Presentation of P&C NSW Secondary Principal
of the Year Award
P&C Annual
Conference - Sunday, 31st
July, 2005
Dr Mark Carter
Principal, Killara High School
Citation
Principal of the Year Award 2005
Dr Mark Carter
Killara High School
One of
the hallmarks of Dr Carter is his boundless enthusiasm and his interest in his
school. P&C President Tony Cope says that he leads by example, being
a ubiquitous presence at any school activity – regardless of the time,
day or night.
This
enthusiasm is coupled with leadership qualities that have earned him the
respect of parents, students, the teaching staff, and local politicians.
The local
Federal MP and Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson wrote in the local newspaper
“Killara High School under the leadership of Dr Carter is the epitome of excellence in a
comprehensive public high school”.
Dr Carter is a strong advocate of local comprehensive high schools.
His school is surrounded by elite North Shore private schools, and yet
enrolment applications each year are increasing. In 2005, the number of Year
7 classes increased from a planned 7 to 9, eating into the market share of
the private schools. Enrolments continue to grow, with 1,260 students in 2004
increasing to over 1,300 in 2005.
To
achieve this, Dr Carter has put in place a broad strategy which recognizes
that parents make decisions on high schools at Year 3 or earlier. The strategy
includes working with a committee of parents and teachers to redevelop and
reinforce effective relationships with feeder primary schools, pre-schools
and real estate agents. He actively encourages the local primary schools to
use the high school’s facilities at every opportunity.
Dr Carter promotes the school widely through the local press,
meetings of community groups such as Rotary, keeping in touch with local
businesses and politicians, and letter box drops. He regularly invites
politicians and business leaders to the school. He has instigated a marketing
campaign called “A great school,
close to home” to concentrate on lifting and maintaining “in
area” enrolments against the private schools.
Dr Carter has a very productive working relationship with the
P&C and its sub-committees. P&C President Tony Cope says: “The P&C has been
able to achieve outstanding results working closely with Dr Carter. Parent numbers involved in a
wide range of school activities has increased considerably. One example is
Performing Arts, where two concert bands and a stage band have been joined by
an extra stage band, a chamber orchestra, and a choir. Another example is
Buildings and Grounds, where extensive upgrades to the school oval, pathways
and landscaping have been undertaken, and four COLA’s have either been
built or are underway. Dr Carter’s enthusiasm and hard work
at the quarterly working bees is outstanding, and has, by example, encouraged
many parents to attend. He knows every inch of the school.”
Dr Carter also involves himself with the students. Whether it be playing in the teachers’ team of lunch-time
“bompo-dompo”; trekking up slippery
hills with Duke of Edinburgh participants; surfing with Year 12 students; or
meeting busloads of weary students at midnight returning from school camps. He
also encourages students to participate in activities outside the school.
An
interesting aside: Dr Carter was himself a member of the inaugural “Class of
75” at Killara High.
In the words of the P&C’s Tony Cope “Dr Carter is an outstanding Principal and is taking one of the state’s
leading comprehensive, non-selective high schools to a new level of public
education. Dr Carter is truly deserving of the 2005 Principal of the Year Award”.
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