Wee Waa High School has welcomed a second deputy principal – Robert Eaton – who will have a key focus on building the digital literacy of staff and students.

Mr Eaton said the 18 month contract opportunity to join the high school was too appealing to miss.

After completing a Computer Science and Finance degree at the University of New England, Mr Eaton forged a successful early career in IT sales and management for well-known retail giant, Harvey Norman.

It was at UNE that he met his wife, Paula Wheeler of Narrabri, who was studying the same degree.

With a love of people, the service industry and finding solutions to people’s IT needs, Mr Eaton said there were strong parallels between the work he was doing then and teaching.

“Finding solutions to each customer’s unique needs is no different to understanding the way each student learns, then tailoring how you deliver information,” he said.

It was Mr Eaton’s talent for identifying and implementing efficient and workable solutions that saw him quickly move through management roles at Harvey Norman at various stores on the East Coast of NSW.

All the while his wife was building her IT career with Westpac, Mr Eaton decided to follow his growing interest in education and teaching young people, and embarked on a Graduate Diploma via distance education.

With small children and his wife working full time, “it was a juggling act,” and it paid off.

After teaching casually at Maitland High School, he was offered a permanent position in their computer faculty.

It was here that he taught technology and robotics as well as a gaming class for Year 10 students so that they could learn coding.

For Year 11 students, he taught software programming, IT processes and technology.

With a student population of 1100, for the last three years, Mr Eaton has been the head teacher of wellbeing and the Year 11 head teacher at Maitland High.

“It was hard leaving my Year 11 cohort as I have been with them since Year 7,” he explained.

“Touring Google headquarters a few years back was an ‘eye opening’ experience.

“To see how they approach employability skills really captured my interest, and from a teaching perspective it helped give me insight into how I can best prepare students for what industry needs into the future.

“The experience really helped me shape strategies to increase students’ digital literacy.

“Being able to tailor learning so that it is logical and replicable for each individual student is something that gives me a great deal of satisfaction.

“The opportunity to now do this for staff and students alike in a small school environment was really appealing to me.

“The time savings I can help our teachers achieve using the Microsoft One Note technology that the Department of Education has put in place will make lesson preparation more efficient, and it will be easier to tailor learning to each students’ individual need.

“I know from firsthand experience, this really helps us as teachers find our work more rewarding.

“For students, the ultimate outcome is for them to be highly employable when they leave high school and to be comfortable navigating their way around different programs.

“Whether a student is wanting to be a mechanic, a health care practitioner or almost anything else, digital literacy is essential.

“I’m already enjoying being at Wee Waa High and this new opportunity to stretch myself and students.

“I have a really great opportunity here to positively impact the school and I’m really grateful,” said Mr Eaton.

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