A visit to the principal’s office can be a nerve-wracking experience and bring back all sorts of memories; however, The Courier was warmly welcomed into the office of Jacki Neil last week after she was officially named Wee Waa High School’s new principal.
Ms Neil had a bright smile on her face and an even brighter yellow sunflower sitting on her desk.
The flower was a gift from a kind staff member, a small but meaningful gesture that reflects Ms Neil’s popularity in the community.
“I was extremely excited when I got this job because I love the school and I love the kids and the staff,” she said.
“We’ve got an amazing community.
“It was also a relief to get the job because I’ve been relieving in the principal’s role since about April last year, and before that I did stints in the role as well.
“It was just nice to have it set in stone and to give the school stability – I thought that was really important.
“The reaction has been lovely: the staff have all been really positive and I’ve had lovely messages from the P and C, parents and colleagues.”
Ms Neil’s commitment to providing students with a stable learning environment is one of the reasons she stepped up to a role that others might have found far too daunting to take on. In recent years, WWHS has faced more than its fair share of challenges, from the impacts of floods and COVID to mould issues causing a campus relocation.
However, Ms Neil knows there have been plenty of reasons to celebrate WWHS staff and students during this time too, and she firmly believes the school has a bright future ahead.
“I was really keen to get the principal’s job permanently because I thought we’d started so many great things and I’d been involved in so much,” said Ms Neil.
“This year working with Marjory (Drummond, deputy principal), one of the main focuses has been just trying to settle everything – settle the kids, settle the staff.
“I thought getting the job permanently meant we could implement everything we’ve started – the new school and new ways that we want to teach in the new school as well. We’ve started doing professional learning (PL) with staff about using education spaces in a different way and how to use different types of teaching to engage the kids.
“We’re going to have these amazing spaces at the new school that can be used in a different way.
“I think that will be really important moving forward and I think that will help the kids engage because post-COVID and mould and floods – attendance hasn’t been great but I think once we settle and move to the new school, that will make a world of difference.”
WWHS’ relocation to the multi-million-dollar school on Purcell Avenue has been delayed until Term 2 next year. Along with the rest of the school community, Ms Neil can’t wait to make the move to the new state-of-the-art facility, which she knows will bring bountiful opportunities to both the students and the town of Wee Waa.
“Enrolments are up; we’re up 30 students this year, and next year, our Year 7 is already at 45 students and normally; we’re about 25.
“So, I think that shows people have got confidence in what we’re doing and where we’re going, which is really important. The students are from across the shire and region. It’s great for confidence in the town – if our numbers keep going up, then I’ll need more staff, and so then that’s more growth because it means that we need more teachers, we need more support learning officers, more office staff.
“And that flow-on effect is awesome for the town because that brings more people to the area – it’s positive.”
Ms Neil seems perfectly suited to the role of principal, but it’s not a job she ever imagined herself pursuing when she started studying teaching. In fact, education was Ms Neil’s second choice at university, but once she got a taste for the profession, there was no turning back. She realised a life in the classroom was her calling.
And, like many talented educators before her, Ms Neil experienced first-hand the positive power a teacher can have on a student, particularly when it comes to boosting self-esteem and supporting students to believe in themselves.
“I had teachers that definitely had an impact on me and helped me grow in confidence and showed faith in me because I wasn’t a very confident kid – I was pretty shy and quiet,” she explained.
“I had teachers that really pushed me to go to university, and so did my family; for them, it wasn’t an option – I was going to university,” said Ms Neil.
“But now, I’m really grateful because if they hadn’t pushed me, I wouldn’t have gone.
“I started a business degree and did it for two days and then was going to change and leave uni but my family said, ‘Just choose something else to study’.
“And a former teacher, who I’m really good friends with, she also said to choose something else.
“So, I thought ‘Oh well, I’m good at economics; I’ll be an economics teacher.’
“And that’s how it happened.
“I started teaching in 1995 in Griffith.
