Kaikorai Valley College Successes and Achievements of our Alumni
Kaikorai Valley College is proud of its long-standing tradition of academic excellence and success across a wide range of fields. We believe in preparing students to be well-rounded individuals who can make meaningful contributions to all areas of society.
We value each student’s unique interests and aspirations, and we are committed to supporting a diverse range of career pathways that reflect the opportunities of the 21st century and beyond. Whether a student’s passion lies in university or polytechnic study, trade training, the service or creative industries, primary industries, or another direction, we ensure they are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to pursue it.
Strong partnerships with organisations such as the University of Otago (Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtago), Otago Polytechnic (Te Kura Matainik Ki Otago), BCITO (Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation), Te Kura, and various local businesses give our students valuable head starts in their chosen fields.
The foundation of our success lies in the strength of the teaching in our classrooms and the depth of relationships formed between students and staff. These, along with our PRIDE values—Participation, Respect, Inquiry, Diversity, and Environment—are central to the excellent education we provide.
Many of our former students have gone on to make significant contributions in their chosen careers. These include Dr Richard Blaikie, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Professor of Physics at the University of Otago; Professor Bridget A. Robinson, Medical Oncologist at Christchurch Hospital; Howard Broad, former New Zealand Commissioner of Police; film director and screenwriter Robert Sarkies; Dr Helen Heslop, Professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; and Dr Raquel Hill, Lecturer in English and New Zealand Studies in Yokohama.
Others include Stephen Higgs, Chartered Accountant and Partner at Polson Higgs; Steve Hepburn, sports journalist for the Otago Daily Times; Mark Prain, Executive Director of the Hillary Institute of International Leadership; Raewyn Lippert, professional actress based in London; musician Shane Carter; and Damian Burden, Assistant Coach for New Zealand Touch Rugby.
These alumni reflect the breadth of talent and the strength of the foundation built at Kaikorai Valley College. We are proud of their achievements and inspired by the diverse paths they have followed.
Below are some Alumni profiles:
Corin Newall
As a student at Kaikorai Valley College, Corwin was regularly performing with the Dunedin Youth Orchestra, the Southern Sinfonia Academy and the Southern Youth Choir. He also had some of his compositions recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
He is now a software developer at Radium NZ in Petone and still composing music. He has a Bachelor of Music with first class honours ( in composition and performance piano ) and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in computer science. He won the Philip Neill Memorial Prize in music, a composition competition open to past and present students of New Zealand universities in 2012 and 2018.
Rosie Paterson-Lima
Rosie is an international programmes specialist at Tearfund New Zealand and works with community development partner organisations to deliver programmes in India, Nepal and Indonesia. Her monitoring work often involves travelling to remote, hard-to-reach communities and in 2018 she led Tearfund to support its local partner in an emergency response to an earthquake and tsunami in central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
A Pacific Women’s Watch New Zealand board member since 2014, she was recently appointed its international secretary.
Fiona Hely
Fiona, who holds a BApp Sc (Hons ) degree from Otago University, is a partner at Abacus Bio Ltd, an agri business consulting company.
She specialises in the design and simulation of breeding programmes and optimisation, bringing to her clients her deep background in data analysis and inference. Projects she has been involved in include adding value to bovine genetics, ICBF Dairy beef index development and wagyu genomic evaluations and optimised mating allocation for Brownrigg agriculture.
Fiona is also a very talented athlete, specialising in sprint events. She won the New Zealand junior women’s 200m title in 2007 and retained this at the national championships in Auckland in 2008. She was also a member of the gold medal winning Otago senior women’s 4x100m relay team at that event.
Samanth Leonard
Samantha always had a passion for performing arts and was a highly accomplished dancer while at school, performing in numerous productions and local dance competitions. After moving to Australia at the age of 18, she worked as a dancer in film clips, as a back up dancer on stage and as an extra in Home and Away.
She now lives on Australia’s Gold Coast, where she is sales manager for the fitness programme, Ashley Bines bikini body challenge, and the Ashley Bines transformation centre. She is involved in NEV HOUSE, a company that helps house those affected by natural disasters, has her own lip balm line ( which her father makes in Dunedin ) and continues to dance.
Peter Bernhardt
Peter is one of three brothers to have been dux at Kaikorai Valley College and has completed a Finance and Physics degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration through the Otago University MBA programme.
He is a University of Otago Strategy and Policy adviser, an Otago chamber of Commerce board director and an advisory board member for Kaffelogic Ltd and Genetics Otago. He has also been involved in Ignite Consultants and set up The Foot, a not-for-profit group that works to raise awareness about environmental sustainability.
His current employment is as a Manager in Deloitte’s Strategy Consulting team with a focus on helping organisations transform for a low carbon economy.
Injy Johnstone
Injy is a passionate environmentalist who displayed leadership in this area while at school when she attended the United Nations Conference on Sustainable development Rio+.
She graduated with a BSc in Environmental Science from Otago University and then went on to finish her LLB ( Hons ) from Victoria University as well as completing a BA in Public Policy and Development Studies extramurally through Massey University. Currently, Injy is studying for a Masters Degree, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado, Boulder, having been awarded a Fulbright Science and Innovation Scholarship.
She has been involved in the New Zealand climate change movement, Generation Zero, as National Administrator, is on the Board of Endangered Species Foundation, a registered charity committed to preserving New Zealand’s indigenous flora and fauna, and she has conducted climate research at NIWA as a Peter Blake Trust Ambassador and worked as a Policy Analyst in the Climate Change team at the Ministry for Environment. She is also the New Zealand representative to the UN Sustainable development Solutions Network and sits on the UNESCO Youth Reference Group.
In 2018 Injy was the recipient of a Leadership Award at the New Zealand Youth Awards and was ultimately named as the Senior Supreme Award winner.
Robert Sarkies
Robert is an acclaimed New Zealand film-maker, script writer and director who began his film making while at KVHS. His short film, David, won the Spot On video making competition for Best Film in 1985.
To date, Robert has made three full-length feature films: Scarfies (1999), Out of the Blue (2008) and Two Little Boys (2012). His feature debut, Scarfies, won several awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, at the NZ Film Awards. Out of the Blue, based on the 1990 Aramoana massacre has won six Qantas Film and Television Awards and also won Best Film at the NZ Film and TV Awards.
He also directed This is Not my Life, which won Best Television Drama at the 2010 NZ Film and TV Awards, and the TV movie, Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story, which won the Best Television Feature at the NZ Film and TV Awards in 2014.
One of his most recent projects was the multi award winning Jean Batten biopic titled Jean.
Duncan Sarkies
Duncan is a popular New Zealand screenwriter, playwright, novelist, stand-up comic and short story writer.
In 1994 he was awarded the Sunday Star Times Bruce Mason Playwriting Award and in 1995 he won the Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Best New Zealand Play for his 1994 work, Saving Grace.
In 1998 he was awarded the Louis Johnson New Writer’s Bursary.
His book of short stories, Stray Thoughts and Nosebleeds, won the Montana New Zealand Herbert Church NZSA Best First Book of Fiction Award in 2000.
He co-wrote the script for the well known New Zealand feature film, Scarfies (1999) and his debut novel, Two Little Boys, published in 2008, was made into a film, directed by his brother, Robert Sarkies. He has also written for the television series, Flight of the Conchords.