By Jed Lanyon
Eildon MP Cindy McLeish took the reigns as principal for a day at Woori Yallock Primary School on Tuesday 3 September.
Each year Victorian schools take part in Principal For A Day, where a member of the community shadows the school principal and participates in normal day-to-day school activities.
The Shadow Minister for Education began her day by welcoming students and parents and took part in a student leadership meeting.
Ms McLeish and the student leaders examined the data from a recent student survey and discussed recommendations to improve classroom morale.
Then grade 3/4C had a class discussion about politics and brought some tough questions for Ms McLeish to answer.
“It always keeps you grounded and it really keeps you in touch with what the students, teachers and the principal are facing on a daily basis.”
Ms McLeish said she takes part in the program each year at a different school and that the Woori Yallock students had treated her very well.
“One of the things I really liked is that if you go into a classroom, it seems there’s always one kid that stands up and says welcome to the class… They do a lot of greetings at the start of the day and you can see that it has found its way into how the kids interact with people.”
Ms McLeish said it’s great to takeaway an understanding of a variety of issues that teachers and principals face each day.
The aim of Principal For A Day is to increase and strengthen partnerships between schools and the community.
Woori Yallock Primary School’s usual principal Oliver Thockloth said he was thankful for Ms McLeish joining the school and joked that he enjoyed the opportunity to take it easy for the day.
“It’s great to have Cindy come out here to be principal for the day… It’s terrific to step into someone else’s shoes.
“We’re hoping that the kids can learn a little bit about politics… It’ll be good for them to see what politicians do and know that they have a voice.”
