Non-teaching staff

Claire Sparks leads the Advancement team at Christ's College, overseeing all marketing and communications. She sets the agenda for publications, advertising, promotion, social media and community engagement. Claire ensures that a cohesive College message is delivered across all channels and reflects core College values.

Claire started at College in 2014 after running her own marketing consultancy and working for companies as diverse as Yellow Pages, Thrifty Car Rental, BOC Gas and Ansett New Zealand.

The Advancement team unites the strands of communications, marketing, promotion and advertising, Old Boys, event management, development, sponsorship and bequests, domestic and international admissions and reception.

Experienced Senior Manager in Development and fundraising with a demonstrated history of raising funds for capital and operational programmes in the education and not for profit industries. Skilled in strategic planning, event, staff and volunteer management. Shelley is a former journalist who is passionate about providing opportunities for young people to facilitate growth and personal development.

Lizzie Dyer couldn’t resist the opportunity to work at College when the new Alumni Manager role came up as she has always felt a strong affinity for – and has many connections with – the school through family, friends, and as a College parent.

“I’ve always loved College and its environment. I used to drive to St Margaret’s via Rolleston Avenue just to take a peek through the gates. I love the whole feel of the place.”

However, people before buildings – and, for Lizzie, life is all about people. She is warm and friendly, relaxed and convivial, and a great talker and accomplished hostess, who thrives on making and nurturing connections.

The daughter of a “larger than life” Irish father and Kiwi mother, Lizzie was born in Belfast. The family moved to New Zealand when Lizzie was a child and she grew up – the eldest of three daughters – in Tai Tapu, appreciating the easy balance between country life and proximity to the city. One of her first jobs was working in travel, through which she says she was lucky to be able to go back and get to know the Irish side of her family, and even more delighted when one of her cousins married her best friend – they met at Lizzie and husband Tim’s wedding – and moved to New Zealand.

Family and friends are the bedrock of Lizzie’s life. She quit the travel industry when she had children, but then started organic baby food business Green Monkey with her sister.

“I became very aware of what my children were, or weren’t, eating. And, like any parent, I wanted to do my absolute best. There wasn’t really any organic baby food around at the time, so we took the chance and entered a very competitive market. It was tough with three young children. Really good, but very busy.”

Stacey started in Richards House as Day Matron in 2022. Prior to being at College she worked for the New Zealand Red Cross, in refugee resettlement and teaching first aid in schools. Away from College, she enjoys spending time with family and friends. She also loves camping, travel, and live theatre. Stacey has three children, one adult daughter over in the U.K. where she was born, and two teenage children still at home.

Kirsty Black has taken on the new role of Overnight Nurse for the three Boarding Houses. With experience in general surgery and high-dependency care, Kirsty now works part-time in gastroenterology at Christchurch Hospital. She is married to Toby and has a two-year-old daughter, Millie. Kirsty, who grew up on a North Canterbury farm, also went to boarding school. As a result, she understands the importance of pastoral care in the Houses and believes that a holistic and nurturing environment is vital in every boarding school.

Originally from North Canterbury, Kirsty studied at the University of Canterbury and Victoria University, spending more than 12 years in Wellington. When she returned south with husband Todd and sons Liam and Dylan, she was initially a stay at home Mum and silversmith, before retraining as a psychologist. Now a registered psychologist, she joins the Centre for Wellbeing & Positive Education from her role in Learning Support at the Ministry of Education. Christ’s College strongly appeals to her because she welcomes the idea of forming relationships and becoming part of a community. She is passionate about promoting the wellbeing of young people and their families, and is eagerly looking forward to working in a boys’ school setting.

Although originally from Auckland, Riki has spent most of his life in Christchurch where he has developed a wide range of competencies – from a counsellor to a performing arts practitioner, from a personal trainer to a netball player and coach. He says he loves sport and has played touch and netball throughout his life, is passionate about performing arts and has taught independently in Christchurch dance schools. Riki balances his professional career with these interests and by spending time with his partner and whanau. He comes to College from a role as a Specialist Clinician from the Children’s Service of Stop Services. He embraces change and welcomes the opportunity to support a bi-cultural lense within the school.

