Deborah Patterson ~ Principal of Mill Park Heights Primary
I am sitting at my desk Monday morning just before Recess preparing my notes for a staff member who I have to talk to regarding their performance. This will be done at 11.40 am. He shouted abusively at a student last Monday at 9.10 am and as a consequence had the following four days off. He was referred to the Employment Assistance Program which is provided by the Department of Education and Early Childhood (DEECD) who offer employees four free counselling sessions. I will discuss his Return to School Plan in the hope of providing support etc. So as you can understand I am feeling tense, angry and apprehensive.
My day begins at 6 am rise and shine, shower and dress. Which suit will I wear today?
I then drive to Mac Donalds at around 6.45 amwhere I order a long black coffee, piece of raisin toast and watch the 7 am news while reading the Herald Sun and Age. I do this about twice a week and on other mornings have breakfast at home with my husband and one son still at home even though he is 28. Once a week I meet with other local Principals for a good coffee and chat. More like a touch base and collegiate support exercise. We need this to keep our morale up and in tune with the day to day changes with the Department. Plus we have a good old gossip, whinge and pat each other on the back so to speak.
This is my second school as a Principal. I spent nearly seven years as Principal at Templestowe Valley Primary School in the Eastern Region where I thought I had been shot and gone to heaven. It had 160 enrolments when I arrived in April of 1999 and I left in September 2006 it had enrolments of 410. I used to say that out the front of TVPS in Birchwood Avenue, there were five speed humps. Four were made of asphalt and tar and one was me lying on the road. I would do anything to stop traffic if it meant having a new enrolment! Some staff even joked that I hired a plane which flew over Station Pier when the boats from overseas arrived with “Come to Templestowe Valley PS”. It was a beautiful school to cut my teeth on and I loved every minute.
However with 410 students and after nearly seven years I got bored and so applied for the Principal position at Mill Park Heights Primary School. With 1,050 students and around 90 staff I wanted a challenge and boy, did I get it! The obvious benefit was that it was only one and a half songs on my car CD from home. Five minutes up the road. Schools begins at 8.45am and finishes at 3.10 pm. I leave around 5pm and go home, change into the dressing gown and cook tea and then watch a bit of television i.e. news, then spent around 1 hour back on the computer finishing off the emails I did not get to during the day. I get around 80 emails per day. I go to bed around 8.30 pm most nights except on Tuesday and Wednesday nights when I play netball. Yes, still at the age of 52 I find time to play my beloved sport.
One tool of the trade that I cannot live without is my mobile phone. I can read my emails with it and it is also a camera. It is on 24 hours a day as I am on call for the Department. I lease my car which helps with the tax issue. I have around 20 suits which take over my part of the wardrobe; my husband’s and I have overtaken the spare room wardrobe since my daughter left home.
I can hardly wait for my son to get married in 2010 when I take over his wardrobe! My husband wears overalls so he doesn’t need as much space as I do. Well that is what I tell him!
I am a grandmother, two children a son 28 and a daughter 23. God only knows how I have managed to remain married to the same man Des for 32 years. We actually went overseas last year for eight weeks and had a ball! Should have done it years ago but we needed to spend some quality time together and it was magic.
I use Google Calendar where the office staff organise my appointments. The entire staff of nearly 92 can view my calendar at anytime. I believe in being open, honest and transparent. The trick is to be careful with inclusions like, Hair Appointment, Eye Brow Wax and Tint, Secret Liaison with ?, only joking, no time in the world for any funny business in Education. It is so incestuous someone is bound to find out!
I don’t count my meetings anymore as they continue throughout the week. I meet with my Principal Class Advisory Team every Monday after the big Whole School Assembly with 1.050 students and 200 parents inside our double sized gymnasium. It is a real show with chants, actions, speeches and performances. Mostly from me, hahahah. Students run the meetings and I love them.
I consider myself to be extremely lucky to be able to enjoy my job. I look forward every day to school, the smiles of the student’s faces and the unpredictability of the school day etc. I am in the process of organising several projects. The first is a one million Administration and Oval Upgrade and Refurbishment, $200,000 National Schools Pride Project with extra playground equipment and a two million second campus Redevelopment. My School Resource Package is around $6 million, 92 staff and 15 staff members on family leave ~ so this is a big job!
So while you are reading this extract sitting back in your arm chair I can only imagine that you don’t miss what is happening.
Or maybe you do!
Retirement is a long way off for me at the moment.
Thank you for taking the time to read my very small snapshot of my life as a Principal in 2009.