A couple of his students ended up in prison – but the good teacher still can't bring himself to call them 'ratbags”.

He retracts, reconsiders and suggests they were 'behaviourally challenged”.

Retiring Arataki School principal Dean Langley loves gaining respect from his students. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

That's Dean Langley's style. The outgoing principal of Arataki School even cares for the ‘bad ones' – perhaps ‘wayward' would be more PC.

And this principal is more of a spiritual head because not only does he shape little lives and cram little heads with knowledge, but he leads, he inspires and he cares deeply.

'I love these types of children,” he declares, with 70 per cent of his roll of Maori descent.

'They are genuine, loving and respectful. The kids care for each other, the parents care for the kids and the school cares for everyone.”

This near 60-year-old is almost smug with pride. 'I don't know what it's like at other schools, but that's how it is at Arataki.”

How it is in Arataki is decile three – this is a low-income neighbourhood of state houses where you can buy a year of education with all the frills for just $15 a pupil or $25 a family.

'Their learning is certainly not disadvantaged – the system and the school serves them well,” he says.

Dean went to school when he was five and never left. If he wasn't being taught, he was doing the teaching. 'I have a reputation for being a nice guy.”

Dean is obviously very comfortable in himself. 'I am not a nasty old bugger and my kids aren't scared of coming to this principal's office.”

He's rounded, almost cherubic, wears a shock of white hair and a face that exudes kindness – a kind of Santa without the suit. And he gets treated like the ‘jolly old fat man'.

'I can wander the playground and get hullo here, hullo there, hullo everywhere. I get spontaneous cuddles from the kids because they feel comfortable with me.”

He checks himself – 'they give me a cuddle,” he reassures.

And his education credo? 'Kids will forget what you tell them, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

Okay – that's not a direct quote. However it's the noble thought that has defined his career and his style. But don't parents also want to see a teacher with an edge?

'I have to take a stand sometimes,” he says. 'Kids want to push the boundaries and I respect that. In turn they respect me.”

And it helps that he's known and trusted. He teaches these children, he taught their mothers and their grandmothers and their aunts. He's shepherded 15 members of one whanau alone.

'They are a loving caring family, they love their kids and support education.”

There is lots of love in this school and neighbourhood. He's reluctant to single out a student success story at Arataki.

However, a coffee mug with a message tells the story. 'To my favourite teacher who was nice to me even when I wagged.” It's signed by Stan Walker.

'Now there's a kid who could easily have gone off the rails,” explains the headmaster. 'But he didn't.”

‘Kia u ki te pai'. Arataki has been Dean's ‘pathway to learning' for 21 years and a whole community will be grateful to have tread his pathway.