Principal's Report

The concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy is the idea that people behave in a certain way because others expect them to- a concept that is often seen in purely negative terms. However, what I have found in almost five years as principal of Woodman's Hill Secondary College is the opposite can equally be true. An unshakable belief in our students’ capacity to be the best versions of themselves, to be determined in the face of setbacks and to be respectful and inclusive of others is the self-fulfilling prophecy that informs our culture and makes us who we are. 

It hasn’t always been an easy road, but I know that we have now got to the point where our high expectations are accepted as part of our truth and how we define ourselves and each other. I think it is now more how our students hold themselves and each other accountable that drives our culture; even more than the high expectations that we hope to instill as teachers and adults. 

That does not mean that for every child every day is plain-sailing: that would be the stuff of fairytales. We know how hard the teenage years are and we appreciate the uncertainty and self-doubt that can come hand-in-hand with adolescence. For each student, relationships with others and with themselves are ever-changing and incredibly challenging as they try and navigate the turbulent teenage years. 

There are hurdles, set-backs, detours and missteps along the way but we know now how hard our students fight to make it to the other side. You need only spend ten minutes in the company of our Year 12 students to realise the journey that they have been on and the incredible potential each and every one of them has. Our staff have been with them every step of the journey and know that this next part is the toughest: that the last mile is the hardest mile. 

But this is not the time to give up; rather, this is the time to lean on those around you and draw strength from your school community. 

For all our students, my advice is to occasionally look back to see how far they have come. For our Year 7 students they need to realise that they are a world away from who they were on their first-day: not knowing many people and feeling nervous and excited in equal measure. We are so proud at how much they have grown over the course of the first half of the year and know that they will be brilliant role-models for next year’s new students. 

The same can be said for our other students and the great many who step up as upstanders, ready to lead and be the standard.

The importance placed on personal growth is why we have focused so much on the wellbeing of our students. We want our students to receive the same high-level of support that receive academically from their teachers in the way that we support the development of emotional intelligence. We want our students to be able to advocate for themselves and their peers when things aren't going well. We want them to learn from experience so that they can face even bigger challenges as they transition into adulthood. We want them to notice what's going on inside themselves and inside other people so that they can be empathetic, compassionate and understanding. We want them to have the strength to be there for others in their time of need and to be vulnerable enough to ask for help and support when they are doing it tough.  

It's become a bit of a cliché, but Woodmans Hill is a school where students can be known by staff for who they are. Next year we will be over 600 strong, but that does not compare to some of the larger schools in our area. Whilst we have almost doubled in size over the course of the last 5 years, we have not lost our capacity to stay connected, as I’ve said before, it’s a rare privilege to be able to visit every class and see every student learning within a single lesson. This means that we can influence what happens in our school in real-time. In fact, in many respects, our sense of community and shared values has increased as we have got bigger. Whilst we are incredibly appreciative of the $8.59 million investment that we have received to build a Year 7 Centre and refurbish existing spaces, our capacity to deliver outcomes that ensure our students can access a wealth of exciting opportunities post-Year 12 has not been built on financial investment. Rather, we have invested (what we have) in staff-development, wellbeing interventions, pastoral care structures, student voice and leadership and putting our students’ needs, at all times, first and foremost. 

And this has helped us get to where we are, one the verge of even further improvements and growth. And a big part of the success that we have experienced so far is the willingness for our students to be their own self-fulfilling prophecy, one that sees the good in themselves and those around them at all times and believes in the power of changing things for the better by being the best that they can be.