Sunshine College principal Tim Blunt is quick to play down his nomination as a finalist in the state’s outstanding secondary school principal award.
The principal of 10 years says the Sunshine school’s stunning transformation – from being one of the state’s worst performing schools in terms of literacy levels to out-performing the VCE results of nearby independent schools within five years – is the work of his team of about 100 teachers.
“It’s an individual award but it’s something you can’t do without the help of outstanding teachers,” he says.
Mr Blunt is one of three Victorian secondary school principals to be named as finalists for the prestigious award, the winner of which will be announced at the end of the month.
The western suburbs-born teacher started his career at the school in 1979 as a maths and science teacher.
He took over as principal in 2006 with a mammoth task ahead of him. About two-thirds of students in years 7 to 11 were barely achieving primary school levels of literacy.
So he and the senior teaching staff made drastic changes to the syllabus and even to the school uniforms. New school blazers not dissimilar to those of independent schools were introduced, extra literacy classes were added and a new culture of acceptance was fostered.
“Kids learnt to work with one another, alongside their teachers, and to accept diversity among their peers,” Mr Blunt said.
“We run an event where students pledge to be in work or education in the year after school. We have little strategies like this to make sure they understand just how important their education is.”
