From the Principal
The most enjoyable aspect of working in education is the opportunity to interact with students on a regular basis and the inspiration you gain from watching them develop and flourish over time. When talking with our younger students, I am still often surprised by the questions I get asked and enjoy the diversity of our students’ thinking.
A Junior School student was reflecting on the complexity of being the ‘Big Boss’, as he called it, and he asked me what was the most important part of my job. A great question! I thought I would first see what his response would be; making the rules was mentioned, along with planning interesting things for the students to learn. He was certain that I had planned their recent lesson on Robotics and wanted to thank me. Whilst I would have loved to take the credit, what followed was an interesting exchange about what was actually the most important thing for me to do. My answer was: to appoint the most amazing team of teachers who would create such wonderful learning experiences and work with our exceptional Support and Operational team to provide the resources to make it possible. I received a nod of understanding and a cheery farewell as he raced off to his next lesson.
It won’t be surprising that a key driver in our next strategic plan will be focused on our staff and ensuring that we continue to attract the highest quality people possible, that we develop and support them to flourish in their roles and that we maintain high standards across all areas. I am passionate about having a culture in which staff feel that they are a crucial and valued part of the team, in which collaboration is expected and trust, professionalism and high expectations are evident.
Several recent staff appointments in new key roles are already having a significant positive impact. Two examples to highlight are additions to our Support and Operational team, Daniel Grant as Head of Property and Suzanne Morley as Risk and Compliance Manager. At one of our recent Critical Incident Management Team meetings regarding managing the ongoing COVID-19 situation, it was great to see Daniel and Suzanne Zooming in from our High Country Campus in Jindabyne. They were spending the week at the Campus as part of our focus on continual facility improvement and risk and compliance review. Both Daniel and Suzanne have come to the School with significant corporate and educational experience in their respective fields and are improving our facilities, systems and processes for the benefit of all students and staff.
Both Gemma Van de Peer, Head of Secondary School, and Alison Cox, Head of Secondary School Sport, have made an impressive start in their respective roles and it is great to have that fresh perspective and the key questions about current practice, which will inform possible future improvements across the Secondary School programs. One of the consistent themes when asking new staff their impressions of the School is the warmth of the welcome from the community and the dedication of the staff. I wish all of our new staff well for 2021 and beyond and I look forward to them making their mark as part of our team.
I enjoyed attending both the Secondary and Junior School Swimming Carnivals at SOPAC this week and appreciated the competitive and good-natured spirit of the rivalry between the Houses. It was pleasing also to see so many students involved and contributing. Congratulations to Dumolo on winning the Secondary School Shield and Cowper on winning the Junior School Trophy.
It is disappointing that restrictions mean that we are unable to hold our Twilight Drinks function for parents on the Fahl Garden; however, we are looking forward to working with the RPFA to enable smaller groups of parents to create further connections with each other. More information about these events will be forthcoming.
Mr Stephen Webber
Photo caption: Records, personal bests and most of all, fun, were had at the Secondary and Junior School Swimming Carnivals this week.