Simon Craggs
Simon Craggs is the principal of Papakura High School in New Zealand. He has been vocal about the educational inequities faced by students in low-income areas, particularly regarding the literacy and numeracy testing requirements for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). Craggs has highlighted the alarming failure rates among students in low socio-economic contexts and advocates for policy changes to address these disparities.
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Recent news mentions
Papakura High principal Simon Craggs told the Herald Te Taamatatanga O Pukekohekohe’s trip was school-sanctioned.
Pukekohe North School student hospitalised during unsanctioned Fiji trip, statutory manager appointed after board infighting
New Zealand· 2026-02-24
Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs expressed disappointment over the culture of wastefulness at the Teaching Council.
Teaching Council chief executive Lesley Hoskin earned more than $400k salary ahead of resignationNew Zealand· 2026-02-23
Papakura High principal Simon Craggs said his school had grown 30% in two years.
Mega-school split: Mount Albert Grammar proposes splitting in two, with new middle and senior school modelNew Zealand· 2025-10-09
Simon Craggs, the new Polyfest Trust chair, said the changes allowed for growth over coming years.
Māori stage departs Polyfest festival to new venue and different dates, cultural unity questionedNew Zealand· 2025-09-15
Simon Craggs, now principal at one of the first schools Fisher worked at, felt the system had let students down and put them at unnecessary risk.
Teaching Council investigating after man with prior convictions passed police checks, abused girlsNew Zealand· 2025-08-20
Simon Craggs earlier told the Herald that NCEA Level 1 had been poorly designed.
NCEA scrapped: Kiwi principals have their say on whether new NZ Certificate of Education will fix ‘tarnished’ system?New Zealand· 2025-08-04
Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs said the new tests were poorly designed.
Epsom Girls Grammar to offer Cambridge as fears grow top schools could abandon NCEANew Zealand· 2025-07-18
Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs told the Herald the school was aware of a post circulating on social media and had implemented a number of steps as a result.
Increased police presence to monitor South Auckland’s Papakura after reports of planned brawl between schoolsNew Zealand· 2025-03-05Simon Craggs from Papakura High School said 50 principals wanted to stop the NCEA tests due to high failure rates.
Calls to scrap NCEA tests as failure rates soar in low-income schoolsNew Zealand· 2025-03-02
