The modern-day school principal has become a multi-skilled, highly interactive and welcoming figure. And, in the case of Rushworth Secondary College acting principal Todd Woodfine, a fine recruiter.
Recruiting has become a vital tool for schools wanting to fill their roster of teachers and not constantly enter the highly competitive world of advertising for classroom leaders.
Victoria’s much-publicised teaching shortage has forced schools to reach out to recently retired teachers, ask staff to cross-pollinate into different subjects and even seen school leaders move back to the front of the room.
It’s not unusual for a principal to be teaching in a classroom as thousands of vacancies exist around the state, forcing a recent decision by the Victorian Government to offset the cost of study.
That’s right, no university debt for graduating teachers.
Lauren Hutchison is an art teacher at Rushworth Secondary College. She has an interesting story that explains the lengths schools are going to to secure quality staff to assist in developing today’s youth.
The supportive environment of the 151-year-old Rushworth school has seen the 12-year teacher go from accepting a short-term appointment to moving into a house across the road from the school and considering a longer-term contract.
“I’d been teaching in the Shepparton region and living in the Yarra Valley. Since coming to Rushworth, I’ve found it to be a beautiful place with a rich history,” she said.
Mr Woodfine is fortunate Ms Hutchison likes exploring and new settings, and the culture at his school has developed to a point where it is an attractive longer-term employment option for educators.
“Everyone here is working hard for the students and their experience,” Ms Hutchison said.
She said the small class sizes allowed teachers to tailor their teaching style, and the supportive leadership added to the appeal.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Ms Hutchison. She put out a call for somewhere to live in term one, then shared a house in Tatura with the music teacher in term two.
She now lives in a house owned by the education department, a rarity these days, right across the road from the school.
“It’s the shortest commute I’ve ever had,” she said, explaining she shared the house with English and humanities teacher Emily Nancarrow.
Ms Hutchison said while she was currently “going home’’ on weekends, she had been considering making a solid transition to the area.
She said the school and broader community had been very supportive, to the point where the pair even had pot plants and stitched blankets delivered to their door.
“The business manager (Therese Cossens) was really great,” she said.
Mr Woodfine said the education department house had been vacant for about 12 months, but the renovations required had been well worth the effort.
He and his new staff members are pretty excited about what is to come.
The college has 144 students (37 primary and 107 secondary), a figure that has remained steady.
The acting principal had spent the previous four years at Kyabram P-12 College and inherited a healthy support network at Rushworth.
“We had our best attendance at our last college council meeting, and we have maintained good staffing levels throughout the year.
“There have been a couple of positions that have been challenging to fill, but the three casual relief teachers I employed (commonly referred to as CRTs) at the start of year have stayed on.
“We were originally only going to have them for a term,” he said.
Mr Woodfine said the college was not immune from the challenges of finding teachers, but his team had worked hard to make the school a welcoming environment.
“We were lucky to have the school house,” he said.
“We got it up and running a couple of months ago and it has worked well for the new teachers.”
Mr Woodfine said it wasn’t ideal for school leaders to spend so much time recruiting, but it was a reality that most faced every term.
He must fill 35 positions to deliver the curriculum, made more difficult by a staff changeover of 17 last year.
“We have been able to recruit very well and I am fortunate to be able to lead such a dynamic and supportive team of educators,” he said.
“Our focus is not much on recruiting now, but on maintaining our staff.”
