It’s apparent that joy and opportunity flow freely at Kialla’s St Anne’s College as outgoing principal Sue Carroll and her incoming replacement, Anthony Butts, discuss the unique learning centre they’ve both been tied to since its inception.
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Ms Carroll will step down from her role when the current school term ends in about five weeks, after three terms as deputy principal in 2019 — the college’s first year of operation — and the remainder of her time there in the principal’s chair.
“I have mixed emotions. It’s a bit sad to be leaving a community you’re a big part of, but at the same time, it’s exciting,” Ms Carroll said.
“It’s a great opportunity for St Anne’s to move into its next phase and I can go on to new and exciting things as well.”
Ms Carroll began her teaching career at St Anthony’s School in Lara before moving to Kyabram 29 years ago, where she taught at St Augustine’s College.
From her learner-leading role there, she moved into a senior education officer position as leader of pedagogy at the Catholic Education Office in Sandhurst.
During that time, she became involved with the development of St Anne’s College before jumping at the chance to help lead the school from within.
Ms Carroll said there had been many accomplishments during her time because everything was a first.
“It’s just been constant joy from our first Preps to our first Year 12s,” she said.
“The thing that’s been the most challenging, but then rewarding, is our registration to deliver senior secondary — Year 11 and 12 — it’s been a very big, complex process and while it was a challenge, it’s just been so exciting to see our first lot of Year 12s finishing up this year.
“I think leading that process has been my biggest accomplishment.”
The school’s first Year 12 cohort will finish about two weeks into Term 4 — after Ms Carroll finishes up — before their exams, but she hopes to be able to return for their graduation.
What’s next in her journey is still up in the air.
She said she was exploring a few options but that the only things set in concrete so far were that it would be in education, in schools and in the Goulburn Valley.
The incoming Mr Butts said he was excited to be taking on the role.
“I was a part of the initial development team of St Anne’s Catholic Education Shepparton-Mooroopna through its infancy, so I’ve always had a vested interest in St Anne’s and watching it grow for many years,” he said.
Mr Butts is coming from a principal’s position at St Mary’s Primary School in Mooroopna, which he’s held for the past 16 years. Before that, he was principal at St Joseph’s Primary School in Nagambie.
“It’s come at the perfect time both personally and professionally for me with my two boys now into their 20s, so I’m definitely looking for a new challenge,” Mr Butts said.
“It’s my first venture into secondary education, so I’ve been doing a lot of homework and research.
“But thankfully, the school is set up brilliantly and I’m looking forward to coming in and following in Sue’s footsteps.”
The pair have been working closely for a while to foster a smooth transition when it takes place, and say while it’s not the most common occurrence for a school to change principals midway through a year, one benefit of doing so would be that Mr Butts had a term to settle in so he would be well equipped to hit the ground running in 2025.
“St Anne’s is very unique in its structure for Shepparton and being the only high school in south Shepparton, there’s wonderful opportunities for kids to accelerate and expand their learning in a variety of different places,” he said.
“The school has some exciting learning areas and more being built in the coming years, so I think the big word for me is opportunity.
“The school is over teething issues that all new schools have and ready to really take off and flourish, which it already has been doing.”
Mr Butts has lived in the Goulburn Valley for 25 years. He was a teacher at St Mel’s Primary School before taking up the principal’s role in Nagambie, which he commuted to daily.
“I know Shepparton well. I know a lot of the families,” he said.
“I feel part of the community, which I think is really important as a new principal to know a few people already, know their faces and their stories is a great start.”
Ms Carroll said being at St Anne’s from the beginning was a special time in her career.
“Starting a school from scratch is a whole other ball game. It’s exciting, it’s challenging, it’s rewarding, it’s exhausting, it’s all of those things, but you really are building a culture and community,” she said.
“There’s lots of opportunity in that, but you don’t have the safety net of a very well developed structure behind you. It’s a very unique experience.
“In our first year, we used to stop and look at each other after a meeting and say, ‘We have to stop and really enjoy this because we’ll never get this opportunity ever again’.
“It wasn’t lost on us what a great opportunity it was to experience that very first year of operation of a school.”
Enrolments for next year are filling fast, with some availability left in Prep and Year 7 levels.
The school’s open day was held earlier this year but private tours are always available by making an appointment.
“We’re always willing and proud to show people around and have a bit of a chat,” Ms Carroll said.
“The school’s all about joy. ‘Nothing without joy’ is our slogan.
“We all need to find the things that bring us joy and connect to them. We try and do things here that can tap into that joy for the kids.”
Ms Carroll herself will move on to her next role with nothing but joyous memories of her time spent at St Anne’s, too.
Senior journalist