidate chosen and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Blackcat to others."
Comments from BOT at Whangarei Boys' High School following the successful appointment of a new Principal, March 2015
"Whangarei Boys’ High School engaged Blackcat to assist with the recruitment of a new principal. From the outset, Andrew and the team engaged with us in a totally professional manner, and our board was able to build a very good process from start to finish, resulting in a great appointment that we know will benefit our school for years to come.
From the board’s perspective, the actions and involvement of both WBHS and Blackcat achieved the right balance to ensure the school’s requirements were matched with best practice recruitment processes, and ensured that we attracted high calibre applicants, several of whom gave feedback on the excellent process throughout.
We would warmly recommend Blackcat to any school seeking a senior appointment. As the most important job that a board will ever do (hiring a Principal), getting it right first time is critical, and Blackcat were instrumental in assisting us with achieving that objective”
Comments from BOT at Albany Junior High School following the successful appointment of a new Principal, April 2014
"Recruiting a new principal is the most daunting task for any Board of Trustees, especially a board of busy professionals to whom time is a precious commodity. We recognised we needed the assistance of an external recruitment consultancy to manage this process. Blackcat provided a robust, professional recruitment process complemented by their extensive knowledge and experience as principals and recruitment experts to ensure we hired the best principal for our school. The Blackcat team have been our
trusted advisors, administration and marketing resource and HR department throughout this process and I would recommend them to any school board without hesitation."
Comments from the BOT at Marshall Laing Primary School following the successful appointment of a new Principal, May 2013
“Marshall Laing recently appointed a new Principal with the assistance of Blackcat Education. Due to outside factors, the selection process had to be completed within a very tight time frames. Blackcat moved quickly and guided the Board throughout the process efficiently and with great integrity. All candidates were considered and assistance was given in short listing and interviewing candidates. One feature of the process that stood out to us was that Blackcat provided feedback to the unsuccessful candidates, something we felt showed respect to all the candidates that applied. We felt in control through the process and excellent communication was given at each step of the process. While in the middle of this process, Board elections occurred and new board member were appointed. We would happily recommend Blackcat based on our experience."
-Stephen Muir
Comments from the School Board, following the successful appointment of a new School Principal for Papatoetoe Intermediate School, November 2012
“Alan, I have really enjoyed the whole process of appointing a new Principal with your expert guidance along the way. Your clear and easy to understand instructions, guidelines and care were just wonderful and made the whole daunting experience a lot easier. Thank you so much for all your hard work and please, also pass on my thanks to Wayne for his expert help on the day."
-Ingrid