Oonoonba State School principal Anne-Marie Day calls time after decades-long career

A Townsville principal will exit the school gates one last time as she says goodbye to the grounds she’s overseen through heartbreaking challenges like the 2019 floods and Covid-19.

Principal of Oonoonba State School Anne-Marie Day is leaving her role after being with the school since its opening. Picture: Shae Beplate.

At just five-years-old, Anne-Marie Day knew she wanted to be a teacher.

The Oonoonba State School principal now looks back at her decades-long career in education and will wrap up her extensive, successful 20 plus years holding the head role at the North Queensland primary school.

Mrs Day will say goodbye to her staff and students after taking on the role in 2003, one year after the school opened its Fairfield location.

“It’s really hard to leave, but I had to make that decision because I felt it was the right time for me to allow someone else that opportunity to come in and work with the students and staff,” she said.

“If you would’ve said when I was a four or five year-old girl who wanted to be a teacher, and that’s all I wanted to do, that I was going to be here for 42 years later working, after I finished school and uni I never would’ve believed it.

“I was just a country girl, I grew up in Ingham but I love school and I wanted to give back.”

The mother and now grandmother, started her career as a teacher in prep to grade three and said she had “no intention” of advancing into a principal role until a position as an assistant junior principal arose.

Principal of Oonoonba State School Anne-Marie Day is leaving her role after being with the school since its opening. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Soon after, she went on maternity leave and when she returned, her role had been turned into a deputy principal position which she undertook at Annandale State School.

It was after fulfilling her role as acting principal for a number of years at multiple schools that was offered the opportunity as principal at a “growing school” that was relocating, and is now known to be Oonoonba State School.

“We had 176 students, now we have 525,” Mrs Day said.

“It’s been a slow growth but no doubt, growth. It’s been a real interesting journey as new children and families come in and teachers.

“The culture at our school is very strong, we’ve worked together well and our community is very supportive which is lovely to have.”

The school’s culture and support has of course, like many schools, been tested – with incredible challenges like the 2019 floods that destroyed almost the entire school, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I wanted our teachers to go through what they did have and what they had lost, and that was part of that grieving for them too with the floods,” the principal said.

“It was a mammoth task, it took us three years to rebuild.

“I felt proud that the community could trust that we had the kids best interests and welfare and learning at heart and they could worry about just what they needed to do.”

Principal of Oonoonba State School Anne-Marie Day is leaving her role after being with the school since its opening. Picture: Shae Beplate.

She said that teachers at the school had been teaching the concept of resilience which was incredibly useful during the outburst of Covid.

“Students had to learn how to be resilient in those times, it was tough for everyone.”

Mrs Day shared her favourite philosophy that derived from Seattle fish mongers and she entrenched in the school to encourage positive learning – which she calls the Fish Philosophy.

“I felt that the four principals of the fish philosophy were really strong so we’ve kind of built on that which is: make their day, choose your attitude, be there for people and play,” she said.

“Play not at the expense of others but have fun and I did that quite heavily for a number of years then reintroduced it.”

When asked what the next chapter holds, she said she would be taking time off to travel Europe with family before deciding what path her career will take saying it’s difficult as education had been her whole life.

“I just need some time to reflect and work out what to do,” she said.

“Now society is pretty complex, so I still have that desire to help people and help kids learn because education is what drives everything.

“I’ve had a wonderful career, I’ve been very blessed.”

Originally published as Oonoonba State School principal Anne-Marie Day calls time after decades-long career