“I had really good staff to work with there: they were really supportive, very experienced, and they hadn’t had a new teacher join them for a long time, so they were so excited too.
“And I’m still friends with all of them.”
Ms Neil said her former Griffith teaching colleagues ‘helped her grow into the teacher she is today’, and from there, her career blossomed – from the classroom to leadership positions.
“Next, I moved to Muswellbrook and that’s where I was a head teacher.
“I then left schools and went to work for New England TAFE for 10 years and then came back to Wee Waa High as a teacher in 2016 and then became a head teacher and then a deputy and then principal.
“I do miss being in the classroom because I don’t teach any classes anymore.
“I miss teaching my business and legal studies because they were my favourite subjects and economics.
“But I always say to everyone, it’s an open-door policy here.
“So, everyone comes in here: the kids come into my office, and I love the fact the kids come in and sit and talk to me and tell me what they’re doing and give me stuff to put on the wall.
“It’s lovely, and I guess that’s the way I try to lead – I don’t have a closed-door policy; I like being accessible.
“The kids like to come in and tell me what we’re doing wrong or what we’re doing right – they’re great kids, they’re such campaigners.”
Ms Neil said working as a team with WWHS families, students, and staff is what has helped produce the best results during difficult times.
Drawing strength from each other to overcome hurdles and achieve positive outcomes.
Whether that’s a standout student achieving fifth in the state in Primary Industries, the school’s bowling team blitzing the field, or a troubled teen finding a subject they love and a teacher they connect with to guide them through their studies.
Ms Neil said she will continue to encourage this collaborative approach as WWHS embarks on its next chapter with her now, officially, at the helm.
“I’ve got some principal colleagues who I will ring for advice,” she said.
“There’s just too much to know in the job and you just can’t actually know everything, and it changes so frequently.”
A phrase Ms Neil often thinks about is: ‘You can be a leader, but if people aren’t following you then you’re just going for a stroll’.
“I’ve got to make decisions that are the best for the school. And you’ve got to make sure that everyone’s on the same page and coming along with you,” she said.
“I was talking to our executive director in Moree, and she said, ‘You’ve been resilient’ and I said, ‘Well, I had to be because I couldn’t walk away from the staff and the students and the families because they’ve stuck by us, so they needed someone to stick by them’.
“When we had to go paperless, or we had to throw away resources (because of mould) – everyone had to lean on each other because everyone was really emotional.
“And it was tough.
“But if I didn’t have the staff that I had or the kids, then it wouldn’t have worked – we were a real team.
“I might have been sitting in the chair, but it wouldn’t have worked without them.
“I’ve got to thank everyone for sticking with us because it has been challenging.
“I think we’re really lucky that families have stayed with us and are joining us because we are going to move across the road into this amazing facility, and it’s just going to give us so many more opportunities, and I just think we’ll improve our outcomes greatly.
“We are a team, and I think because we’re so small – we know our kids really well as individuals, and everyone works with each other to get the best out of our kids and to get them over the finish line.
“At a bigger school, you can get lost, but our kids who would potentially get lost in a bigger school don’t get lost here because we know them
really well, and we can help them.
“We can help them get a job or get a traineeship or a scholarship to go to university.
“We can provide them with lots of opportunities.”
As a self-described ‘shy kid’, one of Ms Neil’s missions as principal is to give back by instilling confidence in her students and staff so they can continue to thrive and feel supported in achieving their goals.
“I like the way that teachers can influence kids,” she explained.
“My teachers helped me develop confidence in myself, and although I wasn’t the best student or the best athlete or whatever, they built me up so I felt like I could do something.
“I think that’s what I love doing – showing kids that you don’t have to be the best, but you can still have a go and do amazing things.
“It’s important for kids to know that someone’s got their back, and it doesn’t matter if you fail, they just need to try to give it a go.
“We’ve got to support them to be able to do that and give them those opportunities – sporting, academic and cultural.”
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