MARK Arians has studied anthropology, worked as a stockman, served as a police officer and is now helping to update the region’s irrigation delivery system.
Last week, he became a school principal.
The job lasted one day at Kerang Primary School, where he shadowed the permanent principal, Brenton Taylor in a range of education activities as part of the Principal for a Day program.
Gannawarra Shire Council’s current deputy mayor expressed gratitude for his learning experience and was impressed with the school and its students.
“There are an impressive range of services and support for students,” he said.
“The technology is amazing and I learnt that the school had impressive results in the NAPLAN [National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy] above the State average,” he said.
NAPLAN is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Cr Arians said that he was also impressed with the school’s community engagement.
He joined the students for their morning fitness run, met the Grade 6 leadership group and joined guided reading, music and art lessons.
Mr Taylor said that the mission of Principal For A Day is for the school to increase and strengthen partnerships between Kerang Primary School and the local community.
“We aim to increase understanding and awareness between the school and the wider Kerang community, promote the great work that our school does, provide a community leader with first-hand and current experiences of our school, enable me as principal to develop on-going relationships with local community leaders and increase opportunities for the school and the community to work together in mutually beneficial ways,” he said.
