Teacher outcry as St Peter’s College appoints sport director Barnaby Eaton as its acting head of senior school
The promotion of a former rowing coach to a senior teaching position at one of Adelaide’s most prestigious schools has triggered a backlash.
Education
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Teachers at one of Adelaide’s most prestigious schools are upset a former rowing coach has been appointed to a senior teaching position.
St Peter’s College has made sport director Barnaby Eaton its acting head of senior school, which involves management of teaching staff, educational strategies and adherence to the curriculum.
The appointment has prompted internal protests by staff as Mr Eaton joined the Anglican all-boys’ R-12 college in 2018 from Brisbane Grammar School, where he was its rowing director.
The holder of a teaching diploma from an Adelaide theological college, Tabor, he is not registered as a teacher with the SA Teachers’ Registration Board.
Independent Education Union state secretary Glen Seidel said it was “highly irregular” for someone who did not have signifcant teaching experience to be appointed to such a senior educational position, even if only temporarily.
Mr Seidel said there was “some serious angst” over Mr Eaton’s promotion.
“It would appear that the appointee for acting Head of Senior School is not yet a registered teacher and this, quite understandably, has caused serious disquiet internally,” he said.
“It is highly irregular that such a senior position at such a prestigious school would be granted to someone with no [classroom] teaching experience.
“It seems illogical, but according to the Teachers Registration and Standards Act, a principal must be a registered teacher but, as long as one is not actually providing education, a head of school need not be registered.”
Mr Seidel said if he was paying the high fees charged by St Peter’s – $28,880 for year 12 students – he would expect well-qualified staff to be leading the organisation
“There would be no shortage of suitable internal candidates if the school were not going to advertise externally,” he said.
“People with up to a half a century of teaching experience may never get a look-in at such a promotion and can be rightly critical of such an appointment.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Eaton was rowing director at Scotch College from 1998 to 2004 before taking up a similar position with St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Brisbane.
Mr Eaton was a director of Queensland Rowing during his time at the school, which he left in 2008 to take up the role of sports director at Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane for six years.
He then worked for two years as an emerging talent manager with Rowing Australia, from 2014 to 2016, before becoming rowing director for Brisbane Grammar School.
Mr Eaton resigned in 2018 to join St Peter’s College, where he has spent the past four years co-ordinating its sporting teams and extra-curricular activities, which range from debating to water polo.
The Advertiser reported last month how teachers who must supervise the activities as part of their contracts are paid annual allowances ranging between $2120 and $12,972.
St Peter’s College did not respond to a request for comment.
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