”I ALWAYS say I’m in teacher’s heaven here”.
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Those are the words of Deb Morden, the principal of Whitton-Murrami Public School.
Ms Morden has been in the role at the school since term two and is starting to find her groove at the school.
She’s had plenty of years experience in small schools, having worked at Deniliquin, Binya, Tallimba and more.
“In the last six to seven years of my teaching career I’ve been in small schools … prior to that it was bigger schools,” she said.
“I love the students at small schools. You are with them right through some of the time.
“You become almost like a family.”
Ms Morden is the teaching principal at Whitton-Murrami, with the school’s 20 primary students under her wing.
Whitton Public School and Murrami Public School were joined together in 2015 and Ms Morden said it wasn’t an issue parents or the community had raised with her.
“I haven’t had anyone bring it up with me,” she said.
“I’ve been given a background issue to the school, but I think it’s not something people are concerned with now.
“This year we have all new staff here, so it’s almost like a new school now.
“I haven’t had any complaints about that. I would say everyone has probably moved on.”
I love the students at small schools. You are with them right through some of the time. You become almost like a family.
- Whitton-Murrami principal Deb Morden
Ms Morden plans to continue popular programs at the school, including the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden initiative.
“That is a big draw card for the community and students … they hold it very dear,” she said.
“We’re also a pilot school for a program called ‘building numeracy leadership’ and that has just been implemented this year.
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“I’m participating in training for that. The idea is then I come back and upskill the staff here to develop those programs.
“It’s a whole fresh look at how we program and teach mathematics.”
Ms Morden has noticed many changes during her teaching career, but said the focus would always be on the students and their learning.
“We’ve been really fortunate to part of a big change in that we now understand how students learn and the way that we teach should always be evolving,” she said.
“We’re in the business of education. I think back to what it was like when I first started to now and it’s so different.”
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