School Principal

St Paul’s Grammar School

Penrith, Australia

1989 - 1997

I came to St Paul’s when the school was six years old as its third Principal.  Under my eight years of headship, the school expanded from being a high school (Years 7-12) with 500 students into a full K-12 school with over 1200 students with the establishment of a Junior School on the campus (K-6).  The Junior School quickly gained an impressive reputation for high standards and innovation, including compulsory teaching of Chinese language from Kindergarten to Year 6.  To accommodate the expansion of student numbers, I guided six large building programs, two of which involved innovative and highly acclaimed adobe (mud-brick) construction.  I worked to build a strong, cohesive community in the school, including inviting each student to visit my office for an individual chat on their birthday, editing the 10th anniversary book “The First of Many Decades”, and writing the school’s first definitive statement of philosophy and educational principles, the book “Foundations”.  I gained membership of the school in several significant peak ‘mainstream’ networking organisations including AHISA and HMC, and worked successfully to make St Paul’s a founding member of HICES.  I introduced a Gifted and Talented program that included then-innovative practices including acceleration and vertical streaming.  I demonstrated creativity, patience and negotiating skills by successfully negotiating and establishing a joint-venture branch of the school in Harbin (north-east China), a task that involved sorting through a myriad of legal, governmental and regulatory hurdles, as well as demonstrating a deep level of cultural sensitivity.  I also introduced the IB Diploma in 1990 – a bravely pioneering step way at the time as the IB was largely unknown in Australia at the time – St Paul’s was only the second IB school in New South Wales and the first in the state to offer examinations in the November session.  Internationalism became a key feature of the school under my leadership, supported by his establishment of sister school relationships with schools in China, Japan and Russia.  With the support of the School Council, I established the Development Office, bringing back Adrian Lamrock (the School’s Founding Principal) as its first director; Adrian subsequently raised significant sums for capital building projects as well as inaugurating annual school musical productions and starting the regular magazine “Futurum”.  Also with the Council’s support, I established annual scholarships, and I played a strong role in the successful local campaign to reverse a government proposal to establish a huge rubbish tip just along the road from the school.  Apparently I am also especially remembered for my introduction of a system of student awards for effort that positively transformed the learning ethos of the student body.  Throughout my time at St Paul’s, I chose to stay in touch with my students and with my teachers’ daily needs by teaching full regular classes of Geography.

A gallery of photos showing the school during my principalship can be seen HERE.