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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-03-05 Daily Xml
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Wright Electorate Schools

Mr BOYER (Wright) (15:40): Now that the new school year is well underway, I thought it would be an opportune time to reflect upon some changes in the leadership teams of a number of schools in and around the seat of Wright. Some very long-serving school principals chose the end of the 2019 school year to retire or to move on to new roles in the education sector, and I would like to use this opportunity today to thank them for their many years of service and to welcome their successors and wish them all the best in their new appointments.

Being a school principal is a really tough job. I think, objectively, it is harder than it used to be, and it was never easy. With the prevalence of social media, and all the complications that it is bringing not just to the classroom but also to the schoolyard, principals are now routinely called upon and responsible for dealing with the fallout of online bullying that occurs overnight and on weekends; I have seen the complexity of those issues firsthand.

Last year, I was contacted by a parent whose child had been bullied online, and that bullying then escalated to the transmission of some very nasty messages via a website that protected the identity of the person who was sending those messages. The child of my constituent was terrified, and with very good reason. The school had pulled out all the stops to identify the perpetrator, but they were unable to prove who had sent the messages. Fortunately, with SAPOL's involvement, a phone was seized and, although it could not be determined who had actually recorded the message, it could be determined who had emailed that message to my constituent's child.

The resolution of this matter took months, and it is just one example of the kinds of issues now facing principals every single day. So with that in mind, and before I offer personal thanks to those departing and good fortune to those who are stepping into their shoes, I just want to say I think on behalf of everyone in this place that we do acknowledge your service to our community, and we also acknowledge the increasingly complex world in which you are regularly called upon to be an arbiter.

First of all, I would like to acknowledge the very long tenure of Mr Mike Millard, the outgoing principal of Pedare Christian College. Mike gave more than 10 years of service to Pedare and oversaw a period of real growth for the college, including the co-location of the junior school with the senior school and the delivery of new state-of-the-art facilities for the next generation of Pedare students. I had the pleasure just last Thursday of attending the commissioning ceremony of Mike's successor, Mr James Tamblyn, who joins Pedare from St Peter's College. I wish James all the best in his new role.

St Francis Xavier Regional Catholic School in Wynn Vale has also had a leadership change. Ms Leonie DeGaris, who has been at the helm of SFX for a number of years, has moved to a new role in Catholic Education head office and has been succeeded by Mr Jason Mittiga, previously of St Catherine's School, in Stirling. I would like to wish Ms DeGaris all the best in her new role and thank her for her years of service at St Francis Xavier and also for her personal support. A shout-out must go, too, to Mr Todd La Forgia, who very ably acted in the principal's role until Mr Mittiga was appointed.

I have already had the pleasure of meeting Mr Mittiga on a couple of occasions, and I think he is an excellent choice as principal. He was already a resident of the north-eastern suburbs before being appointed, and he has thrown himself into the role with the kind of hands-on approach that I think the staff, parents and students at St Francis Xavier will respond to very well.

Gleeson College also had a change at the top, with Principal Andrew Baker being tapped on the shoulder for a role with head office for a year. Stepping in is Mr Joe Corbo, previously deputy principal, who will be overseeing the completion of the new Senior Learning Centre. It is a very exciting time for the college, and the residents of the north-east are currently the beneficiaries of some very healthy competition between the three co-located high schools, all of which have undergone significant infrastructure upgrades in the last few years, including the previous Labor government's $2½ million STEM lab, which is now complete at Golden Grove High School.

Last but by no means least, I would like to pay tribute to the outgoing principal of Kings Baptist Grammar School, Mr Russell Eley, who gave an incredible 23 years of service to the Kings' community and just last year stepped away from the school he has shaped for almost a quarter of a century. Mr Eley's successor is Mr Don Grimmett, a former teacher at King's, who most recently served as the principal of Investigator College for 17 years. I wish Russell all the best for the next chapter in his life and welcome Mr Grimmett back to the north-east.

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