05 May 2019
By Abigail
I wanted to interview our new principal, Mrs Tegg, to see how she was going with her new job. She answered with effort and enthusiasm which I thought was really lovely. I also noticed how she was telling the honest truth because she took her time before answering the questions and put a lot of meaning into her answers. I really enjoyed interviewing her.
Firstly, I started off with asking her what the best thing was about being a Principal. She told me a short but sweet answer which was, “Helping students learn.”
I think that’s one of the key features of a great principal and an important one.
The second question I asked was how she would help to improve our school. She answered by saying that she was going to improve all aspects of the school such as; programs, systems and environment (natural and classroom). She really wants to find out from the students, teachers and community what they thought would help the students in their learning and well being, to connect, succeed and thrive.
I asked her what she thought were her strengths. She replied by saying that she thought that she was a very good listener, thinks carefully before acting or making decisions, considers perspectives and empathises with them, is a good talker and sees the positive in difficult situations. She also told me that she was always learning and loved to learn new things everyday,”I am a lifelong Learner!”
She mentioned that she liked to socialise with people, had a good sense of humour and always looked on the bright side of life.
The next thing that I wanted to know was what was her journey to becoming a principal. She responded by starting off at the very beginning. When she was in school, like us kids, she worked extremely hard throughout school. This helped her get into a university and from there she did the same thing. This helped her a great deal for she then got a teacher masters in education. She also notified me that, throughout all of this, she always listened to wise people and looked for inspiring people to improve her teaching and being able to lead. Most importantly, she took many risks but they all turned out to be wonderful! Then, after university, she went to lots of different schools and each school taught her many different things. She said that she thought that if you go to many different schools, then you get more experience and more opportunities to help the next school.
After that, I was wondering if she had a favourite childhood memory. She said that she had so many that she didn’t know which one to say! Finally, she decided on a few that she really loved. One of them was when she was twelve and went overseas to Europe visiting many different countries such as; England, Austria, Scotland and Wales. She commented on how enjoyable this experience was at that age. Another one of her childhood memories was when she always used to visit her Grandma’s house in Griffith where she loved to ride her bike. She stated that she absolutely loved primary school, every second of it. One of her school memories was sewing a dress in year six in class to wear to their formal. Some other things that she did in primary school was swimming and playing flute in the band where she got a trophy!
The sixth question was whether she was excited about teaching at a bilingual school and improving her french and why. She really liked that question because this was one of the reasons why she came here. She was delighted, so much so, that she actually answered some of the question in French! What an amazing principal! She said, “J’aime la France. Je suis allée à la France en 2012 et je suis allée en vacances dans une petit bateau pour voir les flamants rose.”
She said that it was very important to communicate and to experience and understand another culture. She explained how it stretches your brain and she likes that. “It is good to be able to speak to all students including the ones who can only speak French for it helps their learning.”
Soon after that, I asked her if she had any places that she wished to travel to. She came up with so many paces that I could hardly write them all down! She said that she had ancestors in Morocco, she had friends in New Caledonia, and her friends lived all around the world. She wanted to visit the United States of America, Switzerland, South America and Africa. She has already been to Europe, Hawaii, China and South Korea!
I wanted to know if there were any languages that she already spoke. She answered by saying that at her previous schools, she learned greetings and phrases in Mandarin, Korean, Arabic and Turkish but mainly French.
Mrs Tegg’s goals for 2019 include getting to know everyone in the school community and learning as many names as possible. Her biggest goal is to keep moving the school forward as much as she can.
When I was finished, she told me how wonderful this school is and how she is really looking forward to being our principal.