Where are they now?... Dame Dawn Lamb | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Retirement hasn't slowed down former Christchurch Girls' High School principal Dame Dawn Lamb.

After finishing up at the school in 1998 and moving to Wellington with her husband Douglas, the 64-year-old spent the next four years working for He Haurahi Tamariki ? a secondary school for teenage parents.

Dame Dawn helped establish an attached pre-school so that parents could focus on their own education, while also ensuring their children were getting the best possible start in life.

"I'm quite committed to the idea that the way to break the cycle of poverty is through their children. You have to get to the next generation," she said.

She stopped working at He Haurahi Tamariki in April, 2003, saying it was a great experience for her to work with people completely different to those she was in contact with while at Girls' High.

"It was very good for me. I didn't really have any experience of it, but I could use my oganisational and political skills to help set up the pre-school. I never expected to be there for four years, I thought I would be a volunteer that helped sometimes," Dame Dawn said.

Since leaving Christchurch she still keeps in touch with what is happening at the prominent school she headed for 12 years.

"Sometimes I see ex-students or I still pop down for different events. I'm a member of the old girls' and keep a keen interest in the school," Dame Dawn said.

But during the working week she is now likely to be found at Wellington and Porirua District Courts, working on the bench as a JP two or three days each week depending on how busy it is.

"I'm enjoying that. It uses my law degree," she said.

And in quieter periods, Dame Dawn and her husband walk.

"Last year we spent three months in Europe. We spent a month in Italy and two in Spain and Portugal," she said.

The former principal, who became a dame in 1993, is also finding time to get back to one of her early loves ? tennis.

"I have rediscovered my love of tennis. I used to play when I was 17 and I started playing again last year," she said.

The couple are planning another two-month trip to Europe mid-way next year.

Dame Dawn joked things "are supposed to quieten down when you retire", but the pair's three daughters have all complained their parents are too busy to babysit.