20 public schools and preschools across SA advertising for new principals and directors

Schools and preschools across the state are offering between $125,000 and $175,000 to lure new leaders. Is yours on the list?

Preschools with just a handful of youngsters and schools as far as 1400km away are among public education sites seeking new leaders.

At least 20 schools and preschools are advertising for new principals and directors.

The highest wage on offer is $174,594 to start 2024 as principal of Northern Adelaide Senior College in Elizabeth.

The farthest posting is at Amata Anangu School, 1400km north of Adelaide on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands near the border with the Northern Territory.

The remote school with about 100 students is advertising for a new principal to start on September 4 on a salary of $149,911.

Both Pinnaroo and Kalangadoo kindergartens are seeking part-time directors to oversee fewer than 10 students enrolled at the centres in the Murraylands and the state’s South-East.

Successful applicants would work 0.5 of the full-time equivalent role, which offers a salary of $125,233.

New directors at Keith War Memorial Community Centre Kindergarten and Port Pirie West Children’s Centre would each earn $141,686 annually.

All the contracts on offer run until January 2027 or 2029 and applications close this month.

The Education Department says it has so far advertised 42 principal positions and 22 preschool director positions in 2023, including those currently online.

There are also 18 schools and 7 preschools with an acting principal or director who will soon be recruiting.

At another 17 schools and 8 preschools the principal or director is in their final year of their appointment.

There are almost 850 public education sites across South Australia.

Education Department chief executive Martin Westwell said the department was monitoring vacancies “closely and being innovative around recruitment”.

Positions at regional and remote schools can come with incentives including annual allowances of between $1900 and $10,000, subsidised accommodation and money to cover moving expenses.

“We work hard to offer professional development, leadership and mentoring in order to recruit and retain principals and preschool directors in a challenging national marketplace,” Professor Westwell said.

“The department is not immune from the national shortage of educators which is currently being experienced, however I believe we are working hard in South Australia to recruit and keep the best leaders available in public education.”

Blackwood High School principal Chris Brandwood – with Year 7 students Paige, 13, and Callum, 12 – took on the role at the start of 2023. Picture: Mark Brake

After 20 years leading schools across Adelaide, Chris Brandwood took on a new challenge at the start of this year as principal of about 1200 students at Blackwood High School.

He knows taking the top job brings more responsibility for non-teaching tasks – like workplace safety, facilities and human resources – but said it is “deeply satisfying” to set the culture at a school and “have a hand in” hiring teachers or designing building upgrades.

“It’s a big role. I try and get out and around classrooms every day because I still love interaction with kids,” said Mr Brandwood, who has been a teacher for four decades.

“A lot of kids do drop in (to his office) for a chat and that’s really nice as a principal, rather than the stereotype of the principal does all the stuff with the naughty kids.

Mr Brandwood said he “had no ambition to be a principal” early in his career but “took opportunities” and worked his way up through assistant and deputy positions.

He said there was more support and training now for aspiring principals to understand their leadership style and learn non-teaching skills, such as in finance or business management.

Originally published as 20 public schools and preschools across SA advertising for new principals and directors