Meeting with the District Director

On Thursday evening, September 16^th, we were delighted to be able to have dinner with District Director, Vicki Jack, her partner, John and Bruce and Lyn Macauley. It was Vicki’s generosity that saw our trip to the Pilbara able to become a reality. Vicki authorised Bruce Macauley to act as our host for the trip and a 4WD vehicle to transport us – a necessity for some of the remote schools, especially after some rain.

Vicki’s role has seen her responsible for the 29 schools, K – 12, in the Pilbara district. Her partner, John, is the Police Inspector for the Pilbara. As a couple, they have law and order and education covered. That’s a pretty big ask in this part of the world. At the time of our visit, the Western Australian Education Department is undergoing some significant changes and restructures. Fewer school districts with larger areas and more schools have been announced. Additional senior administrative positions have been created at higher salary ranges. A step towards more formal networks of schools is part of the new structure. We are highly supportive of the network approach in Victoria. However, from our understanding in WA, there will not a Network Leader appointed. Principals within the Network will be expected to lead the group. This would appear to be a big challenge if networks are to operate in the way that we experience them. The Independent Public Schools Program has commenced – similar to our self managing schools in Victoria. At the moment, schools nominate to participate but it is expected to become the norm in the years ahead. These schools can locally select staff whilst staff in other schools are centrally appointed. There are serious implications of these changes in this environment. Staffing many distant and remote schools can be quite a challenge. Teachers are encouraged to take up these appointments with a range of incentives including subsidies, salary loading, travel allowances, supported housing, long service leave after 3 and 4 years service and preferential placements in more popular areas after four years of service. Local selection of staff will interfere with some of these arrangements.