Partnership Forum in Port Macquarie a little too close to home... - 28/04/10

Penny Cembala writes:

As you enter the seaside town of Port Macquarie on the NSW mid north coast, you are welcomed by a sign promising “idyllic climate, perfect setting, unique heritage” and that’s just what Josh Levy and I experienced on our visit last Friday to host the Schools First Partnership Forum.

A record regional turnout of 51 attendees, including 12 NAB staff, was great to see given it was the Friday afternoon of a long weekend.

As we watched the sun go down over boats tied up in the marina, the crowd of mainly schools from the area filtered in.

There was representation from both the state and federal independent members at the forum. Peter Besseling, State Independent Member, was only able to drop in for the beginning of the presentation, however was very complimentary of the program in his discussions with NAB RER Kim Dahler, expressing his hope that in 2010 the national winner might come from this area. A representative from the office of Federal Independent Member, Rob Oakeshott, was also in attendance and she stayed for the duration of the event and mentioned to the NAB staff that she and Mr Oakeshott would look at getting involved in the program. Kim had great rapport with both government representatives, both of whom went out of their way to speak with her at the event. Great job Kim.

And while we’re on the subject of NAB staff, special congrats go to Madeleine McGowan, Branch Manager Retail for Port Macquarie, who instigated an “adopt a school” program for staff across Retail, Business and Financial Planning in the area. Staff were encouraged to identify a school in their area that they had some affinity with – it was near where they lived, they had children going to it, or some other reason for adopting it. The staff are responsible for engaging with the school and keeping them advised of developments in the Schools First Awards program, inviting them to key events (such as the partnership forum) and encouraging them to find appropriate partnerships with which to apply. It was great to see the staff “looking for their school” on Friday afternoon, making sure they were there and happy. A great initiative by Madeleine and one that could be adopted in other areas around the country!

We had an Impact Award winner, Camden Haven High School, in attendance and Roxanne Ruprecht and Margaret Hutchinson (Principal) spoke about their experience in applying last year. After covering off almost all of our “Dos and Don’ts” in their address, Roxanne's most important piece of advice was not to leave submitting the application until the last day. It turns out on the last day of submissions last year there was a power failure in the area until 4.30pm, and Roxanne said she didn’t get much sleep that night hoping the application had been accepted!!!

For me personally, being in Port Macquarie was a great experience as I grew up in a little town just down the coast called Bonny Hills. There were some familiar faces in the room for me – at the same table sat my old second grade teacher (now Acting Principal of North Haven Primary School), Kathy Regan, a friend of my parents, Sally Shepard (from the local TAFE), and Roxanne, Margaret and Steve from Camden Haven High School. It even turns out that the daughters of my old teacher are actually involved in the program being run by Camden Haven High School that they won the Schools First Award for. It certainly is a small world in the country!!!

To end the evening, as Josh and I sat down with some of the NAB staff and a representative of the local schools, the conversation turned to things of a more local nature. Who lays the best eggs – chooks, ducks or turkeys? There was much debate and I’m still not sure what the result was. You’ll have to ask the locals...