Chris Biddulph

BMS (Hons) (Waik.)

Chris has an information technology background and he has worked in the education sector. He has a Bachelor of Management Studies (First Class Honours) degree from the University of Waikato.

Chris' work experience includes:

• Managing Biddulph Group Publishing Limited and Biddulph Education Trust which provide educational resources.

• Providing support for the implementation of Early Reading Together® and Reading Together®, including organising a Donation of Mini-libraries to Families and managing an online Reading Together® Support Desk for teachers, school leaders and librarians, as part of the Reading Together® Project (which the New Zealand Ministry of Education established in late 2011). Approximately 30,000 families and more than 900 schools participated in the Reading Together® Project between 2012 and 2016 (for feedback about Reading Together® in some of the Project schools, please see Our Blog and the History of Reading Together® in New Zealand).  Note:
  » In Budget 2021, the New Zealand Government announced an Expansion of Reading Together® Te Pānui Ngātahi Partnerships to "improve literacy and wellbeing outcomes for over 73,000 children across New Zealand by giving 37,000 parents effective strategies to support their children as they learn to read ...".
  » In November 2021, an Evaluation of Taonga mō ngā Tamariki (which is based on the Early Reading Together® and Reading Together® Te Pānui Ngātahi programmes) was made available. Taonga mō ngā Tamariki is an intergenerational intervention designed to foster positive whānau-child interactions, provide access to books in home and heart languages and grow children’s enjoyment of reading.
  » In November 2022, the New Zealand Ministry of Education made available new evidence resources and links for support for Reading Together® Te Pānui Ngātahi, including these Infographics as A3 PDFs:

• Managing an IT services company which developed - in consultation with principals, teachers, early childhood educators, Teachers Council, NZEI, PPTA and the NZ Ministry of Education - secure and efficient Web applications to support the professional development of educators at both ECE and school levels.

• Consultant for various projects e.g. developed a website and online survey for the Children's Rights Project (a project co-ordinated by the Children's Issues Centre, University of Otago, on behalf of the Commissioner for Children and the Human Rights Commission) and undertook quantitative analysis of the survey data (contributing to the Children's Rights section of the New Zealand Action Plan on Human Rights).

• Consultant for NZ Ministry of Education projects e.g. responsible for technology requirements associated with The Complexity of Community and Family Influences on Children's Achievement in New Zealand: Best Evidence Synthesis.

• Level 3 IT support, data warehousing & reporting, and project management for Electronic Data Systems (EDS was subsequently acquired by Hewlett-Packard) e.g. a Project Manager on the Telecom NZ Account, responsible for managing the design, development and deployment of an Enterprise Management reporting solution. (Chris was a member of the EDS bid team which won the Telecom New Zealand IT outsourcing contract - a 10 year $1.5 billion deal.)

Voluntary activities Chris undertakes include:

• Guiding Achilles athletes, including at running and hiking events e.g. hiking with low vision athletes near Mt Te Aroha.

• Various roles at parkrun, with VI Guide being the most frequent. For instance, guiding Steve on his 50th parkrun.

• Working bees at Pukemokemoke Bush Reserve and supporting the David Johnstone Pukemokemoke Bush Trust e.g.
  - writing a website proposal, and maintenance of www.pukemokemoke.nz
  - involved in establishing the Waikato Environmental Education Fund.

• Organising and leading walks/hikes in the Waikato region for the wellbeing of others.

• Working with the New Zealand Nurses Organisation during the pandemic to recognise and show appreciation for the work, compassion and commitment of nurses.

• Supporting Waikato Community Hospice Trust.

• Supporting Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society.