Australian Primary Principals Day celebrates NT teachers and leaders
Territory schools are taking stock of their achievements this Australian Primary Principals’ Day. Read about the Netflix deals, wellbeing dogs, and footy dreams that connect leaders to learners.
Northern Territory
Don't miss out on the headlines from Northern Territory. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Principals are behind the brightest young minds of the country and are best-positioned to support students, families, teachers and communities.
Australian Primary Principals’ Day on Friday is the chance to celebrate the hard work of the nation’s top education leaders.
Read about the wellbeing dogs, Netflix phenomena, footy dreams, and unique initiatives five principals have brought to their Territory schools.
Malcolm Hales – Barunga School
Barunga School principal Malcolm Hales said one of the biggest achievements of his school was its students’ role in hit Netflix series Barrumbi Kids.
Mr Hales said a small group of students were given leading roles in the Logie-nominated show and he had a non-speaking role in the production.
Based on books by Leonie Norrington, Barrumbi Kids follows the story of two best friends growing up on Country in Mandjarkkorl, a remote community on the edge of Arnhem Land.
“The other highlight is that Justine Clarke has been coming up here since about 2017 and in the last three years some of the students – with one of their teachers – have written a book and that book has been launched,” Mr Hales said.
“Justine’s put music to it and now it’s become a song.”
Mr Hales said the book – titled Shordi Krik – would be used to launch Indigenous Literacy Day and the kids would be performing the accompanying song at the Sydney Opera House in four weeks’ time.
Noella Goveas – Millner Primary School
Millner Primary School principal Noella Goveas has shaped her leadership style around connection and wellbeing during her 18 months at the school.
She said the school’s focus on embedding wellbeing practices into classrooms prompted her to adopt Chai and train him as a support animal.
“We are a trauma-informed practice school, a lot of our work is based on relationships with students and their families, knowing the history of a student’s family and what they bring,” Ms Goveas said.
“They don’t come in empty, they come in with all those experiences, so I knew that a wellbeing animal would just be placed really well.”
The six-month old cavoodle spends three days a week greeting students at the start of the day, touring classrooms, and spending time calming students with sensory needs or anxiety.
Ms Goveas said her mother was also a teacher and inspired her to pursue a career in education.
“All my study, everything I did was to be a teacher, to be a leader came second,” she said.
“(It is) pretty scary to think that you’re responsible for everything and everyone, but it’s where I want to be.”
Kevin Gaskin – Elliott School
Elliott School principal Kevin Gaskin’s strong community connection gives him an extra edge to push his students in the right direction.
He said the school used Tennant Creek’s weekend community footy matches to encourage students to maintain their presence at school.
Mr Gaskin said one student made it all the way to the grand final and won a medal but “something happened in his life that he left us”.
“He ended up back in our community this year and I heard that he was here in our community in first term,” he said.
Soon after visiting the student with several photos from their footy days, the student asked if he could come back to class.
“If I said to him, ‘you need to come back to school’, I know that it wouldn’t have worked, so I had to work around it,” Mr Gaskin said.
“I did that through the photos that we had and I said, “I hope to see you at school but it’s just good to come and see you and see how you’re going’.”
Mr Gaskin said building those community ties and relationships over the past six years was pivotal to his role as a principal.
Brenda Jolley – Larapinta Primary School
Since Brenda Jolley joined Larapinta Primary School as its principal, the school has celebrated the opening of its new early childhood precinct.
Ms Jolley said the Child and Family Centre meant the school could better engage with the community and connect with families “even before children are born”.
“Then when they’re tiny babies and then when they’re toddlers and then they move into preschool and then they move into our school, so those connections are really, really strong,” she said.
“We’ve got an opportunity to impact on the development of the children through all those early years.”
The centre also serves as a base for several community initiatives including Bikes Mwerre, a program that operates three days a week after school.
“That’s bike fixing, bike riding, lots of great socialisation for kids down there,” Ms Jolley said.
She said the program – as well as others like Polly Farmer after-school clubs – played an important role in keeping kids engaged during the evenings and out of trouble.
Matthew Qualischefski – Good Shepherd Lutheran College
Matthew Qualischefski’s first principalship brought him to a new Territory as well as a new school.
The Good Shepherd Lutheran College leader said he was nine months into the new job after 19 years in Lutheran schools across Australia, including a number of senior leadership roles.
“Since starting in this role I have come to learn that being a principal is extremely difficult, extremely demanding, but also extremely rewarding,” he said.
“Being part of a community and leading the conversations about who we are and keeping the focus on our vision is just as important and directly relates to helping improve the learning and wellbeing outcomes for our students.”
Mr Qualischefski said seeing his students get “so excited about learning” was the highlight of working in primary schools.
“Working with primary aged students has been fantastic, engaging with the early and primary aged learners gives you a special sense of joy,” he said.
“Watching and seeing the rapid growth and learning that takes place over these foundational years is amazing.”
Robyn Thorpe – Northern Territory Principals’ Association
Northern Territory Principals’ Association president Robyn Thorpe said the Australian Primary Principals’ Day was a chance to celebrate leaders across all stages of schooling.
“School leaders enrich the lives of our children and young people by helping them to reach their potential and to achieve success,” she said.
“Their tasks go beyond that of a job description and during times of change, uncertainty and community challenges such as bushfires, floods and pandemics, they step up and lead with incredible strength, resilience and positivity.”
‘Urgent’ calls to review Native Title
Coalition senators are expected to renew their calls to grill Aboriginal Corporations and Land Councils in the Federal parliament this week.
Wild wasp chase leads to unexpected discovery for photographers
A two year wait after a wild wasp chase in the Northern Territory has ended for a pair of wildlife photographers, who have received confirmation they have discovered a new species. Find out more.