Acting Principal

I am very excited by the opportunity presented to me by the resignation of my Principal, to take up the foundation Principal position at the brand new "Endeavour School" being build in Hamilton.

I officially take over as Acting Principal on Monday May 5th, however as everyone knows, there has been much ground work put in before that date.

Term 1 saw me being very well inducted into many of the administrative tasks that will be expected, things like; managing the SUE report, keeping in touch with Staff banking, signing rights across the school, meeting with the BOT chairperson and attending BOT meetings to name just a few. Leading into the school term break, we had a fixed term position available and I was fortunate to be leading this entire process. Marcus supported with the paperwork used in the past, so when you don't have to start from scratch, it is always easier. We shortlisted and then interviewed likely candidates.

Here I was exposed very quickly to the emotions of being the person that the buck stops with.  I planned carefully what to say to each of the unsuccessful applicants I had to phone, as well as what to say to the successful applicant. However something I did not prepare for was their reactions! I would recommend strongly to anyone having to do this for the first time to write down what you're going to say. But more important than this, is prepare yourself for any kind of reaction from the recipient of bad news. I did not prepare my own reactions to their potential reactions and after the first phone call I was caught by a startling, yet not unlikely, reaction, and was left suddenly drained! It is not an easy thing sharing unwelcome news; peoples' futures are at stake!

This aside, I feel fully prepared for this exciting challenge in my career! I am completely able to take on the roll, and I am confident that I have the all the right people around me to support with anything I am not able to tackle alone, fantastic teachers doing the hard work with children, and amazingly knowledgeable Board members. I know who to ask when I need to ask, and I am completely comfortable asking when I don't have the answers, so I will be asking!

Wish me luck!