By Parker Mckenzie
A Cranbourne principal has taken out a top prize at the 2021 Victorian Education Excellence Awards.
Cranbourne East Primary School principal Garry Rolfe won the Outstanding Primary Principal award after dedicating a large part of his career to education in the south-east and Casey areas.
He has been principal of Cranbourne East Primary since 2010 and has worked closely with the community since the early planning stages of the school.
Mr Rolfe said he was overwhelmed when he learnt about the award.
“Probably every principal would say it’s been a really rough two years. At Cranbourne East Primary School we have well over 1100 children and 128 staff and that equates to over 800 families,” Mr Rolfe said.
“Trying to keep the teaching and learning programs going while being onsite, then switching to remote learning and looking after the wellbeing of students, our families and our staff has been tricky at times.”
Mr Rolfe was inspired to enter education because of the impact a teacher had on his early life.
“I was inspired by a teacher I had in year 4 when I went through the British education system. I had a maths teacher who would go out of his way to explain everything in a warm, nurturing and caring approach,” he said.
“I really enjoyed maths and science because of this as a student.” he said.
Mr Rolfe said he has taken this approach into his own classrooms and school.
“Two things I really push at Cranbourne East Primary is that no child will miss out on opportunities, whether that is swimming camps or having lunches everyday,“ Mr Rolfe said.
“A message I send my staff is to treat each individual child like they are the most important child in the school.“
He believes winning the Outstanding Primary Principal award wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the school community at Cranbourne East Primary School.
“I really believe learning needs to be a combination of fun along with education,“ Mr Rolfe said.
“One thing I’d really like to highlight is the support I get from not only the school community, but from my leadership team and all our teachers and staff who support me in my job.”
Returning to the classroom after lockdown had made the hard work of distance learning worth it according to Mr Rolfe.
“It’s good to see children around again and hearing their voices in the playgrounds and the learning spaces,” he said.
“I know the kids have really missed their friends, their teachers and the staff around the school. There is just so much excitement and enthusiasm to be back.” he said.
