General News
10 February, 2022
Welcome back
A FAMILIAR face rejoined St Colman’s Primary School last week, with Stacey Atkins assuming the role of school principal.
A FAMILIAR face rejoined St Colman’s Primary School last week, with Stacey Atkins assuming the role of school principal.
Ms Atkins is no stranger to the tight-knit community at St Colman’s, having previously spent five years as a teacher in the junior classrooms between 2009-2014.
“I loved my time here, so it’s been really nice to come back and see what has been happening at the school and catch up with some familiar faces,” she said.
“We’ve had a great first week of school and the kids haven’t missed a beat. They’ve been straight back in to the swing of things.
“Everyone has been welcoming so it’s been lovely to be back and have the kids showing me the ropes.”
Following her stint at St Colman’s, Ms Atkins joined St John’s Primary School in Dennington, where she taught grade 5-6 for two years.
She then served as deputy principal at St Pius X in Warrnambool for five years before rejoining St Colman’s after former principal Tim Bourke’s departure.
Moving from St Pius X with around 270 students to the much-smaller St Colman’s Primary School was a move Ms Atkins said she jumped at due to an appreciation for the sense of community which smaller schools develop.
“Leadership in a Catholic school is something I am passionate about,” she said.
“(The schools) are definitively different places but I love the community aspect of small schools.
“We’ve got three new prep students and we’ve already seen the bigger kids take them under their wings and show them the way things are done. All the kids were out here at lunch time the other day and they were organising a ninja warrior (obstacle) course together, and they were getting all the little kids organised.
“It’s a great community vibe in a small school, where everybody knows everyone and nobody gets left behind.”
Ms Atkins said she felt a sense of homecoming in returning to the school.
Many elements of the school which she fondly recalls have remained the same, and the changes she has noticed are changes which have strengthened the school’s program.
“It feels so familiar to me and I feel so at home,” she said.
“A few things have changed. Tim (Bourke) put in the farm area, which the kids love.
“The last year I was here we had started an approach called professional learning communities, and that’s really developed since I left.
“Knowing exactly what we’re teaching the children and exactly where they are in their learning helps us to target what the students are learning, and I can see that whole-school approach of making sure every child gets what they need has really developed.”
Ms Atkins said she hopes to continue to build on the strengths of the school to ensure students enjoy the benefits of a high-quality education.
“I think there are already so many great things here that it becomes a matter of enhancing people’s strengths and giving them the chance to grow themselves, as teachers and as students,” she said.
“It’s been a crazy couple of years where we’ve been locked down and I know everyone here is keen to get back out in to the community and re-establish those connections.
“St Colman’s is a gem of a school.
“One of the principals who was here when I was last here said we were a boutique school. It’s a really special place, we’re lucky to have it and everyone is welcome.”