WWHS Welcomes Four New Teachers 

We are delighted to welcome four new teaching staff to WWHS this term. We hope you enjoy the interviews we recently conducted with each them;

Mr Robert Eaton - Deputy Principal 

Wee Waa High has welcomed a second Deputy Principal in Mr Robert Eaton who has 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 says there are 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’. 

It was his talent for identifying and implementing efficient and workable solutions that saw Mr Eaton 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 1,100, for the last three years Mr Eaton has been the Head Teacher Wellbeing and the Year 11 Year Advisor 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 needs. I know from first hand 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’.

Ms Adelle Roscoe - HSIE

It was a love of history and an inspirational teacher that inspired new Wee Waa High School HSIE teacher, Ms Adelle Roscoe to pursue a teaching career.

Ms Roscoe said ‘It was when I was around 16 that I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I had a history teacher who was absolutely dynamic. She was truly one-of-a-kind. She was so passionate about history and bringing it to life for her students. We would design and take part in Aztec battles with other classes, make models of things like terracotta warriors, shields and armour’.

‘Making history so relatable was a great talent of hers. She could transport you back in time and you could almost see yourself a part of what was happening. It was so exciting and she really cultivated my love of history and how to be a great teacher. 

‘I grew up in Newcastle so I straight after high school I went to the University of Newcastle and trained in history and drama, but I knew it was a history teacher that I wanted to be.’

After graduating in 2015, Ms Roscoe quickly secured a permanent position as Hay War Memorial High School as a history teacher. ‘The school is literally like a museum that houses all of Hay’s war memorabilia. War history plays a prominent part in the Hay community as the first seven soldiers drafted from that region were from Hay. It’s a part of their history that the town doesn’t forget. The town itself is based in history and the community pays great respect to the sacrifice and contribution of their forebears’. 

It was this first experience of living regionally that had Ms Roscoe hooked. ‘I loved Hay. It is such a beautiful area and I just loved the people I worked with and the students. It’s a similar size to WWHS. After five years in Hay, I was thinking about finding another school in rural NSW to get another rural teaching and living perspective. So, when I met one of your science teachers, Ms Taylor though a mutual friend and she mentioned how great WWHS was, I was in. Ms Taylor spoke of WWHS’ great culture and how resilient the staff and students are. She said there was a real sense of team, and that is just what I like’.

'I came for a visit late last term and fell in love with the community. I drove back to Hay knowing that I wanted Wee Waa High to be the next chapter in my life and career’.

At WWHS Ms Roscoe is teaching History, Geography, Commerce and English and said, ‘I really like the mix’.

Ms Roscoe has bought with her her much loved pets, her 17-year-old cat, Cinnamon and her running partner, Blossom, a spirited two year old border collie. Ms Roscoe added ‘Where I go, these two go too’. A regular runner and cyclist, Ms Roscoe reflected on having been a keen cross country runner since high school. 

Having begun to find her feet, Ms Roscoe said she is ‘enjoying getting to know each of my students, what they are wanting from their education and what their interests are. Once I know this, I can tailor my classes to inspire and fuel their love of learning’.

Mr Mark Patterson - HSIE 

Born and bred in the Blue Mountains and with a love of the great outdoors, new Wee Waa High School teacher, Mr Mark Patterson was destined to find himself teaching in a rural high school.

‘My mother is a dedicated and passionate teacher, so teaching was always in the back of my mind as being a rewarding and challenging career, however it was actually a Bachelor of Psychology that I studied at university’. 

‘While studying, I worked as an Student Learning Support Officer (SLSO) at a Western Sydney high school. I built a strong rapport with the students as I worked at assisting them with their learning and this really captured my interest and the realisation just how valuable education is. Providing that targeted help and seeing students progress was so rewarding. Every young person needs and deserves a great education’.

‘So after completing my three year psychology degree, I chose to do a Masters in Teaching and graduated in 2017’.

‘I secured a fulltime teaching role straight out of university with a high school in the Campbelltown area. It was both challenging and tough, but very rewarding. There were 800 students and it was a term-on-term contract. My next role was at Cherrybrook Technology High School as a HSIE teacher for two years. I taught English, History, Geography, Society and Culture. I loved the subject variety you have with being a HSIE teacher’. 

‘The students at Cherrybrook Technology High were very motivated to learn and many of them really put quite a bit of pressure on themselves. Every student and school is different and each teaching role is challenging, but for different reasons’. 

‘It’s the rapport and relationship you develop with your students that helps make their schooling more impactful. Being a positive role model is a responsibility I take very seriously. Whether it be sport or in the classroom, or simply how I conduct myself out of school in a small country town, being a positive influence is never far from my mind’.

‘2020 was going to be my year to travel the world. I got to Brazil and was just five weeks into a 12 month trip when Covid hit. I returned to Australia and soon after a teaching role at Narrabri High School came up. I grabbed it with both hands and was there for three terms as a HSIE teacher’. 

Returning to Sydney at the end of his contract, Mr Patterson started teaching at a small school for behaviourally challenged youth. He explained, ‘I loved my work but I missed the North West. So when I became aware of a six month teaching contract opening up at Wee Waa High School, I didn’t think twice. It really didn’t take much to get me back out here’. 

A keen community person and sportsman, particularly rugby league, Mr Paterson is playing got Narrabri Rugby League Club. On weekends it’s not just sport that keeps Mr Paterson bury but also his love of hiking and camping. ‘I think I’ve done just about every bush walk there is in the area. It’s just such a beautiful region’.

‘I’m here initially for six months, but I am pretty keen to stick around. I am loving being a part of the community. Professionally, this is a great opportunity for me and I am keen to learn and grow as much as I can as a teacher’.

Mrs Penni Wallington - PE and Childcare Studies

It was a five week practicum teaching placement at Wee Waa High School in 2019 that ignited new teaching graduate, Mr Penni Wallington’s interest in securing further teaching work with the school once she graduated. Teaching is the second iteration in Mrs Wallington’s fascinating career. 

After studying Sports Science at the University of Technology Sydney, the first chapter of Ms Wallington’s career spanned 20 exciting years in sports marketing working for the NSW Rugby League and the Australian Rugby League. 

A self-confessed sports enthusiastic, Ms Wallington was the Sponsor Relations and Events Manager for the Australian Hockeyroos when they played in the Sydney Olympics. 'Securing sponsors and looking after them was a big part of my job. Another key aspect was facilitating overseas teams to come to Australia to play our team and vice versa. It was a challenging and enjoyable time’.

Throughout this time, Ms Wallington was also a gymnastics coach and said, ‘Teaching is always something I have had a strong interest in and have enjoyed'. For this reason Ms Wallington began her Diploma of Education studies a number of years ago and steadily worked away at it while balancing work and family commitments.

Originally from Coffs Harbour, Mrs Wallington’s career has taken her to several destinations, the most recent being Narrabri, arriving three and a half years ago.

‘From my first few days at WWHS back in 2019, I knew this was a school I wanted to return to. The staff and students were so welcoming, and continue to be. I enjoyed the whole feel of the school. When I received the call about a contract role teaching PE and Child Studies until the end of the year 2021, I didn’t hesitate’.