What does it take to reinvent your career at Trinity? 

As an Old Boy of Trinity (and School Captain ‘04), it would have been easy to let old expectations and ideas for the future shape his career, but Mr Kai Ikeuchi has taken every opportunity that has come his way to try something new, embrace different challenges and never let himself be boxed in. 

Mr Ikeuchi’s professional career at Trinity began in 2011 as an alum of the School. At the time, he was based in Japan when Trinity’s Rugby Tour made a stop at the school in which he was working. Leadership at Trinity reached out and offered the opportunity for Mr Ikeuchi to return to the School and study to be a teacher. 

“There was an opportunity to recreate myself by going down the teaching path – which was a bit scary at first,” he recalls.

As he worked towards his first teaching credential, Mr Ikeuchi joined the Support Staff team, and assisted with some Commerce classes. He knew that initially his time at Trinity would be spent leaning heavily on his background in social work as he pursued pastoral care. His love for sport also gave him the opportunity to coach multiple teams across Rugby, Basketball, Track & Field, and Cricket. 

From that first year until now, Mr Ikeuchi hasn’t missed a chance to seize a new challenge, whether it’s coaching Co-curricular sporting teams, becoming House Master (and winning the House Cup with Latham in 2019, after witnessing the spectacular growth of the House Leadership over the course of the year, something he is particularly proud of), stepping into teaching roles in the Economics department or embracing leadership. 

“I’m naturally a business-minded person – both my parents are entrepreneurs – but Economics was never my strong suit,” he says. “However, when a long-standing teacher left the School, the opportunity presented itself to teach IB Economics. I was reluctant at first, but what I tried to do was embrace the opportunity and further my learning into the subject.” 

This approach has served him well as he’s tackled everything that’s come his way in the time since, rising to meet challenges and adapt to what’s needed in each role. 

“Every three years, I’ve tried to revamp or re-profile myself within the School,” he says. “When you stay in a role too long, it can mean you’re not growing. It’s always good to improve yourself, to look at a new role and take on that challenge. I’ve been blessed with being in the right place at the right time.” 

There are two roles in particular that have seen his career grow to where it is today: 

In late 2022, he took on the role of Director of Curriculum (Acting), leading the School to deliver both the HSC and IB Programmes within the School. 

“Prior to receiving that opportunity, I would have told you I was heavily looking to head down the pastoral side, but I’m really enjoying the academic side of things. I feel like with my reach within the School, I can really support them.” 

In early 2020, the then Head of Economics stepped down from the role and Mr Ikeuchi took on the Acting Head position, right before the pandemic hit, throwing him and his team into uncertainty with big learning curves. 

By August, he’d taken on the role permanently, one that he still holds. And, when we asked him whether he was getting ready to move on to his next challenge in the world of Trinity now that it’s been three years, he said “not quite yet”. 

“I still think there’s a fair few things I have to offer in this role and that’s what really drives me,” he says. “I always want to make sure that however and wherever I’m working, I always want to leave a better version of that place for the next people.”

He’s got a lot to look forward to as he creates that legacy – particularly as the Economic Department moves into what will be called the ‘Economic Village’, a collection of temporary buildings dedicated to all things Economics to be created for the duration of the Renewal Project construction. Mr Ikeuchi is heavily involved in providing suggestions to guide this project as it rolls out. 

“To be a part of recreating working space is really interesting to me. As a teacher you get staff rooms and they’re pretty set, but to be there and design a collegial space for the team, as well as teaching spaces, is a great opportunity. Providing input on how we would apply our teaching styles and what we would require to get set up.

“The space that we’re in now, I’ve been in for a while. So it then allows me to know what we really need and what will allow us to grow even more.” 

While he knows he would have been up for any challenge, no matter where he worked, he credits Trinity’s community for its particular commitment to growth. 

“Whether it’s colleagues, senior management, or the people you’re responsible for, everyone is collegial and committed to creating a safe environment in which to grow.” 

He sees himself as the living proof of it. 

“The School had that faith in me. They took on someone who was less experienced initially, but they saw that potential for growth and allowed me to take it to the next level.” 

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