Interview with Brent Plowright

Interview - Mr Brent Plowright

Assistant Principal 

How long have you worked at BNPS?

I started teaching here at BNPS in 2010 in Year 4. After that I taught in Year 6 for about 7 years. I then taught for 2 years in Year 5. 

This year I was appointed as one of the Assistant Principals to Mrs Duffy.

Who inspires you?  

My son. Nothing changes the way that you see the World around you than when you get to see it through your child’s eyes. 

He is quite a sensitive little boy, and gets very nervous around crowds and trying new things. To see the bravery he exhibits every day just to go to school, swimming lessons or soccer practise inspires me. 

We always tell him, being brave isn’t about doing something dangerous, it’s about doing something when you feel nervous or afraid.

What is your favourite thing to do on the weekends? 

Going for walks, kicking the soccer ball or playing video games with my little boy. I also love playing basketball, and have recently started playing competitively for the first time in about 20 years. I think I may need to get a bit fitter. 

If you weren’t a Teacher what do you think you might be doing?

I was always interested in journalism when I was in high school, and investigated doing a journalism course at one stage. 

Although I never had plans to be a pilot, I also applied to the Air Force, but was told I was too tall to be able to do a lot of the jobs required on an actual aircraft which would have limited my opportunities. 

Are you an early bird or a night owl?  

Neither. I was definitely a night owl before becoming a dad, but my son is an early bird, so that means we are all up early. This  also means I generally go to bed very early. My body may be up early, but my brain certainly isn’t, that’s why I  don’t consider myself an early bird.

What might someone be surprised to know about you ?

My dad lived in  Hong Kong for the first 15 years of my life, which meant I used go back and forth once or twice a year. 

What’s something you saw recently that made you smile?  

Peter Bol making it through to 800m final at the Olympic Games. His story is amazing.  

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose ?

I’d love to be the Director of the CIA for a day and find out all the secrets that we don’t know about.

What would you like to say to the students of  BNPS? 

Don’t be afraid to fail and make mistakes! This is something that I used to tell the students in my class all the time. 

I also tell my son the same thing. When we fail, we know that we have pushed ourselves. Failing helps us to set goals to improve. When we make mistakes, we learn from them. Some of the greatest scientific discoveries have been made trough failing and mistakes. In fact, it is an integral part of the scientific process. In order to grow, we all have to fail and make mistakes.

Mr Plowright who is a 'mad' North Melbourne supporter is holding a present  that the Year 3 students made for him.