Born in the fifties, as I write this post I have retired from my career of some 39 years in education. I qualified as a teacher and started teaching at Amaroo Primary School in Collie in 1973.
The Start of My Career
After a 4 year stint, I moved to Perth and taught at Willeton Primary School and later Victoria Park Primary School. I received my first promotion as a Senior Assistant to Bluff Point Primary School in Geraldton.My first principalship was to Marble Bar Primary School. At that time it was regarded as the hottest place in Australia, setting the record for the most consecutive days over the old century mark, 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Later, I transferred as a principal to Kirup Primary School. My next posting was as Deputy Principal at South Bunbury Primary School, a large school with an enrollment of almost 400 students. While there, I conducted stints as a contract Principal at Withers Primary School (renamed Maiden Park) and Picton Primary School.
After completing those Principal appointments, I returned to my former position at South Bunbury Primary.
My main roles revolved around educational leadership, curriculum leadership, student behaviour, event organisation and management and was a member of South Bunbury School’s Leadership Team with responsibilities for school operations, management,leadership and governance.
A Shock – and a Solution
On the 5th April, 2005, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. This came as a shock. It took me a week to snap out of feeling sorry for my self. An important part of my psyche is to control those aspects of my life that I can influence. Two examples of this is, how I think and my attitude. The long and the short of it is that I set a goal to work until July, 2012 and finally retired on grounds of ill health in 2016.
My daily mantra is “Parkinson isn’t a choice but happiness is”. This was a message to me from the author of a book called ” I Have Parkinson’s But Parkinson’s Does Not Have Me” by Leif Ogård, publishing house Bulls tryckeri, Halmstad, Sweden,2005 and Elanders Berlings AB, Malmo, 2008. However, my Parkinson’s doesn’t inhibit me and is a story for another time.
Purpose
My life experiences and work responsibilities and the knowledge gained over some 67 years have led me to pen this post as an open letter to my grandson and to any one else interested in my thoughts. This is the genesis for Pop’s Pearls of Wisdom and these posts are taken from a draft that I’m working, on titled “Live Love Learn”
It’s a shame to think all the wisdom that people accumulate in a lifetime isn’t shared and in death just disappears.
My career and experiences were the basis for the insights that form the content of the posts in this blog
This blog is my legacy to my grandson and any one else who might be interested in my thoughts.