Patrons' Prose

Robin Rayner - QACSL Co-Patron & Life Member

As one of the first members of what was then the P-10/12 association, I have been very honoured to belong to such a welcoming and active association. In the early days much of the focus was on the regional and remote combined sector schools, and in later years the membership of the large colleges been a significant contribution to advocacy and service for our schools.

Over the years, through the leadership of great principals, the association has grown and evolved to a point where it has liaised with like-minded associations across the country, and during the Covid years built supportive networks in the USA. Our members have participated in many leadership and educational opportunities, and this has built the strength of our association to the benefit of all members.

We have consistently been a very affordable organisation with associate membership of other associations available to our members, and to members of other associations. Partnerships, representation and shared advocacy with other associations has added to our influence at state level, and our representatives have added value to discussions in various forums in Central Office, in person, online or in writing. The association has always sought the views of members regarding policies and considered their voices in drafting responses.

My journey through education in Queensland has taken me from the far north, in Weipa where the secondary sector of the school was a separate building, and to a large extent the teachers managed the campus, to a Lead Principal role in Wide Bay before retiring. Staffing in Weipa was multicultural with teachers recruited from all over the world, and the support of Comalco was present in many aspects of the community. This community context is evident in most of our rural and remote schools where principals and teachers play a major role in community.

My other combined sector experiences were at Eidsvold, Inglewood, Roma and Barcaldine, where I enjoyed the engagement with children from Prep to Year 12 as well as working with feeder primary schools and kindergartens. When not in combined sector schools I have been in secondary schools from Band 9 to Executive positions and also spent some time in Central and Regional Offices.

During my time in QACSL I have appreciated engaging in work on curriculum, staffing, timetabling and many consultation and feedback opportunities, as well as the collegiality of working with leaders who are also passionate children’s education and the benefits of combined sector schools. In the role of VP Mentoring, I have enjoyed watching the careers of other combined sector leaders. I look forward to the development of the strategic plan supporting our members and students in combined sector schools to be the best they can be, no matter where their school is located.

I wish the new executive the very best for the year ahead and acknowledge the work of all past leaders in our association. Each has added their own special talents and passions and enriched our organization.

Robin Rayner,
Co-Patron and QACSL Life Member

David Ham - QACSL Co-Patron & Life Member

Hello everybody. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is David Ham. I am long retired, but I spent all my working life attached to the Education Department. I was a primary teacher and primary principal, being appointed to schools across the State. One of those schools had a secondary department, commonly called in those days a “High Top”.

I had many challenges during my time there, including smaller problems like timetabling secondary teachers and learning about things like commercial subjects and home economics issues. My major worry though, was convincing everyone in the community that this was one school, instead of a primary school and a secondary school, and that my expectations for one section applied to all.

I would have loved to know of a group I could go to for help and advice, based on their past experiences. Over time, I came to know that my problems – mainly based on the particular situation of primary and secondary schooling in the one place – were shared by many others. My neighbouring principals were either primary or secondary and, friendly as they were, they failed to understand many of my problems. The departmental officers who visited came for either primary or secondary reasons, but never for both.

This experience was shared by others across the State for many years. In the mid 1990’s, a group of administrators of schools just like I remembered met in Toowoomba and decided to form an association designed to help and advise one another. I was honoured to be invited to become the Patron of that Association and have remained in that position over the years. Luckily, we have been led by a group of determined, far sighted people, who have been able to gain recognition within the Department to an extent I would never have dreamed of.

Welcome to Paul, our new leader. I know that his ambition is to continue the upward trend of the Association. Congratulations Paul.  Congratulations also to the new co-patron, Robin Rayner, a long-time member who has worked hard for our group over many years. I look forward to working with her.

I can see our Association progressing in leaps and bounds. When you come to look at it, uninterrupted schooling throughout primary and secondary years is the logical way to educate children. I hope that our Association continues to grow and continues to succeed in its efforts to improve matters for our members.

David Ham,
Co-Patron and QACSL Life Member