Work Type: Ongoing - Full-time
Salary: Salary not specified
Grade: Principal - Range 4
Occupation: Principal and assistant principal
Location: Gippsland - East Gippsland
Reference: 1489102
(a) Vision and values
Demonstrated capacity to create a shared vision, define and gain acceptance of school goals and set and communicate expectations for effective performance.
(b) Teaching and Learning
Demonstrated ability to manage the quality of teaching and create a positive culture of challenge, support and collaboration.
(c) Improvement, Innovation and Change
Demonstrated capacity to produce and implement clear, evidence-based improvement plans and policies and lead innovation and change.
(d) Management
Demonstrated capacity to ensure that the school's human, physical and financial resources are efficiently allocated and managed.
(e) Development
Demonstrated capacity to create a professional learning community that is focused on the continuous improvement of teaching and learning, supporting all staff to achieve high standards and commitment to their own learning and wellbeing.
(f) Engagement
Demonstrated capacity to develop positive relationships with students, parents/families and the local community and participate in and contribute to system-level activities.
(g) Community Criterion
To demonstrate a willingness and capacity to enhance the community's connections, school's reputation and establish high expectations for the College's future success.
The role of the principal is to lead and manage the planning, delivery, evaluation and improvement of the education of all students in a community through the deployment of resources provided by the Department and the school community.
At the same time, the principal, as executive officer of the school council, must ensure that adequate and appropriate advice is provided to the council on educational and other matters, that the decisions of the council are implemented and that adequate support and resources are provided for the conduct of council meetings.
The principal is accountable for the overall management and development of the school within statewide guidelines and Government policies. A clear set of accountabilities, which distinguish their work from other members of the Teaching Service and the education community are set out in detail in the contract of employment.
The core accountabilities of all principals are to:
Appropriately qualified individuals currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.
The Department of Education is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).
Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via [email protected]
Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy
The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview
To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class a person must have provisional or full registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. In addition, from 3 August 2020, to be eligible for employment in the principal class or teacher class, a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education program after 1 July 2016, must demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements. This condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian Initial Teacher Education program completed by the person.
To be eligible for appointment as a principal a person must either:
Lakes Entrance Secondary College (LESC) is the only secondary education provider in the East Gippsland town of Lakes Entrance. Situated at the mouth of the Gippsland Lakes on the Ninety Mile Beach, Lakes Entrance thrives on tourism and to a diminished extent on the fishing industry. The school has an important population of Indigenous students, who either live in town or at the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust, 20km further east.
The school opened in 1983 as a year 7-10 post primary school and at that time students had to travel to Bairnsdale, some 40km west to complete the Victorian Certificate of Education. In 2002, the school commenced delivery of the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, and in 2005 became a comprehensive secondary provider by adding VCE and being funded as a 7-12 Secondary College. The school now successfully delivers senior school studies with 80% VCE completion and 100% VCE/VM completion percentages in 2024.
LESC currently has 161 enrolments with an SFOE of 0.5780. Students who attend the school live in Lakes Entrance or commute on school buses from the Kalimna, Nungurner, Toorloo Arm and surrounding areas.
Our mission
When students leave LESC, it is hoped that they are respectful and considerate, trustworthy and responsible, and have gratitude, empathy and an attitude of perseverance to their studies or selected vocation.
Our staffing profile is as follows:
Staffing at the school includes 20.8 EFT classroom teachers with 9.4 EFT class-based Education Support Staff. Administration and Wellbeing is supported 13.4 EFT ES. The Business Manager is a full-time role. The current School Improvement Team structure includes the Principal, an Assistant Principal, Business Manager, 1 Leading Teacher and 2 Learning Specialists.
The school has recently been engaged in SWPBS, literacy strategies development work, and is currently exploring the VTLM and positive classroom management strategies, along with embedding a new LESC instructional model. At the start of 2025, the department's Disability Inclusion model (DI) rolled out across Outer Gippsland. Building knowledge and practice in DI is a key focus for the school. To enhance student wellbeing, the school participates in the Pivot Wellbeing for Learning initiative, tracking and responding to student wellbeing needs. The school has a small team, including a school nurse to support students.
The school is proud of the working connection it has with 28 Aboriginal Community stakeholders, who are valued partners in working on improving outcomes for students and creating a culturally safe environment for families, students and staff as part of the LESC journey. The school is building a broad range of curriculum programs and extra-curricular activities that enable each student to pursue a program tailored to their individual needs, goals and
interests. Class sizes are small - a maximum of 20 - the size of classes and the school allows all teachers to know all students and build strong relationships.
The student engagement policy and processes focus on a firm but consistently fair approach to dealing with all issues. The school also actively seeks to work through issues and to assist students to develop more appropriate behaviours through restorative practices.
The college environment is set on 10 acres of beautifully maintained parks, gardens and playing fields with recently updated outdoor basketball courts and exercise stations. There is plenty of room for students to enjoy fresh air and exercise. Our buildings are well maintained and architecturally unique in educational terms, with major amenity upgrades planned for term 2 2026. The school also boasts excellent infrastructure, a laptop access program, a full-sized indoor basketball court and gymnasium, a stage and performance spaces to support a variety of school initiatives.