Genevieve Simson: Greater Shepparton Secondary College principal moved on
The principal of Greater Shepparton Secondary College will be moved on after teachers threatened to file an official complaint with the union.
Goulburn Valley
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Greater Shepparton Secondary College’s leadership has undergone a major shake-up after allegations of poor leadership from distraught staff were made public.
Genevieve Simson will no longer be executive principal of the college in 2021 and will be offered a new role within the Department of Education.
A letter from Department of Education regional director Terry Bennett, sent to parents, students and carers on Wednesday afternoon and seen by The Goulburn Valley News, said Barbara O’Brien will become the acting executive principal in 2021 while the recruitment process takes place.
Ms O’Brien was the college’s senior education improvement leader and formerly the Benalla P-12 College executive principal.
The current leadership team, including campus principals and assistant principals, will continue to lead the college in 2021.
The letter thanked Ms Simson for her work from February 2019, where she led the college through the merger and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shake-up comes after media reported teachers were pursuing complaints with the Australian Education Union over leadership concerns.
Genevieve Simson declined to comment.
The Goulburn Valley News confirmed with multiple sources Greater Shepparton Secondary College staff met with the union via video link last week, but it is understood no grievances were officially filed.
A teacher who was involved in discussions with the union, and wished to remain anonymous, said the right decision had been made.
“I’m disappointed it came to this, but staff were not being supported to the degree they needed to be,” he said.
“We were losing a lot of quality staff to other schools.”
The teacher said this change now allowed staff to focus on the future of the college.
“90 per cent of the staff are excited about the new school,” he said.
“It will be easier for us to build collegiality in the next 12 months.”
Another teacher, who was also involved in union discussions and wanted to remain anonymous, said while he was “cautiously optimistic”, staff were feeling a “renewed sense of hope”.
“Let’s hope the new person can rally the troops,” he said.
“The saddest part is the good teachers we’ve lost.”
Figures obtained by The Goulburn Valley News and verified by multiple teachers showed a significant number of staff had left the school, were intending on leaving the school or went on stress leave in 2020.
Greater Shepparton Voice 4 Choice Public Education Robyn Boschetti said she was glad there was action as teachers had contacted her with complaints about the school throughout the year.
“I hope teachers get the result they want and I hope they’re satisfied,” she said.
“But we still want our schools back.”
Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell encouraged parents and teachers to keep speaking out if they had concerns with education in Shepparton.
“Particularly, if they want choice in education, parents should continue to lobby members of parliament to achieve that outcome,” she said.
AEU Victorian Branch president Meredith Peace said the union was aware of issues that have been raised by teachers and support staff at Greater Shepparton Secondary College.
“All schools need to have strong and effective consultative processes with staff, and this is particularly important in large and complex mergers such as Shepparton,” she said.
“The union has supported members to develop strong consultation at the school and will continue to work with members and the Department of Education to address specific concerns and ensure the school merger is successful.”
Official Department of Education figures showed there were 200 fewer students at the college in 2020 compared with the combined enrolment numbers for the four schools in 2019.
At the beginning of 2020, Shepparton’s four public schools were merged into one school called Greater Shepparton Secondary College.
The new college is being built on the old Shepparton High site, which has recently received a $119 million boost in state government funding for its completion by 2022.
In the meantime, college students are spread across the Wanganui, McGuire and Mooroopna campuses.
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