Westminster School principal Simon Shepherd leaving campus accommodation to make way for boarding students
Extreme demand for an offering at a leading Adelaide private school has forced the principal to relocate.
Education
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The principal of a top Adelaide private school has left his on-site accommodation after a decision was made to renovate the building to make way for more boarding students.
Westminster School principal Simon Shepherd, who has lived on-site with his family for seven years, left his accommodation in December before renovations were made to the site.
“It was a plan we were discussing for six to eight months because we’ve had fantastic growth in boarding,” Mr Shepherd said.
In the last five years, the school has doubled its boarding cohort and will host 167 students in 2024.
The 2024 cost of boarding for Year 12 students at Westminster is $25,720, in addition to regular school fees of $26,876.
But Mr Shepherd said moving was “not a problem at all”.
“I’ll just have to be on call so the pressure is on me,” Mr Shepherd said.
“You never take your principal’s hat off.”
He said as principal he acts as a caregiver to the boarding students.
While living at the school, Mr Shepherd made rental contributions to the school, which was offset by his salary.
And living off-site in private accommodation will take a toll on his family, he said.
“What was possible while living onsite was to have dinner with your family, when you’re off-site it’s far less possible,” Mr Shepherd said.
The renovated accommodation, called Highmoor, was originally built in 1960 and offered six bedrooms including guest lodgings, a formal living room and a dining room.
Principals have been living at the school since it opened in 1961.
The school has applied for a planned capacity of 11 residents, including 10 students and a staff member across seven bedrooms.
The new students in the renovated accommodation are set to move in at the start of the new school year.
Mr Shepherd said he would be “back as soon as possible” in new accommodation at the school.
However, he said there was no timeline for the construction of new principal’s accommodation but that it would not be “ostentatious”.
“Whatever the school builds, it will be built to purpose,” Mr Shepherd said.
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