Tony
School PRINCIPAL
What is your background?
I was lucky enough to have a family that loved to move around. Growing up, I lived in country Northwestern New South Wales, Gold Coast Hinterland, back to Northwestern New South Wales, and finally, before heading to university at UNE, spent five years going to High School in Goondiwindi. I spent the first ten years of my teaching career in Sydney in both public and independent schools before moving to Bangalow in 2018. Prior to teaching at Byron Community Primary School, I was the Assistant Head at Lindisfarne’s Junior School. My family has grown since moving to the Northern Rivers with the introduction of my second daughter August. She is the only true local in my family. My wife Laetitia, eldest daughter George, West Highland Terrier Russell, and rescue cat Donald love living in this beautiful part of the world. I am so grateful to call the Northern Rivers my home and love being a part of the Byron Community.
What do you remember best about primary school?
The reason that I became a teacher was because of the teaching principal I had in the small primary school (50 students) I attended. His name is Bob Adams, and he always had stories that engaged us, took us on journeys, and always left everyone amazed at the adventures he had. Storytelling is a big part of my life and the way I go about teaching. I will continue to tell stories of adventures from home to excite and engage everyone, just like Bob Adams did for me.
What teaching qualifications do you have?
I hold a Bachelor of Education (primary) from University of New England.
Where else have you worked and how has it shaped your general outlook and your approach to teaching children today?
I started my teaching career at North Sydney Demonstration School, where from my first year of teaching, I guided education students. This early introduction to mentoring has shaped my career and has led me to continually share best practices with other teachers. At the end of 2 and a half years of teaching Stage 3 in North Sydney, I moved over the bridge and spent 8 years at Newington College as a teacher, grade executive, and finally e-learning coordinator for both Wyvern House and Lindfield Prep School. My time with Newington taught me a lot about quality teaching and learning, offering real-world, authentic experiences that add value and purpose to the learning journey. Spending three years in an executive role at Lindisfarne, guiding teachers in what works best with students, opened my eyes to a greater curriculum and the rich engagement and learning experiences that can be created with all students. Guiding teachers encouraged me to move back into the classroom as the Seahorse teacher before becoming the Principal at BCPS.
What are your main teaching and classroom philosophies?
I believe that everyone has a story to tell and that everyone deserves the opportunity to tell it to the world. This transpires into the classroom, ensuring that everyone is heard, understood, and catered to. Also, I believe that learning through authentic experiences that have real-world applications, an audience, and a purpose are the ways to ignite passion in our students. When we learn something we see and feel, we really build powerful learners.
What/why do you enjoy teaching at BCPS?
BCPS is like no other school. It is a place where staff and students feel safe to be themselves and be creative. Our students allow us to have dangerous ideas about delivering the curriculum and love to come on the journey with us. The school community embraced me the moment I arrived, and this embrace is given to all that joins the school. I don’t just enjoy teaching here, I love being a part of BCPS.
What do you enjoy teaching the most?
This is too tough to answer. I really enjoy History and Geography but love getting into a quality picture book and taking imaginations wherever the author guides it.
What is your greatest achievement?
My two daughters. They are incredible, crazy, creative, and hilarious versions of my wife and me. I am so proud of them and look forward to introducing them to the school’s community before and after school.
What aspirations still lie ahead of you?
I have this dream of creating a learning environment that pulls together the whole community, where we are all working towards social change and having our students lead this. We are making this dream come alive at BCPS through programs such as Beach School, Skate School, and the real-world applications that we layer our teaching moments on.
What occupies your time outside school hours?
My family, although if you asked them it would be playing my guitar, surfing, eating lots of yummy food, drinking lots of coffee, and spending a lot of time in nature.
If you weren’t a primary teacher, how do you think you’d be spending your days?
One of the things that occupy my time is coffee. I quit teaching a few years ago, traveled the world, and decided I would become a barista. I love the idea of sharing something delicious, chatting with people from all walks of life, and slowing down. I decided to come back to teaching and put the barista dream on hold for a while.