Director of Sport Benn McBrearty’s enthusiasm for sport is infectious. He strongly believes sport is a vehicle for developing a life-long love of physical activity and future health.

Prior to returning to Christchurch, after an extended period living in Australia, Benn worked as Director of Sport and as a Physical Education & Health teacher, as well as coaching and coordinating multiple sports.

Benn understands that participation in sport helps young people to grow, learn and enjoy themselves while nurturing their personal, physical and intellectual skills, and developing healthy minds and bodies.

“Sport creates an environment for personal growth. It teaches us the value of discipline, teamwork and perseverance. It enlightens us about resilience, courage, failure and success and challenges us to grow and become better people by holding a mirror to us all when faced with each of these challenges.”

Benn has a Bachelor of Exercise Science and Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education from The Australian Catholic University having attended the Strathfield campus in NSW. He also has a Graduate Diploma in Physical Conditioning from Otago Polytechnic.

Experienced coach and mentor Llorne Howell will be stepping into the role of Assistant to the Director of Sport and MiC Cricket and Rugby while Stephen Dods takes a sabbatical.

A former Black Cap, Llorne has played one-day internationals for New Zealand and also represented Canterbury in age-group rugby. In a 14-year career at the top level of cricket, Llorne has won one-day and four-day titles with Canterbury and Auckland. He holds a New Zealand Cricket Level 3 Coaching Qualification, along with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and a Bachelor of Arts in several languages. He has also been awarded the Prime Minister’s Scholarship to China Peking University.

Llorne has led the Howell Cricket Academy and coached extensively in New Zealand and India, along with establishing and growing business and educational links with India. He has held business development and financial advisor roles during his varied career.

From 1987–1991, Stephen Dods was a Canterbury rugby representative. He relocated to Ireland in 1992, playing for Leinster, coaching professionally and working as director of sport for the Royal College of Surgeons.

Stephen returned to Christchurch in 2000, and established a high-performance sports consultancy.

He coached the Teikyo Daigaku (university) team in Tokyo, taking them to number one in Japan, as well as the Canon Eagles, a Japanese Top League team. He joined College as Assistant to the Director of Sport and Master-in-Charge of Rugby in 2015.

Assistant to the Director of Sport and Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Kris Miller believes everyone should participate in some form of exercise or sport, because the benefits – in terms of health, cardiovascular fitness, wellbeing, strength, energy and enjoyment – are enormous. He works with individuals and teams across all sports, teaching skills and techniques to enable the boys to perform at their best, and helping them develop and maintain good habits around health and fitness.

Kris has a Physical Education degree, with a double major in Sport and Exercise Science and Exercise Prescription from the University of Otago, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Physical Conditioning from Otago Polytechnic.

Director of Finance & Operations (DFO), Rob McFarlane brings a wealth of experience at the highest levels of business management to College, having worked for companies as diverse as Shell Oil, North Solomon’s Pharmacies, Boral Australia, Zeus (New Zealand Apple & Pear Marketing Board), Lyttelton Port Company, Silver Fern Farms and Longbeach Holdings, in New Zealand and overseas.

Rob has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University, Wellington, and is a Chartered Accountant.

He completed three fixed-term contracts at College before taking on the DFO role.

He is delighted to be working in an organisation whose values align so closely with his own.

An experienced financial accountant, Len Van Hout joins the Finance Department while Finance Manager Lisa McCleary is on maternity leave.

Having led his own consultancy business, Len has provided financial analysis and modelling, and services associated with business process reviews. He has also worked as a financial accountant and advisor and in a governance role for several of Christchurch’s biggest businesses and entities. From 2012 to 2016, he was the Finance Manager for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and previously worked for several government departments.

Paul Rodley manages all aspects of information and communications technology (ICT) across the College campus and is also responsible for the learning associated with digital technology.

His main teaching area is robotics, which encompasses a diverse range of skills, including the practical, such as programming and coding, building websites, robots and drones, and the cerebral, such as problem-solving, team building, self-management and innovative thinking.

ICT is challenging, exciting and evolving – and Paul sees it as a tool to facilitate learning.

“It’s all about the boys, about empowering them to have the confidence to get out there and make the most out of life.”

Paul started at Christ’s College as the first Director of ICT in 1999.