Peter Langham

After completing his Bachelor of Technology at Monash University, Mr Peter Langham returned to university to complete a Graduate Diploma of Education.

Peter began teaching at Narre Warren South Prep to 12 College in 2010. He quickly became an accomplished teacher, as well as taking on a breadth of leadership roles.

In 2016, Peter was appointed as an Assistant Principal. The executive leadership team that Peter was now a part of led Narre Warren South Prep to 12 College through a period of significant school improvement culminating with the team being acknowledged with the Lindsay Thompson Award for Excellence in Education at the Victorian Education Excellence Awards in 2018.

In August 2019, Peter was asked to become the Acting Principal at Monterey Secondary College. This opportunity proved to be a pivotal moment in Peter’s career.

Monterey Secondary College is a small school in Frankston North. Compared to the Victorian average, Monterey students are 3 times more likely to be Indigenous, 3 times more likely to have a disability, and more than 30% of the students are in the Top 5% most at-risk students in Victoria for non-completion of Year 12.

When Peter began at Monterey, there was instability in leadership; Peter was the third Principal that year. Many students were disengaged and could intimidate the staff; there was a sense that the students ran the school.

At the end of the 2019 school year, almost 50% of the staff left the school. Three months later, Covid-19 had caused our first school lockdowns which continued across the next two years.

Over his first 4 years at Monterey, Peter and the team turned the school around. Staff culture, performance and retention all improved, despite the teacher shortage. Student culture, engagement, literacy, numeracy, and senior school outcomes are all improving, and enrolments have increased by almost 50%. The community now has strong confidence in the school.

Monterey Secondary College’s collective work in school transformation through Trauma-Informed, Positive Education is renowned in Victoria, with growing interest nationally, and was recently shared at a University in Ireland.

Peter was acknowledged with a Schools Plus Teaching Fellowship as well as the NEiTA Founders’ Principals Leadership Award in 2022.

Peter is most proud of the acknowledgement that his team, the Frankston North Education Plan, a partnership between Monterey Secondary College, Aldercourt Primary School and Mahogany Rise Primary School, received in 2022, the Lindsay Thompson Award for Excellence in Education at the Victorian Education Excellence Awards.

Peter credits his time in the Engineering faculty at Monash University with instilling in him the creative thinking and problem-solving approaches that have enabled his success as a innovative and impactful teacher and school leader.