Out and About

Last week I got out of the office for three days and visited four NNSW schools with Ralph Luchow, Conference Education Director. On Wednesday morning we shared morning worship and children’s stories with the Taree school, then we drove on to eat an appetising lunch provided by the staff at Port Macquarie before dropping in on the afternoon staff meeting at Kempsey. After another day observing six of our newer teachers at Kempsey on Thursday, we drove off Friday morning to talk with the Macksville principal and story with the students before turning for home. The two photos show our morning worship session at Taree.

Our schools are serving their communities admirably by tackling a huge amount of human need. The students in all schools grabbed my attention. Because their communities are comprised of so many stressed marriages and single parents, and because these communities reflect a host of other social issues as well, student classroom behaviour reflects it all. The secondary classes I saw tended to be entertaining because they were chatty workplaces where students were keen to talk about social life rather than to apply themselves and think of the future. I admire teachers who must deal daily with such students.

The rapid growth of Kempsey school is generating a sense of excitement and staff fulfilment. In conversation, two former state school teachers now at the school strongly affirmed the school as a wonderful place to teach in because of its leadership, purpose and climate. In the other three smaller schools staff were certainly positive and effective, but I could feel that in doing all they can to multi task and keep enrolling students, they feel keenly when a student leaves, and carry the future of the school on their hearts. We have always known that teachers in small schools wear down and need extra support.

The teacher induction process works well, and it also shows me that Avondale College continues to produce fine graduates. Including this younger set, the teachers I spoke to have a true sense of mission and show enormous goodwill as they work under pressure to develop students with numerous needs. I look forward to visiting more schools around the SPD as the year goes on.

Barry Hill

Director of Education SPD

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