A number of principals from across the state’s west gathered at the Dubbo RSL Club earlier this month for a forum with leaders of the NSW Department of Education.
The forum is one of a series around the state being led by department secretary Mark Scott, to meet face to face with principals from the western region to discuss how to meet the needs of staff and students.
The challenges facing schools in rural and remote areas was high on the agenda.
“I’m in the business of hearing from them,” Mr Scott said.
“They’ve got a lot of experience and expertise on the ground. One of the questions I ask at these meetings is ‘what don’t you think I know? What do I really need to understand in terms of making key decisions for this department?’
Principals from Nyngan, Narromine, Cobar, Dubbo and Wellington attended the forum, which was one of 10 being held across NSW.
Nyngan High’s Michael Gibson said that he found the forum an “extremely valuable” experience.
“It’s one of the first instances where the secretary of the Department of Education and the deputy secretaries, the main leaders of our large organisation, have taken the time to meet face to face with principals, which is very important as we lead schools and have a strong voice in terms of what is best educational practice and what we need,” Mr Gibson said.
“There's a strong focus that principals are now the educational leaders of a school, not just a person who sits in a chair making decisions, signs cheques, it's about them being an educational leader of their staff to make what happens in classrooms very effective for our kids.”
“It was extremely valuable to have that time to talk, to discuss, to hear what's happening from their end to support us as well.”
Mr Gibson’s primary concern was with regard to the administrative systems currently in place that slow down and make the work of principals, teachers and support staff in schools quite difficult.
He said that the administrative systems have has become quite excessive in recent years and argues “there needs to be some work on making that easier, so that our focus can be on education and well being for kids”.
However he does agree that the department have identified that a number of systems in place regarding to IT and the administrative work load on principals and teachers, have made jobs harder and are currently working on ways to fix this.
Mr Scott said that he finds the contribution and expertise of principals “invaluable in helping us shape the future direction of NSW Education”.
“It’s a very good discussion about the practical solutions we need to provide on the ground to help every school improve,” Mr Scott said.
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Nyngan Observer
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