Principal's Report

What we intend to build in 2023 and beyond rests on the strong foundations that we have put down together over the course of the last 4 years. As a school, we have a clear vision of what we need to be in order to support our students on their own pathway to success, wherever that may lead. We have students achieving outcomes better than many fee-paying schools, but that’s not the full story. Success comes in all shapes and forms and is celebrated equally by our community. 

We celebrate the success that is the student who struggled with anxiety through remote learning and  who now has found a way to attend school on a regular basis; the student who has struggled through primary school and who is now reading fluently through our Reading Intervention program; the student who has secured a school-based apprenticeship and has found their dream after so much time worrying about what the future holds; the doctors, nurses, scientists, lawyers, astronauts, builders, electricians, plumbers, carers, teachers and every other profession that you can think of that have walked in the footsteps that our students are walking in now.

At Woodmans Hill, we have high expectations and aspirations for all of our students. We know that if they can experience good growth socially, emotionally and academically, then they can be positive enough to create their own future. We are a school that is inclusive and respects every student’s right to be the person they choose to be, provided that they are respectful and accepting of others. We want all students to feel that they belong and that they feel a deep connection to our school values of respect, determination and personal excellence. We are committed to providing all students with the right level of challenge, so that they can develop resilience in the face of adversity: that they can get knocked down and get back up again. And through all of this, it is our aim to develop students who believe in themselves and can self-determine their own pathway to success. 

We want our students to wear their uniform with pride because it represents who we are as a school and this is especially true in the wider community. We want them to celebrate each other’s successes and support each other when things are not going well. We want our students to care for their own and each other’s mental and emotional health: for a relatively small school, we have an extensive pastoral care and well-being team who will always be there to respond and support. We know that strong relationships are at the heart of effective schools and we are focused on strengthening the connection between home and school through better communication and through encouraging greater involvement from parents and kin.

In order to do this, we need a community working together to achieve together and we need to hold true to our high expectations and aspirations. We set a high bar in our expected behaviours, but it is one that can be reached by students being kind to each other; by respecting every individual’s right to belong and to ‘be’; by learning from their mistakes (and realizing they will make some along the way); and by seeking out and accepting the support of those around them. 

Now, into my four year as principal of Woodmans Hill Secondary College, I couldn’t be prouder of our students. I get to see all of the things I have written above on a day-to-day basis. I get to see the small and the huge steps in learning and growth- both of which equally matter. And I get to be part of a community building on the amazing work we have done together over the course of the previous four years. 

When we work together, the Woodmans Hill community can achieve anything.